A/N This chapter is rate 'R' because of violence and slight gore.
Chapter Three: Hostile Encounters
A lone gaurd stood at his post at the entrance of the stairway. His head lolled forward slightly before jerking back suddenly. Cursing under his breath, he still had four more hours until his shift was over and here he was falling asleep on duty. He was unable to comprehend the need for gaurds at the stairways any how. Nothing could penetrate the security ShinRa had set up all over the building. He leaned back against the door, maybe just a little sleep wouldn't hurt...
Before he could close his eyes he heard someone climbing the stairway below him. Quickly he ran to the side and leaned over to get a good look at the on comer. But there was nothing, not a trace of anyone. Some one must be playing me for a fool... He turned to walk back to the door but ill-fatedly walked into the blade of the masamune, his attacker thrusting the blade deeper within.
The guard choked, blood seeping from the corners of his lips. A thin river of crimson streamed down his chin trickling onto the lengthy blade impaled in his torso. His eyes started to glaze feeling the icy chill of death slowing taking hold. He took a final glimpse of his pale haired murder seconds before slipping off into darkness.
Removing his masamune from the collapsing corpse the assailant wasted no time in searching the body and salvaging his key card. With a single swipe the doors opened and he continued up the stairs with astonshing speed.
Upon arriving a large laboratory structure his face lit with a ghost of a smile. His eyes were vivid with anticipation as he reached his destination. Upon using the keycard that he recovered, he was able to enter undetected. The airtight door slid smoothly aside and he stepped through catiously. Seeing no one to hinder his mission, he proceeded without hesitation.
Treading carefully as not to disturb the peacefulness of the lab,he made his way through the dimly lit room. He paid no mind to the LCD lights that flickerd and monitored different devices used throughought the room. Lights reflected off test tubes of all shapes and sizes casting ribbons of light onto the surfaceTo the rights a large cat like creature raked its claws down the side of its glass prison. The intruder, however, remained focused on the large steel tank sitting in the far left of the room. Peering through the small, round, glass window he gazed in at the object he had been searching for. The grotesque figure was suspended in the middle of the tank by wires and tubes running through all parts of its twisted mass
'The body of Jenova'
Taking a step back he grinned in triumph before frocefully striking the tank with his blade. Streams of cooled gases and compressed air shot out from between the cracks of the shattered tank. The body of Jenova twitched and starting moving slowly, a writhing mass of tubes and wires dragging behind it as it moved facing her son.
'I've finally freed you mother, together we shall bring upon this planet its final condemnation'
Jenova's voice slithered into his mind, 'All in good time, but now the reunion awaits and I leave you here to seek revenge on the ShinRa. Kill the president and all who stand in and all who stand in you way.'
He smirked,'gladly.'
The body moved to turn away but suddenly froze as is if caught of gaurd by something.
'Mother?'
'Take the girl!' a voice commanded sharply with his head.
'What girl?' he thought turning to face the direction where Jenova now faced. His gaze drifted over to the familiar flower girl that had caused him so much trouble.Why is she here? She was huddled at the far end of the glass dome where she was being held captive, her knees pulled to her chest and eyes wide with fear and acknowledgement.
He chuckled darkly as if it were all a joke, 'She has no use to us, the weak are only a burden.'
Jenova jeered meanicingly 'You do not sense her aura, my son. Inside that girl resides a great power. What this power truly is I am uncertain but we shall weild it to our cause. It may very well be that the Cetra will play a deciding role in the planet's fate.' Finishing she severed her communication with her son and retreated to discover the location of her head.
He clenched his fist in frustration, the girl would only slow his progress. None the less he would not disobey mothers wishes.
He strode toward the glass container. Unsheathing his sword he thrust the hilt into the glass shattering it, falling in a sheet to the ground.
He took a step toward the girl, the glass that littered the floor crackling and breaking under his weight. His glowing eyes shifted downward settling upon the shuddering girl.
"Come," he ordered, his voice icy and impatient.
"I won't," she choked pressing herself against the back wall striving to put as much space between them as possible.
"Oh really?" he smirked at her trivial attempt to defy his will.
He directed his blade toward her putting the tip under her chin seeing her swallow hard. He tapped the blade three times against the under side of her throat making the point clear; she had no say in this decision.
Rising slowly, her knees shaking, she stood to meet her captor. She felt the sword drop away from her chin and she let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding. She took a hesitant step toward him, then another. The sound of crushing glass drowning out the faint sound of sirens which were giving warning of infiltration. Funny, those alarms would give her hope the maybe, somehow, someone would find her here and possibly imprison her again. She feared the man before her above all else, even the ShinRa.
She raised her head to look at him, shards of gleaming glass falling from her chestnut tresses. She struggled to calm her nerves, but found it nearly impossible under his close scrutiny. Never the less she refused to back down and kept eye contact with him until she was only a width away. Her body was trembling with trepidation and a sick anticipation of what was to become of her.
He grapsed her forearm forcibly leading her out of the labortory and up the seemingly endless stairway leading to the top of ShinRa Headquaters.
The pair made their way to the apex of the building without resistance; all gaurds had retreated to lower levels to look for intruders, leaving the president vunerable.
Using the keycard he had confinscated earlier, they took the elevator two floors up. The clean glass door slide aside revealing a large stainless steel door with the ShinRa logo in the center. He sneered and then turned to Aeris.
"Take cover when once we are inside."
She nodded somberly,to scared to do other wise.
He turned back to the door unsheathing his sword and with one strong kick the doors parted inwards and he was inside followed closely by Aeris.
Standing in the middle of a large conference room his eyes taking in the familiar office. To his suprise there were no Turks in sight. The president had a habit of dismissing them when night fell allowing him some privacy. His privacy, however, would be his folly. The president was busy at his desk writing on a legal document.
"What in gods name-" he said looking up at the former general. He was silent his mouth agape in disbelief as he grew pale.
The next instant he was on his feet running as fast as he could toward a pad of numbers that had been installed on the wall. In all his panic he tripped over his own feet and rolled to the ground.
The ShinRa president collapsed to his knees in utter anxiety. A faint smile of satisfaction played across the executioners face as he approached the plump, short statured man, bringing the blade to the man's throat. A cold sweat made the president's brow glisten as his beady eyes shifted from side to side praying for an escape.
"Sephiroth," he stammered," I thought you were dead."
"Lies!" shouted Sephiroth kicking and sending the round man flying across the room. "If you believed me dead I would not have been pursued by Turks!"
"Sephiroth...I," he groaned trying to raise his battered body from the floor. He coughed violently spattering blood across the carpeted floor.
"All ShinRa is good for is lies," Sephiroth scorned raising his masamune above his head preparing to slice the cringing man in two.
As he was preparing to strike a soft whimper from the back of the room made him freeze. His eyes narrowed at the president then he quickly turned to Aeris. The flower girl was hidden by the shadows cast in the far right corner of the room. She sat clutching her knees, rocking softly on her heels, unable to disguise her terror striken face.
"Close your eyes," he instructed returning his attention to the quivering man beneath him.
Aeris raised her shaking hands to her face trying ot shield her eyes from the morbid scene.
The sounds of tearing flesh pierced through the stifling air followed by screams of agony. They subsided momentarily as she heard the man begin to choke on his own blood. Then echoing through the empty room came the strident crack as Sephiroth broke the man's spine. A slight gush came as he removed his weapon from the limp carcass.
Aeris removed her hands from her face though her eyes remained shut. She lacked the courage to open her eyes and peer upon the distressing scene she knew was before her. A dream, it had to be. When she opened her eyes she would be at the church...
Her eyes slowly fluttered open and gazed upon Sephiroth. He stood over the fallen president, a look of disgust upon his face while cleaning traces of blood off his blade. It appeared as if killing the president was not even worth his time.
Aeris closed her eyes tightly in a desperate attempt to erase the lucid scene from memory. An ominous thought crossed her mind.
Will I share the same fate?
Her eyes rushed open once again at the sound of his dark voice. "Time to go."
Her mind instinctivly told her to run, but her feet remained cemented to the ground. She knew that to try to run from him was a futile effort. She had witnessed his inhuman speed and knew that running would only result in being caught and possibly being killed in the same fashion.
"Go," he demanded once more, gesturing toward the door. She hesitated and he grew impatient grabbing her arm he pulled to her feet. She exited and he followed closing the heavy doors behind him.
They made their way back down the building using the stairs which were rarely used and only in the case of an emergency. The stairs would help to avoid any aggresors or unwanted attetion that might delay them. The flower girl was also a becoming a burden, though she did not say a word he could tell she was exhausted from running and lack of sleep most likely due to the experimentations Hojo had conducted on her.
'A Cetra' his mother had said, the sworn enemy of Jenova, complete and total opposites. Yet his mother insisted on bringing her with him. Surely the power she possesed was one they could do without. Though one could never be to sure of himself, he would have to trust her judgement.
He increased his speed. Looking back at the girl he saw her stumble and fall in efforts to keep up with him. Releasing a low groan of irritation he grabbed her by the waist and unceremoniously threw her over his shoulder despite her protest. Without the girl to hold him back he took off down the stairs in a black-silver blur.
After getting over the initial shock, Aeris pounded her fist against Sephiroth's back.
"Put me down! This isn't how you treat a lady!" she cried.
" Would you prefer me to leave you here only to be found by a SOLDIER? You would be killed on sight as an accomplice. At least with me you'll live," he smiled malevolently, "for a while that is."
With that she silenced and allowed the stranger to carry the rest of the way down. Before she knew it they were out of the building. Sephiroth blended into the night keeping in the shadows and alleyways, using all means of stealth. Aeris looked up at the moon slowly sinking into the horizon.
I wonder what he plans to do wtih me....
A few hours after their escape, Cloud cautiously approached the laboratory. Seeing no signs of the gaurds or anyone for that matter he silently slipped into the darkened room. Following Cloud a young woman named Tifa looked around the lab with a puzzled expression.
"This is the only place not littered with bodies," she said suspiciously.
"Ya, kinda freaky," said a large man stepping on a test tube that had fallen unto the floor. Attatched to the man's arm was a large assault gun the he readied in case of an ambush.
"I'm sure that word got to the upper floors and they fled," replied Cloud who knew ShinRa better than anyone in the group. He began inspecting a jar containing a swirling green liquid. "There seems to be no sign of Aeris on this floor either," he added looking disappointed.
"Maybe they released her?" offered Tifa, "There seems to be no real sign of a struggle. Perhaps she never made it here at all."
"I'm a afraid you're mistaken, there was a girl being kept here recently," a bodiless voice rang.
The party turned looking for the source only to find a scarlet colored feline that paced within its glass cage.
"Who said that," demanded Barret looking around gun-arm raised.
The beast stopped in front of them, "I did," it replied.
"HOLY SHIT!" shouted Barret firing his weapon uncontrolably and shattering the glass tank.
The cat-like creature remained unscathed and exited through the opening.
"Thank you, I am in you debt," he said bowing slightly.
Barret stood in disbelief, but cloud stepped toward the specimen.
"Where did they take Aeris?"
The creature looked at him with a bright gold eye, "A man with silver hair, cloaked in black took her with him earlier this evening," he answered gracefully walking over the shattered glass pane. "The man freed her but then incompacitated her, taking her out of the lab quite hastily."
Cloud hesitated, deep in thought. (a/n: cloud deep in thought lmao!!)
"Can you show us?"
The feline jumped past them through the open door."Its the least I can do for freeing me. We have not been properly introduced, my name is Red XII."
Tifa laughed and scratched his head playfully, "Welcome to AVALANCHE Red, lead the way."
a/n: sry guys that felt like it took forever! groan sry about my slight cloud bashing up there but he's not my favorite charcter cough cough Anywho now that all this junk is out of the way we can get to the juicy stuff! On with the amore!