Chapter 21: Two of a Kind p.1
A/N: UUUUUGGGGHHHH! STUPID NOT ALLOWING ME TO MAKE FUN NOTES BECAUSE OF SCRIPT FORMAT! EEEVIL! AHHHH! ....................Ahem. Okay. Uh...Squaresoft owns FF7 and LadyTifa26 owns Laura. Heheh.
"Hmm, this acetylene torch isn't working. . . OH YEAH! HERE'S THE FLAMETHROWER!" Lucrecia was sitting in the basement of the mansion, working on her latest invention. She was re-wiring a few gadgets, and making whole new components, to finish her creation. "VOILA! IT IS COMPLETE! Now, if I remember doing this correctly, this is how Hojo would state it. 'BWAHAHAHA! I AM THE GREATEST EVIL MAD SCIENTIST ALIVE!'"
"You were fine without the last part. . ." Vincent came walking over to her. "Uh, what is it? You spent a month on this."
"IT'S A TOASTER OVEN! Like it?"
"DIH!" He fell over. "A toaster oven?"
"YEAH!" Lucrecia put in some bread. "And. . ." It came out a golden brown color. "PERFECT!"
"But it takes up half the room. . .", said Vincent.
"YES, BUT IT HAS THE LATEST TOASTING TECHNOLOGY! QUAKE AT THE SIGHT OF IT, FOR IT IS THE WAVE OF THE FUTURE! I also have it in a pocket form. . ." She pulled out a small, PDA looking device, and inserted more bread. Again, it was perfect. "YES! FOR PEOPLE ON THE GO! ANYTHING TOASTED, AT ANY TIME!"
"Why not something that could solve war? Or hunger?"
"First of all, this relates to the hunger problem.", said Lucrecia, switching her machine to 'off'. "Next of all, the thing we lack isn't a device for peace, it is patience and perseverance. There is no device for that. BUT I DO HAVE A NIFTY LITTLE POCKET DEATH RAY DEVICE!"
"Um, I don't think that will be necessary, Lucrecia. . .", he said, with a sweat mark.
"Okay, just tell me when you want some place destroyed.", she said with a big smile.
"Cute as ever. . .", he sighed. "And to think you could whip out a death ray device out of your pocket. . ."
"Untimely, is it?"
"Just wait to use it. Like, the next time Rachel comes over."
"GOT IT!"
"Why do I have this sudden feeling that going over Vince's is a bad idea?", asked Rachel, sitting at the breakfast table.
"Because maybe you're getting the point.", said Tifa, sitting down with a plate of eggs, bacon, a muffin, and a cup of coffee.
"Where are they, anyway?" Laura stabbed her stack of pancakes, and shoved them easily into her mouth. They all were staring. "What? Weren't these mine?"
"Nevermind. . .", sighed Tifa. "Next time, don't break anything."
"I TOLD YOU! A GIROFELGO MADE ME BREAK IT!"
"Rachel, they got rid of the monsters in the mansion.", said Aeris. "There aren't any left. Not even the pumpkins, wearing napkins."
"Aw, but they were funny. . .", said Rachel.
"I'm going over for breakfast.", said Vincent, walking up the stairs. "Do you want me to wait up?"
"No Vincent, I'm fine!", said Lucrecia. "I'll be there in a few minutes!"
"Okay, don't be late! The bacon always goes quickly!" Vincent left for Tifa's, and a few minutes later, Lucrecia was making her way up the winding staircase, when she heard a pounding at the door.
"I'M COMING!" She ran up, and made her way to the door, not expecting who it was.
"Yo, you're Lucrecia, right?" Reno was standing with the Turks on her doorstep.
"Uh, yeah. . .? Why?"
"You're past connections with Shinra are being called in. Don't fret, we mean no harm. But-
"AHH! SHINRA! HELP VINCENT!", she shrieked.
"GAH!" Reno was getting the crap beaten out of him all of a sudden by Vincent, who swept up there in a blur.
"TAKING ADVANTAGE OF INNOCENT WOMEN, ARE YOU?!", yelled Vincent.
"NO!", yelled Reno. "STOP! OW! I'M NOT HERE TO HARM ANYBODY FOR ONCE!" Vincent stopped at his pleas. "Ah, thank you. Jesus, don't you know of any subtlety, dude?" Reno took the briefcase at his side, then opened it slowly, revealing the rows of gil in denominations of about a hundred on each bill, and then back up to Lucrecia. "This is yours, if you listen to my proposition."
"Shouldn't I handle this?", asked Elena. "I'm the most qualified."
". . .", said Rude.
"Yeah, you're the most qualified.", said Reno, with his lopsided grin. "But I hate you. Now! Down to business. . ."
"I smell money. . .", said Rachel, with a sleepy smile on. "LOTS OF IT!"
"You're daydreaming. . .", said Tifa. "You can't smell gil."
"I can smell dollars. . .", said Rachel, pulling out a regular American dollar.
"What's that?", asked Cloud. "It looks funny."
"That's a dollar.", said Laura. "It's our currency from where we're from."
"Then you live in one hell of a crazy place.", said Cloud. "OH! THANKS!" A chocobo stuck it's head in the window with the morning paper. He put a coin in the pouch around it's neck, patted it on the head, it replied with a happy 'wark!', and it sped off.
"Yeah, I'm SURE that giant, newspaper delivering chickens aren't considered odd in the least bit.", said Laura. "Mmm, bacon. . ."
"Thank you for your time. See ya' later, dude. Dudette.", he said, smiling in Lucrecia's direction. Vincent grew angry of his actions.
"OUT!" He threw him out the mansion doors. "Sure that was wise?", he asked, after he shut the door.
"IT SOUNDS LIKE FUN!", said the cheerful Lucrecia. She adjusted the spectacles on her lightly freckled nose. "I bet I'll be done by the end of the day."
"Um, why are there construction noises coming out of your basement?", asked Rachel, who was standing next to Vincent.
"Lucrecia is busy again. . .", he sighed.
"I thought she had a lab in her house.", said Rachel.
"Chemical spill.", said Vincent. "The fumes will take a week to clear out."
"So, she's living with you for a week?"
"That's about the size of it, yes." He had a very stern look on his face, but his eyes kept moving to Rachel who had this evil, insinuating smile that was impossible to ignore.
"And I suppose you try to keep. . .entertained?", she asked in an evil tone, with the same smile.
"SHUT UP!", yelled Vincent. "I'm not like Cloud. . ."
"And THAT'S why you're 28, and still. . .virginal."
"Whoa, Rachel. I might refrain from using that word.", said Laura, walking over. Vincent became nervous all of a sudden. "Nope. Not in this world can you use it."
"WHY NOT?! IT'S MY VOCABULARY!", yelled Rachel. "I also like such words as acquiesce, ostentatious, chagrin, nonplus, parsimonious, temerarious, tatterdemalion, accouterments, baroque, jejune, quiddity, sycophant, and of course, SPELUNKER!" Vincent and Laura were giving her strange looks. "What?"
"Then use one in a word. . .", said Laura.
"OKAY! I'LL USE EM' ALL IN THIS PHRASE! The banality of the spelunker's countenance didn't really nonplus his comrades, but to their ostentatious chagrin, he was quite jejune, and his true quiddity was even though he was quite the temerarious tatterdemalion, he always had extremely baroque accouterments that were never parsimonious in supply, and they acquiesced to keeping him around because they kept him around for he was such a pleasing sycophant."
"Uh. . . What did you say?", asked Laura.
"She said, that the cave explorer's rather unoriginal personality in his presence didn't confuse his fellow explorers, but to their extreme embarrassment, he was quite insipid, and what truly set him apart was that even though he looked rather ragged and had a short temper, he always wore extremely flamboyant and ornate accessories that were never in stingy supply, and they passively gave in because they only kept him around for the 'yes-man' that he was.", translated Vincent.
"YEP!", said Rachel. "HE GOT IT! Laura?" She was unconscious and confused on the ground.
"So. . .many words. . .", she said. "Head. . .spinning. . . Please stop the room, I would like to get off. . ."
"HA, HA! THE BENEFIT OF READING THE DICTIONARY!", laughed Rachel.
"That's because you have no life. . .", said Vincent.
"Don't remind me. . .", she sobbed.
"Ah, almost done. . ." It was late at night, at about 2:30 in the morning, where Lucrecia was still in the basement. She had taken all of her meals there, in favor of completing her latest masterpiece, and there was a console in front of the two green tubes where Zack and Cloud were once held. It still had the scratch marks of Cloud's nails. "I think. . .maybe. . . I'll just. . ." She collapsed on her console, with a few straight black hairs in her hand. Her memory recoiled back to the events that led up to this.
"The Turks are in need of our old leader.", said Elena. "This egotistical big shot," He eyes went to Reno, taking a nap while resting his head on his hand. "isn't cutting it, and I don't have enough seniority in the Turks to take up Tseng's old spot." Lucrecia took a sip of tea from her cup, and scooted forward in her seat a bit.
"But, he's dead.", said Lucrecia. "You can't revive him."
"There is a way. . .", said Elena. She pulled out a few black hairs. "This is where Hojo's old lab used to be. Here, he tested on MAKO showers and treatments, and Jenova cell injections. You have one such experiment. Cloud Strife." Elena too took a sip of tea. "He was a success, in a way. All the data is kept in the library downstairs. And so, we also have Hojo's old assistant here. I should hope she is much better than him."
"Well, I have done a FEW experiments, and I was there when he did his operations on Vincent. . ." Vincent was standing in the shadows up the stairs, where nobody could see him. His eyes darted to his mechanical hand, and moved the fingers a bit, letting his eyes furrow with hate, but he looked back at Lucrecia. "So, I might recall all the successes and failures. What do you propose?"
"I propose. . ." Reno began snoring. "Ugh. Wait a second. WAKE UP YOU GOOD FOR NOTHING SO-CALLED LEADER!" She smacked him on the head, and he bolted up. Rude was standing in the corner with a smile.
"OW! I'M THE LEADER! I COULD DEMOTE YOU!"
"ME?! HAH! YOU NEED ME, AND YOU KNOW IT!"
"WHY YOU-
"Please, just get to the point.", said Lucrecia.
"This is his DNA.", said Elena, referring to the strands of hair in her hand.
"Lovely thing deoxyribonucleic acid is, isn't it?", asked Lucrecia.
"Indeed.", said Elena.
"What? Lovely who-in-a-what now?", asked Reno.
"Go and just get a drink. . .", sighed Elena.
"Heh, best thing I've heard all day. . .", he said, getting up to go to the kitchen.
"Mmm, I miss him. . .", sighed Elena. But she retained her seriousness. "But I cannot let my sentiments distract me. With any form of DNA, you can replicate, or clone a human being. According to the doctor's research, there is another way of completing this. A faster, and more accurate way. All I need, is his DNA, and some form of ovum and sperm."
"Wow, talking middle school health class, are we?", asked Reno, walking back in with some brandy.
"Shut up.", said Elena. "We must remain serious. Here are the samples." She handed Lucrecia a jar. "That is the sperm. We retrieved that here in this very lab, years ago. It has been frozen, and preserved. The problem is. . ."
"No ova?", asked Lucrecia. "I shall attain some. Somehow. . ."
Lucrecia broke out of her flashback, and stood up, rubbing her eyes. The jar was in a holding tank, connected to the one tank on the right. The ova was on the other side of the same tank, and was connected to that. She put her glasses back on, and continued to work.
"What's she doing?", asked Cloud to himself. He watched Lucrecia, and when she finally stood up with a smile, do a bit of a dance, hug the console, and traipse off to bed. He sneaked into the basement through the small window, and crawled through, curious to the invention of hers. "What's this?" He pressed a few buttons on the console, and one of the tubes opened. Walking towards it, he stood in front of it put his head in, and scratched his head. "This is one freaky thing. Bad memories, too. . . AW CRAP!" He heard footsteps coming his way. He climbed back up through the small window, making it in time to escape Lucrecia's sight.
"Whoops! Forgot to get my data!" She picked up her clipboard, and saw the open tank. "Did I leave this open?" She pressed a button, and the tank closed again. "BETTER!" She left again, and Cloud was gone as well.
The left holding tank began to fill with some sort of liquid. The right was filling as well. The right was the one Cloud had opened, and the two jars were being emptied as it filled, and some of its material went into the right tank. It gave an eerie green glow, as the lights on the console blinked on and off, and something began to form. Something very small, but it was definitely there. Something. . .
"YAAAY!" Lucrecia was running down the stairs with her clipboard in hand. It was about 8:30 in the morning, and she seemed very enthusiastic. "I CAN'T WAIT TO TRY OUT MY MACHINE!" She opened the door to the lab, whistling a tune, and as soon as the green light met her blue eyes, she stopped dead in her tracks.
AN3: YEAH! A LUCRECIA EPISODE!
Konoshi: ::grabs AN3's shirt collar:: WHEN WILL IT BE COMPLETED?!
AN3: Er, soon?
Konoshi: Good answer!
AN3: AND, as I promised, a look at what Sephiroth looked like in high school. . .
Sephy lovers: OOOOOOOH!
Sephiroth: NOOOOOO!
AN3: showing picture of guy in glasses, a retainer, and long silver hair with uneven bangs It says, 'most likely to be a. . .postal worker.
Everyone: WHAT?!
Cloud: Well, she sure did go postal.
AN3: No, that wasn't that funny. I DO HAVE CLIP OF HIS PAST, HOWEVER!
Sephiroth: HOW?!
AN3: A guy in the media club when you went to school let me have it. It says. . . "Sephiroth and Aeris"? You knew each other?
Aeris: Well, now that you mention it, I DO remember a short guy with silver hair. Sephiroth DOES look a little bit like him. LET ME SEE! slaps retainer in his mouth YES! THAT'S HIM!
Sephiroth: AW, GOD!
AN3: HAH! SHALL WE ROLL THE CLIP?!
Sephy lovers: YES! YES! ROLL THE CLIP!
Sephiroth: NOW I REMEMBER THIS! NO! NOT THIS CLIP! IT'S. . . IT'S. . .
AN3: WHAT?! EMBARASSING?!
Sephiroth: Angst. A lot of angst.
AN3: Whoa. A clip of him, getting all. . .angsty. ALL THE MORE REASON TO PLAY IT! HERE IS OUR NEW CHARACTER, KRISTI! ROLL THE CLIP!
Kristi: GOTCHA!
It was sunset on the top of a high school, on the upper plate of Midgar. You could see the ocean. Aeris Gainsborough was sitting atop the entrance to the roof, looking into the sunset. A boy of about mid-stature opens the door, wearing a retainer and clothing that looks a bit too small for him.
"Dammit. . .", he says. Aeris looks down below at him there. "That stupid pack of idiots. I CAN'T TAKE IT! If they'd just stop insulting me. . ." Aeris looked at him with a bit of compassion in her eyes, but stays silent. He takes off his small jacket, and slings it over his shoulder to show him in a white undershirt, he brushes his bangs off to the side, and removes his retainer. He takes off his glasses, and looks into the sunset on the horizon. "Dammit. . ."
"Hey, are you okay?" Aeris jumped off the top of the entrance and walked over to him.
"GET AWAY!", he yelled. "Oh. Sorry. Hey, you're that girl. . . Aeris?"
"Yeah, top of the class.", she said, giving him a reassuring smile.
AN3: This is getting good. . . eats popcorn
Sadie: Nah. Way too unrealistic.
Everyone: SHHHH!
Sephiroth: ::sobs::
"What's up?", she asked.
"Nothing that concerns you.", he said.
"I think it does, somehow.", she replied. "Those popular guys picking on you again? It looks like you have a pretty nice build. Why are you taking that crap?"
"Do you honestly expect me to win against all of them?", he asked. "Dammit, I hate them."
"You have your own friends. Like that underclassman. He's the exchange student, right? What was it? Cloud?"
Cloud: ::blushes::
AN3: Well I sure learned something new today. . .
"Yeah, but he won't be here forever. And he's the same size as I am! Way too puny. . ."
"Judging from your clothes, you're having growth spurts.", she said, pointing to his jacket.
"And why am I listening to a sophomore?"
"Because, there's no one else to talk to, is there?", she asked. "So what if you're unpopular? So what? It doesn't stop you from anything."
"In a society that demands perfection, it's harder than you think.", he said, his eyes growing colder. "You're just fine. Not only do you score high, but you're well. . .pretty."
"Heh, thanks.", she said, brushing away hair that was being blown in her face. "That's the first time anybody ever said that."
"PFFF! Doubt it. . .", he said.
"No really. . .", she said. "And I'm not perfect. I'm as poor as dirt."
"But you can still make it somewhere. I'm doomed. My grades suck, I'm way too gawky, and I don't have many friends. You probably won't be selling flowers on the street. You'll be running Shinra or something."
AN3: Oh, how ironic. . .
Cloud: WHO'S PUNY?!
Everyone: SSSHHHH!
"Don't lose faith.", she said. "You have a lot of talent. I've seen you, practicing kendo in the park. You're very good."
"You were watching? I mean, uh, thanks. . .", he said. "HEY!" She took his glasses, and walked over to the edge.
"You know, you're pretty cute without glasses.", she said. He blushed a bit.
Rachel: AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! LOOK AT THAT!
Sephiroth: Sh-shut up. . .
"I, uh, buh, um. . . But you're relatively popular, right?", he asked.
"I wouldn't say so.", she said. "I'm not rich enough to be. But just think for a moment. Just look those guys in the eye, pull a few sword moves, and scare em' off. Intimidation is the key. I believe you'll have a lot of influence somehow in the future. Just fight for what you want. And plus. . ." She threw him back his glasses. "You've got nice eyes. Try showing them off sometime." She walked back down the stairs, and he just stood there.
"I guess you're right. . .", he said. "I guess, I'll fight. I'll be as powerful as I need to be!" The clip ended.
AN3: So, it's YOUR fault he's so maniacal, is it?
Aeris: THAT'S NOT WHAT I MEANT, YOU IDIOT!
Sephiroth: But thinking about it now, I just killed the girl who inspired me to be powerful and godly in the first place. WOW, THAT'S REALLY IRONIC!
Surka: Not to mention that clip was totally unrealistic.
Sephiroth: You really think I have nice eyes?
Aeris: I meant, that you should do what you think is right. BURNING DOWN BUILDINGS AND KILLING THE MASSES DOES NOT CONSTITUTE AS BEING RIGHT!
Sephiroth: But it's what I think is right!
Sadie: He's gotcha there.
AN3: God, these are long ending notes. The next post should be soon. That's about all I have to say. Yeah. Goodbye now. walks off