JENOVA does not approve of the reactors being shut down.
Cloud doesn't a give a damn.
And Keith has some business with a certain Calamity . . .
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So, JENOVA, yep . . . yeah, she's got no chance in Hel of surviving.
Basically this clears up the last chapter, and we get some surprise characters!
And so, this chapter has been created.
We get some revenge, the family expands and someone gets whumped! What's not to like?
Disclaimer: All characters belong to their respective franchises, I don't want to get sued.
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Chapter 11: Exterminating Pests
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The company had been in disarray since the CEO had come back from Gongaga with dreadful news. The brief quarantine of the area surrounding the respective reactor both fueled fear of a pandemic as well as the anger of finding out the reactor that had been a contributing factor to the disease appearing.
While the citizens of Midgar were reassured there was a cure; the city was plagued with fear that the disease would hit them next. If it had occurred in an area with one faulty reactor, what's to say it couldn't happen in a city with eight functioning ones? They were well aware that the reactors were highly maintained but human error could always play a factor; one small fault could result in dire consequences.
The outcry was so large that the reactors were turned off and the city was going to be without major power for quite awhile; as the solar panels on top of the plate (and the wind turbines on top of the tower) were only in their early construction stage. Materia Tech (reverse engineered from Ancient tech) was the order of the day; meaning that most of the SOLDIERs (and especially Genesis, Sephiroth, and oddly enough, CLOUD) were forced to work on quickly Mastering the Materia needed to create functioning refrigeration units and fairly weak power circuits.
Most members of the company were confused as to why the CEO had called in certain individuals who seemed to have no relevance to the situation, especially a member of the Wutai Royal family, but once finding out that two of them (being Barret Wallace and Cid Highwind) regularly worked with alternative power sources, it eased their minds knowing there were several available options for the power crisis if the Materia Tech failed.
While the team were mostly there for getting the new power sources up and running, they were also there to tackle the issue of JENOVA
Omael was using every other second of his time that wasn't dedicated to his general work to hunt down the JENOVA specimen that had mysteriously vanished from most records. But as the highly paranoid individual as he was in regards to security (the only other person who had similar paranoia at the same levels as Omael had was Vincent), he kept several backups of the tower computer records, which varied in size over the years.
He had to search back through eight years of backlog to find any mention of the specimen, and was pleased to announce that one decorative statue had been shipped from Nibelheim to Midgar by some labs techs and infantry that were 'discharged from service' mere weeks after the shipment.
One fragment of the body had been transferred to the Gongaga reactor, which had been destroyed after the Greater Gospel rain fell upon the town.
However, that meant there were several other pieces scattered around Gaia, and guess who had to go dig them up?
It was a good thing that the only place such pieces could be kept in (relatively) good condition were the Mako Reactors.
So Cloud and Co. began to prepare for their expedition, under the pretence of inspecting the other reactors and shutting them down (once the pieces of JENOVA had been destroyed, the reactors were worthless).
Vincent stayed in Midgar though, as Keith took it upon himself to go search for the pieces under the Midgar HQ as he had a few . . . issues to settle with the alien lifeform.
Especially about how she had so 'kindly' taken care of his brothers.
(Despite the fact she hadn't done it yet, he still felt like she deserved it).
With Vincent's help, and Cait Sith accompanying them, they descended into the bowels of the SHINRA HQ (Keith noted to revamp the entire place, perhaps a bunker?), and came upon the early stages of DeepGround.
Keith was rather glad Vincent and Cloud had sat him down to explain what DeepGround was.
Once clearing out the few specimens (Keith wished he could resurrect Hollander just to kill him again, dying from falling out a window was too kind for the shitstain), it was simple to find JENOVA's main body, and Keith eagerly tore into the writhing mass of limbs with the strongest Firaga he could muster (which put Genesis' to shame, who do you think taught him?).
Vincent wasn't ashamed to say he had been a little disturbed by the unholy grin on Keith's face as he watched the torso burn, high pitched popping noises breaking the silence and crackling of flames as they watched the alien lifeform crumble into ash. It was quite satisfying dumping buckets of Holy Water onto the blackened stain on the floor, but the best part was to come.
Genesis would have come down with them, but Keith had promptly thrown the auburn haired SOLDIER back into the elevator once reading a few files scattered around the main lab, ordering him to take the subjects they found along with Angeal to the Turks for security reasons.
But he was quite glad he had borrowed Genesis' rapier as he used it to cut the vile head off of JENOVA's torso, and the alien had been speechless as her body had burned.
It then began to screech and scream when Keith advanced on the prone head, Vincent letting Chaos out to play didn't help in the slightest, as the two demons (seriously, Keith was scary when his family was involved) tore into the remainder of the Calamity.
When they both returned to the surface, no one said a word as the two men strode through the lobby covered in ash and dubiously-smelling purple blood.
They were greeted with a quartet of screaming children in adult bodies who wanted their 'Big Brother/Boss'.
Which Turk let slip about Cloud's ?
Keith (once he had wiped the blood from his face), sat them down and explained that their 'Big Brother' would be back once he finished exterminating some pests, and distracted them by asking what their names and their special skills were.
Once mentioning that their Big Brother would be very happy to know they were cooperating, the four eagerly began to talk, and somehow they managed to keep the quartet occupied until Cloud returned.
There had been a young girl who had been found down in the bowels of the building, but seemed to be perfectly fine although a little traumatized, and once she had given her name (Shelke), Omael was able to link her to one of the scientists in his division, whose sister had gone missing a few weeks before Hollander's death. Her older sister Shalua was in absolute tears when Omael informed his younger colleague they had found her sister, and after a few days of observation, she was free to go.
The other four though . . . well they had been down there since they had failed out of the Cadet program due to a technicality, and it was a miracle that they had even remembered their names.
It was rather odd to watch the four teengaers behaving like children, but it became normal after a few days as they waited for Cloud to return from checking Northern Crater for fragments of JENOVA.
At this point, they really didn't want to miss any trace of JENOVA because even a single piece could cause a nightmare.
Keith had tons of experience with younger children, so the company left it up to him to keep the teenagers occupied until Cloud got back, disturbing several employees when they asked why they were alright with Keith and no other adult besides Vincent.
"The mean old lady that kept screaming at us went Boom-Crackle-Pop." Rosso had replied with a blood-chilling grin as Keith played with her hair, combing the red strands with a smirk on his face as the secretary stumbled back with a green tinge to her face. Clearly she recalled how Keith had ash, soot, and purple blood smeared on his cheeks.
The only other adult they had been alright around was Omael, but only when Keith or Vincent were with them. Omael could understand why, as it had been a fellow scientist who had done it to them, and so he discarded his lab coat around them to at least remove one reminder of their time underground.
Cloud was kept up to date on the four's progress (the company referred to them as the Colour Quartet as they preferred to wear certain colours over anything else). Keith had raided Genesis' wardrobe to find something for Rosso until they could make a shopping trip, she enjoyed flouncing about in a red crop top like jacket (apparently it was from Genesis' wilder days). Azul had to borrow some of Angeal's few blue items of clothing, as he was a broad shouldered, muscular build similar to the Banoran born SOLDIER.
Nero practically drowned himself in black, preferring long sleeves and high collared shirts, while Weiss had no qualms in snagging a few of Rufus' suits, that had been left behind when the SHINRA heir left the company.
When Cloud returned, he had to double-take; seeing Weiss in a white suit, Azul in a blue polo shirt and jeans, Nero in a black turtleneck and slacks while having both arms in a black sling, with Rosso bringing up the rear in a stylish red v-neck shirt, burgundy shorts and leggings (she may have borrowed some of Genesis' boots, but he had no need for them anyway).
Keith could see his little brother's surprise at the quartet, eyeing the mechanical arms that emerged from Nero's back, but he did catch the grimace as he knew Cloud had hoped Nero hadn't undergone that operation yet.
Omael had deemed it too risky to remove the mechanical arms, but had high hopes that with a medicine mixture including Holy Water, the damage on Nero's flesh and bone arms might be reversed. If successful, the boy would require muscle therapy, but Nero was just glad to hear he might be able to use his arms without feeling pain in the future.
Cloud was almost bowled over by the quartet, who were babbling so fast that even he strained to understand what they were saying, but once they calmed down (having seen Keith's many expressions, he could copy a decent few), he let them speak one at a time.
It looked like the worst was over for now.
Or so they thought.
-o0o-
Mere weeks after the DeepGround and JENOVA fiascos had been settled, another incident occurred.
Angeal had returned from a month long mission from the North, as some monsters had been a bit rabid from the remainders of corrupted mako, and seemed to have caught a bug on the trip back.
At first he had been lethargic; most chalking it up to a cold. This wasn't a big problem; Angeal's last dose of mako had been mixed up with a new drug that had no ill side effects besides a lowered immune system.
However, he didn't get better after a few days, steadily growing more tired and mentioning his back aching.
Then, three wings tore free from his back as he was crossing the lobby on his way to request sick-leave.
No one had any idea of what to do (Cloud had only told Keith and Omael about the wings). Sephiroth and Genesis were utterly speechless as Keith scooped Angeal off the floor and yelled for them to fetch Omael, already phoning Cloud, while snapping at the secretary to get an ambulance.
The two SOLDIER's ran all the way to Omael's office, Genesis couldn't speak at all while Sephiroth hastily explained about Angeal and the wings. Omael glanced to Genesis with utter horror before grabbing some files and dashing to the elevator.
Genesis had been the first to have wings; that's how it had started.
But for it to be Angeal?
They hadn't anticipated this.
Cloud was beside Angeal, talking to the medic as he was being loaded onto a stretcher, speaking quietly and surely.
Sephiroth blanched as two black, dragon-like wings unfurled from where Cloud normally kept them hidden, quickly spotting the slight twist to the spines and the slight hitch in the joint on one of them.
Genesis was practically a statue as he watched his childhood friend lie in agony on the stretcher, frantic thoughts running through his mind, too shocked to notice Cloud's own wings.
It was decided that Cloud and Omael would go with Angeal, since they had more knowledge on the matter, leaving Keith to wrangle the two shock stricken SOLDIER's back into the building. The blonde janitor tried to not grimace as Genesis silently stared at Angeal blood smeared across his uniform, making a mental note to dispose of this uniform as soon as he had the two younger men sorted out.
After making the two cups of rum spiked hot chocolate, Vincent gave Keith a brief few minutes to go change while he supervised them, giving them silent reassurance that Angeal would be fine.
-o0o-
It was a touch and go situation; Cloud and Omael occasionally contacting them to inform them of Angeal's condition. Keith didn't even protest when Sephiroth curled up against him for comfort, Genesis joining him soon after the next update. Vincent slipped out to fetch chocolate bars, they certainly needed it.
It didn't help when Omael informed them that Angeal had to go into surgery and Cloud had to perform part of it because the doctors had no idea how to get the impacted trio of wings to emerge.
Several Vets also had to be called in, because the impacted wings had been broken in several places when they failed to emerge, and had to have the Doctor's helping them as Cloud pulled them out of the inscions.
They didn't sleep that night, too afraid they would miss a call, terrified for their friend's life, none of them could imagine how Angeal was feeling right now. Thankfully Zack had been out of the city on a mission and had no cell reception to hear the news that Angeal had been taken to hospital.
Then, what seemed to be an eternity later, Cloud had called to inform them of the successful surgery (that had lasted ten hours in total) and that Angeal was (finally) on the mend with a drip of Holy Water.
They couldn't understand why Cloud had cracked up giggling after telling them that Angeal sure was a strong Buster of a Zu.
Not even Keith could answer them.
While they were all relieved to hear Angeal was fine now, they all forgot about one thing . . .
-o0o-
Zack was not pleased to return to find Angeal was in the hospital and none of them had tried to at least contact him to let him know about the situation. He had to find out from some random on the street when he returned, and almost broke a wall when he dashed to the hospital to find Angeal perfectly fine (although with some new appendages) and having visitors.
The Zu comment made a lot more sense when Zack mentioned that Angeal's shiny new wings looked an awful lot like the monsters he'd been sent out to cull, before fainting from the shock of seeing said wings.
Cloud didn't have the heart to tell him that most of SOLDIER would probably end up with something similar, depending on their personality and the mako mixes used on them.
Keith was just fine having his normal human appendages, and was quite glad he had never tried to apply for SOLDIER.
But now Angeal was out of commission and they had that gala coming up . . .
Which meant he had to supervise.
Just wonderful, having to look after a bunch of super-humans with access to alcohol.
It was going to be a nightmare.
The image of Angeal being flat out on his front with three sets of wings up in uncomfortable braces and casts while he was in seventh heaven due to the amount of drugs in his system? Priceless.
Definitely made up for it.
But first he had to survive looking after the Colourful Quartet who needed to go shopping again.
Ah, what was his life right now?
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OMAKE
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Keith wanted to cackle right now, even though people would look at him like a lunatic, but it would be worth it.
Cloud had mentioned to him before how he hated shopping for anything other than weapon maintenance or Materia.
So now his little brother could suffer alongside him as they made their way through the shopping district, following four hyped up teenagers with basically unlimited spending money.
Well, not that they knew that, Keith was in charge of the funds, as he was quite selective when it came to price ranges.
But perhaps he could let the kids go a little over budget just to watch Cloud squirm for once.
"So, who wants ice cream?"
Cloud groaned while the kids cheered, already weighed down with several bags full of knick knacks and clothing, a majority of his burden being Nero's as the mechanical arms were a little delicate after their latest inspection (Scarlet was good for something it seemed).
Seeing the mischievous glint in his older brother's eye, Cloud knew Keith was doing this just to mess with him, giving kids ice cream was bad enough, but these four?
It was literally asking for trouble.
It only got worse as they kept going. Azul, despite being his size, got tired quite easily (Keith was still working out a training regime for him). And when he got tired, he got whiny.
It took five minutes of complaining and high pitched whining for Cloud to give up, letting the teen clamber on his back. The only upside to this was Azul was perfectly fine holding a few bags, even though those occasionally hit Cloud in the chest as he walked.
Keith strolled behind them with Rosso and Weiss, Nero preferred Cloud as the older man was smaller, so he was walking next to Cloud. Which meant when he bumped his flesh arms (that were getting better with time, but still quite tender) into a stall by accident and began to cry, Azul started whining that Nero was hurt, giving Cloud one horrendous headache.
Exasperated, Cloud swerved into the nearest store, Nero sniffling as one mechanical limb clutched onto Keith's sleeve, and emerged with a black straight jacket (Midgar was weird; you can find the most oddest of things in the most innocent of stores). Nero was quite pleased that his arms were supported, and wouldn't bang into things (as he had zero motor control of them most of the time), and settled down.
Rosso was the next offender, almost jumping through a rusted grate that dropped all the way down to the slums, as she saw something shiny apparently. Cloud yanked her back and cuffed her upside the ear, lecturing her about safety and recklessness, before pulling out his phone to get the plate maintenance team to sort out the hole as soon as possible.
Kids could get killed that way!
Keith just chuckled, watching his little brother having to deal with the same things he dealt with almost every day.
Then Cloud decided to give the kids an incentive to behave and led them over to a sweet shop.
Keith took one look at the store sign and burst out into laughter, Rosso and Weiss staring up at him in confusion, but he waved them off as he wiped tears of mirth from his eyes while mentioning he had to make a quick stop in a shop nearby.
Leaving Cloud with all four of them.
Alone.
"Alright, Weiss take your twin into the shelves and pick out 500 Gil worth of candy for each of you, and I mean 500 Gil ONLY, you have already had one treat today after all. Rosso, Azul, you two are not going to be picking out anything yourselves. Rosso, you were very reckless and put your life in danger, so think yourself lucky you are getting sweets at all. Azul, instead of informing me you were getting tired and asking to rest, you started complaining about everything and anything you could, just to be annoying. Again, think yourself lucky that you are getting anything here at all, as training is going to be a lot worse than simply walking around the shopping district."
Rosso and Azul pouted, but knew Cloud wouldn't change his mind and so waited outside the shop, the girl poking at the cobblestones with a stick, while Azul hummed a low tune under his breath.
Keith returned minutes later, a nondescript bag tucked under his arms, and began to chuckle as he saw the predicament Cloud was in now.
Weiss, who was normally the best behaved, was clinging to Cloud's arm, almost vibrating, he was bouncing up and down so fast. Nero was staring at his brother in bewilderment, as he had never seen his brother be so energetic and hyper.
Cloud was trying (and horribly failing) to try and calm him down, but with a mixture of ice cream and candy . . .
It was a lost cause.
So Cloud did the one thing he hadn't done in many years, turning to his older brother with a plea of desperation in his eyes.
And who was Keith to deny him?
"Alright, I've got this. Rosso, Azul, help Cloud with the bags. I'll deal with the white rabbit here."
Rosso and Azul compiled, taking about half of the bags from Cloud, who let out a sigh of relief at the burden being lightened, while Keith snagged Weiss by the shoulder and before the boy knew it, he was perched upon Keith's shoulders.
The hyper boy blinked in confusion, but soon was delighted at the new point of view he had been given, giggling in delight (a combination of the sugar and excitement) as Keith declared they would head back to the tower. Nero stared up at his brother, a brief smile flickering on his face as he saw how happy his brother was.
They had all noted how co-dependant the two were, so Keith had no qualms in scooping Nero up in one arm (being mindful of his arms) and set him on one hip. Nero floundered for a second, but found his balance, once mechanical limb snagging Weiss's sleeve.
Cloud didn't even mind when Rosso borrowed his phone to take a picture, the teen putting it back in his pocket as they made their way back to the tower. Weiss spent the rest of his energy babbling about what he could see from his new vantage point to his brother, Nero nodding at Weiss' words.
The passersby couldn't help but coo at the adorable sight, but let the six continue on their way.
It seemed like a good end to a rather tiresome day.
-o0o-
Genesis immediately snapped pictures when they got back, having been the designated scrapbooker in Angeal's absence.
Also, he knew Angeal would kill him if he didn't get a picture of this. Or get the Puppy to.
It didn't help that Sephiroth got rather reminiscent of his own childhood as he vaguely remembered Keith carrying him around on his shoulders or hip, and decided to pester Omael for the baby albums.
Yes, Omael kept baby albums. He needed to document Sephiroth's childhood for Vincent.
Keith was going to enjoy this as much as he could before the gala next week.
Although he had to sort out who could look after the quartet during it . . .
Well, that was another problem for another day
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A/N: The Tsviets were not planned. Seriously, they weren't. But now they're here and there are more children in the family. It was so fluffy . . . maybe there might be further appearances in the future?
Poor Angeal, we put him through the wringer . . .
LiulfrLokison out! :3
Just think Lokir, we need to Gen and Seph next...