Chapter 5

Sacrifice

The scientist ran towards Hojo's laboratory. Already he could smell the smoke, cursing, he forced his already straining legs to carry faster. He was never a marathon runner and that was never going to change. Pumping his arms harder, he propelled himself forward. The alarms were bleating and every so often, flashed red.

Why hadn't anyone else come? What the hell happened to all of Hojo's guards? Hojo usually had at least one or two around. Even though he didn't let them into his laboratory, he was smart enough to station one or two next to the door. Unless of course… his guards also perished in the fire…

He didn't want to think about it. There was a special reason why he worked under Hojo—it wasn't because he respected him—but more so because he knew of Hojo's genius. Hojo couldn't die now… definitely not, with his life's work still needing to be finished…

Reaching the door, he grabbed the doorknob, and immediately regretted it. Snatching his hand back quickly, he felt as if he had just stuck his hand into a pot of boiling water. Pulling the end of his lab coat over his hand, he moved to open the door. What worried him the most was that smoke was pouring from under the door. Slowly turning the doorknob, he hoped for the best, then pulled back.

His heart sunk like a stone. There was a large wall of fire near the entrance. He knew that he had to find the professor. Covering his face with the sleeve of his lab coat, he dove through the flames. He felt the heat for only a second, and then he was through. He found the end of his lab coat on fire, hastily took it off, and threw it to the ground. Coughing after inhaling smoke, he squinted, searching for anything. He almost called out, but he remembered that he needed to save his oxygen supply.

Suddenly, something above him crumbled. He looked up in alarm, but couldn't see anything, he did what his senses told him to do—he leaped forward. As he surged forward, he curled himself and made a dive roll. He made a messy landing, but managed to get back up. He heard something land with impact and whirled around. His path had been blocked by rubble.

It didn't matter now. Adrenaline rushing through his veins and he had second thoughts. His way was blocked and his chance of finding Hojo was very slim. Shaking his head, he knew that it was just the adrenaline affecting him. No… he wouldn't be a coward. Fighting the sensation, he ran…

…And tripped over something quite large.

Cursing, he bent over to examine what it was. The site was something he embraced. It was Professor Hojo. He wasn't sure if the man was still alive or not, but he was covered in burns and needed medical attention. Doing this from the meager training that he had received, he picked up Hojo like a fireman would. The professor wasn't a burden, but he wouldn't be able to run and dive if something did fall on his head.

Turning to what he hoped was the way to the exit, he began walking.

-----

He caught the guard at the throat and drew his hand back, ready to tear the windpipe out of the man. The guard stood, paralyzed. "I-I'll give you whatever you want!" his voice shook with fear.

"The keycard…" Vincent said in a deadly tone. The man looked about ready to refuse, and the ex-Turk quickly added. "Or your life."

His life will be taken anyways.

Completely unnerved, the man nodded and fumbled in his back pocket for the keycard. Slipping out the small glossy card, he pressed it into Vincent's human hand. "H-h-here… Sir."

Vincent released the man… or tried to. His claw hand refused to open. He understood immediately that it was Chaos.

He gave me what I needed. Now let him go.

He will tell the first authority figure he bumps into.

What will it matter? We can defeat them.

No. All of Shinra will be after us. We cannot defeat all of those super-SOLDIERs. This guard must be disposed of.

"I've changed my mind," Chaos said through Vincent's mouth, the guard stiffened with fear. "Do you swear on your life that you will not tell of our meeting?" the guard nodded quickly.

Chaos made Vincent's mouth spread into a grin. The guard gave a weak one in return. Suddenly, his claw shot forward and went straight through the man's heart. The guard gave a weak moan, and after a few seconds, slumped over, dead.

With a shake of his claw, the corpse went flying into the wall, splattering it with crimson. Chaos gave an amused chuckle and walked forward towards the locked cell with only in its mind.

Arriving at the door, he slid the keycard into the slot and waited for a second. There was a beeping noise. The lock verified the card and the door slid up with a chhh sound.

There she was, lying prostrate on the bed, her head buried under a pillow. Her body was quivering and she was making whimpering noises… apparently she had been crying. She looked up slowly… and saw him.

"Lucrecia… I have come. Let's get out of here." Chaos said, trying to sound like Vincent.

"No… go away…"

"Lucrecia… it's me! Vincent!" the beast put on a hurt voice. "Hojo has changed me… turned me into this."

"I'm sorry for all your troubles, Vincent. Save yourself. I no longer wish to live. They're going to turn Sephiroth into an experiment. I could not bear to see that happen to him. It was all my fault… that I allowed Hojo to…"

Vincent knew that Chaos was going to kill. It needed to kill and since Lucrecia was close and defenseless…

No! You can't kill her! He screamed into Chaos's mind, beating it mentally. DON'T TOUCH HER!

Hahaha… fool… I will rid you of the one thing that I most despise… the thing that my host LOVES!

NOOOOOOOOOO!

"Do you need help… killing yourself?" Chaos said, his voice suddenly turning evil and deep.

Lucrecia looked up, alarmed. "Vincent… what… do you mean? What has Hojo done to you? Are you even Vincent!"

Vincent wrestled control with Chaos. No! I won't let you kill her! His mind screamed, and resumed control.

"I'm sorry… Lucrecia… Hojo has put some evil demon in me. I won't be able to fight him for much long—" he cut off, Chaos came in control. "Hehehe…" he chuckled, then lunged forward.

I'm sorry, Lucrecia! Vincent's mind screamed, as the claw came crashing down.

Lucrecia screamed.

-----

Vincent stopped abruptly, unable to finish his tale. "Vincent… what happened? Did you…" Yuffie stopped. "Did she… die?"

The man remained silent. "I cannot say," he uttered. "Red… continue your story about Sephiroth. I… cannot say anymore."

The red beast nodded. "I understand, Vincent. I'll continue on with Sephiroth's story…"

-----

Hojo groaned and opened his eyes. He found himself in a hospital bed dressed in a hospital gown. He found that everything was blurry and went to rub his eyes. He found that his left hand was restricted. Looking down, he saw that there was an IV needle in it. Using his right hand he rubbed his eyes. When that didn't help, he realized that he didn't have his glasses on.

He squinted and looked around. His was so nearsighted that squinting didn't help much. Looking around the hospital room, he searched for his glasses. Looking to the right, he saw machines monitoring him. He found it on a table that was close to his bed, but a little too far from his reach. He cursed under his breath, but stopped, suddenly realizing something.

There was a fire… he thought. How did I get out? I passed out! Who heard my call?

Not long after thinking to himself, the door to the hospital opened. A white blurry figure walked in. He could just barely make out the features of the person. It was a nurse.

"Sir, you're awake!" she exclaimed.

"Apparently."

The nurse frowned at his reply. "Uhh… sir. Is there anything I can do for you?"

"Yes. Give me my glasses," Hojo replied coldly.

The nurse went to the table and picked up his glasses. Then handed them to him. "Sir, you must be lying down. You have some third-degree burns."

"I don't care. You're giving me the painkillers, I'm not feeling it," he put on his glasses, and finally saw the expression that the nurse had on her face. "So tell me, young lady, what happened to me?"

"A brave scientist heard the alarms go off in your lab and he ran to save you. He came out extremely burned, carrying you. He died before he could get here," the nurse said and added in her head. He was either very brave or an idiot, but either way I have no idea why he took the trouble to save someone like you.

Hojo blinked in surprise. Someone had saved him? He knew he was a nasty son of a bitch and he liked it that way. It was how the world had treated him before he had power, and this was how he was going to return the favor, now that he was in the President's favor. "And what's the name of the man?"

"His I.D. said that he was Harry Kensington, age 24."

"Ahh a lab assistant. Yes. I knew him. Annoying little twit, liked to kiss my ass a lot," when the nurse gave him a disdainful look, he added. "Not that I'm not grateful for him saving my life! No I'm very grateful! Without him I would never be able to finish the experiments I started," Hojo gave a fake sigh. "But alas, he will never be able to finish his life goals."

You, you, you! It's all about you! The nurse thought angrily, outwardly, she was coldly polite, hardly hiding the rage that was boiling within her. "Well sir, it's apparent that you don't need anything else, I shall be going."

Hojo grinned at her, then he hit the jackpot. "Wait! I may have a job offer for you," the woman stopped and looked at him, her eyes blazing with hate. "I need some pretty woman for some of my… experiments."

He saw that the woman was on the verge of punching the door and probably throttling him. She took a deep breath and said, "Sir… I heard that you just had a new son… hopefully… you will change a lot… or he will never ever meet you!"

Then the door to the hospital room slammed and everything in the room shook, even Hojo's IV. Hojo laughed hard, then stopped when he thought about her words. If he wanted his son to grow up the correct way… he should have no love. If he was given love, then he would become a soft person… and he would be no soldier material. Hojo smirked; the nurse had indirectly helped him. That's what nurses were like… helping people… even when they didn't mean to.

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"Pay attention when I am talking to you boy!"

Spittle flew from the caretaker's mouth and onto the boy's face. He quickly snapped back into attention. He didn't move a muscle, not even to wipe his face. If he did, he would definitely get a beating. He never understood why the caretaker was so angry. After all, he was only a little boy, and one with a short attention span.

"Did you hear me!"

"Yes, sir."

The caretaker was a large belligerent man. He was about six feet tall with big burly shoulders that were covered in gang-related tattoos. He had intense green eyes and a shaved head. There was a slight hint of a stubble on his chin and he, being a heavy smoker, always smelled like the tar that clung to him.

The boy was ready for a beating and squeezed his eyes shut. He could hear the caretaker taking off his belt. He heard it whish upwards and he prepared himself for the excruciating pain that would hit his behind.

But he never felt it. The door to the room suddenly swung open. His eyes snapped open and turned towards the door. He saw a white lab coat and thought that it was perhaps Professor Hojo, but when he saw the man's face, he smiled. It was Professor Gast.

"Now, David. There's no need to beat the boy! He's only five!" Gast said, putting a hand on the caretaker's shoulders.

"But Professor… the boy's disobeying me!" David the caretaker yelled.

Gast glanced over in the boy's direction, the boy swore he winked at him. "Disobedience should never be treated by beatings, Dave. You do understand that it will not teach him, but make him fear and hate you, thus causing him to disobey you even more."

This made the caretaker look confused, his slow brain was still processing Gast's words. "I… I…" he was about to say that he didn't understand, but decided to go with it. "I understand." He said, but his eyes showed that he had no idea what the hell Gast was saying.

"Good! Good!" the professor laughed, knowing perfectly well that he had confused the caretaker, clapping the large man on the shoulder, he added. "Well, you be off then. I need to run some tests on this young sir here. I'll call you back, ok? And if Professor Hojo asks why you aren't doing your job, explain to him that I'm watching Sephiroth, alright?"

David the caretaker nodded then lumbered out the door. As soon as the steel door slid shut, Gast turned around and smiled at the boy. He reached over and ruffled his short, gleaming, silver hair. "Well how are you doing, my boy?" he asked kindly.

Sephiroth stared at the professor with his mako green eyes. Gast noticed that they expressed fear. "Are you really going to test me, Professor?"

The professor's heart was broken, but outwardly, he smiled widely. Is this how Hojo was treating his own son? By running rigorous experiments on a five-year-old boy when these tests were designed for grown men? Gast knew that Sephiroth abhorred Hojo, and didn't have the heart to tell him who his father was. "Now… of course not Sephiroth!" he grinned, reaching into the pocket of his lab coat. "But… I do have something for you!"

Sephiroth seemed to forget all about the beatings. He was absolutely excited. "What! What!"

Gast pulled out a chocolate bar. It was a large bar. He knew that Sephiroth loved chocolate, but only managed to sneak little chocolates to the boy. He managed to smuggle in a large bar this time. "All for you!"

The silver haired boy's eyes grew large. "All for me?" he hugged Gast. "Really, Professor?"

"Absolutely," the professor said, and handed it over to Sephiroth. "Just don't tell Professor Hojo, ok?" he put a hand on the boy's small shoulders and winked at him. "Remember, this is a secret between us only."

"Right!" Sephiroth said.

Professor Gast smiled. "Sephiroth… you can go ahead and go play now, ok?"

Sephiroth gave a huge grin. He nodded excitedly and went over to the small indoor play place that Gast had begged Hojo to give him. As he climbed across the monkey bars, Gast smiled sadly. Sephiroth was like the son he never had. He could never understand why Hojo would treat him this way. No matter how kind he could be to the boy, Sephiroth would always be haunted by Hojo. Until the day of his death.

Sorry sorry sorry! I'm so sorry for the slow update! This might be the only update for the summer because I don't have my internet at home! Thanks to all the readers who read and reviewed this! Thank you very very much!