Final Fantasy 7: The Hojo Clone
By Co V Schuler
Part 2: The Second Cetra
Chapter 23
After a few minutes of flying in the dark, Cosmo Canyon swung into view. Tifa gasped, Nanaki lowered his head, and Barret whispered Marlene's name while Yuffie said quietly, and "They met Vincent's fate…"
The whole mountain that Cosmo Canyon was on was toppled. The observatory was spread out across the valley in which the mountain fell. The charred chassis of a school bus was crushed under a huge boulder. Small fires were everywhere, along with the innocent blood and bodies of the villagers.
Nanaki did a little math and looked at where he calculated Cosmo Candle should be…there! Nanaki's moods were uplifted for a few seconds when he saw that Cosmo Candle was still burning.
"Its still going…Bugenhagen will be proud," Red XIII said quietly.
The Highwind found a flat area and landed as quickly as possible. Barret ran out, frantically calling and looking for Marlene. Yuffie ran toward the Materia shop, where Materia orbs were spilled out around the ground…
Yuffie stopped walking…her thoughts on Vincent. Oh my…I killed Vincent. I was too anxious to get the Materia that I found… Yuffie's breathing started getting fast as she realized she had basically killed Vincent back at the reactor. If I hadn't messed with the Materia…I could've carried Vincent further away and faster because of the weight…
Yuffie screamed. "No! I did do it…NOO!" Then she fell to the ground crying. Tifa ran over to her and tried to comfort her, but before she knew it, Yuffie had swung around, hitting Tifa with her Twin Viper. "Get the hell away from me! I killed Vincent! Its my fault…" and she fell back to the ground, crying…gunshots wringing in the air.
Barret fired another round. "Get the hell off of her," he yelled at the huge piece of metal. It was what used to be a wall, with the telescope on top of it. Barret fired at the telescope and this time, it blew up. He ran over to the flat wall and started trying to lift it.
"Dammit," he yelled when it didn't budge. He took a few steps back and whispered, "Please don't hurt Marlene," and fired the Max Ray at the debris. Bricks flew into the air and Barret over to Marlene, whose body wasn't moving…
Tears came to Barret's eyes…and he cried. He cried and cried as he held her little dead body to his head. Marlene…was dead. She was dead, just like the little girl at the reactor.
Nanaki ran over to the other side of the mountain, and found Bugenhagen's body. Half was spread out across a wall, and the other half was lying outside a door. Nanaki stopped when he heard Barret yelling something about Marlene and hell.
No…no, no no. They can't be both dead. Red XIII budged Bugenhagen's top half. No response. Red XIII looked at the moon and howled as loud as he could. Then he whispered, "Don't worthy Grandfather. Seto will protect you when you join the Planet…and I swear that I will protect your precious Planet."
Red XIII raised his head again and howled Seto's name.
*
Vincent awoke with a start. He looked at himself and felt…something different. He realized he was half-naked, his pants somewhere…he saw them hanging on a branch a few feet away on a tree.
He got up and covered himself as he stepped toward the pants.
When he reached he felt something touch his backside, accompanied by a voice. "Hey handsome, just so you know, I didn't look at you. I just f***** you real hard." Vincent winced.
"Why did you do that?"
She laughed and replied, "I wanted you so much. I couldn't take it. I don't care what Hojo says. I love you so much."
"If you love me so much, why did you tranquilize me?"
She laughed again as he put his pants back on. "Because Vincent, I can't control my lust. I just…lost control." He turned around and saw that she was naked.
"We should have waited. Hojo has machines beyond your imagination. He probably watched you do it."
Sharon rocked her head back and said with evil joy, "Good. Maybe he will know not to mess with us."
Vincent turned his head. You lust for her, don't you, a voice asked. Of course I do, she is beautiful. I do lust for her, but not enough to loose control. The voice replied, you should satisfy your feelings, not your job. There should be balance in your life.
He looked at her. She was trying to seduce him, trying to control him. He turned around and said, "Stop. You are…not my lover if you are like this." No matter what, you will never be my lover. Vincent made sure his mask was on and she noticed him checking it. "I didn't take it off. I did spare you from that, all though I don't know why you are so shy to your lover."
Vincent was fully dressed when he looked at her, looked at her beautiful body. "Lust is evil. Your love is a veil, a veil to cover what you really are; evil."
Her smile diminished. "Fine, be that way, but I love you Vincent. And you and I are going to Hojo's for a job so we can make money, get married and," she paused, "have children."
Vincent turned and started walking away, muttering about temptation. Suddenly she was in front of him and she took his hands and put them on her breasts. "Do you like it?"
"When we are married, I will all the time," Vincent replied and took his hands away. I will like it with Yuffie; not filthy bitches like you. And Vincent walked away.
*
Red XIII nudged the last bit of dirt into the mound that had been made over Bugenhagen's grave. He whispered again, "Seto will protect you…" And he turned and started to walk away when something caught his eye. A piece of paper fluttered in the air.
It came out of the small part of Bugenhagen's home and landed a few feet from Nanaki. Curiously, he wandered over to it and read it.
It read: "Nanaki, I know you will find this. They are bombarding Cosmo Canyon as I write, and I do believe that you are like your father Seto. In a few seconds, I will die and go to the Planet and aid it in making Mako to heal its wounds. Please continue your mission. When you die, you will not die if your mission is accomplished. You will go to the Promised Land. The Promised Land is where Sephiroth wanted to go so much…but couldn't because of the damage he had already caused. It is one reason he went crazy, and the other reason you already know."
Red XIII raised his head and closed his eyes. "Sephiroth…Sephiroth wanted the Promised Land and to be a…god."
He looked back at the paper and kept reading.
It read: "If you stop whoever is dumping Jenova's cells, destroy most or all of the Mako reactors, and kill Heidegger, you and the rest of Avalanche will go to the Promised Land when you die…the Planet told me that…your dear Aeris is waiting for you. So when your mission is complete, and you have lived out your life, you will join her and the rest of the Ancients. Show this to the others and go. Your legend wi-," it ended abruptly. Part of the paper was burned.
Tears came to his eyes again. He ran, carrying the paper in his mouth, toward Avalanche to show them Bugenhagen's promise.
*
Cid Highwind yelled as an electric current ran through him again. It was the eighth that day, and the pain was so…so horrible. He didn't know how many days he had been gone or how times he had been beat up.
Turks. The word made him so angry that he wanted to go beat the shit outta somebody till they died screaming. The Turks were responsible for his getting captured, his pain and his helpless emotions.
Cid had tried breaking out twice, and each day he tried the harder on him they were the next day. Cid wanted so much to kill them all. And soon, very soon, his chance would come. They had finally decided to execute him, by putting him in a gas chamber.
The same gas chamber that Tifa had been in when they were captured (during the game). Cid remembered what Tifa said about it and knew how he would escape. Scarlet would come in, escorted by one, single guard. Hopefully that would be tomorrow.
Cid would hit the guard, grab the gun and the grenades that all Shinra soldiers have attached to their belts and then bail. But all this would happen if he survived today's torture. If.
"AAAAA," he screamed as another jolt ran through him. The past week had been hell. Living in a cell with nothing but walls…not even a toilet. The cold hard floor that gave him a cold, which made the electric shock worse.
"Where the hell is Avalanche's hideout? You are trying to be a super f*****' hero, but it won't help. You will talk sooner or later. And if you don't, you can forget about tomorrow's execution. I'll kill you myself."
"I swear I don't know," Cid replied through gritted teeth. And he didn't. If he did, he would've talked a long time ago. The Turk went back to the machine and threw the switch, giving Cid 25,000 volts of electricity. "AAAA," he screamed until it was over and nearly blacked out when it was.
Suddenly it ended and Cid heard the Turk say, "Damn, it overheated." The Turk left the room and the Turk left the room, calling for mechanics.
Highwind leaned his head back and groaned in pain. 35,000 volts would kill you without a problem. Cid had about 33,000 volts that day, not counting how much he had before today. Overnight, most would 'go away'.
Every night, parts of Cid would twitch and shake without any help of stopping it. But that would end the day of his execution.
*
Avalanche thought quietly, their thoughts about Aeris and the Promised Land. Barret was somewhere; he had taken off when he realized Marlene was dead. Just got up and ran away. She couldn't be revived and…Barret had lost everything dear to him.
Yuffie was sad and miserable. Tifa was trying to be positive and comfort Yuffie but it didn't happen. The head pilot was staring silently at the floor, mourning over the loss of his best friends: the co-pilots. Nanaki was sad but somewhat happy; he remembered an old legend when he was little.
It was about the Ancients, his species, and regular humans. Red XIII couldn't remember all of it but could remember some. The important part said: 'those who try to help the Planet will go to the fabled Promised Land. Even if they do not help but to help it is in their heart, they will go. But those who don't help will be cursed to the GI. To live like you were in forever hell. And those who do not know about the Planet, will become its energy, not living, but helping forever.
Sephiroth was definitely condemned to be a GI, but Avalanche…Nanaki shook his head. He hoped they would go to the Promised Land.
Red XIII looked up when he heard someone coming. It was Barret. Tifa looked up and started to say something but decided not to. Silence kept the group on the edge, hoping someone would talk but not wanting to themselves.
"Marlene is…gone. I don't know why or where she is. But I do know this: I will do whatever I can to keep up my mission. But no more Shinra. The only thing I have left to do to Shinra is avenge Marlene. And that means killing Tanner. I will help stop the people that are dumping Jenova Cells into the Lifestream and then I will kill Tanner.
"And because I am leader of this group, I say we go for the dumper and don't forget Heidegger." Barret looked at everyone. "And one more thing. I hereby appoint Nanaki as leader of the group. Until Cid gets back…if he's alive. My orders and ideas can't be trusted because of…" He stopped.
"We understand Barret. Everyone here has lost someone," Tifa said, her voice about to choke. "I have lost Cloud…and…," she sniffed, "I do love him. But he is gone, and Marlene is gone." Tifa looked at Yuffie and the pilot. "And the pilots are gone and Vincent is gone. We will see them again in the Promised Land, like Bugenhagen said. But until then, we fight."
Slowly, each one of them began to nod or say, "Right."
After a few minutes, Nanaki spoke up and said, "Then lets put our heads together and find the enemy!"
"Right," they all said and gathered around Red XIII.
Author Note
I am going to have to end the series soon because of some family probs. So whoever has been reading the series and would like for me to do a certain thing or put something in it (I will keep the main plot of course) I will try to do so. Just a sort of 'thank u' for reviewing my stuff. Jennifer Gainsborough in particular. So just request it in the review and I will put it in Chapter 25 to the end (I don't know how many are left). Thanks ppl, and remember, REVIEW EVERYONES STOREIS EVERY TIME!!!!! Cool.