Elena: Heavy Weather
Sleep spells were like being slowly smothered; they were heavy and hot and dark, impossible to shove away to get a bit of breathing room. They did not, Elena had discovered, block the peculiar electrical feeling of the paralytic stop spell; her nerves were still jangling with the crawling noise of it, and she couldn't concentrate. Hojo had hardly even looked at her when he cast the second spell, already busy with his charts and his machines.
The sharp hot splash of the Esuna spell knocked her senses out-of-kilter, and she would have fallen if someone hadn't been holding her by the arms. She blinked the blurriness from her eyes, seeing Rude standing in front of her; he was holding her up with a painfully tight grip on her arms. She was stiff and sore from the stop spell, but she got her balance back and shook her head to clear it.
"What happened?" she croaked, and coughed to clear her throat.
Rude let go of her and stepped away, turning his back. She frowned when her arms still felt bound, and realized that her jacket and blouse had been shoved back from her shoulders half-way to her elbows. Her bra had been unhooked and shoved aside too; she blushed furiously, turned her back on the other Turks to shrug her jacket and blouse onto her shoulders and then hook her bra back into place. There were more papers lying around than she remembered, a cabinet hanging open, and leads dangling from the machines; she glanced down to see small marks on her body where those leads had probably been attached, and fresh bruises on her collarbone and the backs of her hands, with needle marks at the center.
"Fuck, we thought you'd know," Reno griped. "How - Elena. Rufus is dead."
She started, the fabric of her blouse slithering through her fingers. "What?"
"Weapon." Rude replied tiredly. "It attacked and it blew out the top two or three floors. Rufus - "
"We couldn't even find most of him," Reno said, thumping something with his stick. "Part of his coat and his shotgun, melted into a nice knot." He sighed. "So that leaves us with Scarlet and Heidegger, cause Reeve's locked up in Scarlet's office, and nobody knows where the fuck Hojo is."
She shook her head and finished buttoning her blouse. "Hojo - he said something about his experiments, and then he hit me with stop and sleep spells." She tucked her blouse back into her trousers and buttoned her jacket. "What the hell is Reeve in Scarlet's office for?" Reeve had spent most of his career trying to stay out of Scarlet's grasp; she couldn't believe he'd just walked in there on his own.
Reno groaned. "He tried to take on Scarlet and Heidegger to run the company an' lost, so Scarlet's locked him up in her office. We're supposed to go finish off Avalanche while they get that damn robot ready."
"What are they going to do with that robot? They can't get it down in the crater." She turned back to them, to see Rude pick up a sheaf of papers from Hojo's messy desk and ruffle through them. She shook her head at Reeve and wondered what he'd been planning; getting trapped in Scarlet's office wouldn't have been it.
"How should I know?" Reno grumbled, slouching against the desk. "Elena, much as I like you flashing me, what the hell was going on in here?"
She stomped over and punched him in the stomach. "Shut up, Reno, how should I know? I was unconscious!" Reno doubled over and glared at her, and Rude shook his head, stepping between them.
"Hojo. Running tests because of his experiment." Rude handed the papers, computer print-outs of test results annotated in Hojo's illegibly calligraphic writing, to Elena.
"So what do we do now?" she asked. She glanced at the papers and tucked them into her jacket pocket with the disc Reeve had given her. There wasn't time now; making any sense of this stuff would take her hours, if not days.
Shinra's finished, Reno said sourly. You think any of them could run this company without it falling apart?
Rude shook his head. No. Accounting took off with all the cash too.
Well, that figures, Elena sighed. Avalanche can go to hell. I want Hojo's head.
Reno. Get Reeve. Rude shook his head and glared at Reno when the redhead would have argued; Reno sighed and stomped out of the room.
Elena sighed and rotated her shoulders, trying to work some of the stiffness out of them, and was surprised when Rude turned to her and asked if she was all right. she said with a nod. How long - you wouldn't know, would you?
Rude frowned. No. Rufus has been dead for less than a hour. Scarlet and Heidegger didn't care what Hojo was doing.
She paced, thinking, and tried to smooth wrinkles from her jacket; the papers crinkled and ruined the line of her jacket. She didn't think that mattered at the moment. More than an hour, then, I guess. Hojo's machines were still and silent and his computer shut down; the box that held used syringes was full and there were a few spots of blood near the desk. Elena wondered if that was her blood staining the carpet, or Hojo's; it was probably hers, since she hadn't had a chance to hit Hojo herself. Maybe he'd gotten sloppy with his needles.
Elena sighed. She glared at the unlabeled machines and wished she had some idea what they were and why Hojo had hooked her up to them. Maybe those last reports would tell her what he'd done to her for his experiment. We know where Avalanche is?
Reeve will. Why?
She shook her head and half-heartedly punched the nearest machine; it made her fist hurt. They're likely to be after Hojo too - Strife's got reason, maybe Valentine if Tseng was right. Just a matter of whether they go after Sephiroth first.
Rude replied. Unless Hojo's doing something that doesn't leave them a choice. Shield's gone.
She turned to look at him, absently tugging her jacket straight.
He nodded. Cannon fired and killed Weapon, took out the shield. Avalanche has to know.
Reeve would have told them; his loyalty had been questionable since the Sector 7 collapse, and if Elena's had been any stronger she might have done something about it. There wasn't any reason to bother now. She wondered briefly whether Rude cared either; if he did, he'd probably have done something about it. She shook her head and leaned against Hojo's desk. So once we find Hojo ...
We kill him, Rude said flatly. He's not going to tell you anything.
They should have killed him as soon as Reeve broke into his computer and stole the data. At least that way she wouldn't have ended up half-naked and forgotten in the lab.
Rude walked over and put his hand on her shoulder. Elena. I - we will not let Hojo's experiment hurt you.
She turned to look at him over her shoulder; he tightened his grip before he let go and stepped back.
We will do what we have to.
The door slammed open and Reno stalked into the room; Reeve limped a few steps behind him. There was blood on the cuffs of his shirt where the manacles had rubbed his wrists raw and blood crusted from his nose to his jaw; the way he winced when he breathed was much more worrying. Elena did not move toward him, but Rude flicked a single inquiring glance at her anyway; she wondered what would happen when the other Turks found out.
Where's Avalanche? Rude demanded, as Reeve walked, somewhat unsteadily, around Hojo's desk.
Reeve coughed. On the way here, he said. After Hojo. He was - the reactors. What's happened to the reactors?
Reno frowned. Nothing s'far as I know.
Rude shook his head. Didn't hear anything. Why Hojo? Why not Sephiroth?
He took over the mainframe, bypassed all the safety mechanisms, he was pushing reactor output too high. It was right after Diamond Weapon. I don't know what he thinks he's doing. Reeve collapsed into Hojo's chair, booted up the computer and swore; Elena had only heard him swear once or twice before, and it sounded like he'd borrowed Highwind's vocabulary. He's trashed this machine. Can't find out what's going on from here. He yanked out Hojo's drawers in frustration, then slammed them shut again when there was nothing but the usual office supplies and single-packed sterile syringes in them.
Wait. You mean Hojo's taken over every reactor in the city? Elena demanded.
Reeve nodded, slumping back briefly in Hojo's chair. Every single one. He can't have diverted all the power yet, we're not on generator power.
Diverted the power to what? Rude demanded.
The Sister Ray, Reeve said. It has to be the cannon, nothing else can take that much power.
So Avalanche is coming after him? Reno drawled. We're supposed to go after them if they show up.
Reeve said urgently. There isn't enough of a company left to bother with.
Rude shrugged. We want Hojo for what he did to Elena.
Reeve said, distractedly sorting through the papers on top of Hojo's desk. But the cannon is the problem, he's got to be stopped before he fires it.
"So what happens when Hojo fires the cannon?" Reno demanded.
Reeve ran a hand through his disheveled hair and put his ponytail back in place; he frowned a bit, thinking, and finally said, "Exactly? I don't know. But the vibrations the first time shattered windows all over the plate, knocked down a few unsteady structures, cracked foundations - " He shook his head. "Hojo's running it out of control, it's going to be much, much worse this time. It could crack the connections to the support pillars, crack the pillars, maybe even crack the Plate itself at the joints."
"Crack the Plate?" Reno demanded. Supposed to survive a quake!
"The cannon's not an earthquake," Reeve said, shaking his head. "The vibrations would be coming from on the Plate itself, not the ground. It wasn't designed to survive that. If Hojo powers it high enough, the plate might fall apart and the entire city would be like Sector 7."
Reno was silent, eyes hooded; he knew, better than any of them, what that had cost. Elena started to speak, but Rude, for once, spoke first.
How long? he asked, frowning.
"Before he can fire it again? An hour, maybe. Avalanche is almost here, but they'll have to come in from underground to get through."
"We'll meet them there. Not to fight." The look Rude gave Reeve had intimidated some of the toughest people in the slums. But Hojo's Elena's to kill.
"I'll pass it on," Reeve said, his eyes relieved and grateful. "The maintenance tunnels, off the disused service rooms in Area 16. He found a blank sheet of paper and scribbled a quick map for them; Elena was amazed that he knew where everything was without his maps or his city model in front of him. I'll tell 'em where to meet you."
Reno, disgruntled, said, I still don't like
Elena shrugged. They don't like us either, she pointed out dryly. Strife's not gonna kill us; it'd make him late to get to Hojo.
Oh, that's reassuring, he grumbled. Strife didn't punch you; bastard hits as hard as you do!
Reeve pushed himself back to his feet. You could try not pissing him off, Reno. Elena quirked her eyebrow at him and he shrugged slightly, a tiny (slightly embarrassed, slightly rueful) smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.
Let's get it over with, Reno said, ignoring that comment, and stomped out of the lab.
Come on, Elena. Payback time, Rude said, following Reno out of the lab.
Elena paused at the door and looked back at Reeve. "Tell the Sisters I'll see them in Kalm."
"Right. Elena - I'll see you then?"
She nodded quickly, alarmed at the unexpected lump in her throat. Yeah. See you then. She turned and hurried out of the room, swallowing hard, half-angry and half-shocked at herself. Reno and Rude were waiting at the elevator, and she stretched her legs to catch up with them. The door slammed behind her as Reeve hurried off on some mission of his own. She told herself firmly he could handle most things that weren't Scarlet, smoothed her expression to correct Turk impassivity, and stopped next to Rude.
Took you long enough, Reno grumbled.
Let's move, she said, and forced her mind to the mission.
There was no need for speaking; Rude knew the way, and the monsters down here seemed content to snarl at them from the shadows. Elena wasn't sure how long it had been, probably less than twenty minutes, before they heard voices: Cait Sith, Strife, and an irate Wallace. They rounded a turn in the tunnel to find the Avalanche crew waiting for them; Strife was in front, sword drawn (Elena was irresistibly reminded of the office joke about Heidegger's inadequacies), with the others behind him, all with weapons drawn.
What do you want? Strife demanded. Vincent, on his left, watched them silently and warily, gun in a deceptively relaxed position; Wallace, on Strife's right, was scowling at Reno. The others were ranged behind them, waiting. Cid was grinding a cigarette under his heel and lighting another one. Tifa, tired-looking but with fists raised, glared at all of them in disgust. Nanaki - well, his tail was lashing, but Elena had no idea what that meant. Yuffie was bouncing impatiently, shuriken firmly in hand, and Cait was waving his megaphone wildly.
Elena shook her head. "We're not here to fight you." Cait made the moogle hop forward and nodded vigorously in agreement.
"Yet," Reno added, rapping his nightstick against the wall and glowering back at Wallace.
...You're going after Hojo, Rude put in, voice flat and even; Elena caught Tifa watching him, a hint of pain or bitterness in the twist of her mouth.
Yeah? What's it to you? Strife demanded.
"We have reasons of our own to take out Hojo," Elena said. "We're suggesting a ... temporary alliance."
Strife flicked a look at Cait Sith, who waved his megaphone at him. Told you. Nothin' t' worry about!
Vincent frowned, or Elena thought he did; it was hard to tell under those wrappings. "And after Hojo is finished?"
Reno shrugged. "Long as you don't make it personal, we won't worry about it."
Vincent nodded once. "I see." It was easy to believe that he had been a Turk once; despite his clothing, his cool, collected demeanor reminded her distinctly of Tseng.
What about Marlene? Wallace growled. And Miss Elmyra?
I told ya, they're fine! Cait Sith said, outraged.
Elena thought for a moment and decided to take a chance. They're fine. You get us out of here afterward, I'll take you straight to them. Reno shrugged, annoyed, but Rude nodded once in approval.
Yeah? Why should we trust you?
Shinra's gone. Don't need hostages. Rude considered, and added, Kid wants to go home.
Wallace frowned, then nodded slowly at Strife.
The blond sheathed his sword, and the others relaxed slightly; Vincent holstered his gun with an easy, smooth motion that made Elena think he could draw it again before they could blink. "Fine. Whichever one of you is after Hojo comes with me and Vincent."
Elena stepped forward; Strife eyed her warily, no doubt remembering the punch she'd given him, and Valentine stepped aside slightly to let her join them. Neither of them asked questions yet; Valentine was silent, and Strife looked over the rest of his crew, rearranging his plans.
Barret. Cid. Reno's with you.
Cid slammed the butt of his spear into the ground and glared at Reno, muttering something remarkably obscene. Wallace shrugged, and loudly socked a fresh clip into his gunarm. Elena shrugged slightly at Reno; she could hardly blame Strife for splitting them up, as much as she disliked it. Reno nodded and sauntered over to Cid and Wallace; Cid spat on the ground.
Yuffie. Nanaki. Rude's with you. Strife did not sound happy about that, and Elena wondered why. They'd thought the teenager was allowed back only because she was a good fighter; but then Strife had slugged Reno, and now he was pissed about putting Rude near her.
Nanaki flicked his tail and growled, All right, Cloud. Yuffie shrugged, unimpressed, and said, Yeah, fine, whatever.
Tifa, go with Cait, he said, surprising her. Whenever she got a chance, she was going to have a very long discussion with Reeve. Let's mosey.
Cid said something that sounded suspiciously like goddamnit, he said mosey!', and Avalanche moved out. Wallace, Cid and Reno went back, toward the secondary power stations and the first security substation. Yuffie, Nanaki and Rude left at the next intersection, heading for the second security substation, and Tifa and Cait left at the third, heading for Shinra headquarters.
Valentine was silent, except for the whisper of his cloak and the occasional click of his boots; Strife stomped along, raising echoes off the metal walls. Water dripped from broken pipes, and steam hissed from somewhere. Elena told herself firmly that this wasn't a horror movie, she was armed, and Strife and Valentine would make good decoys.
What's down here besides mold, dust and rats? Strife asked after a while.
Elena thought for a moment and shrugged. Robot security; I have clearance to shut them down. Some of the smaller creatures from the abandoned areas get in here - She heard scales sliding along the metal floor ahead; Valentine's gun was in his hand already, and Strife drew his sword.
What is it? Valentine asked.
She shook her head; nothing that she knew to expect down here made that sort of noise. Maybe Hojo let something loose down here.
The thing slithered into view; Elena was sure it had been a snake before Hojo got hold of it. Now it looked like a child's toy with a mouthful of vicious fangs; they guarded the upper levels in Headquarters, and there was at least one injury a month restraining the things when they escaped the upper levels. Hojo had told both Presidents none had ever escaped the building, but he must have been lying through his teeth.
Strife hacked it in two with one blow.
What the hell was that doing here? he demanded.
Elena shrugged. Must have escaped. She paused, and decided she might as well tell them the last details. "Scarlet and Heidegger are coming after you.
Why the hell didn't you tell us that earlier? he demanded, sword still raised.
Elena shrugged and did not quite reach for her gun. Waiting to see if you were going to shoot me in the back.
Valentine nodded once, and Strife backed off, sheathing the sword. Very well. Where are they? the older man asked.
She shook her head. Not sure. They were going to use Scarlet's new weapon - some idiot giant robot. My guess is they'll be up ahead somewhere, expecting you guys to come in after Hojo.
Strife sighed. Whatever. You're awfully cool about it.
Beating up on them is going to be the best thing that happened today, she replied, holstering her gun as they started moving again.
He eyed her and then shrugged. Guess so. You're a lot better company without the ditz act.
She decided to take that as a backhanded compliment. "Huh. Did that badly at it, did I?"
"Turks," Valentine said, offended, "do not hire fools."
Strife rolled his eyes and Valentine crossed his arms over his chest. "Well, aside from that, Strife went on, Yuffie overheard you guys talking outside the Mines, and the bartender at Turtle Paradise heard you all talking."
"And Reno thinks she's just as much a ditz as you were supposed to think I was.
Strife grinned. "Nah. She's a brat and I wouldn't let her loose in a materia shop, but she's no ditz.
Vincent sighed. A measure of restraint would be a good thing.
You should have known she'd take that as a challenge, Vincent. Anyway, she gave them back, Strife replied as they rounded another turn to see the ladder. Finally. Damn, I'm sick of these tunnels.
Something heavy clanked overhead. I think they're waiting for us, Elena said.
What about the robot?
They were trying to build electrical shielding into it, but I never found out how well it worked, she replied.
Lightning spells will not be useful? Valentine asked, frowning slightly.
That's the idea, she said. Heidegger complained about the heat-tolerance. It's top-heavy too.
Cloud nodded. Can we just get Scarlet and Heidegger out of the way and not worry about it?
She shrugged. If they come out of that thing, we can shoot at em, but they're both usually in bullet-proof vests.
Valentine said calmly, necessarily a problem.
Strife blinked. How's Scarlet get a vest under that dress?
It's in the dress, Elena said. Custom-made, same place that does Turk formals. Look, we can talk about that later, let's get on with it.
Right. Let's go, Strife said, and climbed up the ladder; Valentine indicated Elena should go next. She climbed up, relieved to finally be out of the wretched tunnels, and acutely aware of Valentine immediately below her. The air was thick and wet, the sky already dark; Midgar had apparently decided this was the perfect day for one of its infamous rainstorms. Well, maybe the damn robot would fall over on the slick pavement.
It refused to fall over, and they had to jump to avoid being stepped on. It couldn't bend enough to swat at them, apparently. Instead, it raised one arm up to chest level, turned the palm up, and paused.
You fool! Heidegger bellowed, shoving open the cockpit and stepping out onto the robot's palm. You were supposed to kill them, not capture them! Well, kill them now!
Scarlet stayed behind him, not quite leaving the cockpit; she peered around him and saw Elena. Heidegger, you idiot, you've got it wrong as usual.
Commander Heidegger, Elena said, raising her gun. I quit.
Heidegger shrieked when her first shot tore through his groin; blood and urine darkened the front of his trousers, and he shrieked again when her second shot tore through what was left. Vincent's shot grazed his shoulder as he fell to his knees, and Elena aimed at Scarlet. Scarlet, smarter than Heidegger to the last, kicked him out of the way and dove for the cockpit; Elena's shot barely grazed her, but Valentine's second and third caught her in the shoulder and arm. The cockpit door closed and the robot's arm rotated down to its side. Elena felt herself grinning like a madwoman as Heidegger's body tumbled to the ground with a wet, heavy thunk.
Strife hadn't quite crossed his legs, but he looked like he was thinking about it. Oh, man, that had to hurt, he muttered, looking at her queasily. You didn't have to do that.
You never had to deal with Heidegger, Elena replied, smug. She had been the best sharpshooter in her unit and accepted directly into the Turks because of it. Heidegger had tried to have her transferred to his personal guard unit; Tseng had squelched it that idea immediately. Heidegger had promptly assumed she'd gotten her job the way Scarlet had.
The robot began to move, and they had to dodge quickly to avoid being stomped; Elena managed to fire off a couple rounds as she ran, but the bullets only scratched it. Valentine had no better luck. Strife managed to dent it a few times, but nothing better. The robot turned ponderously and dropped to one knee, and then the other.
She's going to fire! Elena dodged behind a row of boxes with Strife and Valentine right behind her. Fortunately, he robot had lousy aim; they were pelted with chips of brick the bullets knocked from the surrounding walls and ground. Elena peered cautiously over the top of the boxes and dropped back down almost at once. There was a gap between the armor over the knee joint and the leg, and she could just make out cabling inside. Strife. How fast are you? At least Hojo's Mako treatments were good for something; she'd always had good eyes, but that had been beyond her best.
There's a gap in the armor at the knee. Cables are too thick for guns, but your sword ...
Strife looked up and nodded.
Valentine nodded. Go. I will draw fire. Strife ran forward, zig-zagging under the robot's view. Valentine ran left, firing at the cockpit housing; Elena hesitated a moment, shrugged, and ran right. The robot had not been designed to handle targets moving both under it and on both sides; it couldn't shoot down without hitting itself, and it could shoot in only one direction at time. Their bullets weren't doing more than scratching the metal, but the robot was firing wildly, knocking holes in wood and chipping brick. Elena stopped firing long enough to wipe blood from her eyes when a chip of brick cut her forehead.
There was a shower of sparks and then a rain of thick, foul-smelling fluid; Strife jumped to the robot's other leg.
Valentine shouted, seeing the cockpit crack open. Strife jumped for the ground just as Scarlet shot; Elena and Valentine opened fire, but the cockpit slammed shut again. If they'd hit anything (Elena was doubtful she had, and Valentine shook his head), there was no way to tell. The robot still couldn't stand, but it could swing its arms; Elena dive-rolled out of the way. Strife's less practiced roll dropped him hard on her legs.
He scrambled quickly to his feet and unthinkingly hauled her back to hers.
Now what? Strife demanded.
Valentine eyed the robot. If lightning will not work, ice and fire might.
Strife nodded. Fine by me.
Elena focused her spells on the damaged joint until it was a solid mass of ice, the metal creaking and groaning as the joint was forced out of alignment. Strife's fire spell vaporized the ice instantly, causing the over-stressed metal to screech and shatter, the joint breaking completely. Sparks danced over the joint and the nearby metal.
I think, Valentine said deliberately, that the shielding has been damaged. The first lightning spell caused the robot to jerk violently. The second caused it to tremble, and the third sent it into St. Vitus' dance, thrashing wildly enough to knock holes in buildings and forcing them to take cover under scaffolding. There was a series of small explosions from the cockpit area, and the robot collapsed.
Think she's still alive? Strife asked, warily.
Elena shook her head. Doubt it, not after those explosions. We're running low on time.
Vincent nodded, and Strife went on ahead, but he looked back over his shoulder briefly before the robot was out of sight.
She and Valentine followed him to the base of the stairs, where the rest of Avalanche and the Turks were waiting. Reno, Wallace and Cid all looked the worse for wear; Reno had a black eye and a bloodstained, torn jacket, Wallace had a possibly broken nose and a lot of burn marks (suspiciously familiar, like an electrified nightstick's), and Cid had a bloody nose and an insufferably smug look. Rude looked slightly weary and frazzled, but was uninjured; he looked at her carefully and a smile flickered across his face. Yuffie was sitting against a wall, Nanaki stretched out next to her; Tifa, looking exhausted, was sitting at the bottom of the stairs with Cait Sith.
Reno refused to meet her eyes or Rude's; Rude shrugged at her and shook his head. Strife looked over his crew and decided not to ask. Valentine sighed minutely and said nothing.
I'm going up with Vincent and Elena. There anything coming after us?
Tifa shook her head. We closed up everything on our end, she said. Cait nodded and bounded up out of the way, landing next to Reno.
Yeah, we got everything, Yuffie added, absently running her hand through Nanaki's mane. He didn't seem to mind, his one good eye drooping shut.
We will make sure nothing comes up this way, Cloud, he said, tail flicking lazily back and forth.
Right. Let's go. Tifa pushed herself slowly to her feet and moved out of the way. Cloud paused on the way and almost said something; she shook her head at him, and he went on up the stairs.
Hojo was standing at the mainframe with his back to them, working the controls frantically. He was muttering under his breath in a mixture of languages, his movements frantic and almost out of control. He ignored them as they came up behind them, feet clattering on the metal catwalk.
"Stop right there, Hojo." Strife said.
Hojo did not turn around. "Oh, it's you. The failure." Elena frowned at the hysteria in his voice; he wasn't working the controls, she saw, he was pounding on them in frustration. She drew her revolver and cocked it; Vincent, on the other side of Strife, did the same.
"I have a name! It's Cloud!" The blonde shook his head in disgust.
Hojo stopped and turned around. His skin had a decided greenish tint and his pupils had enlarged to the point he didn't have irises anymore; the grin on his face was enough to make Elena's stomach churn. "Whenever I look at you, I am reminded of my lack of scientific sense! I thought you were a failure, and you were the only one who succeeded as a Sephiroth clone."
He saw Elena then, the grin twisting into an equally repulsive leer. "It's too bad you could never quite replace Lucrecia." He licked his lips and laughed, the sound spiralling up into hysteria. "Hee hee hee ... Lucrecia would be so appalled to find out what I've done with her research ... hee hee hee ..."
"Lucrecia? What have you done, Hojo?" Vincent demanded.
Elena looked from Hojo to Vincent and back again. Who's Lucrecia?
Hojo laughed again, turning to face Vincent and smiling like a very hungry snake. "Hee hee hee ... you would want to know, wouldn't you Vincent? But I don't have time for you anymore. Your experiment is done." He spun around to face the mainframe and glared at the digital readouts. "It's not high enough yet! This is taking too long!" He pounded the mainframe angrily.
"Stop this right now and get away from there," Strife snapped.
"This? Oh, this!" Hojo said, turning back to Strife and laughing again. "Sephiroth wants Mako. So I'm going to give it to him."
"Why, Hojo?" Strife demanded.
"Stop asking why all the time, you idiot! Hojo shrieked, then calmed down, speaking quite normally. Actually, you might have the makings of a scientist. As for this - my son needs me. That's all.
"Your son?!" Elena gasped. Strife froze in place, his sword tilting down to rest point-first on the platform; he started to say something, stopped, and shook his head.
Vincent stepped back, red eyes stunned. "Sephiroth is your son?"
"Hahahah ... so much you didn't know. He doesn't know it." Hojo's cackle was bitter and bubbly. Always looking down on me ... what would he do if he knew? hee hee hahahhahah!" He studied the mainframe again as he stopped laughing. "83%. Not enough yet. I gave the woman with my child to Professor Gast's Jenova Project. You remember that, don't you Vincent?"
"...I was wrong," Vincent said, just audible over the growing wind. His voice rose. "You bastard, Hojo. I should never have punished myself for the Jenova project." The claw flexed in anger. "It was you!"
"Hee hee hee ... Professor Gast had no idea how far I pushed his theories until it was too late to stop me!"
Elena decided someone had to take action, or Hojo would fire the cannon before they stopped talking. She raised her gun and aimed. Professor Hojo.
I allowed you to be part of my greatest experiment, he said petulantly. What more do you want?
Go to hell. She pulled the trigger twice, a quick double-tap to his head and heart; Hojo collapsed to his knees, still laughing. Hojo staggered back to his feet, and Elena could only stare at him in disbelief; if he had had a gun he could probably have shot her right then.
"Hee hee hee ... I injected myself with Jenova! Here are ... hahhahah ... my results!"
The ragged hole her bullet had made was still visible in Hojo's forehead, just above the bridge of his nose; blood mixed with something thick and hideously green pulsed out of the wound, ran down his nose and dripped off his face. Blood and the same green stuff spewed out of the equally small hole in his chest, soaking his shirt and his lab coat. Two squat, repulsive creatures oozed out from behind the mainframe and snapped their jaws hungrily.
"What the hell are those?" Strife demanded.
Elena shook her head, clearing it of the shock, and took aim. "His latest creations," she said in disgust. "Nasty."
Valentine nodded and shot the one on the left; it mewled like a wounded cat and spit at him. "Less dangerous than Hojo."
Elena couldn't argue with that, so she shot Hojo again, dodging a surprisingly strong, if clumsy, attack. Strife dove in and hit with a blow that should have killed the scientist; Hojo only laughed again and knocked him to the ground. Valentine, with quiet, deadly aim, repeated the double-tap she'd done earlier, with as little effect. Elena shot him again, puzzled as Hojo's body seemed to shrink, and yelped as another blow connected and drove her briefly to her knees. Hojo laughed and tried to strike Valentine; he blocked it with his claw, and sick green pus poured from Hojo's arm.
"Hahahaha ..." His voice was bubbling, echoing weirdly, and his lab coat was soaked with blood and that vile green pus. "Now let's see ... how the Mako is reacting!"
Strife struck as she and Vincent fell back, and stumbled, astonished that he'd missed; Hojo was shrinking rapidly. She fired twice and missed both times; Valentine hit with one shot and missed with the next. Hojo wasn't shrinking, she realized, he was melting. His head fell at an impossible angle as his body twisted and warped itself into something barely recognizable as ever having been human. His hands grew out of all proportion to his over-long arms, and he looked like nothing so much as a picture she'd seen in an art gallery once, a surrealist horror painting by an artist she couldn't remember. The catwalk creaked and swayed.
"What the hell ...?" Strife demanded. He wiped blood from his face and raised his sword.
"Jenova. And Mako." Valentine shook his head. "A bad combination."
Elena kicked one of Hojo's pets to edge of the catwalk; it screeched and tumbled over, clinging to the edge with long fingers. She walked over and stomped on its hands, and it let go with a shriek. Hojo struck out at Valentine, a bizarre, clumsy blow that the former Turk easily dodged, and Strife struck at one of the arms. Elena, entirely unsure if Hojo's heart still existed, shot him repeatedly in the head as he tried to hit Strife. Valentine reloaded and began shooting as Hojo slammed Elena to the slick cold surface of the catwalk, pinning her down; the arm was heavier than she thought Hojo himself had been, stank worse than a garbage dump, and was covered with a thin layer of tacky, greenish slime. Her head rang, but she held still as Strife swung his sword down in a brutal blow just a few inches from her; Hojo screeched and she managed to kick his arm loose and shove herself to her knees. Strife hauled her to her feet as Valentine unloaded the rest of his clip into Hojo's head.
Hojo crumpled unexpectedly into a still, rancid heap in front of the mainframe. Elena kicked an empty clip over the side and loaded a fresh clip, eyeing the motionless pile of flesh warily. Strife prodded Hojo with his sword; Hojo twitched.
"Time to end this," Strife said, raising his sword for the final blow.
Elena and Valentine took aim, and Hojo twitched again, then flipped himself over and a few feet away, still twitching. Strife struck just before they started shooting, but Hojo flipped himself over again and all three of them missed. Hojo began to twitch violently, bouncing around like popcorn in a skillet, and they stepped back. The scientist's body began to melt again, spreading out into a formless blob; it pulsed sickeningly for a few moments, then suddenly pulled itself together, into a pulsing green blob about the size of a half-grown chocobo.
Elena wished she'd shot Hojo a long time ago, and saved herself this much aggravation. The blob twitched and stretched; she blinked, wondering if she was seeing things. It twitched and stretched again; Strife stepped back a pace, and she realized she was not seeing things. The blob stretched and twisted again, turning back into something vaguely human, vaguely reminiscent of Hojo, but with a long tail, smooth featureless arms and sightless eyes behind a mockery of glasses.
Valentine ran out of bullets a few minutes before she did, and the air was suddenly hot, the moisture in the air turning to scalding steam. Valentine's body flashed and shimmered, and behind him rose the great dragon Bahamut; one beat of his wings half-deafened Elena, and his roar when he spewed fire down on Hojo finished it. Hojo shuddered and screamed, a high-pitched sound like over-stressed shearing metal, convulsing under the blow, flesh bubbling and melting, running off his inhuman skeleton to slime the catwalk further and splatter over the mainframe. Bahamut roared again and was gone, but the air was still full of steam.
Hojo shrieked again and Elena coughed and hacked, gasping through the steam. Neither she nor Cloud moved fast enough to block Hojo's desperate attack; he tore a gaping hole in Valentine's side and slammed him into the catwalk hard enough to dent the metal. Cloud grabbed her arm when she started to move toward Valentine.
Valentine screamed, the sound not altogether human, and began to glow as if he was casting another summons. And then he disappeared altogether, and what stood there in his place was something out of the hellfire stories the oldest nuns had told back at the orphanage, a giant bat-winged demon with teeth and claws. Strife shook his head and let go of her arm.
"He won't attack allies," Strife said. "Dunno if he's remembers you're an ally. Let's finish this."
Elena raised her hands and began hurling spells at the thing that had once been Hojo. Strife, apparently unfazed by the demon that had taken Valentine's place, attacked in between her spells, pausing to call up some sort of barrier spell. The demon's attacks were terrifying, unpredictable, and as utterly unlike Valentine's cool, composed style as she could imagine; the demon ripped and tore flesh in attacks that seemed calculated to cause pain, not just injury.
The thing that had been Hojo collapsed after the demon's final assault. Hojo twitched and shook, convulsed violently, and his flesh began melting, thick rancid globs falling off to splatter through the catwalk. Thunder growled overhead and it began to rain. Hojo dissolved into thick grease that plopped through the catwalk. The demon howled, body glowing, and then Valentine was back, exhausted but uninjured.
"Goodbye, Hojo," he said, rising gracefully to his feet.
What did he mean about his greatest experiment? Strife demanded.
Elena shook her head, hesitated, and decided that Avalanche was probably her best remaining chance at finding out what Hojo had done. I don't know. He did something to me, exposed me to Mako. We didn't get a chance to figure out what. She refused to nervously touch the papers and disc in her pocket, only now wondering whether the disc had broken in the fight. Reeve had a copy. Who's Lucrecia?
Sephiroth's mother, Vincent said quietly. The thunder growled again, closer this time.
Elena stared at him. Sephiroth's mother? If she'd thought about it, she would have been less surprised, but hearing Hojo claim Sephiroth as his son had been rather shocking.
Valentine said, the stairs rattling as the others ran up them.
Cait Sith bounded up in the lead, followed shortly by Cid, Yuffie and Nanaki; an exhausted Tifa, followed closely by Wallace, came up just before the other Turks.
Jeez, this is gross, Yuffie grumbled. Lightning flashed, followed by a sharp crack of thunder, and the rain became heavy and soaking.
Nanaki growled. It's not sticking in your fur, he said, disgruntled. And my nose is considerably closer to it than yours. He shook himself, water spraying everywhere, only to get immediately soaked again.
Cid grumbled something at both of them, and Tifa intervened before they could start arguing. Elena, with a little time to look, realized that Avalanche was exhausted; Tifa looked worse than any of them, but Nanaki's movements reminded her of a sleepy cat, and Wallace's eyes were shadowed. Strife and Valentine seemed the least affected of them all.
Cait, after a lot of grumbling about Vincent summoning Bahamut, had Yuffie throw her shuriken and cut the network cable. That's it! Dad's gonna fix everything from where he is.
We waiting for him? Strife demanded.
Cait shook his head, then hurriedly straightened his wobbling crown. Nah. He's gonna send me along instead.
Wallace nodded, glowering at Elena and Reno impartially, then turning to Rude. Where's Marlene? he growled suspiciously.
Rude replied, unruffled. The old guardhouse in the wall.
Wallace frowned sharply. That place?
Cait bounded between them. Come on, come on, let's go! He shook himself. I'm gonna short out in this!
The Highwind swung dangerously low and threw a ladder over the side; most of them scrambled up the ladder with the ease of long practice. Wallace and Valentine waited for the Turks to go up before climbing aboard themselves. Nanaki, growling, was hoisted up in a makeshift sling; Elena had been wondering how he managed ladders. Apparently he didn't. Elena leaned against the cabin, on the side out of the rain; Reno and Rude stood nearby. Nanaki shook off again, much to Cid's aggravation; the pilot stomped below, glaring at everybody impartially and yelling at his crew. Yuffie leaned on the rail as the ship took off; Wallace stomped on below, glaring at Reno.
Elena figured Reno was too busy hoping Tifa's shirt became transparent when wet to notice.
Cait bumped his head against her hand before he went below, almost knocking his crown off; he adjusted it and bounded down the stairs. She tucked her hand into her other pocket, fingers curling around her rosary; Reeve was going to make it to Kalm, somehow. Yuffie dodged past Valentine and ran down the stairs; Strife grinned at the look on Valentine's face and stomped down himself.
Valentine paused briefly at the top of the stairs. Elena. Did Hojo ever speak of Lucrecia?
Not before that, she replied, startled. You knew her?
It was ... a long time ago, he said quietly. Lucrecia, Professor Gast ... and Hojo.
You are the Turk who went missing in Nibelheim, she said, pieces falling into place. Tseng wasn't sure.
He nodded, black hair sliding around his face. Once. No more. He spun around in a whirl of black and scarlet and disappeared down the stairs.
What the hell's that supposed to mean? Reno demanded.
He's not a Turk, Tifa said. She was shivering in the rain, her shirt plastered to her body. To Reno's disappointment, she was wearing a bra. Doesn't want it back, either.
Yeah, I guess you'd know, Reno said, staring at Tifa's chest anyway. Since -
Rude clamped his hand firmly on Reno's shoulder. "Enough." Reno glowered at Rude and slouched at the top of the stairs in relative shelter.
I'm going to see if Valentine will tell me something useful, Elena said.
Tifa frowned; Nanaki stretched, a long movement that suggested he either had fewer bones that it looked like he did, or a lot more joints. the cat-wolf said deliberately, is perfectly capable of defending himself.
The woman shrugged, the look she directed at Elena distinctly hostile. We only let them on to get Marlene and Elmyra back, Nanaki.
Well, I suppose, he replied. But Yuffie will be able to keep -
Anger flickered over Tifa's face. Yuffie is probably too busy being sick to notice anything, she snapped. And -
Nanaki growled, and Elena decided that she might as well go below while they were both distracted. Reno tried to smack her on the butt when she walked past him; she punched him in the stomach and went on down the stairs. This was only the second time she'd been on the airship, but it was a massive improvement over helicopters and small planes; she was barely even queasy. Yuffie was sitting folded up in a corner, hands clamped over her mouth, looking wretchedly ill; Strife came stomping out from the cockpit (Strife just seemed to like making noise), and dropped down next to her.
"Here," he said, tossing her something.
"Oh, gawd!" Whatever it was, Yuffie took it and drank it down with the water he offered her. "Thanks, Cloud."
"Just pull it together, Yuffie, we're gonna need you at the crater," Strife said, pushing himself back to his feet. "And you don't get all the materia."
"C'mon, you're not gonna need it," the ninja said, starting to look healthier. Strife pulled her to her feet. "I mean, you don't even want those Manipulate materia ... "
"Yeah, and letting you at them gives me nightmares," Strife said dryly. He turned and stomped back up to the cockpit; Elena caught the look Yuffie shot at his back as she chased after him.
"Jeez, Cloud, wait up!"
Elena almost laughed; at least one of these people made sense. She wondered if that had been what Tifa had been so angry about; maybe she could ask Reeve, when he got out of Midgar.
She found the bunkroom, which stank of smoke and sweat, gunmetal and gun oil, and a heavy animal scent that was probably Nanaki. It was surprisingly neat; she'd expected Avalanche, as disorganized as they were, to be slobs, but the beds were more or less made, the ashtray was only half-full, and if Nanaki shed, someone had swept most of it up. Valentine was sitting cross-legged on his bunk, cleaning a particularly nasty-looking revolver of a type Elena didn't know; his cloak was folded up on his pillow with bullets piled on it, and his hair was loosely pulled back from his face.
What do you want, Elena? he said, not looking up. A shotgun and another revolver lay on top of the chest at the foot of his bunk.
About the only thing I ever got out of Hojo directly was that the last one he tried this on didn't take her treatments and died, she said. What happened to Lucrecia?
She ... died in labor, he said shortly. What treatments was Hojo referring to?
I don't know, she admitted. He dosed me with plenty of Mako, but other than that...
He did look up at that, bright red eyes unreadable. Did he give you Jenova treatments?
Not that I know of, she said. After Sephiroth took off with Jenova, there wouldn't have been much - I didn't think he had enough left to shoot himself up with.
I do not know what Hojo did. He looked away. His claw, finely jointed as a human hand, didn't slow him at all as he reassembled and reloaded his gun. If he used you as he did Lucrecia, you are in considerable danger.
What do you mean? She thought she could guess.
Valentine's voice was flat. Hojo injected Lucrecia with Mako, Jenova, and an assortment of drugs. He did the same to Sephiroth. If I had not convinced Lucrecia to stop taking her treatments, she might have survived childbirth if Hojo permitted it.
Elena nodded slowly. All right, Valentine.
He spoke when she turned to leave. Elena. What do you know of Hojo?
Enough to wish somebody'd shot him a long time ago, she said, turning back to face him. He did not look up from his gun.
He did not sound surprised. Not an unusual opinion. Did Hojo speak of Aeris?
No. He didn't talk to me at all, if he could help it. She shook her head. He never much liked the Turks.
he said, may be my fault. Hojo ... held grudges.
She almost asked, and then changed her mind. She considered. We find anything out about Aeris, we'll pass it on.
He did look up at that. With the corollary that dead men cannot tell the living anything? he asked, sounding very slightly amused.
I like being among the living.
I hope, he said deliberately, you can remain there.
Elena left. Tifa passed her on the way down the stairs, and the bunkroom door slammed as she reached the top of the stairs. Reno was leaning against the wall, a cigarette dangling from one hand; Rude was sitting on the second step.
You look like hell, Reno said, sneaking an arm around her waist. C'mere, I can make you feel better.
She dug her elbow into his side. Do you ever give up?
He winced but refused to let go. Turks aren't supposed to give up, remember? C'mon, loosen up, he said, resting his chin on her head.
She jabbed him with her elbow again, knocked both of them off balance when the ship lurched, and ended up sitting on his lap. You could've just asked, you know, Reno smirked. You can sit on my lap any time.
Elena smacked him, got up, sat down next to Rude, and promptly dozed off. She woke up for good fifteen minutes outside of Kalm; Rude handed her the keys to the gatehouse and said Strife had declared that only she was going with them.
Can't blame him, I guess, Elena said with a sigh, dropping the keys in her pocket. Must have been really out of it not to hear him.
Rude nodded. They're up on deck.
Elena tried to smooth out her rumpled suit, sighed, and went up on deck. At least Strife and Wallace didn't look much better. The rest of Avalanche was still below-decks.
Refugee camps had been set up all around the town, though there was a clear space large enough for the Highwind outside the city gates. Even there, the sound and smell of that many people was nearly overwhelming. Kalm itself wasn't much better; the normally sleepy town was clearly overwhelmed by the refugees, and the natives were clustered in groups grumbling among themselves.
Look at them kids, Wallace said, shaking his head. Think nothing was wrong with the world.
Elena looked over at the dozen or so kids playing some sort of noisy, active game in front of the church and grinned. Those are slum kids. They're used to the world being messed up.
Which way? Wallace said gruffly, looking away from the kids.
Elena pointed to the guardhouse. Over there. Come on. She fished the key from her pocket as they walked over to a small house backed onto the wall. There was a Soldier Third Class leaning back in his chair in the tiny front room, legs kicked up on a rickety table and a mug of beer in hand; he slammed the beer hastily on the table, nearly spilling it, as he swung his feet to the floor and stood up. He shoved slightly disheveled blond hair out of his face and snapped to attention.
Miss Elena! He saw Strife and Wallace and his eyes widened. What's going on? he demanded, reaching for his sword. Strife reached for his sword and Wallace raised his gunarm.
Elena cursed herself for forgetting the Soldiers left on duty against rescue attempts by Avalanche. At ease, Soldier! she snapped, racking her brains for an explanation. Well, maybe a little bit of the truth would work here. The situation's changed. Strife and Wallace backed down a bit, still wary; she could feel Wallace's hostility.
he said, looking at them warily.
Soldier - Thomas Kirtland, right?
Yes, ma'am! he said, standing a bit straighter. Tseng had told her once that remembering names made people think better about you; she'd made a point of finding out who was assigned to guard the hostages. And then, she thought ruefully, she'd promptly forgotten about them.
Kirtland, the President is dead, along with all the other executives except the Secretary of Urban Development. she said flatly. He's decided to release the hostages. What's their condition?
Kirtland's blue eyes widened with shock. Yes, ma'am, he said automatically, getting out of the way. Condition unchanged since your last visit. They're still pretty upset about the lady's daughter, though. Little girl's prob'ly napping, she usually does round this time, and the lady's prob'ly having some coffee.
Thank you, Kirtland. You're relieved; I suggest you find your partner and inform him of the situation.
Kirtland looked at Strife and Wallace, thought about arguing, and decided not to. Yes, ma'am. He picked up his beer and walked out past them, but left the door open behind him. Elena shook her head, walked back into the kitchen, and unlocked the door into the old guardhouse. She turned on the lights on the narrow, steep stairs and went up; Wallace was frowning dangerously. The door at the top tended to jam, and she had to shove it to get it open once she'd unlocked it; it wasn't nearly as difficult as usual.
Miss Elmyra was sitting at the table, a cup of coffee and a blueberry muffin in front of her. She looked up, alarmed, then blinked in disbelief. Cloud? Barret?
Sorry we took so long, Barret said. There was a thump, running footsteps, and Marlene ran into the room.
Daddy? Daddy! she yelled, and flung herself at Barret.
Marlene!' He picked her up and swung her around, then cradled her awkwardly with his gunarm when she burst into tears. He sat down at the table and stroked her hair gently with his one hand.
You're free to go, Elena said to Miss Elmyra, and walked back down the stairs; Strife stomped down to be sure she didn't lock the doors behind her. He almost said something, then shrugged and watched as she left.
Kirtland and his partner were waiting, wanting orders; without any better ideas, she told them to find any other military personnel they could and go organize the refugee camps. A young nun called the children in for dinner, and the square became a lot quieter. She sighed, wishing for some dinner herself, and leaned up against the water-tower in the center of the square. She should probably see if there was any room left at the inn, or they'd have to take over the gatehouse.
They might have to take the gatehouse over anyway; Kalm was stuffed to the gills with people. Refugees had found relatives, the camps were overflowing, and people were probably renting closets for apartment prices, not that there was anything unusual about that. It was common practice on the Plate. Junon might have been a better bet, but it wasn't likely to be much better. Strife walked out of the gatehouse and came over a few minutes later.
Told Cid to let the other two loose, he said. Should be here any time.
She nodded. Fine. So what happens now?
He shrugged. We go after Sephiroth. You're not our problem right now.
Suit yourself, she replied. We'll be around.
He shrugged and walked off when Miss Elmyra and Wallace, with Marlene on his shoulder, came out of the gatehouse. They hurried off to the church just as Reno and Rude arrived.
Turk suits and Turk intimidation got the last room, a tiny cramped spot in the attic. Reno insisted on visiting the Kalm bar; it was crowded, smoky, and loud, just the way Reno liked it. Rude bought Kalm's speciality - spicy sausages with potatoes and onions, Elena bought the beer, and Reno got into a brawl. Elena told him firmly he'd be paying his own dry cleaning bill and went back to the inn after her third beer.
Even Reno's off-key drunken singing didn't wake her up.