"Internal Conflict: The Voices in Cloud's Head"
by: Sonja the Saiya-jin
(Yeah, I don't own Final Fantasy VII, wish I did, but I don't. This is just a fanfiction. I like tacos. Not the soft-shelled kind though, just the crunchy kind. I'll eat the softshells if I have to, but I prefer crunchy. And no lettuce! Um yeah, enjoy the story. ^_^)
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One day, Cloud decided he just HAD to sort things out within himself. So at precisely 4:32:46:05:64 pm, Midgar Standard Time, he lay down and closed his eyes to enter his own head.
He had called a meeting.
Neutral Avatar Cloud walked into a spacious room with a large table at its center, where a multitude of people sat waiting.
Wow, he thought, I didn't know I had THAT many voices.
Of course, they all heard him and came to order. Neutral Avatar Cloud got out a clipboard and pen. "Well... I guess it's time to start," he said without much certainty despite the time being correct. "So, umm... I'll take attendance now. Young Cloud?"
A slightly smaller, thinner version of himself, who had been sitting with his head down in his folded arms, blushed and quietly said, "..I'm h-here, sir."
"Ok. Get-Into-Fights Cloud?"
A still-young-but-slightly-older version stood up quickly, bursting, "Yeah, I'm here! What's it to you?!"
"Ack! Sorry sorry, just taking attendance, jeez. Ok... Post-Traumatic Research Specimen Cloud?"
Neutral Avatar Cloud looked around the table when he got no answer. Then, he spotted a Cloud sitting half-curled in the corner, head nodding and falling listlessly, drool running down his chin. "Uhhgh... Ahhh..." he whined, then started crying.
"Someone give him a hug when I'm done taking roll," the Avatar requested. "Hurrying up here... Zack?"
The black-haired man was leaning back in his chair, his feet up on the table, arms folded behind his head. "Yup, I'm here," he casually answered.
"I thought so. ....Sephiroth?"
The one in dark nodded. "Of course. I'm always here."
"Yeah... ugh... Jenova?"
The blue, red, and black tentacled winged woman laughed evilly. "Ever within you my puppet, my son."
Sephiroth turned to her, pouting. "I want to be your only son!" he whined.
Jenova reassured him, "You're my favorite anyway." Sephiroth beamed and was content.
The attendance call had one more name left. "Fluff the Chocobo?"
"Wark!"
O_O "......I have a Chocobo in my head?"
"Heh," Zack chuckled, tossing a yellow pear up and catching it, "Wonder how that happened."
The big yellow bird cocked its head, watching the fruit. As Zack raised it to his mouth to take a bite, the Chocobo flew over the table and snatched it in its beak.
"HEY!" Zack yelled, as the bird scuttled off with the fruit. He took chase. "COME BACK HERE WITH THAT, YA YELLOW FEATHER DUSTER!"
"Don't hurt it, Zack!" plead Young Cloud, also running after them.
Get-Into-Fights Cloud shouted, "Hey idiots! Sit down! We gotta get this meeting over with!"
Young Cloud immediately returned to his seat, head lowered. "I'm sorry..."
Meanwhile Zack was wrestling with the bird, using less than pristine language, getting scratched up amidst much squawking, feathers flying everywhere. The Avatar tried feebly to persuade them to stop.
Suddenly, Sephiroth leaped gracefully through the air, did a flip in slow-motion to show off his bishouneness, and landed with his sword striking the floor precisely between the two combatants without touching either one, and cutting the pear into two perfect pieces.
They froze, staring at him with mouth and beak wide open in awe.
"Stop this foolishness," he calmly stated, "We have a meeting to attend." He sheathed his sword, and walked all creepy-cool back to his seat. The other two gingerly followed, each holding half a pear.
"Alright," said Neutral Avatar Cloud, "I've called this meeting because... well frankly, having this many people in my head just doesn't work. We'll have to find some way to fix stuff."
"...Sleep..." murmured the Post-Traumatic Research Specimen Cloud in the corner, "Everyone sleep... In the darkness..."
Zack frowned and carried PTRS-Cloud back to his seat at the table and gave him a hug. Awwww.
"Well," the Avatar said meanwhile, "I guess if some of you slept it would help..."
"I'm sure not going do any sleeping crap!" GIF Cloud snarled, pounding his fist on the table angrily. Young Cloud jumped and squeaked, startled. Zack went over and gave the shy one a hug. Awwww.
"Wark!" Fluff suggested after eating his pear, "Warrrk kwee WARK!"
"Uhh... Ok," Avatar Cloud said uncertainly, shrugging.
Zack shrugged. Then said, "Hey, cut that out."
"Huh? Cut what out?" the Avatar asked, scratching his head awkwardly.
Zack scratched his head awkwardly. "That! Even here you're tryin' to be me."
"Oh. Whoops, sorry... "
"Well what do we do then?" GIF Cloud asked impatiently, "I sure can't take a hike, cuz you know I end up making decisions and leading and stuff. The rest o' you guys are too wussy without Zack. Unless you let me take over."
"I don't know..." the Avatar said uncertainly.
"See? You never know anything unless I step forward and go for it."
Jenova creepily spoke up, "You should let ME take over. Me and my most wonderful son. After all, there's no getting rid of us!"
"...I'd really prefer you two leave, you know," Avatar Cloud sighed.
Jenova growled.
"I'll punish him for his impudence, Mother," Sephiroth said, smirking and raising a hand in the default Cloud's direction. The blonde promptly turned and began repeatedly running into the wall.
*Bump* "Ow!" *Bump* "Ow!" *Bump* "Ow!" *Bump* "Ow!" *Bump* "Ow!" *Bump* "Ow!"
Zack laughed loud and hard, clutching his chest, leaning back further and further until he and his chair fell over. He was still laughing, Cloud was still running into the wall, and PTRS-Cloud had nothing important to say.
Young Cloud shyly begged, "Sephiroth, please stop being so mean."
"You call that mean, shrimp?" GIF Cloud sneered. He thwapped Young Cloud on the head.
"Waaaah!" the little one cried, "You're so meeeeean."
Fluff the Chocobo ran over to GIF Cloud and pecked him sharply on the head.
"OW! Stupid bird!" He chased Fluff around angrily. Avatar Cloud was still bumping repeatedly into the wall, Sephiroth laughing quite well by now, Zack trying to stop his own laughter. PTRS-Cloud silently fell out of his chair and just lay on the floor. Jenova danced with joy at all the chaos going on in Cloud's head.
Finally, Zack stood up and looked around. "Holy moly, if this ain't internal conflict, I dunno what is." He jumped up onto the table and shouted, "HEY EVERYONE! What kinda meeting is this?! We should all sit down and talk this out!"
By then, every aspect of Cloud was beaten up in some way or another. The Neutral Avatar from the wall, PTRS from the fall. Young Cloud from GIF's fist, Fluff from GIF pissed. And of course GIF from the Chocobo and I didn't give him a rhyme cuz he's mean.
Zack sighed, once again feeling sorry for his friend, so he went around hugging them all. Awwww. Except GIF Cloud. He said, "Don't even think about it!" and Zack shrugged.
"I admit it is difficult to control this many aspects," Sephiroth said, "So perhaps you should all merge. And despite Zack not being Cloud, he should stay because I like him." He smiled slightly.
Zack looked at the man who had been his commanding officer and comrade when he was really alive. "Really? You still consider me a friend?"
Awwww.
Jenova started shaking Sephiroth around like a rag doll in her tentacles. "No no no!" she roughly insisted, "You can only like me! I'm all you have! Zack should stay dead!"
"I'm... getting... sick..." Sephiroth pitifully protested, eyes swirling.
"Leave him alone!" cried Young Cloud.
Zack leaped over the table and, using his giant Buster Sword, sliced Jenova's head off.
There was stunned silence.
"...Stupid," Jenova's head muttered from the floor, as her body felt around for its location, "You know it'll go right back on anyway."
Sephiroth, freed from her tentacles and dizzy from her punishment, picked up her head. "Wow, this is great," he commented, smiling happily, "Now I can take Mother with me wherever I go!" He scampered off with the head cradled in the crook of his arm. "Let's go watch 'Cloud's Memories: Fact or Fiction?' again, Mother! And get popcorn and ice cream!"
"Come back here with that!" Jenova yelled. Then, "I mean... Give me back to my body! I mean... Uhhh..." Her body stumbled around, confused, trying to grab her head back but tripping over the table.
"Ummm... well..." Neutral Avatar Cloud said, trying to keep the meeting going despite the angry monster body sprawling and clawing on the table, "I guess we should all try fusing into one personality then."
"You cannot do so yet," a booming voice declared.
All the Clouds jumped in surprise (except for PTRS-Cloud, who drooled), and Zack looked up and scratched his head.
"Who said that?" asked GIF Cloud.
"I am the Time Master," the voice answered, "Master of all time!"
"Uh, lemme guess," Zack said, "You manage stuff to do with time?"
"...Yes, how did you guess?"
"Well what do you mean we can't merge yet?" demanded GIF Cloud.
The bodiless voice answered, "Cases the likes of this have passed through my hands many a time before! (None with THIS many voices in their heads, but...) Therefore, I know that such a drastic step takes... TIME!"
The Clouds and Zack pondered this for a while. Then, the black-haired SOLDIER said, "So... can we do it now?"
"No. Not yet."
"....Now?"
"NO!"
"............. Can we do it now?"
"Silence! I refer to a frame of months, perhaps years."
All the Clouds groaned with dismay (Except PTRS-Cloud, who just groaned as usual).
"Well how do we get sorted out then?" asked GIF Cloud.
"I cannot answer that; I am the master of all time, not master of all figuring-out-stuff."
"...... O...... kay," Neutral Avatar Cloud said, scratching his head.
Zack scratched his head. "Cut that out!"
"Sorry!"
"I bid thee farewell." the voice said. There was silence.
"...Thank goodness," the Avatar sighed, "I
really didn't need one more permanent voice in here."
They all thought silently for a while.
Finally, the decision-making, leader-material, Getting-Into-Fights Cloud suggested, "Well, we could always just take turns. Like, every day or week or whatever."
Maybe he's not so mean after all.
"Yeah, that sounds pretty good," Zack agreed, "But how do we decide who and when?"
"Simple, idiot," GIF Cloud answered, "We fight for it! I'll kick all your butts!"
Ok maybe he still is mean.
"I have a better idea," Zack said, "We'll use an ancient, bloodless method of competition. One that challenges the wit, the reflex, and forces of Luck. A technique used by the greatest leaders of past, present, and most likely future. A technique of intrigue, simple yet complex in its method and execution."
Avatar Cloud blinked. "Rock-Paper-Scissors?"
Zack nodded, smiling. "Yup!"
"Alright then," Neutral Avatar Cloud said, "...Let's mosey."
"What a wussy line," GIF Cloud muttered. Meanly.
And so, they all gathered to see who would be in charge of Cloud's body for the day (Except for PTRS-Cloud, of course).
"Ready?" Avatar Cloud asked. They all nodded.
"1, 2, 3, GO!"
**********
The group known as AVALANCHE all sat together at a huge table, prepared to eat a wonderful dinner in honor of Aeris's memory, and to brighten their spirits before the final battle. Everyone talked happily about their good fortune. Then when the food arrived, they bowed their heads as Barret lead a prayer to Holy. They dedicated the meal to Aeris, with Yuffie promising to eat plenty for her.
There was a pause, and everyone looked expectantly at Cloud for some kind of dedication or thoughts.
He looked back at each one of them, his eyes unusually wide and bright, his head motions perky.
"It looks like you're finally happy about Aeris's memories instead of sad for her loss," Tifa observed, "That's so strong of you, Cloud. I'm sure she would have wanted you to be happy again. Well, let's dig in!"
"WARK!" Cloud agreed, plunging his face straight into his dinner.
^_^ ***THE END*** ^_^