Conversation between Killers
Summary: The destruction of a Mako reactor in Midgar and the entry of a mysterious man into Sector 3 herald the beginnings of a near unstoppable chain of events. Seen through the eyes of two characters whose viewpoint often goes unnoticed at this point in the game.
Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy 7 or anything related to it. I never have and I probably never will… but you never now.
The slum known affectionately as Sector 3 in Midgar is one of life's great paradoxes. It is a huge population centre but it is incredibly poor and poverty stricken, it is massive but there is nothing to do and no money to do it with. The general aspiration of a slum dweller is to eat, drink, work (if they can), raise a family, get pissed and try to survive in this shithole. Slum dwellers tend to live taking each day as it comes, not thinking any further ahead, since the slum was effectively built on broken dreams. Many people had learnt that the hard way after their aspirations went down faster than a Shin-Ra Zeppelin in flames.
Naturally since there was no money, this meant there was little to no excitement. The nightlife of Sector 3 amounted to getting drunk every night at one of the many nameless greasy spools for about five Gil on liquor of questionable origins. On a good night you might just get home without being harassed, let alone mugged, raped or stabbed. Overall it was generally not a nice place to live (without counting the tottering piles of garbage spread haphazardly all over the place). Every day, those who could read and afford the Midgar Times simply went to the obituaries, found out if anyone they knew had kicked the bucket and that was it. No-one read the main news pages. Events of the outside world had no meaning here. This was another reason why future plans were generally regarded as nothing more than dreams in Sector 3.
It wasn't just the crime that made Sector 3 such an unpleasant place to live in. There was no sunlight since it was all blocked by the plate (and prosperous town) above, there was nothing but polluted air for people to breath and there was a never ending drone from the city above made up collectively of the noises of people, vehicles and Mako reactors that never relented for a second.
This was the scene that greeted the traveller as he passed through the open gate into Sector 3. He wrinkled his nose in distaste as he bore witness to the poverty that surrounded him. Fleeting thoughts of anger towards the ShinRa regime crossed his mind but he swiftly dismissed them. He hated the ShinRa, but for a totally different reason. To be quite honest he couldn't care less about the welfare of the beggars, whores, thieves and honest people of this city. They were not why he was here. There were more important things than base survival instincts on this man's mind.
It was dawn (although it was difficult to tell under the plate) but already there was a general hustle as people went about their business. He strode down the main road devoid of all traffic (since no-one could afford a car) and glanced around at the scene in relaxed boredom. Several people gave him an odd look, most just moved aside not wanting to get in this mans way. Many of them felt they recognised him from somewhere but where they could not say. He soon left the main road and turned into an alley so narrow that you could walk by it a thousand times and never even notice it. The alleyway was lined with whores as a wall is lined with bricks, many of whom took an interest in the man, immediately impressed not only by his rich looking body armour and clothes but by his figure as well. He noted this but every time one sidled up to him he declined their services. Those who were more persistent would be met with a dry, rude remark and those who still tried to engage him in their services soon left as he gripped the hilt of his sword.
After several minutes of walking he found what he was looking for. He stood before a non-descript poorly built building made out cheap stone and, in places, rusted metal. The roof was formed mostly from corrugated iron. The front door of the establishment was wide open and as he began to ascend the wooden steps a drunken man staggered out.
The traveller glanced at the drunkard and noticed that, not only was he staring at him, but the filthy slum dweller was also blocking his way.
"Can I help you?" he asked the drunken man coolly.
"I don't want your help," he slurred and pointed madly at him. "You're one 'em filthy ShinRa bastards en't ya?"
"I have no dealings with the ShinRa," the traveller replied, his annoyance growing and his hand travelling to the hilt of his sword yet again.
"Calm yourself," a soothing female voice said inside his head. "Do not draw attention more than you must."
"I think yer lyin'" the drunken man said.
"What does it matter to you anyway?"
"'Cause them ShinRa are the reason we live like this," he said, gesturing towards the rundown building.
"How nice," the traveller said sarcastically, "but the ShinRa don't make you frequent brothels. Now would you kindly move out of the way or I shall be forced to make you move."
The drunken man regarded him for a moment before stumbling off down the alleyway muttering profanities until out of earshot. Not giving it a second thought, the traveller completed his journey up the steps and through the door.
The view in here wasn't much better than outside. He was standing in a small room coated in drab, yet somehow tasteless, brown paint and opposite him there was a counter. It was made from mismatched pieces of wood and seemed to be rotting away before his very eyes. To his left a doorway led through into a bar and to his right he could see a staircase leading to the upper levels. Only one other person was in the room with him and much to his dismay it was another whore.
"Mornin' sir," she said cheerfully. "Fancy a bit of company?"
"No," he said simply.
As he began to stride up to the counter a middle aged man with a few interesting scars on his face came through a door behind it. He looked over the traveller for a moment before speaking in a rough sounding voice that assaulted his eardrums.
"Welcome to the Gold Chocobo Bordello. What do yeh want?"
"A room please," he replied with as much cordiality to a slum dweller as he could muster.
"It's fifty gil a night."
The traveller almost spluttered from the incredulity, something he almost never did. Fifty Gil a night! In this shithole? If this room was the example of what to expect from the rest of the building, he wouldn't have paid five. This man was probably just trying to squeeze as much Gil out of him as was reasonably possible. Still, he thought better of it as he remembered the order not to draw attention to himself.
"Fine," he said as he threw the Gil onto the counter top. The gruff looking man took down a rusty key from the wall behind him and handed it over.
"Will yeh be wantin' one of my girls?"
"What? No, thank you."
"Hmph suit yourself."
The traveller turned his back on the room and proceeded up the staircase. His room was at the very end of the corridor. Even from his position at the opposite end of the corridor the traveller could see the state of disrepair the door was in. The brass number 7 hung unto the door with only one screw. He sighed and walked towards the end of the corridor. The rusted key scraped into the lock and eventually turned and the door creaked open on rusted hinges. The room was pretty non-descript. The walls were a beige colour and the carpet was similar. There was a tiny window opposite him that gave him a spectacular view of next doors brick wall. The only piece of furniture in the room was a bed which took up most of the floor space.
Sighing again, but not really caring about the state of his 'room', he sat down on the bed, removed his cloak and unbuckled his sword belt. He rubbed his temples slightly since it had been a while since he had to inhale the dirty air of the slums. It had always given him a headache on past visits and now was no exception. Sighing again he lay down on the bed and closed his eyes but he had no intention to sleep.
"Soon Mother," he sent telepathically. "I'll free you and we can be together once more."
"I look forward to it my son. These foolish humans have kept me their prisoner for far too long."
Meanwhile on the other side of the plate, on floor seventy of the ShinRa headquarters building, President ShinRa was hard at work, despite the early hour. He had been working all night and was only dimly aware of the sunlight that flooded through his windows and illuminated his office. There was stubble around his chin and a hint of five o'clock shadow was setting in over his face.
His reason for working late had occurred in the early hours. He had been woken by a phone call from Heidegger, his chief of public security. It appeared that the Mako reactor in sector eight had been completely obliterated in a fireball of an explosion. SOLDIER first class units had been dispatched immediately to the people of the plate to aid them in whatever way they could, but the same courtesy had not been extended to the slum dwellers, even though they had suffered the most from the explosion.
'Filthy slum dwellers. All they do is complain and cost money,' he thought as he looked at the annual expenditure for the slum dwellers below the plate. Needless to say he was unhappy with the size of the figure.
The figure of human loss in the slums that Heidegger had reported hadn't bothered the president at all. What did bother him was the amount of damage caused. He had screamed down the phone when Heidegger said the figure was close to one billion Gil, not to mention the fact that the number eight reactor was now out of commission. Although the ShinRa Corporation could afford these losses, the president was still outraged at this sudden loss of revenue.
He had left his mansion immediately and rushed straight to the office. He sent Tseng and his Turks out to find out just who the hell blew up his reactor and even had the audacity to oppose the ShinRa. While the Turks were doing their job the president did his. He made a live press announcement to the public detailing the fact that the reactor was destroyed but there had been few casualties. He failed to mention the death toll for the slum dwellers. After all this was a worldwide announcement and the fate of a few thousand slum dwellers would be discussed for a few days and then forgotten as something more interesting came up. President ShinRa didn't see the need to even waste his breath. After he had done this he went to the books and tried to figure out how much revenue was needed to get the reactor up and running again and where funds could be acquired from.
He was still doing this task hours later when his intercom made the signal for an incoming message.
"What?" he snapped at his secretary.
"Tseng of the Turks has just arrived sir," she replied dryly, as if the president's attitude didn't affect her in the slightest.
"Good, send him up."
He opened one of his desk drawers and pulled out one of his Mideel brand cigars, some of the finest in the world. As he lit it and took an appreciative drag Tseng came up the stairs and walked up to the president's desk.
"Tseng what news?" he said, getting straight to the point. The president didn't appreciate bullshiters and people who beat about the bush. Tseng didn't fall into either of the above two categories. That was one of the reasons he had been appointed head of the Turks by the president personally. Of course the fact that he was meticulous and would do anything for the company also added in Tseng's favour.
"It seems Mr. President that AVALANCHE, a radical group of activists was behind the explosion."
"I see," the president replied. "Where are they based? Who is their leader?"
"We couldn't find out either of these things sir. However eye witnesses' state they saw a man with a gun attached to his arm and another man with Mako eyes."
"A member of SOLDIER?"
"I don't believe so, sir. He fought against our soldiers so in my professional opinion I would say he is a deserter."
"That isn't good news," the president said, knowing just how accurate Tseng's opinion usually was. "Thank you Tseng, you may leave now. Continue finding out whatever you can on this AVALANCHE group."
"Very well, sir," Tseng said as he left the office again.
'A radical Anti-ShinRa group in Midgar of all places,' was the main thought on the president's mind.
He frowned at this news. He had hoped that the reactor had exploded because of an accident, or at worst, general incompetence. That he could deal with. But since the explosion was an act of sabotage this brought about whole new complications. He would have to find this group and neutralize it as quickly as possible. Who knew how big their membership was or how many people they had influenced?
There would have to be another press conference now. Damn the complications.
'But wait,' the president thought, 'maybe I can use this to our advantage. I could use the people as a tool and get the information we need quicker.'
He silently applauded himself for thinking up this little act of manipulation. The slum folk were idiots and were thus easily used. All the president had to say was there would be a reward for any information that leads to the capture of AVALANCHE and the people would turn on them quicker than the speed of light, their thoughts in their pockets and their mouths drooling at the prospect of seeing about 100 Gil.
"Miss Green," he called over the intercom. "Inform the TV stations we're going to make another statement as soon as possible. After you've done that send a message to Reeve and Heidegger. They are to see me in the conference room at five o'clock sharp."
"Right away, sir," came the lacklustre voice of his secretary.
The president smoked his cigar again happily as his plans began to set themselves in motion before going back to work on the books.
By four in the afternoon Sephiroth was beginning to become restless. His days in SOLDIER had enhanced his already great amount of patience and determination, but there was absolutely nothing to do but sit and wait in this bordello. The wait he could cope with under normal circumstances. However what he was waiting for excited him too much to wait.
Since he arrived there had been three knocks on his door and each time it was a different prostitute. By the time the third one came around he simply paid her to help him pass the time. When she had entered the room she had begun pulling her clothes off until Sephiroth stopped her with a hand gesture. He had no intention of bedding a prostitute, no less one from the slums. Instead he suggested that they talk a while. She gave him an odd look at first but soon began to talk about herself with Sephiroth silently pretending to care about what she said. There was, after all, only so much a man can take before being driven insane by boredom. Sharpening his sword was an impossible activity since as soon as he ran a rock across the Murasame said rock was simply cleaved in two.
She left the room as soon as Sephiroth paid her the usual fee and he was left sitting and waiting again.
"Patience, my son."
Sephiroth allowed himself what one could only describe as a haunted smile. He took great pleasure from his conversations with Mother, and in this place, they were all that were keeping him from killing someone. Had it not been for her, Sephiroth was fairly sure he would have ended up strangling the prostitute. He and she for that matter, had no qualms about slaughtering people but for now it was best Sephiroth kept a low profile. A massacre would only attract the ShinRa's attention.
He lifted his head as a sudden bang shock the entire building. Outside Sephiroth could hear people screaming.
"What was that, Mother?"
"I do not know. Investigate."
Without needing a further reason Sephiroth immediately put on his sword belt and cloak and walked through the door. The corridor was mostly quiet. Most of the doors were left open and the rooms behind them empty as the occupants had left in a hurry but from those doors that were still closed muffled moans could be heard. Clearly the people in those rooms hadn't heard the explosion or didn't care.
No-one was in the main reception either so Sephiroth went into the bar to see if there was anyone there. Assuredly enough the bar was crowded and everyone there was gathered around to get a glimpse of the tiny television set in the corner. Since he was taller than everyone else Sephiroth managed to get a good view, even from his place in the back.
A female newsreader appeared on the screen, shuffled her papers out of habit and began speaking.
"Breaking news. Another of the Mako reactors in Midgar has been attacked. Reports coming in are saying that the Mako reactor of sector five has been completely obliterated in an explosion, leaving the entire sector without power. As of yet no group has claimed responsibility for the attack but it is believed that it was caused by the terrorist network AVALANCHE, the same group who destroyed the Sector eight reactor in the early hours of this morning. It is unknown how many casualties there are and President ShinRa is expected to be releasing another statement shortly. We go now to eye witnesses who saw the event happen."
Sephiroth soon lost interest since these eye witnesses either had no truth behind their story or simply repeated what the newsreader had just said. Murmurs soon broke out as the newsreader came back on and declared the broadcast finished.
"No good AVALANCHE. Ruinin' the city-"
"ShinRa's just as bad."
"Good for 'em. 'Bout time someone stood up to ShinRa."
Sephiroth listened to some of their comments with a sneer on his face. Either way it didn't matter. The dwells might not like Mako, but they were too lazy to try and find an alternative source of power. Just because a few people died and their Mako production was set back a little that wasn't going to stop the ShinRa Electric Power Company from using Mako either.
"What do you think Mother?"
"This can be used to our advantage. They will be so consumed in their own deeds that our task will be much easier to accomplish. You know what to do now."
With that Sephiroth tightened his cloak around himself and left the building unnoticed. In fact no-one had even seen him enter the bar at all in the first place.
Glancing at his watch President ShinRa saw the time was rapidly approaching five o'clock. He didn't particularly care if he was a little late for his meeting, since he held the prerogative to show up whenever he pleased. As it was he was flying towards his private helipad on floor seventy of the ShinRa building.
He had just been inside the number five Mako reactor shortly before it too became a fireball. However unlike last time, the President wasn't angry and a plan of counter attack was already developing in his mind, should the Air buster fail to annihilate the troublesome rebels. Eye witness reports hadn't been wrong. Of the three members of AVALANCHE he encountered, two of them met the descriptions given previously to the Turks. The third member was a woman. The president hadn't heard anything about this woman before but she certainly interested him.
'Too bad she was a traitor. Otherwise I would have made her my concubine,' he thought, chuckling at the very idea.
Regardless whether they survived or not the President was sure there were more of them out there in the city. They too needed to be neutralized.
The helicopter touched down on the helipad less than five minutes later. The President was greeted by the sight of his own office and two members of SOLDIER first class he recognized as his protection. He hadn't needed them in the reactor. After all there were twenty other SOLDIERS there. Two more wouldn't make much difference.
Walking through the door and then down the stairs to floor 69 the president focused his attention on the desk closest to him. The woman who sat there was consumed by typing something that he couldn't see so he cleared his throat to get her attention.
"Mr. Heidegger and Mr. Reeve are already waiting for you sir," she said, her eyes not once leaving the computer screen.
"Thank you," he replied, his voice devoid of any emotion.
He continued on his way towards the elevators, all the time the SOLDIERS following behind him obediently. After swiping his keycard through the entry panel the elevator door opened immediately, showing off a fancy glass lift which gave a great view of the plate. Again he swiped his keycard through a panel in the lift and then pushed the button indicating he wanted to go to the 66th floor.
The doors closed with a noise and the descent was made without conversation. The bodyguards glanced at each other but said nothing. It was an unspoken rule that if you get into an elevator with the President then you shut up. However, people usually just greeted him and said they would wait for the next elevator.
Less than thirty seconds later the doors opened again onto a different floor and the president stepped out, again closely followed by his guards. The conference room was directly ahead of them, easily identifiable by its huge, bomb blast proof doors. Approaching this door he turned around and spoke to his guards, who were already standing to attention.
"You are to remain here and guard this door. Make sure no-one enters or tries to enter. If someone says they need to see me urgently I want just one of you to inform me, then I'll decide whether to see them. This includes Shinra executives. Do you understand?"
"Yes, Mr. President," they said as they moved to flanking positions on either side of the door.
The door swung open when he ran his keycard through the slot in the nearby wall and he stepped inside. The well lit room was furnished only with a long table and about twenty fancy leather chairs. The room was almost empty but at the other end Heidegger and Reeve were waiting, sitting in their usual seats. Heidegger helped himself from a nearby bowl of peanuts and Reeve grimaced as he watched the man polish off the bowl. It was obvious they disliked each other. Their jobs rarely allowed friendly co-operation with their respective departments but they also just disliked each other for the sake of it.
As soon as the President entered the room Reeve stood and bowed to his boss. Heidegger looked at Reeve amused until he turned and saw the president staring at him. The look of amusement passed to Reeve's face as Heidegger clumsily bowed too, almost falling over his chair in the process.
"Greetings gentlemen," the president said in his typical statesman voice, as he moved to his seat at the head of the table. "How do I find you on this day?"
Heidegger looked about ready to answer before Reeve cut him off.
"With all due respect Sir what is this about exactly?"
The president glanced at Reeve and then smiled. He, like Tseng, didn't beat around the issue, but simply got to the point.
"An excellent question Reeve, one I'll only be too obliged to answer. I understand that you both know of the explosions." No-one said anything but the President continued anyway, taking the silence as an affirmative. Then he turned to stare at Heidegger. "Now Heidegger, would you care to explain how two Mako reactors have blown up in one day while the city is supposed to be securely protected by you?"
"Well, Sir I-" Whatever he was about to say was cut off when the president raised his hand.
"Tell me what you are doing about the problem."
Heidegger let out a shaky breath of air before speaking.
"I've assigned the Turks to find out what they can about the rebel group AVALANCHE and security has been raised twofold in every reactor."
The president considered him for a moment before speaking.
"Idiot. How likely do you think it is that they will strike yet again at another of my reactors? Why weren't the reactors this heavily guarded in the first place?" he finished coldly and secretly enjoying the discomfort he had caused for Heidegger.
"Well-"
"I don't want to hear it. As of now the defence of the city will be assigned to Scarlet and Tseng. When the rebels have been neutralized then I may consider giving you your job back. Go and bring Tseng here. NOW."
Heidegger immediately fled the room as fast as his fat legs would carry him (again much too both the president's and Reeves amusement). As soon as he was gone the president pressed a button on the intercom set in the table in front of him that immediately put him through to Scarlet's office.
"Yes?" came her rushed monosyllabic reply.
"Scarlet, would you immediately report to the conference room? I have something that needs your attention."
"Of course Mr. President," she said enthusiastically. "I'll be there as soon as possible."
There was a crackle on the line that signified that Scarlet had ended the connection.
Now with nothing left to do but wait the president took another cigar out of the pocket of his immaculately tailored suit and put it between his lips. With his other hand he went into his pocket to withdraw his lighter which wasn't where it should be. Placing the cigar down for a moment he searched his other pockets to no avail. He decided he must have simply dropped it in the reactor.
"Reeve, do you have a lighter?" the president asked.
"No, Sir. I'm afraid I don't smoke. May I ask Sir, why am I here?"
The president turned to Reeve and smiled slightly.
"All will be revealed soon enough."
Several minutes later the bomb proof door opened and the president could hear a woman arguing with one of the guards. The other guard appeared in the doorway.
"Allow Scarlet in," the president called from across the room before the guard even opened his mouth, "and Tseng too if he's here yet."
The guard saluted and then returned back to his position. Scarlet immediately stopped shouting, but before she came through the door those seated heard the other guard yell in pain. Then she stepped through the door. As she walked she took the now extinguished half smoked cigarette from its holder and began replacing it with a new one. This task done she threw the old cigarette into an ashtray and bowed to the president.
Tseng followed her inside. He had avoided making so much of a commotion but then the president knew that Scarlet was more of a passionate person than Tseng was. Others simply called Scarlet high strung, among other things. He sat silently just as Scarlet lit her second cigarette and silently gave her lighter to the president.
"How did you know?" the president asked in amusement.
"There's a cigar on the table and you aren't smoking it, Sir," she replied in a butter-wouldn't-melt voice.
The president chuckled before lighting his cigar and looked over the three seated individuals in turn. Scarlet sat at ease, enjoying what was most likely her twentieth cigarette of the day. Tseng sat stiffly, silently and kept a watchful gaze over the room and a hand inside his jacket, which the President assumed was clasped over a gun. Reeve simply looked anxious to get this over and done with.
"Now lady and gentlemen. The reason I've called you here is to run an idea past you. An idea that, I think, will crush AVALANCHE once and for all."
After the cataclysmic explosion in Sector 5 things seemed to be getting progressively worse for the city of Midgar. The very next day, not long beforehand, the earth quaked and a great sound of metal grinding against metal screamed through the city, carried further upon the wind. However Sephiroth couldn't care less. That wasn't his focus at this point in time.
The moonlight that illuminated the floating city bathed Sephiroth in its eerie glow. His hair shone brightly against the moon, as did his eyes, and his sword twinkled in its sheath as if it were made from purest starlight. However this illusion was ruined quickly as Sephiroth went back into the shadows to avoid being seen.
He was standing outside the ShinRa building but unlike most who regarded it with awe, he regarded it with contempt. He hated the ShinRa and tonight he would extract his revenge.
But he didn't actually know why he was here. After the explosion yesterday he had begun to make his way up to the plate without being detected, a feat that required nearly a full day to accomplish. Jenova had simply told him to wait outside the ShinRa building and go no further, especially if he heard the earth shaking noise.
"Son, can you hear me?"
"Yes."
"Good. I have just acquired some information of interest. During the last explosion the idiot human soldiers managed to capture somebody. I do not know her name but I saw her. She is a Cetra."
"But… impossible. You and I are the last."
"I do not understand either. But I could feel the presence within her. She will be a future problem. She said something as she passed my prison. She said 'Cloud will rescue me.' Do you know who that is?"
"No."
"I do. Watch out for him. We can use him to dispose of her."
"What does he look like Mother?"
Jenova sent him a mental image of what he looked like, down to the split ends of his blonde hair and sharpness of his blade.
"Do not eliminate him. He is intrinsic to my plans and his harm could lead to their unravelling. Do you understand?"
"Yes Mother."
"If what she says is true then you should be able to come to me easier than we once thought."
Now knowing what to look for Sephiroth hid behind some crates that still allowed him a good view of both the road leading to the building and the entrance to the building itself. For the longest time there was nothing and Sephiroth merely sat on the ground, leaned against the crates and waited. Then he heard footsteps on the road not too far away. Covertly he looked around the crate and saw three people approach. They continued walking in silence until they stopped outside the entrance.
"Mother," he called out.
"That is him. Proceed as you think is right."
Cloud and his two comrades stood in front of the building unmoving. Sephiroth raised an eyebrow and wondered why they had simply stopped.
'Must be the "hero complex". He must want to act dramatic before going in and saving the damsel in distress.'
The man who stood to Cloud's left was the first to break the silence. Sephiroth glanced at the man's gunarm in interest for a moment before paying attention to what was being said.
"Hey you oughta know this building well."
"…Not really, now that I think about it," Cloud said as he shook his head slowly. "This's the first time I've ever been to the Headquarters."
"I heard about this place before. Every floor above the 60th is special and not easy to get to even for employees. Must be where they took Aeris. The security's pretty light now. Awright, let's go!" he said as he ran towards the main entrance.
'Aeris. So that's the name of the Cetran bitch, is it?'
Before the man could run through the door the woman who had yet to say anything spoke up in an urgent voice.
"Wait a second!" she said. "You're not just thinking of going through the main entrance, are you?"
The man stopped and turned to regard her.
"Well what else does it look like? I'm gonna kick some Shinra butt and..."
The woman moaned in exasperation to cut him off before he could continue.
"That's not going to work! We've got to find another way..."
"Ain't gonna be no other way," the man almost roared back. "If we keep wastin' time like this, Aeris'll…" he finished with a shudder.
"I know that!" she said, the flare gone from her voice. "But if we get caught here… Hey Cloud what should we do?"
Sephiroth turned his attentions back onto Cloud now. Thing's would go much smoother for Sephiroth if Cloud choose to take the main entrance. With a sudden thought he removed one of the materia from his armour and replaced it with a yellow manipulate materia.
"You will enter through the main door," he sent to Cloud via the materia.
His mind wasn't even shielded against manipulation. Sephiroth almost burst out into hysterics at just how easy this imbecile was making things. Fortunately he managed to control himself and heard Cloud say "Let's bust on in."
"That's more like it!" the other man replied. "C'mon let's go!"
As Sephiroth stepped out from his hiding place, the last of the three entered through the door and disappeared from sight. He unsheathed his sword and waited for a few minutes. Sure enough the puppets were making enough noise to travel up to floor 70 itself. There were yells, gunshots, screams of pain, more gunshots and then silence.
As soon as the reception area fell silent Sephiroth stepped through the doors with a triumphant look on his face. This had been much easier than he thought. The reception still looked normal aside from the lack of living people. Soldiers were slumped against the receptionist desks or simply lay still on the floor, puddles of blood forming under their no longer living bodies. As he prepared to begin the walk upstairs a hand grabbed his ankle with a weak grip. Turning around in shock he looked down to see one of the soldiers, bleeding freely from a severe sword wound to his chest, was looking up at him.
"Please… help me… I beg of you," the soldier somehow managed to wheeze out before going into a bloody fit of coughing. Sephiroth bent down beside him, snatched the card key that was positioned around his neck and stood straight again.
The soldier still didn't let go.
The Murasame sword soon dealt with that. He sliced the soldiers arm off before turning the sword with a fluid motion and decapitating him. With a smile on his face and blood on his blade he walked to the elevator as casually as if nothing happened.
"Intruder alert. Intruder alert. Intruders detected on floor 59," blared the voice of the alarm system.
Sephiroth's smile just got wider. Cloud really was making this too easy.
Less than an hour later the president of ShinRa Corporation once again was seated behind his desk, smoking a cigar in triumph. After a day full of problems, most in the form of AVALANCHE, things were beginning to pick up. Tseng successfully managed to capture the Ancient earlier on in the day, and not only that, but he used her as bait to capture the remaining members of AVALANCHE. They were rotting in his cells at this moment.
He had made an announcement just five minutes ago to the entire world stating that said AVALANCHE members had been captured and would be executed the next day. Of course that was far from the truth. In reality they, like the Ancient, would be given to Hojo to use them any way his ingenious yet deranged mind could think of. That, along with the increase in Mako prices due to the sudden 'shortage', had made ShinRa even wealthier and more popular worldwide and for what price? Only the lives of a few thousand slum dwellers. If anything this was even more reason to celebrate.
He mulled on these thoughts quite happily until the tranquillity of his office was shattered by the harsh blaring of the intercom. Sighing wearily, he pushed the button on the desk to respond to the buzz.
"Yes what is it?"
"The head of the Space Division requests an audience with you, sir," came the reply
'Oh god, Palmer. Why must he ruin the moment?'
"Fine. Send him up," the president responded, only just managing to suppress another sigh.
The president extinguished his cigar in the crystal ash tray hidden in a desk drawer and turned his attention to the stairs. Seconds later, what a polite person might say is the portly figure of Palmer appeared in the president's office. A ruder, coarser individual would not have been so nice about it.
"Palmer," the president called out as the head of the space division walked towards him. "Take a seat," he said while pointing at one of the chairs beside his desk, one of the more uncomfortable ones.
"Thank you, sir." He sat down in the chair and looked at the president.
"Forgive me for being blunt Palmer but what do you want?" The president was quite pleased to see he kept the exasperation out of his voice. It was always important to at least try to make an effort with one's subordinates for a man in the president's position. How long that would last though he didn't know since Palmer had a talent for pissing him off.
"It's about the rate hike, sir."
'Here we go again.'
"What about it?" he replied, knowing full well what Palmer's answer would be.
"I was wondering if-"
"No you can't," the president said cutting him off, the exasperation now evident. "As I said in the conference room the money is going to Scarlet and Reeve's departments. No compromise."
"But sir-"
"But nothing Palmer this is my final word. You may leave." Although the last sentence sounded like an invitation both men knew it wasn't. Rather it was an order. And no-one disobeyed a direct order from the president. Only a few who did had ever retained their jobs.
Palmer got up from the chair (and the president noted with some small satisfaction that he rubbed his backside from stiffness) and prepared to leave but as soon as he reached the stairs…
"Intruder alert. Intruder alert. Intruder detected on floor 67." The alarm was going off again, much to the bewilderment of the president.
He also felt a sense of foreboding somewhere in the pit of his stomach.
As he picked up his phone he yelled across the room telling Palmer he could stay and then proceeded to type in the digits required.
The phone rang twice before someone picked it up.
"This is the Junon office of Vice President Rufus ShinRa," the speaker stated in a monotone. "This is Elena speaking. How can I help you?"
"This is the president. Put my son on the line now."
"Y-yes, Sir. I'll put you straight through."
The secretary was good to her word. Less than thirty seconds later his son was on the other side of the line.
"Rufus, we have a visitor."
The highest four floors had been on total lockdown, so the moment Sephiroth set foot there the alarm went off. He didn't mind in the slightest. They didn't know he was here so they would probably just assume that Cloud or one of his merry friends had somehow broken out of his or her cell.
He walked down the corridor with a direct purpose in mind. He met only one person on the way, a scientist, who had looked at his sword in fear before her life was extinguished by it. Had Sephiroth stopped (or cared) to notice the woman looked remarkably like the vessel that had borne him, Lucrecia. On the other side of the floor he found what he was looking for, and something that he wasn't.
The cold steel grey of the prison his mother was currently trapped in was glinting oddly from a spotlight on the floor above. There was only one window set in the door but it was too high to afford a view of Jenova.
Surrounding the mini prison were a group of soldiers, and judging by their uniforms and weaponry, they were all third class. Altogether there were about nine soldiers, some armed with guns, others with swords.
Eventually one of the guards spotted him and alerted his fellows with a cry. Sephiroth made no movement to try and kill the man. He simply stood there. Within seconds all nine of the soldiers had their weapons trained on him. He raised his own sword (still encrusted with the blood of the scientist) and glanced at each of the soldiers in turn.
"Do you know who I am?" he asked mockingly.
All of the soldiers made inclinations to show they did but not a one would say his name, as if it was cursed.
"Do you know who is imprisoned in the tank behind you?"
"Of course," one of the younger soldiers said after finding his voice. "It's Jenova."
Faster than anyone could possibly notice Sephiroth's calm demeanour was gone and replaced by a look of absolute fury. Taking a step forward to emphasize his anger he spoke again. "Insolent bastard," he snarled completely furious. "How dare you speak her name?" The fury soon left Sephiroth's face again in a heartbeat and in a calmer tone of voice he seemed to address the tank itself. "Mother I am here. And I bring you gifts," he added with a nasty glance at the soldiers.
The door of the tank exploded outwards and crashed into a nearby experiment, showering the floor with Mako and burning a hole right through it. With an ear piercing shriek that had everyone but Sephiroth dropping their weapons and covering their ears Jenova slowly emerged from its steel prison. Sephiroth merely smiled and inclined slightly in a respectful bow.
"It is a pleasure to lay eyes on you again Mother. Allow these worthless beings to be the beginnings of your revenge against your captors."
"Thank you son. You have proven to me you are worthy of carrying out the task I have set out for you. But for now…"
In Sephiroth's mind he could tell his mother had an evil grin on her face (since she had no head to show it).
She set about ripping the defenceless soldiers apart with her long sharp claws and within seconds cries of pain went up all over floor 67. Blood splattered all over the floor and walls as she impaled one soldier or slashed the next and threw him or her across the room. Sephiroth merely watched before moving away to lock the staircase door and stand in front of the elevators.
Jenova had eradicated all nine of the soldiers less than a minute after her son left and then set about killing everyone else on the floor. No-one stood a chance against her. Those that managed to escape her to get to the elevator were frozen by Sephiroth's time materia. They all had the same expression of horror on their face as they knew a worse fate than Sephiroth himself was approaching. Although a small part of that fear also came from the malicious grin on their captors face.
Their fear was realized soon enough as Jenova returned to find her son. Pleased that he had spared the prey for her she soon set apart to dismantling them in the most brutal of ways. Blood flowed across the floor in a torrent and flecks of it landed on Sephiroth's robes. However he was too captivated by the inventiveness of Jenova to care and felt he could learn something from her, even if he relied mostly on a sword.
"Son have you found the Cetra?"
Sephiroth was startled out of watching the last of his mothers victims fall to the floor in three pieces by her sudden question.
"I'm afraid not Mother. It is likely she is in the holding cells of another building. I doubt the president would be stupid enough to leave her here."
"It is a shame. I would very much have liked to drink the Cetra's blood but never mind. It is more than likely we will encounter her again at another point."
"For now Mother would you like to continue your revenge?"
"Yes. Yes I would like that."
So it continued. Jenova brought terrible slaughter to everyone she came across and only a few escaped floor 68 alive. Sephiroth simply stood on the sidelines. His mother was certainly in her element, especially since she could now release all her fury she had been saving for her captors since her imprisonment over thirty years ago.
The same bloody fate was met with the denizens of floor 69. However (as Sephiroth noted with pleasure) the soldiers began to fight back which allowed her to demonstrate her skill for killing armed opponents. Needless to say everyone Jenova could find ended up dead and anyone who fought her ended up dying a much slower death. She was about to begin the ascent up the stairs to floor 70 but Sephiroth stopped her.
"Mother!"
"What is it?"
"Please allow me to deal with the president on floor 70. I have my own personal vendetta against that man for lying about my existence. And remember the deal we made."
Jenova stopped moving but said nothing. Eventually she replied, "Yes very well. Go and fulfil your personal revenge."
Sephiroth gave Jenova a knowing smile and then moved up the stairs right into the office of president ShinRa himself.
As Jenova had moved further and further up through the building president ShinRa had watched in horror on the security system as the Ancient annihilated all in its path. In his horror he hadn't noticed Sephiroth walking alongside her and aiding her in the bloodshed.
By the time Jenova had moved up to floor 69 the president moved away from the cameras and began pacing nervously. Seconds later the screams and gunshots of battle, accompanied by the roars of Jenova travelled up his stairs. He felt the stirrings of pride in his soldiers that they would fight the Ancient, even though they didn't know what it was capable of. The helicopter the president had asked his son to send had yet to arrive despite Rufus' assurances that it had left Junon and was on its way. In truth this was a lie. No helicopter was coming but the president wasn't to know this.
As the last of the soldiers fell the president dashed over to his desk and pulled open the drawer housing his cigars and ashtray. Beside them was a loaded Lariat pistol, one bullet short of a full clip to prevent jamming and perfectly weighted to president ShinRa's hand. He took a glancing look at the door that led to the helipad but didn't move. If there was no helicopter by now it was unlikely one would make it in time. And there was no way that he would flee to live for several seconds more. He had too much dignity for that.
So he sat in his chair behind his desk and hid the Lariat pistol under some papers. After all there was still some chance he could negotiate his way out. Being the most powerful man in the world he could provide Jenova with absolutely anything. But seeing a pistol would most certainly seal the president's fate for the worse.
But the footfalls coming up the steps weren't those of a creature the size of Jenova. They belonged to a man. He walked slowly so it took a while until the president could see anything of the person. The first things he saw were bright green eyes and long flowing silver hair.
The man wore slightly blood stained robes and body armour and in his hand he held a sword that looked impossibly long to wield which was also stained with blood. As he finished his ascent the president couldn't tear his eyes away from the malevolent smile that was plastered all over his face. It spoke in volumes. The bottom of the President's stomach seemed to fall away as the grim realization that the possibility of negotiation was now gone. He knew only one thing would satisfy the incorruptible Sephiroth that stood before him.
His own blood.
In the most cordial voice imaginable Sephiroth gave a quick salute like any normal member of SOLDIER and said, "Good evening, Mr. President."
Sephiroth's words, although cordial, were said with malice and they chilled the president down to the very essence of his being.
"What are you doing in my office?" the president said.
A braver man than the president would have quailed under the gaze of Sephiroth but the president refused to do so. It he was to die he would die with pride so he refused to drop eye contact, not even for a second. Unnoticed by both men the president's hand shifted to the pistol, his survival instincts kicking in automatically.
"Tut, tut Mr. President. That isn't the way to greet a guest. You haven't even offered me a chair."
"It isn't exactly cordial to slaughter three floors full of people on a social call so I believe the normal etiquette doesn't apply."
Sephiroth laughed a cold, high laugh. Whether it was from mirth or not the president neither knew nor cared.
"Indeed but Mother has been thirsting for revenge for so long. Had you not imprisoned her then those people would still be alive."
The president had absolutely no idea what the hell Sephiroth was going on about. Indeed his first thought was that Sephiroth was certifiably insane. Before he could say anything of the sort, though, Sephiroth spoke again.
"But I have other reasons for being here. Tell me, what do you know of the Promised Land. Bear in mind that the longer you talk the longer you live.
The President's hand clasped around his gun again but he waited. He would most likely only have one shot and he needed it to kill. This would be a waiting game.
"Why?" he asked simply.
"I wish to know your intentions," Sephiroth replied.
"The Promised Land is a place where Mako is in abundance, more than anywhere else in the world."
"So you intend to use the Promised Land to your own ends. Know where it is?" Sephiroth asked coldly.
The president shook his head eliciting a smile from Sephiroth who began to move closer to the desk.
"Good. You seek to manipulate it. This, Mother can't allow. You've robbed her of enough of her planet's strength. It belongs to the Cetra. It belongs to her. It belongs to me."
"You're completely insane do you know that?"
Sephiroth's eyes glinted dangerously for a moment but he made no violent move towards the president.
Seeking to buy more time the president asked the first thing he could think of.
"What are your intentions for the Promised Land?"
"Do you honestly think I would tell you, you pathetic excuse for a human?" For seemingly no reason at all Sephiroth made a guttural noise and his eyes glazed over for a few moments. His attention was no longer on the president. This was it. It was his only opportunity.
"Mother is beginning to lose her patience." That is what Sephiroth would have said but he didn't get any further than 'beginning' when a gunshot shattered the tangible silence of the President's office.
The bullet hit and passed straight through Sephiroth's left shoulder. He seemed to feel no pain, rather annoyance that he would have to repair his robes. The president pulled back the hammer of his pistol again but in the blink of an eye he was gone.
"Where the hell?"
"That wasn't nice now was it?" a cold mocking voice said behind him.
The president felt utter terror for the first time in his life. Before it even happened he knew his life was forfeit but he couldn't scream. Before he could even attempt to turn in his chair a sharp excruciating pain swept through his chest. The Murasame sword impaled him and his vision began to darken. He attempted to speak but instead his voice only emitted a groan before he started coughing up blood. Then, as if in slow motion, the president fell forwards onto his desk and the last thing he would ever hear was the maniacal laughter of his murderer. He closed his eyes, slumping in a puddle of his own blood against his desk and that closed the final chapter that was the life of President ShinRa.
Rather than remove the sword from the president's body Sephiroth simply left it since it added to the effect. It wouldn't be difficult to craft a new one and he had a dagger the length of a short sword concealed within his robes that could be used for now if necessary.
As he turned to leave the office Sephiroth turned to one of the columns. He thought he could hear a faint noise. As he walked around the side he stumbled upon the crouching form of Palmer, whimpering quietly, who had hid before Sephiroth had set foot in the President's office.
He walked forward so that he stood only a foot away from Palmer. As if acknowledging his presence for the first time Palmer slowly looked up until he met Sephiroth's icy gaze. He sat frozen in fear but then braver men than he had frozen in just the same way when they met his eyes, just before he killed them.
"Please don't kill me," he whimpered pathetically.
Sephiroth lifted him by the scruff of his collar with one gloved hand until his feet left the floor.
"Pathetic," Sephiroth said with venom. "I wouldn't soil my blade." He threw Palmer back to the floor and laughed again. Leaving him alive had its advantages but for now he didn't focus on that.
"Son have you extracted your revenge?"
"Yes Mother. I am returning to you now."
Without one backwards glance Sephiroth left the room and went back to Jenova on the floor below. He smiled at her as they turned to leave. They sent nothing to each other (since there was nothing to be said) but simply made for the elevators on the other side of the floor.
But standing in front of the elevators was a man, looking quite out of place for the simple fact that he was alive. His lips curled into a veiled smile as he looked over both Sephiroth and Jenova without a hint of fear in his face. Beside him his faithful dog growled only to be silenced by a simple command. In one of his gloved hands he held a shotgun.
"Rufus-sama," Sephiroth said in greeting.
"Sephiroth," he replied, acknowledging Jenova with a polite nod of his head but not daring to say her name. Rufus ShinRa didn't have a death wish.
"Where is your blade?" Rufus asked.
With a smirk Sephiroth replied, "In your father."
Rather than the reaction of shock one might expect from a person who just learned that their father had been killed, Rufus-sama simply smiled for a moment before laughing. The sound rebounded off of the walls and sounded simply unnatural in a place that was effectively a tomb.
"Excellent. The deal is fulfilled then. Was it painful for him?"
"Oh yes," Sephiroth replied.
"Good. Thank you for killing him."
"Thank you for reuniting Mother and I, Rufus-sama. The deal will end as soon as we leave Midgar. After that we owe each other nothing."
"As we agreed," Rufus said, as he moved to the side to allow Sephiroth and Jenova to pass into the elevator. With a look at Jenova Rufus said, "The Promised Land is fair competition now."
Jenova growled at him but didn't make any move to kill him. Instead she moved forwards into the elevator, Sephiroth just behind her. As the door closed with a hiss Rufus strode away with confident strides up the steps into his newly acquired office. Smirking at his father's body, he used a PHS to call for the helicopter to come and collect him from floor 70.
"No-one messes with Rufus ShinRa," Rufus said aloud to his father's corpse. "Now you've paid the price… father."
It wouldn't be until much later that Rufus-sama ShinRa would realise just what a horrible mistake he made making a deal with Sephiroth in the first place.
Have questions? Want to make a comment? Then make a review and make me a happy person.