Disclaimer: The same as before

Chap. 16

"Hojo."

The creature that was once Prof. Hojo levitated toward them. Everyone tensed up, ready to fight.

"I must say, impressive. I never thought you were capable of bringing down Sapphire. But it doesn't matter. It didn't have the energy we need for our purposes."

"What purposes?"

"Again with the questions? I'm beginning to believe that you can't figure anything out by yourselves. Alright, I'll tell you."

Hojo floated down and strode in front of them.

"Jenova is hungry."

"Huh?"

"Yes. For eons, she had been feasting on the life force of planets. When she came here, she tried to do the same. But the actions of the Cetra prevented that from happening and put her into hibernation. Now that she is fully awake, her appetite is quite ravenous."

"So what's the deal with Weapon?"

"Weapon contains some of the energies of the Planet. Even though destroyed, the power still remains. Power that can be quite useful to us."

"You demented freak. You plan to injure Planet with Weapon."

"Now you catch on. It quite ironic actually, using the Planet's own creations to destroy it."

"You're sick."

"Perhaps. But you won't live long enough to try anything."

Hojo then hovered again and everyone prepared to fight.

"Don't think you low-level life forms can possibly defeat me!"

Hojo raised his hand and summoned a Comet2 attack. Massive meteors smashed the ground before them, blowing them away. As they struggled to get up...

"Now you die!"

Hojo raised his hand again and summoned an Ultima spell. An explosion of green light occured and blasted them all away. Hojo looked at them with disdain.

"So much for that. Huh?"

Zack and Cloud began to rise up again.

"I see. The Jenova cells within you two much dampen my powers a bit. No matter. You won't live long enough anyway...what was your name? Ah yes, Zack."

"What?"

"That's right. With the level of Mako in your body, you won't be able to handle it for long. In fact, I'm guessing that you are already feeling the side effects. It doesn't matter. Your body only served to revive Sephiroth, that's all. You will die soon. And by now, Sephiroth has reached Ultima Weapon. Bye."

Hojo suddenly vanished into thin air, leaving Zack to ponder over his words. Is he...right? Is what he said true? He looked down to his hands. Am I dying?

"Zack!"

Zack snapped out of his daze and looked over to the side. There, Cloud and Red XIII stood over Yuffie who was still unconscious.

"She was the closest to the blast. She's hurt real bad. And none of our Cure spells are working."

"Someone needs to get Aeris fast. Red, you have to go get Aeris."

"No. If I go, she will not make it. I...have an idea."

Red XIII stood over Yuffie, "There is a ritual technique that can keep her alive for awhile longer. But one of you will have to hurry."

"Cloud, you better go."

Cloud blinked and then nodded before running off. Red XIII closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He began to faintly glow in red energy. Zack only watched as the energy shimmered down and covered Yuffie. As this continued, Red XIII began to convulse slightly.

Cloud, you gotta hurry.

The ritual continued and Red XIII began to convulse even more. Nevertheless, he continued, despite the obvious pain.

"Red!"

Aeris had just arrived with Cloud behind her.

"Stop him. He's using his own life force."

"What?"

Immediately, Cloud pushed Red XIII away from Yuffie. Red XIII fell to the floor, weakened by the energy loss. Aeris then stood over and waved her rod around before striking the ground. White beams of energy shone down on Yuffie and glowed around her. They stayed there for a minute before going out. Zack then lifted Yuffie's head up. Her eyes blinked open.

"W...what happened?"

"Hojo. He almost killed you with that spell. If not for Red..."

"Red?" Yuffie sat up and looked as Cloud was trying to revive Red XIII. Sluggishly, he stood up, although he wobbled a bit.

She gave a weak smile, "You saved me Red."

He returned it, "You're welcome. Uggghhhh." Red XIII slumped into Cloud's arms. Aeris came over to examine him as the others arrived as well.

"He's okay. Just a little weak. What was he thinking? Any longer and he would have killed himself."

"What the hell happened? Did you guys beat Weapon?"

Yeah. But I think we have an even bigger problem..." Cloud related to them about the battle and Hojo's plans to use Weapon to injure Planet.

"They're going to do that. That's insane. The power of the Weapons is enough to destroy half the Planet itself."

"With an injury that big, Planet will have to heal. And if Jenova is there..."

"Yes. The Planet will die."

Cloud turned to Zack, who was standing alone at the edge of the water.

"Zack."

Zack was looking at his hands again and kept clenching them repeatedly.

"I finally awaken....only to learn that I will die."