Chapter 25: The Lifting of Hell's Deceptive Veil
"Tseng!" Zack exclaimed as he felt a smile of relief come up to his face; Cloud felt himself doing the same while Angeal had enough composure to keep himself from going any further than a small grin. "I was starting to wonder when you were going to get here! You sure took your sweet time getting here, though."
"I'm sorry for making you wait, Zack," Tseng apologized as he tapped his fingers on his left forearm. "I would have been up here sooner were it not for all of the monsters that were roaming around on virtually every floor in this building. I had arrived here and landed my helicopter ten minutes ago, but the creatures roaming around inside here were truly a force to be reckoned with.
"I believed what you said to me when I last called you an hour or so ago," he man continued on as he shifted his stance a bit. "You told me about the dangers roaming around inside our headquarters; I never imagined that the damage would have escalated to this level in such a short amount of time."
"Tseng," Sephiroth merely said in acknowledgement of the man's presence, "the leader of the Turks, and the late President Shinra's right-hand man. How nice of you to join us in our little discussion. However, I fear that you may have arrived at this meeting a little bit too late. You see, we all have already discussed between ourselves everything that was of great importance. All that is left now are the redundant facts that need to be cleared up."
"Oh, there's no need to worry about me on that, General Sephiroth," the leader of the Turks said as he waved off the sarcastic concern. "I feel that I already know what was discussed between the six of you, including the now deceased president. Actually, I know about the things that you have all talked about."
"Is that so?" Professor Hojo responded with a questioning eyebrow raised at the man. "Well then, if you say you know what we were talking about, then why don't you recap it for us? I honestly find it hard to believe that you know what we were talking about in here."
"Don't underestimate my abilities, professor. Do you forget to what organization I belong to in this company? I am a Turk; Head Turk would be more precise in this matter. We Turks have our ways of easily obtaining sensitive information without being found out. Besides, this is President Shinra's office, is it not? Being the leader of the Turks, it's only natural that I conduct most of my official office business in here. It would only be natural that I have this room bugged for security purposes," the Turk explained as he pulled out a small receiver from his suit pocket and showed it to the man. "Would that explain to you how I know of your plans to gain entry into the Lifestream and take over Gaia through it?"
"Humph, as to be expected from someone that is a Turk," the General said with some amusement breaking through his voice. "Only they would be able to obtain the most sensitive of information without any fear of being caught in the process. Heh, heh, I should have seen that one coming."
"I'm actually quite glad that you didn't find out about it. If you had, then I would not have been able to know without a doubt that you were the one who killed President Shinra with your own two hands. I would also not have known that you were also in league with Professor Hojo and the various experiments he had conducted here. I truly never expected that from you at all, General."
"In all honesty, nobody ever expected me to make a move such as this. That is why I took it upon myself to make such a move while all of you stood by, completely ignorant at what was really going on."
"You may have had Zack, Cloud, and Angeal fooled," Tseng said as he looked at the said trio, "but I had my suspicions about you for a while now. I just had to wait for that one wrong move or slip of the tongue before I could move in against you. Unfortunately, you had to do it right after the professor's experiments were set loose throughout this building."
"Was I really that obvious to you in my intentions?" Sephiroth asked as he had an amused smile on his lips. "I thought that I was doing a good job in keeping up with appearances with those around me."
"You were doing a good job at it," the suited man simply answered. "You practically had me fooled the entire time. It was actually a stroke of luck that I was able to even find reason to suspect you on having something to do with all this. Were it not for the slight out-of-character actions you have done over the past few weeks piling up against you, I would have never even thought of you doing something like this.
"I happened to have a little chat with the professor last night," he began to explain as he recalled the events that occurred with him the night before. "He seemed quite rushed when we were talking and didn't seem interested in what I had to say to him; it was almost as if he didn't want to participate in the discussion in the first place. Once it had ended and he had left, I followed him from a safe distance away to his office where I saw you waiting for him just outside his door. After the both of you went inside, I conspicuously placed a small bug underneath the door as I casually past by and listened in on what you were saying through the same receiver I used to listen in on your recent conversation. It was then that I began to question your intentions here."
"Humph, lucky tenacious bastard," the professor said with an aggressive snort. "I shouldn't have been acting so rushed while I was talking to you. I should have figured you would be able to see right through me."
"That's good for us, then," Zack said as he gave a cocky smile. "Now we have the Turks' help in all this, now that Tseng here knows of the things you've done here. We've got this in the bag."
"Don't get too cocky, Zack," Angeal warned the SOLDIER teen in a firm voice. "This is anything but over. We still need to stop them from letting their plans go into effect. We need to protect the citizens of this city."
"Th-that's right!" Cloud exclaimed as his eyes widened a bit. "We still need to take care of the self-destruct system before they get to it! We can't let them destroy not only all of Midgar, but the entire planet, as well!"
"Oh, I wouldn't worry about it if I were you," Tseng assured them. "I already took care of it. That was another reason why it took me a while to get up here. I was busy disarming the self-destruct so it couldn't be activated. Your plans have now been put to a stop."
"Ohh, are you sure about that?" Sephiroth asked with a hint of a tease in his tone. "I would not want to start getting too full of myself if I were you. Then again, that was something that you always managed to avoid doing, so I have no worries in you having your ego become blown up."
"And what are you insinuating at here, General?" the suited man asked as he raised a questioning eyebrow at the silver haired man. "You speak as if you had a hidden ace up your sleeve. Do you know of something rather important that I have yet to figure out as of yet?"
"Well, I dare say I do, Tseng," the silver haired man replied as the corners of his mouth curved up slightly into a small smile. "While it may be true that you managed to disarm the device that would cause this place to blow up, do you forget who it was that made the system in the first place? It was the good professor here who created the device. I could just ask him of an alternative way to activate the system. What you have done was nothing more than to delay the inevitable."
"Yes, I have created a way to allow the system to go off even if someone managed to hack into it and disable it," Hojo agreed with the General's statement as a slight curl of his lips indicated one of his twisted smiles. "All one needs in order to activate the self-destruct is the detonator I had created. It'll work even if the main activator has been deactivated, as you have so done earlier."
"So you're saying that there is another way to activate it?" Tseng asked with a lack of surprise at the new revelation. "I suppose I should have figured that that would've been the case here. You always were a man who loved to think ahead and find solutions for occasions that just might not play to your liking."
"Unfortunately, using the detonator isn't as definitive as just activating it right here in the president's desk," the professor continued on as he ignored the man. "It can be overridden when activated in such a simple fashion. Oh well, it isn't as though any of you would be able to figure it out anytime soon."
"You really are intent on trying to destroy this city, all for the sake of having the Lifestream appear here and become immensely concentrated, are you?" Zack asked in disbelief as his shook his head at the man. "You really like to make stopping you from achieving your plans as hard as you can make it, huh?"
"Either that or you're just being too careful and made sure to seal up every hole in all of your plans," Cloud added with a sigh as he allowed his body to relax for the first time since coming up to this floor and figuring all this stuff out. "This is definitely not going to be working out for us."
"Then we'll just have to find a way around his carefully built wall of logic," Angeal stated as he scratched the end of his nose. "If we have to, we'll chip away at it piece by piece. That will be the only way we can get him to tell us where he has hidden the detonator."
"Ha, as if you'd be able to pull that little detail out of my mouth. Only the General here knows of the location, for I told him of it only yesterday."
"Did you really, professor?" Tseng asked with intrigue making itself known in his voice. "If that's so, then how come I didn't hear a single word about it when I was tapping your conversation? If you were talking about it, then I would have heard some mention on it."
"Who said anything about saying where the detonator was located?" Hojo asked with added emphasis on the word. "Yes, it's true that I told him of the location, but there's more than one way to relay to someone sensitive information without having to say a single word to them."
"So you're saying that you showed him where the device was?" he asked with a small, barely noticeable hitch in his breath.
"Well, I certainly didn't draw a picture showing where it was at. I merely put down written directions as to where it is. Do you think that I am that stupid to speak of something of great importance such as that in a place where someone is liable to overhear the conversation?"
"You obviously didn't think about that when you were listening to Sephiroth talk about his plans," Zack replied with a roll of his eyes at the professor's arrogant attitude. "It's amazing that you managed to remember to be careful about talking about the detonator out loud like that."
"I would appreciate it if you didn't insult my intelligence. My mind holds more power than that of your arms swinging around that sword of yours as if it were a caveman's club. You know that I could easily create something that could squish the life out of you like the pesky little rodent you are."
"Yet you haven't managed to make something like that yet," the young SOLDIER bit back as he childishly stuck his tongue out at the man. "All you managed to make were stupid creatures that can only kill their targets when they sneak up and take them by surprise. Me, Cloud, Adeus, and Angeal have managed to take down every single one that dared to try and kill us
"Why, you immature little boy! You best make sure to be careful at where you stick your tongue out at. It would be a shame to have it chopped out of that arrogant mouth of yours."
"That's enough, you two," Angeal butted in sternly before things got even more heated than they already were. "We don't have time here to be bickering with each other over this mindless nonsense. We have more important matters that need to be taken care of right now."
"Yes, you're quite right, my good man," Hojo agreed with the older SOLDIER as he clapped his hands together and quickly dismissed the past event. "The General and I have a plan that needs to be put into action before things in here become even more out of hand. Now, if you four will excuse me, I'll…"
Just as he was about to walk towards the General's position, Angeal roughly grabbed a hold of the scientist's right arm. The man let out a squeak of surprise as the SOLDIER forcibly tugged him away from his intended destination and threw him towards Tseng, who quickly grabbed a hold of the man before he fell and held a firm grip on him so as to not let him run off. The scientist tried to squirm his way out of the Turk's arms, but his grip was too strong and he was now stuck.
"Wh-what is the meaning of this?!" Hojo demanded angrily as he continued to violently squirm around in a vain effort to get away. "Let me go, you brainless brute! You have no right to be treating me this roughly."
"Quite the contrary, Professor Hojo," Tseng simply replied as his iron grip on the man simply tightened as the squirming continued. "I have every right to be acting rough with you. From what I have heard through the receiver in combination with what you had just admitted to here in front of me, I can't allow you to roam around free anymore. I may be a Turk who follows the orders of the president without question, but I am not without my own thoughts on certain matters. I still do what I feel is right.
"So, from this point on and until Gaia knows when, you are now under the direct custody of the Turks. You are to first be escorted out of this building to a safer location before you are to be questioned by us. I suggest that you stop trying to break free of my grasp for you will not be able to do so."
"Let the professor go, Tseng," Sephiroth calmly demanded as he brought his stoic gaze to the Turk. "There are things that he needs to do before he has to go along with you to wherever it is that you are planning to take him."
"I'm afraid he can't do that, Sephiroth," Angeal answered as he moved in between the two men. "He needs the professor to tell him in great detail about the creatures roaming around inside this building. He is our only hope in saving this planet from the potential dangers these things pose."
"Oh, come now, my friend," the General said as he gave a small, meaningless smile. "Surely you are not going to try and stand in my way of creating a new society for the planet. You, of all people, should know that I am serious whenever I demand for something to be done or given."
"I know that perfectly well," the older SOLDIER answered as he looked at the silver haired man, yet at the same time he did not look at him. "I know perfectly well how the Sephiroth I have come to know acts. This is not how the strong and honorable man acts. You've changed way too much; I don't even think I recognize you anymore. It pains me to say this to you, but…we are no longer friends from this point on. I can't continue to be friends with a person who has his mind set on changing Gaia for the worse in order to suit his ideals."
"…So, you are abandoning me?" the man asked after a moment's silence filled the room. "You, the man who holds his loyalty to his friends on top of every other important thing in his life, are reconsidering our friendship? Are you sure it is not you who changed for the worse, Angeal?"
Instead of answering, the older SOLDIER simply repositioned his gaze towards Zack and Cloud, who were looking at him with eyes that reflected pity for the situation he was currently in. He caught the looks and silently thanked them for their concern with the slightest of nods of his head.
He then opened his mouth and said, "No, I have changed for the better, even when the cause of the change would probably have done the opposite for me. I have changed for the better, for I now realize that I have been fooled by the façade you have put up the past couple of years. You have changed for the worse right under all of our noses and managed to keep us fooled until this very night. I do not regret taking back the friendship that we had and enjoyed; the only thing I do regret is that I didn't notice your change sooner and tried to stop you from treading down this path. That is my one true regret about our friendship."
"A-Angeal," Zack whispered out sadly as he saw the trouble stirring within his mentor's eyes. He looked on in sadness as he could only imagine the pain the man was in right now as he said those words.
"…So that is how it is going to be from here on out, is it?" Sephiroth asked as he narrowed his eyes at his now ex-friend. "No longer are we going to be friends fighting with each other against a common enemy. We are now true enemies destined to fight each other the next time we meet."
"Well, that's a very poetic way to look at things here," Cloud stated sarcastically as Angeal swallowed his emotions down but still gave out a sad sigh. "In a way, though, I suppose you're right on that. You're no longer the General that we have all come to know you as. You have changed into this person who would take control of the entire planet. You are no longer that man that I have come to respect and admire. No longer are you the man we all remember you as. The next time the four of us meet up like this, we'll most definitely be locked in battle."
"Oh, you are quite right on that, cadet," the General stated as he walked towards the staircases. "You know, if these circumstances were different, I would see you as one of the most advanced cadets I have ever seen here. You truly do have the courage and strength to make it into SOLDIER. You might even be able to make it all the way to 1st Class without any problems should you choose to pursue it.
"However, since we are now enemies, I can only see you as a force to be reckoned with in the near future," the man continued on with a disappointed sigh. "Do you not find it amazing how fate can play out in such unpredictable ways? Anyway, if you will all excuse me; I need to go and find a particular detonator that has been hidden quite well somewhere inside this building."
"I trust you remember me telling you where it was that I hidden it, right?" Hojo, who had since calmed down from his struggling, inquired. "It would not do well for you if you forget about it now."
"Do not worry, Professor Hojo," the silver haired man replied as he walked past the man and Tseng who was still holding onto the man. "I remember quite clearly where you said you have hidden the small device. You have hidden it somewhere on the 67th floor, correct?"
"Yes, I did," the professor answered with a slight nod of his head, causing Tseng to tighten his hold on the man. "Make sure you search the area thoroughly and carefully. A device of that size could easily be overlooked by somebody who doesn't know what they're looking for."
"I don't think you're going to be going anywhere, General," Zack stated defiantly as he quickly got into the man's direct line of path and blocked him from advancing any further. "You're not going to go get the detonator and start blowing up this city. We won't let you do it."
"Is that really what you believe you will be able to do?" Sephiroth asked with slight amusement trailing behind his words. "You honestly believe that you will be able to stop me from accomplishing my goals? If that is what you are truly thinking, then I am afraid that you are sorely mistaken, Zackary."
With a quick swing of his arm, the General knocked the young SOLDIER away from his path and sent him flying a couple a feet away. He landed on his back with a loud thud and a grunt of slight pain.
"You, nor anybody else that still reside inside this building, shall not stop me from attaining what I truly desire," he said as he continued on towards the stairs. "I shall have total control over this planet once I have managed to gain control over the Lifestream, the very blood of Gaia herself. The planet shall bow before me as I work my ideals upon her planet and the people who live on it. There is nothing that any of you can do about it to stop me at this point. Now, if you will excuse me?"
And with those last words out of his mouth, the General walked down the left set of stairs to the 69th floor reception area and out of their immediate sight. He had now disappeared and was in search of the one thing that would start a terrible chain of events if it were to be activated.
Upon is exit from the office, everybody that were still inside were left in a state of mixed emotions. All Angeal could do was continue to look at the stairs the General left through with a hint of sadness reflecting in his eyes. Zack was busy trying to get up off the floor from when the man had pushed him; Cloud was at his side trying to help him up while contemplating in his mind the things that were exchanged between them and the silver haired man. Tseng merely stared at the trio while still holding onto Professor Hojo, who had resumed squirming a few seconds ago.
All of them, except for the professor and the Turk, were at a loss at what they were to do next. The conversation between them and the General had ended in quite an abrupt fashion; they had yet to ;et it register into their minds. The only thing that did cross the trio's minds, though, was that they were now in more trouble than they could have thought possible. They were now forced to go face-to-face against a person whose mind was bent on destroying an entire city all for the sake of having a chance to rule the entire planet. If that was not the worst trouble that they had faced all noght, then they did not know what was.
Well, if they just looked at the bright side of things, they did manage to complete their mission and "protect" Professor Hojo after a spending an entire treacherous night searching for him. If they could do that while fending for themselves against some of the man's crazy creatures and experiments, then trying to stop Sephiroth from completing his plans should not be as hard to do.
Then again, they could be wrong on that. The General was the strongest person that they knew of on the entire planet. The only man alive who could possibly stand a very good chance of surviving in a fight with him would have been Angeal himself. If the man was the strongest person ever to grace the planet and he was the one they were going against at some point in the night, then what were the chances of any of them surviving against the inevitable crossing of blades? Only time would be able to tell if they succeed in the battle. And who knows? The three of them just might be so lucky that they would be the ones to emerge victorious.
"Ha, fat chance at that happening," Zack scoffed out loud as that very thought came flying by through his head. "There's no way we can be that lucky. It'll take a bloody miracle for us to even survive against the General's wrath."
"That may be true, Zack," Tseng replied as he loosened his grip on Professor Hojo, yet still kept it relatively firm. "However, if I had thought that you were not up to par with Sephiroth, I wouldn't have asked you to take on this mission after you had described it to me. I had already knew he, along with the professor here, was behind the attack when you told me of the monsters in here. I felt that only the General could handle the situation, but I knew that your skills were gradually rising up to his level. It appears that you have proven me right on that, for you probably wouldn't be up here if that were not the case. That and you mentioned something about having fought the man himself in a little five minute duel of sorts. If you could survive his onslaught for five minutes, then you do have what it takes to be as close as you can be to his level of skill."
"Hey, don't forget that we've survived lots of other crazy things in here tonight," Cloud reminded the young SOLDIER as he gave him a friendly pat on the shoulder. "Sure, none of them were not as hard as when we fought against the General, but they were good practice for when we had to fight against him. If we worked just a little bit harder on our skills and fixed all of our mistakes, I'm sure that we'll have an easier time taking care of him."
"I think that would be a very hard thing for us to do, Cloud," Angeal stated with a small sigh. It seemed as though he had been sighing quite a lot tonight. "Even if we managed to clear up all of our mistakes in our fighting, this is the General we're talking about here. It doesn't matter if you are a perfectionist in sword fighting; the fact of the matter is that he's a man who can always find a way to make you make a mistake while fighting you at the same time. He is truly a skilled swordsman with probably nobody to call his equal on this planet."
"Which is why I said that it'll take a damn miracle in order for us to beat him," the raven haired teen restated his last sentence with a small groan. "Oh, Gaia help us when the time comes that we have to face off against the General again. We're definitely going to need all the luck and help that we can get here."
Hello, everybody! I hope that you have all liked my past couple of chapters. I especially hope that you like the fact that I had you all in a somewhat misleading, yet not totally off-course, plot the entire time. The true plot of the story is now taking place. Please leave a review once you are done reading. I would like to see if you all like the way I am presenting this suspense story. I have never written a story with a plot like this before, and I want some feedback from my fellow readers. Thanks again for reading. Until the next update!