"Is this him?"
"Yes… he didn't
put up much of a fight though. I expected more from him."
"And… his
friends?"
"They'll be
eliminated soon."
"By you're Iron
Giants, right."
"You shouldn't
worry about that… He's waking up, I'm gone."
"Okay… ah
Cloud. I heard so many things about you."
Cloud slowly
opened his eyes. He tried to move his arms; they were tied to the metal bed he
was laying on. Cloud glared at the man that stood next to his bed.
"Now, now…
there's no need to become hostile, you'll get of that bed soon enough."
The man reached
out for an injection needle. "I'm sorry, but you have to sleep for some more
time."
Cloud tried to
get away but couldn't; the ropes were too tight.
He felt the
needle entering his arm; a hot fluid was injected. Cloud's eyes were getting
heavy, his arms and legs felt numb.
"Who are
you...?" Cloud's voice slowly faded as he fell asleep again. "Consider me as a…
a friend."
The man lowered
Cloud in a glass cylinder. Another cylinder stood right next to it. Various
pipes and cables connected the cylinders. The man walked to a computer and
sighed. What he was supposed to do wasn't something he wanted to do; he didn't
become a scientist for this purpose.
He sighed again
and mumbled; "C'mon Katana let's do this." He entered the password and opened
the main screen.
He checked
Cloud vital signs and started the program. He watched the process starting and
walked out the room.
"You did it?"
Kane was waiting for him outside the door. "Ramuell… I asked did you do it?"
The scientist sighed. "Yes Kane… I did what I was ordered to do." "Okay than Ramuell, I'll
see you later." Kane turned and walked towards the bridge. Ramuell shook his
head and went to his room.
Tifa, Barret
and Vincent where walking for a few days now. No one knew which way to go. All
they knew was that someone had abducted Cloud and they where going to get him
back. They where halfway between Kalm and the mythril mines.
"We must get a
chocobo." Vincent said.
"Why? We can
cross the swamp by foot." Tifa replied.
"Yeah, but with
a chocobo it'll go faster."
Tifa shrugged,
she knew Vincent was right but she didn't want to waste any time now. The men
who'd captured Cloud had a head start, and they didn't even know which way to
go. Tifa looked at Barret; he hadn't spoken since they left Kalm.
"You worried
about Marlene?" She asked him.
"No… well a
little, but I know she's in good hands with Elmyra. I'm more worried 'bout us."
"About us?
Why?"
"Well… Those guys back there… didn't seem to
have any trouble with us. They played with us and when they got bored, they
threw us away."
They walked
further, thinking about the men they eventually will face. Tifa shivered by the
thought Cloud was in their hands. They were falling behind Vincent, whom
noticed something in the distance.
"Tifa, Barret…
Can you see that?" Barret stopped walking and tried to see what Vincent was
looking at.
"Wait… do you
hear that?" Tifa was looking at the horizon and saw a Midgar Zolom Circling
around a dead tree stump. When they looked closer they could see a man sitting
in the tree.
Vincent sighed;
"…Looks like our messenger boy."
Barret grinned
and started to walk towards the Zolom. "Hey, eat this." He fired his gun-arm;
the Zolom raised itself to full height, ready to attack. Tifa jumped forward
and used a sleepel spell.
"Barret! …O
never mind." She turned to Ramuh; he hadn't even noticed them, he still hold on
to the branch as if his life depended on it.
"Someone must
hate me, why do I have to be the one that always attracts this kind of
trouble?"
Vincent climbed
up and tapped him on the back. "Whoa… who gooooeeees…" Ramuh had loosened his
grip on the branch, and fell face first in the mud.
"You awright?"
Barret helped him back on his feet.
"Yes thank
whoa…" Ramuh saw Barret's face and stumbled backwards. Tifa giggled as she
walked to Ramuh.
"Don't be
afraid, we mean you no harm. Climbing in a tree isn't the best way to get rid
of monsters tough, you where lucky we came along."
Ramuh's face
turned red as he muttered a thank you. He cleared his throat; "Erm… Can I Erm…
Well you know…"
Vincent nodded.
"… Yes, you can travel with us."
"Hey hold on a
sec." Barret wasn't too happy with the thought of him joining them.
"Barret, it's
only until we reach Cosmo Canyon." Tifa hushed him.
"O awright
then…"
"O jolly good,
well then, lets get a move on." Ramuh leaded the way.
"Ramuh?"
"Yes?"
"The other
way."
Ramuh stopped
and looked around him. "O… okay, this way then." And he was off again. Barret
grabbed Tifa by the arm.
"You sure 'bout
this?"
"Look at him, I
don't think he'll survive without us and we were heading there anyway."
"Guess you
right."
They followed
Ramuh, who was talking loudly to Vincent.
A
teenage boy entered the room Cloud was in. He was looking for something or
someone. He rummaged through some of the documents that where spread all over
the office-desk.
"What
are you doing dad?"
The
boy asked himself. He walked to the cylinders in the back of the room. "What's this?"
He tried to
look inside one of them; it was filled with a green fluid. The boy didn't know
what it was his father was doing or what these cylinders were.
"O… I recognize
this."
He picked up a
purple materia. It looked different from any materia he'd ever seen.
'Why does he
have materia here?" He wondered. "Huh?"
The boy quickly
turned; he'd heard a thud coming from behind. Nothing was there.
"I could have
sworn…"
He heard
another thud; it was coming from the cylinders.
"What the?"
There was
another thud, and another, and another. Suddenly the glass shattered, spilling
the green fluid over the boy.
"Cough, cough…
What happened?"
Suddenly a
siren begun to howl and the door shut with a loud smack.
"Hey lemme out
of here!"
The boy ran to
the door and started banging on it. He stopped when he heard a moan behind him.
The boy turned slowly; he saw a man lying on the floor.
"Nice hair… you
alright?"
The man didn't
answer; all he did was moan.
"Alright, I'm
in trouble now. If my dad finds out…" He slowly moved towards the man.
Who am I?
What am I? …I'm Cloud… from Nibelheim, I am Cloud!
The man stood
up, shacking his head. When Cloud looked up he saw a young man, approximately
20 years. His hair was blond with the exception of some locks of his hair, they
where black.
"Well you're
hair's nice too." Cloud looked around him; he was still in the room he first
woke up. He turned and saw the other cylinder was still in one piece. He tried
to look inside but couldn't see anything. He kicked the cylinder; it fell down,
shattered and spilled it's containing over the floor.
"O… For a
minute I thought I was… never mind." Cloud turned to the boy, who was staring
at him.
"I'm Cloud.
Could you tell me where I am?" The boy didn't say anything; he just stood there
staring. Cloud moved a bit closer to him.
"I asked if you
could tell me where I am… please?"
The boy
screamed; "In deep shit, haven't you got a clue how much that stuff costs? And
you just kick it to smithereens! Are you insane!"
Cloud saw the
anger on his face but there was something else; it was fear. He slowly
answered; "No not insane, abducted is more what I'll call it." The boy's yaw
fell open.
"My father…" A
loud explosion echoed through the room. "What the…!?"
"The building
is under attack, do you know a way out?" Cloud asked.
"No… you see…"
A second explosion ripped the floor away under their feet, causing them to
plunge them into the ocean.
Kane ran to the
bridge, where he found Valerius.
"What's going
on?" He asked bewildered.
"It seems one
WEAPON had survived, it's attacking us now." Valerius was very calm, like a SOLDIER
supposed to be in this situation.
"We're ready to
fire the support artillery, sir." A private informed them.
"Okay captain,
do what you must do, if it gets out of control… I'll be in my quarters."
Valerius left the bridge.
"Always trying
to be cool." Kane loathed that part of his partner.
"Fire at will!"
The captain ordered.
The guns of the
gunship fired white-hot laser-flames. Rocket-launchers fired their projectiles
towards their target. The main-artillery warmed up for its fatal shot. OMEGA
WEAPON took several hits head on; it reacted by firing its plasma-lasers. The
gunship got damaged heavily.
"Main-artillery
ready for firing, sir."
"FIRE."
The
main-artillery fired its deadly mako-laser; it hit OMEGA dead-on.
It got wounded
badly. The gunship continued to fire its support-artillery. OMEGA dove under
the waves.
"It's
disappeared, sir"
"Keep looking,
it must be out there!"
Kane could
breath normally now; he was a strong warrior but standing face to face with
such a monster, even he feared for his life.
"All seems
clear."
"Proceed at
previous course." The captain sighed, he was glad to be alive. "Damage report."
"Decks one and
two are badly damaged, sir."
"Casualties."
"Sick-bay
reports…" The door closed with a whoosh behind Kane. He walked trough the hall
towards Valerius quarters. On the way there he passed the lab where Cloud was.
"Kane, come
help me." Kane saw Ramuell trying to open the lab doors.
"Why
should I?"
"I
believe the lab was damaged in the attack, I'm trying to get in and make sure
nothing happened to our experiment."
"You
help him Kane."
"Valerius?"
"Just
do it, the commander will be most unpleased if something happened to our
test-subject."
Kane
growled; he didn't want to displease his commander.
"Get
out o' my way."
Ramuell
quickly made way; he knew better than standing in any SOLDIER'S way and
especially in Kane's way.
Kane
grabbed hold of the handle with both hands and gave it a pull; nothing. He
tried again; the door moved an inch.
"Aaarg… damn door!" Kane let go and grabbed his axe from his back.
"Doc.
Katana, please stand back." Valerius warned Ramuell.
Kane
started whacking on the door. The door couldn't withstand this onslaught for
long and plunged into the depths.
"The
floor… it's gone!" Kane scratched his head. "Seems we got some bad news for the
commander."
"Daddy,
daddy…" Ramuell turned his head.
"Jinn…
Jinn's missing!" Ramuell ran to his 17-year-old daughter.
"What
do you mean missing?" He asked her.
"He
went to see you just before the attack and didn't return."
Ramuell
looked at the ruined lab with a panicking look on his face. "June, did he say
where he went?"
June
saw the remains of her father's lab. "…He said…in you're lab." She started to
cry.
"Hmm
looks like it's getting a bit problematic." Valerius turned and walked towards
the bridge. Kane looked puzzled then he followed Valerius. They left father and
daughter mourning for they're lost son and brother.
"If
he doesn't stop, I'll kill him."
"I
have to agree with Barret, it's getting annoying." Barret and Vincent couldn't stand
the humming Ramuh was doing.
"Well
at least he stopped singing." Tifa said with a slight trace of irritation in
her voice.
Ramuh
didn't notice that his companions didn't enjoy his vocal skills. He raised his
voice again and started singing; "Tonight I'm gonna have myself a real good
time. I feel alihihive and the world turn it inside out Yeah I'm floating
around on ecstasy so don't stop me now, I'm havin' a good time, don't stop me
'couse I'm having a good time I'm having ghhlll…"
"Shut
ya mouth." Barret had jumped Ramuh and was chocking him. "Erm…Barret?"
"Not
now Tif!"
"Barret!"
"WHAT?"
"We
have company." Barret looked up to see whom Tifa was talking about.
"The
hell…"
Only
ten feet away stood five Iron Giants, ready to attack.
"Giants…
here?"
"No
time to think they're coming!"
Three
of them come storming towards them, the other two moved to attack them from
both sides. Vincent noticed this and warned the others. Tifa used a thunder
spell on the oncoming three; it didn't seem effective.
"Look
out!"
Barret
shot one of them; it fell down and stayed there for two seconds, then it got up
and stormed at them again.
Vincent
ran in the direction of one of the Giants. He took aim and fired a bullet
directly in it's head. The Giant stopped and fell down with a thud; it didn't
move anymore.
The
other Giants saw this happen and stopped running. They seem to find a weak spot
in their opponent's defence.
"What
are they waiting for?" Barret looked puzzled. "I never seen monsters do that!"
"Look
out here they come again!"
Vincent
couldn't evade the sword of the first one; the second Giant hit him straight
on. Vincent fell to the earth and didn't move anymore.
"Vincent!"
Tifa
stormed to him, giving him a phoenix down.
Barret
saw what happened and fired at the Giants in fury; two of them fell in the
bullet-shower. The remaining two gathered five feet away from their fallen
comrades.
"WE
WILL BE BACK."
One
of them said and they vanished in thin air.
"Vincent
you awright?" Barret kneeled next to Tifa and Vincent.
"…I'm
fine."
Tifa
looked puzzled. "What is going on here? First someone takes Cloud and now we're
dealing with intelligent Giants?"
Vincent
got up and glanced around him. "…Where's Ramuh?"
They
all looked around now but couldn't see him.
"Seems
weasel-boy disappeared when the fight started."
"I
did not!"
They
heard his voice but couldn't see him.
"And
I say, I am disappointed in you Barret, thinking I have left you."
Barret
felt a bit ashamed.
"Where
are ya… Ramuh?"
"So
it's not weasel-boy anymore, is it."
"Sorry."
"What?"
"I
said…"
"That's
enough, Ramuh where are you!"
"Erm…
I'm underneath this Giant, Tifa."
"Which
one?"
"How
should I know which one, I'm one the wrong side so I can't give an accurate
description."
Vincent
couldn't help himself and chuckled; Ramuh really did have the ability to get in
the worst position in each incident.
Tifa
noticed that Vincent chuckled and smiled; this Ramuh guy helped him loosen up.
"I
see his feet." Barret hadn't noticed what Vincent just did and walked towards
the Giant where Ramuh was under.
"C'mon
lets get him out of there and get going again." They pulled the Giant from
Ramuh.
"Hi…
how are you doing? I'm Ramuh you're guide for today, well follow me and I'll
show you how a Iron Giant looks like from underneath."
Tifa
chuckled. "You're a strange one, you know."
Ramuh
straitened his robe. "Yes, some people told me that secret a long time ago." He
looked at Barret and massaged his throat. "I recon you don't want me to sing no
more."
Barret
nodded.
"Okay,
lets get going then." Ramuh started
walking and looked over his shoulder.
"He's
right, we can stand here thinking about what happened or… find out where Cloud
could be." Vincent followed Ramuh's footsteps.
"Let's
go, Tif." Barret shrugged, nodded at
Tifa and they followed Ramuh and Vincent.
Cloud
woke up on a beach. He carefully stood up and tried to remember what had
happened. He faint fully remembered being inside a tank or something, than a
lot of water and finally waking up here.
"You
okay?"
Cloud
looked around him; there was a boy standing on the beach.
"Fine
I guess…" Cloud looked puzzled, there was something familiar about the boy.
"Looks
like we washed ashore here… wherever here is." The boy walked towards Cloud.
"You sure you alright? You don't look so good."
Cloud
tried to say something but fell to the ground. All the sounds around him faded
as he sank into darkness. In the darkness he saw a light.
Holy…?
The
light shined brighter and brighter.
Aeris…
is that… you…?
The
light embraced him, providing him a warm, safe place to heal. His thoughts
focused again and he remembered what had happened. The light slowly faded and
Cloud was standing on the beach again.
"What
happened? You where here one moment and then you disappeared, only to reappear
again… looking a hell of a lot better than before though."
Cloud
looked at the boy and took a battle stance.
"Wait…
no need to get aggressive!"
"Get
down, now!"
Cloud
jumped over the boy, kicking an Iron Giant down.
"Come…
we must get out of here! We can't do him anything without weapons or materia!"
Cloud ran towards the boy.
"Wait!
I've got some materia!" The boy showed him a purple materia.
"What
does it do, boy?"
"I
don't know… its Jinn!"
"What!?"
"It's
not boy…the name is Jinn."
The
Giant slowly come closer.
"Okay…
here goes!"
Jinn
used the materia; a blue light emerged from within Jinn, then the light turned
into a flaming red.
"AAAAARRRRGGG…"
Jinn
cried out in pain, his body was showered in some sort blue, purple flame.
"Throw the materia away!"
Cloud
tried to get near Jinn but got thrown away by the flame.
"HELP
ME! AAARG…"
Jinn's
body fell down, shaking all over.
The
Giant was observing this all from a distance.
Jinn's
body stopped moving as the flame disappeared.
Cloud
crawled towards him. "Jinn…" Cloud checked his pulse; nothing.
"CLOUD!
MY MASTER AWAITS YOU." The Iron Giant stormed at Cloud and swung a net towards
him. Cloud got entangled in the net, unable to move.
"Let
me go!"
"UNABLE
TO COMPLY… YOUR PRESENCE IS NEEDED IN THE CITADEL." The Giant glanced at Jinn
once and started walking.
"You're
master? The citadel? What are you talking about?" The Giant didn't react. Cloud
tried to move but the net was too tight and the mazes to narrow.
I
must find a way to… Before Cloud could finish his thoughts he and the Giant
got slammed against the ground.
"Cloud,
stay there… I'll take care of this one!"
Someone
grabbed hold of the Giant and started spinning it in the air.
"Let's
see if can fly."
The
Giant got thrown through the air and with a big splash fell into the ocean.
"Guess it can't. Wait I'll get you out of that." The net got ripped in two.
"Jinn…
What happened to you?"
Jinn
grinned. "I don't know… but I like it."
Cloud
studied Jinn's face; his eyes were glowing. And his hair; it had turned in a
purple colour.
"I
think it has something to do with my father's experiments."
Cloud
frowned; he had more than enough of experiments. "Right… more experiments."
Jinn
froze for a second. "Wait, that giant talked, didn't it?"
"Yes,
what's wrong?"
"On the C1R5A we had such giant's. They are part of master Valerius's defense squad."
"You mean aboard the ship we where on?"
"Yes… father!" Jinn started running.
"Where are you going?" Cloud shouted when he started running too.
"I need to find out if my father and sister survived the attack!" Jinn shouted back. Cloud caught up with Jinn.
"Where are you going then?"
Jinn stopped and had a blank expression on his face. "I…I don't know." He sighed and stared over the plains they where on. "I don't even know where we are."
Cloud took his cocky stand and frowned. "Hmm, what where you doing on the ship anyway?"
"Why, what does it matter."
Cloud closed his eyes. "It does to me, I was abducted and brought there against my will, you know. So I'm wondering what you where doing there."
Jinn frowned and sighed. "Would you believe me if I said that I don't know why I was there?"
"…No."
"I thought so… all I know is that SOLDIER needed my fathers help with something. My sister and me went with him 'couse we didn't want to be alone in Icicle inn. That's all I know and that's why I was onboard." Jinn took the same stance as Cloud.
Cloud nodded and started walking again.
"Wait, where are you going?"
Cloud stopped and waved a hand through the air. "To find my friends."
Jinn looked behind him once and than made up his mind. "I'm coming with you." Cloud stopped and shrugged. "Do as you want."
They moved towards a hillside.
"Do you know where we could be?" Jinn sat down on a rock.
"Gongaga."
"What?"
"We're near Gongaga."
"A yes…what's Gongaga."
"An small village that was destroyed be an exploding Mako-reactor."
Jinn looked puzzled. "They did restore it, didn't they? Shinra I mean."
Cloud stared in the distance. "No… They left the village in ruins."
Jinn jumped up. "They'll never do something like that, Shinra would never leave a village in turmoil."
Cloud walked in the direction of the
village. "Come and find out."
