Disclaimer: All Final Fantasy 7 characters, places and things all belong to Squaresoft and other involved companies. I own none of it. This fanfic is purely for the fun and enjoyment of others and myself. I make no profit from it.
SHARDS COLLIDE
CHAPTER 20
Aeris opened her eyes to a world of agony. She squeezed her eyes shut from the immense pain which assaulted her side. Slowly she composed herself and sat up, still rubbing her ribs rhythmically. She felt as if her whole body was on fire from strain and injury. Aeris took a few minutes to survey her surroundings then sighed heavily. Once again she had awaken to a strange area where things were definitely not as good as they were when she was last awake.
To make matters even worse, not only was she in a worse place, she was in the worst place of them all; the very place in which she dreaded the most. The Shinra Compound.
"Uugh…"
Aeris turned swiftly at the soft noise emanating from next to her. She nearly choked in surprise as she saw the familiar figure just waking up next to her.
"Tifa?… Are you alright?"
Tifa groggily opened her eyes then bolted up with lightning speed. She immediately regretted that idea, however, when she suddenly fell back down clutching her leg anxiously.
"Tifa? What's wrong?" Aeris asked in a concerned voice.
Tifa shook her head lightly to clear her thoughts then turned to face the young green-eyed girl. "Aeris? That bastard Reno broke my leg in the fight…" Tifa carefully examined her leg and much to her surprise, it hardly showed any trace of injury other then the light red bruise that laced around her ankle. "Hmm… For some reason it looks like they used a healing spell on the injury since then. But I still feel a sharp pain when I stand on it. Where are we anyway?"
Aeris lowered her head slightly. "I don't know exactly but I do know that we're in the Shinra Compound for certain."
"Are you serious? You mean we're actually inside the Shinra building right now?"
Aeris nodded grudgingly but said nothing.
"Wow…" Tifa said, still surprised by the revelation. "I wonder why they brought us here. It would seem to me it would be more sensible for them to just kill us out right. Don't get me wrong! I'm not saying I would rather die, mind you." Feeling somewhat foolish from her confused words, Tifa stopped her banter to look around once more at her surroundings.
"But still…" She said in mild awe. "I'm surprised Shinra's taken such an interest in us."
"… They're probably planing to use us for some sick experiments or something." Aeris interjected coldly; more coldly then Tifa ever remembered the girl sounding as a matter of fact.
"Aeris?… What's wrong? Have you… been here before?"
Again, Aeris nodded but remained silent.
"…What did they do to you?" Tifa couldn't help but ask. She too was now growing apprehensive from the woman's quite demeanor.
"… There was a scientist here… I'm sure he still is… he kept on taking blood samples from me and … he used to keep me in some kind of containment unit always preaching about how inhuman I was and how much more useful I would be simply as a tool of war and science…"
Tifa wanted to burst with sympathy at the very sight of Aeris now. Tears were now streaming down the poor girl's face and her hands were shaking.
"Hey don't worry Aeris. Don't listen to that creep. No matter what he says, you are who you believe you are. No one else can prove it but you. Don't worry, I won't let that maniac anywhere near you… I swear it."
Aeris looked up sympathetically towards her companion. "Tifa… Thank you."
Tifa nodded her head promptly. "Hey, think nothing of it. We're friends right? Don't worry, we'll find a way out of this yet, just you wait and see."
Aeris returned a shallow smile and nodded her head as well.
Suddenly the mechanical door baring them inside of the small room swept open and three Shinra guards walked in followed by another man who was highly dressed, possibly the superior officer. The highly dressed man walked up to the two women and glared at them both with angry eyes.
"Stand up!… Both of you! And no funny business or else…"
Tifa and Aeris grudgingly complied, staring mutely at the Decorated man.
"Put your hands were we can see them." He then pointed to two of his officers. "You two! Bind them and bring them along!"
"Where are you taking us?" Tifa interjected.
The man turned his head to glare at her for speaking directly to him then turned his head away in disgust.
"Where are you taking us!" Tifa persisted.
The man's shoulders sagged in a short sigh. "You are to be taken to see the president himself. You should feel honored at such a privilege. Now be silent and come along!"
And with that they began their trek to the president's office. Aeris looked on dreadfully at the horrible surroundings of the Shinra building. Everything was so plain and sterile. Everything was so orderly and seemingly perfect. It was all fake to Aeris. Everything about the facility was horribly fake and a blatant lie to her eyes. The seemingly shallow beauty was only a mask for the hidden evilness which lay deeper under the surface that was Shinra.
Before she knew it, they stopped in front of a huge, richly designed doorway. One of the guards walked over to a side panel and punched in a number of codes then suddenly the lock clicked open granting them all access. One of the guards opened the door while another shoved them inside, closing the door right after two more guards came through. Both women gasped in surprise as they saw Barret standing there, facing the president with his hands bound tightly behind his back with similarly huge manacles. Sitting next to him was what seemed like an orange, red animal which almost looked like a mixture of a tiger and a bobcat. What caught the women even further off guard, however, was that the animals tail was on fire.
"Ahh I see my guests have finally arrived." Said President Shinra in a cheery voice. "Welcome!" He said in sarcastic humor, chuckling mildly at his own jokes. However all he received from his prisoners, where angry mutters and glares, especially from Barret.
"Oh? Are you not pleased to be here Mister Wallace? Perhaps you would rather I have you killed then? At least then you can finally be reunited with your comrades right?"
Barret shook with rage from the accusation and nearly trounced on Shinra then and there. Unfortunately, the Shinra guards saw it coming and immediately rushed up to him ramming the butts of their weapons into his ribs. Barret reeled from the blows but continued to glare at his enemy.
"You bastard!" He seethed quietly. "You're not going to get away with this!"
Shinra raised in eyebrow in amused curiosity at Barret's comment. "Oh? And how aren't I going to get away with this when I get away with everything else I do? Ha! This is what you get for opposing me! You didn't really think your heinous crimes would go unnoticed before my ever watchful eyes did you?"
"F*ck you!" Barret spat in anger.
Shinra continued to chuckle then turned his attention towards his other prisoners. "Ahh and what about my two beautiful female guests. Are my accommodations to your liking? If there's anything you need, feel free to ask me any time. My men are at your service."
"What do you want with us Shinra!" Tifa hissed with nearly the same spite as Barret.
"With you my dear? You will be my star attraction in Midgar. You will be the new toy for my agent Cornelio. You will be his to do with as he pleases. He has offered my a very handsome sum for you and I would be adverse to turn him down now wouldn't I?"
Tifa glared at him with deep hatred in her eyes. "You sick twisted bastard."
Shinra took on a look of shock. "Oh am I? What could possibly be wrong with my choice of action? Your beautiful, desirable, and worth lots of money. The perfect combination don't you think? Besides, you will be much better off then your companion over there."
Now Tifa was fuming with rage. "What do you plan to do with Aeris you sick F*ck!"
Shinra chuckled once more. "She will be given to Hojo of course. I imagine he will dissect her and perform all kinds of scientific experiments on her for his own amusement."
Tifa could see Aeris flinch visibly from the news. She quickly stood protectively in front of her friend. "You're NOT getting your hands on her you slimy bastard! You hear me!"
"Its already too late. You can do nothing about it."
Suddenly the doors once again opened behind them. Both women looked in horror as they saw who was dragged inside. Both Zack and Cloud looked battered and beaten, as if tortured, Zack more so then Cloud. Apparently, Cloud's bullet wounds had been healed and once the guards stopped pushing them, he stood firmly on his own two feet yet Zack was still hanging limply, his face bashed in and his entire body full of sores and bruises. For some odd reason Cloud stood dejectedly away from his injured friend and wouldn't even cast him a sidelong glance. In return the black haired mercenary simply kept his head low, too worn and beaten to do anything else. His clothing was in tatters and blood matted his entire face.
Shinra smiled immediately when he looked towards his knew prisoners. "Ahh my star attractions have finally arrived! Now the show truly begins!"
Aeris looked on anxiously at both men. "Cloud! Zack! Are you both alright?"
"Both of them are fine in one sense or another." Came a creepy, almost maniacal voice from the distance. A voice Aeris recognized all too well and shuddered immediately at the sound.
"They were made of better stuff then to be affected like regular humans. They are… something far better…"
"Who are you?" Tifa asked spitefully, already dreading the answer.
"I am Professor Hojo, Chief scientist of this facility."
Tifa glared with hateful eyes towards the Dark haired scientist. "So you're the bastard who's put Aeris through such pain and misery!"
Hojo seemed mildly amused by her statement. "Oh? So the drone still remembers me then? That is good, things will go much smoother that way."
Tifa was now livid with anger and rage. "You son of a-"
"SILENCE!" Shinra interjected forcefully. "That is enough banter. You all are hereby charged with treason against the state. You have all plotted in terrorist activities against my dwelling and now you shall all be penalized for it. Barret Wallace, as leader of the rebel group who has continually destroyed my multi-gil reactors, you are sentenced to death. You will be executed publicly to serve as an example to all those who dare conspire against me. And the rest of you, by aiding him in his struggle, are all deemed as his accomplices and will all be judged accordingly. As I have said before, the Ancient is to be turned over to Hojo for scientific purposes. Tifa is to be traded off to Cornelio. The CAT,-" He said, pointing to the orange animal sitting next to Barret. "-Is also to be contributed to the science department for its similar crimes against my company. And as for my prized prisoners." Shinra began to smirk deviously. "They too shall be given over to Hojo. The dark haired one is to also be tortured excessively for his added crime against me! The crime of betrayal!"
"Betrayal?" Both Aeris and Tifa asked in unison.
"What do you mean?" Aeris asked.
Shinra chuckled again as he saw Zack's head rise ever so slightly from mention of his past. These were the kinds of things Shinra loved the most. Kicking his adversaries when they were down.
"Yes, as I'm sure you can already guess, Zack was once an officer of Shinra. Had it not been for Hojo's desire to study and experiment on him, he would have already been executed by now."
Aeris looked on, unbelievingly at Shinra then turned her eyes towards the beaten dark haired mercenary. "It's a lie isn't it!? Say it's not true Zack!"
"Ahh but he can't!" Hojo interrupted. "For if he did, he knows he would only be denying the truth and his very heritage. Zack has been a very strong part of Shinra for nearly his whole life! This man already knows the truth and has accepted it!" He viciously pointed towards his blond prisoner.
Cloud continued to not say anything but merely continued staring off into space with an angry scowl of betrayal on his face.
Shinra saw Cloud's angry look and smiled evilly to himself. "Yes, that's right! He betrayed you all. He lied to you. Used your friendship to further his own goals. He is nothing more then a traitor and cannot be trusted. He's always been the sly devil you see before you now. For him, he is merely getting his just desserts."
Aeris still looked unbelievingly towards the beaten mercenary. "Zack…? It's not true is it?… Say something please? Tell me you weren't working for Shinra!"
Zack's head rose slightly and the look he gave Aeris made her heart want to break. His eyes were those of a lost man. Lost and broken. As if his world had just ended and he was now lost in a nightmare.
"…Zack?"
Suddenly Hojo's eyes narrowed dangerously then he quickly walked up to the dark haired man and yanked his head back forcefully by pulling on his hair.
"Here's your proof!" the maniacal scientist seethed. He quickly pulled out at Cure 3 materia and activated it on Zack's shattered body. Aeris Tifa and Barret all watched in slight awe as Zack's body slowly began to mend itself back together at an alarming rate and in no time at all, his body healed completely to perfection. Never before had they seen a cure spell that strong.
Hojo smirked at their reactions. "Hmph! Usually, when a person is subjected to this kind of high level of materia usage, the body is momentarily showered with immense levels of mako energy. To a normal human, that has no significant value, however… with a Shinra officer who has been subjected to elite training,-" Hojo once again gripped Zack's head, forcing it even higher then pried the man's eyes open with his bony fingers. What they saw shocked them all. No longer did Zack have the recognizable, soft brown eyes of the mercenary they all knew but now he had the glowing, bright green orbs belonging to that of a Shinra Elite; A Shinra SOLDIER! Hojo smirked and finished his statement.
"-It makes all the difference in the world!"
Aeris backed away from the dark haired man in horrified disgust. Tifa similarly backed away with a disappointed look pasted on her face as she looked at Zack. Barret simply glared evenly at the man but said nothing and tried not to let his emotions show through too much. Cloud was the only one who didn't seem to be affected by this. He didn't seem to be affected by anything that had happened in the room for that matter. He simply continued to wear the mask of heavy betrayal mixed with anger on his face.
Tifa looked sadly at the blond haired man. "Cloud…? Cloud are you alright?"
Hojo glared once more. "Specimen C121 is perfectly fine. He is merely suffering from an abnormal human emotion. He will adjust after I have finished my treatments on him."
Tifa shot a heated glare towards the mad scientist. "You sick bastard! Don't you touch Cloud you hear me?!" Don't you dare lay a finger on him!" As she ranted on, Tifa became more and more livid with anger and hatred.
Hojo merely shrugged it off and walked towards Shinra. "I believe I have done my part. I must get back to my studies as soon as possible."
Shinra nodded. "Yes of course. You are excused. And that goes for my prisoners as well. Guards take them away!"
The guards began to lead Zack and Cloud down a separate area away from the other prisoners. Tifa continued to struggle against her bonds and the arms of the soldiers who where now leading her away from the man she cared deeply about. Yet soon Tifa painfully realized she was the only one left fighting. No one else resisted. No one else tried to defy the destiny Shinra had pre-designed for them all. Everyone had simply… given up.
::::::::::To Be Continued::::::::::
Author's note: Thanks for reading and please stay tuned for chapter 21!