Final Fantasy VII
Before Darkness
Just on the outskirts of Junon, Reeve drove his car across the land. He was on his way to Edge for a reunion he had organized with the gang. They were all going to meet up in Cloud and Tifa's bar tommorow. Reeve was leaving a day early, because he wanted to be the first guest there, he had organized it. As Reeve continued driving, he noticed a dark cloud in the sky.
'Looks like rain...' Reeve said as he continued driving. The dark cloud became darker and darker until Reeve could barely see in front of him. 'What's going on?' Reeve screamed as he span out of control. His car crashed into a rock, Reeve jumped out of the car. He looked to the sky, a huge thunder storm began. Reeve yelled to the sky. 'Hello! Hello! Is there anyone around?' he cried. Then he heared something that only he could here. 'No...' he muttered. He stepped back to his car. 'No, not you! You can't...we killed you!' Reeve screamed. Suddenly Reeve's car blew up, and Reeve was consumed by the flames.
It was the next night, in the city of Edge. Cloud sat patiently at the bar. Barret was also there.
'Where the hell is the foo!' Barret yelled. Cloud shrugged. Reeve had made it clear, he wanted to be the first to arrive to the reunion, but he was last. Everyone had arrived together earlier that day together. 'He organized the damn thing!' Barret continued yelling. Tifa then walked in followed by Yuffie.
'Any luck?' Cloud wondered. Tifa shook her head.
'We can't get a signal...' Yuffie sighed. Tifa sat by Cloud.
'Maybe he had car trouble?' Cloud suggested. Tifa slowly nodded.
'Maybe...' she cried. Red XIII then strolled in.
'No one around here has seen him,' Red told them. Cloud nodded. Cloud then drank another strong drink, he, like Tifa, was worried too, so he had to take his mind off it. Barret too was drinking, not because he was worried though. Cloud then stood up.
'Hey!' he yelled. 'We're suppossed to be having a party, c'mon!' Cloud then turned on some music. The atmosphere did not change, Tifa kept her head down, Barret continued drinking, Yuffie was staring at her materia, Red noticed this.
'Hey that's mine!' Red yelled. Cloud sighed and turned the music off.
The Sierra flew above the outskirts of Junon. Inside the cockpit, Cid was flying. Vincent was observing the land below.
'You see anything yet?' Cid asked. Vincent shook his head.
'I have not seen anything...' Vincent coldly said. Cid then began to smoke his cigarette. 'I thought you had given up?' Vince asked.
'I have, just not when I'm flying. When I'm in the air, laws mean nothing.'
'So if the law stated murder is wrong, I could happily murder you in here and not get into any trouble?' Vincent wondered. Cid stared at Vincent, who just looked innocent, and looked as if he really wanted to know.
'Don't get any ideas Vinny...' Cid told him. Vincent shrugged. Vincent then looked out the window.
'Wait!' Vincent said. Outside, he could see a car ensumed in flames. Cid looked outside as well.
'Is that Reeve's car?' Cid panicked. Vincent nodded.
'It is.'
The Sierra landed by the burning car, Vincent climbed down the ladder, followed by Cid. They both ran to the ruins. In front of them, they both saw Reeve on the floor. He had some bad burns on his face, his eyes were closed and he stayed still.
'Is he dead?' Cid panicked. Vincent slowly kneeled down and checked Reeve's pulse.
'...No. He is not dead.' Cid looked relieved, he then kneeled down and began shaking Reeve.
'Hey, wake up! Wake up dumb ass!' Cid violently yelled. Vincent stood up.
'He cannot be woken,' Vincent slowly said. Cid looked up to him.
'What?' Cid asked. Vincent lifted Reeve up and put him on his shoulder.
'He is comatosed, we must take him to the Medi Bay.'
'How long have you been a doctor?' Cid said. Vincent sighed and began walking back to the ship.
'It's called common sense,' Vincent said. Cid shrugged and chased after him.
The Sierra returned to Edge, and Reeve was being taken care of inside the ship. In the Medi Bay, Reeve was asleep in a bed, he had been in a coma for two weeks. The medical men operated on him to heal the burns, but Reeve could not be woken. Cloud sat at Reeve's bed side all day and night.
'Medically, he's completely healthy...' the doctor sighed. 'But for some reason, we can't wake him.'
'How is that possible?' Cloud asked. The doctor, who was very tall and thin, checked Reeve's pulse, then looked back at Cloud.
'Anything is possible Mr. Strife,' the doctor stated. Cloud looked at Reeve's face, he still had a bandage over his reconstructed face, Reeve did not look at peace at all, even though he was not awake, Cloud could feel his pain.
'Have you got any ideas doctor?' Cloud wondered. The doctor checked his pad.
'Well...' the doctor began. 'It's possible he suffered from a trauma, which can damage your head temporarily.'
'How could you suffer a trauma?' Cloud asked. The doctor sighed.
'What is this Mr. Strife? Why so many questions?' The doctor said, Cloud looked angrilly at the doctor.
'I'd just like to know!' Cloud coldly said. The doctor slowly backed away.
'Uh...of course Mr. Strife...'the doctor cried. 'Well..for example, our last trauma victim suffered the trauma because they saw one of their friends they thought to be dead..'
'Dead?' Cloud said. He leaned back and thought to himself. He then stood up. 'Thankyou doctor.' Cloud then left the Medi Bay.
Cloud opened the door and stepped slowly into Reeve's office in Junon. Cid and Vincent followed behind him. Cid looked around.
'Hey, he's got a TV, I'll see you guys later.' Cid then jumped on Reeve's couch and turned on the TV. Cloud and Vincent then searched through Reeve's office. Cloud eventually found what he was looking for.
'I found Reeve's laptop,' Cloud said. He then placed the laptop on the desk, and opened it up.
'Don't forget there are files he may have hidden,' Vincent reminded Cloud.
'Yeah,' Cid said. 'That's probably where he kept his porno ay Vinny?' Cid chuckled.
'That's not exactly what I meant,' Vincent stated.
Cloud looked through the laptop. Hours had passed and Cloud could still not find anything of value.
'I think we'll have to call it a day,' Cloud sighed. 'I looked through all his word documents, there's nothing to say Reeve actually saw someone who he thought was dead.'
'Though it is a strong possibility,' Vincent said. 'Sephiroth is one example.'
'I hope that you're wrong Vincent,' Cloud cried. Cid then walked over to them. Cid looked at the screen.
'Have you checked that?' Cid pointed to the screen. Cloud stared at Cid.
'Cid, that's 'Space Invaders', it's a computer game,' Cloud sighed.
'So, you haven't checked it?' Cid grinned. Cloud stood up and walked away from the laptop.
'No, and I'm not going to either,' Cloud then looked out the window. Cid then sat at the laptop.
'Don't be so unintelligent Cid,' Vincent said. Cid looked at him.
'Look, use the science talk later Vinny, I know what I'm doing.' Cid then clicked on the Space Invaders file. Suddenly the screen went black. 'CHECK THIS OUT!' Cid yelled. Cloud sprinted over, and read the screen.
'File encrypted? Why would he encrypt Space Invaders?' Cloud wondered.
'There must be information on it...' Vincent moaned as Cid grinned at him.
Suddenly a shot came through the window and shot the laptop's monitor.
'SNIPER!' Cid yelled. More shots came smashing through the window, Cloud, Vincent and Cid all ducked by the window. Cloud grabbed the laptop, and clutched onto it.
'We have to get out of here...' Cloud yelled. Vincent got out his gun.
'You two escape, I'll cover you...' Vincent nobly said. Cloud smiled at Vincent.
'Vincent, that's incredibly noble of you..' Cloud was then interupted by Cid.
'No, no, no! If anyone's doing the covering, it's me!' Cid screamed.
'With what?' Vincent asked. 'You're spade?' Cid then got to his feet.
'Hey! Don't ever...' Cid was interupted, when five black ninja's jumped into the room. They all wore masks to cover their faces. One of them was very tall and thin, he was the sniper.
'Give us the laptop, and no one will die..' the sniper said.
'Who do you work for?' Cloud asked. Suddenly the sniper aimed his gun at them.
'Enough with the questions, Mr. Strife!' the sniper then took shots at the three of them, Cloud got out his sword and cut the sniper rifle in half and kicked the sniper over. Cid and Vincent then joined the battle as well, Vincent killed two ninja's with two head shots. Cid took out one with his spear, while Cloud slashed one's head off. Cloud then looked at the sniper, on the floor, he went to strike him down. Suddenly more ninja's ran in.
'We have to run!' Cloud yelled, and the three of them then sprinted out of the door, ninja's chased them. The sniper got to his feet.
'Kill them!' the sniper yelled.
As Cloud, Cid and Vincent sprinted to the Sierra, Cloud slipped and the laptop flew out of his hands, it slid across the docks, and flew in the water.
'Damn! I've got to get it back!' Cloud yelled. Vincent grabbed him and they kept running.
'Another time...' Vincent coldly stated. The three then made it on the ship and managed to take off, away from the ninja's.
Cloud walked into the Medi Bay, he sat by Reeve, the doctor was nowhere to be seen, Cloud looked at Reeve.
'What did you do Reeve?' Cloud asked. Red XIII then walked in, they had been waiting in the ship.
'How did it go?' Tifa asked. Cloud sighed.
'I had it, I had the information we needed to find out what happened to Reeve, but I lost it...' Cloud lowered his head.
'Lost it...where?' Red asked.
'Junon sea...it's probably deep at the bottom of the ocean now,' Cloud cried. Tifa came and sat next to him.
'It's not the end,' she smiled. 'We can still get it back, just use the submarine and go look for it?' Cloud thought about this for a while.
When they got back in Edge, their was a surprise waiting for them in Seventh Heaven.
'Reno? Rude?' Cloud said shocked. Reno and Rude were both sat at the bar drinking. They turned to face Cloud.
'It's about time you got here,' Reno said.
'What are you doing here?' Cloud asked. Reno and Rude both stood up.
'We heared you were in need of help, the type of help only The Turks can deliver,' Reno said proudly.
'How can you help me?' Cloud said, looking at the both of them. Reno and Rude laughed to themselves.
'You want to know who took out your boy Reeve, we can find out,' Reno told them. Cloud thought about this.
'How much?' Cloud asked. The Turks both looked offended.
'What? You assume we are only doing this for money?' Reno asked.
'So it's free then?' Cloud wondred.
'Oh, no, we do want money,' Reno stated. 'One thousand gill for a weeks worth?'
'What exactly can you do?' Cloud asked. Rude then opened a briefcase with plenty of files inside.
'We can check through Reeve's past, his dealings, what he was up to in the weeks leading up to his accident,' Reno proudly said. Cloud nodded.
'Okay, I need you on this Reno, I can't do it alone,' Cloud cried. Reno nodded.
'Don't worry, I'll see you soon and give you are info.' Reno and Rude then left the bar.
It was night and Cloud was ready to leave Edge on the submarine mission. Cloud was quite happy to leave alone when all the gang ran to him.
'Cloud, you're not going alone?' Yuffie wondered. Cloud nodded.
'It's going to be a very dangerous job,' Cloud said. 'It's a one person job.' Barret grabbed Cloud by the throat.
'Listen to me foo! I'm not going to see another one of my crew in a coma, I'm coming with you!' Barret then entered the ship.
'You need me to fly the damn ship,' Cid stated and climbed on board.
'You need me to supply the materia,' Yuffie said and got on board.
'You need me for my sense of smell,' Red said and got on board.
'I'm not leaving you now Cloud,' Tifa smiled and got on board.
'I'm just coming because I feel like it,' Vincent said coldly and got on board.
'So that's everyone then?' Cloud sighed and got on. The Sierra then took off into the sky.
'Mr. Strife?' the doctor greeted Cloud as Cloud entered the Medi Bay. 'We have an update on your friend's condition.' Cloud quickly ran to Reeve to see if he was awake. 'Not that good of an update, I'm afraid. But your friend's trauma on the brain has decreased dramatically.'
'Good,' Cloud smiled. He looked to Reeve, 'you'll be up and kicking soon enough. Once I get your laptop back from under the Junon Ocean, we'll find out who did this to you.' Cloud got to his feet. 'Thankyou doctor' Cloud then went to the cockpit.
The Sierra landed in Junon harbor, Cloud slowly climbed down with Red and Vincent, everyone else was staying on the ship as lookouts for the ninja's. Cloud then climbed into an empty submarine, followed by Red and Vincent.
The submarine went underneath the ocean, Cloud drove it down and down until it reached the bottom of the ocean.
'I can't see it anywhere...'Cloud sighed.
'Wait! What's that!' Red yelled. Cloud saw it too, an abandoned ship, with it's hatch wide open.
'An abandoned shinra ship...'Vincent coldly stated. 'The laptop feel in that hatch, I'm sure of it..'
Cloud, Red and Vincent all dived from their submarine and swam into the hatch. Suddenly they went flying down the hatch. They then hit into a door, it was locked, Cloud was desperate to breathe, he could not see the laptop anywhere, he was suffocating, Cloud then opened the door, they all slided into the ship as well as the water, Cloud quickly closed the door, to keep the water from getting in. The three got to their feet.
'The laptop wasn't there,' Cloud cried. Vincent looked at him.
'Then it will be in here,' Vincent said. Cloud, Vincent and Red then went strolling through the damp ship. Water was dripping everywhere, eventually they saw the cockpit.
'The cockpit..'Red said. Cloud nodded.
'If it's not in there, it's not here..' Cloud sighed.
They busted into the cockpit to see a shocking sight. Reno was standing over Rude, who was unconcious on the floor.
'Reno?' Cloud asked. 'What are you doing here?' Reno turned to him, he looked worried.
'Me and Rude came down here looking for any files Shinra would have on Reeve, when Rude just collapsed. I tried waking him, but I can't.' Vincent checked over Rude. He then removed a dart from Rude's back.
'A poison dart...'Vincent stated. 'Strong enough to knock you out within a second, strong enough to put you in a coma...'
'Who fired it?' Red asked.
'We did!' a voice yelled. The four of them turned around to see at least twenty black ninja's along with the sniper at the door.
'I would have fired my sniper bullet at him,' the sniper said. 'But the water ruined my gun powder...'
'How did you know we were here?' Cloud wondered. The sniper's mask covered his face, but Cloud could see him smiling.
'That's for me to know and you to die over...' the sniper yelled.
'You're going to pay for what you've done!' Cloud yelled. The ninja's suddenly then all revealed swords in their hands and charged at the four of them.
'Time to die!'
END OF CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO UP SOON
Please can I hear your thoughts on this, I really want to hear where you think this should go, and what you thought of it. Thanks.