DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN FF7 OR ANY OF ITS CHARACTERS

Chapter Seventeen

The Junon port facility was now bereft of Hojo's troops, which made it easy for Cid, Tifa and Barret to head down to the underwater reactor where, as far as they knew, the submarine was still docked. When they got down there, they were relieved to see that the sub was still in place and did not appear to have suffered any damage or modifications.

"Can you still remember how to pilot this thing?" Tifa asked of Cid as they climbed on board.

"Yeah, I think so. Did Shinra boy give us the co-ordinates where the ship went down?"

Tifa shook her head. Rude hadn't been able to remember the exact co-ordinates of the sunken ocean liner, but he'd given them a fairly large search area in which he was certain the ship would be located. Unfortunately, searching the whole area would take a lot of time – time they didn't have if they wanted to stop Hojo from harming Cloud. They'd just have to hope they got lucky, or that one of the other teams had success.

Vincent, Red XIII and Yuffie had gone to the Forgotten City, where they'd battled one of Jenova's early forms, to search for any of her remains. The three Turks had travelled to the Shinra building, to search the laboratories where Jenova had once been resident. With luck, one of the three teams would find something, some part of Jenova's body that they could use to disrupt Hojo's control over Cloud's mind.

Once they were inside the sub's control room, Cid glanced over the controls and said, "Yeah, it's coming back to me. Piloting this baby won't be a problem."

"Good. We'd better get started."

Cid ignited the engines and brought the sub to full power, heading away from the dock.

* * *

Vincent and Red travelled in silence as they made their way through the rocky passage that led to the Forgotten City. Yuffie had long since given up her attempts to start any kind of conversation, and was lagging behind, bored by the silence and lack of action. The path to the Forgotten City was both longer and colder than she remembered, and she was longing for something to happen that might liven up events.

"Vinnie! Red!" she called. "How long till we get there?"

Vincent and Red glanced round at her, then exchanged glances.

"You asked us the same question ten minutes ago, Yuffie," said Red. "And the answer is still the same: we don't know."

"Why not? We've been this way before!"

"Yes, but we did not measure the time taken," the lion replied. "And we cannot take the exact same path as before, since there have been heavy snowdrifts recently."

"This is so boring!" Yuffie complained. "Can't we look for Materia on the way?"

"No. We cannot afford to waste any time. Now please be quiet; I do not want to talk right now."

She folded her arms crossly and glared at the two of them as they walked on ahead of her. In the distance, just below the misty horizon, they could see the Forgotten Capital. That was their destination, and where they hoped to find the key to Hojo's undoing.

* * *

It was midnight when the Turks reached the Shinra building. It too was now free of Hojo's presence – the whole building appeared to be empty – and as such they encountered no resistance as they entered the building by the front door.

"Hey, Reno," said Elena. "I was wondering. Assuming that we manage to find some part of Jenova, and defeat Hojo. What happens then? Are we still working with the AVALANCHE?"

Reno turned to face her, "Of course not. We're only co-operating with them just now because we have interests in common with them. Once Hojo's gone, we'll go back to what we were doing, and they'll go back to whatever it is they do."

"Hmm, OK. I was just thinking that we seem to be getting along pretty well with them now."

"…the fight against Hojo has brought us together with them. That doesn't make them our friends," said Rude.

"But they could be," said Elena. "The AVALANCHE are all right – well, some of them. When we worked for the Shinra we were told that AVALANCHE was a terrorist group, but having spent time with them, we can see that isn't true."

"You're too naïve," said Reno wearily. "Just because somebody seems nice on the surface, it doesn't mean you can trust them. They're our allies on a temporary basis, but it's not going to last forever. I don't think it would be a good idea to enter a long-term relationship with them. If it ever got to a point where we needed them more than they needed us, we wouldn't be free to make our own choices any more. I don't want to go that way."

Elena didn't reply; she was too busy considering what he had just said. By this time they had got inside the elevator and were on their way to the upper levels.

"The Jenova chamber was on the 66th floor," Reno reminded the others. "That's where we'll look first. Hojo's personal lab is also on that floor. That'll be our secondary priority."

The other two nodded, and they waited in silence for the lift to reach floor 66.

* * *

"How we doin'?" asked Barret from his position in the back of the submarine's bridge.

"Nothing yet," said Tifa. "We're still searching."

She was operating the sub's scanning equipment while Cid piloted the craft slowly through the murky water. Barret kicked the sub's hull with impatience, "This is takin' too damn long! Hojo could be doin' all kinda stuff to Cloud while we're wastin' time down here!"

Cid threw him a glare, "I'd be able to concentrate better on driving this thing if you would shut up for ten %$^in' minutes!"

"I've had just about enough o' your damn swearin'!" Barret declared.

Tifa put up her hands and tried to calm them down, "Stop arguing, both of you. It's too hot in here and you're both getting cranky."

"I'm not cranky!" Cid exploded. "I just wish he'd shut the ^%$& up!"

Tifa ignored him and said, "Barret, why don't you go and make sure the diving equipment is ready? We'll almost certainly need to leave the sub and search the ship ourselves."

Barret nodded, and got up to leave. Cid began breathing a little easier, and returned his attention to the submarine's controls. He patted his pockets for a cigarette and swore under his breath when he remembered he hadn't got any. Tifa went back to using the scanning equipment, hoping they'd find something soon. They'd already been searching for an hour and found nothing but rocks, seaweed, fish and more rocks.

* * *

When they at last arrived at the Forgotten Capital, Yuffie was too exhausted to be bored, forcing herself to keep going, step after step, following the tireless figures of Red and Vincent ahead of her, seeing the sun sink further and further below the horizon, feeling more and more of her strength ebbing away. She refused to give up, though. Yuffie was determined to show no signs of weakness, especially not in front of Vincent.

At last they stopped, and Red lifted his head to sniff the air. Yuffie sank down gratefully on to the floor for a much-needed rest. Vincent surveyed the area with his usual detached lack of emotion, and his hand brushed aside his cloak to rest on the butt of his shotgun. Eventually Red looked at them, "It is strange…I smell something…but I cannot tell what it is."

"What does it smell like?"

He sniffed again, "Human…definitely human. I think it is female. Other than that I cannot tell. We are not alone here."

Yuffie shrugged, "I don't see what's so sinister about that. Could just be someone who's come here to explore."

"No, it is not the smell of the person that worries me," said Red, his nose twitching once more. "It is something else…something I have smelled before…something terrible."

Vincent narrowed his eyes and scanned their surroundings once more with his superhuman eyesight, "I see nothing."

"Can't you remember where you smelled it before?" asked Yuffie.

"Yes. I remember now," Red answered. "I can smell the poisonous plant: the flower of vengeance. Somebody has brought it here."

Vincent grabbed the Death Penalty from its holster and flicked off its safety catch. He scanned the area again, keeping watch for anyone who might try to attack them.

"Do you mean Hojo? Do you think Hojo is here?" he asked.

Yuffie shook her head, "Nah! There's no way he could have outrun the Highwind and got here before us! Besides, Red said it was a woman."

"I would have known instantly if it were Hojo," Red agreed. "He has a very distinctive – and unpleasant – scent."

Vincent's arm twitched and he began to look increasingly uneasy.

"Chaos is stirring," he told them. "He senses danger. He wants me to transform."

"Somebody must be out there, hunting us," Yuffie said. "But I'm not worried! With Red's sense of smell, and Vinnie's eyesight, we must be a step ahead of them already!"

"I do not think so," Red frowned. "We do not even know who it is. It must be somebody new, somebody who has yet to play their part."

"Weird. Who can it be?"

"I have no way of knowing that. I suggest we complete our errand and be on our way as soon as possible."

Vincent agreed, "I will remain here and keep watch. You two go down into the Capital and search."

* * *

A quick search of the 66th floor revealed that the Jenova chamber, now being used as a storage compartment for hazardous materials, contained no remains whatsoever of its previous occupant. Only too keen to leave the dark, foul-smelling room, the Turks headed for Hojo's personal laboratory.

"Do you really think he's kept a sample of Jenova in his desk drawer, for old times' sake?" Elena asked. "I mean, what's the likelihood of us finding anything in here?"

As they entered the lab, Reno sighed and said, "Elena. You talk too much."

The three of them worked in silence: quickly, efficiently searching the room, as they had been trained. Eventually Rude was heard to mutter, "…I wonder what this is."

"What do you have?" said Reno.

He and Elena walked over to stand beside Rude. The stoic man was holding an opened box, which was filled with packaging foam. The foam contained two small recesses in which an object might be placed. One of them was occupied. Rude picked up the object in the niche for a closer look.

"…" he said.

"Interesting," said Reno. "I wonder if…"

"If what?" asked Elena.

"If this is what I think it is."

"Why, what do you think it is?"

"Never mind," he said. "I'm betting it's something the AVALANCHE would give anything to get their hands on."

"Aren't we going to give it to them?"

Reno smirked, "Not yet. I think this will prove to be a very effective bargaining chip."

"But I thought they were our allies!"

"Elena. You are too naïve and you talk too much."

* * *

Tifa entered the sub's bridge and sat down next to Cid.

"Whassup?" he asked.

"Reno just called me on his PHS. They've finished searching the Shinra building and found nothing. They're heading back to the outskirts of the city to wait for pick-up."

"Well, they're in for quite a wait," Cid said, unable to resist a grin at the thought. "Hell knows how long it'll be till we're done here."

"Hopefully not too long. I've left the scanning equipment on automatic so it should let us know when we find it."

At that moment there came a beeping noise from the scanner, and Tifa leaned over for a closer look.

"What's it saying?" Cid asked.

Tifa hit a couple of the controls and gasped, "We've found it! We've found the ship! It's dead ahead!"

"Great! Nice work! Now get hold of Barret and we'll go out there and have a look!"

Cid brought the sub to a halt just short of the sunken ship, and they hurried into the sub's main compartment where Barret had the diving gear ready.

* * *

It only took a few minutes for Yuffie and Red to ascertain that their trip north had been a waste of time. There were no Jenova remains to be found in the Forgotten Capital. The whole area had been swept clean by ferocious blizzards during the power struggle between Meteor, Holy and Lifestream. Anything that might have been left lying around after their battle with Jenova, was now long gone. They decided not to waste any more time, and headed back to the surface where Vincent was waiting.

When they got there, the raven-haired man was sitting on a rock with his shotgun still held in his hands, continuing to survey the surroundings, constantly on the lookout for an attack. His body was tense and rigid, every muscle prepared to jump into action. He glanced round when he heard them coming, and raised his eyebrows, "Find anything?"

"Nope," said Yuffie. "Complete waste of time."

"I only hope that we do not live to regret wasting that time," said Red. "We must go back to the south shore and wait for Cid to pick us up."

"Wait!" Vincent hissed. "I heard something."

The other two fell silent, as Vincent listened intently. Eventually he frowned and said, "I was sure I heard somebody. I could have been mistaken."

"I would rather we not take any chances," said Red. "Clearly there is somebody following us."

"So what do we do?" said Yuffie. "I say we find them and kick their ass!"

"We can't," Vincent pointed out. "We don't even know who it is. Plus, they've got the poisonous plant and they might use it against us."

"So – what? Are we just going to run away?"

"We cannot afford to be delayed," Red replied. "We must regroup the others and go back to Mt Nibel to save Cloud."

"In that case we must leave now," said Vincent. "Keep your eyes open and your wits sharp. We are definitely not alone here."

Yuffie cast an apprehensive glance over her shoulder, in case their enemy was creeping up on them. She grabbed her Conformer from its place on her back, and held it protectively in front of her, announcing, "I'm ready for anything!"

"Look!" Vincent exclaimed, pointing ahead.

The other two looked up and could vaguely make out a dark figure, off in the distance, disappearing into the shadows. Vincent brought the Death Penalty up to shoulder height and trained it on where he'd last seen the person.

"Who was that? Do you think it was the person who's following us?" Yuffie asked.

"Yes."

"We must go," Red urged.

He led them down the path that led back towards the Bone Village and the southern edge of the island. Yuffie walked slightly behind him, looking apprehensively in all directions, while Vincent brought up the rear, his eyes constantly scanning their surroundings for any hint of movement. Red sniffed the air and looked confused.

"I recognise this person's scent," he said in an uncertain voice. "I must have smelled them before – recently. But I still do not know who they are."

"In that case, they must have been following us for some time," said Vincent. "I wonder if…no. But it is strange that we don't know who it is."

"Very."

Two or three hours later, they reached the south shore of the continent, and had just sat down to wait for pick-up, when Vincent's PHS began ringing. He answered, "Hello?"

"Vincent, it's Tifa. We've found it! We're coming to pick you up."

"You've found part of Jenova on the ship?"

"That's right. Part of her arm was still there from our first battle with her. It's started to rot a bit, so be prepared for the Highwind to smell a bit worse than usual."

"I expect Cid is less than delighted about that," Vincent commented dryly.

"Tell me about it," Tifa sighed. "Anyway, did you find anything?"

"No. But there is something strange."

"What?"

"We think we're being followed. But we don't know who by. All we know is that they have the poisonous flower in their possession."

"Weird. I'll mention it to the guys. Make your way to the south shore and we'll meet you there."

"We're already at the south shore."

"Great. We'll be there in about ten minutes."

Vincent hung up and told the others what Tifa had said.

"That is good news," said Red XIII. "I wonder how the Turks are faring."

* * *

The Turks were climbing the stairs that led to the President's office at the top of the Shinra building.

"Reno!" Elena cried as she quickened her pace to keep up with the two senior Turks. "Where are we going? We agreed to meet the others at the entrance to Sector 3!"

"We're not going to regroup with the 'others'," said Reno.

"What? I thought they were our allies! I thought we were going to help them fight against Hojo!"

"Yes, we were. But that was before I discovered this little treasure of Hojo's."

His hand absent-mindedly brushed against the pocket in which he had the object. Elena shook her head, "So why the change of plan? They need our help!"

"To be honest, I don't think they do. I think their plan, using the remains of Jenova, will work. Our presence in the fight will not affect the outcome. Personally I feel we would be best served giving ourselves a head-start in the race for power after Hojo is gone."

"Power? I thought we weren't interested in gaining power," she said, sounding confused.

"We weren't, but only because we had no ready access to it," he corrected. "You are so naïve, Elena. There are three kinds of people in this world: madmen, like Hojo, who will destroy themselves with their own insanity; foolish idealists like AVALANCHE, who will lay down their lives for what they believe is a worthy cause; and lastly there are realists, like myself, who only look for the most logical and rational ways to further their own interests."

"But I thought the AVALANCHE were supposed to be heroes…"

"Heroism, Elena, is awarded posthumously. People will only remember the AVALANCHE as heroes after they are dead. While they are alive, they are seen as troublemakers, people who stir up conflicts and interfere with the basic harmony of life."

She looked at him strangely, "Reno – are you feeling all right? You don't usually talk like this. You usually spend your time wondering where the next beer is coming from."

"Yes. That's an illusion I like to create," he said. "For the first time in my life, I'm ready to make a real stab for power. So forgive me if I seem a little over-excited."

"I don't know…" she said reluctantly. "I still don't feel comfortable about betraying the AVALANCHE. You can call me naïve if you like, but – Rude, what do you think?"

"…" said Rude.

"Thanks, you're a great help," she said sarcastically. "All right, I'll go along with you just now. But I don't like this, I don't like it at all. I don't think Tifa and the others will like it either."

"If everything goes the way I intend it to, we'll be in a position where it doesn't matter what they think," Reno assured her. "OK, first we'll – "

Just then there came the shrill tone of his PHS. He picked it up and answered it, "Reno here."

"Reno? This is Tifa. Are you done yet? We're on our way to pick you up."

Reno smirked, "I'm afraid we shan't be joining you this time. Something else has come up."

"Are you sure? We really need your help, Reno!"

"Sorry, Tifa. It's too important. Give my regards to your friends."

He hung up and tossed the PHS over his shoulder to land in an open-topped garbage can.

"Right, that's that," he said. "Now let's sit down and begin planning our new empire."

Reno and Rude turned and headed for the President's office. Elena watched them go, then turned back to face the bin in which the PHS lay. When neither of them was looking, she picked up the PHS and slipped it into her pocket. Then she ran after them, "Hey! Wait for me!"

* * *

"They aren't coming," Tifa announced to the others.

Vincent looked up, "Why?"

"Huh," Barret grunted. "Good riddance. They weren't no damn use anyway! Right, Cid?"

"For once I agree with you, man," Cid nodded. "Damn glad to get them dumb %^$£s off my ship."

"I dunno," Yuffie shrugged. "I kinda liked Elena. But as for Reno…"

"I liked Rude," Vincent offered. "He was quiet, unlike most of you. He shared my passion for piano music also."

Red chuckled, "They were…interesting people."

"Well, we'll have to go on without them," Tifa said. "We'll just have to hope our plan does work, otherwise we'll be in severe trouble. Cid, how long till we reach Nibelheim?"

"Not long. What's the plan?"

"Fight our way into the reactor and find Cloud as quickly as we can," she said. "We have to take Hojo by surprise before he can find some way to strike back."

"In theory, it should be fairly easy," Red added. "Our plan should render the super soldiers inactive, and bring Cloud back to our side. Hojo's ordinary troops will pose us no problem. The only danger is Hojo himself."

"Right," Tifa agreed. "We don't know how powerful he has made himself over the last two months. We also don't know just how little sanity he has left. For all we know, he might have some self-destruct system built into the reactor, that he can use to take us all out and himself with us, if he suspects we're about to defeat him."

"There's one piece of good news," said Red. "We've managed to reprogram the Cait Sith toy to act without Reeve's telepathic control. That means it can stay here and look after Marlene for us, while we do battle with Hojo."

"I dunno," Barret said uncertainly. "I don't like the idea of leavin' her alone with only a dumb robot to look after her."

"The robot still has all of Cait's powers," said Vincent. "She can instruct it to defend her against anyone who boards the ship."

"OK, we're almost there," Cid interjected. "I can land in the mountain range in a few more minutes. Everybody get ready."

The party members checked their weapons and accessories, and Red and Tifa went down to the operations room, where the remains of Jenova's arm was carefully stored in a sturdy metal container. It was designed to protect the fragile rotting tissue from damage, but unfortunately did nothing to contain the smell.

"Oh, this stinks," Tifa gasped. "This has better work."

"If you think it is bad, try having a feline's sense of smell," Red choked. "Once we are within a close enough proximity to Hojo, we can stow this away somewhere safe, and go on without it."

"Amen to that."

Carrying the box between them, they hurried to the lower deck and prepared to disembark.

* * *

Hojo looked up from his work as the guard saluted in the doorway.

"Sir, our look-outs report the AVALANCHE airship is approaching!" the man told him.

"Very well," said Hojo. "I will send the super-soldiers to destroy them. After that, you will take some explosives and destroy the airship."

"Yes, sir!"

The man left and Hojo closed his eyes, concentrating his mind on the super soldiers. He only had five left, after the six in the Junon facility had somehow been killed, but that was still more than enough to finish his enemies. Hojo focussed his thoughts on controlling the soldiers, and transmitted the command to move out.

Strange. Nothing had happened. He closed his eyes again, calmed his mind, and sent out the command. It still didn't work.

"Hmm. Something must have happened to the soldiers," he muttered.

He focussed his thoughts on the soldiers again, and tried to determine where they were and what they were doing. Odd. They were on guard, just as they should have been. Why weren't they responding to his commands?

Suddenly it hit him. An overwhelming weight pummelling his mind, demanding his attention, filling every neurone in his brain.

"What the – " Hojo gasped, falling on to his hands and knees. "What the – hell is – going on?"

He tried to concentrate on communicating with his soldiers, but his mind couldn't handle the sheer mass of thought being forced upon it. What was happening to him? He had to calm down. There had to be a scientific explanation.

Of course. Jenova cells. Thousands, millions, billions of Jenova cells, all seeking to communicate with the ones in his mind. Somehow, he didn't know how, the AVALANCHE had got hold of some Jenova cells.

"Damn it!" Hojo cursed, slamming his fist on to the floor, still on his knees. "I can't believe I overlooked something so simple! I – can't – take this – "

His mind still being buffeted by the Jenova cells, he realised he only had one hope. Turning, he saw Cloud nearby.

"Strife!" he yelled. "Get out there! Kill them!"

Cloud stood a few feet away, sword in hand, looking confused.

"Huh? W-where am I?" he said. "Professor Hojo? What's going on?"

Hojo cursed once more as he realised he had lost control of Cloud's mind. Forcing himself to stand, he grabbed Cloud and pushed him into a chair. The swordsman was still too bewildered and disoriented to know what was happening, and Hojo managed to tie his arms and legs to the chair before his mind returned fully. When it did, Cloud gave an angry yell and began straining against his bonds.

"Hojo!" he demanded. "Let me go! What the hell have you done to me? Where am I?"

"You – fool," Hojo gasped. "Your friends – think they can – defeat me…"

Stumbling across the lab, unable to cope with the strain on his mind, Hojo had no aces left to play. He knew he couldn't win this round. He had to get away from those Jenova cells. He had to escape. He headed for the escape capsule he'd secretly built into the reactor.

* * *

The six party members hurried up the steps at the entrance to the Nibel reactor, and immediately knew that their plan was working.

"Look!" Cid yelled. "The damn sons-of-&*$&^es can't do a thing!"

Before them stood five of the silver super soldiers, motionless, looking more like robots than living creatures. Yuffie whooped with delight, "It's working! They're knocked out! Does this mean we get Cloud back?"

"In theory," said Red. "I can smell Hojo. I think he is on one of the upper floors. Where are the elevators?"

"Over that way," said Tifa. "Let's go!"

They rode the elevator to the top floor, where Red assured them that Hojo's scent was strongest, and found themselves face to face with three very scared-looking human soldiers.

"Don't shoot!" they implored. "We surrender! The Professor's gone! Your friend's in the lab at the end of the corridor!"

"Cloud!" Tifa exclaimed. "OK, Barret, Cid, you stay here and keep an eye on these clowns. Red, Yuffie, you start looking for Hojo. Vincent, we'll get Cloud."

The others nodded and she hurried down the corridor towards the door at the end. Flinging it open, she saw Cloud, sitting with his back to the door, struggling against the ropes that tied him to his chair.

"Let me go!" Cloud yelled. "Hojo! Are you still there?"

"Cloud!" Tifa said. "It's me, I'm here! Vincent, cut him loose."

With a swipe of his metal claw, Vincent tore through the ropes that held Cloud. The swordsman leapt to his feet and unsheathed Ultima Weapon.

"Hojo went that way!" he announced, pointing to a door on the opposite side of the room. "He seemed really ill or something, though! I bet we can catch up with him!"

They hurried through the door and found themselves faced by a long corridor with another door at the end. That, in turn, led to a much larger room, with a narrow walkway leading over to a door on the far side. Looking down, they saw a huge pool of liquid Mako, several floors below.

"The reactor's secondary Mako tank," Vincent told them. "Watch your footing. If you fall in there, you won't come out alive."

"Hojo must have gone this way," said Cloud. "Unless he fell in. We'll soon know. Let's go!"

He led the way across the walkway, holding on to the hand-rails on both sides for support, hoping the structure of the walkway was sturdier than it looked. He was halfway across when he looked back to check on the others. Tifa was right behind him, looking down apprehensively into the pool of Mako. Vincent was slightly further back, an uneasy expression crossing his face.

"Something's not right," Vincent said urgently. "Chaos is sending me a warning. Something's about to – "

A huge explosion shook the room and the middle section of the walkway was blown away. Cloud was thrown to one side, and managed to grab on to a hand-rail to stop himself from falling. He saw Tifa managing to catch hold of something, and she shouted something he couldn't hear. His ears were still ringing from the explosion.

"What was that?" he yelled, but realised she couldn't hear anything either.

Vincent – where was Vincent? Cloud pulled himself back up on to what remained of the walkway, and pulled up Tifa to stand beside him.

"Where's Vincent?" he just about heard her yell.

He shrugged. The raven-haired man was nowhere to be seen. Both of them looked around the room anxiously for several seconds, then, almost in synchrony, they both turned horrified glances to the Mako pool at the bottom of the chamber.

"You don't think he – "

"No. He couldn't have – "

"VINCENT!! Where are you?"

There was no reply, but the one good thing was that their hearing had returned.

"He can't have fallen in – he can't have…"

"Oh, but he can."

The two of them whirled to see Hojo standing a yard or two away.

"Hojo!" Cloud snarled, angrily running towards his nemesis.

The scientist met his furious rush with a single punch, sending him skidding back along the floor of the walkway, stopping mere inches before falling off the edge. Hojo smirked, "I thought you had already learned that fighting me was a pointless exercise, as I will always be stronger."

"You've lost, though," Cloud answered, forcing himself to smile through the excruciating pain and the blood oozing from his nose. "We've beaten you at last."

"On this occasion, perhaps. Your use of Jenova cells was quite ingenious. It will, however, only stop me temporarily. You, on the other hand, will not live to see another battle."

Cloud tried to get to his feet, but his body was too tired and sore after the explosion and the devastating punch from Hojo. The scientist sneered down at him, and reached out with impossible speed to grab Tifa by the wrist and pull her towards him, forcing her arm behind her back, rendering her powerless to resist.

"Tifa! Kill him!" Cloud urged.

"I can't! He's too strong!"

Hojo laughed, a laugh tinged with hideous insanity. With his other hand, he reached into the pocket of lab coat, to remove a syringe filled with a poison-green liquid the same colour as his eyes.

"See this?" he said. "This is the fastest-acting, most lethal toxin known to man. No cures, no antidotes, it kills within seconds of administering. I should have used this on you to start with."

"Why didn't you?" asked Cloud, trying to keep Hojo talking until he or Tifa could think up some escape plan.

"Because, frankly, I didn't take you seriously. That was perhaps a mistake. I thought it better to toy with you, watch your bumbling attempts to stop me, then finish you off swiftly. It didn't work out that way, unfortunately. I underestimated the power of your Limit Breaks against my mutated soldiers. I also didn't factor in the possibility of the Turks joining the equation."

"Hah. You've lost now," Cloud laughed, trying to sound more cheerful and triumphant than he felt.

"I think not. Once I kill you and your little friend here, I will take my escape pod and flee this reactor. I will then adjourn to my most secret research facility, and continue my campaign from there. It was a valiant attempt to stop me, on your part, but it was always doomed to be unsuccessful."

"No – we've finished you – you've got nothing left – " Cloud groaned, feeling the elation of victory replaced by the numbing frustration that Hojo would slip through their fingers once again.

"If you have anything to say to Miss Lockheart, I suggest you say it now," Hojo told him, as he removed the syringe from its plastic container, and readied it for injection.

"Cloud…" Tifa said weakly.

"Tifa…no…I can't lose you like this…"

The scientist laughed malevolently, "Goodbye, Tifa Lockheart."

He lowered his hand to inject her with the poison.

Vincent shot Hojo in the back, blowing apart his spinal cord, sending him sprawling forward on to the walkway. The syringe fell from his fingers and rolled off the edge, down into the Mako. Tifa wrenched herself from Hojo's grip, and hurried over to Cloud. Vincent blew smoke from the end of his shotgun, and calmly viewed the body of their enemy. Hojo's glasses had slipped off, and he blinked myopically in Cloud's direction.

"You think…you have won…" he gasped with his last few breaths. "There will…always…be others…like me…"

Despite the pain, Cloud struggled into a sitting position, and embraced Tifa.

"I thought I'd lost you," they whispered to each other, almost in unison.

The thought of losing Tifa sparked off another thought in Cloud's mind. He tried to stand, couldn't, and crawled over to Hojo's dying form.

"Professor," he asked urgently. "I have to know…what you said about bringing back Aeris…is it possible?"

Hojo was gasping painfully, coughing blood, but he nodded his head slowly and managed to speak, "Yes…you will find her…blood sample…in my office…the cloning machine is…on the second…floor…"

He choked up one last measure of blood on to the platform, then his body fell limp and he stopped breathing. Hojo was dead.

"At last…" Tifa breathed. "It's over…"

"My love is finally avenged," Vincent said, standing with his arms folded and his shotgun once more holstered at his side.

"Vincent," Cloud said suddenly. "How did you survive? We looked all around…after the explosion…you weren't there!"

"I transformed," Vincent explained. "Into Chaos. He can fly, of course."

"Of course…"

"Chaos sensed that Hojo was coming, so I hid in the shadows and waited for him to come out. I then had to transform back to my own body to shoot him. It can sometimes take time to convince Chaos to allow me to change back when there is still danger. I was almost too late."

"Why didn't you just let Chaos kill him?"

"I could have…but I had to do it myself…I couldn't let another finish him. I had to avenge my love. I had to avenge Lucrecia and all the other deaths that Hojo was responsible for. Myself, Sephiroth, Aeris…"

"Aeris!" Cloud repeated. "You heard what he told me, right? We can bring her back!"

"I heard. You wish to try it?"

"I'd do anything to have Aeris back."

"Yes. That was why Hojo was able to manipulate you into falling under his control."

Cloud frowned, "I don't remember any of that. But Vincent – we could bring Aeris back!"

"I know. I heard you the first time."

"He said her blood sample was in his lab, didn't he?" Cloud asked excitedly. "And the cloning machine was on the second floor?"

"That is what he said, yes."

"Well, come on! The sooner we start, the more time we get with Aeris! Let's go!"

He helped Tifa to her feet, and the three of them hurried along the damaged walkway, back towards Hojo's lab. There would be time later to clean up all the damage Hojo had made, and hold a proper memorial service for Reeve. Right now all Cloud could think of was the flower girl he'd known for such a brief time, but had shared so much with even in those few short days. He'd thought she was gone forever. Soon she'd be back with them…soon.