Final Fantasy7: The Hojo Clone
By Co V Schuler
Part 3: The Lifestream's Fate
Chapter 25 (Continued a few minutes after the end of Chapter 24)
The guard shoved Cid into the chair after Scarlet had made her speech. The speech basically said they were celebrating the last of Avalanche, and Shinra knew that Avalanche was still alive. "Enjoy your death," the soldier said as he strapped him to the chair.
I will, because I know I'm not going to die…but you are. Cid grimaced when the guard strapped his wrists so tight the blood couldn't circulate. "Don't worry, you won't live long anyway."
"Don't make me beat the living shit out of you," Cid replied. The guard laughed. "Whatever you idiot Avalanche."
The guard muttered a little more as he finished strapped Cid in. "There you go," he said and left the room. A hatch in the ceiling opened up and a camera on a pole came out. Cid heard a voice over some speakers outside. Scarlet, "And now, the last member of the troublesome Avalanche will die. Let it BEGIN!"
Gas emerged from little tubes from the ceiling and floor. Cid took a deep breath and slowly started struggling. The more he moved the blurrier his vision and hearing came. He had already lost a lot of blood and now…Cid blinked. Am I…dying?
The thought came and went…and then his head fell to his side and his body went limp.
Outside the gas room, in the auditorium, gunfire was erupting. A man's voice and a young girl's voice could be heard, shouting. More gunfire and to Scarlet's surprise, in came Barret and Yuffie. Dammit! Not again! I will execute them if it's the last thing I do.
Barret gunned down the rest of the soldiers, two blood waterfalls erupting from his right shoulder and his right leg. Yuffie spotted Heidegger trying to hide behind and chair and said, "The long awaited death of Mr. Heidegger…NOT! DIE!" She threw the Twin Viper and it soared around and cleanly hit Heidegger's neck, going through and back out in half-a-second.
The head fell to the ground and Yuffie's Viper returned to his hands.
Scarlet gasped and Yuffie's eyes fell on hers. Yuffie frowned. Scarlet pulled out a gun and aimed. Yuffie threw the Viper and Scarlet fired the gun at the Yuffie. The bullet soared and…hit the spinning Viper. The Viper flung out and hit the floor, the bullet ricocheting off the Viper and into a dead soldier in a corner.
Scarlet smiled but her smile was stopped when an ice-cold pain hit her stomach. Two more in her left breast and left shoulder.
She tried to breathe but something was in her throat. Cursed Avalanche, she thought and fell to the ground dead.
Barret lowered his gun-arm and said, "Cid! We gots to get Cid outta there!"
"Right," Yuffie agreed and quickly melted the door with Fire3. Once the smoke cleared Barret and Yuffie charged through and found Cid, his body limp and the gas completely clouding the room. Barret aimed carefully and shot off all the straps. Yuffie got Cid once the straps were gone and got Cid outta there.
Barret followed and back in the auditorium put Yuffie put Cid down on the floor. He was nearly dead, blood dripping from multiple stab wounds and he was coughing convulsively. Coughing up blood.
Dried blood was all over him, the crusty stuff all over his face. Yuffie started to cast Cure3 but Barret stopped her. "Its no use," he said quietly. Why, Barret asked himself. Marlene, Cloud, and now Cid.
"I ain't gonna make it, I already know," Cid said in between coughs, his voice hardly audible.
"You'll make it Cid," Yuffie said, a tear running down my cheek.
Cid frowned and said, "Don't lie bee-yatch. I outta-," he grimaced, "-outta get you for that, if I could."
Despite being called a bitch, Yuffie smiled. "Okay Cid. I'm sorry we couldn't get here earlier…" Then she stood up, a determined look on her face. "I'm gonna cure him anyway, its worth a try."
Cid shook his head. "Won't work. The gas got into my blood because they stabbed me and…and I…" His head sagged right and his hand fell from his waist. He had died. Barret closed his eyes and Yuffie swallowed.
"Don't worry," Barret said quietly. "We'll see him again, when we go to the Promised Land."
Yuffie nodded, still crying. Barret stood up and walked out of there. Yuffie followed him a minute later and with that, they made their way out of Junon.
*
The Highwind flew deeper into the pitch-black clouds. The rain was pouring so hard you couldn't see a few feet. The pilot was navigating with radar, like a bat and echolocation. They were an hour to two hours from Mideel. Nanaki sighed when he thought about it.
Tifa and him were going to go fight a Jenova that is growing about three times faster than it was. Now it was forming two separate legs, taking on the shape of a human. It was coming from the ground.
Tifa was scared but determined to fight. Red XIII knew it had to happen sooner or later and he couldn't delay it so he knew he should fight it too. The end was near; the Dumper had to be in Mideel or somewhere nearby.
Barret and Yuffie had been dispatched to save Cid and assassinate Heidegger, Red XIII and Tifa to go take out Jenova, Vincent was supposedly dead, Cait-Sith had died at least two weeks ago fighting Lee, and Cloud was supposedly dead…Nanaki shook his head. They weren't ready…
Then Nanaki had a thought hit him. Why did Lee come after Meteor came? Why didn't he come before, so he could rule under chaos? Another thought hit him and he figured it out. Because he was working for the Dumper.
Nanaki lowered and shook his head. Lee must've been a distraction from the Dumper, so he could dump for one more week…that means Avalanche had failed. NO! We haven't failed yet; we can still beat Jenova.
But can you, a little voice asked in the back of his head. Jenova is now eight stories tall, and by the time you get there, she will be fully-grown and ready to fight.
Red XIII frowned and shook his head even more. I will fight! No matter the circumstances.
But as the Highwind got closer to Mideel, his doubts rised.
*
The little plane touched now, the wheels making weak traction with the temporary runway. A minute later, the private plain had fully stopped and its two passengers, Vincent Valentine and Sharon Hatch, stepped into the pouring rain.
Sharon was satisfied. Her lover had finally voluntarily made love to her, and now she could manipulate him anytime she wanted. She smiled; knowing that Vincent couldn't stop her. With that, she paid the pilot and started into the woods. The dark clouds overhead not giving hardly any light, except for the occasional flash of lighting.
Vincent closed his eyes. His life had become hell ever since he had started acting as a double agent. Sharon had won her little seduction game and Vincent couldn't help himself anymore. Each time he looked at her, each time he saw her beautiful body…he longed for more. And the bitch knew it.
They walked through the woods, Sharon trying to read a piece of paper that told her where to go but the rain kept on dousing it until it was so wet that it just fell apart.
She pouted for a moment and then pointed to a peculiar tree. Vincent studied the tree; it was about twenty feet in diameter, and…it just didn't…seem right. "That is it," Sharon shouted and walked toward it.
He shrugged and followed and suddenly a figure fell from the trees, a figure dressed like Cloud. A man that looked like Cloud but…wasn't Cloud. Vincent suddenly remembered Zack. Could it be…Zack???
Vincent was speechless. How the hell could Zack be alive…how could Hojo be alive, how Aeris brought back to life? What the hell is going on, Vincent mentally asked himself. Aeris and Hojo and Zack…how?
Zack said nothing, but pointed toward the tree and Sharon started toward it. Vincent followed Sharon and Zack gave a strange look toward Vincent before jumping back into the tree. A few seconds later, the tree opened up and Vincent realized what was wrong with the tree. The paint didn't match the actual tree.
Zack fell back out of the tree and landed hard. He slipped, Vincent thought, and he almost covered it up. He's tough, just like Lucrecia said he would be.
Zack led the way into the tree, the passage. After going down a few stories on a twisted stairway, a tunnel appeared at the bottom and before Vincent continued, he looked up, the bluish greenish light glowing in the room…somehow he recognized the place.
No…how could they have done it? It was an almost exact replica of the Shinra mansion. It was just like the hidden passage that led down twisted stairs and into the tunnel…Vincent walked into it. A dirt path with a room off to his left.
Vincent shivered. Up ahead he could see a library, just like the mansion. Vincent walked into the library and saw…Lee?!
Lee looked at him with cold eyes and Vincent readied himself for a fight. Lee started talking, "You know, I never thought that me and my team could get beaten by you…but we were. And-," he started talking again but Vincent cut him off, going into his role as Avalanche hater. "They aren't my team; they are indiscriminate fools that don't know what they are doing."
Lee stopped for a second and studied Vincent. His claw in particular.
Vincent glared back, hoping to prove what he said.
Lee retreated after a few more moments and walked away, no other words spoken between the two. When he was gone, Sharon grinned at Vincent and said, "Boy, you sure showed him." Uh oh, Vincent thought. That was a seductive voice.
Vincent tried to keep control of himself, hoping she didn't notice his face. He had a look of disgust for a moment but he covered it back up with a small smile. She touched his arm, and even though he had clothes over it, he felt a sudden rush of joy.
He had learned to hate being touched, in any way or form. It was too tempting to touch back and feel another's skin. Sharon Hatch then whirled around and, unlike the Shinra mansion, led him down several different paths. How did they build all this, Vincent thought.
Sharon stopped abruptly and went into a comfortable looking room. It had a sofa, library shelf, and a desk over in a corner. She walked over to the couch and motioned him to sit down. He did so, and suddenly she was on him.
Vincent then realized that his mission was accomplished. He had infiltrated the enemy lair and now he could screw the act. In one swift move, as Sharon was taking off her pants, Vincent grabbed her wrists and flung her away. She hit a wall and fell to the floor.
To cover himself, Vincent said, "I must see Hojo now." Sharon gave him a look that said 'why did you hurt me'.
"O-o-oka-ay," she said, her voice shivering with fear. And she pulled her pants and shirt back on and left the room.
Good, Vincent thought, she's afraid of me.
*
The Highwind made its way toward Mideel, now only about 10 minutes away. They were going to have to parachute out of the Highwind because Shinra wasn't letting anyone inside a certain perimeter.
Tifa had her mind set on Cloud. She knew he was there, but how he had survived the blast or how he had gotten there was too much to think about.
Nanaki was focused on the mission and honoring Seto. Those were his two goals. Then he could go back and rebuild Cosmo Canyon. He knew this was the final fight, and he knew there was no turning back. They both knew.
*
The Shinra reporter told the cameraman to look to his left. The cameraman turned and…, "Holy shit." Emerging from the trees of the forest was a head. There had been two legs, an arm, and now a head. They were all moving toward each other, slowly but surely. The rain was now pouring so hard that the cameraman turned on the night vision on the camera. What the heck is all this, the cameraman thought.
Without warning, the ground began shaking violently, causing the cameraman to fall back on the ground, the camera dropping and breaking. The quake began to shake even harder and as the cameraman looked up, he screamed.
*
Aeris watched on the monitor as Jenova began to reconstruct itself. According to Hojo's calculations, the Planet would be Jenova in two days. The whole Planet would be a monster. This is only the beginning.
Aeris turned and looked at another monitor. There was Cloud Strife. The poor boy, she thought. Maybe I should go talk to him. Hojo said not to but…Cloud is depressed. He needs to see a familiar…dead face.
He thinks your dead, she told herself. Then lets enlighten him.
Aeris left the room and started down the hallway toward the Quarters. Everyone had there own, Cloud's was very simple; a bed and TV. A bed…, Aeris thought with an evil grin.
*
Cloud was in his room, cuddled up in a corner. He was scared, scared of himself, scared of whoever was keeping him here…the only person he ever saw was a nurse.
Cloud looked at his right arm. He no longer had control over it. Ever since his shoulder started oozing with that black slime, it felt strange. And then, in the blast, the black slime had completely engulfed his right arm, taking control of it. Cloud knew what it was; it was Jenova Cells.
He had it all figured out. Wherever he was, was the Dumper's base. Aeris, the resurrected Aeris, transfused Jenova's Cells into him and he was becoming Jenova…sometimes he felt like he wanted to go, like something wanted him to come to it…like his mother.
His door was solid metal; one time, the feeling of someone calling got so strong that he broke through the wooden door that used to be there…and then someone tranquilized him from behind. His life was in shambles, and now his arm, and the calling…he thought he heard something.
He frowned and tried to listen…it sounded like singing…kind of like… Cloud frowned. Could it be, he asked himself. It was…the calling. Jenova, wherever it was, was calling to him, wanting him to come to her. "NO," Cloud yelled to no one. "You can't have me, I am me, I am Cloud."
Suddenly there was knocking on the door and Cloud's eyes filled with fear. Jenova, he thought wildly. Frantically he searched the room for a weapon. A bedpost! He kicked it off and then picked it up with his left hand. He couldn't fight well with that one, but he could do it…he could win.
He faced the door and it opened revealing…Aeris?! Cloud dropped the bedpost, mostly out of shock and some out of fear. At first he wanted to go over to her and hug her, to kiss her…but that bitch had betrayed him. She had put Jenova in him…how could she be alive? She was only here for one week…how?
She smiled at him and said, "Hello Cloud…are you okay?" She eyes the limp arm and said, "Don't worry, it'll be alright."
Cloud kept stepping back until he hit a wall. Something wasn't right here, this wasn't Aeris. "How…how are you alive? You said that-," he voice choked and she filled it in.
"Aeris is dead, Cloud. And there is something I want you to know…" Alarms rang in Cloud's head. "I am not your enemy. I didn't do that to you," she said, pointing to his arm.
Cloud looked at his arm and back at Aeris. "Yes you did, you did it to me…back on the Highwind. Wait a minute, you just said you were dead…what the HELL is going ON?"
She laughed a little and said, "Don't worry, I'll explain it to you right now."
She walked in and shut the door behind her. This isn't Aeris, Cloud thought. She then walked over to him and said, "Relax Cloud. Come and sit and I will tell you everything. You deserve to know."
Cloud did as he was told and she started explaining everything.
*
Nanaki and Tifa landed in a small field about two kilometers from the nearest Jenova thing. Then, with swift determination, they started running toward it, noting that they would have to run through some woods to get there.
This is it, Nanaki told himself. The big one, and only you can-
He was suddenly falling down…black surrounding him. He yelled out and looked around for Tifa. She was a few feet away from him and before he knew it, he hit something and everything went black.
Tifa hit a hard floor and for a few seconds almost lost consciousness. Everything was blinking and spinning. There was light and…she squinted. It couldn't be…but it was.
She was in a cage, and peering at her through the thick glass, was Hojo. He was saying something. "Well, well, well…look at what the trap caught for us today." He laughed and turned around.
Tifa gasped. And due to stress, she suddenly passed out.
Authors Note
The end is near ppl. Please review so I can do what you would like to happen. There are many more twists and turns in the chapters to follow, and I hope you will like them. I will try to finish this story by the end of the week, but math is killing me in school. So please be patient and keep on the lookout for 26!