Impossible Materia

As Gohan's eyes fell on the man that lay at his feet, he met those bright, clear, blue eyes. What was he doing?! This was CLOUD! Why were they fighting?

Gohan fell to his knees and gripped his head.

Remember? He was going to kill you and destroy Earth. His friends already killed Mr. Piccolo. Why are you hesitating?

No, had that really happened? How had Gohan seen it? He had been here the whole time! He couldn't have seen that fight!

You did.

NO! It was impossible! What was happening? What had happened? It didn't make any sense!

FOOL!

Suddenly, an unbearable streak of pain jolted Gohan's thoughts. It felt like his mind itself was being shredded even though the pain never touched his body. It was worse than anything Gohan had ever endured. Gripping his skull didn't help at all, but maybe it would, maybe it could ease the racking pain that threatened to push him over the edge of sanity.

*~*~*~*

It was hopeless. Cloud waited for the end and hoped that the Jenova within him would do the same for him as it had done for Hojo. He couldn't die yet! He had to fight for the Planet!

Then, suddenly Gohan collapsed in a convulsing heap.

Good boy, Cloud thought. Fight her with everything you've got.

A strangely inhuman cry escaped from Gohan's lips as his convulsing increased. Cloud recognized it all too well, the price for resistance, but, he hoped that Gohan was strong enough to push back Jenova's control, even if temporarily. Both of their survivals depended on it.

*~*~*~*

Vincent slowly sat up holding his aching head. What had happened? The last thing he remembered was...

Vincent jumped up, the pain in his head being overpowered by the pain in his heart. The forlorn expression in Lucrecia's eyes was enough to tear him apart. Glancing around, he angrily realized he wasn't in Midgar anymore. Taking a moment to observe his surroundings, Vincent knew exactly where he was, and, noting Aeris, Tifa, and Nanaki who were laying around him, they were in trouble. The wet mossy terrain that stretched as far as the eye could see and the small peaks of a distant mountain range extending over the Southern and Western horizons told him all he needed to know. They were in the wetlands.

That meant the Midgar Zolem could show at any time.

Who ever had dropped them all here had meant business Vincent realized, as he was horrified to find that he was weaponless and without a single piece of materia. Fervently he hoped that he was the only one in such a bad predicament.

As Aeris slowly came to and sat up, she seemed as surprised as Vincent had been. "Where's Gohan!!!"

"Your guess is as good as mine," Vincent returned coldly. "but I assume in the same place as Lucrecia."

"Lucrecia," Aeris repeated softly. "Vincent, I'm sorry."

Vincent shook his head. "What do you have to be sorry for?"

"I," Aeris look as though she would start to cry any moment. "I had the chance to save them, but I didn't."

"It's not your fault," Vincent felt awkward. He'd lived without emotion for so long that this open show of it put him off balance. "There was nothing you cold do."

"But there was," Tifa murmured, hearing the conversation as she, too, sat up. "We were there when Sephiroth appeared. "He gave us time to get out, but we wouldn't."

"I wanted to know why," Aeris justified. "I wanted to understand what was happening. I asked him what he was going to do, what was going to be born there."

Vincent listened intently. Born? Aeris always knew more than anyone else when things went astray so he didn't doubt the validity of her words, but born? Memories of Lucrecia's face sprang to his memory. It had better not have anything to do with her. She'd already suffered far more than her share. "What did he say?" Vincent forced himself to refrain from wording it as it came to mind. Calling Sephiroth Lucrecia's son would do no good right now. That reminded him. Poor Lucrecia had thought Sephiroth was dead; what pain the truth must have brought to her.

"He said that Jenova would be reborn there, but I don't understand what that means," Aeris shook her head. A few phrases from the Ancients came back to her. How did "the Mother of Darkness", "pains of birth", and "from the spirit" fit into this? There definitely was a connection, but it was hard to tell what exactly it all meant.

"So that's what Hojo meant," Nanaki grumbled, shaking violently to rid his fur of the rancid water he'd been laying in.

"What do you mean Red XIII?" Tifa asked, brushing off what filth she could.

"Hojo said that Jenova needed the rest of her 'puppets' to complete her reunion and continue her life cycle," Nanaki answered.

"That means Gohan!" Aeris exclaimed, eyes widening with fear.

"And Cloud," Tifa continued.

"The reunion would kill them," Vincent observed. "And Hojo's already got Lucrecia, Cloud, and Gohan."

Silence decended for a while as everyone idly tried to clean themselves or do anything to appear as calm as ever. But the tension could be felt on the air no matter how hard they tried to cover it up.

"Wait a minute," Tifa suddenly sputtered. "Where's my materia?!"

Vincent had been hoping that this wasn't the case, but as one by one they realized they were weaponless and without materia his faint hopes were shot down. "Then we better find a way to get out of here fast," he commented without a hint of fear. "The Midgar Zolem could find us at any time."

As if by the workings of the curse that hung heavily on Vincent's shoulders, a shadow fell over the people. Upon looking up, they were confronted with the flat ugly face of the giant black serpent called the Midgar Zolem. It was legend that the Midgar Zolem preyed on anything that entered the swamp, and the stories had been proved time and time again. Without a Chocobo to outrun the snake, there was no escape from this hopeless battle.

*~*~*~*

"How long do we wait?" Yuffie asked anxiously jumping up and down while straining to see anything on the surface.

"I dunno," Barret replied. That bratty little girl was starting to get on his nerves. "Would you jus' sit yo ass down?"

"Well that's mean!" Yuffie retorted, angrily looking up at Barret. The two had been sitting on the Highwind's deck impatiently for nearly two hours with no result.

"I wish that *(%&# would get his spiky ass up here quick so we could get the %(#*$ outta here!" Barret ignored Yuffie's hurt looks. They were probably all just for show anyway.

"Well there's nothing WE can do about it," she spat back the comment like acid. Who did that guy think he was?

"Maybe there is," another voice entered the conversation from behind. "Vegeta and I are going to go down. It's been too long and those guys might need some backup."

Turning, Barret and Yuffie barely had enough time to see who was talking before the Namek, followed closely by Vegeta, flew over the edge of the deck and plummeted toward the green scenery below.

"Well I hope they get back 'ere without gettin' their asses whooped," Barret commented dully, watching them disappear. "I wouldn't wanna deal wi' Cloud when he gets back if they're dead or somethin'."

*~*~*~*

Something was wrong. Both he and Piccolo had sensed the irregularities in Gohan's energy and they both feared the same thing. Whatever this strange phenomenon called Jenova was, it was killing that boy. Fortunately, Vegeta reflected, after the first time he'd fought with the mysterious voice in his head, he hadn't had to deal with it anymore. If his assumptions were right, the Jenova could be over come by the power of will. Thankfully, Vegeta with his royal blood had had no problem with that at all.

Suddenly, a new energy snapped Vegeta's attention away from his thoughts. No, it wasn't new, and that made it all the better. He'd now have the chance to exact his revenge on that man that had brought him here in the beginning. That man the others called Sephiroth. And now that he was stuck in a minimum of Super Saijin and had once found his way into Super Saijin 2, it shouldn't be difficult to raise his power to a level that would destroy this insignificant fly of a human. Barely wasting any time on the matter, Vegeta was glad to see that Piccolo also spotted the silver haired warrior hovering menacingly above the forest's canopy. This way he wouldn't have to worry about saving the Namek from a surprise attack.

"Vegeta stop!" Piccolo shouted, halting when the black clad foe became easily seen. "We can't fight him! There's something wrong!"

"Nonsense!" Vegeta reprimanded the Namek's cowardice. "This will be over quickly."

"No."

"And why shouldn't I give him what he deserves?" Vegeta asked acidly, finally stopping his own flight. He didn't turn to face Piccolo for fear of turning his back on an enemy, but continued the conversation either way. "I see nothing that raises alarm. My last difficulties were due to those blasted little stones and this man has but one."

"That's why we can't fight him! Vegeta look at it once!" Piccolo demanded respect, even from the mighty Saijin Prince. "Materia only come in a few colors, and they're always solid in color. Take a look at that thing once!!"

Vegeta didn't see what the problem was. After all, it was a huge number of those stones that defeated him in the last battle, what could that one do? True, it was odd, what with all of its swirling colors and rather large size, but that didn't mean anything, did it?

"They aren't supposed to be like that!" Piccolo warned. "That should be impossible! Vegeta, this's bad. We need to get down in there, now! Cloud needs to hear about this!"

Why should they go to that imbecile of a human? They could deal with this situation, then, when they beat the crap out of this granny they could find their own way back home.

A bone chilling sound cut Vegeta to the bone and made his skin crawl as though it were alive and separate from himself.

These beings were so amusing. Sephiroth lowered his wrist from his face as he finished of a deep laugh accompanied by his famous pose. They had no idea what they were dealing with, the pathetic mortals. Not that it mattered to him, he would serve his Mother well and see her perfection completed. She deserved perfection like he had after all that she'd been through. Enough idle thought, it was time for action.

"Vegeta watch out!"

Vegeta hadn't even seen the attack coming.

It was impossible for someone to have such speed. Even Kakarot could be seen, or rather felt, even if he couldn't be kept up with. But this was truly impossible. Still, the blade that had made its temporary home in his abdomen and the strong lethal embrace that held him and the blade in place were evidence that it could happen. Vegeta felt the life draining out of him. With every passing second escape was less and less possible. And there was nothing Vegeta could do free himself. The lethal embrace that trapped him was far stronger than he could hope of being with that infernal weapon drawing the life out of him.

Piccolo watch, horrified, as the silver haired man's long katana slowly received more and more of Vegeta's weight. With every moment the Saijin's body slouched a little more and Piccolo, himself, was unable to move.

Those cold green eyes like icy fire held him as surely as those strong arms held Vegeta. They were both in for hell.

Note: I couldn't kill off Vegeta, now could I? I don't think so either, but how's he gonna get out of the pickle his attitude got him into this time?