Chapter 14
He couldn't stand it, Hojo was laughing.
"Vincent, my boy. Good to see you again." Hojo greeted him.
"Damn you, Hojo. What are you up to now!"
"Just my research, a good scientist always continues, no matter what happens."
So you're behind the light that transported everyone!" Irvine accused from behind Vincent.
Hojo frowned "Alas, I am not. I wish it was me, it's an incredible achievement."
Vincent was almost at bursting point. He could sense his body wanting to change.
"Ah, whatever could the matter be, my boy." Hojo looked at him "Having trouble forgiving me for what I did to you? Ha, Ha, Ha. Feel free to let the anger out." Hojo's form shimmered and flashed, when it settled, Vincent and his group were facing Hojo's ultimate Jenova form. "Because I haven't forgotten what you did to me in Midgar that day! It's nice to know my revenge will be sweet."
Vincent, realising that Hojo was about to attack, shouted to everyone "Keep your distance, people, his attacks are all close range."
Irvine was the first to react, he unleashed his shotgun, most of the bullets missed, but one bit into the arm of the life form. Hojo screamed in pain and turned to Irvine. Fujin saw an opening and threw her weapon straight at Hojo.
Hojo looked back and spotted it, he flicked his tail at it to deflect it. He succeeded, but failed to protect himself. Vincent opened fire and a lot of the bullets hit Hojo. But instead of screaming in pain, Hojo laughed.
"Come now, you really think your meagre weapons can harm me? I think you seriously need to rethink your strategy… Of course, you won't have chance!"
With that Hojo rushed at Vincent.
………
As Irvine looked on, waiting for a clean shot at Hojo. Raijin rushed in and struck Hojo from behind with his fighting rod. He then spun it round and struck Hojo on the side of his head.
Raijin jumped back to get away, but Hojo recovered quickly, Almost as if Raijin's blows did little or no effect. Hojo grabbed out with his tail and wrapped it around Raijin's neck. Slowly, with intense pleasure, he lifted Raijin up, strangling him in mid-air.
"RAIJIN!" Fujin shouted. She slowly spun and threw her weapon at Hojo. The speed and power of her attack was greater than Irvine had ever seen from her before.
The circular blade flew straight and true. But somehow, Hojo ducked and raised Raijin in the path of the blade. He screamed and fainted as the blade bit deeply into the top of his right arm. It had only been luck that the blade didn't sever the arm completely.
"NO!" Fujin shouted, falling to her knees.
To Irvine's right, Vincent was shaking. He had dropped his gun and was starting to shimmer. Irvine knew what was coming next. He ran to Fujin and literally had to drag her to cover.
Hojo released Raijin, the jolt caused Raijin to wake and after a quick shout from Irvine, somehow made it over to his position.
"Yes, yes!" Hojo was screaming "Change! Become your berserk nature. It will be you're undoing!"
………
Vincent could feel his body out of control; he had changed, but that was not the worst part. Usually he had a little control over the beast and could guide it to attack the enemy, but it was not the case this time.
The creature he had become was attacking his companions!
Behind him, he could hear Hojo laughing. That made Vincent even angrier, but it also meant he had even less control than he did before.
'Wait' Vincent shouted silently into his own head 'Was this Hojo's plan? To get me like this!'
He tried to concentrate, to get himself under control. But each time he tried, the laughter of Hojo came stronger and he got angrier with each chuckle.
He could feel his humanity slipping away. The beastly nature of his Jenova cells growing stronger and stronger. He made one more weak attempt to gain control, but it was stopped before it could even get started as the laughter of Hojo pierced his consciousness again.
As he faded, he found himself thinking of Lucrecia, Gaust and strangely enough, Sephiroth. He thought about what Hojo had done to Lucrecia, how he killed Gaust in front of his wife and child (which he had found from the files in Professor Gaust's old house) and finally he thought of how Sephiroth would have turned out if Hojo had not experimented on him before he was born.
Every part of his mind screamed for revenge and the body hesitated. Vincent suddenly realised something.
'It's my body!' Vincent thought 'It may be a different body, but it is still mine. I gained a bit of control when I concentrated on Hojo. I wonder?'
He again delved into his memories of Hojo, how he experimented on human subjects, on animals, on plant's, even on dead corpses. The way that Hojo killed him, just to bring him back to life as he is now, a monster. How he always said it was for his 'research'.
Finally, he concentrated on the laughter. Turned it around in his mind, switching it into a beacon, something to follow, something to attack.
He continued until the beast was satisfied and the rage was fully under control. As Vincent reverted, he found himself standing looking down out of a large hole in the side of the room, which led outside. He saw Hojo's body falling and smiled.
He turned, remembering Irvine and the others. He spotted them behind a pillar and felt a pang of guilt. The three of them looked badly hurt. Especially Raijin, who's arm was bleeding heavily. Irvine smiled up at him and said a simple phrase which Vincent couldn't help but laugh at.
"Welcome back."
………
Biggs had taken cover behind one of the pillars in the main office, he looked over to where Adel stood.
There had been a rush for him to find cover, but during that time, he hadn't really been targeted by an attack. Practically all the attacks Adel made were aimed at Laguna.
Biggs signalled to Wedge, who was only a few feet away. He nodded and started around the room, keeping to cover as often as possible.
Adel spotted him and turned to attack, but that was what Biggs was waiting for. He stepped out and fired from his wrist gun. The bullets hit her side, mainly her leg. Adel stumbled a bit and Kiros took the advantage and launched from his place. He was on her in a heartbeat, he struck her back, leaving a couple of deep cuts, before retreating with the same speed.
Adel was furious. She screamed at them, but it was beyond that, she was screaming in pain. She was changing.
Wedge stopped his advance as everyone looked on in wonder. As she screamed. She started to smoke, it came out of every part of her body, and surrounded her. As it settled, a hideous form emerged, it was only barely recognisable as Adel, but was definitely her.
Adel now looked like she had melted, her flesh was stretched and folded over her. Her legs had fused, she could no longer move, but her arms were a lot longer.
Biggs was stunned, he looked at this companions and saw each with similar expressions. Laguna though had his wits and quickly grabbed everyone's attention.
"Keep you guard up. Anything can happen now."
The mass that was Adel turned as best it could and grabbed Laguna with her new arms. They stretched to cover the distance between them.
Laguna cried out as she squeezed and dragged him slowly to her.
Ward, lumbered forward as quickly as he could and grabbed one of the arms. With all his strength, he pulled and ripped the arm off of Laguna. Wedge, taking his cue from Ward, rushed forward as well and with a sweep of his sword, cut the other arm off.
Laguna, now free, threw the remains of the arms off of him and retreated swiftly. He spotted his machine gun on the floor. His training kicked in, as well as adrenaline, probably. He dived and grabbed the weapon, he tucked himself and rolled
Ward and Wedge saw what was coming next and threw themselves to the ground. Laguna came up facing Adel and opened fire. Because Adel couldn't move, all the bullets hit, but they didn't seem to affect her. The stretched flesh seemed to absorb them.
Seeing this, Biggs waved to Wedge, who was still on the floor, and called him over.
"I need time, Wedge." Biggs said before Wedge could "I need to find her weak spot, can you keep her busy for a while?" "Huh? Me? Do you know what you ask…?" One look at Biggs face said the answer "… Of course you do… Okay, okay, I'll do it, but be quick about it!" "Sure" Biggs replied
As Wedge ran in to start his diversion, Biggs concentrated on Adel. Adel quickly replaced any appendage that had be torn off of her. The skin absorbed all bullet attacks, there seemed to be no way to get through to the more sensitive parts of the body.
Biggs walked around the room, keeping close to the wall, but always looking at Adel.
He was behind her when he saw it. Where Kiros had cut her before she changed, the flesh was different. Compared to the rest of her, it was smooth, with two long scars in the middle. This may be the spot he was looking for.
Biggs looked around at his companions, Kiros was the closest and least occupied. Biggs tried to get his attention and succeeded.
Kiros came round and Biggs pointed out his findings and explained his plan. Kiros smiled and nodded. He ran off and met up with Laguna and Ward, speaking quietly with them, telling about Biggs strategy.
For a moment, Biggs marvelled at Kiros's speed. Laguna had mentioned that Kiros didn't have his youthful zip. But if he could be this fast at his age. How quick was he during his younger years?
Very soon, Kiros had finished talking to his two friends. Wedge to his credit was keeping Adel busy enough, but he was tiring quickly. But if the plan worked, Wedge wouldn't have to participate much longer.
Ward, silently got up and walked over to where Wedge was, he pointed to Kiros and stepped toward Adel. Wedge looked grateful and retreated to a safer position. Meanwhile, Laguna had made his way round to Biggs.
"You sure this will work?" Laguna whispered "No, I'm not, but it's the best hope we've got. Anything else we've attacked just seems to grow back." "Hmm… Yeah, you're quite right. Let's try your plan."
The two stopped talking and waited for their chance to strike.
………
Ward was staring at Adel. The mess of flesh and arms that she had become. Ward didn't understand what was going on, but he didn't need to. All he knew was that he had a job to do. To hold Adel in place long enough, so Laguna and Biggs could attack from behind.
As expected, the arms reformed and flew at him. He made a half-hearted attempt to stop them, but effectively wanted for her to grab him.
As the arms snared him and started squeezing, he realised something. She seemed to be having trouble holding on to him. The squeezing was nothing that Ward couldn't handle, but it puzzled him. Could Adel not be as strong as she looked?
………
Biggs looked at Ward. He was in Adel's grip, but didn't seem to be having a problem holding her. In fact, he had a quizzical expression on his face.
He didn't have time to ponder this, as he spotted his chance.
With the honed reflects of Laguna and himself, they aimed and fired quickly. The combined attacks from the two guns hit Adel where Kiros had scarred her.
The scream from Adel was deafening. The arms untangled from Ward and went to her back, where she had been hit. But the damage was done. As blood poured from the wound, she started glowing.
………
After his short break, Wedge was ready. At least, he thought he was.
Now, though, he was having trouble holding onto them thoughts. Adel was glowing brightly now. It was a bright blinding light and seemed to penetrate the mind. He shook his head to rid himself of the disruption, but it was no use. He then decided to try not to think at all.
As the light dimmed. A figure appeared where the mutant Adel had been.
The figure was a more normal height, which at first put Wedge off that it was still Adel. But as the face appeared, it was unmistakeable.
It WAS Adel, but everything was different.
The new Adel stood approx. 6' 6", a far cry from her old height, but she still had the same proportional build. Her body shone with a light that was almost blinding to look at, but as it died down more, Wedge was able to get a better look at her new body. There was a kind of armour there, but it seemed like it was completely natural, like it was her body.
As the transformation ended and Adel started moving, she looked herself over and smiled.
"Interesting." Adel spoke, there was a high tone to it, and a pronounced sense of confidence "I see now. So he did not restore my powers. He used that process to give me other abilities. Which would mean…" Adel started laughing and walked to a panel in the wall by the main desk.
She opened it and pressed a button. Wedge didn't understand what was going, but he did feel something different around him.
Across the room he saw Laguna smiling. For some reason, he had placed himself by the door out of the office.
"Now Ultimecia," Adel was continuing to herself "You are powerless. Nothing will stop me from you…" She turned to the door and saw Laguna there Laguna was still smiling "Nothing? What about me?" "You!" Adel exclaimed, laughing harder "How do you expect to stop me?" Laguna's smile vanished "You're not nearly as powerful as you believe, Adel. I noticed that a little while back." Adel threw a ball of light at him, Laguna grimaced but did not fall. He didn't even have to step back. "How…! What is going on here!" Adel shrieked
Laguna waved to Kiros, he shot out from his place and slashed at Adel's arm and side. The natural body armour prevented any cuts, but it was obvious that she was hurt from the look on her face.
"You see, Adel. Yes, you are powerful, but my comrades and I are a team, you have no chance."
Laguna waved to Ward this time, who slowly advanced on Adel. Adel, for the first time ever had to look up to someone. She attempted a punch at him. He grunted as it connected with his jaw, but was unfazed as he retaliated by hitting her in the chest with a powerful shot which sent her flying back and hitting the desk.
"Yes, you are still big and strong and powerful, but as Ward just showed you, you can't match him on brute strength now."
Biggs signalled for Wedge to be ready. He nodded and found a path to Adel and crouched down, waiting.
"Even the new additions to my team. Biggs here," Biggs stepped forward and aimed at Adel "and Wedge behind you, have the advantage over you…" but Adel had turned to face Wedge, just as he reached her and slashed at Adel. The sharp blade hit her in the chest. Again, the armour didn't show any sign of damage, but Adel screamed in pain. Wedge played safe and withdrew back to his original position.
"You may think you're all-powerful, But you're not. You're simply another wannabe, who's trying to beat us." Laguna fired his Machine gun at the ground in front of Adel. "But I may be wrong, see if you can prove it to me…" Laguna took out a grenade from his pocket "If you think you can, survive this…"
He pulled the pin and tossed it to Adel. She caught it and smiled, then started laughing. Laguna and the others ran for cover. Adel's laughter was cut off by the explosion of the grenade.
After a while, the dust settled, Adel was nowhere to be seen.
"Look at all this dust… I'm definitely going to have to get my office cleaned more often." Laguna joked.
