A man with glasses and a white lab coat sat in a chair, glaring at the wall. He had been snatched from his latest research! His lips twisted into a snarl, he felt like hurting someone, killing them even. He was a wicked man who had done many bad things. He had killed and tortured many people because of his experiments. He didn't remember dying though, he only knew that he had not yet finished everything he had had planned for the JENOVA Project.
Now, he had himself another test subject, and to make it more interesting, it was one of 'his' little friends. Hojo knew that the boy knew Cloud, his failed JENOVA-experiment. Now, he turned in his spinning chair to a thin, long desk that was hooked into the wall. He picked up a single needle full of a clear liquid.
His dark eyes turned to land on the boy that was Denzel. Denzel was looking at him with horror as he coward down before Hojo. That made Hojo feel glee despite his rage. He pushed the end up of the syringe, squirting out a little bit of the liquid to show that it worked and bent down before the boy.
Denzel raised his arms in front of his face, curling into a ball, defenseless against Hojo. Hojo chuckled at the boy's efforts as he moved Denzel's arm out of the way and held them there. Then he brought the needle to the boy's throat and stabbed him with it, injecting the contents into his new lab rat.
Hojo watched Denzel for a moment until the liquid entered his bloodstream and the boy crumpled at his feet. He nodded, knowing exactly what he was doing as he went over to his desk and placed the bloody needle on it. Then he sat down in his chair and grabbed a test tube of thick green liquid and took another test tube with a red substance in it and poured them both into a small bottle.
Hojo shook it up, mixing the red substance with the green substance. His anger was slowly fading as he imagined what his creation would become if he could complete it this time. He then filled the syringe with the liquid, not bothering to clean the bloodied needle. Then Hojo walked back over to the unconscious Denzel and grabbed his arm. Holding it tightly, he placed the needle on Denzel's vein and injected him with the slightly thicker liquid.
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Cloud had left with Zack and Aeris after a few hours of arguing with Tifa and trying to find supplies. Zack hadn't wanted to leave Tifa behind so crestfallen, but if Cloud wouldn't let her come, he wouldn't interfere. He had asked about many of Cloud's new friends because he did not know any of them. Zack hadn't met Barret or Red or anyone, but he had listened to Cloud.
He hadn't told anyone yet that he felt rather sick, but he had got some medicine and it was in a pack that was lung around his shoulder along with many other supplies. They traveled in silence for a while, Zack remembering Squall instructions to be able to leave this small island. They had to go back to Balamb for that.
Night was coming fast and Zack had considered stopping to make camp, but he never did. He had to find Sephiroth before the day was over; he just had to! Zack wanted revenge because Sephiroth had hurt Aeris, he had hurt Cloud, and countless others. And on top of all that, he had betrayed Zack and had nearly killed him.
"Zack, can we set up camp for the night, I don't want to go to that ghost-town and spend the night there." Aeris complained, her emerald eyes scanning the area.
Zack looked over at her and was about to speak up, when Cloud growled, "We're going to Balamb, no stops." Cloud sounded kind of strange to Zack. Zack turned around to face Cloud, stopping almost at once. He took one glance at Aeris and then his mind was made up.
"Cloud, Aeris wants to make camp here. I say we make camp, I don't want to encounter any enemies right before it gets dark and be without a camp anyway." Zack's voice was stern. He could see the fire behind Cloud's eyes. Cloud wanted to find Sephiroth, even if it meant crossing the ocean. Zack still hadn't told Cloud that he had seen Sephiroth heading towards a village when he had found Aeris, and Zack sure as hell wasn't going to tell Cloud now. As much as he wanted to find Sephiroth, Zack was still having a little shock in him knowing that he had died and not even remembered it.
Cloud stopped, looking at Zack before turning his gaze away and nodding. They began setting up a camp, Aeris had went to the forest to gather some firewood while Zack and Cloud set up the tents they had just bought. It didn't take long and soon Zack was sitting down, resting against a tree, waiting for Aeris to return. His mind was swarming with everything he had been told today. He felt like a ghost walking among everyone now that he knew; Zack hoped that the feeling would leave him.
Then there was the constant headache in his head that would not leave him alone. He sat there, staring up at the sky, not speaking as night came quickly. Zack didn't know how long he sat there, just staring at the sky, admiring its beauty, but before long, he heard footsteps coming their way. He turned his head, blinking his Mako blue eyes. Aeris came up, carrying an armload of firewood. She turned to him, dropping the wood in the middle of the camp, and then she spoke, "Will you help me get the rest of the wood back there? I found a lot."
Zack nodded, picking himself up. He cast a glance over at Cloud, who was looking at nothing in particular. Zack noticed Cloud had a small white bottle in his hand, but he didn't know what it was. He turned away and followed Aeris to go get the wood. She lead him to a large pile that would make a good fire. He got most of it while Aeris got the rest and then they headed back to camp. Zack dropped the wood in the spot where Aeris had dropped her armloads and glanced back at Cloud, noticing that the bottle was now sitting out beside him.
Cloud, though, seemed to be asleep. Zack sighed and shook his head, and helped Aeris make a fire. Once the fire was built, Zack went back over to where he had been sitting earlier and sat down. Aeris was sitting beside the fire, enjoying the warmth of it. He sighed, feeling the ache in his head. How he longed for it to just go away, but it wouldn't, and so Zack would try to ignore it the best he could. Closing his eyes, he thought back to when he and Sephiroth had been going to Nimblheim. Sephiroth hadn't been the insane, bloodthirsty person he was now, he hadn't been an enemy. Zack opened his eyes and looked at Cloud, wondering what had gone on while he had been dead for all those years.
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Cloud had taken some of the medicine, but apparently, he had taken way to much because he was knocked out cold from it by the time Zack got back. While he was sleeping, Cloud saw an image of Sephiroth in his mind. Sephiroth was glaring at him, holding the Masamune. Beside him stood a silver haired teenager, holding a double-bladed sword. Then a man about twenty or nineteen stood beside the shorter-silver-haired teen, his Mako green eyes flashing. Then, on Sephiroth's other side, stood a man with longer silver hair, he held a gun, his finger on the trigger.
"Puppets, they are all remnants of Sephiroth, just like you were…" a voice echoed through his mind. Cloud blinked, wondering who had spoken, but he did not take his eyes off of the clones of Sephiroth and Sephiroth himself. Just as Sephiroth turned around, the images faded and were replaced with pictures of Denzel. Denzel looked frightened and was staring with wide eyes, at something Cloud couldn't see. Cloud blinked in surprise as a trickle of blood suddenly appeared on Denzel's neck. The boy flinched, but then, quite suddenly, he slumped over, unconscious. Cloud wanted to help Denzel, but when he tried to move, he found that he could not. He could only watch as Denzel's image faded and was replaced by a laughing man. It was someone Cloud despised and hated more than he did anyone-well almost.
Hojo was wearing a white lab coat and was laughing with his harsh voice as he seemed to grab something off of something that Cloud couldn't see. Then Cloud noticed that it was a needle full of Mako. He blinked in shock, wondering if it were possible. -Had Denzel ended up somehow with Hojo?
"You must save your friend Cloud, but beware of him." The voice came again, sounding rather grim. Cloud blinked, wondering still, who was talking, but this time, when he did try to speak, he found he could not. What was happening? He didn't have long to think about I, though.
Then Hojo's image vanished only to be replaced by Rufus ShinRa, Tseng, Rude, Reno, and Elena's images. They were all sitting down at a table talking. Cloud couldn't hear their words, but Rufus had suddenly reached under the table and took out something. Cloud blinked, it was a metal box. He wondered what Rufus had in the metal box, but the image faded and this time it was replaced by someone Cloud didn't know.
It was a teenager about eighteen. He was wielding a blade like Squall's. He had blonde hair and he wore a white trench coat. He was smirking at something. Cloud noticed two others behind the man. One was a girl with a patch over one of her eyes. She had silver hair and was holding a blue disc. Then there was a dark-tan colored teen that had a lot of muscle. He had very short black hair and was glancing from the blonde-headed man to the silver-haired girl, his face angry looking as he switched his gaze to back in front of him.
"These three are Seifer, Raijin, and Fujin. You've seen Raijin and Fujin before. They are friends with Seifer."
Cloud's eyes opened slightly. He blinked, opening his eyes all the way and looking around him. He felt light-headed and rather sick. He saw Aeris looking at the fire, poking it. But at the sight of movement, she looked up and she smiled slightly at him, and then looked back down at the fire. Cloud noticed Zack, at first he had thought Zack was asleep, but every so often, Zack would open his eyes and glance at Aeris.
Cloud didn't say anything as Zack looked at him, instead, he turned his attention down to the aspirin bottle laying on the ground a few inches from his hand. Cloud grabbed it and stuck it in his pocket. When Cloud tried to pick himself up, he found that he was way to dizzy to walk straight, so he sat back down, feeling, if possible, sicker. Well that was what he got for taking an overdose of medicine by accident.
His head was still hurting, but not as bad, that was good-sort of. He still wished he knew exactly why Mako made him sick, but it didn't seem to be affecting Zack, nor had it effect Sephiroth, or Cloud thought it hadn't. Why is it only me? He wondered, looking at Aeris. She was now looking at Cloud questioningly, "Are you alright Cloud?" she asked him suddenly.
Cloud blinked, surprise flooding through his body, but he kept a straight face as he nodded, "Why?" he asked, wondering if she could see the pain he was feeling. Aeris just continued to look at him, and suddenly, Cloud was aware of Zack looking at him.
"Just wondering, you look as if you have a headache or something, like Zack." Aeris responded, glancing over at Zack, who had turned to look at her before closing his eyes again.
Cloud was surprised at her response. So he wasn't the only one with a darned headache…it didn't really matter anyway. He knew what was wrong-sort of-and the headache wouldn't go away, but maybe there was something that could make him lose the stomachache he had from taking so much medicine. Cloud doubted it, so he just sat there, shrugging at Aeris before switching his eyes on the darkened forest. Night had fallen now and the fire was getting lower every second. Before long, Cloud knew that he would have to go to his tent and sleep. He suddenly felt so tired, but he didn't really think about it.
Earlier, he had been so determined to reach Balamb and track Sephiroth from there. But he knew they were getting on a train to cross the ocean, that didn't bother him too much, but he'd have rather searched the whole island first. This Cloud saw the images of the two silver haired teenagers and the one who was about twenty. They were remnants, so that would mean he had more enemies.
"Hey Zack, where are we going again?" Cloud asked, looking at his black-haired friend. Zack opened one lazy eye and responded, "First we're going to Esthar. Squall told me he had some friends that lived off that way named Laguna, Ward, and Kiros."
Cloud blinked, and then nodded, not saying anything else as he picked himself up, feeling much steadier on his feet, he entered his tent and tried to get some sleep. But sleep didn't come easy to him because he kept seeing images of Denzel's terrified face, Hojo, and then his six news enemies: Raijin, Fujin, Seifer, Kadaj, Loz, and Yazoo. It was unknown to Cloud that Loz was already dead though. And then he had a few other enemies still: Rufus, Tseng, Reno, Elena, Rude, and Hojo. Too many enemies for three people to handle. Maybe he should have let Tifa come after all…but then he scolded himself for thinking that.
It was too dangerous for Tifa, he only wanted to protect her, but deep down he knew that she would be just fine with them. He sighed, looking at the highlight of the fire through the thin material of the tent. He could see Aeris get up and walk over to the group of shadows where Zack was sitting. At least he had company…Cloud shut his eyes and tried to go to sleep.
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Kadaj and Yazoo trailed behind Sephiroth. They hadn't spoken since Sephiroth had told them they were going to kill Cloud, their Big Brother. Now that night was upon them, they wondered when they would reach the Garden. Kadaj in particular was quite, his Mako green eyes flashing as he looked at Sephiroth. Something told him to find Mother, that he should not be traveling with Sephiroth. To him, Sephiroth was dead, but here he was, walking and breathing, and as deadly as ever. Kadaj resented Sephiroth in a way.
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Squall stood next to Rinoa, who was just standing there, not speaking. He was rather bored at the moment. He hadn't been on any SeeD missions in a while. Maybe he should go ask but Rinoa had leaned over on him, preventing him from moving, or else she would fall. He sighed, "Rinoa, do you have to do that?"
"Yes," was Rinoa's short reply. "Why do you think Tifa wanted to go with Cloud so much, I mean, not just because she likes him, but why in general?"
Squall looked down at Rinoa and shrugged, "How am I supposed to know?" he asked her, not really caring. He didn't know these people, and at the moment, he felt nothing towards them only because of what they had brought with them. He had already dealt with too much trouble within the last year. Defeating the Sorceress from the future had been hard enough, and now he had to deal with Sephiroth. Maybe he should move the Garden…if Cid would let him.
Then he could move it all the way down to Centra, that way no one would ever bother them. Live in a desolated area like the Garden in the mountains where Selphie came from. But then where was the point of calling it Balamb Garden? What was the point of calling it Balamb Garden now? Galbadia Garden had been named after Galbadia and that city still existed, but Balamb's capitol was gone. Why was he even thinking about the past? He usually kept that behind him-Ellone had done enough fiddling around with his mind!
"Because you've talked to Cloud more than us." Rinoa replied matter-of-factly.
Squall shrugged, wishing she would get off of him. Yes, he was still in a sour mood.
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Hojo looked down at Denzel. He couldn't wait to see the outcome of just the beginning of his newest experiment! Denzel had woken up after a few hours and his blue eyes were a dull shade of blue and less emotion shown in them. The Mako in Denzel's veins hadn't poisoned him, that was good. Now Hojo had yet another needle that contained some of Sephiroth's DNA. It was mixed with JENOVA cells and a type of fluid that seemed contain some sort of magic. He grinned, approaching Denzel, who was staring at the needle in Hojo's hand. "Stop…" Denzel uttered, his voice weak.
Hojo smirked at the boy's helplessness as he injected another needle into him. "Don't worry, I will when I'm done," Hojo told him without any emotion in his voice, though he felt rather excited that he had still had all of his Mako samples and JENOVA cells even though he was no longer on the Planet.
Evil Hojo! Oh well...I never really liked Denzel anyway. I'M EVIL! Yay!
Okay, hope you guys like this chapter-updating as soon as I can!