Final Fantasy VII
Before Darkness
Chapter Two
Reeve dreamed of darkness, back in his bed. Reeve was the Mayor of Junon, appointed proudly by his predecessor. Reeve had images of the days leading up to his crash. He had been having disagreements with his members of staff. Some felt he lacked the intelligence of a leader. Reeve had appointed someone with previous leader experiance to be his advisor...Rufus Shinra. Reeve had grown a lot of trust in Rufus because of their unity in fighting Kadaj over a year ago. Rufus had grown many friends rather quickly in Reeve's office. The last time Reeve spoke to Rufus, they had a voilent argument, just before Reeve left for Edge. The images left Reeve's mind and darkness ensued him once more.
Cloud fought voilently with the sniper, Cloud managed to head butt him. The sniper fell, Cloud then noticed something slide out of his back pack. Reeve's laptop slid out. Cloud dived for the laptop, the sniper grabbed onto it too. They rolled around the ground fighting for it. Across the room, Vincent's revolver was thankfully unaffected by the water and Vincent blew away a lot of the ninja's. Red guarded Rude from any ninja looking for the kill. Reno was out in the action as well, he noticed many of the ninja's were wet.
'Hey...' Reno said to one ninja. 'Guess what conducts electricity?' The ninja looked at Reno with a confused look behind his mask.
'huh?' the ninja said back.
'It's obvious,' Reno laughed. 'It's you!' Reno then set his electric bolt at the ninja causing him to blow to smithereens. Eventually the number of ninja's was down to, just one: The Sniper.
The sniper headbutted Cloud off him. He quickly got up and sprinted out of the cockpit. Cloud got to his feet.
'We got to stop him!' Cloud yelled. Vincent nodded.
'I'll go, he's quite a bit ahead, but with my shot, it wont matter...' Vincent coldly said. Cloud nodded. Vincent quickly followed the sniper.
'I'll be back,' he muttered. Vincent then ran out of the room. The sniper was at least twenty metres in front of Vincent. Vincent stopped, realizing he was not going to catch up to him. Vincent took out of his revolver, he aimed it carefully towards the sniper. BANG! The sniper screamed and the laptop slid out his hand. Vincent had shot him in the hand. Vincent slowly walked towards the laptop, the sniper was still on the floor. Eventually he regained his feet. The laptop had flew quite a bit away from the sniper. Vincent picked it up, and kept it in his hand.
'You will not get to the bottom of this!' the sniper yelled.
'Wont I?' Vincent asked as he continued walking. 'Why is that?'
'Because you'll be dead!' the sniper then pulled out a grenade and threw it at Vincent. The grenade blew up, directly in the middle of Vincent and the sniper. Vincent flew backwards. The sniper quickly escaped out of the hatch. Vincent regained his feet to see water rushing towards him. Vincent ran back to the cockpit.
Cloud waited patiently as Vincent ran in.
'Vincent...' Cloud asked. 'Was that an explosion?' Vincent threw Cloud the laptop.
'We must get out of here, now...' Vincent cried.
'Why don't we leave the way we came in?' Red suggested. Vincent shook his head.
'It is sealed off,' Vincent said. Reno walked up to Cloud.
'I know a way out, it's in this room,' Reno said. Cloud looked at him.
'Where?' he wondered. Reno pointed towards the roof of the cockpit, there was an emergency hatch. 'Right..' Cloud sighed. 'We have to get out now, c'mon...' Cloud quickly climbed a ladder, to the roof where the hatch was, Vincent and Red followed. Reno was slowly behind, carrying Rude's unconcious body. As Cloud opened the match, water flew right down onto all of them. Then water burst in from the explosion. 'Hold your breath...' Cloud yelled and they all jumped out.
As they all swam in the ocean, Cloud could see his submarine was very far away. They swam and swam, Cloud was losing his breath, he noticed a white submarine fly past, persumably with the sniper safely inside. Cloud managed to make it to the hatch, but he had to wait for Red, Vincent and Reno and Rude before he could get inside. Eventually Red and Vincent joined him by the hatch, but Reno was far behind, and Cloud was losing his breath. Cloud struggled and punched the submarine a few times. Eventually, Reno made it to the hatch. They had to be worried about Rude, he was not concious, how was he coping? Cloud then opened the hatch, and they quickly all dived in and closed it shut.
There was a tense atmosphere in the Sierra. Tifa was anxiously looking out of the window. Cid was so nervous he was smoking, when they were on the ground. Yuffie was srolling anxiously, and Barret was drinking again. Suddenly the door flung open, Cloud slowly walked in along with Vincent, Red, Reno and an unconcious Rude.
'Rude needs medical assistance,' Cloud cried. Cid nodded and picked up the phone.
'Hello? Medi Bay?' Cid said, before he slammed the phone down. 'No one's there again, that doctor is so unreliable! I guess we'll take him to the crew's doctor downstairs' Cid then showed Reno to the Crew's Medi Bay. Tifa ran up to Cloud and hugged him.
'Cloud...' she sighed. Cloud smiled.
'I got it Tifa,' Cloud said. 'I got the laptop back. I'm gonna get revenge for Reeve.' Tifa nodded, not sure Cloud would find what he was seeking.
Reeve's room was empty apart from Reeve, no doctor in sight. Cloud walked in and sat by the side of Reeve's bed. Cloud looked at Reeve's disturbed face.
'I did it Reeve, it wasn't easy, but I did it,' Cloud said proudly. 'I'm gonna find out who did this to you...I promise. Even if it is Sephiroth, I'll be ready to face them. Because us guys stick together...' Reno entered the room.
'Cloud,' Reno spoke. 'Rude's in a bed downstairs.' Cloud nodded. 'I decrypted the Space Invaders game, come see...' Cloud then hopped up and followed Reno out.
Cloud and everyone else sat in the meeting room, while Reno worked on the laptop.
'Right, where to begin,' Reno sighed. 'This is Reeve's diary...' Cid quickly got up to have a look at the screen. Vincent shook his head.
'What? Just curious that's all?' Cid then sat back in his seat.
'Right...' Reno began again. 'As you know Reeve was the Mayor of Junon. Reeve discovered something very frightening indeed while checking his workers files.'
'What?' Cloud asked.
'Apparently, many of the politicians thought it would be a good idea to clone Genome Soldier's to be the official army of Junon, because if they died, who would care?' Reno shrugged.
'That's horrible...' Tifa cried. Reno nodded.
'Damn right it is, guys like me would be out of a job.' Reno read some more. 'One thing that really made Reeve disagree was the suggestion of another Sephiroth clone...' the room went silent. 'A clone they could control but would have all the skills of Sephiroth. Anyway, Reeve disagreed with this, and stated as long as he was still mayor, that would never happen. It stops there, but it's pretty obvious what was coming...' Reno closed the laptop. Cloud nodded.
'An assasination attempt...' Cloud sighed.
'Yep,' Reno nodded. 'They planted a bomb in his car, so if his car crashed, it would blow. But Reeve stepped out of the car...'
'Why?' Yuffie asked. Reno checked through his files on the incident.
'Well, the assasination went wrong, someone had set up a summon to blind Reeve's sight, so he would crash and blow up, unfortunately for them, the bomb timer was off...'
'Reeve suffered a trauma...' Cloud said. Reno checked more files.
'The summon which attacked Reeve, also was very good at disorienting people, it obviously brought back some of Reeve's worst memories, so he could not run, he was still in fear.' Cloud stood up and looked out of the Sierra's window, they were over Junon.
'When the politicians found out Reeve survived,' Reno continued, 'they dispatched some of their best men, called Surai Ninja's? Some went undercover to make sure Reeve didn't pull through.'
'Undercover?' Barret said. 'You telling me some sleezy ninja could be watching us now!' Reno nodded. Cloud looked back at Junon from the window.
'Who was the politician behind the Sephiroth clone?' Cloud asked. Reno flipped through his files and froze.
'It was Rufus Shinra...' Reno slowly said. Cid jumped up.
'What?' Cid yelled. 'Rufus knew all too well that Sephiroth was a threat..'
'When Rufus has an idea, he's gotta do it.' Tifa sighed.
'After the whole Kadaj incident, Reeve grew trust in Rufus and hired him as his advisor,' Reno stated. 'Rufus is filling in for Reeve, while's he's...' Reno laughed. 'missing, and he's going through with the project.' Cloud looked to Junon from the window and clenched his fist.
Rufus sat in his office in Junon, he had his phone in his hand.
'What's going on?' Rufus asked, he was on the phone to the sniper.
'They got the laptop,' the sniper replied. 'It wont be long until they know of your involvement...' Rufus sighed, he did not want to have to deal with Cloud again.
'But it'll be too late by then, right?' Rufus panicked. 'Sephiroth will have already been cloned.'
'Not nessarcarily...' the sniper coldly said. 'The cloning operation should be finshed in the next three days, but if they decide to attack now...' he sighed. 'They might be able to stop us...' Rufus leaned back on his chair and sighed.
'I didn't want to have to resort to this...' Rufus sighed. 'Kill them...' he stated. 'Kill them all, then report back to me...'
'It will be done...' the sniper said. Rufus hung up the phone and looked out the window.
Back in the Medi Bay, Cid strolled in and sat next to Reeve. He clicked his fingers, and whistled. He did not know what to say to Reeve at all.
'Cloud seems to think that if we speak to you, it may get through,' Cid said. 'Personally I think that's a load of bullshit, but whatever...' The doctor then entered the room. 'There you are!' Cid yelled.
'Mr. Highwind...' the doctor stood shocked.
'Surprised to see me?' Cid got to his feet. 'Listen here buddy, whatever your name is...' Cid angrilly yelled. 'When I agreed to have a Medi Bay installed, I was promised a full time doctor who could live in the Sierra...but you are never here!' Cid then looked at the doctor's hand. It had a banadage wrapped all around it.
'I had a little accident Mr. Highwind...' the doctor sighed. 'My hand...it eh..got trapped in one of the engine's...' Cid stood there shocked.
'Are you alright?' Cid wondered. 'Hey, your not going to sue are you?' Cid panicked.
'No...of course not, it was my own fault sir...' the doctor then turned away to sort out his bandage.
'You alright to look after Reeve?' Cid asked, the doctor nodded.
'Oh yes, I'll look after him fine sir,' the doctor smiled. Cid nodded and sat back down and looked at Reeve. Suddenly Reeve started to move around, he groaned.
'Darkness...' were the only words to come out of Reeve's mouth. Cid jumped up, the doctor looked stunned.
'He must be on the mend...'the doctor said astounded. Cid grinned.
'It must be working...' Cid grabbed Reeve's arm. 'Speak to me man!' Cid demanded. The doctor shook his head. He checked Reeve over.
'It comes in stages sir, he will get better, but technically, he's still in a coma...' Cid dropped his head.
'Well, it must be working...talking to him. Anyway,' Cid sat back down by Reeve and the doctor went back to his work, Cid continued talking to Reeve. 'We uh...just had a meeting...' Cid looked uncomftable. 'Cloud told me to mention the details as it may go through to you...well, we think the person who caused your accident was Rufus Shinra, apparently he wanted you out of the way to clone Sephiroth.' Cid struggled to remember details. 'So now...uh we're going to Junon to kill Rufus...' Cid then stood up. 'Well, I've done my part, see you Reeve..' Cid then turned to leave, when the doctor stood in front of him.
'Is that right sir? Going to Junon now, huh?' the doctor wondered. Cid nodded.
'Yep, going to kick some Shinra ass,' Cid smiled. The doctor nodded.
'Right, don't let me keep you...' the doctor grinned. Cid began to leave.
'Thankyou doc...' he was stopped when suddenly the doctor covered his nose and mouth in chloroform. Cid struggled but eventually fell unconcious. The doctor stood over Cid and went to the cupboard and opened it, he then got out a weapon: A SNIPER!
The doctor, who was secretly the Sniper hired by Rufus, then grabbed Cid and threw him in the cupboard, Cid would be unconcious for hours, long enough for the sniper to take over the ship and everyone in it. The sniper would not kill when it wasn't needed, it was too messy. The sniper stood over Reeve.
'It's over for you now Mr. Mayor' the sniper laughed. 'We all thought you wouldn't pull through..but it looks like you're on the mend, but not for much longer...' the sniper aimed his shot at Reeve's head, when he heared the door begin to open, the sniper quickly hid his gun under the bed. Vincent walked in.
'Cid?' Vincent looked around. 'Where is Cid doctor?' Vincent looked to the sniper. The sniper shook his head.
'He was here a minute ago, but he left, said he was going back to the cockpit...' the sniper said nervously. Vincent stared at the doctor.
'Well, he's not there...' Vincent coldly said. The doctor shrugged. 'What happened to your hand doctor?' Vincent asked. The sniper looked at this hand and panicked.
'I accidently touched an engine in the engine room...' he squeaked. Vincent grabbed the sniper's hand and looked at it.
'This is a gun shot wound, caused by a revolver...a revolver like mine...'Vincent looked him in the eyes. 'Being a doctor, you should know that...' the sniper pushed Vincent back at once, Vincent dived backwards, and the sniper dived towards Reeve's bed, he quickly grabbed a knife and went to stab Reeve. Vincent, who was unarmed, ran and punched the sniper, the knife flew by the entrance door. They fought in the Medi Bay, the sniper headbutted Vincent and rammed him against the wall. Vincent fell to the floor, but quickly kicked the sniper's ankles, and the sniper fell. They both tried to stop each other from getting up. Eventually, the sniper was up, he swung for Vincent, Vincent grabbed his fist and squeazed it, he then head butted the sniper down. The sniper fell by Reeve's bedside. He was barely concious, Vincent walked towards him. 'Are you working for Rufus Shinra?' Vincent demanded to know as he walked towards him.
'YES! I AM!' the sniper then grabbed the rifle from underneath the bed, Vincent had no time to react. The sniper shot at Vincent, and the bullet hit Vincent in the stomach, Vincent flew backwards and through the Medi Bay door.
Cloud and Tifa were talking just a few metres away from the Medi Bay, when they saw Vincent fly towards them. Cloud looked down and saw the bullet wound.
'Vincent!' Tifa yelled.
'Tifa, look after him!' Cloud yelled and sprinted towards the Medi Bay. As he turned towards the door, another shot was fired, at him. The sniper's shot missed Cloud by an inch. Cloud looked at the sniper, who he had trusted as his doctor.
'Hands up!' the sniper yelled. Cloud slowly raised his hands.
'I trusted you doctor...' Cloud sighed.
'You should never trust a doctor Mr. Strife!' the sniper laughed. 'Now before I kill you, I will allow you to winess your friend's death...' the sniper revealed a knife in his hand. He kept the rifle aiming at Cloud, while moving the knife towards Reeve's throat. Cloud slowly moved his hand towards one of the knife's on the side, the sniper had one eye on Cloud, and one eye on Reeve. Cloud just needed a distraction to shift the sniper's eyes quickly away from him completely. The distraction did not seem to be coming. When the sniper's knife reached Reeve's neck. Suddenly a noise was heared from the locker, it appeared to be a snoring noise, for one split second, the sniper's eyes looked towards the locker, then Cloud grabbed to medical knife's and flung them at the sniper, one hit his hand holding the rifle, making him drop the rifle to the floor, the other knife slit his hand holding the knife, just missing Reeve.
'Arghhhh!' the sniper screamed. Cloud dived forwards and pulled him away from Reeve. They both flew out of the Medi Bay. The sniper quickly got to his feet and sprinted away. Cloud slowly regained his feet, he saw that Tifa and Vincent were now gone, he then looked at the sniper, the sniper had run to the balcony part of the Sierra. Cloud went to open the door, but it was jammed. As Cloud banged the door, he could see the Sniper on the phone, while looking for a parachute.
Rufus sat still in his office, when his phone rang. He picked it up and answered.
'Yes?' Rufus asked.
'My cover is blown..' the sniper yelled.
'Is Reeve dead?' Rufus calmy asked.
'No...' the sniper said. 'I took two of them out, but they just kept coming, I escaped. The ships just above Junon...'
'So they are planning to attack today?' Rufus asked.
'Yes. I suggest you leave Junon, now!' the sniper squealed.
'I will. I have somewhere to go, the city that is secretly under our control. No one will find me there.' Rufus smiled. 'Meet me there...'
'I can't find a parachute to jump off..' the sniper panicked.
'You will find it...' Rufus then hung up the phone. He sighed and got up to leave.
'Rufus...Rufus...RUFUS!' the sniper yelled as he looked below the balcony. They were at least one thousand feet above the air. He would never survive if he jumped. Suddenly Cloud managed to kick the door down. The two just looked at each other.
'What is Rufus planning on doing?' Cloud asked. The sniper just looked at him. Cloud sighed. 'Rufus has betrayed you...you don't truelly believe what he's doing, why risk your life?'
'I am a member of the Surai Ninja's.' The sniper sighed. 'We do what is right for humanity, which is cloning an army, instead of an army of innocents dying in battle.'
'You think killing Reeve was right for humanity?' Cloud asked.
'He was just a sacrifice for peace...' the sniper said. 'Your two friends, they got in the way, it was self defence..'
'Two friends?' Cloud asked shocked, he only knew of Vincent.
'Mr. Highwind too...' the sniper said. Cloud stood numb in shock, while a lot of him wanted to push the sniper over the balcony to his doom, he needed information first.
'Well, your peace quest ends here...' Cloud yelled. 'We will capture Rufus and destroy the cloning experiment!'
'You will not find Rufus..' the sniper yelled.
'What?' Cloud asked confused.
'He is not at Junon. He is somewhere you'll never find him...' the sniper smiled.
'Where?' Cloud demanded. The sniper looked at him and sighed.
'Telling you that would end peace of the world,' the sniper then revealed a rather long dagger from his cloak. 'As would keeping you alive!'
Down in Junon, Rufus walked across the landing pad. He was joined by his cabinet and the scientists with the cloning technology. Rufus looked to the sky, he could see the Sierra far away in the distance. Rufus smiled, got on board, and the ship took off.
Cloud and the Sniper fought with their swords, the Sniper was skilled with his dagger, they had no where to run as both were on the edge of the balcony. The fight went on for what seemed like ages, when the Sniper kicked Cloud's sword out of his hand. Cloud quickly responded by kicking the dagger out of the Sniper's hand. The Sniper quickly grabbed Cloud by the throat, he held Cloud, halfway over the balcony, if the Sniper let go Cloud would fall to his death.
'My mission of peace is more important that my life!' the sniper yelled. 'I would prefer to live though...tell me...where are the parachutes?' Cloud shook his head.
'I don't know...' Cloud sighed. The sniper was ready to let Cloud drop when Cloud spoke again. 'Just let me know something...'
'What?' the sniper asked.
'Where did Rufus go?' Cloud wondered. The sniper laughed.
'You will never find him you scum. I would never reveal that location if my life depended on it. No need to worry, in three days, we will be at peace.'
'Three days?' Cloud cried.
'Yes, three days, and the army is ready,' the sniper grinned. Cloud knew that the sniper would never reveal the location. The sniper then began to push Cloud further over the edge. 'Now...time to die...'
'I agree...' Cloud said. He then quickly grabbed the sniper's arm, he then kicked the sniper in the chest. The sniper flew over Cloud, he fell from the balcony, he kept falling, falling and falling, until he could fall no more. Cloud hung onto the balcony. He quickly climbed back over to the safe side. Tifa quickly sprinted to Cloud.
'Cloud...the doctor?' she asked.
'Dead...' Cloud sighed. 'Vincent?' he asked, begging not to hear his words repeated.
'He'll be fine, we had a second doctor, who handled the ships crew on the first floor, he sorted Vincent out,' she smiled. 'To Junon, Cloud?'
'No.'
'Huh?' she wondered.
'Rufus is not there...' Cloud sighed.
'Well where is he?' Tifa panicked. Cloud lowered his head.
'I don't know Tifa,' Cloud cried. 'And we've got less than three days to find out...'
END OF CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE UP SOON
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