They Live!!!
By GQ and Zhak
GQ's note: seems to be acting all screwy when it comes to uploading... so in between paragraphs, I just wrote "--break--" because if you're reading this right now in , the indentions and the spacings between paragraphs have disappeared... I'm sure. And QuickEdit wouldn't even load in my browser for some reason ever since yesterday. Forgive the bad layout. Feh.
Chapter Eleven: Black Death
"Sir! Sir!" a Second-Class Soldier entered the Conference Room with an excited look on his face and went straight to President ShinRa and then saluted in greeting.
"What is it?" President ShinRa asked as he got up from his chair.
"We caught three of them!"
Rufus's eyes widened upon hearing that.
"Three of what?" President ShinRa demanded.
"Three from AVALANCHE… including Elena."
The Turks' eyes widened, but Reno was the only one who was able to react in shock, "WHAT?!" he demanded.
President ShinRa sneered and smiled slyly. "Bring them to my office this instant!" he said before proceeding to the door. "Come, my executives!" he summoned the rest to follow after him.
Rufus felt dumbfounded. "Shit…" he thought in annoyance as he instantly got up. When they got to the hallway, he went to the other direction. He knew he had to do something.
President ShinRa snapped at him, "Where are you going?!"
Rufus did not answer; he just continued to run going to the emergency staircase.
--break--
"Y'know, we shouldn't have run away… what if something bad happened to them?" Yuffie asked.
Zack just kept quiet and continued to walk.
Yuffie shrugged. "To make it up to them, let's just go to the surveillance room and disconnect the wires." She told him before looking up at the high ceiling above them, "Do you know where it is?" she asked.
He did not answer.
"You once worked here… you should know right?" she asked.
No answer.
"Oh well, we'll just find it on our own…" she said softly, but she was already beginning to get impatient because he hasn't been answering. She stopped walking and clenched her fists, "What's wrong with you?" she demanded.
He stopped walking but did not look at her.
She went over to him. "Zack," she began.
"Please take off your ribbons and let your hair loose." He said softly without looking at her, but he had a stern expression on his face and a bitter look in his eyes. She was surprised by what he said. "Wh…what?" she asked.
He impatiently turned to face her and grabbed the end of her twisted hair and yanked off the ribbon holding it in place and then yanked off the other ribbon. He dropped them on the floor. She was surprised by what he just did that she was speechless at first, but then in fury, she was able to blurt out with a shaky tone, "What did you just do?!"
He stared helplessly at her, "I want you to be yourself!" he said with a helpless tone.
"You want me to what?" she asked in shock.
"What's with the hairdo?! And your long hair… goodness, Yuffie! I'm just glad you're not wearing pink!" he snapped at her rather annoyingly, which really shocked her.
"Wh…what?" she asked.
"Don't try to hide it from me… you're torturing my thoughts! I've already forgotten about Aerith but… but… here you are and…" he couldn't bring himself to say more things about the way he was really feeling.
She was shocked by what he said.
"Yuffie, what is your problem? What happened to you?" he asked in annoyance.
She just bowed down her head and stepped away from him. "Okay, I'm sorry… I… I just felt… neglected, that's all… so I thought, why not be perfect? Perfect just like Aerith? Since you like her… so that maybe you'll like me too!" she admitted with a shaky tone. She sounded like she was about to cry.
Zack was surprised by what she had just revealed to him. …so that maybe you'll like me too!
It lingered around his head for a several moments before he struggled to say something else, but it was too late; because SOLDIERs were already coming their way.
Yuffie felt drained… and tired… she was too shocked and affected by her relationship with Zack plus the situation of her father, and then along came the SOLDIERs… it was already becoming too much for her.
Zack got his Buster Sword and turned to Yuffie, "Yuffie," he said, giving her a signal to fight alongside with him. But he noticed the blank look in her face… and the tears in her eyes…
--break--
"I think something bad is going on…" Sephiroth muttered to himself as he watched Cloud type the password into Hojo's computer.
Vincent grabbed his gun and shot the surveillance camera recording their activity. "It's bothering me." He said before turning back to Cloud.
Sephiroth scratched his head. "I'm really being bothered by the feeling that something is really going on upstairs in the 70th floor and it's so bad that if it persists, I'll really feel guilty of not doing something about it!" he pointed out rather restlessly. Vincent could interpret the look in his eyes, realizing that if Sephiroth did not go upstairs to check on the situation, he'd snap. "Then go upstairs. Who's stopping you?" Cloud told him.
Sephiroth thought for a while before asking, "You sure the two of you can handle things here?"
"Duh." Cloud muttered as he continued to work. With that, Sephiroth walked out of the laboratory.
Vincent shook his head in disbelief, "I think he's not yet over the insanity stage…" he said.
"What made you say that?" Cloud asked, stopping for a while and staring at the monitor as if doubting if he had typed the right password or not.
"It's like if he doesn't get what he wants, he'll just snap and start killing people again… and put the whole city in flames… and then summon Meteor." Vincent replied.
"Hmm… but Lucrecia is here to restrain him, right? And you too… since I think you'll be playing the role of his new father very soon," Cloud said with a slight smile on his face before pressing the backspace button and then retyped the password.
Vincent's eyes widened upon hearing that. "Sephiroth as my son? … he's more of like a… a close friend." He said.
"A father as a friend, that'd also work. That way, you won't keep secrets from each other. I think that can help maintain a good relationship between father and son." Cloud pointed out.
"And how do you know?" Vincent asked curiously, knowing that Cloud isn't even a father yet.
"Just based on observation… look at Rufus and his Old Man… then there's Tifa and her father from way back. And Marlene and Barret. And there's Yuffie and Lord Godo… and Barret just gave me a book about being a father yesterday for my birthday." Cloud explained before turning to him with a solemn smile on his face, "…and I'll be one soon in 8 months or so…"
Vincent stared unbelievably at him. "Aerith is--?" he had managed to say.
Cloud looked away from him and pressed the enter button and soon, all the files were exposed to them. "The recycle bin is hungry." He said with a sly smile on his face.
--break--
Elena just kept her eyes on the ground as President ShinRa approached her and studied the guilty look on her face. He lifted up her chin so that he could take a better look at her face. He sneered at her, "It's nice to see traitors like you back here in ShinRa…"
She just swallowed hard. She couldn't move away because a SOLDIER was restraining her. Just like Tifa and Aerith, her hands were handcuffed behind her back and her feet are bound together by chains. She turned her gaze to Reno, Rude and Tseng who were just standing in one corner of the 70th floor near the President's desk and looking at her rather apologetically.
Aerith just kept her eyes on the ground as she listened to President ShinRa's footsteps approach her. "Aha… Ifalna and Gast's daughter…" he stopped before her and smiled rather slyly at her. "How do you feel right now?" he asked.
She just frowned.
"You'll be rotting in Prison as far as I'm concerned, Miss Gainsborough." He told her mockingly before proceeding to Tifa. Upon seeing her, he frowned and stared closely at her. "Hmm… you look somewhat… familiar," he said softly while eyeing her.
Tifa slowly lifted her gaze onto him.
The Turks felt nervous.
President ShinRa looked at her from head to toe… and stopped his gaze when he saw the silver locket with the ShinRa logo engraved on its front. "What is this…" he felt so shocked. He instantly got hold of it, surprising everyone especially Tifa. She tried to move away from him but the SOLDIER standing behind her held her still. President ShinRa opened the locket, revealing to him the picture of the beautiful lady with black hair and blue eyes. He instantly let go of the locket and looked at Tifa unbelievably, "Where the fuck did you get this?" he demanded.
She refused to answer.
He grabbed hold of the locket again and snatched it off her neck, breaking the silver chain. "Where did you get this?!" he yelled angrily at her. She felt pain burning the back of her neck caused by the forceful breaking of the chain.
"What's that, President ShinRa?" Scarlet asked in curiosity.
"This belonged to my wife! I gave it to her as an engagement gift!" President ShinRa snapped angrily before sneering at Tifa, "I don't know how it got into your hands but…" Tifa cut him off, "Your son gave it to me,"
Everyone fell silent.
"What?" he demanded.
"Rufus gave it to me as a Christmas present two years ago during his birthday…" she said softly with a stern tone.
"It's supposed to be with his fiancée! I told him to give it to his future wife! Why the hell is this with… you…" President ShinRa stopped talking when he realized something. He clenched his fists. "You…" he began.
She just bowed down her head.
The other executives were surprised upon realizing that Tifa is the one introduced to them as Rufus's fiancée. "Is this some kind of a joke?!" Heidegger demanded in shock.
"No, it's not." Tifa said softly.
"But… YOU?!" Scarlet demanded in shock.
President ShinRa clenched his fist and hit Tifa's left cheek as hard as he could. She cringed in pain but she didn't react further like scream or anything like that, even if blood trickled down from her left nostril and from her mouth… and also from the wound created by the force of the President's ring scratching against her face. He looked at her in disgust, "You deceived my son… tricking him to believe that you're from the upper class… how dare you…" he began.
"I did not trick him he…" she stopped when everyone turned to the person who just arrived in the scene.
It was Rufus.
The young Vice-President could not help but gape in awe at Tifa, Aerith and Elena, then at his father. "How did…" he had managed to say, but he saw that Dark Nation was also being restrained by five SOLDIERs; his cat's feet were being held by cuffs made especially for big animals like her and there was also a muzzle on over her face so that she could not bite. Her tail was wagging sadly as she let out a sad "Meowrrr…" to Rufus.
"What is the meaning of this?" he demanded in anger as he marched over to his father while pointing at Dark Nation.
"Your cat is helping these rebels! You ought to discipline this feline of yours, otherwise, I'll be forced to throw her out in the streets and you can never see her again!" President ShinRa scolded.
"You have no right to do that to her! She's an animal, not a person!" Rufus told him. Suddenly, all his angry emotions just spurted out of his soul… and he could not stop them anymore… He will make sure his father realizes that what he has done is wrong… and everything that he has ever done is wrong too.
"And you have no right to speak to me that way after what happened to this," President ShinRa showed him the locket… and for the first time, it's like his cold exterior broke and everyone could see the vulnerability in his blue eyes…
President ShinRa turned back to Tifa again and grabbed her arm, dragging her to Rufus. "Is this slut your fiancée? Huh?!" he demanded.
Tifa swallowed hard, looking at Rufus with a helpless look on her face. "He's going to lie about me… I know it… to save himself the humiliation that he's working with AVALANCHE…" she thought bitterly to herself. She wanted to cry.
"Tifa is not a slut." Rufus muttered under his breath as he grabbed the locket off his father's grasp. "And you have no right to touch this after what you have done to mother." He sneered.
Hojo shook his head and turned to the window, looking outside. "Hahaha…10 minutes before explosion," he declared.
"What?!" Aerith and Elena both said in unison.
"May I have your permission to go down to the laboratory now and wait for the right moment before I could press the button?" Hojo asked, turning to President ShinRa.
"Go ahead." President ShinRa said.
With that, Hojo exited.
"You people are monsters! Innocent people are going to die!" Aerith yelled at them.
Scarlet and Reeve just turned away, looking outside. The whole of Midgar looked so peaceful at night… but there were no stars in the skies. The Turks bowed down their heads. They wanted to do something… to stop the President from continuing with his plans, but they don't know how.
"Rufus, this girl tricked you! She is not the daughter of a rich couple from Gongaga! Besides, Gongaga is a poor country! This slut just tricked you into believing that she's from Gongaga and she's rich because she wants your money!" President ShinRa told Rufus.
But his son just glared angrily at him, "Tifa did not trick me. She did not lie to me. We talked about it." He said. And everyone heard the click of his shotgun. All eyes turned to him. President ShinRa's eyes narrowed on him as he revealed to them the shotgun that he was concealing under the tail of his long vest from its secret pocket. "Release these hostages, Old Man. They're with me." He said as he aimed the shotgun at his father's head.
President ShinRa did not even move when he felt the cold tip of the shotgun touch his forehead. He just stared coldly at his son. "You traitor." He sneered.
Rufus just kept his eyes on his Old Man without saying anything. President ShinRa smiled slyly at him, "So, you've been working with AVALANCHE all along, huh?" he asked before he instantly grabbed the shotgun and tried to snatch it away from Rufus's grasp, but his son's grip was too strong. "Curse you! I didn't raise you to become like this!" President ShinRa growled angrily at him. "Don't just stand there! Help me!!!" he snapped at his executives and at his Turks. Heidegger and Palmer were the only ones who came to President ShinRa's aid.
Reeve shook his head and just walked away, with Reno and Tseng following after him.
"What the--- you fools!?" President ShinRa snapped angrily at the others who just walked away.
"Let go, you fat bastard!" Rufus snapped angrily at his father who was still insistent on getting the gun away from him. Palmer and Heideggger were also trying to get the gun away from him, but Rufus just held on to his weapon while trying to push the three fat men who were assaulting him.
The SOLDIERs found it rather funny that three big fat men could not even handle one person whose body mass is way lesser than theirs. A few of them started snickering, puzzling the hostages and also Scarlet and Rude who just remained in their places.
Tifa just bit her lower lip, observing the situation while trying to stop herself from smiling (hey, imagine it… it looks funny!) because she knows that it's a wrong time to be amazed and laugh at the bad situation. She never realized that Rufus was that strong… or maybe the three fat men are weak? She wasn't sure. Aerith and Elena were already talking about it.
"Oh my…" Aerith said softly in awe.
"Wish I had a camcorder. This is priceless!" Elena told her.
"Let go, Old Man!" Rufus snapped impatiently.
"You will suffer bad consequences, you useless brat!" President ShinRa snapped angrily at him.
Scarlet looked at President ShinRa, Heidegger and Palmer… they all looked so ridiculous… "Kyah… pathetic…" she muttered before heading over to them and decided to just stop them from harming Rufus. "Kyah! Stop it!" she snapped impatiently with an annoyed look on her face.
"Beat it, Scarlet!" Heidegger snapped at her.
"Stay out of this, Scarlet! Unless you want another salary deduction?!" President ShinRa sneered at her.
She gasped and moved away from them, feeling offended. Her red lips formed a disdainful pout as she clenched her fists and glared scornfully at the men. With that, she stomped her way to Tifa.
Tifa felt her heart race all of a sudden in fear that the "evil woman" might do something really bad to her. To everybody else's surprise (including hers), Scarlet kicked the junk of the SOLDIER restraining Tifa and pushed him away from her. With that, she got a hairpin from her head and picked the lock of Tifa's handcuffs.
"What are you doing?!" President ShinRa snapped angrily at Scarlet as he left Heidegger and Palmer to take care of Rufus.
Scarlet did not reply. She just continued to pick the lock.
President ShinRa grabbed her by her hair, making her gasp in pain. "You slut… what are you doing?!" he demanded angrily.
She just smiled slyly at him, "Something that I should've done years ago. I'm tired of these… disgusting… disgusting shit of yours!" she hissed.
President ShinRa angrily punched her in the abdomen, making her fall to the ground and telling the other Soldiers to get her and put her in Prison. With that, he grabbed Tifa from behind, wrapping his arm around her neck and then aiming a gun at her forehead. "Rufus!" he called out with a sadistic tone.
Rufus froze when he saw what his father was doing.
Tifa just kept still. "Don't mind me, Rufus… I'll be alright. Do what's right!" she told him with a shaky tone and a weary smile on her face.
Rufus mindlessly loosened his grip on his shotgun, giving Heidegger and Palmer the chance to grab it away from him. The former just grabbed Rufus's hands and placed it behind him, putting handcuffs on his wrists.
President ShinRa let go of Tifa and pushed her to the ground. She landed before Rufus's feet in a kneeling position. She swallowed hard and slowly lifted up her gaze to him. He looked down apologetically at her.
"Take them to Prison. All of them!" President ShinRa ordered.
--break--
While those events were on-going, Sephiroth was using the stairs to reach the 70th floor, but when he reached the 69th, he stopped in his tracks when he heard footsteps descending.
It was Hojo.
Hojo stopped when he saw Sephiroth staring up at him. He smiled. "Well, well, well… if it isn't my best specimen ever…" he said as he further descended the steps until he was already standing before the tall silver-haired man.
Sephiroth looked down coldly at him. He could not understand why Hojo was his father… because of the height difference. Sephiroth is way taller than him. He asked that question before, but Hojo insisted that it was the work of the JENOVA cells in his body that made him taller than him.
"Where are you going?" Hojo asked.
"Up there," Sephiroth mentioned.
Hojo looked at him from head to toe. "You've changed…" he said softly. Sephiroth just stared coldly at him. Hojo smiled calmly and said, "How's your mother?" he asked.
Sephiroth just glared at him and tightened his grip on his Masamune. "Mother is alright. She and Vincent are together." He said.
Hojo's smile faded. "What?" he demanded.
Sephiroth smiled slyly at him. He loved seeing Professor Hojo getting angry for a reason that he couldn't understand. "In fact, the two of them are getting hitched next month. Don't worry, I'll make sure they invite you." He said mockingly before he pushed Hojo aside and proceeded upstairs, but Hojo grabbed his wrist and held him in place. "Thank you for letting me know, Sephiroth. And where I ask do they reside at this point?" he asked.
Sephiroth eyes narrowed as he stared straight ahead of him towards the wall facing him. "Sector 7. What's it to you?" he asked.
Hojo smiled slyly. "Well… even if they do invite me to their wedding, I'm sure I won't be able to come… because they'd be dead by then." He said.
Sephiroth frowned upon hearing that. Hojo continued, "Nine minutes from now, the people from Sectors 5-7 will be dead. The Black Death has been completed… and has been installed in unthinkable places in those sectors. The Black Death will cause big explosions in those places and the smoke and will mix with the gas that will be released from the tubes… and everyone who will make contact or sniff the gas and smoke will instantly die. They're gonna be falling to the ground like dead flies! Hahahahaha!"
"You are sick," Sephiroth muttered before pushing Hojo away from him and turned to face him with a disdainful look in his green Mako eyes.
"What's wrong with you? I thought you loved seeing people die?" Hojo asked in surprise. Sephiroth just stared at him. Hojo clenched his fists. "You've changed… so much… what did Lucrecia do to you?" he asked. Sephiroth did not answer. Hojo took a step forward to him and shouted angrily, "What did Vincent do to you?! Did he brainwash you?!"
Sephiroth just smiled solemnly at him. "What they did to me? Things that you have failed to do to me…"
"Like?" Hojo demanded in annoyance. He could not take it when others are better than him.
"Love, understanding and care." Sephiroth sneered as he revealed to Hojo his weapon. Hojo was quiet for a few moments before frowning at him and looking at him in regret. "I should've known you'd be such a failure… I should've killed you when you were in your mother's womb when I discovered that you're not really mine!" he revealed scornfully.
Sephiroth's eyes widened. "What?" he demanded in shock.
Hojo laughed at him. "You are not my son… you belong to Vincent… I can't believe Lucrecia made me believe that you're mine… but you're not! You want proof? Ask your bitch mother and your bastard father!" he told him mockingly. Sephiroth felt so stunned. "Why… why didn't you tell me earlier? Why only now?" he asked with a shaky tone. Hojo could see the insanity returning in his green Mako eyes and he smiled victoriously. "Yes… be angry… and start destroying again… and everyone will blame you for the death of everyone in Sectors 5-7." He was thinking silently to himself as he watched Sephiroth lower his gaze to the ground in confusion and regret. Sephiroth's trembling left hand slowly traveled up to his head and clutched his forehead tightly.
"And your mother didn't tell you about it?" Hojo asked.
"N…no. She didn't." Sephiroth said softly.
"That's unfair, isn't it?" Hojo asked.
Sephiroth just swallowed hard and looked at Hojo again with a look of disbelief on his face. Hojo just shrugged at him. "Well, I'd better go down now… the controls for the Black Death are in the laboratory. It's programmed in my PC and I'd better go there now if President ShinRa wants to follow his schedule… oh well, but if ever I don't make it in time, it'll go on automatic mode and will start a 10-second countdown on its own and it'll be all over for those poor Sectors." he pointed out casually before proceeding down the stairs.
Sephiroth's grip tightened around the handle of his Masamune and lunged forward to Hojo.
Hojo had anticipated that attack, so he instantly grabbed his gun and faced the deranged silver-haired man again and fired. Sephiroth got hit in the right shoulder but he was still able to stab Hojo with the Masamune (thanks to its length). Forcefully, he pinned the mad scientist against the wall, making him wail in pain and agony. Sephiroth flashed him a deranged smile.
Hojo's eyes widened at him.
"I should've killed you when I found out that my real mother isn't JENOVA." Sephiroth sneered before pushing further the Masamune through Hojo until it penetrated further through the wall, making Hojo yell in pain, his grip on his gun loosening, causing him to let go of the weapon, letting it drop to the floor. He was confused. Sephiroth is not even affected by the bullet wound. "Wh…why are you still standing?" He had managed to ask.
"You've been experimenting with me ever since before I was born. You should know my bodily composition by heart, Professor Hojo. How come up to now you still don't know that I am a special boy and I can't easily be affected by ordinary bullets?" Sephiroth hissed coldly as he further pushed the Masamune through Hojo until he was able to come closer to him, looking at him straight in the eye. "And as Rufus had pointed out, it's that kind of dullness that makes you a second-rate scientist…" the hilt of the Masamune touched Hojo's stomach.
His eyes went blank and he opened his mouth to say something to Sephiroth; probably a curse… but no sound came out… just blood that leaked out from it, staining his own clothes and dripping onto Sephiroth's right hand. Knowing that Hojo is dead, Sephiroth let out a victorious laugh. "Mwahahahahaha! Hojo Kebab, anyone?" he retorted before withdrawing the Masamune from Hojo, and as he was doing so, more blood leaked out, staining the floor and some even splattered upon his black clothes and boots… and he was muttering, "Oh yuck. Yuck… ew… gross… yuck… yuck… yuck…" as the blood splattered on him. When he finally got the Masamune out of Hojo, he examined the bloody blade and the blood dripping from it, further staining his hands. "Mommy's not going to like this… she'll be complaining about doing laundry again… oh well…" he stated flatly with a worried look on his face before proceeding downstairs. "Better inform Cloud and Vinny about the controls…" he muttered to himself. And he stopped in his tracks. "Vinny? Shouldn't I be calling him daddy? Hmm…" he thought. He just shrugged. "Better ask mommy first if it's alright. Mwahahaha." He decided.
--break--
The SOLDIER pushed Tifa and Rufus inside the prison cell. She landed on the floor while Rufus still managed to keep his balance, but he hit the wall. "Ow! Bloody hell… you're going to get fired once I get out of here, you bloody Soldier you…" he cursed angrily.
The SOLDIER shrugged at him, "Just doin' my job, sir." And shut the door, locking it.
Rufus rushed to the door but stopped in his tracks, clenching his fists frustratingly, thinking if he should start pounding on the door and start yelling hysterically, but he figured that he didn't want to lose his poise/composure whatsoever… so he just frustratingly turned back to Tifa with a disappointed look on his face. "ARgh!" he growled in frustration before walking over to her, helping her up.
"This is your first time in prison, huh, Rufus?" asked a voice from the other cell to their left.
"Zack?" Tifa asked in disbelief.
"Heheh… It's so unfair, huh? I got caught too." Zack said.
"Well… then… where's Yuffie?" she asked in worry as she walked over to the left wall.
"Right here…" Yuffie called out with a frustrated tone. She's in the other cell to their right.
Tifa and Rufus realized that Yuffie is in the prison cell with Elena, while Aerith is in the prison cell with Zack. The two of them exchanged stunned looks with one another.
"What's unfair about being in prison? You're with Aerith there, am I right?" Yuffie called out to Zack.
"Why the hell are you so jealous about Aerith!!!???" Zack demanded impatiently.
"I'm not jealous. I am annoyed that you're with her!" Yuffie snapped angrily.
"Oh please, stop arguing," Aerith told them.
"SHUT UP!!!" Yuffie yelled angrily, making everybody jump up in surprise, including Rufus.
"Yuffie, calm down!" Elena told her.
"Stay outta this, blondie," Zack told Elena rather harshly. Elena gasped in shock. "What the--…" she got up from the bed and went over to the left wall of her cell with Yuffie. "Hey, Hedgehog, Porcupine or whatever name everybody calls you…" she began in annoyance.
"Oh no… everybody sounds angry now…" Aerith said softly, covering her face and falling into her knees, not knowing what to do.
"Okay, the question is, why did they have to separate our cells, Zack? While we could just be like Tifa and Rufus over there in the other cell together?! Huh? Now that's unfair!" Yuffie pointed out with a sarcastic tone and then laughed.
"Why don't you ask the guard?" Zack asked.
"I don't know, why don't you ask the guard? Oh! I know why you're not asking the guard! Because you enjoy Aerith's company there! Hah! I knew it!!!" Yuffie cheered sarcastically, but Elena could easily see the hurtful look in her eyes.
"Yuffie, why are you making such a big deal out of this?" Elena asked with an annoyed look on her face.
"Because it is such a big deal! GAWDS!!! Why can't anybody understand?!" Yuffie snapped angrily.
"You know, we wouldn't be here in the first place if you helped me fight those SOLDIERs!" Zack told her.
"And so now you're blaming me? Fine! Then it's a big failure in my part because I couldn't defend myself because I felt so low and so disgusted at myself that I'm the most unattractive female in the group, huh?!" she snapped.
Silence.
"What?" Rufus asked in confusion, not being able to get the situation and the reason why Zack and Yuffie are fighting.
"Hey nobody ever said that you're unattractive, Yuffie," Zack pointed out.
"I know that! But the way things are going… it seems… like… so…" she sniffed and just went to the bed and sat down with a scornful pout on her face as she crossed her arms.
Elena went over to her and sat down beside her, giving her a friendly and comforting hug. "Shh… it's alright… it's alright, just let it all out…" she said softly with a gentle smile on her face. Yuffie began to cry. Elena patted her back gently, "What's wrong with you anyway?" she asked.
Yuffie just continued to cry.
Aerith got up and placed her hands on her hips while glaring angrily at Zack, "Now look what you've done! You've made Yuffie cry!!!" she snapped at him before approaching him and pushed him against the wall, surprising him, "What did you do to her? Huh? How dare you make my friend cry…" she sneered at him rather threateningly. It scared him. "H…hey… calm down… I… I don't even know… I…" he stammered stupidly.
She just turned away from him and headed for the door. "Oh dear… this whole situation is so wrong…" she said with a worried look on her face. Zack watched as she lowered her gaze to her lower abdomen and touched it. "…my poor Sora…" she said.
"Sora?" Tifa asked out loud.
"I'm going to have a baby! It's my first month already! Heehee! And it's a boy!" Aerith announced.
Silence.
"How the bloody hell did you know that it's going to be a boy?" Rufus demanded in confusion.
"I just know! The voices told me! Heehee!" Aerith giggled proudly.
Silence.
"And you already named it. Cool." Zack said with a pleased smile on his face. "Congratulations, Aerith," he said.
She just glared at him. "Stay away from me," she snarled.
"It's so unfair!!!" Zack wailed.
"Damn, I think I'm going to pass out…" Rufus muttered in annoyance before proceeding to the bed while clutching his head in confusion. "I'm getting a migraine…" he muttered.
"Are you alright? Do you want me to massage your forehead?" Tifa asked.
"No, I'll be alright… I just need some sleep…" Rufus told her uncomfortably before lying down on the hard mattress. "Oh… bloody hell… you call this a mattress?!" he said out loud in disgust.
"Rich kid's first time in prison. Please forgive him," Zack said with sarcasm.
Rufus just rolled his eyes and then turned to his hand. He realized that he's still holding the locket. He handed it to Tifa who was sitting on the floor by the bed. "Here you go. I'm sorry about Old Man." He apologized.
She smiled gently. "Th…thank you…" she said softly before putting it in her pocket. They both listened to Yuffie still crying from the other cell, and Zack complaining from the other.
"Pipe down! Rufus is going to sleep!" Tifa told them.
"What-everrrr!!!" Yuffie and Zack both yelled in unison.
Silence.
Tifa rolled her eyes. "Look, if you two are going to just argue about… about your relationship, then do it somewhere else!" she snapped. She was beginning to get impatient.
"Like, where? GAWDS!!! Tifa? Why are you such an airhead?! How can we argue somewhere else if we're stuck here in this effing prison?! GAWDS!!!!!" Yuffie demanded.
Tifa's mouth dropped open in shock. "What?!" she demanded.
"Y'know, I just read in astrology that Taurus people are airheads so they're always in their know-it-all mode to hide the fact that they're really airheads and that they---." Yuffie pointed out with a know-it-all tone.
"I beg your pardon?!" Tifa demanded as she got up.
Rufus grabbed the pillow and covered his face with it. "Oh bloody hell…" he muttered miserably.
"I think this has gone too far!" Aerith said out loud with an annoyed tone. "Yeah!" Tifa pointed out.
Zack rolled his eyes, "Yuffie, you're a Scorpio, right?" he asked.
"Yeah, so?" she asked.
"You're a water sign and Tifa's an earth sign. You're supposed to be more or less comfortable with one another…" he began.
"Well the water flooded the earth too much," Rufus muttered.
"Will you stop it with the astrology crap?! Yuffie, please… stop it… you're making things worse for us. We should remain calm in this kind of situation and you're just trying to make everybody else angry!" Aerith said impatiently, surprising everybody else because she said the word crap and she sounded really serious and angry at Yuffie and Zack.Everybody fell silent.
"Must be the mood swings a pregnant woman usually has…" Rufus whispered to Tifa. She just nodded in agreement.
Aerith approached Zack. "What exactly happened to the two of you?" she asked.
"I… don't know…" Zack said in confusion.
"You know," she told him.
He just kept quiet for a few moments as he bowed down his head. Aerith gave up and shook her head in disbelief before deciding to just sit down on the bed away from him… and then he spoke up, "I… thought I'd never get over you… but then I did… and realized that… it was just a fling from way back when we were together. I was so selfish. I'm sorry, Aerith. And then there's Yuffie who… somewhat changed. It's like she's turning into you… and I didn't like the fact that she was trying to be you because…" he looked up at her. "… how can I try to be more close to her if I keep seeing you in her? That'd be so unfair in my part because I don't love you and I want to love the… the real…" he trailed off when he realized that the two people from the other cell to their right were listening. He turned his head to the wall and yelled, "Har har, nice try, Tifa and Rufus! Thank you for eavesdropping!"
Tifa blinked. "How did he know?" she whispered.
"Beats me…" Rufus muttered as he moved away from the wall and went back to bed.
Aerith smiled calmly at Zack. "You want to love the real Yuffie?" she asked.
Zack blushed slightly. "I feel so ashamed…" he muttered as he covered his face with the pillow. Aerith laughed at him, "There's nothing to be ashamed of… I somewhat… know how you feel right now… well, I felt that way too with Cloud." She said.
He slowly removed the pillow from his face and looked at her with a dumbfounded look on his face. She just smiled at him, "I wanted to meet him… the real him… behind the Zack exterior. Remember what Hojo did to him? Sephiroth had explained it to you in the Lifestream, right?" she asked him.
He nodded weakly. "Oh… yeah… I remember it now…" he said miserably before leaning back on the wall. Then he sat up straight again. "Wouldn't it be awkward? I mean… she's… so young! And…" he stopped when she just laughed. "What's so funny?" he demanded in shame.
"Zack, she'll be around 19 or 20 this November, I'm not sure… but… she seems to act a bit more mature now compared to before. She seldom yells GAWDS anymore… I don't know what you did to her but I congratulate you." She said with a smile on her face.
He just nodded his head with a slight smile on his face. "Well… I guess it's an accomplishment in my part as her mentor…" he stated flatly, feeling unsure.
Then they heard Yuffie crying again and Elena saying, "Aww, Yuffie, will you please stop that already?"
"I think she wouldn't stop crying unless we switch cells." Aerith told Zack.
"Come to think of it… I'm really worried about her whenever she's not with me… I guess she's just kinda grown on me… in those two years that we've been together?" he told her.
Aerith nodded. "And I think she's the same with you…" she said softly.
They didn't know that on the cell next to theirs is Lord Godo's cell… and he has been listening attentively to their "private" conversation about Yuffie.
--break--
"Guys! Guys! Guys!" Sephiroth was shouting as he entered the laboratory again. Vincent and Cloud were surprised upon seeing him again. "I thought you're upstairs?" the latter asked in confusion but froze when he saw the blood on Sephiroth's clothes and on the Masamune's blade.
Sephiroth looked down at himself, realizing how bloody he was despite the blackness of his clothes… and just shrugged it off and turned back to Cloud and Vincent, "I was supposed to go upstairs but I ran into Hojo and…" he trailed off when he saw the time. "Shit!" he cussed in shock when he saw that it's only 2 minutes before the programmed explosion begins. He instantly rushed to the PC and shoved Cloud aside and began to search for the program monitoring the Black Death's activity. "Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit…" he was cussing repeatedly as he searched for the program… and turned to the system tray, seeing an icon that looks like a clock. He instantly grabbed the mouse and clicked it, and a window appeared onto the monitor. It was the program for Black Death.
"What's that?" Cloud asked.
"Black Death. We have to disable the program so that Sectors 5-7 will be saved," Sephiroth explained.
"What?! But…" Cloud began.
"Hojo was able to finish it just in time… and it's been instantly activated and programmed to work on their own with this program." Sephiroth told them.
"But how do we disable it?!" Cloud asked in sudden panic.
"Does Barret know about this?" Vincent asked.
"I don't fing know! This is so sudden!" Sephiroth snapped in annoyance.
"How come Rufus didn't even inform us about it?!" Cloud asked in confusion.
"I don't know!" Sephiroth said as he began to scan the controls. "Which of these… which of these…" he pressed "enter", but the speed of the clock only increased. "AAARGH! What did you do?!" Cloud demanded as he shook Sephiroth rather violently.
"ARGH! Let go of me! I didn't know!?" Sephiroth protested in confusion as he pushed Cloud away from him.
"Oh dear… oh dear… oh dear… I think it just got worse…" Vincent said with a worried look on his face.
Sephiroth turned to him. "Hey, you're an ex-Turk. You should know how to work with these!" he told him.
Vincent blinked. "M…me? But I…" he began, but the two pushed him towards the PC to let him work on his own. "Wh…what will I do?!" he asked in confusion.
"C'mon, Vincent, you can do it." Cloud urged.
"But I don't know this program!!!" Vincent pointed out in confusion when he realized that it's only 10 more seconds before explosion. "Oh no…" he thought silently. He doesn't know what to do… and the world is going to blame him for the death of many people… and he'll go insane because of it. "NO! I won't let another misfortune come into my life!" he decided impatiently before his left claw reached for the wiring and unplugged the whole system.
The lights fluctuated for a moment and then stopped.
"What did you just do?" Sephiroth asked.
Silence.
They weren't talking for around five minutes, as if anticipating a loud explosion.
"Well?" Cloud asked.
"I don't know… I think I made things worse…" Vincent said softly with a frightened look on his face.
Sephiroth went over to the window and took a look outside. He frowned slightly. "Everything appears to be normal… I don't see any smoke." He told them.
Silence.
"Does this mean… we disabled it?" Cloud asked.
Silence.
Sephiroth and Cloud cheered in delight. Vincent fainted.
"What the--?!" the two had managed to say in surprise.
"Is he alright?" Cloud asked as Sephiroth went over to Vincent to check on him.
"I think he got too excited back there… Mwahahahaha." Sephiroth pointed out with a silly smile on his face before lifting Vincent off the ground and carried him. "So what now?" he asked.
Cloud stared at them for a while in silent confusion before shrugging… then they heard the sound of explosions…
"What was that?!" Sephiroth looked up at the ceiling when the lights started flickering again and went off. The emergency lights switched on.
"I think those are just the Mako Reactors…" Cloud said… and he remembered something. "Wait a sec… aren't we supposed to assemble at 6:45 in the President's Office?" he asked.
They both looked at the clock and it read 7:15. "SHIT!" Cloud cussed in annoyance before leading the way outside the laboratory. "Barret's gonna kick our asses," he muttered to Sephiroth.
"Hell yeah," Sephiroth said.
CLUNK!
Sephiroth hissed in pain as if his head was the one that hit the doorway. Cloud stared unbelievably at him. "What did you just do?!" he demanded.
"I was in too much hurry and I… hit Vincent's head on the doorway… Mwahaha…" Sephiroth replied sheepishly.
"Man, how do we know if he's still alive or something?! What if he gets a concussion or you cracked his skull and he doesn't wake up anymore?" Cloud asked in panic.
"I think he's alright. He's still breathing." Sephiroth figured out with a calm look on his face while looking at the unconscious Vincent.
With that, they proceeded to the President's Office.