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Hi folks! I didn't like the way this chapter came out so dry and impersonal so I tried to make it a bit better. Hope you like it. If so, please send me a brief note to let me know, or even if you don't. Okay?
Fourteen…
"And how is my specimen doing today?" Hojo had finally fixed his tentacle arm. It took twenty or so monsters and most of the night to re-grow it, as well as to regenerate his damaged eyes and heal the dangling trunk tentacle he used instead of legs. He frowned when he saw Cloud huddled in the tank, eyes closed, apparently unchanged since he had left him the day before. "How irritating!" Hojo summoned two of his more powerful humanoid monsters, a couple of stupid Aps from the Midgar sewers, keyed the tank door open and ordered them to grab the SOLDIER firmly by the arms. He didn't even care if they broke them as long as they kept the man a safe distance from his own precious hide. "Bring him!" he ordered curtly and turned back toward the lab. There were a few other substances he'd thought of while healing himself that might do the trick.
The two Aps reached inside the tank, grabbed one arm each and started to drag Cloud out of the tank. Sephiroth abruptly flexed his arms, using their own grip against them, and slammed their heads together. As they fell in a heap, he sailed over their heads in a flying somersault and landed on top of the desk where Zack's sword lay. Picking it up in one fluid motion, he turned, and with a well practiced swing cut both the shambling creatures in half. The odd weight and balance of the sword threw off his timing a bit and his lips thinned with distaste. It was a clumsy weapon at best. But still, it felt good to be able to move and kill as he wished. He had spent far too long inside the puppet called Cloud, waiting for a chance to take over his body, and now that he had it, he intended to finish what he had started less than a year ago.
Sephiroth jumped lightly down from the desk and glanced at the door where Hojo had disappeared. He shrugged and looked at the heavy sword in his hands with a calculating expression. He hefted it, remembering the only other man who had ever wielded it, then frowned and shook his head angrily. He had no time for emotional drivel! Casting all doubts and memories aside, Sephiroth turned and headed toward the hidden stairway which would lead him out of the mansion.
He had gone no more than a few steps when a strange feeling of disorientation hit him and he staggered. It almost felt as if someone else's hands were taking control of the Buster Sword; skilled hands that knew the blade like an extension of themselves. Sephiroth suddenly spun about, raised the oversized blade and, yelling a battle cry, ran after the retreating scientist.
Hojo didn't need to look back to figure out what happened. He squealed as soon as Cloud began cutting his monsters into pieces and jetted out of the library toward his lab at full speed, calling every monster in the compound to come to his rescue. Cloud ran after him with a murderous look in his greenish-brown eyes and Hojo threw every monster he could into the crazed SOLDIER'S path to slow him down as he ducked through the lab to the secret passage beyond.
Tentacles jittering in panic, Hojo slammed the heavy metal door shut and locked it. Then he backed away, eyes wide as he watched his monsters vanish one after the other in an explosion of blood and bones. With a mounting sense of horror, Hojo watched Cloud grab the examination table, rip it from the floor and throw it at the locked door. He jumped back as the reinforced metal thundered and groaned, then the last of the monsters died, cutting off the scientist's view.
Zack slammed the giant Buster Sword into the door repeatedly until it literally blew apart. Then he launched himself through the jagged opening and pounded down the tunnel after the fleeing scientist, intent on dicing him into so many tiny pieces that there wouldn't be enough left to recognize as animal, vegetable, or mineral.
Cloud had fallen into a catatonic state, lost somewhere Zack could not follow, and he was furious. More monsters appeared, crowding the narrow tunnel, hampering his movements. In a berserk rage he threw Meteorain at them then began hacking and slashing so fast that his sword was no more than a blur. Through the haze of blood and anger, Zack spotted Hojo at the end of the long tunnel, frantically fumbling with something near a rock wall. The scientist glanced back at him, eyes wide with fear, then the wall shifted and he vanished.
Monsters continued to press against Zack, pinning down his sword, and he yelled began ripping chunks of them apart with his gloved hands. He didn't know where they were all coming from, but Hojo was getting away and he couldn't allow it! Claws, teeth, tentacles, and mandibles slashed and bit at him, drawing their own blood as well as his in all the confusion, but the SOLDIER First Class was beyond caring. He owed that scrawny little scientist so many favors that he'd run up a veritable tab of hatred and revenge. First Sephiroth and now Cloud!
Enraged, Zack kicked, elbowed, kneed and bashed with his fists and head at the monsters. They kept coming as if there was an endless supply of them, just like his anger, and he was panting by the time he tore his way through them to the wall where Hojo had disappeared. Immediately Zack started looking for the hidden door he knew the little skunk had slipped through. It wasn't obvious at first, blending in so well with the surrounding rock as it did, but he finally located what looked like a door locking mechanism. As he reached for it however, a wave of dizziness caused him to stumble and he missed the door and almost fell.
The poison from the infected monsters was finally making itself felt.
Zack cursed, but Cloud's body had already survived the infection twice before and though it slowed him down, the effects weren't as debilitating. He kicked at the door, stepped back, raised his sword and began to hack at it with single minded fury; eyes glowing dangerously as he thought of all the things he would do to the sadistic bastard when he got hold of him. He'd cut him into so many tiny pieces, even Jenova wouldn't be able to put him back together again! He'd rip out every greasy strand of hair one by one and then feed him his eyeballs, goddamnit! He'd…
Abruptly Zack went to his knees as the world canted wildly around him. He stared dully at his bloodied hands, unsure what had happened. Then he remembered.
Cloud!
He had to get Cloud out of this hellhole and back to his friends as fast as possible or the boy would die. They could help him. They could…
Sephiroth sat up. He looked curiously at his bloodied gloves and at the sword that lay on the floor beside him. What had just happened? He remembered dispatching the two creatures that pulled him from his cell, the odd balance of Zack's sword in his hands… and Hojo. After that everything went blank, until he woke up to find himself here; wherever here was.
Rising slowly to his feet, he fought muscles that were strangely weak and unsteady, almost as if they were trying to resist him. Grimacing, he realized he'd been infected yet again by that brainless ape's pets. He checked the wounds that covered his body, wondering how he'd acquired them this time even as they began to heal. The process took less time now that he knew which cells to stimulate and the body seemed a bit more resilient as well. He could feel the Jenova cells within him respond automatically to the body's need; repairing damaged muscles and tissues. It was very much like his original body in many ways and Sephiroth wondered why he hadn't noticed it before when he was using Cloud as his puppet to retrieve the Black Materia. There were so many similarities. Hojo was an idiot, but somehow he had managed to succeed in constructing a creature equal to him in many ways. Not a clone exactly. No, Cloud was much more than that, as he had proven when he presented him with the Black Materia, twice, and even unknowingly led him to where Aeris was trying to activate the Holy Materia to defeat him. The boy had managed to beat each of the pieces of Jenova that he threw at him during their chase across the Planet and somehow grown strong enough to defeat even him in the end.
Sephiroth casually wiped his gloved hands on the fur of a dead monster that lay on the floor behind him and glanced up, suddenly aware that there was a mountain of dead beasts filling the tunnel. He raised a curious eyebrow. It would explain the blood on his hands, though not why. He picked up Zack's sword and hefted it, whipping it downwards to shake off the blood. It brought back memories and he smiled.
"So Seph! Which sword do you think's better?" Zack eyed him with that singularly smug look Sephiroth had always wanted to remove forcibly from his Second-in-Command's face. He knew it irritated the General, which was why he persisted in using the expression as often as possible. Sephiroth looked away, trying not to sound like he was snarling. That would only encourage Zack.
"The Masamune is a refined blade. Yours…" he glanced scornfully at the monstrous sword, "is…"
"Big? Huge? Impressive as all hell?"
"…unbalanced and crude," Sephiroth finished.
"Hey! I'll have you know this little baby has saved my hide more than once against monsters and men alike! She was handed down to me by my uncle on my mom's side. He didn't have any male heirs of his own… so it even qualifies as a family heirloom! What do you think of that?!" Zack grinned at him, brown eyes tinged green by the Mako treatments glowing mischievously.
"You don't want to know what I think, Zack," Sephiroth answered, lips twitching up despite himself. Zack looked appropriately crestfallen, but it lasted only a few short seconds before he returned to his usual hyper, disgustingly cheerful self.
"Let's be off," Sephiroth spoke before the younger SOLDIER could begin to regale him with any more infantile stories. "We have a job to do." He walked away then almost stumbled as Zack began to whistle a children's lullaby.
"What is that?!" he demanded as he covered the misstep and continued toward the troop transport truck.
"You don't want to know!" Zack cheerily flung a mock salute at the General and hurried ahead of him to the truck. Sephiroth scowled ferociously after the SOLDIER First Class and followed at a more sedate pace.
"You're probably right," he muttered.
Sephiroth frowned, shaking his head in an attempt to deny the memories. That was all in the past now. Zack had died long ago and he had unfinished business at the Northern Crater. Jenova's head awaited him there, where he had been rebuilding his body within the protective shell of the Materia chrysalis while he absorbed the Lifestream in preparation for becoming a god, and though the Black Materia had vanished, he was sure he could locate it again without much trouble.
He concentrated and the sword changed to the more familiar heft and weight of the Masamune. His clothes also changed, settling more comfortably around his tall, lean frame than the shorter SOLDIER uniform had. Slipping the sword into the sheath at his back, he strode away from the littered bodies of the dead. If the entrance to the Shinra Mansion was blocked by monsters behind him, then the pitifully camouflaged rock door just ahead would have to serve as an exit.
Sephiroth whipped out his sword and casually slashed the door in half then kicked away the pieces and stepped through it into a long corridor. The stone walls were lined with what looked to be hundreds of specimen tanks, many encasing deformed travesties of human beings or new monsters that hadn't survived the experimental process. He stopped to glance at a few of them. They brought back uncomfortable memories of some of the things he and Zack had found at the Mt. Nibel reactor. Hojo's mess! Sephiroth turned away from the abominations and lengthened his stride, wanting to be out of this carnival of death as soon as possible. Then something caught his eye and he paused to look more carefully.
At the end of the corridor of stone, in a recessed alcove to his left were four specimen tanks that didn't have monsters in them. These were definitely human and… his brows shot up… they were surprisingly familiar, like looking into a mirror. He moved closer to read the labels; Sephiroth Clones, Project A, specimen A, B, C, and D. Sephiroth sneered at Hojo's total lack of imagination in naming and numbering his experiments. He'd always been sloppy like that. Specimens A and B were missing from their tanks, but from the looks of C and D it appeared that the scientist might actually have managed to successfully clone him; in body at least.
Slowly, Sephiroth placed his hands on the tank labeled C and leaned his forehead against the cool glass, searching for some sign of consciousness within. The Jenova cells in the clone responded to his presence and the boy floating in the tank twitched, moving his head to one side as if listening to something. Long silver hair drifted around elegant features as they curved into a slight frown. Sephiroth stepped back. He could hear Jenova calling to the boy; to him. They shared the same cells after all. But there was no personality, no awareness in the clone, only Jenova's whisperings. Sephiroth frowned, silver brows drawn down over a long slender nose. He didn't need them! He already had a body, and it was more perfect than any of the creatures Hojo had created so far. He saw no reason to even consider using one of these empty shells. Turning away from the clone tanks, he strode to the door at the end of the corridor and walked through. It was time to leave this place and its disturbing memories.
Unnoticed by his greatest creation, Hojo cowered behind a specimen tank further along the corridor, watching. A triumphant expression slowly spread across his face as he realized his plan had actually worked. When Sephiroth was safely out of sight, he began to bounce up and down with barely contained glee. Locating a few bats nearby, he sent them to spy on the silver haired General, reinforcing the need to stay a safe distance away. He didn't know what happened back there in the lab, but it appeared that Sephiroth was in complete control of Cloud's body now. Rubbing his tentacles together ecstatically, he drifted silently in Sephiroth's wake, being careful not to be seen. All he had to do now was follow his new god's progress; maybe even help him along here and there, and ultimate power would be his. Jenova's voice whispered a warning to him, but he ignored it. Everything was fine. His experiment had worked! And this time Hojo was going to join Sephiroth in his godhood. He giggled quietly to himself.
Red and Vincent arrived in Nibelheim one day after leaving Cosmo Canyon. They had ridden almost non-stop, pausing only to feed the chocobo and themselves and stretch their legs a bit before they were off again. But when they rode into the little town, it immediately became apparent that no one was occupying either the houses or the shops. The place was unnaturally quiet and it made Red's fur stand on end. There were no sounds of people, or even birds and other small animals or insects; only a breathy silence that rang in the red beast's ears, tingling along his spine, warning him of danger.
Vincent slowly dismounted and started to search the empty houses for signs of what might have happened to the residents, while Red slipped off the chocobo's back and shook himself; glad to be free of the bird with its unsettling movement. The ex-Turk was concerned by the lack of bodies. He knew that a veritable herd of infected monsters had been making their way steadily toward this town, probably at Hojo's command if what Red XIII said was correct, and he had no reason to doubt the beast. So where were they? And more important, where were the residents of Nibelheim? Had Hojo infected them also, or had he just killed them? The thought unsettled him for some reason. He had no connection to any of the people who had lived in this tiny mountain town; not the original residents or the Shinra stooges who had taken over after Sephiroth supposedly burned the place to the ground and they rebuilt it to keep face with the public.
Behind him, Red walked through the central square, searching for some sign of people or monsters. Suddenly he lifted his head as a cold breeze blew down on the town from the mountains. He knew this scent! He had found too many bodies of Cosmo Canyon students with this same fetid odor of sickness about them. His lips drew back in a silent snarl, ears flattening along his head as he followed the scent, nose pointing the way to its source.
"They are that way," he growled.
Vincent looked up from his examination of a scuffed up section of earth outside the Inn and followed Red's nose. It was pointed straight toward the Shinra Mansion. He paused, considering for a long moment, then reluctantly headed toward the source of all his nightmares, pulling out his pistol to check that it was fully loaded. That place held nothing but bad memories for him now and he had vowed never to return to it after they destroyed Hojo and Sephiroth. But Hojo was still alive according to Red and if that was where Cloud was, then he would go. He owed the man more than his life; he owed him a form of redemption. He would never forgive himself for his failure to save Lucrecia, but with Cloud and his friends he had at last begun to accept the fact that he could live with his sin.
Red and Kisari followed the dark haired ex-Turk, who had somehow become their leader, and together they pushed past the broken gate, crossed the overgrown pathway to the double doors and entered. The mansion foyer was just as they remembered it and as they picked their way carefully through the broken furniture and scattered crates and boxes left behind by Shinra, Red XIII noticed that Vincent had his gun out, held loosely by his side in preparation for battle. His one eye narrowed as he realized it was a new one and he wondered briefly where the ex-Turk had acquired it. The pistol had a long barrel, no… three barrels! ... and was beautifully crafted, decorated with scrollwork in silver or mythril. Three wolf heads glared at the floor and there was a large pendant with similar wolf heads dangling from it, or maybe it was a dog of some sort? Red couldn't be sure. It had one body with three heads, but whatever it was, the thing looked as dangerous as any monster Red had ever fought against and he wondered why Vincent had chosen it as a symbol for the handgun.
A faint cracking noise made both companions jerk. They searched for the source, but there was nothing; not even the various monsters they had had to fight previously. They moved cautiously forward, Vincent checking the stairs one step at a time before placing his weight on it. The place looked more dilapidated than usual, giving them both the impression that it was about to fall down around their heads at any moment. When they reached the second floor banister, Vincent looked down at Red with an inquiring lift of one brow. Red XIII swung his nose left and then right, before freezing.
"That way," he rumbled softly. Vincent nodded and stepped forward. It was only to be expected, he sighed softly to himself. Hojo's laboratory was this way after all and where else would he take one of his lab specimens?
As Vincent stepped into the small room where the secret entrance to the labs below lay, Red pressed close by his right leg and he could feel Kisari close on their heels. The chocobo had refused to stay outside, intent upon finding her master, and Vincent hadn't had the heart to exclude her. Besides, the gold chocobo could fight. He'd seen her defend Cloud on more than one occasion as they traveled across continents, and he thought it might not be a bad idea to have as much help as possible when going into Hojo's lair, especially if he had an army of monsters at his beck and call. Expecting to be attacked at any moment, he kept his ears and eyes alert as they cautiously descended the rickety wooden spiral staircase that led to Hojo's underground research facility. Strangely, there were still no monsters in evidence, which he thought was strange.
Vincent led the way past the room which had been his prison for so long and headed straight to the library. Opening the door, he came to an abrupt stop, causing Kisari to bump into him.
"Wark?" she queried softly, aware by her companions' silence that this was not the place to make noise.
Vincent's eyes narrowed. The place was a mess, with broken glass everywhere. Two dead Aps lay in pieces across an overturned book shelf, books were scattered across the floor, and one of the specimen tanks had been shattered. There were shards of glass everywhere. His metal shod feet crunched across the glittering pebbles as he crossed to examine the nearest monster. Red wrinkled his nose in disgust at the overpowering stench. He had never been in this place before. Cloud had asked him to stay outside, perhaps afraid that the similarities to his own place of imprisonment in the labs at Midgar would upset him. And it did, Red realized, as his stomach twisted itself in knots. He didn't know what Hojo had done to Cloud in the five years he was held captive, slave to the depraved mind of a man he wouldn't even deign to call human. He only knew what the greasy haired scientist had done to him in the few months after his capture, before Avalanche stumbled across him and rescued him along with the Cetran girl, Aeris. He shuddered as he remembered the gleam in the scientist's eyes as he considered what tests to start on first, sizing him up like a piece of meat that he was trying to decide how to cook. But other than the brand on his shoulder and a few scars, Red had apparently gotten off easy. He remembered the haunted look in Cloud's eyes as he asked him and the others to wait, before entering this place the last time, and felt sick.
"Still fresh."
Red started, pulling free of the depressing thoughts. He looked up as Vincent rose to his full height, looking around the room as if in search of something. There was a darkened hallway with more books on both walls, but his glowing eyes instead locked upon a bookshelf located a few feet back and slightly to one side of the shattered specimen tank. There was a fine line of light shining around one end and he moved forward as if drawn there against his will. The metal door to the lab wasn't latched. He reached out to push it open and suddenly felt a great reluctance to enter the place where Hojo had taken away the last shred of his humanity. But Cloud was somewhere ahead in the hands of that madman. Vincent compressed his lips into a thin line, steeling himself, and walked into the lab.
More destruction met their startled eyes. There were bodies of half a dozen monsters lying scattered about. The examination table had been ripped from its anchors in the concrete floor and apparently thrown at the metal door on the far side of the room. The door jamb was dented and bent out of shape while what remained of the door itself lay broken into pieces on the floor beyond the lab. Vincent walked over and touched the cut marks in the door frame, calculating the strength necessary to perform such a feat. Cloud could probably do it, but the ex-Turk couldn't imagine what would've caused the soft spoken man to do something so violent.
"Wark?" Kisari's head suddenly went up. She smelled Cloud!
Without a second thought, the chocobo pushed past Vincent, dashing through the jagged doorway and into the secret passage beyond. She had trouble scrambling over the dead monsters that filled the passageway, but she was determined and finally managed to force her way over the many impediments. When she wriggled free of the last body, the gold chocobo raced through the remnants of the camouflaged door at the end and vanished before either Vincent or Red had a chance to react.
"Kisari!" Red barked. With a growl, he leaped over the bodies, running lightly across them in pursuit of the chocobo.
Vincent spared a glance at this further evidence of Cloud's berserk fury before he followed cautiously after the two. Something had happened here that he couldn't explain and he was worried for Cloud's sake. Hojo was a monster in the guise of a human being. He always had been, but it had taken Lucrecia's death for Vincent to finally acknowledge it. He had helped Cloud kill Hojo in all his Jenova induced forms and thought his revenge was complete. But according to Red, the scientist was still alive and trying to use Cloud once more. Of course, all that that narrow minded man was able to think of was bringing back his beloved god of destruction, Sephiroth. The idea made Vincent grow cold inside. He didn't know how Cloud fit into the scientist's plans, but he knew it couldn't be allowed. The man was a monster! Vincent's eyes began to glow like the fires of hell as he thought of what it would mean for his young friend to once more be at the mercy of the creature that called itself Hojo.
He hated Hojo for destroying the person most precious to him and would never forgive himself for allowing her to die, even though Lucrecia had insisted that she volunteered for the experiment of her own free will. How much worse could it have been for Cloud?
Vincent leapt over the bodies of the dead monsters, cape flying behind him like the red wings of Chaos.
To be used against his will by Sephiroth and Jenova, to raise his own sword against one he obviously cared for as much as Vincent had cared for Lucrecia, Cloud had endured far more at the hands of that madman than Vincent could ever have imagined in his worst nightmares and though the young SOLDIER'S body didn't show it like his own clawed hand, Vincent had seen the wounds in his friend's haunted features when Cloud thought no one was looking. Vincent clenched his fist, metal claws scraping against each other, and moved faster, almost flying down the hall past the tanks of misshapen humans and half formed monsters. He didn't even notice the two clones tucked away in their special alcove. A white hot fury was beginning to spread through his body, warning of The Change, and this time he welcomed it.
Sephiroth paused and looked around at the familiar surroundings. He nearly laughed out loud at the irony. The secret passageway - which led through a veritable warren of examination rooms, laboratories, and some kind of arena - had finally brought him back to the beginning of everything; the Mt. Nibel reactor. He stared at it, remembering. Up those steps lay the horror. Mako pods meant to create Materia creating monsters instead, broken travesties of what had once been humans. It was here that he at last found his mother, Jenova. And it was here that Zack and that trooper tried to kill him.
Sephiroth scowled as another wave of disorientation hit him. He grabbed his head with one hand and stumbled, cursing. Once more his vision shifted as if he was seeing through another's eyes. He was inside the reactor once more, staring up past the Mako pods at… himself?! The Sephiroth he saw was limping, bleeding heavily from a wound the trooper had inflicted with Zack's sword when he caught him off guard. Jenova's head dangled from one hand, the Masamune from the other. He frowned.
"Cloud!" Zack's voice called out hoarsely. Sephiroth looked up. His old friend was lying broken and bleeding on top of one of the Mako pod tanks where he'd been thrown when the General defeated him. He'd never had a chance, Sephiroth realized as he stared at the SOLDIER First Class. Zack had never wanted to hurt him. To the very last he had tried to appeal to his common sense and their friendship; anything to make him stop in his insanity. It had fallen on deaf ears.
"Cloud! You've got to stop him!"
Sephiroth found himself nodding. He turned away from Tifa's unconscious body and went to pick up Zack's sword.
Cloud? These were Cloud's memories?
His hands clutched Zack's huge sword and, lifting the heavy blade with difficulty, he yelled a battle cry and ran after the wounded Sephiroth. But the Buster Sword was too heavy. It dragged at his arms, slowing him down. He tried to swing it like he'd seen Zack do, but even injured Sephiroth was too fast for him. He had been lucky the first time. There would be no second chances.
"Don't… push… your luck," Sephiroth growled. Turning, he thrust the Masamune toward him as he lunged forward.
The impossibly long sword sliced into his chest, scraping across his ribcage and ripping out through his shoulder blades, and he dropped Zack's sword as molten fire spread through his body. He felt himself lifted off the ground and stars exploded in his head as his weight pulled him down against the sharp metal. It seemed like his heart would burst from the pressure. He wanted to scream, but couldn't even breathe. The backs of his eyes flashed with pinwheels of light and darkness and he felt himself spiraling into an endless void. He couldn't feel his arms or legs anymore. He couldn't move. He was dying, and the man who stood before him, who had destroyed his home, his family, his friends, and even Zack, was going to get away!
The familiar sensation of helplessness and self loathing wrapped itself around him. Zack had trusted him to stop Sephiroth, but he couldn't even do that. He was a failure, a weakling who couldn't protect anyone. The children and townsfolk had been right all along. He was just a useless runt who brought misfortune to everything he touched and everyone he loved. He raised his heavy head and stared down the endless length of the Masamune at the man he'd idolized for so long; hoping to be like him because he was strong, admired, and sure of himself, everything he wasn't. Then he saw the madness in the General's eyes and something stirred inside of him. He was suddenly consumed by a sense of betrayal as hot as the blood which ran from his chest, nose and mouth. This man had destroyed everything; his town, his mother, Tifa and even Zack; the only person who had ever bothered to make friends with an undersized outcast from a backwoods mountain village who wanted to make something of himself despite the jeers from his teachers, the other cadets and even the troopers he was forced to join when he failed the SOLDIER program. His eyes blazed suddenly, hot with tears he refused to cry and anger at what had been taken from him.
"I trusted you!" he yelled into the face of the man he had once admired. "I believed in you!"
His mind screamed, crying out in a pain far worse than the physical agony of his body. It tore at the very core of his being, ripping out his heart and soul with it until there was nothing left except hatred. Slowly, painfully, he reached out and wrapped his hands around the sword which impaled him. With a determination he didn't even know he had, he began to pull his body toward the General, ignoring the ripping sensation as the Masamune sheared flesh and bone, driving deeper through his torso and out his back. He didn't even care that the blade was close to his heart. His heart was already dead. How could it be destroyed any further? He ignored the blinding pain, the roaring in his head and the fire in his chest as he continued to pull, gripping the top of the sword so his fingers wouldn't be sliced off before he could finish what he'd started. He didn't know what he was doing, only that he had to complete the last task he'd been given. Zack had told him to stop Sephiroth and he would. He would!
Sephiroth scowled as the change in weight forced him to lower his sword. He tried to yank it free, but the trooper held the blade captive with his own body, hands bleeding from the tight grip he kept on the razor sharp sword.
He could feel his flesh ripping and tearing as the angle of the Masamune shifted inside him. Then it happened. His feet touched the floor and with all his might he clutched the sword and started to shake it from side to side, causing the General to stumble off balance.
"I looked up to you!" A white hot rage encompassed him, giving him strength his failing body could not. The encroaching darkness swelled and receded, but he ignored it, intent upon one thing only.
Sephiroth stared at him, green eyes narrowed in confusion.
"What are you?" he demanded.
"I will never forgive you!" Gathering up all his remaining strength, he wrenched the blade up, lifting Sephiroth off the ground and jerked sideways, throwing him bodily over the catwalk. The man hit the far wall of the reactor, coat flying around him like broken black wings, Jenova's head still clutched in his right hand then he fell into the green pool of Mako far below. Only then did the pain return. It burned, eating its way like acid through every cell of his body, driving him to his knees. Dully he gazed over the catwalk at where Sephiroth had vanished, hands still wrapped tightly around the Masamune as darkness narrowed his vision to small pinpoints. All his life he'd wanted to be this man and now… there was nothing left to live for.
"Sephiroth…" he whispered raggedly. Why? Then the world tilted and everything went black.
CLOUD
Voices whispered to him, calling his name. They encouraged him, reassuring him that he had done right. They seemed familiar somehow and as he floated amid strands of green light, wondering who or what they were, they gently wrapped themselves around him, lifting his fading spirit from the darkness.
Sephiroth frowned. This wasn't right! The Voices had never encouraged him. In fact, they'd screamed at him when he entered the Lifestream in search of the knowledge of the Ancients.
He opened his eyes.
"So you're alive!" Hojo's ugly face hovered over him. "Ha ha ha! I put more Jenova cells and Mako in you than that irritating SOLDIER First Class could ever tolerate. Amazing! Perhaps using a freshly dead body is the key to creating a successful Sephiroth clone, hmm?"
Fear… Darkness… and then
"Hee hee hee!"
Sephiroth stirred, wondering where he was. He felt a cold, hard surface beneath him. He was lying on some kind of table with straps pinning down his arms, wrists, chest and legs, so tightly that it was threatening to stop circulation. A familiar burning sensation ran through his veins. Mako! A lot of it, if his own experiences were any judge.
"Do you know what he did?" Hojo sounded pleased with himself. "He ripped up the examination table and killed two of my assistants with his bare hands!" Hojo reached down and patted his shoulder possessively.
Sephiroth jerked and screamed like a wounded animal, eyes opening wide as he strained against the shackles that bound him to the gurney. Fear and hatred struggled inside him for dominance. He couldn't think anymore. All he knew was a berserk rage that roared inside his head, screaming for blood; Hojo's blood. The restraints started to snap and Hojo grabbed a shock rod, jabbing it into his chest until he shuddered beneath the electrical onslaught. Yanking against the shackles frantically, he growled as blood ran from his wrists, arms, nose and mouth. Then one shackle snapped with a loud clang, flew across the room and rattled off the wall. He rolled around on the gurney, knocking it over, and tried to crawl across the floor toward Hojo, dragging it behind him.
"Hojo! What the hell are you doing?!" Zack's voice snarled nearby. "Leave the kid alone, goddamnit!"
The scientist calmly grabbed a gun from one of the security guards and shot repeatedly into his chest until his vision fragmented and went black.
Sephiroth stumbled, grabbing his chest. He'd never been shot before, but it felt very real to him at the moment. He knew he was somehow sharing Cloud's memories, just as he had before, but this time they flooded through him and he couldn't stop them. He went to his knees, gritting his teeth, and tried to force the visions away.
"…then I pulled out my sword and cross-slashed, killing the monster," Zack's voice, regaling him with stories of his adventures. "Course Seph only had to blink and most monsters would run. He…"
Sephiroth smiled at the image of Zack; so familiar to him, going on and on about his adventures while bar drunks and ignorant townspeople stared at him in awed fascination. But as Cloud, he felt physical pain assault him at mention of his name. He grabbed his head, shaking it from side to side in a futile attempt to make it go away.
Sorry man." Zack changed tack in mid-sentence. "Did I ever tell you about my girlfriend?"
"So, you got a girlfriend?" Zack sat leaning against the wall of the tank, one arm across his drawn up knee. He looked unhealthy, his usually tanned skin grown pale from long days or even months out of the sun.
Sephiroth was curled up despondently on the floor of his own tank. Every muscle in his body ached abominably and he couldn't seem to think straight.
"Tifa…" his lips formed the name haltingly, but he didn't know what it meant.
"Tifa, huh? Cute name. Say, that sounds familiar! Not that girl guide? That would explain a few things." Zack shifted position, cursing the hard floor. "Might as well be concrete made of ice! I'm getting cramps! So, is that why you put your trooper helmet on? You shy or something?"
Go away! Sephiroth tried to command the flood of memories to stop. He couldn't feel his body anymore. He didn't even know if he was on his feet or on his knees.
Bright light! It hurt his eyes. Needles stabbed his arms, legs, and neck. Scalpel slices as fine as paper cuts opened his body in millions of tiny avenues of blood and pain. Fire and ice alternately raged through his veins as what was left of his own blood mingled with the huge amount of Mako Hojo had replaced it with. He wanted to scream, but no longer had a voice to scream with. They'd taken it away with his memories. Everything had become surreal, except Zack, who kept talking to him, reminding him that there was something other than his own little world of pain and fear. He heard the SOLDIER'S voice as if from far away, trying to draw him back, but it didn't matter anymore. He just wanted to let go, find solace in the emptiness of death where the pain couldn't follow him. Somewhere, his mind whimpered; broken and blasted. The Voices called to him, but he could no longer make out what they said and he had no strength left to care.
"I'm sorry, Cloud." Zack's green-tinged brown eyes pleaded for forgiveness as he stared through the tank at him, pale face pressed against the glass. He slammed his fists against the wall of his prison in frustration then shook his head slowly from side to side. "You wouldn't be in this mess if it hadn't been for my weakness. I should have taken care of Seph. It was my responsibility, not yours."
His sight was slowly fading, covered by a clinging film that obscured his vision. He couldn't see Zack clearly. His limbs felt heavy, so heavy. He closed his eyes and felt himself slipping away.
"Cloud? Cloud! Don't give up on me, kid. I swear I'll get you out of here if it kills me! Just don't give up, okay?"
"What a failure. And I had such high hopes too."
Hojo's voice.
Something lifted him up and he felt his body being dumped into the cold glass tank, his home for he didn't know how long. He no longer cared. His body was sluggish and he couldn't catch himself. His head hit the wall of the tank with a dull thud and he slumped to the floor. He turned his head slowly. His body hurt everywhere. He couldn't even focus on the scientist as he talked.
"But at least my other Sephiroth clones are beginning to respond. Perhaps one of them will serve my purposes."
"Sephiroth clones? Seph is dead! Why don't you just leave him alone!"
Zack. That was Zack. He knew the name and the voice, but didn't know how he knew it or what it meant.
"Oh, no. On the contrary, Mr. SOLDIER First Class. Sephiroth is alive and well… somewhere. The clones can sense him. One day he will become a god and rule this world!" Hojo broke into a fit of giggling and Zack pounded the inside of his tank as it began to fill with Mako.
He felt the thick liquid begin to rise around him and his eyes flew wide with fear. He tried to lunge to his feet, but his legs gave way beneath him. He tried to hold his head above the rising fluid as it passed his waist then his chest and shoulders. No, please! Not again! He couldn't… It covered his head, filling his nostrils and stinging his eyes. He opened his mouth to scream and the fluid gushed into his mouth, flooding his lungs, suffocating him.
Sephiroth's throat constricted as he abruptly surfaced from the powerful images. He gasped, his body remembering the awful liquid that had imprisoned him so many times. Cloud's panic faded as he forced the disjointed thoughts into some semblance of order. Slowly, he reached up and touched his chest where he'd felt the Masamune pierce him. He remembered now. After he impaled the trooper and tried to withdraw his sword, the boy had shown uncommon strength and his eyes… they had begun to glow as if he was a SOLDIER, but he hadn't gone through the treatments for being a SOLDIER.
Then he remembered the Voices that had called to Cloud when he died; the voices of the Ancients. They had screamed at him, Sephiroth, when he was in the Lifestream collecting their wisdom and power. But they had called Cloud by name, speaking words of encouragement and comfort as if they knew him! And it was the Lifestream itself that wrapped around him when he was Cloud. Could Cloud be an Ancient? No! It was utterly ridiculous to even consider the idea. He had killed the last Ancient. What was her name? Aeris. But then, how else could the Voices be explained? And why would they bother to speak to a lowly boy of no particular talent?
He recalled the images of Zack trapped inside the tank and couldn't help but think about what his actions had done to his old friend. He thought he'd been put through hell while Hojo and his lab techs took samples of blood and cells, bone and tissue from him, subjecting him to an endless battery of tests as they tried to figure out his abilities, but what he'd just experienced as Cloud was far worse. No matter how cruel Hojo had been when he was a child, he had never shot Sephiroth with a gun or replaced half of his blood with Mako. He remembered feeling alone, abandoned. He'd once dreamed of what his mother was like. Hojo told him her name was Jenova, and why should he have doubted it? He'd never known her or his father. And yet he had killed Cloud's mother right in front of the trooper without even caring if the kid had a father. He hadn't seen one or bothered to find out if he had one. Why should he? His pain was more than any mere trooper, or even a SOLDIER First Class, wasn't it? At least he'd thought so back then. Now, he wasn't so sure.
He'd even told Cloud that he had no hometown, though that was no longer entirely true either. He had been born and raised for the first five years of his life in Nibelheim. Professor Gast and Hojo's notes in the old Shinra Mansion had told him that much. He and Cloud shared even that.
Cloud, why does it always come back to you? Sephiroth thought to himself. Who are you? WHAT are you? He had no an answer to that and it was beginning to bother him.
'Wark warrrk!"
Sephiroth looked up to see an unpleasant wall of gold feathers headed his way. He rose quickly to his feet, bringing up the Masamune.
Kisari saw her master in his strange form and shot out of the tunnel toward him, warbling in relief. He rose with a sword she hadn't seen before in his hands, but she ignored it and charged up to him, pushing her beak against his chest in a demand for attention, pecking at his hair and clothes. He batted at her playfully and she tugged at a long strand of the silvery hair, relieved that he was alright.
Sephiroth stepped back, trying to push the beast away from him, but it just took that as some sort of invitation to continue pulling at his hair. He slapped at it, confused by the bird's actions. The walking carpet of feathers ignored his attempts to fend it off, crowding closer to him and pushing him off balance again. He set his feet firmly and shoved.
"Stupid bird!" He growled, suddenly raising his sword to slice the thing in half. A gunshot rang out, echoing through the mountains, and bullets pinged against his sword, almost knocking it out of his hands. He looked over the bird's back and saw a man and a great red cat-like beast running toward him.
"Wark!" the chocobo crowded against him. It was impeding his sword arm, but also putting itself between him and the rapidly approaching enemies. It actually seemed to be trying to protect him! Sephiroth stepped back and raised his sword again, fully intending to kill the creature while he had the chance. But before he could finish the stroke, something surged up inside of him, an awareness where there had been none before. It rose, filling him with anxiety, and his vision suddenly blurred.
"Kisari, no!" Cloud's voice issued from his mouth. "Stay back!"
Sephiroth gritted his teeth and swung angrily at the bird, but his arms suddenly clenched up and he missed. He stumbled, grabbing his head. "Go away!" he growled, dropping to one knee. The sword fell from his hand and he tried to pick it up, but his hands wouldn't work right. "GO AWAY!"
Sephiroth's eyes shifted from emerald green to glowing sapphire blue. He looked up slowly, almost sluggishly, as if he wasn't sure of his ability to move, and the look in his eyes was desperate as he saw his friends rushing toward him. Silver hair hung over his face, obscuring his vision. He tossed it aside with an unsteady shake of his head, clutching at the ground with gloved hands as if it might fall out from beneath him at any moment.
"Hurry!" Cloud pleaded, trying to focus on the red cloaked figure of Vincent as it drew nearer. "Kill me now!" He grimaced as Sephiroth clawed at his mind. "I can't hold him much longer."
Vincent froze, his transformation stopped, and Red almost plowed into him in astonishment. They looked at each other, unsure what to do. Red had seen Cloud do something like this at Cosmo Canyon, but not in Sephiroth's body. What was going on? But the Kisari had no doubts. She searched her master frantically for whatever was hurting him, sensing his pain and wanting to help as she had done before. Cloud abruptly grabbed his head and squeezed his eyes shut, his back arching, every muscle strained to the breaking point as the battle for his body raged inside of him. He couldn't let his friends be hurt again on his account. He couldn't!
"Please!" he cried out, his voice weakening. "I can't…"
He suddenly collapsed, silver hair spilling over his shoulders and onto the ground around him. Then slowly the hair grew shorter, turning a familiar blonde. The features smoothed and the body, though still clothed in Sephiroth's coat and pants, became that of Cloud Strife, SOLDIER First Class.
Vincent stared in silence at his friend. He had been dead set on killing Sephiroth, furious over what he perceived had been done to Cloud, but now he was just bewildered. He stared at Cloud in Sephiroth's clothes, Kisari warbling anxiously by his side and wondered what to do. He looked at Red, who lowered his head and moved forward cautiously to sniff at the body.
"It is Cloud," the beast confirmed slowly, as confused as he was.
"No, no, no! Miserable, MISERABLE FAILURE! Not again!"
Hojo's unwelcome voice broke the stillness and they jerked around, breaking out of their trancelike state. The scientist was standing at the exit of his underground compound, glaring wildly at Cloud and shaking his tentacles in frustration. Once again the stupid SOLDIER had beaten down HIS Sephiroth and he was livid! His eyes looked like they were bulging out of their sockets as he hissed and bubbled epithets. Suddenly bats, dragons, Dual Horns, Crown Lances, Nibel Wolves and Bandersnatches appeared from the cliffs and path around the reactor, converging on the two friends and the chocobo as if they had been waiting just out of sight for the signal to attack.
Vincent's eyes narrowed as he stared at the crazed scientist across the backs of the monsters charging toward them and he moved up beside Red, flicking the gun magazine open to empty the spent rounds. He quickly reloaded and snapped it shut again, gauging the distance between him and his targets. He didn't fully comprehend what was happening, but he had seen Sephiroth turn into Cloud and Hojo was the most likely perpetrator. His eyes began to glow dangerously.
A jellyfish-like Crown Lance drifted over the bellowing monsters as they collided with each other in their haste to reach the interlopers. It slowly lowered itself over Cloud's unconscious form, wrapping its tentacles carefully around the human so as not to damage it. Its master wanted this one. The others would be left for food.
Vincent's eyes narrowed as he felt more than saw the movement behind him and he spun about and shot before he'd even taken aim. Three bullets flew from the muzzle of the Cerberus gun directly into the Crown Lance, then three more, but the monster ignored the damage. With Cloud firmly wrapped in its tentacles, it rose into the air and started toward the reactor where the master waited. Vincent pulled up the gun muzzle, realizing that Cloud was now in danger if the bullets went astray. He leapt forward, cape flying behind him as he tried to intercept the monster. Behind him, Red XIII howled his battle cry, but Vincent didn't take time to turn around and look, intent upon freeing Cloud before the scientist could get his hands on him once more.
A green dragon slammed its tail in front of him and he instantly changed direction, dodging it. Without thinking, he turned the pistol on the beast and blew out its brains. Three Nibel Wolves lunged at him over the back of a Dual Horn and he fired so rapidly that the shots sounded as one, knocking them back into the mammoth-like creature and tangling up its legs. The Dual Horn went down with a crash that shook the earth, but by then the Crown Lance had carried Cloud over the backs of the monsters to where Hojo waited at the top of the steps outside the reactor, hovering on his twisted body. He grabbed Cloud, crazed eyes glittering, and dragged him inside.
With a sudden roar, unbridled rage burst from Vincent's chest like a broken dam. It spread through his body, a surge of super-human strength, and wings ripped violently from his shoulders as he took to the air. Then all he saw was a red haze. Chaos whipped its wings and the monsters nearby vanished into puffs of smoke. How many times had Chaos materialized in defense of these people? How many times had he watched in confusion as Cloud and the others protected him, a monster, from attacks when he was injured during their many battles? The summons creature didn't know why he cared; only that he did. And it was not being influenced by its host this time. He roared, glaring at the sea of monsters, and sent a hail of flaming skulls raining down on them, turning several of them into instant funeral pyres. But there were more than even Chaos could defeat and as he glanced at the reactor, he knew he would be too late to help Cloud.
Red looked at his companion, recognizing Vincent's ultimate form. He knew his friend was beyond reasoning now and looked quickly around for Cloud and Kisari. The monsters impeded his vision, growling and shrieking until he was nearly deafened by the noise. He sprang into the air, biting and kicking as he searched. Then he thought he heard the sound of Kisari squawking angrily somewhere to his right and glanced quickly in that direction. She was standing near the steps leading to the reactor, pecking wildly at a Crown Lance, and beyond her he could see Hojo dragging Cloud up the steps. Red XIII howled. His single eye narrowing in fury as the amber iris began to swirl. He leapt over the backs of two Bandersnatches, using them to launch himself onto a Dual Horn and without stopping he ripped at the beast's shoulder and neck as he ran toward the reactor. Confused, the monsters milled about, searching for their vanished foe and he used the distraction to jump to the next Dual Horn, racing across the great furred back toward his goal. Quickly he hopped down and ran toward the Crown Lance and Hojo, even as he saw the scientist vanish into the depths of the reactor with his victim.
When he finally caught up to Kisari, he was met by a barrage of snapping stingers as the Crown Lance tried to block their path. Red had had enough! He slammed into the beast, taking damage he didn't even feel, and the floating jellyfish splattered the steps it had been trying to defend. Behind them Chaos roared, slashing three monsters to ribbons. Several more fell back as a shockwave of death rolled across them.
Hojo didn't bother to glance back. He was furious! How could Cloud keep interfering with his masterpiece? What WAS he? The scientist dragged the blonde SOLDIER'S unconscious body up the steps, past the Mako pods and into the chamber where he had kept Jenova. The container was broken. Jenova's head and body were gone. Sephiroth had taken the first and he had taken the latter when he tried to grow it in Midgar. But there were still pieces in the bottom of the growth tank that hadn't been worth his attention at the time. Now they seemed perfect.
Hojo dropped Cloud and went to the tank. He grabbed a chunk of rotting flesh and, prying Cloud's mouth open, shoved it inside. Then he closed the SOLDIER'S mouth and plugged his nose in an effort to force Cloud to swallow it. Cloud's body bucked and jerked as his lungs fought for air, but Hojo just held on tighter, wrapping his whole body around the boy's head until he felt the throat muscles flex. As Cloud swallowed, Hojo broke into a fit of cackling and yelled, "Die! Die! Ha ha ha! Sephiroth can take your dead body!"
Cloud shuddered, eyelids fluttering wildly as the noxious lump of flesh slid down his throat and into his stomach. It spread like wildfire, reaching out through nerves and blood vessels, through muscle and bone, until it seemed like his entire body was ablaze. The pain caused him to thrash violently, throwing Hojo into the air, and he opened his mouth in a silent scream. But the scientist was beyond reason now. He grabbed Cloud's head again, trying to smother him with his whole body, all the while cackling madly.
Images smashed and collided inside Cloud's mind. He struggled as waves of malevolence attacked his mind, tossing and turning him like a leaf caught in a whirlpool. Then the world shifted and he saw stars glittering like diamonds in a pitch black night; hard and unyielding; while around them their children, the planets, danced. It was beautiful and frightening. Then a scream reverberated in his ears – no, in his mind – and he winced, trying to close eyes that were already closed. One of the planets was dying. Even as he watched, all the colors of life circled and spun away from it, much like the one in Bugenhagen's Planetarium had. The surface slowly blackened and began to fall apart and as Cloud blinked away the pain of the lingering screams, he realized what he was seeing. It was Jenova! She hung like a bloated tick next to the dying planet, larger this time and much more horrifying. He watched as she gorged herself off of the disrupted Lifestream. Then, when there was nothing left but a husk, she clung to a piece of the broken planet and rode it through space, seeking new worlds to feed from.
These were Jenova's memories, Cloud suddenly realized as he watched world after world being infected, destroyed and absorbed; just as Hojo had done with the infected monsters, only on a far larger scale. This was what she was; the Calamity from the Sky. When she crashed from the sky onto a planet's surface, she literally exploded into dust, infecting everything within reach. Where there was intelligent life, a host body was chosen to spread discord and death and when the natural flow of the Lifestream was upset and the planet was no longer able to heal itself, Jenova called a Reunion, reabsorbing all the beings that had been infected by her, along with the host. Then she returned to her original shape and sucked the planet dry. Host after host paraded across Cloud's mind; some looked human, and some did not. But planet after planet died, never to be reborn. It was an unending cycle of death!
Beside him, inside his mind, Sephiroth also watched in shock as he learned the true fate of his "godhood" and his "mother." To become a god of destruction, only to be cast away when his usefulness was ended, just as he had used and cast away all those clones; save one. His sense of betrayal was only matched by Cloud's outrage at what such mindless destruction meant for his friends, for the Planet, and for himself.
Cloud's lungs suddenly spasmed as they pumped for the air which Hojo denied them. He felt his consciousness beginning to fade and knew that he didn't have long to live. His heart cried out in anguish, feeling Jenova's poison eat away at him from within while Hojo killed him from without. But there was someone else sharing his mind and body now. Turning, he looked at the silver haired man beside him; a man he had once admired and respected.
Sephiroth was standing frozen, shock evident in his green eyes as he watched the truth of his twisted life unraveling before him. He seemed untouched by Jenova's poison, apparently immune to it and Cloud started to reach out to him for help. Jenova screamed and he stumbled as the world suddenly fragmented. She beat at his mind, the fire in his veins flaring into an agony so intense he thought he would explode. He gritted his teeth and forced himself to move forward. He had to save his friends, no matter the cost!
Jenova flayed his skin from the inside out, slicing it with razor sharp nails until he thought he would scream from the pain and not be able to stop screaming. She tried to drown all thought from his mind, screeching at him, clawing at him, beating his mind until it felt bruised and numb. The pain was worse than anything Hojo had ever done to him in the lab during those five years and he felt his legs going out from under him. His eyes dimmed as his mind began to black out and with the last of his strength he grabbed hold of the General's arm, falling against him as his body gave out. Startled, Sephiroth looked down, inadvertently catching Cloud by the shoulders to prevent him from falling.
"Please…" Cloud faltered. His world had narrowed to a pinpoint. He could no longer see anything but Jenova's darkness, but he tried to look up to where he thought Sephiroth's eyes would be. "Save them!"
As the light faded from his eyes, Cloud summoned up all of his remaining strength and willed it into the man before him. All of his outrage, love, memories, hopes, and dreams; even the very Lifestream that empowered him; he poured all of it into Sephiroth. The frantic pounding in his head increased to a crescendo as his heart thundered, struggling for oxygen. Then it stopped and Jenova laughed triumphantly as silence engulfed him and he knew no more.
Cloud's eyes closed and his grip on Sephiroth's arm loosened. The General caught him as his breath stopped and he collapsed. He lifted the smaller man easily, holding him close to his chest like a child and stared down into the blonde's familiar face. His eyes traced the gentle line of Cloud's jaw, the pursed lips now slack and slightly opened, long golden eyelashes resting like silk against pale cheeks and for some reason he couldn't explain something snapped inside of him. He felt a strange kind of emptiness clutch at his heart like a vise and finally recognized it for what it was.
Loneliness.
For so long now he had felt another's presence in his mind, known he could call it, order it about, coax it to do his bidding, and praise it when it performed his tasks satisfactorily. He had used it body and soul, shared its fears and hopes. It was his puppet, his apprentice, his little brother. It was Cloud. And now Hojo and Jenova were taking him away. He stared at the man in his arms and his lips pinched down. Suddenly he was overwhelmed with a need to protect something other than himself. It was exhilarating and painful.
Hojo felt Cloud stop breathing and let go of his head, bouncing about excitedly.
"Now, Sephiroth!" he cried out in triumph. "The body is all yours!"
Sephiroth heard the hated voice and an icy hot rage began to build slowly inside of him. There were so many things this man had done; to him, to Zack, and to Cloud. All the memories he had inadvertently shared with Cloud came back to him tenfold. He looked down at the still form in his arms. It was beginning to fade, the feather weight growing lighter by the minute. Images of Jenova's plans, of what she was, flashed across his mind and once again he heard the blonde's voice. It called to him softly, innocent and trusting of a man he should never have trusted in the first place; not once, but twice!
Please. Save them!
"I finally got rid of that miserable failure. Hee hee hee! Take the body, Sephiroth, and become a god with Jenova!"
Sephiroth snarled, gripping Cloud closer. Hojo! That damned scientist! He had tried to destroy everything that was good in this world in the name of an evil that didn't deserve to exist; had turned him against his only friend and now he had killed the only other person who might have trusted him, calling him a failure. And all for what? For some sick fantasy that wasn't even real? With a roar, Sephiroth erupted from Cloud's body, transforming instantly now that there was no resistance. He took a deep shuddering breath and looked around, green eyes slitted.
Totally oblivious to his own danger, Hojo floated toward him, dancing about in the air and giggling gleefully. "I did it! I did it! How do you like your new body, hmm?"
Sephiroth glared at him with a hatred so fierce that the green of his eyes flashed almost pure white. In less than the blink of an eye, he called the Masamune to his hand and sliced the seven foot blade through the scientist's body, cutting it in half and spraying blood everywhere.
"What are you doing?!" Hojo shrieked, eyes bulging as he dropped like a stone to the floor. Mako eyes glowing as if the fires of hell were fueling them, Sephiroth stalked after the sniveling worm. Hojo scrabbled across the floor, tentacles waving wildly, and he calmly chopped off one and then the other. When the scientist couldn't even crawl away, he dropped the sword and grabbed the miserable creature by the neck and began to throttle the life out of him, as he had done to Cloud.
"You have interfered with me for the last time," he snarled into Hojo's face.
The scientist's head jerked wildly in Sephiroth's grip. "But I made you! You're my son! You'll be a god and so will I!!" The rubbery lips dribbled green fluid and the eyes started to bulge from their sockets.
Silver brows shot down.
"I am no son of yours, old man, and Jenova does not want a god." His shoulder muscles flexed and he ripped Hojo's head off of what remained of his body, throwing the pieces away from him in disgust. He turned and walked back to pick up his sword when he heard the hated voice start giggling from the decapitated head, taunting him.
"You can't kill me! I'm immortal! I can rebuild my body just like Jenova!"
Sephiroth stopped. He turned slowly, lips spreading into a feral smile, and his eyes glittered dangerously as he looked down at the scientist.
"Not if I destroy every last cell," he said softly. Slowly he raised one gloved hand and flicked his fingers, calling up the same fire spell he'd used in Cosmo Canyon. Only this time it was far more powerful, for it was fueled by pure unadulterated hatred. The wind of its summoning blew his coat out around him like dark wings. His long, silver hair whipped about him and he felt the tremendous heat brush his cheeks like a caress. A thin, wailing cry issued from the center of the growing maelstrom and echoed through the reactor as Hojo began to evaporate cell by cell. But the furnace of the spell continued to spread, even when the scientist was gone, and Sephiroth frowned. He wrestled with the holocaust he had summoned, trying to control it. Then he heard Jenova's triumphant laugh and the spell suddenly turned upon its summoner, threatening to consume him. The heat no longer caressed his cheek, it blasted against his face. He held out both hands and concentrated, but the flames mocked him and he felt himself being slowly crushed by the force of them.
Suddenly Sephiroth felt another power rise up from deep within him. It was like nothing he'd ever felt before; serene and cool, where his had been hot and furious. Images bubbled up in his mind; a girl with green eyes selling flowers, a child too shy to say 'thank you', a dark-haired quiet man with glowing red eyes; laughter, companionship, sadness, and loss. And behind it all, a pair of softly glowing Mako blue eyes. It felt like smaller hands gently covered the backs of his own, pouring the power into him, guiding him, and calmly he faced the fire storm he had summoned, contained it with a gesture, and dispelled it. Jenova's laughter was cut short. She began to scream at him, but he ignored her, basking in the strange feeling of belonging to something important and wonderful.
Jenova's angry scream suddenly changed to one of retribution and the warm feeling was quickly replaced by fear as Sephiroth realized that Cloud's spirit was fading fast. He staggered, grabbing his chest. He had felt such pain only once before; the day Zack died. Only it was far worse this time, as if a part of his own soul was being torn from him. He felt his body weakening. The poison, along with the energy he had used to summon and control the spell, was finally taking its toll.
"Cloud!" he hissed between clenched teeth as Jenova laughed at him. Then he crumpled to the floor, hair spilling around his face as he reached for the one thing he could not afford to lose.