Fallen to Far to rise
Answers
Dim lights decked the library, swinging to and fro with every foot Sephiroth stomped. He sat down in the chair at the far end of the library. The trip to Neibelheim seemed to have revived his memory. Books he had read told him of long dead secrets that Shinra jealously hid. About his mother, his so-called father, the puzzle pieces were fitting so conveniently. Sephiroth read on.
The specimen was sent to my associate Hojo and me from the polar region. Cell structure was amazing; the cells were so different even for an ancient. The cells could not be destroyed in any way. Exposure to lifestream liquid appeared to dissolve it yet days later I was to find that the dissolved cell could now manipulate the liquid as if it generated its own body using the lifestream. The possibility of such a creature is endless yet there is something strange about the Ancient, it has only 7,067,200,000 300,000 of its own cells and 300,000 of something else, it was one of these 300,000 used in the lifestream experiment, it was by luck alone I happened to run across one of these 300,000. The other 7 billion were those of a normal Cetra. Meaning that this creature was a mixed breed so what ever this thing is it's incomplete and not a pure breed. Another scientific impossibility is that the creature is a triploid meaning it has three times as many sets of chromosomes. That would mean that the gametes used to produce such an abomination would be diploid & haploid which in the animal kingdom is impossible. The creature is now in stasis in a container in the Neibelheim Mako reactor. If the test results were not faulty that would mean that the creature is physically and chemically indestructible. I suspect my colleague Hojo has been experimenting behind my back.
Sephiroth mused; Hojo's Diary clearly stated his friend Professor Ghast conducted the production of a child that was introduced with a great amount of Jenova cells yet Dr. Ghast's Diary, which he just read mentioned no such experiment. Sephiroth was about to continue reading when the lab door slammed shut. Sephiroth felt disgust wash over him as his insignificant partner Zack raced in followed by one of the foot soldiers. "Sephiroth where have you been?!" Sephiroth tossed Zack a revolted sneer. Sephiroth stood up slowly.
"Are you now obligated to check on me traitor?"
"Traitor! Sephiroth, you're not feeling well lets go back to Junion." Said Zack
"You ignorant traitor I tell you!! Thousands of years ago the Cetra were making their journey around the globe caring for the planet, but you; your ancestors grew tired of the endless journey, settled into cities and the little hidden nooks and crannies of the planet. A catastrophe over took the planet and your ancestor saved themselves by hiding and leaving the ancients in danger. The Cetra immediately became extinct. Your lineage disgraced themselves and you will pay for it!"
"What does any of this have to do with you?" Sephiroth's anger faded into a worn tired look.
"I was the subject to experiments with humans and Cetra DNA. Professor Ghast produced me." Sephiroth said the name Ghast as if he were uncertain.
"P-Produced?" Sephiroth ignored Zack and walked passed him. Zack ran after him. "Where are you going?"
"To see my mother."
Massacre
Sephiroth walked out into the streets of Neibelheim. Zangan stopped him at the mountain pass. "What's happening here, what is Shinra doing?!"
"Get out of the way!" cried Sephiroth
"Not until you tell me!" Sephiroth reached out to throw Zangan out of the way but he was too quick. Sephiroth pulled his sword out in frustration. He swung it against some rocks above Zangan's head. A small avalanche tumbled onto his head knocking him out cold. "I've had it with you sheep! You people will not get in my WAY!!" He held out his sword using the fire Materia on it setting all the houses ablaze. He ran into the town square chopping and slicing people in half. He smelled the air, it was tainted with smoke and the smell of blood. He savored every life he took, giving them just a little chance to fight back to amuse himself. Some of them tried to run and hide so he pursued them out and dispatched them. He was relishing the panic, the fear, and the pain he was inflicting.
Zack and the foot soldier raced outside seeing people running everywhere seeing the flames lick the house until they were no more than smoldering piles. Zack spotted Sephiroth hiding in one of the flames. Sephiroth glared at Zack then disappeared into the mountain pass.
On the path a group of children were playing on the rock portion of the pass unaware of the terror in the village. Sephiroth walked straight past them holding his sword out so that it cleanly cut each child's head off. Their bodies fell limp and began to ooze blood. He made sort of a mockery cry and left the children in pieces. When he made it to the rope bridge he saw that it was repaired. The Foot soldier and Zack were right behind him. So he ran across the bridge and cut the ropes, and down went Zack, The soldier, and the bridge. He scrambled into the Mako reactor. Tifa's father stopped him short at the entrance. "What the hell is wrong with you! I won't let you in." Sephiroth broke into a small chuckle "As if you could stop me." he said coldly A quick swish of his sword sent the man to the floor in a gory heap. Sephiroth continued leaving his sword in the man. He made it to the door at the top of the stairs labeled JENOVA. He tried the door but it was locked. He was about to brake in but before he could.
"How could you do that to father and the towns folk!" She came running up the stairs. Before she ever reached him he held out his hand and the sword leapt into Sephiroth's grasp. He waved his finger and made a clucking noise with his tongue. "You really shouldn't have." He slashed her chest so hard with the Masamune she fell backwards down all the steps. Sephiroth broke door open and entered. But again before he could reach Jenova Zack came in and insisted that he come to Junion. "Leave me alone!" Sephiroth thrusted his sword in Zack's chest and slung him out the door. "Mother I'm here! Don't worry mother they won't touch you." Cloud busted in through the door.
"Sephiroth!"
As if in desperation Sephiroth resorted to mad chuckle.
"There here again mother." He whispered softly. He turned around and began to climb the long tube to reach Jenova. "With her power Mother was destined to be the ruler of this planet, but those, those worthless mortals are; stealing the planet away from her. But don't worry mother I'm here." Sephiroth ripped the cold metal statue from the wall revealing Jenova in large glass tube. Quickly he smashed the glass barrier & wrest free the creature's head. While he was doing this Cloud rushed him, Zack's sword in hand. A swift thrust to the back and Sephiroth crumpled in pain. He gasped as if suffocating. "You…coward!" He tried to turn about face and muster the sword but Cloud was long gone.
Cloud raced to the metal catwalk. Thoughts soared through his head. He had just killed Sephiroth, was it really that easy? Is his mother avenged yet? Cloud still felt furious, he wanted Sephiroth's head on a platter now! He turned around to renter but there was Sephiroth clutching in one hand Jenova's head and in the other his Masamune blade. Cloud brought his sword up to launch an offense but in seconds Sephiroth had his sword imbedded in Cloud's chest. "Don't push your luck!" Sephiroth tried to lift Cloud over the rail and pitch him. Cloud held his hands out and the sword dropped. Cloud commanded the sword to retract. "It can't be!" cried Sephiroth who was using all his strength to try and keep the sword under his command. Cloud won over in seconds. He lifted the sword and pitched Sephiroth over the side of the catwalk.
Gods and Monsters
Down plummeted Sephiroth. He felt the thick Mako air whip past him on his way down. He seemed to fall forever until an abrupt stop. The stop brought splintering pain to Sephiroth. Sephiroth saw Cloud's head peeking over the rail at him. The picture began to fade away, everything slurred into a fuzzy glow. The glow faded into darkness. "Damn, I can't die now, I can't, I have to live." Thought Sephiroth.
"Son. Wake up!" the voice sounded artificial; and cold. He opened his eyes to see a beautiful woman in front of him. She smiled warmly. "Wake up Sephiroth!" He calmly rose and looked about.
"Where am I?" asked Sephiroth. She smiled again. She had long brown hair and a lovely completion.
"You're in the poles. Do you feel alright?" She sounded concerned
"I feel fine…are you Jenova?"
She nodded quickly. "Jenova Venwoe but don't call me that. Call me Mother."
He smiled weakly. "That's a very nice name. But why are we in the poles Mother?"
"This is the place." She said in a soft voice. "This is the place to start. We can do it Sephiroth! We can rule this place and own the whole universe. You will be a god!"
Sephiroth's face lit like a candle. "How!!? Mother how can we do it?!"
"You've got to harness the lifestream."
"But you know I'll die!" Protested Sephiroth
She giggled quietly. "You can't simply leap into the stream…you would be dissolved for thousands of years…. you would still become a god but there is a quicker way. You must make the planet come to you."
"But how?" he asked
She giggled again. "You ask to many questions, it's a puzzle, a game….figure it out." She faded slowly into air. Sephiroth was left in the cold freezing temperature. He swung his blade and a fire arose warming the place. Sephiroth paced back and forth thinking furiously. "Just when I though I had figured so much out." He thought. Suddenly a small falling meteorite struck the ground in front of his feet. Fumes rose from the planet and the ground pushed the meteorite up as if repairing the wound. Sephiroth stuck his hands in the fumes; he felt a rush of hot air blow up from the ground. Everything went white. After a few minutes the light settled and Sephiroth could see again. "What happened?" he thought. Sephiroth waved his hand and the earth began to shake, rocks tumbled over the sides of the neighboring cliffs revealing a figure incased in a ball of undeveloped materia. It took a while for Sephiroth to realize it was himself. He smiled widely. "The planet is mine."
"Mother, I am ready!" A small blast of lifestream tumbled over him once the blast had stopped Sephiroth was no longer there.
Tree of Life
Cloud bustedstaggered out of the Mako reactor door, battered and drained. He had stole Zack's uniform and sword in exchange for his grunt uniform and automatic Zack's first class SOLDIER uniform that Cloud had donned, was splattered with blood and riddled with sword damage. The huge Materia Buster, stained with Sephiroth's blood, dragged behind Cloud as he started down the broken Mt. Nibel path. He stopped at the Chasm, blocking the bridge were a mass of Shinra foot soldiers. Cloud was relived, he had had a bad day but it was over now. But as he looked again he saw a man in a white lab coat hidden by Shinra Soldiers. The man pointed at Cloud.
"Knock him down!"
As if dogs who had heard their master's order the soldiers rushed forward with automatics pointed to Cloud,
"Wait! I'm a Shinra employee! I-" Cloud was silenced by a swift blow to the head. He strained to keep consciousness but he slipped out and fell to the ground.
The man with the lab coat approached him carefully, he wretched Cloud up by his hair.
"Where is Sephiroth?!"
"I…uh..I don't..ungh."
Hojo turned on the guard with rage.
"It's useless. You hit him too hard!"
"I'm sorry Professor Hojo!"
Hojo slapped his head.
"Never mind! Run ahead and find Sephiroth. I'll deal with him."
Soldier scampered away with his team up and away the Nibel path.
Hojo pushed his glasses back up the bridge of his nose to examine the member of SOLDIER. He was about to kick him off the side of the Chasm when he noticed his eyes.
"This is…remarkable. His eyes…Their normal! Grunt!"
A foot soldier ran back from the reactor panting and wheezing.
"Sephiroth's gone!"
Hojo stomped his foot.
"Gone! Damn! We'll meet again anyway! Here! Take this fool and the others to the Shinra Mansion! Lock them up in the room beside the lab. As for the fool Turk strap him in the operating table."
. Confused, tired, and throbbing in pain he crawled his way out of town just in time. All the surviving citizens (a total of 12) were detained by Hojo for experimenting. The town was quarantined and most of the surviving citizens underwent horrid experimentations. With Zangan's help Tifa escaped the town in time and recovered.
Ten days after the mission Cloud managed to get back to Junion. He was treated as a first class with deep respect. The survival of the Neibelheim mission earned him the status of a hero among SOLDIER. Years after he disappeared from Shinra he took up in Midgar where he had met up with Tifa.
Vincent looked around; he was strapped to a cold metal table surrounded by test tubes of various color chemicals. Large specimen tanks held half creatures that Hojo had sadistically joined at the side by sutures and grafts. Beasts that had been subject to Hojo's evil experiments squawked and screamed in the background. Bats fluttered through occasionally chirping, and carrying on.
Vincent cursed out loud.
"Hojo!!! Where are you, you damnable monster!!!"
Footsteps thudded against the cold stone floor as they entered the room.
"Monster?" Hojo burst into an amused laugh. "You were a fool to come here Valentine! What did you think you could stop Sephiroth from realizing the truth?!"
Vincent struggled in vain to escape the metal cuffs that latched him to the table.
"I don't know what you're talking about!! I came for you, you monster! You killed Lucrecia Damn you!!!!"
Hojo winced at the use of that name. "You will regret you ever said that… I loved Lucrecia more than you ever could imagine. It's as much your fault as it is mine! Remember that Valentine! You [I]let[/I] her!"
Those last words echoed in Valentine's head as Hojo shoved a needle deep in his shoulder while laughing insanely.
Battle of Science
Cloud could barely see… Everything was deep unyielding shades of gray, that told him nothing. He felt himself tossed forward onto a spring cot. The nasty sound of metal clanged loudly behind him.
He sat still and listened a moment or two. He could hear the soft patter of tiny feet on the wet concrete below the cot. 'Probably a rat' he thought.
Then he heard the slight scraping sound…the unmistakable sound of a pencil scratching against a piece of paper. He opened his eyes to give it one last try. He saw a man sitting in the corner of Cloud's own cell. He was dressed in a tidy bleach white lab coat. He had frilly dark hair that buzzed across the top of his head that had long veins of white mixed in as well. His face was grave, and despondent. He looked up from his notebook to see Cloud. Cloud held his glance only a few minutes before the head wound that the grunt gave him laid into a dull ache that made Cloud pass the rest of the way out.
Ghast studied the man…he looked pretty young. "So you're a soldier, huh? Why does Hojo want you?" He pulled Cloud's eyelid back to shock his eyes were a normal dull brown. Ghast nodded to himself. "That's what that little bastard is planning! Well I can still give him a run for his money."
Ghast wrenched the man up and slapped his cheek. "Wake up son!"
Cloud's eyes jolted back to reality. "Huh? Wh-what is it?!"
Ghast sat down on the end of the cot. "You're in Shinra Mansion, and I'm Professor Ghast."
"What happened to Sephiroth?" Cloud said, still recovering from the head wound. Ghast flinched at the name. 'So this boy knows Sephiroth.' Thought Ghast.
"Listen to me very carefully, okay?"
Cloud nodded drowsily.
"You're being held captive here by Professor Hojo. He's going to try and saturate you with mako and Jenova cells."
Cloud shook his head. "I don't understand? …what?"
"He's going to try and make you into living Sephiroth clone. But I've got something on him!" Ghast pulled from his lab coat pocket a gray tin box. He slid the top back to reveal row after row of colorful florescent chemicals and a large glass syringe. "I'm going to inject in you the empirical formula that can actually [I]destroy[/I] Jenova cells. Do you understand?"
Cloud nodded. He was still fading in and out of conscious.
Ghast sucked up a ratio of 1 part lifestream 2 parts mako and 4 parts cetra cells with the syringe. "You're going to feel a little sick, okay? Ghast didn't even wait for the nod. He plunged the syringe deep in Cloud's shoulder and released the chemicals. Ghast chuckled to himself. 'If Hojo expected this young man to be your normal average clone he'd have another thing coming.' He thought. "Just one more injection!" said Ghast. Cloud couldn't hold consciousness any longer, he passed out.
Ghast swabbed the puncture with an alcohol wipe. 'This boy might be humanities only hope…' thought Ghast. 'It would be him versus Hojo's creation. God only knows if he'll be enough…'
Ghast whirled around to face Hojo who was starring at the scene through the bars of the cell.
"Ghast, do you know this boy?"
Ghast felt his blood boil at the sight of Hojo. "I know what you're going to do to him! And it won't work!"
Hojo began to feel alarmed.
"Why not?"
Ghast laughed.
"You're ten minutes too late, fool."
"Is that so? Well I might still have a trick or two up my sleeve." Hojo bluffed.
"Hojo listen to me you can't do this! This is mad! It's diabolic!."
"So be it! Guards!" Two grunts in blue uniforms scramble forward. "Execute Professor Ghast and take the one with yellow hair into the lab and strap him to the table."
Sephiroth laughed as he paced still back andin forth in his lair. "The black materia is in the south. Mother I'm ready!" The woman once again reappeared.
"Where?" she said quickly
Sephiroth forced a smile. "Midgar."
"Tifa I told you, I don't want to liberate the fuck*$%#ing world from pollution, Iand I don't want to save the friggin whales. All I want to do is get back to my life or what's left of it."
"You won't have much of one if the world crumbles apart!" Cloud drew up close to Tifa in the face.
"Fine, then do something about it." He whispered. He turned around and started to leave the bar when Barret's voice boomed after him.
"Don't forget your money bud!" He pitched a bundle of credits on the scrapped picnic table. Cloud picked the money up noticing it was only 1500 gil. Anymore that was just enough to buy five chipped rocks at the material store.
"This is my pay!? Don't make me laugh. You got the next mission lined up? I'll do it for 3000 gil."
"Hey pal that's Marlene's school money!"
"Ask me if I care."
"Barret we're really hurting for help right?" asked Tifa
"Well, yeah but."
"How about 2000 Cloud?"
"Fine."
Sephiroth slashed an employee across the neck. And pushed the door open. He didn't have to worry about making a scene it wasn't like they could possibly hurt him. He walked slowly hacking through employees and armored guards as if they were vines in his way on a safari. He finally chopped his way to the Jenova container. He lopped the lock off and dragged the Remains of Jenova. He carried it to the top floor and sat it down. "Sephiroth. I was expecting you sooner." Said Mr. Shinra. "Now I've got a proposition for you. You take us to the promi-" Sephiroth had heard enough. He chucked his sword so that fell straight in between the president's eyes. The man slumped in his chair, his blood flowing on his Neo-Midgar plans.
"Sephiroth stop!" cried Rude
"Do not bother me now."
"I can't let you single handedly destroy Shinra!"
"Something so fragile doesn't deserve to exist."
"You can't do this!" Cried Palmer
"I can easily do this my friend." Sephiroth waved his hand and sent Palmer flying backwards into Rude.
Sephiroth went out on to the top of the building, waved his hands and a helicopter landed.
"Where to buddy?"
"Down."
"Down?" Asked the pilot. Sephiroth nodded and waved his hand at the pilot in a hypnotic fashion.. The pilot nodded too. He got out of the copter and leapt off the side of the building. Sephiroth took the pilot's place in the helicopter and flew off into the horizon.7,00,000,000
Answers
Dim lights decked the library, swinging to and fro with every foot Sephiroth stomped. He sat down in the chair at the far end of the library. The trip to Neibelheim seemed to have revived his memory. Books he had read told him of long dead secrets that Shinra jealously hid. About his mother, his so-called father, the puzzle pieces were fitting so conveniently. Sephiroth read on.
The specimen was sent to my associate Hojo and me from the polar region. Cell structure was amazing; the cells were so different even for an ancient. The cells could not be destroyed in any way. Exposure to lifestream liquid appeared to dissolve it yet days later I was to find that the dissolved cell could now manipulate the liquid as if it generated its own body using the lifestream. The possibility of such a creature is endless yet there is something strange about the Ancient, it has only 7,067,200,000 300,000 of its own cells and 300,000 of something else, it was one of these 300,000 used in the lifestream experiment, it was by luck alone I happened to run across one of these 300,000. The other 7 billion were those of a normal Cetra. Meaning that this creature was a mixed breed so what ever this thing is it's incomplete and not a pure breed. Another scientific impossibility is that the creature is a triploid meaning it has three times as many sets of chromosomes. That would mean that the gametes used to produce such an abomination would be diploid & haploid which in the animal kingdom is impossible. The creature is now in stasis in a container in the Neibelheim Mako reactor. If the test results were not faulty that would mean that the creature is physically and chemically indestructible. I suspect my colleague Hojo has been experimenting behind my back.
Sephiroth mused; Hojo's Diary clearly stated his friend Professor Ghast conducted the production of a child that was introduced with a great amount of Jenova cells yet Dr. Ghast's Diary, which he just read mentioned no such experiment. Sephiroth was about to continue reading when the lab door slammed shut. Sephiroth felt disgust wash over him as his insignificant partner Zack raced in followed by one of the foot soldiers. "Sephiroth where have you been?!" Sephiroth tossed Zack a revolted sneer. Sephiroth stood up slowly.
"Are you now obligated to check on me traitor?"
"Traitor! Sephiroth, you're not feeling well lets go back to Junion." Said Zack
"You ignorant traitor I tell you!! Thousands of years ago the Cetra were making their journey around the globe caring for the planet, but you; your ancestors grew tired of the endless journey, settled into cities and the little hidden nooks and crannies of the planet. A catastrophe over took the planet and your ancestor saved themselves by hiding and leaving the ancients in danger. The Cetra immediately became extinct. Your lineage disgraced themselves and you will pay for it!"
"What does any of this have to do with you?" Sephiroth's anger faded into a worn tired look.
"I was the subject to experiments with humans and Cetra DNA. Professor Ghast produced me." Sephiroth said the name Ghast as if he were uncertain.
"P-Produced?" Sephiroth ignored Zack and walked passed him. Zack ran after him. "Where are you going?"
"To see my mother."
Massacre
Sephiroth walked out into the streets of Neibelheim. Zangan stopped him at the mountain pass. "What's happening here, what is Shinra doing?!"
"Get out of the way!" cried Sephiroth
"Not until you tell me!" Sephiroth reached out to throw Zangan out of the way but he was too quick. Sephiroth pulled his sword out in frustration. He swung it against some rocks above Zangan's head. A small avalanche tumbled onto his head knocking him out cold. "I've had it with you sheep! You people will not get in my WAY!!" He held out his sword using the fire Materia on it setting all the houses ablaze. He ran into the town square chopping and slicing people in half. He smelled the air, it was tainted with smoke and the smell of blood. He savored every life he took, giving them just a little chance to fight back to amuse himself. Some of them tried to run and hide so he pursued them out and dispatched them. He was relishing the panic, the fear, and the pain he was inflicting.
Zack and the foot soldier raced outside seeing people running everywhere seeing the flames lick the house until they were no more than smoldering piles. Zack spotted Sephiroth hiding in one of the flames. Sephiroth glared at Zack then disappeared into the mountain pass.
On the path a group of children were playing on the rock portion of the pass unaware of the terror in the village. Sephiroth walked straight past them holding his sword out so that it cleanly cut each child's head off. Their bodies fell limp and began to ooze blood. He made sort of a mockery cry and left the children in pieces. When he made it to the rope bridge he saw that it was repaired. The Foot soldier and Zack were right behind him. So he ran across the bridge and cut the ropes, and down went Zack, The soldier, and the bridge. He scrambled into the Mako reactor. Tifa's father stopped him short at the entrance. "What the hell is wrong with you! I won't let you in." Sephiroth broke into a small chuckle "As if you could stop me." he said coldly A quick swish of his sword sent the man to the floor in a gory heap. Sephiroth continued leaving his sword in the man. He made it to the door at the top of the stairs labeled JENOVA. He tried the door but it was locked. He was about to brake in but before he could.
"How could you do that to father and the towns folk!" She came running up the stairs. Before she ever reached him he held out his hand and the sword leapt into Sephiroth's grasp. He waved his finger and made a clucking noise with his tongue. "You really shouldn't have." He slashed her chest so hard with the Masamune she fell backwards down all the steps. Sephiroth broke door open and entered. But again before he could reach Jenova Zack came in and insisted that he come to Junion. "Leave me alone!" Sephiroth thrusted his sword in Zack's chest and slung him out the door. "Mother I'm here! Don't worry mother they won't touch you." Cloud busted in through the door.
"Sephiroth!"
As if in desperation Sephiroth resorted to mad chuckle.
"There here again mother." He whispered softly. He turned around and began to climb the long tube to reach Jenova. "With her power Mother was destined to be the ruler of this planet, but those, those worthless mortals are; stealing the planet away from her. But don't worry mother I'm here." Sephiroth ripped the cold metal statue from the wall revealing Jenova in large glass tube. Quickly he smashed the glass barrier & wrest free the creature's head. While he was doing this Cloud rushed him, Zack's sword in hand. A swift thrust to the back and Sephiroth crumpled in pain. He gasped as if suffocating. "You…coward!" He tried to turn about face and muster the sword but Cloud was long gone.
Cloud raced to the metal catwalk. Thoughts soared through his head. He had just killed Sephiroth, was it really that easy? Is his mother avenged yet? Cloud still felt furious, he wanted Sephiroth's head on a platter now! He turned around to renter but there was Sephiroth clutching in one hand Jenova's head and in the other his Masamune blade. Cloud brought his sword up to launch an offense but in seconds Sephiroth had his sword imbedded in Cloud's chest. "Don't push your luck!" Sephiroth tried to lift Cloud over the rail and pitch him. Cloud held his hands out and the sword dropped. Cloud commanded the sword to retract. "It can't be!" cried Sephiroth who was using all his strength to try and keep the sword under his command. Cloud won over in seconds. He lifted the sword and pitched Sephiroth over the side of the catwalk.
Gods and Monsters
Down plummeted Sephiroth. He felt the thick Mako air whip past him on his way down. He seemed to fall forever until an abrupt stop. The stop brought splintering pain to Sephiroth. Sephiroth saw Cloud's head peeking over the rail at him. The picture began to fade away, everything slurred into a fuzzy glow. The glow faded into darkness. "Damn, I can't die now, I can't, I have to live." Thought Sephiroth.
"Son. Wake up!" the voice sounded artificial; and cold. He opened his eyes to see a beautiful woman in front of him. She smiled warmly. "Wake up Sephiroth!" He calmly rose and looked about.
"Where am I?" asked Sephiroth. She smiled again. She had long brown hair and a lovely completion.
"You're in the poles. Do you feel alright?" She sounded concerned
"I feel fine…are you Jenova?"
She nodded quickly. "Jenova Venwoe but don't call me that. Call me Mother."
He smiled weakly. "That's a very nice name. But why are we in the poles Mother?"
"This is the place." She said in a soft voice. "This is the place to start. We can do it Sephiroth! We can rule this place and own the whole universe. You will be a god!"
Sephiroth's face lit like a candle. "How!!? Mother how can we do it?!"
"You've got to harness the lifestream."
"But you know I'll die!" Protested Sephiroth
She giggled quietly. "You can't simply leap into the stream…you would be dissolved for thousands of years…. you would still become a god but there is a quicker way. You must make the planet come to you."
"But how?" he asked
She giggled again. "You ask to many questions, it's a puzzle, a game….figure it out." She faded slowly into air. Sephiroth was left in the cold freezing temperature. He swung his blade and a fire arose warming the place. Sephiroth paced back and forth thinking furiously. "Just when I though I had figured so much out." He thought. Suddenly a small falling meteorite struck the ground in front of his feet. Fumes rose from the planet and the ground pushed the meteorite up as if repairing the wound. Sephiroth stuck his hands in the fumes; he felt a rush of hot air blow up from the ground. Everything went white. After a few minutes the light settled and Sephiroth could see again. "What happened?" he thought. Sephiroth waved his hand and the earth began to shake, rocks tumbled over the sides of the neighboring cliffs revealing a figure incased in a ball of undeveloped materia. It took a while for Sephiroth to realize it was himself. He smiled widely. "The planet is mine."
"Mother, I am ready!" A small blast of lifestream tumbled over him once the blast had stopped Sephiroth was no longer there.
Tree of Life
Cloud bustedstaggered out of the Mako reactor door, battered and drained. He had stole Zack's uniform and sword in exchange for his grunt uniform and automatic Zack's first class SOLDIER uniform that Cloud had donned, was splattered with blood and riddled with sword damage. The huge Materia Buster, stained with Sephiroth's blood, dragged behind Cloud as he started down the broken Mt. Nibel path. He stopped at the Chasm, blocking the bridge were a mass of Shinra foot soldiers. Cloud was relived, he had had a bad day but it was over now. But as he looked again he saw a man in a white lab coat hidden by Shinra Soldiers. The man pointed at Cloud.
"Knock him down!"
As if dogs who had heard their master's order the soldiers rushed forward with automatics pointed to Cloud,
"Wait! I'm a Shinra employee! I-" Cloud was silenced by a swift blow to the head. He strained to keep consciousness but he slipped out and fell to the ground.
The man with the lab coat approached him carefully, he wretched Cloud up by his hair.
"Where is Sephiroth?!"
"I…uh..I don't..ungh."
Hojo turned on the guard with rage.
"It's useless. You hit him too hard!"
"I'm sorry Professor Hojo!"
Hojo slapped his head.
"Never mind! Run ahead and find Sephiroth. I'll deal with him."
Soldier scampered away with his team up and away the Nibel path.
Hojo pushed his glasses back up the bridge of his nose to examine the member of SOLDIER. He was about to kick him off the side of the Chasm when he noticed his eyes.
"This is…remarkable. His eyes…Their normal! Grunt!"
A foot soldier ran back from the reactor panting and wheezing.
"Sephiroth's gone!"
Hojo stomped his foot.
"Gone! Damn! We'll meet again anyway! Here! Take this fool and the others to the Shinra Mansion! Lock them up in the room beside the lab. As for the fool Turk strap him in the operating table."
. Confused, tired, and throbbing in pain he crawled his way out of town just in time. All the surviving citizens (a total of 12) were detained by Hojo for experimenting. The town was quarantined and most of the surviving citizens underwent horrid experimentations. With Zangan's help Tifa escaped the town in time and recovered.
Ten days after the mission Cloud managed to get back to Junion. He was treated as a first class with deep respect. The survival of the Neibelheim mission earned him the status of a hero among SOLDIER. Years after he disappeared from Shinra he took up in Midgar where he had met up with Tifa.
Vincent looked around; he was strapped to a cold metal table surrounded by test tubes of various color chemicals. Large specimen tanks held half creatures that Hojo had sadistically joined at the side by sutures and grafts. Beasts that had been subject to Hojo's evil experiments squawked and screamed in the background. Bats fluttered through occasionally chirping, and carrying on.
Vincent cursed out loud.
"Hojo!!! Where are you, you damnable monster!!!"
Footsteps thudded against the cold stone floor as they entered the room.
"Monster?" Hojo burst into an amused laugh. "You were a fool to come here Valentine! What did you think you could stop Sephiroth from realizing the truth?!"
Vincent struggled in vain to escape the metal cuffs that latched him to the table.
"I don't know what you're talking about!! I came for you, you monster! You killed Lucrecia Damn you!!!!"
Hojo winced at the use of that name. "You will regret you ever said that… I loved Lucrecia more than you ever could imagine. It's as much your fault as it is mine! Remember that Valentine! You [I]let[/I] her!"
Those last words echoed in Valentine's head as Hojo shoved a needle deep in his shoulder while laughing insanely.
Battle of Science
Cloud could barely see… Everything was deep unyielding shades of gray, that told him nothing. He felt himself tossed forward onto a spring cot. The nasty sound of metal clanged loudly behind him.
He sat still and listened a moment or two. He could hear the soft patter of tiny feet on the wet concrete below the cot. 'Probably a rat' he thought.
Then he heard the slight scraping sound…the unmistakable sound of a pencil scratching against a piece of paper. He opened his eyes to give it one last try. He saw a man sitting in the corner of Cloud's own cell. He was dressed in a tidy bleach white lab coat. He had frilly dark hair that buzzed across the top of his head that had long veins of white mixed in as well. His face was grave, and despondent. He looked up from his notebook to see Cloud. Cloud held his glance only a few minutes before the head wound that the grunt gave him laid into a dull ache that made Cloud pass the rest of the way out.
Ghast studied the man…he looked pretty young. "So you're a soldier, huh? Why does Hojo want you?" He pulled Cloud's eyelid back to shock his eyes were a normal dull brown. Ghast nodded to himself. "That's what that little bastard is planning! Well I can still give him a run for his money."
Ghast wrenched the man up and slapped his cheek. "Wake up son!"
Cloud's eyes jolted back to reality. "Huh? Wh-what is it?!"
Ghast sat down on the end of the cot. "You're in Shinra Mansion, and I'm Professor Ghast."
"What happened to Sephiroth?" Cloud said, still recovering from the head wound. Ghast flinched at the name. 'So this boy knows Sephiroth.' Thought Ghast.
"Listen to me very carefully, okay?"
Cloud nodded drowsily.
"You're being held captive here by Professor Hojo. He's going to try and saturate you with mako and Jenova cells."
Cloud shook his head. "I don't understand? …what?"
"He's going to try and make you into living Sephiroth clone. But I've got something on him!" Ghast pulled from his lab coat pocket a gray tin box. He slid the top back to reveal row after row of colorful florescent chemicals and a large glass syringe. "I'm going to inject in you the empirical formula that can actually [I]destroy[/I] Jenova cells. Do you understand?"
Cloud nodded. He was still fading in and out of conscious.
Ghast sucked up a ratio of 1 part lifestream 2 parts mako and 4 parts cetra cells with the syringe. "You're going to feel a little sick, okay? Ghast didn't even wait for the nod. He plunged the syringe deep in Cloud's shoulder and released the chemicals. Ghast chuckled to himself. 'If Hojo expected this young man to be your normal average clone he'd have another thing coming.' He thought. "Just one more injection!" said Ghast. Cloud couldn't hold consciousness any longer, he passed out.
Ghast swabbed the puncture with an alcohol wipe. 'This boy might be humanities only hope…' thought Ghast. 'It would be him versus Hojo's creation. God only knows if he'll be enough…'
Ghast whirled around to face Hojo who was starring at the scene through the bars of the cell.
"Ghast, do you know this boy?"
Ghast felt his blood boil at the sight of Hojo. "I know what you're going to do to him! And it won't work!"
Hojo began to feel alarmed.
"Why not?"
Ghast laughed.
"You're ten minutes too late, fool."
"Is that so? Well I might still have a trick or two up my sleeve." Hojo bluffed.
"Hojo listen to me you can't do this! This is mad! It's diabolic!."
"So be it! Guards!" Two grunts in blue uniforms scramble forward. "Execute Professor Ghast and take the one with yellow hair into the lab and strap him to the table."
Sephiroth laughed as he paced still back andin forth in his lair. "The black materia is in the south. Mother I'm ready!" The woman once again reappeared.
"Where?" she said quickly
Sephiroth forced a smile. "Midgar."
"Tifa I told you, I don't want to liberate the fuck*$%#ing world from pollution, Iand I don't want to save the friggin whales. All I want to do is get back to my life or what's left of it."
"You won't have much of one if the world crumbles apart!" Cloud drew up close to Tifa in the face.
"Fine, then do something about it." He whispered. He turned around and started to leave the bar when Barret's voice boomed after him.
"Don't forget your money bud!" He pitched a bundle of credits on the scrapped picnic table. Cloud picked the money up noticing it was only 1500 gil. Anymore that was just enough to buy five chipped rocks at the material store.
"This is my pay!? Don't make me laugh. You got the next mission lined up? I'll do it for 3000 gil."
"Hey pal that's Marlene's school money!"
"Ask me if I care."
"Barret we're really hurting for help right?" asked Tifa
"Well, yeah but."
"How about 2000 Cloud?"
"Fine."
Sephiroth slashed an employee across the neck. And pushed the door open. He didn't have to worry about making a scene it wasn't like they could possibly hurt him. He walked slowly hacking through employees and armored guards as if they were vines in his way on a safari. He finally chopped his way to the Jenova container. He lopped the lock off and dragged the Remains of Jenova. He carried it to the top floor and sat it down. "Sephiroth. I was expecting you sooner." Said Mr. Shinra. "Now I've got a proposition for you. You take us to the promi-" Sephiroth had heard enough. He chucked his sword so that fell straight in between the president's eyes. The man slumped in his chair, his blood flowing on his Neo-Midgar plans.
"Sephiroth stop!" cried Rude
"Do not bother me now."
"I can't let you single handedly destroy Shinra!"
"Something so fragile doesn't deserve to exist."
"You can't do this!" Cried Palmer
"I can easily do this my friend." Sephiroth waved his hand and sent Palmer flying backwards into Rude.
Sephiroth went out on to the top of the building, waved his hands and a helicopter landed.
"Where to buddy?"
"Down."
"Down?" Asked the pilot. Sephiroth nodded and waved his hand at the pilot in a hypnotic fashion.. The pilot nodded too. He got out of the copter and leapt off the side of the building. Sephiroth took the pilot's place in the helicopter and flew off into the horizon.7,00,000,000