Disclaimer by...Sephiroth! (You know this is gonna be good)
Choir: "...Veni veni venias! Ne me mori facias..."
GMHY: "What the heck is that?"
Sephiroth: "They keep following me..."
Choir: "Gloriosa! Generosa! Gloriosa! Generosa..."
GMHY: "That's cool, I guess."
Choir: "...Vehementi, Sephiroth!"
Sephiroth: "Quit encouraging them."
GMHY: "Fine. Do I own FFVII?"
Sephiroth: "No."
Choir: "No you don't! No you don't! Sephiroth! Sephiroth!"
Sephiroth: (impales choir)
Choir: "Veni veni venias! Me ne mori facias!" "'Please, please, oh please! Do not let me die!'"
Sephiroth: "Too bad!"
Choir: (dies)
Optional Characters
By Great Materia Hunter Yuffie
Chapter 5: "Vincent's smooooth at lying..."
"I thought I heard something..." Red XIII's voice sounded muffled.
"Are you sure? That door was always locked."
A few tense seconds passed as AVALANCHE stopped to listen. Yuffie's hand was smothering Vincent, so he gently removed it and sat up in the coffin, making a slight rustling sound. Yuffie clasped both hands over her mouth and looked horrified at the noise.
"Yeah, I heard something that time." A hand turned the knob. "Hey, it's not locked."
Yuffie jumped inside one of the coffins leaning against the wall and quickly shut the lid. Thankfully, the coffin had no previous occupants. Why didn't I lock the door? I'm dead, I'm so dead...
Vincent stared at the coffin inside which Yuffie had disappeared, then turned his vision to the door. He didn't know exactly what was going on, but from the girl's confusing ramble, he gathered that she was in trouble. Shrugging, he lay back inside the coffin and closed his eyes.
The door opened. Cloud thought he saw movement in the room. He unsheathed the Ultima Weapon and cautiously stepped inside.
Immediately, he was under attack. "What the-" A barrage of pecks were pounding his scull into submission. After a few moments of cursing, he realized that a corpulent blue chocobo was trying to eat him.
"Quit it!" He grabbed the chocobo's reins right under the beak and looked into the chubby bird's watery eyes. "What are you trying to do, anyway?" Not expecting an answer, he gestured around the room with his sword, looking for other sources of danger.
The other members of AVALANCHE were already in the room. "I thought I smelled a chocobo," Red XIII said, musingly, "But I did not believe it."
Tifa began to pet the bird. "What is he doing in here?"
Cid was raking the room with a flashlight. "That ninja probably ditched him in here and ran off." The flashlight paused in mid-swipe. "Wait a minute. What the !#!# is that?"
They all turned to look at what he was aiming at.
There was silence for a while. Yuffie, standing inside the coffin, couldn't see what they were looking at. She knew they had found Chubs; now they were probably looking at Vincent, the weird guy in the coffin. She bit her finger to keep from making noise. The situation was pretty bad...
Tifa crept closer to the large ebony coffin in the center of the room. "Is he...dead?"
Cloud led the chocobo to stand beside her and shivered, looking at the placid face. "I don't know..."
Red XIII padded over to the head of the coffin and sniffed at Vincent's face. "I think that he is still alive."
Cid made a face. "What the ? He's alive?" Using the Venus Gospel as a poking stick, he jabbed the butt end at Vincent's chest.
Yuffie would have laughed, but she quelled the desire with an iron will.
Vincent's eyes flashed open. Spooked, Tifa and Cloud jumped a little. "...What are you doing in here?" he asked, his mouth barely moving.
No one really knew what to say. Cloud cleared his throat and asked, "What are you doing in here?"
The man didn't answer, but he stood up and stepped out of the coffin, towering over the confused Cloud.
Cid rubbed his forehead. "What the #!#! is going on?"
Vincent turned his face toward the pilot. "I have no idea what you are doing here, but I suggest you leave."
Red XIII, the only one not visibly confused or frightened because of Vincent's sudden appearance, seemed to still have some composure. "We are looking for a ninja. We believe this is her chocobo and that she has been hiding in this house for the past few days. Have you seen her?"
Yuffie began to pray silently. Her prayers always took the form of business letters:
PO Box #963
Da Chao, Wutai
Dear Great God Leviathan:
I've always been a good kid, right? Well, I think I'm a pretty good kid. Anyways, please don't let those guys kill me. I was just trying to help Wutai out, so please make it alright. It would be nice if you could take care of them for me. If not, then I guess I'll meet you in heaven in a few minutes, 'cause yeah, they're definitely going to kill me if you don't do something. Oh, and please help the scary guy in the coffin, too. He just got caught in the middle. That is, help him only if he doesn't rat me out.
Your devoted servant,
Yuffie Kisaragi
Vincent's cloak covered the bottom half of his face, so they couldn't see his mouth. His voice sounded disembodied. "What would you do with this ninja, if you found her?"
Cid set his spear down with a thump, getting impatient. "She !#!# stole our materia. Tell us where the #!#! she is!"
Tifa seemed more hesitant. "We need to ask her some questions...there was a Sephiroth clone in this town and we think she may be part of something bigger then just stealing our materia. She may have something to do with Hojo's experiments."
Vincent's face was shocked, the first time it had shown any emotion. "Hojo? Sephiroth? What do you know about them?"
Cloud looked incredulous. "We were the ones that killed him two years ago. Where were you? Everyone knows about that. We're..." he gestured vaguely at the other members of the group, "uh, AVALANCHE."
Vincent became calm once more. "You...killed Sephiroth?"
Cid barked, "Yeah, we did! Now where's the #!# ninja?"
Vincent turned to look at Cid. "I have not seen a ninja here."
"Then how do you explain this?" Cloud shook the chocobo's reins, glowering.
"That is my chocobo." Vincent lied blandly.
"What are you doing down here, anyway?" Tifa asked.
"...I was sleeping."
"In a coffin?"
"...It was more comfortable than the floor."
Red XIII growled, finding a hole in his argument, "How did you find your way into this secret basement, and why didn't you sleep upstairs in one of the beds?"
Vincent looked down at the lion warrior. "When I first came here, it was raining. The 'secret' doorway was very obvious. I decided to stay in this room because it was the only place that wasn't leaking or monster-ridden."
Yuffie couldn't believe her ears. Why is he lying for me?
Red XIII still looked suspicious. "It hasn't rained here for months."
Vincent shrugged. "...I came here a long time ago. I just became accustomed to using this room."
Tifa, getting nervous at the interrogative feeling of the conversation and feeling that the man was blameless, changed the note of the conversation. "I'm sorry, you were obviously just staying here. What's your name?"
"Vincent Valentine, formerly of the Turks...and you?" he answered politely.
"The Turks?" Cloud's eyebrows went up. "Well, I'm Cloud Strife, formerly of ShinRa army and leader of AVALANCHE. Good to meet you."
"I'm Tifa Lockheart, this is Nanaki, but we call him Red, and that's Cid Highwind," Tifa motioned to herself and the others as she introduced them. "We should go and look somewhere else for the ninja. She couldn't have gotten far. Sorry to bother you." The fighter motioned to the others to leave and did so herself.
Red XIII sniffed once, wrinkled his nose at the moldy and decaying smell and wondered at the fact that someone could prefer such a smelly room. Well, humans have such a bad sense of smell. But I thought I smelled something earlier...? He shook out his mane, not being able to sift through the myriad scents in the strange room. He went out the door to explore the library next door.
Cid cursed and, throwing Vincent a bad-tempered look, picked up his weapon and followed him.
Cloud thrust the chocobo's reins at Vincent. "You should tie him up or something. He's like a guard dog." When Vincent didn't answer, merely holding the chocobo and standing there, Cloud scratched his head.
Vincent untied Chubs' beak while he spoke, "You said you defeated Sephiroth...? Was this two years ago?"
Cloud nodded. "It was a hard battle, but... but we won." Cloud's expression darkened and he looked at the ground, staring off into space.
Yuffie was dying, trying to keep silent so long. It was like holding her breath - possible, but in the long run really, really uncomfortable. Now that it looked like she was going to escape, she was getting impatient.
Vincent finished untying the chocobo and the bird shook its feathered head, warking. He considered the bird silently, then was about to speak again when he was interrupted.
"Cloud! Come here!" Tifa yelled from the other room. Cloud immediately ran out the door.
Vincent walked to the coffin leaning against the wall and knocked on it politely.
"...Let me sleeeeeppp!" Yuffie moaned dramatically.
Vincent tried not to roll his eyes. He knocked again. She opened the door and cocked her head up at him. "Hey, coffin guy. Why did you lie? You could have turned me in."
He handed her Chubs' reins and turned away, striding to the door.
"Heaey!" She whispered loudly. "Answer me!"
He paused and faced her at the doorway. "It's none of your business," he answered finally.
Yuffie stormed up to him, "What the heck kind of answer is that?"
He spoke, his voice somewhat harsh. "I suggest that you take that chocobo," he pointed at Chubs, "and leave this place. I will distract them."
Yuffie shook her head in amazement but mounted her chocobo obediently. From the vantage point of Chubs' back, Yuffie looked down at Vincent, seeing more of his face than usual from her vantage point.
"He may come back. I don't know what the girl was calling him about." Vincent went to the hallway and walked down it, leaving a slightly confused Yuffie in his wake.
"Wait."
Vincent paused, but did not turn.
"I...I don't need any favors." Even to Yuffie, her voice sounded small.
Vincent turned his face to her; his tone was granite. "I'm not giving you one. If you have anything to do with Hojo, I will find you and kill you. Get away from here while you have the chance."
The blood rushed from Yuffie's face. She didn't know what he was talking about, but she could recognize a genuine threat on her life when she heard one. Who's Hojo? "Yeah, well thanks, I guess."
The ninja kicked Chubs and headed down the hall in the opposite direction, urging her chocobo up the stairs and out of the haunted mansion. I suppose my prayer to Leviathan was answered. Through that guy, Vincent Valentine. She silently gave a prayer of thanks to the water god, thinking strange thoughts as she did.
When Vincent found AVALANCHE, they were staring at the new additions to the ShinRa Mansion. The entire library had been reorganized and re-shelved and new doorways led off into several directions. Hundreds of human-sized test tubes lined every available inch of wall, including in the corridors. Vincent looked around in amazement.
When did this happen?
Chaos grinned. You were asleep when the workers came. I only wake you up for important things.
And that ninja girl was important?
The demon didn't deign to answer.
Cloud turned to Vincent accusingly. "What is this? You were here right? Did you do this?"
Vincent shrugged. "No. I haven't entered this room before." He waved at their footprints, which were clearly visible on the dusty floor. "Our footprints are the only recent ones."
Cloud considered that, then he turned to the other members of AVALANCHE and said, "I want to find a clue, or anything that will tell us why this has happened. Start looking around."
Tifa peered into one of the tubes. "Cloud...is that...a person?"
He looked inside and shook his head sadly. "It looks just like the creatures in the tubes at the reactor seven years ago..."
Troubled, the four continued, exploring all the new rooms until only one was left. Every hallway was filled with the tubes. There were an impossible number of them; more and more squatted peevishly in every room they came to. The creatures inside seemed to scream silently for release. Tifa felt great pity in her heart for them, Red XIII, Vincent and especially Cloud felt empathy for the deformed creatures, and Cid felt disgusted by them.
When they opened the last door, they heard something moving inside. Cid switched on the lights; they flickered for a moment as the mako energy reached them and steadied.
The room was a shifting morass of black-cloaked Sephiroth clones. They were startled by the light; a great number of them simply fell over and died when Cid had turned the lights on.
"What the #!#?" Cid exclaimed.
The nearest one to the door turned to them and, blinded by the light but sensing something, grasped toward Tifa. She screamed and punched his skull in.
At the sound of her scream, some of the remaining clones died, falling over each other in their over stimulation. The rest started to moan, an unearthly and painful sound. Red XIII began to growl at the noise. Cid cussed.
Other clones died. Soon only a few of them were left.
Two fell from gunshots to the head.
"Quit shooting them!" Cloud ordered Vincent. Reluctantly, the former Turk obeyed.
One clone remained.
Everything was still but the disappearing clone bodies.
The clone's head twitched, then it's hooded face turned toward them.
"Sephiroth...Reunion..."
Cloud drew the Ultima Weapon. "Sephiroth! Is he alive?"
The clone gestured weakly with one arm. The black cloak fluttered; they could make out the tattoo on his hand. It read "96."
"Master...Sephiroth..."
"Is there another Reunion? What does this mean? How could Sephiroth still be alive?"
Suddenly, the clone seemed to gain strength. His twitching stopped. Slowly, his tattooed hand drew his hood back. Sephiroth stared at Cloud, his green eyes looking at him and through him at the same time.
"Sephiroth?"
"No, wait!" Cloud stopped Cid from throwing his spear at him. "It's not Sephiroth, it's just a clone of him. An actual clone, not just a JENOVA experiment like me." Cloud stepped toward the Sephiroth clone, keeping Ultima Weapon between them. "What do you want? What are you here for?"
The clone blinked slowly, seeming to gather it's thoughts. Then something seemed to overshadow it's face. It's expression seemed to hold some of the real Sephiroth in it.
"Do you think that I would die so easily?" he smiled, tight and angry. "There is a great deal you need to learn, Cloud. But you are not ready for the truth."
Cloud relaxed his grip in shock. "Sephiroth! It's you!"
Sephiroth lifted his hand and stared at the back of it. "This body is an imperfect replica. It is unsuited to my needs. 96th version. Hmph." He frowned, then looked up at Cloud. "You understand so little. I am the rightful heir to this Planet. I will always come back to claim her. It has nothing to do with you." His grin widened almost insanely.
Filled with rage, Cloud attacked Sephiroth, but not before the presence left the clone witless. The clone died, its pieces vanishing against the stone floor.
Cloud leaned on his sword. "What...is going on...? It can't be possible. This is a nightmare..."
"Cloud." Tifa sounded frightened. "Is...is it going to start...all over again?
"#!#. This is bad."
"That was...Sephiroth?" Vincent asked.
Red XIII answered, "It was a clone, but I think that some of it was the Sephiroth showing through. Although Sephiroth should be dead..."
Vincent's voice was final. "I have decided to accompany you. You will have use of my skills as a former Turk."
"Why not? We'll need all the help we can get, I think." Tifa sounded melancholy.
Cloud was suspicious. "There's something very strange about you that I don't trust, but I suppose we've dealt with that before with Cait Sith. I have to ask you, though, what you have to do with all this. I don't believe that you were just a traveler staying here. You're appearance says otherwise."
Vincent reloaded the Quicksilver as he spoke. "I have a personal vendetta against Hojo." He clicked his mechanical fingers together. "I was...one of his experiments. I have... been sleeping in that coffin for thirty-two years."
The others digested this little bit of information.
"!#!#," remarked Cid.
The sun was still overhead and Yuffie was almost out of town. Suddenly, Chubs warked and stopped in his tracks. Curiously, Yuffie looked at a man in a black cloak who was blocking the path.
"Hey, you wanna move or something?"
The man mumbled something and twitched.
Yuffie was nervous. She had to leave the town quickly or else AVALANCHE would catch her.
"Master...Sephiroth...Reunion..."
"What are you talking about, buddy? Spit it out, I haven't got all day!"
The man suddenly exploded into a towering creature, tearing its black robes off. His arms and legs were gray morasses of flesh, growing larger by the second. One limb smashed into Yuffie, throwing her off her chocobo and ten yards away, slamming her into the ground. It slowly retracted with her in its thunderous and malformed paw. She could barely see; her arms were pinned to her sides.
"MAsstterRR...SSephHiRothHHhhHH!" Its other arm ponderously made its way toward her neck.
Yuffie screamed.
Reviewers
Hotaru170: Thanks for being my first reviewer! It...it brings a tear to my eye!
Mistress Delavaire: Hey! You reviewed three times...Oo. You're the greatest! Ha ha! You're hilarious! 'Vincent cameo!'
Kikyos Killer: (I love your name, I wish Kikyo would die!) Thanks for reviewing so much! You're crazy!
PerfectAbuse: You...you're so loyal! sniff sniff Man alive, I love my reviewers!
Yuffie Kisaragi2: You're name...it's like mine! Muahahhaaaaa! Thanks for reviewing!
not applicable: Thanks for telling me that my chapters were screwed up. I had no idea. But I fixed it, and that's the important thing!
Karasu Kurokiba: Thanks also, for telling me about my screwy chapter managing. And you added me to your favorites! Woot! I'm on somebody's favorites!
the Dr.: Hmmm. I have to go see what Vincent's original weapon he had in his coffin was...(goes to look in game manual...) Aha! It was the Quicksilver! Now I know, and knowing is half the battle!
Aeolus the Soul Hunter: I'm glad that you liked it. Instead of Yuffentine, you think we could we call it Vinsaragi? It could work... (everyone throws tomatoes at GMHY)