Sky Blue Eyes – Crisis Core OST
As soon as the doors had opened General Sephiroth Crescent stepped into the foyer of one of the planets most closely guarded secrets.
Shin-Ra´s once well frequented and shining medical division for wounded SOLDIER operatives, powered by the secret Mako Reactor Zero far below the city of Midgar, run-down now, broken and deserted, the once immaculate white surface of the reception desk was dusty and unwelcoming. Abandoned.
The general briefly wondered how long it had been since people had last been down there.
It must have been years.
As silently as possible, barely daring to even breathe the silver haired first class made his way through the endless maze of identical looking corridors, along white blank walls with hundreds of white doors in them, easily finding his way as he knew the structure of the entire facility inside out.
How could he not? The white tiles of these corridors were what had formed the memories of his childhood after all. He hadn´t seen much of Gaia´s surface until he´d become old enought to join SOLDIER.
The silver haired man passed door after door trying hard to fight off the old memories, threatening to resurface.
He couldn´t help but stop at that one door though.
That particular door, looking exactly the same as all the others, after all these years, to him it still stood out.
It had been his door. The door to his own room for so many years.
Cautiously the hero moved forward to touch the doorknob, hesitating before giving it a try.
It opened with a weak long creak.
The eerie sound echoing endlessly in the maze of empty corridors, it pierced the silence like a tortured scream.
A small room was revealed, with nothing in it but a bunk and a small locker to furnish it.
It was dark in there, too dark.
The lights must have gone out years ago and there where no windows below the earth´s surface, down there in Deepground.
The man in the black leather coat just stared at the room, unable to fend off the painful memories that invaded his mind any longer.
How much he had felt relieved whenever he´d been locked into this room, able to sleep in that bed, it had meant that he was not in one of the operating rooms or in one of the laboratories ready to be experimented on.
Tearing himself away from the upsetting pictures his mind conjured for his inner eyes to see, the silver haired legend continued down the corridor, past said examination and operation rooms. Looking through the grimy glass panes serving as walls, he could see all the instruments still in there, covered in thick layers of spider webs and dust, after all those years they still lay there as if waiting to be used.
„You´re going to be a great soldier some day. You´re going to be the best!" the man in the lab coat had said, his tiny dark eyes glistening excitedly behind his spectacles as he pushed the boy´s hospital gown up his sleeve.
„Don´t worry... This might hurt a bit..."
No!
He could feel the onslaught of another particularly painful memory, forcing it´s way to the surface, but he stubbornly managed to push it away.
He was there for a reason after all.
It was descending another flight of stairs that finally he found himself down at the labs.
It was particularly dark down there. Most of the lights weren´t working anymore and he could hear the tapping sound of water leaking somewhere out of the old pipes, the only sound to listen to in this godforsaken place.
The silver haired first class couldn´t help but feel a shiver running down his spine.
Oh, how much he hated being down there again...
He chose to enter through the main lab, the scent of disinfectant greeting his nose exactly like he remembered. The lights barely flickering, he made his way past tables of test tubes and instruments he would hopefully never find out the use of. Slowly nearing the door at the other end, he reached it earlier than he would have preferred.
Hadn´t he promised to himself that he would never ever have to come down there again?!
That thought still prominent in his mind, the tall lean man carefully opened the door to what he knew used to be Hojo´s private laboratory, bracing himself for what he was going to find inside.
The main lights had gone out long ago and he found himself and the room tinged in an eerie mako glow as slowly he approached the recuperation tank that still stood there positioned in the center.
He could see Claire Farron inside, completely undressed, her skinny form floating limply in the greenish liquid, there were numerous tubes going into her body, the injuries she had received, gaping holes inside her fragile looking body.
Finally reaching the tank, Sephiroth brought his left hand against the cold smooth surface of the glass pane.
Lightning...
Oh, how much he wished he could just reach out and take her hand, cup her lifeless pale smooth cheek.
Her features were blank, peaceful now.
Not pained and tortured as he remembered them from the day before.
For the millionth time since that evening at Costa del Sol he wondered whether he had done the right thing.
Granting Hojo a free hand in this...
Maybe that had been a grave mistake.
"Interesting... How very interesting..." he suddenly heard the professor´s creepy, high-pitched voice from somewhere close behind him.
All the hairs on his neck standing on end, the silver haired hero couldn´t help but close his eyes, wishing the man who haunted his nightmares would just vanish once he opened them again.
Why couldn´t he just leave him alone?!
Suddenly he felt like the helpless child he used to be.
Letting Hojo use him... Abuse him... Experiment on him...
He´d only been a kid...
"I don´t understand how you´ve managed to develop feelings for that little bitch in there." the professor continued, his voice, a malicious undertone to it.
General Sephiroth Crescent quickly tried to calm himself, to regain control again over his disconcerting thoughts.
He couldn´t afford to loose his temper, couldn´t afford to kill him now that he had her in his power.
There was nobody else who could possibly save her.
He was dependent on him and Hojo knew that.
Oh, how much the cracked old fool had to enjoy this...
Killing two birds with one stone.
This way he was able to control him again, a plus to the opportunity to be able to do what he enjoyed doing most: Unrestricted experimenting on people.
The gaunt man´s thirst for knowledge was insatiable.
"I wouldn´t have thought you capable of something as human as that..." the man in the lab coat teased.
His words stung.
Sephiroth didn´t know why.
He hadn´t imagined himself capable of it himself.
Until he´d met her that was.
"It shouldn´t be possible for you to feel like this..." Professor Hojo observed further, seemingly amazed.
"I designed you to be a weapon... The Ultimate SOLDIER... Not to have feelings."
The professor´s voice sending icy shivers up and down his spine, for a moment General Sephiroth Crescent found it hard to keep his calm.
"Maybe I don´t want to be your weapon anymore..." he retorted dryly, his eyes never leaving his protégé´s expressionless face, as he studied her features, trying hard to soothe his rising temper.
"You were created to be a weapon. Your only purpose is to fight and kill. There is nothing else you can do." Hojo explained as if talking to a 2 year old.
"What are you going to do to her?" the general asked, his voice barely a whisper as dearly he wished the girl infront of him would just open her eyes so he could lose himself in the depths of those icy blue orbs again.
"I will bring her back." the professir said, an unsettling note of amusement creeping into his voice.
"That is what you want me to do... Isn´t it?"
For the very first time since his arrival, General Sephiroth Crescent turned to look at his creator to find his ugly gaunt features distorted in a spine-chilling grin.
Thinking of that girl in the tank, the girl he loved, the hero with the long silver hair gave another tight nod.
Then he turned to leave.
The professor´s insane cackles, the only sound now in that oversized tomb, they followed him all the way back to the elevators.
And bring her back I will, Professor Hojo thought to himself as he watched his precious experiment make his way out of his lab again.
He was hardly able to contain his joy, ripples of laughter shaking his haggard body.
Ahh... Yes... It felt so good to be down there again.
He had missed Deepground. He really had.
The disturbing direction the thoughts of his special creation were taking, he admitted it was kind of unnerving.
He definitely needed to do some checkups.
Considering this obvious malfunction of his... Maybe his phantastic creation wasn´t such a success after all.
Figuring his musings about the unexplored origins of that neural malfunction of his could wait until later, the professor turned his attention back to his newest acquisition again.
His precious female specimen...
It was so refreshing to have a real challenge again. An opportunity to do some real experimenting for once.
Only reluctantly tearing his eyes away from the first class´ naked body, the man in the lab coat moved over to the laminar flow work station where he had already began to prepare a sample of the shock-frozen Jenova stem cells he was going to use, was going to insert into her body.
Hojo wished he had the real thing there.
Jenova´s body.
Somehow he didn´t even dare to think of what they might have done to it after the Jenova project had been canceled, after they had finally realized what the thing they had excavated really was.
Taking it away from him like that...
Hiding it away at a safe place...
Puh! They had most likely destroyed it.
The bespectacled man sighed deeply in regret.
They hadn´t been worried about the body´s origins back when he had offered to create an army of super soldiers for them.
Well. It didn´t matter now.
He still had these samples there he had managed to secure back when there´d still been the chance.
Under different conditions he woud have take a sample of that specimen´s DNA and check whether her cells would react properly with the secured Jenova material, but as she was already dead and the degradation process was not to be delayed forever, there was no time for such precautions.
Yes...
Given the fact that his new specimen was already an adult, it´s cells differentiation completed, unfortunately his options were only limited. He regrettably didn´t have the same possibilities as he´d had last time... As he´d had with him.
It was a pity really.
Working with embryo stem cells was so much more effective and there were so many things to do.
Professor Hojo couldn´t explain why they had discontinued the Jenova project in the first place.
Budget cutback probably...
That was what had led to the shutdown of this whole complex after all.
A shame really.
All of this going to waste.
It was not fair.
His creation had been a full success after all. The perfect warrior. Unscrupulous. Obedient. Will-less. Until now that was...
Oh how much he wished he could do some more research on those neurodegenerative symptoms he exhibited these days...
But well, this had to wait until later.
He´d gotten himself carried away again.
He had to focus on the task at hand.
Looking back at the girl in the tank, professor Hojo could´t help but feel overwhelmed by the number of possibilities working with a female specimen would entail.
So many opportunities...
Yes.
That was what real science was about.
Trial and error.
Real experiments. Gathering true empirical data. Not that childish mixing of colored liquids or pathetic computer simulations.
„HAHAHAHAAHAAA!"
No. This was the real thing, he thought as he drew the cell suspension up into a syringe.
After waiting for so long, finally his time had come.
„HAHHAHHAHHAA!"
"Any news from Light?" Angeal asked tentatively.
Zack Fair just shook his head.
The man who had been his trainer had just returned from a mission with Genesis and Sephiroth and he looked tired and worn.
Zack didn´t even dare to ask him how it had went.
Since the attack on Lightning over a month ago, it was clear that the Wutai war was far from over.
They had merely kept a low profile it seemed, lulling Shin-Ra into a false sense of security, while secretly they were gathering their forces, perfectly timing their attack and catching them all off guard.
There had been incidents in Mako reactors all over Gaia since then, the wutai trying to sabotage Shin-Ra in every possible way imaginable.
They were doing a good job so far.
As high-ranking members of SOLDIER it was their duty to deal with them.
Well...
To keep things short, let´s just say they kept them busy. Especially since they were one First Class short now.
Lightning...
For the millionth time since their trip to Costa del Sol Zack Fair felt his chest constrict painfully. Somehow his heart seemed caught in a vicelike grip.
People at the hospital hadn´t let slip any information about his friend´s current medical condition at all and as she was still in the intensive care unit it was strictly forbidden to visit her.
He had been down to the hospital almost every waking second of his free time, hoping against hope that they would disclose some information about her condition, but they were always eager to usher him away, the lady at the information desk promising to call as soon as there was any change of circumstances.
His pink haired comrade had been in coma for over a month now and nobody knew when she would wake up. Or whether she would wake up at all, that was.
Zack Fair wished he could just go inside and see her.
Just to talk to her.
To tell her how sorry he was and to have a proof that she actually still existed, that she was really still alive. If being in a coma could be called `alive´ at all.
He still couldn´t believe what had happened back at Cost del Sol.
No matter how often he replayed the horrible memories in his head.
He almost couldn´t bear it.
Couldn´t bear that fact that she was gone.
That she might never return.
Without her HQ just felt empty, felt so wrong.
And he felt so horrible, so infinitely bad.
He had been the one who had convinced her to come along after all.
She hadn´t even wanted to join on that trip.
He should have let her stay...
Although he knew it technically wasn´t his fault, the others had assured him of that what had to have been a hundred times, Zack Fair just wanted to kick himself for it.
She had almost died. Being in the intensive care unit, she was probably still on the verge of death.
Actually, when he thought about it, he found it was a miracle she hadn´t died right there.
When they had arrived at the scene, Zack could have sworn she´d been already dead.
"Don´t keep blaming yourself." Angeal said putting a comforting hand on his shoulder.
His voice was kind as always.
"Thanks Angeal... But I´m afraid I can´t..." the young man replied disheartedely as averting his eyes from his comrade´s he chose to look out of the window instead.
How could he possibly do that?!
It was about 6 weeks after the incident, that General Sephiroth Crescent made his way down to the secret laboratories to visit Lightning again.
He had been stopping by almost every day to check on her, but he hadn´t been able to visit in a week, as he´d been on an assignment with Genesis and Angeal.
With the Wutai resuming their rebellion Shin-Ra finally had some use for them again.
Some people were already calling it the beginning of the second Wutai war.
General Sephiroth Crescent just called it the death-rattle of the first.
He hurried down to the depths of Deepground first thing after his arrival at HQ.
He needed to check on her, assure himself that she was okay before he could continue with his own business.
He finally made his way into Hojo´s lab, just to find the tank in the middle of the room empty.
What was going on?!
No...
She couldn´t have...
The man in the black coat, he was more than devastated to find his comrade gone.
Gone... Just like that.
Stumbling a few steps backwards in shock he collided with the table behind him. Grabbing the edge of the desktop for support, feeling the word closing in on him, he desperately tried to calm himself.
"No need to be scared..." he suddenly heard Hojo´s voice from the doorway, followed by a high pitched giggle.
What had that bastard done to her?!
Turning around in the blink of an eye, the general took out his Masamune, ready to cut the crazy motherfucker into pieces.
"Don´t worry tough boy... I have her right over there." the professor offered, barely rising a brow at the tall man´s threats as he turned to limp away.
The general followed his creator over to the adjoining operation room, just to find his former protégé lying on one of the operation tables, still in one piece, but still unconscious.
Covered in nothing more than a thin white hospital gown, without her SOLDIER uniform, she suddenly looked weak and fragile. Several IV´s sticking out of her arms, her skin as pale as her goan, she didn´t look more alive than inside that container. But upon taking a closer look, the decorated war hero could see the faint pulse of her heartbeat at the carotid artery in her neck.
Irregular and week, barely there.
But there nonetheless.
He could tell Hojo was ecstatic.
"It will take a while for her body to regenerate, but I am confident that she will regain consciousness some time soon." the old fool said, a self satisfactory smile on his face.
"What did you do to her..." the general asked carefully.
Somehow he was already dreading the answer.
The man in the lab coat only chuckled.
The silver haired first class turning to look at him, he found his attempts at intimidating him failing as usual.
"Jenova cells..." his creator disclosed, an evil smirk now playing on his thin lips.
"Blessed with the cells from the savior that came from the sky... She will be a perfect weapon... A mutation... Just like you..."
"HAHAAAHAAAAA"
There was that evil cackle again.
That evil cackle Sephiroth knew so well.
It made the professor sound like the madman he probably was.
"No..." the general said.
His voice was soft. Shaky.
It couldn´t be.
"It was the only option." the professor explained.
Somehow Sephiroth had a feeling that even if there were a million other possibilities, the bespectacled madman wouldn´t have bothered to pursue any of them. The professor had been obsessed with the idea of infecting people with Jenova cells to create some kind of superior being from the beginning.
"How?" the general asked.
He knew that they had gotten rid of his alien mother´s physical remains once they had gotten wind of the body´s true origins, hiding her away God knows where. They might have even destroyed them.
"Based on the empirical information I managed to collect from my prior experiments such as yourself and your dear mother, I created a DNA virus to use as a vector to carry some of Jenova´s genetic information I had fortunately had time to secure years ago and incorporate them into Miss Farron´s own genome." he started off into one of his scientific explanations.
"The transfection is almost complete now... And look... Her body is regenerating already." he continued excitedly.
"It took only a few hours for her heart to start beating again..."
General Sephiroth Crescent could only gasp in horror.
"Yes I know, a strike of genius isn´t it?" the madman praised himself, oblivious to the impact his words were having on the man beside him.
"The DNA hasn´t completely mingled with her body´s yet. The degeneration will take it´s time in order to be completed." he informed, his voice business like.
"Until then we can only sit back and enjoy... HAHAHHA"
He seemed to be talking more to himself than to anyone else.
Sephiroth couldn´t help but feel repulsed.
What had he done?
He´d let her become a monster... An abomination. Just like he was.
But what should he have done? Let her die?
No... He couldn´t have done that either.
Why?!
Because he loved her?
Or maybe because he had been selfish...
Maybe he wasn´t capable of real love after all.
Maybe somebody who really loved her would have spared her this torture. Maybe somebody who really loved her would have let her die in peace.
As a human being.
Not like this.
He had known it was wrong. Had known from the beginning. Knew he shouldn´t have...
But he couldn´t have...
Fuck!
He realized he hated himself for leaving her to Hojo like that. Realized he hated himself for letting her become what she was now.
He should have protected her.
He´d been responsible for her.
And instead of protecting her, he´d let her become an aberration.
Her body infused with alien cells, collected from an extraterrestrial life form - Jenova - the calamity that fell from the sky ages ago...
Gaia´s worst enemy, that came to destroy the planet...
Shuddering Sephiroth wondered what it would feel like to live with the knowledge of that thing having saved your life... Carrying it as a part of your body... Making you what exactly?!
Hesitantly he looked at the unconscious pink haired girl in front of him again.
No...
Somebody who loved her would have never let something like this happen to her.
She´d probably rather have died in honor than become a weapon...
A monster...
An experiment.
General Sephiroth Crescent felt like he had betrayed her trust.
It was his fault...
He should have never left her side...
He should have never left her with Hojo...
He knew she´d most likely hate him for this.
Hate him with vengeance.
How could she ever possibly forgive him?!
Somehow Sephiroth couldn´t blame her.
He couldn´t even forgive himself.
It was then and there that he sweared to himself, that should she make it, he would never - under any circumstances - let her find out.
Never.
She was just so much better off not knowing.
He wished he didn´t even know himself.
He spent most of the following days down there in Hojo´s lab, refusing to take on any assignments, just sitting by her side, watching her, waiting for her to wake up. But besides the occasional flutter of eyelids or twitching of fingers, nothing ever happened.
Somehow the general also dreaded her waking up.
What was he to tell her?
Was she still going to be the same after what Hojo had done to her?
And then there were the seizures.
They were coming at longer intervals now, but they were painful even to watch.
It looked as though every cell of her body was in agony, her body convulsing uncontrollably, muscles contracting spasmodically, her facial expression tortured as her soul still caught in limbo, she thankfully wasn´t able to scream.
Sephiroth guessed he couldn´t have bared it.
Hojo had explained that it was caused by her body trying to fight the Jenova cells.
Maybe he should have just put her out of her misery.
Sitting next to her unconscious form, the silver haired first class wished nothing more than that he could somehow ease her pain as helplessly he watched her having one of her seizures again.
He didn´t know what made him do it then, as following his intuition he reached out to touch her hand, to gently hold it between the palm of his own much bigger ones.
It was the moment her skin came into contact with his own that he felt a strange foreign current tingling at the tips of his fingers, running up through his arms and then down his spine.
Foreign. But somhow so familiar.
It took him a few moments to understand that it were the Jenova cells inside her body, reaching out for his own, craving their reunion it seemed.
Interesting...
It was a weird feeling.
He remembered reading about the alien cells seeking to reunite once they had been separated in one of Professor Gast´s research papers.
He wondered...
Holding on to her hand, General Sephiroth Crescent focused on channeling his powers and concentrating hard on soothing her pain, he forced his cells to connect with her´s, to control them, to somehow appease them. Just like he was able to direct his own.
Feeling her degenerated cells respond to his he slowly sensed her body calming down, felt her tormented muscles slowly relaxing, her features morphing back to that impassive expression she had been wearing for so long now, making her look as if she were only just asleep.
And there was more.
He could feel some kind of a link forming between the two of them. A link reaching deeper than anything he could ever even begin to understand, the two of them probably the only human beings on this planet to have this specific degeneration.
It instantly made him feel stronger. Surer. More relaxed.
If Hojo knew of this...
He probably wouldn´t let them see the light of day ever again.
It was one Monday night that Sephiroth sat there with her again, her hand limp in his own, it had become a habit for him to hold her hand whenever he was there to visit. It felt good to feel her skin on his, to feel the pulse of her heartbeat on her wrist, to know she was still there and to feel their special bond.
It had been growing, that bond, without Hojo even realizing it existed, and the silver haired general definitely wasn´t planning on ever letting him find out.
No. It had to stay their secret.
Their secret forever.
Or they´d never make it out of there.
Their special bond... It was also helping her get better, he was sure of it. She hadn´t been having any seizures ever since he had first established the connection between their Jenova degenerated cells. And somehow he had a feeling that she was getting better every day. Soon she would be waking up for sure.
He was lost in his thoughts again, when the sudden feeling of small weak fingers twitching in his hand caused him to look up in his comrade´s face. Her eyelids fluttering, he caught a soft moan escaping her pale chapped lips.
He couldn´t help but gently squeeze her hand. Maybe she was going to come around at last...
"Lightning?..." he tried tentatively.
Oh how much he wished she´d just open her eyes and wake up.
She´d been asleep for so long.
But it seemed to be just too much to hope for.
He could feel her fingers moving in his hand, as weakly she tried to hold on to him. Those pretty slender fingers, he just held them tight, caressed the back or her hand with his thumb.
Please wake up...
She just had to wake up.
"Light?" he tried again, as getting up from his chair he inched closer.
"S... Se... Serah?"
Her voice was soft, barely a whisper.
The general´s heart skipping a beat, he found himself copletely startled by her sudden speech.
Her eyelids fluttering tentatively the pink haired woman in the hospital goan attempted to open her eyes, squinted against the blinding light coming from the ceiling that illuminated the operation room.
Staring back at her, Sephiroth couldn´t tell wether she could actually see him, or see anything at all.
"No... It´s just me..." he told her once he found his voice.
He didn´t know what to do as waiting for her to come around, he squeezed her hand a little tighter.
But it was no use it seemed.
The pretty girl before him she just drifted off to sleep again.
No matter ho hard he squeezed her hand, her fingers had gone limp again.
For a few minutes the silver haired man just stared at her, waiting for her to move, to talk, or do anything at all, but except for the soft rising and falling of her chest, the woman in front of him remained completely motionless.
So he just stood there studying her features, wishing there were something he could do.
If only he could help her wake up...
If only he could help her recover faster...
If only...
It came quickly and unexpected.
A sharp stinging pain in his backside.
It took the silver haired General a few seconds to realize what it was, as his hand darting to the puncture site, he turned around to face Hojo, a triumphant smile on the professor´s face and a syringe in his right hand - empty now.
"What have you done..." the general started, his voice deadly, a fist lashing out to connect with the professor´s jaw as, unable to contain his temper, he sent his meager body crashing into the wall on the other side of the room.
Coming to a rest in a heap on the floor, the bespectacled man just stared up at him. Seeming completely unfazed he gave a knowing smile.
The familiar crazy cackle echoing off the high walls of the laboratory, stumbling backwards, the general noticed a warning tingling sensation making it´s way all over his body, found his vision strangely blurring as he started to feel light headed.
Shit...
What was going on?!
He knew he needed to get out of there. Knew he needed to get away from him!
Panick rising inside of him, the silver haired first class hurried out of the room.
Stumbling down the corridor as fast as he could, slipping and staggering, he tumbled, hitting the walls. The floor swaying dangerously underneath his feet, the world around him zooming in and out of focus, he found his vision distorted crazily as his feet started to give way underneath his body.
He needed to reach the elevator...
He needed to...
Without warning his legs suddenly collapsed and he fell to the ground.
His muscles weak, too weak, huge black dots clouding his vision, he tried to flee on his hands and knees, but it was no use.
His limbs were like lead. Refusing to respond to his commands.
He heard footsteps behind him.
The man from his nightmares closing the distance.
Suddenly the elevators seemed miles away.
He´d never be able to reach them.
Not like this.
And not in time.
He could hear the professor´s evil voice followed by his manic laughter.
Coming closer.
Catching up with him.
He tried to to crawl away on his belly.
"You can´t escape me! HAHHHHAAAAAAHAAAHAHA!"
That voice, it echoed endlessly inside the general´s throbbing head.
"You can´t do this with me... I´m not a child anymore!" the silver haired first class managed to choke out , panic tinging his words as he let himself roll onto his back in an attempt to fend the man off as soon as he reached him, but somehow his arms just wouldn´t obey.
The professor just gave one of his crazy laughs.
Gripping both of his victims defenseless wrists in one of his spidery hands he pinned the soldier to the floor and General Sephiroth Crescent felt a needle pierce the skin of his right upper arm as another injection was forced into his flesh.
He felt those long creepy fingers checking his pulse, felt the world spinning around him.
Panting heavily, the general forced himself to fight the darkness that was threatening to consume him.
He knew he couldn´t lose consciousness.
Once he was out, he´d be done for.
No.
He had to stay awake.
He had to stay conscious.
He just had to!
It was no use.
He felt himself slipping away already.
He could sense the professor close to his face.
On the verge of fainting, he heard him whisper into his ear, his voice sending shivers of terror down his useless spine.
"I can do whatever I want with you... I created you... I can destroy you just as easily... I can do as I please..."
Suddenly it felt hard to breathe.
He tried and fight him.
Again and again.
Forcing his body to move, to defy that man he despised so much.
But the gaunt old professor, he pinned the general down with his small frame easily.
Unable to summon the strength to push him away, Sephiroth felt the professor´s breath on the sensitive skin of his neck as in a malicious voice he continuoued:
"Down here I can do whatever I want... You have entered MY realm... Down here we play by MY rules... Down here I am GOD..."
His insane cackle the last thing he perceived before finally he passed out, it would haunt the general for the rest of his life.
Professor Hojo was extatic.
Distracted by the girl overwhelming his creation had been easier then he would have allowed himself to dream.
She really did make him weak...
After he had managed to sedate him he´d been confronted with the challenge of heaving his body back to his laboratory. It hadn´t been an easy task. That man weighed a ton.
What had the boy been playing at anyway? Trying to flee like that... He had hardly made 20 meters.
No, Hojo couldn´t have let him get away like that.
He should have know better.
The professor had given him enough sedative to knock him out for days. This time he hadn´t taken any risks.
He couldn´t let his precious creation leave now.
There were still so many things he had in store for him.
Oohh the options...
The agony of choice...
How much he missed the times back when his speciman had still been a child. When he still had the chance to monitor him at all times and to experiment on him as he pleased.
Back when he was unable to defend himself.
The professor was about to take a few DNA samples when suddenly his creation came around.
He had foresightedly secured him to the operation table, just in case.
Just like old times, the professor thought.
„HAHAHHAAAA!"
No, No, No...
No reason to get nostalgic now.
The bespectacled man patiently waited as the siver haired first class slowly opened his eyes. Still seeming somewhat dazed, his pupils two cat-like slits, constricting in response to the great intensity of light illuminating the operation room. It took some time for them to adjust, for the room to come into focus.
It was in delight that the professor watched his mako gaze nervously darting around the room, taking in his surroundings.
It took some time for Sephiroth to realize where he was. It was the instant that professor Hojo saw the recognition in his eyes that he began to struggle against his restraints, a futile attempt at freeing himself.
He should have known better, Hojo thought.
Those chains were forged especially for him years ago.
He thought the general remembered them well.
"Don´t move you fool, or I might miss my target" the professor instructed, as with a surgeon´s precicion he hit one of the general´s veins with the cannula.
"Where is she?" the silver haired blurted, trying to fight the man off, refusing to stay still, as he made use of the little space for movement he had left. His breaths coming heavy and irregular, he could practically feel the adrenaline coursing through his veins.
The professor sighed, pushing his glasses further up his nose.
Hmpf...
That speciman really could be annoying sometimes.
"Don´t worry... Your little girlfriend has been transferred to the hospital a few nights ago." he informed in a bored voice.
It was true.
He had pulled a few strings to have her moved there in some kind of a hush-hush operation.
They had spread the story that she had been in intensive care.
Nobody would suspect a thing.
There was nothing left for him to do with her anyway besides waiting and seeing how she would turn out.
An outstanding specimen she was, very tough to survive all of that.
But she was nothing compared to him.
Yes.
He was still his most priced creation.
Yes, he was indeed.
His biggest achievement.
His breakthrough.
And there was still so much more to do...
"Everything proceeding as planned..." professor Hojo murmured checking on the general´s restraints once more, as the latter was trying to move again.
„We can´t risk anything funny to happen now, do we?"
Those shackles seemed to do their job.
Everything proceeded as planned indeed.
His words seemed to have somewhat appeased the speciman on the table and the professor could feel his creation relax slightly under his chains, allowing him to continue taking his samples.
There´s wasn´t much the first class could do to fight him anyway.
"I have done everything you asked me for... Now it is time for you to return the favor..." the professor said.
It was only fair.
Looking down at those perfectly carved features he had created, staring at him in spite now, Hojo thought he´d definitely done a good job on him. A very good job.
Why was it that he always had to be so ungrateful, so defying. Why was he defying him, the one who had created him?
It was irksome at times. Very irksome.
Then on second thought... Maybe that was exactly what Hojo loved about this specimen so much.
His precious experiment...
Always so strong, so defiant. Such fighting spirit...
„HAHAHAA..."
It would be no use to him in here.
"What are you planning to do to me this time...?" the general´s voice was shaky and insecure. There was anxiety evident in his words, in his features, in his eyes.
Maybe even fear. If he was human enough to feel fear after all.
The professor couldn´t help but revel at the feeling of having such a powerful creature shudder before him.
A supersoldier with inhuman powers. Completely under his control. Completely at his mercy.
Just like some stupid wild beast in a circus - broken - controlled by it´s tamer.
It was a powerful feeling.
The professor realized that this way he liked the general best.
"I´m just taking a few blood samples..." he began, unable to contain a giggle as he found the subject of his speculations looking at him skeptically.
He took it as a sign to continue.
"I need some reference material from before the transformation to compare the results to later, in order to validate the extend of the treatment's effects." he explained in his eerie high-pitched voice.
„I need some solid data, evidence, to support my findings after all. I am sure you understand..."
"Transformation...?" the silver haired first class asked weakly, his voice barely a whisper, as slowly realization dawned on him.
"It´s about time you were undertaken some modifications..."Hojo announced.
It had been years since he´d had the chance to experiment on his favorite subject.
"Time for you to make some contribution to science again."
Given the disconcerting display of emotions the speciman had shown during the past few weeks, a few adjustments seemed to be long due anyway.
Hojo had neglected him. And that was showing now. It was his fault he´d turned out all weak and touchy-feely. He should have monitored him more closely.
It was a mistake he wouldn´t let happen again.
„Nothing a good mako shot won´t cure, I figure!" the professor said more to himself than anyone else as slowly he moved over to one of the fume cupboards where he had prepared a special shot already.
Yes.
He had been longing to use one of these on study subjects for ages.
A perfect Mako cocktail, one of the kind they would never let him use on a human being up there.
Well the man on the table wasn´t exactly a human being anyway. So technically he wasn´t even breaking any rules.
Turning back to the center of the room the man in the lab coat took a few moments to let himself drink in the panic displayed in those mako green eyes.
He hadn´t had the pleasure to see that pokerface slip in ages.
"I guess it will be rather painful... But don´t worry... You can scream as much as you like." the professor assured him as getting the injection ready in his rubber-gloved hand, he moved over to his subject to find a suitable vein at the crook of his arm, the silver haired man´s pulse racing under the touch of his fingertips.
Leaning down close to his subject´s face the professor made to whisper in his ear.
"Down here there´s nobody to hear you scream..."
Yes. They both were aware of the fact that nobody knew they were down there.
Noone.
There probably wasn´t a soul besides them who hadn´t forgotten about this place anyway a long time ago. And those who hadn´t were eager to forget, he was sure.
The man on the table didn´t even try to fight as the professor injected his latest invention.
Bespactacled dark eyes trained on mako green ones, the professor found them helpless, full of fear, of terror.
Oh, he was so easy to break. Almost too easy. But always too proud to beg.
What a pity, the professor thought.
He guessed he would have loved that.
Just like old times.