By: General Quistis
Disclaimer: I neither own Final Fantasy 7 nor the characters. Duh. I don't own anything…but the story plot…
Author's Note: I'm so sorry if there's this OOC tendency for this fic… I have to transform their personalities… like Cloud turning evil whatsoever… -.-' Please forgive meh… ;_;
And by the way, if you want to see some fic-art or drawings regarding this fic and all my other fics, just go to my site: …thank you very much. Oh, and please don't forget to read & review this one. =)
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Chapter Eighteen
Hojo turned around when he heard someone step inside his lab. He was holding a large syringe with some black liquid inside. "Oh, pleasant afternoon, President Cloud," he greeted.
Cloud frowned slightly, grasping the handle of his sword tightly when he heard that. "Excuse me?" he asked.
Hojo laughed at him mockingly. "You must be enjoying the wonderful life that ShinRa had given to you… being a ShinRa is a privilege… you get everything you want because you are very powerful and you have all the money in the world… but unfortunately, you are really a big burden to all of us. Because I had to take care of brainwashing you, I wasn't able to further develop the JENOVA project… and continue my experiments with Sephiroth. Because of you, I am just some mediocre scientist following orders from you and at the same time, brainwashing you, making you believe that you are Rufus ShinRa… but I've opened my eyes to the truth, Cloud Strife. We want our real President back and we are going to get rid of you." He pulled out a gun from his lab coat pocket and pointed it at Cloud. "And maybe then I can experiment with your body after your death," he said with a mean glint in his eyes.
Cloud did not move; he just stared at Hojo for a few seconds before he finally decided to attack the old man with fire and quickly snatching the gun from his hands. "You imbecile!" Cloud snarled angrily before swinging his sword to Hojo's head, however, as it cut through the old man's head, he was able to inject two-thirds of the contents of the syringe into Cloud's bloodstream.
Cloud cringed in pain as he watched Hojo's head roll to the ground. He turned to his left thigh and removed the syringe and the needle from it. "You are really made out of crap…" he muttered glumly before throwing the syringe at Hojo's body. He got the gun and shot him several times, wanting to really make sure that he killed him. With that, he dropped the gun and staggered upstairs, holding his left thigh while feeling a little dazed because of the formula taking effect on him. "What the hell did he inject in my body?" he thought miserably. "At least he didn't finish it…" he muttered aloud before finally reaching the 70th floor. Upon entering his office, he saw Aerith standing by the window, staring in awe at him. "C…Cloud, are you okay?" she asked with a worried look as she ran to him.
Cloud fell to the floor, making Aerith feel more nervous all of a sudden. "Cloud!" she exclaimed as she ran to him, trying to help him up. She guided him to the nearest chair and made him sit down before removing his hand from his left thigh. "What happened to you?" she asked.
"That… that Hojo injected something…into… into my bloodstream… ugh…" his hand traveled to his upper chest. He was already having a hard time breathing. "Aerith… help me…" he pleaded as he leaned forward to her embrace.
She swallowed hard, feeling the tears filling up her eyes and clouding her vision. His words kept on ringing in her head, "Aerith… help me…"
She sniffed and frowned slightly as she began to heal him. "I'm sorry, Tifa… Rufus… Barret… Vincent… Yuffie… Marlene… Red XIII… Cid…Tseng… Heidegger… Scarlet… everyone… I have to do this for Cloud… because I love him… I'm not stupid… I just don't want to lose him in this manner… but I swear, I am going to do something… anything to change his mind…" she thought silently as she finally let the tears fall.
***
"Kyah… Professor Hojo?" Scarlet called out as she entered his lab.
No answer.
She stopped in her tracks, looking up at the ceiling and then scanning the whole lab. "Hojo, are you busy? We need to talk to you!" she yelled impatiently.
No answer.
"Kyah… maybe that old man's hiding somewhere… well then, he wants to play hide and seek, eh? Kyah…" she proceeded to walk in between some lab tables and chairs, rounding one corner, eyeing the whole place carefully. "Where the hell is…" she trailed off when she noticed that she stepped on something white on the floor… white and red… She slowly lowered her eyes to the ground and with wide eyes, she let out a shrill "KYAH!" and stepped aside, hugging herself. She stared at the headless body of the dead professor as she tried to breath properly. "Chill out, Scarlet… this isn't the first time you saw a dead body like this! Kyah…" she scolder herself silently. She jerked when she heard her mobile phone ringing. She looked away with a disgusted and nervous look on her face as she got her phone and answered the call from Heidegger. "Gyah… where's Professer Hojo? We need some medicines here. Cloud's injured and I think Aerith is having a hard time,"
Scarlet was silent as she heard Aerith from the background, saying, "No, I think I'll be fine here…"
Silence.
"Scarlet, are you there?" Heidegger asked.
Scarlet turned back to the corpse with a disgusted look on her face. She swallowed hard, trying to fight back nausea. "I…I'm here… but… I don't think Professor Hojo can still talk to us…" she stammered. She was quietly thinking, "Cloud killed him… and he's gonna kill Heidegger… and then me… and then all of us involved in ruining his life will die… including President Rufus…"
"Why, what's going on in there?" Heidegger demanded.
Scarlet didn't answer. She didn't know what to do anymore. She was really regretting at that moment the night that they found the innocent little blonde boy who resembled Rufus ShinRa so much and so they took him back home and brainwashed him to become Rufus himself…
"Hello?! Scarlet?! Gyah….. can you hear me?! What's going on?" she snapped out of her thoughts when she heard his demanding tone again.
She bit her lower lip as tears fell from her eyes. "I can't take this anymore…" she muttered miserably before hanging up and rushed out of the laboratory without even taking one last look at the corpse.
***
Heidegger frowned as he returned his mobile phone inside his pocket. "Damn that woman! She hung up!" he said angrily.
Cloud was about to say something to her but he was interrupted when Heidegger left the bedroom. He frowned slightly before focusing his gaze on Aerith's face. "Aerith," he began.
She looked at him with too much concern in her eyes. "Yes, Cloud?" she asked.
"I want you to do something for me…" he told her with a nasty glint in his eye.
Aerith began to feel nervous as she let go of Cloud's hand. She knew that she hasn't finish healing him yet, but she knew that he was a strong man and he can manage on his own. "Y…yes… what is it?" she asked nervously, forcing a smile.
He smiled impishly at her as he reached up to touch her face from where he was lying down on the bed. "You understand how much I hated staying here, right?" he asked.
She nodded. "Yes… I knew that," she replied.
"Do me a favor," he told her.
"Wh…what kind of favor?" she asked.
He noticed the sudden fear and uneasiness in her eyes. He felt his heart sinking as he stared at her, feeling her pain… but he did not look away. "I want you to help search for Rufus… and once you find him…" he trailed off when Heidegger entered the room again with a gun in his hand.
Cloud and Aerith's eyes grew wide. "What's with the gun?!" Aerith demanded in awe as she moved closer to Cloud, as if meaning to protect him.
Heidegger smiled at them. "Gyah… Scarlet's missing." He announced.
"What's with the goddamn gun?!" Cloud demanded as he sat up, frowning at Heidegger.
Heidegger hid the gun in his pocket. "Gyah… sorry 'bout that…" he apologized sheepishly.
"You had us worried there, Heidegger…" Aerith muttered.
"Hmf… especially Cloud… he must've thought I'd kill him already," he thought silently.
"What do you mean by Scarlet is missing?" Cloud asked.
"I was looking for her but she isn't here in the building anymore… she even hung up on me… I went down to the lab but… there's Professor Hojo… and he's dead! Gyah! Maybe that bitch killed him and she ran away!" Heidegger explained.
Cloud was silent for a while before looking at Aerith. Aerith noticed the sudden coldness in Cloud's eyes as she stared at him.
"Well then… I think Hojo deserved to die," Cloud told them with a mean tone.
Heidegger stared at him in awe. "Wh…why?" he asked.
"Because he. ruined. my. life." Cloud replied with a low tone, emphasizing each word before grabbing his big sword which was leaning against the bedside table. He shoved Aerith onto the bed and got up instantly, attacking Heidegger.
Upon surprise, Heidegger wasn't able to react immediately and time ran short for him to grab his gun and defend himself. Cloud had sliced him into two.
Aerith's eyes were wide in fear and shock as she gasped. She was about to scream but he turned to her with a pleading look on his face. "Don't scream… please," he told her with a gentle tone.
She was trembling as tears fell from her eyes… but she was speechless.
Cloud sighed heavily before dropping his sword to the floor. "He was the mastermind on why I'm here… he suggested the idea to Scarlet and Reeve… I just knew it…" he explained as he walked to her.
Aerith was trying hard to control herself from hysteria because of what she had seen.
"I'm sorry I had to kill him in front of you… but everyone standing in my way should die. Do you understand, Aerith?" he asked as he sat down on the bed beside her. She wanted to move away from him but she couldn't move.
He just smiled at her gently as he took her in his arms to embrace her, wanting to comfort her as she continued to cry quietly.
Aerith just held onto him, grasping his hands tightly as she leaned her head against his shoulder, her gaze still fixed upon the corpse.
The next thing she knew, Cloud was already kissing her. She just gave in, hoping that her fear would ease up in his arms as he started to make love to her...
***
Scarlet took a deep breath, hoping that she would calm down already. She looked up at Reeve and Rufus with a tired look on her face.
"So you came all the way here from ShinRa?" Rufus asked.
"Kyah… yes, President Rufus… I had to leave… I can't take it there anymore… that boy is crazy! He killed Professor Hojo!" she wailed.
"Serves Hojo right…" Vincent was thinking silently with a slight smile on his face but he hid his smile by turning away from everyone.
"He killed Hojo?" Barret asked.
"That deranged asshole?" Cid added.
"Kyah…" Scarlet nodded as she leaned back on the couch. "It's such a scary sight… Cloud beheaded him… and shot him too, I guess… it's just… gross… blood all over the place… gyah…" she told them.
Tifa shook her head in disbelief before turning to Rufus. "I don't think we should be going to ShinRa now…" she suggested with a worried look on her face.
"Kyah… she's right… not in this kind of situation wherein that Cloud Strife is after your heads… and I think I'm also included in his list!" Scarlet said.
"Why? What did you do this time?" Reeve asked as he crossed his arms.
"Kyah! I think he's off to kill everyone who was involved in… in…" she turned to Rufus and upon noticing the angry look on his face, she became more nervous. "Kyah! You know why!" she said before covering her face in shame.
Rufus rolled his eyes before turning away with an annoyed look on his face, not wishing to really yell at her because it would only make him feel so bothered and stressed out and waste his voice on her, but because his string of patience just snapped, he just turned back to her and clenched his fists. "You imbecile! You are such an idiot to agree with Heidegger in the first place…" and then turned to Reeve and pointed an accusing finger at him. "And you too! You and Scarlet have brains! Why didn't you use them?" he scolded.
"Honestly, I'd rather hear him scolding us than hear Cloud yapping at us…" Scarlet whispered to Yuffie.
Yuffie blinked as she raised an eyebrow. "You're weird…" she muttered.
Rufus turned back to Scarlet. She jerked and looked up at him. "But sir… we didn't have a choice! We're afraid to lose our lives… because your father… he threatened us… that if we wouldn't be able to return you to him by midnight, he'd kill us! We had to save ourselves. It was all Heidegger's idea… and Reeve and I just couldn't do anything about it… and we took Cloud to Hojo so that he could brainwash him and…" she couldn't go on.
Reeve swallowed hard.
Tifa and the others could feel the tension inside the living room.
Barret just nodded. "I'll leave you guys for a while…" he said before stepping out.
"I'm comin' with ya," Cid said, running after him.
Yuffie followed after them.
Vincent remained standing by one corner of the room.
"Meowrrr…" Dark Nation purred as she rubbed her head against Red XIII's face.
"Yeugh…" Red XIII reacted as he twitched.
Rufus narrowed his eyes on Scarlet, then Reeve. "You both have choices. You always have choices." He pointed out.
Silence.
"You don't get it, do you?" he asked them.
Scarlet just looked at Reeve with confused looks on their faces. Reeve just looked away, shaking his head in disbelief.
Rufus just looked away. "Never mind…" he muttered miserably before sitting down on the chair by the doorway.
Tifa bit her lower lip before turning to Scarlet and Reeve. "I'm sure you were confused at that moment when you were not able to object to Heidegger's idea… I understand that," she said gently.
Reeve smiled weakly at her. "Thank you, Miss Lockheart," he told her.
Scarlet stared at her unbelievably. "Kyah… thank you…?" she asked with a curious look on her face.
Tifa smiled sweetly but quite shyly at Scarlet. "Tifa. Tifa Lockheart." She replied.
Scarlet blinked, remembering the man who died with the same surname near the reactor some years ago. She turned to Reeve with a look of awe in her face. "Reeve… do you remember the… the man…" she stammered.
Reeve frowned slightly, remembering the man who died.
"Is there anything wrong?" Tifa asked with a curious look on her face.
"Kyah… where is your father, Miss Lockheart?" Scarlet asked.
Rufus turned to them with a frowning face.
Tifa turned to Rufus for a while, feeling very nervous all of a sudden. She turned back to Scarlet. "I…I don't know… he just… disappeared five years ago…" she said.
"Miss Lockheart, we don't want to surprise you but… did he say that he's going to ShinRa to…" Reeve trailed off when Scarlet just blurted out, "There's a man who died near one of the reactors five years ago… and his surname is Lockheart. A Soldier shot him and… his I.D. card said that he lives in Nibelheim and from what I can remember… it was written there that in case of emergency, we should notify…" she trailed off upon seeing the tears in Tifa's eyes.
Tifa clenched her fists. "…I know… I've seen his I.D. it says there… to notify me… or Rufus…" she said.
"Yes, your name's written there but… Rufus?" Scarlet asked.
"If my name's there, why didn't you know that it was me?" Rufus demanded with a confused look on his face.
"It just says there Tifa or Rufus. Then indicated under her name was daughter and under your name son-in-law." Scarlet explained.
Tifa somewhat lost the will to be very sad and cry because of the fact that it was only at that moment that she had realized that her father was already dead.
Rufus raised an eyebrow and stood up. "Son-in-law?" he asked in disbelief.
Vincent smiled at them. "Well… I guess Mr. Lockheart's got his plans, huh?" he asked.
Scarlet just stood up and went to Rufus, holding his hands and squeezing them gently. "President Rufus, we're so sorry for making this stupid mistake… but… we're on your side now. And we're going to do everything to help you get back in ShinRa and throw that Cloud Strife out of there. Please forgive us," she said with a sheepish look on her face.
Rufus withdrew his hands from her with a frown on his face before looking at Reeve, then at Tifa.
Tifa smiled gently at him. "Can't change the past, Rufus… we just have to prepare for the future," she thought silently, hoping that they shared the same thought.
Rufus got the message from the look in her eyes. With that, he turned to Reeve and Scarlet. "Apology accepted," he declared.
Reeve smiled happily and Scarlet cheered happily, letting out a joyful "Kyah!" and jumped around the place, and then hugging Reeve tightly, somewhat shocking Tifa, Rufus, Vincent, Dark Nation and Red XIII… and even Reeve himself.
Upon realizing what she just did, she pushed Reeve away and just sat down, dusting herself, while her face turned scarlet red as she began to mutter curses under her breath.
Reeve was also blushing but he just looked up at the ceiling, pretending not to feel anything unusual.
Tifa giggled.
Rufus just shook his head in disbelief as he rolled his eyes.
Vincent shrugged and stepped forward. "Well then… I guess based from what they were telling you a while ago, you shouldn't be going back to ShinRa at this kind of situation." He told Rufus.
Rufus turned to him. "What do you suggest we do?" he asked.
"Hide somewhere else… somewhere a little bit far from this place…" Vincent suggested.
Tifa turned to Rufus. "We could go back to Nibelheim and think of a strategy there." she told him.
Rufus nodded. "Fine… we'll be leaving at around dawn." He said with a slight smile on his face before turning back to Vincent. "Could I interest you for a job in ShinRa?" he asked.
Vincent just stared at him in disbelief. "I worked there before as a Turk." He admitted finally.
"Yeah, I know, I've seen your records before," Rufus told him.
"What position are you going to give him?" Reeve asked.
"He can take over Heidegger's job. After all, I've got this feeling that the fat man's dead… based from what Scarlet had mentioned that Cloud's finishing off everyone who were involved." Rufus explained.
"I don't really know…" Vincent stammered, suddenly feeling embarrassed.
Rufus patted his shoulder. "It will be fine. The bastard Hojo's dead. He can't do anything to you anymore," he told him reassuringly.
Vincent shrugged. "Whatever you say, President Rufus. I'll be glad to serve ShinRa again… just as long as you're the President and you have Miss Lockheart here as your First Lady… and not Cloud Strife and Aerith Gainsborough under those positions mentioned," he said with a modest smile on his face.
***