Chapter 25: Max the Captive

Ancient Kitsune will be written in bold, I'll also write what Max is saying in English in brackets next to it so that you'll be able to understand it.

"Uhhhhh…" Max moaned as he began to stir, "Where am I?" Even though he wasn't fully conscious he was aware of the pain he was in. He slowly opened his eyes but he had to squint as he was greeted by a bright white glare. He winced as he felt a combination of the throbbing pain in his head and the sharp pains in his leg, side and shoulder. Max tried to move, but then he realised that he couldn't, "Huh…why can't I move?" Max asked himself, as he tried to move again. His head weighed a tonne and his arms ached as Max felt them being twisted at unnatural angles. He curled his fingers up and he could feel something digging into his wrists, he tried to stretch his arms out but something was binding them at the elbows, he felt like a prisoner.

"Aaaahhh, so you're awake," A high pitched voice suddenly spoke, Max lifted his head up and opened his eyes to the sound of the voice and to his horror he saw himself face to face with none other than…

"Hojo…" Max muttered weakly as his vision became a little more clearer, "how could this have happened?" Max found himself asking, "the last thing I remember is falling asleep…they must've captured me while I was unconscious…"

Hojo grinned at Max, "It's good to see that you remember my name," he replied as he closed the cell door behind him and walked over to Max. "I heard you put up quite a fight out there, then again I can't expect anything less from Max Borealis."

"Humph," Max retorted as he struggled to move forwards, his vision was gradually becoming clearer and clearer but it was still slightly blurred. "I'm touched that you can remember my name."

Hojo laughed when he heard this, "Still as witty as ever," he said half to himself and half to Max. "Well let's take a good look at you," Hojo walked up to Max and he began to slowly pace round him, Hojo muttered to himself as he began to inspect Max.

Max's eyes followed Hojo as the scientist continued to pace round, Hojo stopped at Max's right hand side and he began to prod at Max's shoulder with his pen. "Aaaaahhhhh!" Max cried out in pain, he quickly looked away as a sharp pain surged through his body. Tears formed in his tightly closed eyes but he quickly fought them back, he didn't want Hojo to know that he was causing him pain, he didn't want to give Hojo the satisfaction. Max slowly opened his eyes again and he looked at his right shoulder, he was surprised to see that a tight bandage had been applied. He looked down and he was shocked to find that he was topless. "What happened to my tunic?" Max asked himself, he looked down at his left to see that another bandage had been applied to his side. Pain still surged through Max's body but it was slowly dying down.

"Hmmm…" Hojo continued to mutter, "it would seem that your wounds haven't fully healed yet."

"GET THE HELL AWAY FROM ME!" Max screamed at the scientist as he struggled frantically and he tried to use his telekinetic powers to force Hojo away from him but nothing happened.

"Ha, ha, ha!" Hojo laughed manically as he watched Max's vain attempts to get him to leave. "Look behind you."

"Huh…" Max uttered as he slowly turned his head, it was at that moment that he realised he was sat on a chair. His arms were securely tied behind his back and the chair was bolted to the floor, he looked down his arms to see a gold bracelet round his wrist. "What the…"

"That my boy is a rune bracelet," Hojo answered as Max turned his head back round to face Hojo again.

"A rune bracelet…" Max repeated as he glared at Hojo, "but that's Kitsune technology!" He yelled still glaring at Hojo, "how did you get hold of it?"

"Courtesy of your uncle and cousin," Hojo replied as he grinned evilly at Max.

"Ha!" Max scoffed, as he glared at Hojo unable to believe that Hojo even dared to use Kitsune technology against him. "An insane lunatic like you can't even begin to understand Kitsune technology."

Hojo scowled at Max, "Humph, if you must know, it was I who modified the original design!" Hojo shouted at Max as he jabbed a spidery finger into Max's bare chest. "You're unable to use your magic powers," Hojo explained the evil grin was back on his face, "and your psychic powers, including your powers of Life Partner, yes I know all about that."

Max could feel the anger welling up inside him as he heard Hojo say all this, Hojo's scratchy voice ringing in his already aching ears. Max focused all of his energy to change into his Dark Form ready to give Hojo a good beating, but nothing happened instead he received an electric shock. "Ouch!" Max yelled in pain as electricity pulsed through his body.

"Ok…" Dark Max uttered in pain, "don't try that again…"

"Ha, ha, ha!" Hojo laughed at Max's pain, "oh I forgot to mention that you can't transform either without feeling the pain.," Hojo explained, "also you'll get an electric shock if you try anything, like trying to escape or more importantly try to cause harm to me. You see while you wear that bracelet you're under our control."

"Grrrrrr…" Max growled angrily at Hojo and he glared at the mad scientist still laughing evilly and it made Max's skin crawl, then he thought of an idea to get under Hojo's skin. "Ok, so I won't be able to use my powers to get out of this one," Max thought to himself, "but I can still toy with him in other ways."

Max looked up and he grinned at Hojo, "Kai Hojo! Tal Nay ar falce yas kuntel taki yas nurs! Nay dant'd halle mai wats tu sal ut en belta! coosel's ar heda! tarre ar pipal nekk!" (Hey Hojo! If I had a face as butt ugly as yours! I wouldn't even have the guts to step out in public! here's a hint! wear a paper bag!) Max yelled at Hojo in a foreign language leaving Hojo staring at Max in shock and confusion.

"What…" Hojo uttered still confused at what Max had said. "What did you say to me?"

Max's grin grew wider as he continued to insult Hojo in Ancient Kitsune. "Kai Hojo! Nay't culad nursai tal Nay fura nu! Damac nu errer quelle ven mai san en fullre mantle dant ryu tur nu!" (Hey Hojo! I'd watch yourself if I were you! Because you never know when the men in white coats would come for you!)

Hojo ran up to Max, he grabbed hold of Max's shoulders and he started shaking him violently. "SPEAK ENGLISH!" Hojo screamed at Max.

Max however was unfazed and he continued to insult Hojo in the same fashion. "Kai Hojo! Nu cusp bay nalmar tellec en melenti ef nu way'd halle vellai ut falt nay'm syineg! Cusa ar luxen raytenalor nu tem...Mmmmmmm…" (Hey Hojo! You must be really lacking in intelligence if you can't even figure out what I'm saying! Use a pocket translator you dumb...) Max didn't finish the rest of his sentence as Hojo in his frustration had taken a roll of duct tape out of his coat pocket and slid it across Max's mouth.

"I've had just about enough of your smart mouth!" Hojo yelled as Max glared at him, "perhaps this ought to shut you up!" Max glared at Hojo and he tried to yell at the mad scientist but all that came out was a mumble that was blocked by the duct tape. "Ha, ha, ha!" Hojo laughed manically, "finally you're making sense, well, I have to return to my lab and make a few last minute preparations." Max continued to glare at Hojo, "in the meantime you can stay here alone with your thoughts, but don't worry, soon one of my associates will come and keep you company." Still laughing like a maniac Hojo walked out of the cell and the door slammed behind him. Max sighed as he heard the door slam shut, he hung his head sadly and his ears drooped as he realised how much danger he was actually in, he didn't know what Hojo nor even his master for that matter had planned for him but he knew that it couldn't be good. He closed his eyes as he slowly drifted into his thoughts.

After spending hours cleaning and polishing her Grieve Edge, (A/N, the Grieve Edge is a metal toe cover with numerous spikes on it and is deadly at close range.) Pandora had finally clipped them back on to her boots and she kicked out a couple of times to test them.

"Yeah, they're still in good condition," Pandora said to herself as she gazed admiringly at her weapons. "They're now so shiny I can see my reflection in them." She finally looked up and for the first time she realised that Max wasn't there.

"Max?" Pandora called out his name as she looked round the room, "Max where are you?" She searched the room again more frantically this time. "Ok Pandora," she reassured herself, "just relax, ask the others, someone's bound to have seen him." Pandora ran out of the room not bothering to lock the door when she ran headlong into Nightshade. "Sorry," she apologised to her father in law.

"Why am I getting a feeling of déjà vu here?" Nightshade asked her.

"Probably because it happened this morning," Pandora answered him, "have you seen Max anywhere?" It was her turn to ask a question.

Nightshade shook his head, "I haven't seen him since this morning," he replied, "anyway, I thought he was with you."

Pandora shook her head, "he went for a walk a few hours ago," she answered a hint of worry in her voice, "I haven't seen him since."

"Well he can't have just disappeared!" Nightshade snapped as he walked down the corridor, Pandora followed him, "someone's bound to have seen him."

After spend half an hour searching the place Pandora and Nightshade finally met the rest of the group at the entrance. "What's wrong?" Cloud asked as Pandora and Nightshade approached the group.

"You guys haven't seen Max anywhere have you?" Pandora questioned them, they shook their heads much to her dismay, followed by an awkward silence.

"We haven't seen him since this afternoon," Sunny replied, finally breaking the awkward silence.

"Max is always wandering off," Drogo added calmly, he was currently leaning against the wall with his arms folded and his eyes closed. "He's always had that habit."

"Or maybe the S.O.B. got scared and ran off with his tails between his legs!" Cid stated loudly much to both Angel and Pandora's annoyance. Angel was annoyed because Cid had cursed again, and Pandora was annoyed because Cid had insulted her husband.

"Max is not a coward!" Pandora snapped as she jabbed her finger into Cid's chest and glared at him, Cid however wasn't fazed.

"Well he could've fooled us!"

"Are you saying my son's a coward?!" Nightshade yelled threateningly as he too started laying into Cid. Everyone stared at the three of them and with a flash of red Vincent stepped in between them.

"This is no time to argue," he said calmly as he glared at Cid, Pandora and Nightshade with his blood red eyes.

"Oh who asked you freak!?" Cid yelled at Vincent, this caused a massive uproar and everyone except Cloud, Zack and Aerith were arguing.

"Guys…" Cloud tried to get everyone's attention but they carried on arguing, "guys…" he tried again and still they carried on. "Guys!" He yelled at the top of his lungs but he still failed to get their attention. Suddenly a loud roar filled the room causing everyone to stop what they were doing, they looked over in Cloud's direction and they saw Zack in the form of a black panther standing next to Cloud. Cloud turned to the panther, "thanks Zack."

"You're welcome," Zack responded as he changed back into his human form.

"Ok, now that I've finally got your attention!" Cloud spoke up, "a member of our team is missing, instead of arguing amongst ourselves, let's think about this logically. Now, we all saw Max this afternoon, right?" Cloud asked the group and everyone nodded.

"But where is he now?" Pandora asked staring hopefully at Cloud.

"I don't know," Cloud answered and Pandora looked away in disappointment, "but we'll find him, we just need to figure out where he was heading."

"Well, we know that he's no longer in the WRO grounds," Reno stated, "the security cameras can tell us that much."

"That doesn't help much," Pandora replied sadly. "He could be anywhere."

"Well unless he can fly," Drogo muttered sarcastically, "he won't have left this continent." Pandora glared at Drogo, "What?" Drogo asked as he shrugged his shoulders.

"Drogo's right," Cloud cut in before Pandora could say anything, "Max won't have left this continent, this continent is small compared to say the Western continent."

"Question is, where did he go?" Lance asked the group.

Everyone thought about where Max could've got to when Aurora suddenly spoke up in Nightshade's head. "Nightshade!" She yelled urgently, "Max is in grave danger!"

"What do you mean?" Nightshade asked her.

"He's been held captive!" Aurora answered her voice was filled with worry.

Nightshade started to get worried when he heard that his son was being held prisoner. "Where?" Nightshade questioned.

"He's in Midgar," Aurora replied, "but I'm not sure where, please Nightshade, you have to find him!" Aurora pleaded.

"Don't worry, I will," Nightshade reassured her, Aurora then disappeared from Nightshade's head. He then looked at the others, "ok, I've got some good news and I've got some bad news," he informed the group.

"What's the good news?" Pandora asked him.

"I know where he is," Nightshade answered, "he's in Midgar, but…"

"What?" Everyone asked as they stared at the Kitsune.

"Don't keep us in suspense," Reno added.

"He's been held captive," Nightshade replied.

"What?!" Pandora yelled at the top of her lungs, "we have to get to Midgar!"

"Right," Nightshade agreed, "Cid…" Nightshade was about to ask Cid to prepare the Sierra but he was interrupted.

"Wait!" Tifa cut in, everyone turned to stare at her, "you can't just go wandering into Midgar," she said, "that place is dangerous, the ruins are crawling with monsters and besides, Midgar is a bigger area, it'll be difficult to find Max."

"So what do you suggest!?" Pandora snapped at Tifa, "my husband is out there! Who knows what those creeps will be doing to him!"

"Hmmm…" Tifa replied as she thought of an answer, she then looked over at Zack grinning.

"What?" Zack asked as everyone started to stare at him, "what are you all looking at me for?"

"Zack," Cloud said as he walked over to his friend, "we need you to fly over Midgar to see if you can find Max."

"What do you want me to do?" Zack questioned with an air of sarcasm in his voice, "sprout wings…" Everyone scowled at him and Zack sighed irritably, "I don't have a choice do I?"

"Please Zack," Aerith pleaded with her boyfriend, Zack sighed again and he turned himself into a hawk. Drogo opened the front door and with a beat of his powerful wings, Zack flew out of the open door towards Midgar.

"I hope he can find Max," Pandora whispered fearfully.

"Don't worry," Aerith replied reassuringly, "Zack has a keen eyesight, if there is something even slightly out of the ordinary, he'll pick it up." Pandora nodded but she didn't say anything as she knew there was nothing she could do at that point.

"I hope Max is ok," She said to herself.

Max continued to struggle against his bonds, wincing in pain as he did so, his wounds hadn't fully healed yet. How long he was there for he didn't know, to him it felt like an eternity, because he was underground he didn't even know whether it was day or night. All he knew was that he was in a lot of trouble and he had to find a way out of it, but with all of his powers blocked there was nothing he could do. He couldn't even get into contact with Pandora or Nightshade to ask for help, for the first time in a while Max felt vulnerable and alone.

Knowing that escape was futile Max closed his eyes hoping against hope that this was all just a bad dream, that he'd wake up in his own bed with Pandora next to him. However it was only when he heard the creak of the cell door opening that Max was brought back to reality and he knew once and for all that it wasn't a dream.

Max slowly opened his eyes to see Loz stood in front of him grinning, "he, he…" Loz laughed as he punched his hand with his fist, still grinning inanely. "I've been waiting to do this for so long!" Loz shouted excitedly as he reeled his fist back and before Max even knew what was happening he felt a sharp pain as Loz's fist slammed into his face. Max winced slightly but he didn't cry out, he didn't want to give Loz the satisfaction. (A/N, compared to what Max has been through in the past, Loz's punches feel like taps to him.) Loz brought his fist back as Max turned his face back towards Loz, he had one eye open as the other eye was badly bruised by Loz's punch.

Max winced and he almost cried out in pain as he felt Loz's fist punch him in ever available spot. Max's vision blurred as he slowly blacked out, but not before he saw Loz's fist punch him square in the face. "Say goodnight…again!" Loz yelled as Max finally passed out. Loz stared at Max's unconscious form for five whole minutes when he heard Hojo's shrill voice on the loud speaker.

"LOZ YOU MUSCLE BOUND, SILVER HAIRED, BUFFOON! WHAT'S TAKING SO LONG?!" Hojo demanded as Loz stared blankly at the vibrating loud speaker on the wall.

"Errr…I was just…" Loz stammered as he made crude gestures at Max's unconscious body. "Getting my revenge on Max by giving the five tailed bastard a savage beating!"

"JUST HURRY UP AND BRING THE PRISONER TO THE LAB!" Hojo interrupted, frustrated at Loz's lack of intelligence. "OH AND LOZ! HE IS A RARE AND VALUABLE SPECIMEN SO IF HE DIES AS A RESULT OF YOUR SAVAGE BEATING! I'M HOLDING YOU PERSONALLY RESPONSIBLE AND THE MASTER WILL BE SEVERELY PISSED OFF IF YOU ALLOW HER PRISONER TO DIE!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah…" Loz replied dismissively as he walked over to Max, he untied the cuffs binding Max to the chair and he ripped the tape off Max's mouth. Max winced in pain as he felt the tape being ripped off his now sore mouth, Loz then picked up Max and swung him round on his shoulder and he carried the captive Kitsune out of the cell.

In the lab Hojo was busy preparing his equipment, he had several empty needles and he had cleaned the last one when he heard a voice behind him. "So," A female voice spoke behind Hojo, "is everything ready?"

"Yes Miss Illusion," Hojo answered as he turned to the shadows and bowed, "all we need is the prisoner and we're all set."

"Good," Illusion replied as she slowly stepped forwards out of the shadows to reveal a dark purple, female Dark Kitsune with long black hair that trailed the length of her back, she had gleaming yellow eyes which glowed lustfully and her fanged mouth was curled into an evil grin. She wore a long black robe with a symbol on the back of it. (A/N, as you may have already guessed, Illusion is a necromancer and she also has the power over dreams and illusions, hence her name. She is 9000 years old but she looks like she's in her 30s.) She also wore black high heeled shoes and black elbow length gloves, her nine tails flowed gracefully behind her as she walked. She walked over to where Hojo was stood, "finally," she said with a hint of anticipation in her voice, "with Max's DNA I can make my army stronger, strong enough to not only take over this pitiful planet, but the whole universe!" She cackled loudly as she said this and Hojo laughed along with her. She suddenly stopped laughing and she looked towards the lab door. "Loz is taking too long, what's keeping him…speak of the devil," Illusion muttered as Loz barged through the door still carrying Max over his shoulder.

"Sorry I'm late," Loz panted as he walked over to the lab table where Hojo and Illusion were stood and he placed Max on to it. "But this Son of a Bitch is heavy!" Illusion took a closer look at Max, the wounds he had received from the last battle were slowly healing but he had new cuts and bruises where Loz had punched him repeatedly, his face was badly battered and bruised and his lips were dry, cracked and sore.

Illusion glared at Loz, "I thought I told you that I wanted Max UNHARMED!" Illusion yelled the last part loudly as she jabbed a finger into Loz's chest.

Loz merely shrugged in response, "I wanted to get my revenge for him killing me in Kalm!" Loz yelled as he pointed at Max who was still lying unconscious on the lab table.

"When I'm finished with him you can do whatever you want to him!" Illusion continued to snap at Loz, "until then I want him kept alive for as long possible! DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR!"

"Yes Miss Illusion," Loz answered as he snapped to attention, Illusion grinned at this.

"Good, now get behind Max in case he wakes up!" She ordered, Loz obeyed and he walked behind Max and stood there, his arms were outstretched ready to catch Max if he woke up. Illusion walked back over to Hojo and she watched still grinning evilly as Hojo grabbed one of the needles from the tray next to the table and jabbed it into Max's neck. Max winced and he let out a small yelp of pain as he felt the needle being stabbed into his neck, Hojo pushed the top of the syringe and the needle began to draw blood from it. Hojo repeated the process for another five minutes. "That's enough for now," she told Hojo, he took the fifth needle out of Max's neck, he cleaned the wound with a cloth and he applied a plaster to it Hojo transferred the blood samples to jars before he thoroughly cleaned the needles.

Just as Hojo had finished cleaning up Max moaned as he began to stir, Hojo saw this and he grabbed a needle containing a colourless liquid in it. Max suddenly shot up and Loz quickly grabbed Max by the shoulders, Max struggled feebly but he was still too weak. Hojo quickly jabbed the needle into Max's arm.

"Aaaahhhh…" Max moaned softly, he looked down at the needle as the last of the liquid was injected into him. Max's eyes rolled in the back of his head as he felt his consciousness leave him once more and his movements became slower as he lay back down on the table unconscious, his eyes were wide open, but they were glazed and unfocused. (A/N, in case you were wondering, no he's not dead, it's just the effects of the drug they had given him. He can still hear everything that's going on but he can't respond, just think of it as being the lights are on but no one's home.)

Loz released his hold on Max and he stared into Max's wide open eyes, "Can't we just close his eyes?" Loz asked fearfully, "it's creepy the way he's just staring like that."

"Oh stop being such a cry baby!" Illusion yelled at Loz, "it's just an effect of the drug we injected into him. Now take him back to his cell before the drug wears off!" Illusion ordered, Loz picked Max up and dragged him back to his cell. "Oh and Loz!" Illusion called after him, the silver haired man stopped in his tracks. "I will need him again so keep the savage beatings to a minimum!"

"Yes Miss Illusion," Loz said and he continued to drag Max to his cell. When Loz left the room Illusion turned her attention to Hojo again.

"Start injecting the blood into my soldiers!" Illusion snapped at Hojo, "I want them to be as strong as possible, we'll give Max a chance to replenish his blood, then we'll take more blood samples."

"Then I can do with Max as I wish?" Hojo asked as he stared hopefully at Illusion.

Illusion nodded, "once I have enough blood Max will no longer be of any use to me," she answered as she grinned at Hojo, "he's a dangerous enemy, so you can do with him as you wish, but until then, you'll refrain from conducting your twisted experiments on him." Illusion walked out of the room with a sinister grin on her face leaving Hojo to finish cleaning up.

It had been a whole hour since Zack in bird form had flown over to Midgar to search for Max and he still hadn't returned yet. Pandora became more and more worried every second to the point where she was pacing up and down and despite everyone's words of comfort she couldn't be consoled and the whole room slipped into silence.

"Oh…" Pandora muttered to herself as she continued to pace up and down, "where could he be? He should be back by now."

Aerith was about to respond but she immediately shut her mouth again as the sound of beating wings could be heard. Aerith stood up and she smiled at the group. "Looks like Zack's back!" She stated cheerfully, everyone stood up.

"About time the spiky haired bastard got back!" Cid cursed loudly, much to Angel's annoyance but she didn't say anything as she knew the pilot wouldn't listen to her.

"Well at least I'm not a butt ugly, foul mouthed, chain smoking, bad tempered pilot!" Zack retorted wittily as he flew back in through the open window and changed back into his human form as he landed. "And I don't go mental at everyone because I can't last five minutes without a cigarette!"

"I…oooooooohhhhh…" Cid stammered, he was at a loss for words all he could do was point his finger and glare at Zack. "I'll think of a comeback, just you wait…I'll have a comeback!"

"Yeah…sure…" Zack muttered sarcastically, he couldn't help grinning at Cid's loss for words. "I mean you've been trying to quit for like three years now…either quit smoking or don't! And if you do decide to quit…eventually…then don't go mad at us!"

Pandora ran up to Zack, "did you find him?" She asked quickly changing the subject, Zack shook his head sadly.

"No," He answered, "I flew all over Midgar, I couldn't see him anywhere. However I did find this." Zack closed his eyes and concentrated, his skin glowed a pale green and so did the area around him. A large form appeared surrounded by several smaller forms, eventually the green glow died down and there was a loud clang as all the objects fell to the ground. Pandora took a closer look at the object and she gasped as she realised what it was.

"That's…" She stuttered, hardly daring to say it, but she didn't need to as everyone knew what the object was and as they stared at Max's broken sword they knew that Max was in serious trouble and that it was only a matter time before the people who had taken him to severely injure or even kill him, their time was running out and if they wanted to save Max they had to move fast.

Finally chapter 25 is finished, sorry it took so long, I was busy with my assignments, it ain't easy being at uni. Will the others be able to save Max in time, or will he meet a grizzly fate? (After Illusion has got what she wanted from him of course.) Find out in chapter 26 which will be coming soon, and if it takes a while, I apologise in advance, but you can't rush things. Just a reminder that I don't own Final Fantasy VII or any of its characters, I do however own characters I created myself. And please feel free to comment, as long as it's constructive criticism, I know I've said this at the end of every chapter, (pretty much) I just want to get the message across, I don't want anyone just saying that it's crap and not giving a reason for it, that's not criticism, that's just being nasty…anyway…enjoy.