Final Fantasy 7: The Hojo Clone
By Co V Schuler
Part 2: The Second Cetra
Chapter 9 (Continued 2 days after the end of Chapter 8)
Barret walked up the stairs and into the cave-like entrance. Bugenhagen wanted Avalanche to meet at his observatory today; for the past two days Bugenhagen had been studying the new Shinra reactor process. So now, instead of sucking Mako out of the ground, they are going to suck ozone and gas out of the atmosphere. In about two or three months Shinra would change almost every reactor into atmosphere suckers. Barret thought Shinra was being dumber than ever. I don't know the science of the atmosphere, he had said earlier. But I do know that Shinra will never be doin' something good.
Barret knew it wasn't good; those damn Shinra scientists don't know jack-shit about the Planet.
Barret sighed, wondering if would ever get any peace from Shinra. Or anybody else for that matter. Lee had been defeated, his sole purpose left unknown. They got out of there the second that the rest of Lee's people were dead. They didn't even check the tents for survivors.
Avalanche had done so much but it was still not enough. Shinra just won't give up. Marlene is still waiting for me, he thought. But not until Shinra got some sense into their heads. Barret would wait, and so would Marlene.
Barret saw Tifa coming out of a room to his left. "Hey Tifa," he said. "You headin' up to good ol' Bugenhagen?"
She forced a smile. "No, but you can tell me about it later."
He shrugged. "Sure," and then walked over to a ladder and started climbing it. His thought shifted over to Aeris, Tifa, and spiky ass Cloud.
The Planet had revived Aeris with Mako, and infused it into her so she could help Avalanche defeat Lee. She could only live for a week; she was living off of the Mako she was infused with. And she did. And a few days ago, she ran out of Mako and died. Again.
Before that thought, Tifa went berserk on Aeris, and nearly killed her (not like it would've mattered; she would've died in two days). Cloud had died but was revivable (you are revivable if all your limbs and your head are still attached to your torso). Vincent had to knock out Tifa before she killed Aeris.
And since that fight, Tifa hardly talked to anyone, and when you saw her, you could tell she had been crying. She thinks that Aeris used her powers and made Cloud like her and…Barret shivered. He had to admit, Cloud was in deep stuff.
Barret climbed the last ladder. Bugenhagen's observatory loomed over him, the always-spinning satellite dish staring into space. Barret stared at it for a minute, and then walked in.
*
Cloud was a mile away from Cosmo Canyon, in the newly remade Highwind. Not only is it better than the original, everyone now had their own rooms. Except Vincent and Yuffie, who ended up sharing the last room.
Cloud had been thinking about Tifa and Aeris and himself. The love triangle, he thought sarcastically. And what happened before Aeris finally went away. Something had happened, because three hours before Aeris Mako would run out, she came to his room on the Highwind. He had to admit that she was beautiful. For some reason she was all dressed up. Unsure of what to do, he invited her in and they sat on opposite ends of the sofa. Then edged closer and a sudden pain hit his arm, like a needle. And he lost consciousness.
When he woke up, Aeris was about to die. She said, "I love you," and then she disintegrated into nothing. Cloud stared at the place where she was standing and waved his hand in that spot. She was gone…for good. Cloud then felt something; he felt different, uncomfortable after he woke up. He looked at his arm and there was a hole where the pain had been. It was so strange; Aeris had done something to him. Later, he went to the new Med.-bay on the Highwind and asked a nurse that they hired to do a blood test. It turned out that tranquilizer had been infused into him, right were the hole was.
Aeris had tranquilized him…but why? Cloud looked up when he heard footsteps outside his door…someone was walking past his door. Who's that? He got up and ran into the hall. It was Tifa, walking to her room.
"Tifa," he called.
She turned, her eyes red, and she tried to smile. She failed. "Ye-e-es?" She sniffed.
Cloud looked at the floor. "Tifa…I am…not in love with…Aeris." He stopped, knowing he had lied to her, but…what could he do? "And…you know I love you and care for you. I'm sorry about what you might have thought or…you…I'm sorry…"
She looked at him, and slowly said, "So you love me more?"
Uh oh, Cloud thought. Maybe I…then it occurred to Cloud that maybe he should do what Aeris would want him to do. If Aeris knew that she couldn't come back…Aeris wouldn't want to hurt Tifa's feelings either. But she would still want Cloud to love her too…
"Cloud?"
Cloud blinked. "Tifa…I love you both, more than anything else. I love Aeris and she knows that I…"
Tifa started crying before he could finish.
"…she knows that I love you more."
Tifa looked up at him and said, "Really?" Cloud nodded. A know had formed in his stomach. He choked out the word, "Yes."
Tifa's eyes lit up and she ran to him and hugged him. She kissed him and hugged him again.
Cloud closed his eyes; it was wrong. He knew it was wrong. Cloud loved them both…equally. But Aeris wouldn't want Tifa's feelings hurt either. Cloud said what he said for Tifa and Aeris. Tifa kissed him again.
"Hey, uh. Bugenhagen needs Avalanche right now so clean up and we can talk about it later. Okay?"
She nodded and disappeared into her room. Cloud rubbed his forehead. Did I do the right thing, he asked himself.
*
Thirty Minutes Later…
"Ah, there they are," Bugenhagen said, as Tifa and Cloud walked in. "I knew you would come."
Cloud nodded and Tifa looked at everybody. "Guys, before we start this meeting…I want to say sorry. I love you all and I have been very…rude. I'm back guys. Sorry about that past few days."
They all acknowledged her and she smiled, for the first time in half a week. Cloud had already sat down on a wooden chair and she went over there and plopped onto his lap. He grimaced when she wasn't looking and Bugenhagen started talking.
"Let me review what is happening before I tell you the problem. Tanner is, in two months, going to re-modify almost every Mako reactor into ozone and gas vacuums. He is going to go one reactor at a time…but I fear that a few days after the first one is opened, our Planet is doomed."
Barret shook his head and Cid got another cigarette. Vincent cocked his sniper rifle.
Bugenhagen continued, "The ozone is a layer in the atmosphere and that layer protects our planet from getting overheated and getting bombarded with the suns radiation." Bugenhagen shook his head. "If you can…you must stop Shinra even before they begin re-modifying the first reactor. If you don't, our Planet won't last more than a few days."
"That's IT," Barret yelled. "Shinra has been pissing me off for the past few years and now I am going to finish them." He got up and ran out of the room. Cloud looked at Bugenhagen and said, "Its okay, he's just really mad."
Bugenhagen nodded and continued the meeting, "Our planet has been using Mako to replenish the ozone layer, which is another reason the Planet is running out of Mako. This wouldn't really hurt the Planet if Shinra would stop using Mako power but anyway…I propose that you destroy the reactor that they first plan to modify and then start blowing up all the reactors around the world. If you do that, you will not only stop the atmosphere problem, you could stop all the Mako problems."
Everyone was quiet for a while. Thinking.
Yuffie got up and left the room, Cid following her. Bugenhagen looked at Cloud, "Something is different though. I don't know what but something is happening. You and I should talk for awhile after everyone is gone."
Everyone took the hint and left, and Bugenhagen led Cloud to his kitchen. "Drink," he asked. "Whatcha' got?" Cloud was surprised at the answer.
"Oh lets see here…wine, milk, water, ale…"
Cloud interrupted, "You drink?"
Bugenhagen shrugged and replied, "Who doesn't?"
"I'll take some wine, red if you have it," Cloud said, smiling at the old man. "So what is this…problem that you didn't want anyone else to know about?"
While Bugenhagen poured the drinks, he asked Cloud to describe Jenova, and her past and how Sephiroth and Cloud were linked. Cloud told him and after Cloud was done, Bugenhagen was nodding. "Just as I feared," he said.
"What," Cloud asked.
"Jenova has a secret that no one, not even Sephiroth knew about. You did know that Sephiroth was infused with Jenova's cells, right? Good. Well, Sephiroth was never actually infused with Mako; Jenova cells can build Mako. That's how Sephiroth also got Mako in him."
"So, Jenova builds Mako, or regenerates it? Is that what you are saying?"
"Exactly what I'm saying. And our Planet was doomed over ten years ago. But somewhere, somehow, Mako keeps sprouting out of nowhere. I believe I have figured that out."
Cloud thought for a second and then it hit him. "Someone is putting Jenova cells into the Planet?"
Bugenhagen grave fully nodded. "Yes indeed. And the side effects of this…mad experiment could horrible. I have ran it through my simulator machine thousands of times and…the result was, after about twenty years of Jenova cells being put into the Planet, Jenova being re-created and the Planet turned into a giant Jenova monster."
They both stopped talking. For a few minutes, Cloud tried to think about how…, "How could that be?"
"If the cells find each other, they combine in size. And the more the cells, the easier to find the other cell, right? Eventually, after about twenty years, Jenova will be completely reborn and in the Lifestream, and the Lifestream flows all throughout the Planet. Therefore, Jenova could transform the Planet and control!"
Cloud continued for Bugenhagen, "And everyone would die and Jenova would roam the universe as a planet-size monster!"
Cloud started shaking his head. "This is big. This is very big. Shinra couldn't be dumping cells into the Lifestream, could they? They don't even believe in the Lifestream. Who could be doing this? Do you think they know what they are doing?"
"They know," replied Bugenhagen, "And if, after twenty years, they keep doing it…we and everyone dies and Jenova rules the universe.
"Shit," Cloud said. "How can we stop this?"
"I don't know, but when I find out, I will call your PHS. Now go and tell Avalanche and fulfill your mission; destroy all reactors."
Cloud nodded and left the room.
Authors Note
I hope you all understand what's going on. If you don't, e-mail me at cvnataku@hotmail.com and I will do my best to explain it better via e-mail. Thanx for reading! Please review below.