"Everything
is falling into place," Hojo cackled, shuffling across the cold
stone floor. He glanced over his shoulder at the opposite wall, where
something sat in a glowing green liquid. Eight test tubes about seven
feet tall lined the walls, each containing a faint human-like figure.
He heard shouts echoing up the hallway and shook his head, moving
around to the control panel at the head of the room. He flipped a
switch and one of the test tubes hissed. The glass slid apart and the
figure collapsed onto the cold ground in a pool of green liquid. Its
eyes glowed lethally up at Hojo, who cackled again and grinned down
at the shape on the floor.
"...Master."
Hojo laughed even
harder, flipping up the other seven switches. Each capsule spilled
its contents onto the floor, and eight shapes clustered together
against the green light emitting from the walls. The mad scientist's
breaths quickened and he giggled insanely, clapping his hands like a
child who is ready to play a game.
"Let's see what you can
do!"
Cloud and Zeo burst into the room.
"Hojo!"
Cloud yelled up to the man on the platform.
Red XIII stopped
beside them, gasping slightly for breath.
"Couldn't find your
way?" he panted. "Anyone could follow this idiot's
laughter!"
The rest of the group arrived, but Hojo was too
intent on something in the center of his lab to give the others much
more than a glance.
"Zeo, you brought them to me. Good
work."
"What!" everyone turned to look at the white-haired
youth. He flushed, taking a step back.
"I did not bring them to
you; I brought them here to kill you!" he stammered out.
"Say
what you want," Hojo finally turned his twisted face to them.
"Zeo,
is he telling the truth?" Tifa asked softly.
"No!" he
cried.
"I knew it," Cloud snarled, pulling out the Ultima
Sword.
"Wait–" Zeo tried, but then something shot out and
grabbed him by the throat. He gasped, then he was tossed back over
the person's shoulder.
"Zeo!" Tifa ran to him. The others
took a step back–no one had been in the room other than Hojo, so
what had that been? As if to answer the unspoken question, the person
stepped into their view.
It was Vincent Valentine.
"Vince!"
Yuffie gaped.
"I'm right here," he replied. The others
turned to look at him. He hadn't moved. They looked back at the
other Vincent, whom was grinning from beneath his hood. He wore a red
suit and a black cape, a silver plaited claw on his right arm.
"He's
completely opposite," Nanaki growled.
"A clone," Cid
gulped.
Another figure stepped beside the imposter: Yuffie
Kisaragi.
"Hey!" she yelped.
Her clone wore a red tank
top and blue jean shorts, a black arm shield connected to her right
shoulder. Her shurinkan was wrapped with black ribbon. "Yuffie"
grinned at them smugly. Red XIII appeared; he had blood red fur and a
diamond on his tail. His spiked hair had changed to black. Barret
Wallace came into sight next, still as tall and dark as ever, with a
black leather outfit, black boots, and a bronze-plaited gun on his
left arm. Next was Cid Highwind, in a red jacket, white shirt, and
tan pants. His own Venus Gospel was silver and blue. Behind him was
Cait Sith, dark pink instead of the original cotton candy hue. The
cat perched on its head was a white and beige calico cat with a
silver megaphone.
"They're exactly like us!" Cait Sith
wailed.
"He did it..." Zeo gasped as Tifa helped him limp
over to them. "Hojo's released the clones."
"But you
haven't seen my two greatest creations! Behold!" the evil
scientist cackled, throwing a switch. Lights flooded the huge
laboratory, making the group shield their eyes from the glare. Two
figures walked through the glare and stood before the pack of clones.
Cloud looked up at them first, and his jaw dropped.
"Holy
shit..." he whispered. Tifa blindly reached out for him and grabbed
his hand. She squeezed it tightly. Cloud looked over at her. She was
still supporting Zeo, but looked like she was about to collapse
herself. She chewed convulsively on her bottom lip, her eyes wide in
fright.
The first clone was an exact duplicate of Tifa Lockheart:
the black skirt, white tank top, leather gloves and boots, and long
dark hair. Only her eyes had changed to a shining a lethal green. The
second clone was Cloud Strife–another mirror image. From the top of
his blond spikes, to the dark-blue mercenary uniform, to the armor,
everything was exactly the same. Only this Cloud wore a dark,
maniacal grin, and his eyes shone an evil green as well.
Hojo
giggled like a small child. "Isn't this fun!"
"Fun!"
Yuffie gulped, staring at the clones in disbelief.
"That's
hardly the word I would use," Vincent grumbled.
"I...am
really...good-looking!" Cid gulped, trying to make a joke out of
it.
"Cid, now's not the time..." Cloud said nervously.
Tifa
backed away, dragging Zeo with her. He pulled away and limped
forward.
"Zeo, what are you doing!" she hissed.
"Hojo,
I'm going to stop you," Zeo grunted, gathering energy. He began
to glow bright red, and the floor beneath their feet began to
shake.
"He's summoning! We have to go, now!" Cloud
cried.
"What 'bout him!" Barret motioned to Zeo. Sparks of
energy had begun to flicker up around him.
"Run!" he hissed,
his eyes turning blood red. "Run, now!"
"Zeo?" Tifa
blinked.
"Come on, Tifa!" Red XIII pulled on her skirt. She
continued to watch the white-haired boy in wonder. Something in the
other reality shrieked and started to come forth.
"Time to go!"
Yuffie ran from the room. Vincent wordlessly followed. Then went
Barret, Cait Sith, and Cid.
"Move it!" Cloud grabbed Tifa
about the waist and shoved her forward. She stumbled into a run, he
and Nanaki following behind her.
Out in the corridor Vincent
was pulling out a summons of his own. The six-winged silver dragon
shrieked loudly, appearing before them.
"Get on!" he ordered,
leaping onto BahamutZERO's back. Yuffie scrambled up to sit in
front of him and Cloud and Tifa climbed on as well. Cid quickly
summoned NeoBahamut and he, Barret, Nanaki, and Cait Sith climbed
onto the red dragon's back. Both creatures roared and flapped their
tremendous wings, making the entire Shin-Ra building tremble. The
walls and ceiling started falling in around them, and they made their
way through the debris and up to the night sky. A low, yellow moon
shone at them through the clear night, illuminating the two dragons
speeding away from the large building. Tifa kept looking back over
her shoulder. Cloud looked too.
"He'll be fine, Tifa," he
assured. She opened her mouth to reply when she saw something that
made her eyes grow large. Cloud focused on the sky above the receding
building and saw a huge animal with three pairs of wings, each having
a tremendous span. It screamed, a beam of yellow light falling from
the moon and illuminating the Shin-Ra building. Red electricity
gathered around it, glowing brighter and brighter, until the building
itself imploded. The flare of light made Tifa and Cloud squint as
they tried to see the large animal again. However, they had gone too
far and the battlefield was lost behind the horizon.
"Zeo..."
Tifa whispered.
