Hello
Hello! So sorry about the long wait! Been real busy lately and then my stupid Microsoft office trial quit on me! BLAH!! I'm glad to get started on this chapter, finally, please don't be angry about the wait! Well let's get this new chapter going, shall we?
-annubis
Disclaimer: I do not own final fantasy VII, Squaresoft does.
Chapter 13
Reno took a few steps into the room Aeris and Zack were in. He could see the fear in their eyes. The silence was eerie and the room seemed dead. He raised his gun into the air and pulled the hammer back, it's clicking was deafening to all ears. He aimed at Zack, never moving. Reno's gaze faltered once when he realized who was behind Zack. A small smile crossed his face as he removed his sunglasses and set them gently in his hair.
"Shit…looks like Hojo got what he wanted." He pulled a cigarette from his breast pocket and lit it up, never removing his gun from Zack's face. "Aw…too bad the mutt isn't here…Oh well, at least the cat got you two." A smile crossed his face when he saw Aeris' expression.
'Cait Sith! It was a trap…for Zack...for us. I knew we shouldn't have trusted him!' Aeris clenched her teeth, mentally hitting herself for falling for another one of Cait Sith's tricks.
"Sir?" One SOLDIER called out.
"You wait for my word…" Reno muttered. He looked Zack up and down. "Well look at you! How's Jenova's regenerating cells suiting you?" Reno looked at the bandages around Zack's torso.
"What the hell do you want?" Zack kept a cool gaze upon Reno.
"Seems you're doing just fine. Shit…" The red haired man puffed. "You're already completely healed!" Reno shook his head.
"Sir!?" Another SOLDIER called out again.
"Hold yer' damn horses!! What the hell are you all antsy about?" Reno's icy eyes glared at the SOLDIERs around him. He turned his gaze back towards Zack and Aeris. "We're not in a hurry…Ya know Hojo has gone through a lot of trouble…" Reno reflected on the day he and Hojo had their meeting in the lab.
"My experiment will not be a failure! I cannot afford to lose this specimen! You must get him back!" Hojo paced throughout his lab. He spat and yelled about the loss of Aeris, Zack, Red XIII and Jenova.
'Man…why do I always have to deal with Hojo? Why can't Tseng do it? Awww man! Look at him, he's so disgusting!' Reno watched as spittle flew out of Hojo's raving mouth. 'This guy looks like he has rabies. Maybe we should put him down…save us all the trouble. Ew! He's twitching again. That eye…is it larger than the left one? I've never noticed that before!' Reno stared at Hojo's eye.
"Are you listening to me!?" Hojo slapped the table next to him.
"Huh!? Yeah! Yeah!" Reno glanced at the wall.
"I want you to take this." Hojo handed Reno a syringe filled with green fluid. "You have to inject him with this. If not, then we are lost!" Reno felt sick. He hated needles. They gave him the creeps. They reminded him of hospitals and labs…they reminded him of Hojo.
"Yo…I'll get right on it." Reno stared at the needle. A soldier darted into the room.
"Sir! We have confirmation on the whereabouts of the specimen Code Z number one twenty-five! He was last seen heading towards the city, Kalm." The soldier explained the situation to Hojo and Reno.
"Good…Good!" Hojo turned away from the two men. "Reno, give me that syringe…I have an idea."
"Here…What's the plan?" Reno handed over the needle. Hojo ignored the question. He turned and faced the men.
"Perfect…all according to plan. This experiment isn't lost yet gentlemen! Only postponed…"
"I'll give you one last chance…" Reno lowered his gun. He took a long draw from his cigarette and slowly exhaled. Zack's eyes widened as Reno nodded his head at the SOLDIERs and they hesitantly began to lower their guns.
Everything went in slow motion. Reno's eyes slowly turned and met with Zack's gaze. A corner of his lip curled up. Zack's attention turned from the red-haired man to the SOLDIERs around him. He could almost hear their hearts beating. In a flash, all hell broke loose. Zack leaped into the air and kicked the SOLDIER behind him in the face. Aeris ducked quickly to avoid contact with the blow. He spun and grabbed her wrist and threw her away from him. As he continued to pull her his other fist went sailing into another SOLDIER's face.
"Aeris!! RUN!!" Zack shouted as he leapt over the couch and grabbed and enemy's right arm. He flipped into the air and twisted the man's arm and pulled down as he landed behind the SOLDIER. The man was sent flying through the air, colliding with two others. Zack continued his fighting spree, going at lightening speed. It was a sight to see. The SOLDIERs never saw him coming. Aeris watched in horror as she saw the flashes of the black haired man.
'Get up! Get up! You got to get out of here!' Aeris' mind darted back to her situation. She got to her feet and she sprinted for the front door. Reno sidestepped and gripped her wrist. He pulled quickly and spun her around, wrapping an arm around her waist. He held her to his side.
"LET ME GO!!" She screeched. Her hair fell into her eyes and covered half of her face. Her arms scratched and flailed at Reno. With his free hand he pulled her arms down. He fit both of her tiny wrists into his left hand which was wrapped around her waist, holding her tightly.
"Sorry…" Reno looked down at Aeris as he flicked his cigarette. Her gaze met his and everything fell silent to her ears, despite the battle continued. "But…I can't do that." He slowly raised his right arm into the air.
'Is…is he sad? Or was that a look of regret?' Aeris stared in disbelief at her captor. His eyes glistened lightly with a hint of sadness. She was distracted as he raised his arm into the air. Her eyes grew in fear. He was aiming his gun at Zack. She looked at Zack and saw that he was now surrounded. There was no escape. Reno's eyes squinted slightly as he bit his lower lip. He looked back at Aeris for a split second and then closed his eyes.
'BANG!'
Everything stopped. There was no movement, no sound. Aeris stared at the scene before her.
"Times…up." Reno pulled his sunglasses down slowly, covering his glassy eyes.
"What?" Zack grabbed his left shoulder. He looked at the shooter, confused. "I've been beaten, experimented on, shot, impaled, and even killed once…and you shoot me in the shoulder!?" Zack smiled slightly with disbelief. Reno frowned, his expression never faltered. Zack chuckled slowly to himself and then fell to his knees. He grunted as he fell forward.
"ZACK!" Aeris began moving, trying to pull herself from Reno's death grip.
"Yeah…I didn't want to kill you…" Reno lifted his head slightly. "There's no need to…especially now." Reno looked at the ceiling. Zack grabbed his shoulder. His breathes quickened.
"Wha-what did you do, Reno…?" Zack tried to catch his breath.
"I am so sorry…" Reno took in a deep breath. He felt sick to his stomach. "That bullet contains the final dose of Jenova's cells. Hojo used the last syringe…he…" Reno couldn't say anymore.
"J-Jenova!?" Zack's vision spun. He was dizzy. All of his senses screamed in pain as he fell to the floor, unconscious.
"ZACK!!" Aeris pulled away from Reno. He loosened his grip, allowing her to leave his side. She ran to Zack and kneeled on the floor next to him.
"Get the specimens…we're leaving, now." Reno turned on his heel and walked out the door.
"No…" Aeris whispered as she stared at the wound in Zack's shoulder. "This…wasn't supposed to happen…" She lowered her head. Loud footsteps surrounded her. The SOLDIERs neared and reached for the flower girl. She looked up and fell back. Her eyes darted back and forth between SOLDIERs. She crawled and spun onto all fours and lifted herself from the floor. She darted for the exit as many hands gripped her and pulled her backwards.
"NO!!"
"Ifalna!" The screen went blank. Cloud and Tifa stared at the video screen as the snow took over the sound of the room.
"We gotta bring Aeris here." Cloud muttered.
"She would appreciate the new information on her parents and her race." Red XIII added.
"We can bring her here later, for now we got to get to the Northern Crater." Vincent turned and walked out the door of the cabin. The cool air rushed into the room along with some flurries of snow. Tifa shivered as she stepped outside.
'Way to go, dumb ass…wear your mini skirt and tank top to the Icicle Inn.' Tifa shook her head. Her teeth chattered as she made her way across the snowy path. 'At least I wore boots…' She sighed. She felt a cold metallic grip on her shoulder. Tifa turned her gaze upward. Vincent was standing over her.
"You really should…" He stopped. What he was about to say would not have settled well with Tifa. Instead, he wrapped his cape around her. "There is a store up ahead. Let's get you some warmer clothes." He pulled her with him towards the small shop near the entrance of the town. She smiled. Vincent had really opened up on this journey. She was glad that he was not as silent and reserved as the day they met. She could feel the warmth of his body engulf her. She blushed slightly.
"DAMN!! Why does it gotta be so cold!?" Yuffie ran ahead of Tifa and Vincent. She stopped and rubbed her arms.
"Yuffie. Come with us. We're going to get some warmer clothes." Tifa smiled and grabbed her arm. Yuffie looked up at Vincent and began laughing.
"You're going shopping!? That's hilarious! I never woulda thought!" Yuffie guffawed. "Ohhhh…" She shivered as her teeth chattered loudly. Vincent looked at Yuffie. He rolled his eyes.
"Come on. We don't have much time…" The tall man sighed as he pulled the other side of his cape open for Yuffie.
"Hey! Alright!" The ninja girl ran into Vincent. Together the man and the two girls made their way through the streets.
"Hey hey! Looking good!" A man walked by Vincent and gave him a thumbs up.
'How embarrassing…' Vincent thought to himself.
"Hey sugar! Got anymore room in there for me?" A woman waved at Vincent.
"Sorry, No vacancy!" Yuffie yelled out. Tifa and her giggled as Vincent turned red in the face.
"Poor guy…" Cid puffed out a long trail of smoke. "Hasta put up with that pain in the ass. He's too nice. I woulda just shoved the brat offa me." Cid smiled as he took another drag from his smokes.
"No kiddin…" Barret laughed out loud. He patted Cid on the shoulder.
"I hope they don't take too long…we really need to get going." Cloud looked at the mountain ahead of them.
"You!! Well what do you hafta say fer yerself!?" Cloud was pulled on the shoulder by none other than Elena of the Turks. Her makeup was smeared and her hair was sticking out on the sides. She continued her slurred speech, sputtering and spiting about Tseng. By her side was Rude. He cleared his throat and looked around, obviously embarrassed. Elena was as drunk as you could get. "Well…you're not gonna get away…not this time…" She hiccupped and raised her fist into the air, glaring at Cloud. She took one swing and missed. Spinning, she ran into Rude. The two were sent snowballing down the long, steep, hill behind them.
"What was that all about?" Cait Sith scratched his head.
"She blames me for Tseng's death." Cloud shrugged his shoulders.
"I see…" Cait Sith lowered his head. "Well, Northern Crater should be up ahead. Shall we head out?" The cat made his way towards the steep slope. He looked down and frowned.
"Sorry, but we cannot let you pass. No one is authorized to get through until the President Rufus arrives." A Shinra soldier held his ground in front of the exit.
"Looks like we need to find another way…" Cloud looked over where Cait Sith was. A man was talking to him.
"Well…since you can't leave by the normal exit I suppose you could get through by taking this slope. But you ain't getting down by foot, too steep. I suggest you all get ya some snowboards. All the youngsters today have one." The man shook his head. "I doubt I'll ever try it. Looks too hard for me! Say, if you're going through the Great Glacier, you'll need a map. Go to that shop over there and I bet you could get all the supplies you'd need." The man pointed to the store Yuffie, Tifa, and Vincent had entered earlier.
"Thanks for your help. Looks like will take your advice." Cait Sith shook hands with the man and then turned to Cloud. "You hear that!? Let's get going!" Cait hopped over to the store.
"Guess we should get some supplies then. A jacket might be nice also…" Cloud shivered slightly. The group headed towards the shop. Once inside they met up with the others.
"Whoo wee! Look at them girls!" Cid smiled. Tifa and Yuffie were wearing the latest fashion in winter wear. Vincent was hiding in the corner holding some clothes. Cid and Barret chuckled at the sight.
"Having fun?" Cloud smiled slightly at Vincent.
"The time of my life." Vincent frowned. "Why…why did I do this?"
"It's alright. We found a way to get through. Shinra had blockaded the exit and now we all get to snowboard our way to Great Glacier." Cloud pulled a jacket off of the clearance rack.
"Snowboard!?" Tifa smiled. "It's been years!"
"Never tried it…" Yuffie frowned. "Is it hard?" She went to the register and paid.
"Yer gonna fall on yer ass!" Cid put his hands on his waist. Yuffie stuck out her tongue.
"Let's get going. We don't have much time." Vincent handed Tifa her clothes.
"Yes…We got them. Yeah he's out cold." Reno leaned his head back into
the seat. He was in the Shinra helicopter. "Yeah they both are here. The girl hasn't tried
anything. No…there's not a scratch on her….yeah…I know…she'll be fine. I think she
fell asleep." Reno turned his head back and looked at Aeris.
'Damn you, Hojo…' Reno nodded at the pilot.
"Yes…almost there. Don't worry; Jenova's cells are working wonderfully." Reno
rubbed his temple. "Later…" He hung up the phone.
"Everything okay, sir?" The pilot asked.
"Yeah…peachy…" Reno sighed and closed his eyes.
"Alright…everyone ready?" Cloud asked as he adjusted his feet onto the
snowboard.
"Yeah…whatever." Barrett looked at the board underneath him. "Sure these
things won't break?"
"You'll be fine." Tifa gave him a reassuring smile.
"Okay, then. Let's go!" Cloud jumped over the edge. He was followed by Tifa
and then the rest hesitantly joined. Vincent made his way over the edge and flew down
the side of the slope. His eyes went wide as he neared a snow drift.
"Vincent, you're going too fast!" Tifa warned him, but it was too late. Vincent
collided with the pile very quickly. Yuffie pointed and laughed. Her amusement turned
into a scream of terror as she made contact with a tree. Vincent's expression was blank.
He frowned as he pulled himself out of the snow. At seeing the outcome of Yuffie's
amusement, Vincent smiled to himself. Barret flew by the group, Red clinging onto his
shoulders whimpering with each twist and turn.
"Awww! SHIT!" Cid hit a fallen tree on the path. He flew over it and took a face
plant into the cold snow below. Tifa slid over to him and helped him up. "& damn
& tree!! Where the & did it come from!?" Cid cursed at everything in
sight. He scoffed as he saw Cait Sith fly by riding the back of his Mog. It slid on its
stomach, pushing the snow out of its way. Tifa watched as cloud ramped up another tree
and grabbed his board as he twisted and turned in the air.
"Whoa! When did you get so good!?" Tifa laughed.
"Mom…she took me to the mountains all the time when I was younger. Had a lot
of practice on Mt. Nibel." Cloud's eyes seemed to fill with sadness at the thought of his
mother.
"We do have an advantage over the rest…" Tifa watched the group stumble and
fall. She giggled to herself. "Looks like Vincent's got the hang of it now." She pointed to
the caped man as he seemed to float over the snow drifts.
Aeris slowly opened her eyes. She was lying on a cold cement floor. She shivered
slightly from the cool damp air. She felt like she was in a cellar of some kind that was
underground.
'No, it can't be…' She slowly stood up. Her footsteps were heavy and loud in the
tiny room. She made her way to the small square window in the door of her cell. There
were pipes and tanks surrounding the walls outside. Water stains and strange chemicals
lined the shelves and walls. She saw many other cells. Aeris was in the Shinra basement, Hojo's main lab facility.
"NO!!" She began frantically pounding on the walls and window of her cell. "Let
me out! Let me out!! Let…me…out…" Aeris sighed and fell to the floor. Her hair
pooled around her and onto the cool wet floor. She knew it was useless. She had been
through all of this before. Aeris lifted her head and crawled to the corner furthest from
the door. Warm tears slid down her face. She could hear the soft plops they made when
they hit the floor beneath her.
'What's going to happen? What's going to happen to me? Why? Why does Hojo
need me? For what reasons?' Aeris' thoughts were interrupted as the sound of the cell's
door clanked and slid open. Aeris' nightmare had come true. The disgusting abomination
to the world entered her cell and walked towards her. He lifted a clammy hand to his
face and pressed the frames on his nose up closer to his eyes.
"Hello, my beauty!" Hojo cackled to himself loudly. In an instant the man lunged
towards the girl and grabbed her arm. Aeris screamed out. "You have no idea how long I
have waited for you!" His spidery fingers made trails across her tear stained face and
down her arm. Aeris twitched under his touch.
"No!" She threw her arm across his and pushed it off of her. His response was a
cold, dry laugh. "What do you want from me!?" Aeris screeched at the scientist. She
pulled her head away as his face came too close to hers.
"You know exactly what I want! You have the Ancient blood! I want you're race!
The half of you that is an enigma to this world!" Hojo leaned in closely and shook his
head.
"Why!? What for!?" Aeris crawled to another corner of the room.
"Why? You ask WHY!?" Spittle flew from Hojo's eccentric mouth. "I
see…you're ignorant even to your own powers!" Hojo stood over the girl, she pressed
her back against the wall trying to get further away.
"Get away…" Aeris managed to whisper.
"Am I too close!? Well, you better get used to it because you're mine now!"
Hojo's demonic laugh filled the room. It sent chills down Aeris' spine. As he turned to
leave he muttered to himself. "So many plans…so many plans…is there enough time?
Will it ever be over?" The door slid shut behind him.
"Wait!" Aeris called out in the chilly dark room. Her call surprised herself.
'Why would I want him to come back?' She shuddered. She had too many
questions.
"What are your plans? What does he expect from me? Where's Zack! What does
he want from Zack!?" Aeris grabbed her stomach. She felt very sick. She leaned forward
and pressed her head against the cement. "Planet…what am I supposed to do?" She
asked the planet many questions and received few answers.
Zack woke up inside an unknown room. He sat up slowly and rubbed his shoulder, it was now bandaged. He looked down at his stomach and chest. All the other bandages were gone. Zack rubbed his hands over his skin; there were no wounds and barely any scars.
"Damn…Hojo…" Zack stood up and made his way to the small window of the dark room he was in. "I feel great physically, but not mentally…" Zack frowned. He pressed his head against the glass, trying to get a closer look at the room outside of his. He was startled as a ghastly face jumped up and pressed against the window on the other side.
"HOJO!" Zack jumped back and stumbled backwards through the cell. The door slid open very quickl, the sound of heavy metal clanked.
"Well it's about time you woke up!" Hojo took wide strides over to his new specimen. "Well, well…good! Very good, indeed!" Hojo poked and prodded Zack. He stared at the bandage around Zack's shoulder and reached for it.
"Don't touch me!" Zack hit Hojo's arm away and raised his fist.
"Nah! Don't try it!" One of the scientist's spidery fingers pointed to the corners of the room. "Those, my boy, are lasers that I created to keep you in place. You try to escape or do anything else, like cause harm to me, any threat you show…ZAP!" The man laughed to himself.
"You bastard!" Zack clenched his fists.
"Now…let's have a look, shall we? As you probably already noticed, your wounds from the other night are already completely healed." Hojo pulled the bandage wrapped around Zack's shoulder. He tugged and ripped it from the joint. "And your bullet wound! Impressive….very impressive. Already healed after a few hours…Very impressive!" Hojo clapped his hands.
"Where's Aeris!?" Zack clenched his teeth. It was taking everything inside him not to kill Hojo.
"Oh, She's safe…" Hojo turned and walked out the door. "…For now!" Hojo cackled as the metallic door slid shut.
"It's about time!" Yuffie whined as the group made their way towards the Gaea Cliffs.
"Yeah we only got lost four times!" Cid rubbed his head.
"Told you not to give the map to Barret!" Yuffie pointed a finger at the large man holding the map.
"What!? I didn't get us lost! It was all the pokey headed kids fault!" Barret pointed at Cloud.
"What!?" Cloud turned and pulled out his sword.
"HEY! Cut it out!" Tifa hit Cloud across the shoulder and glared at the rest of the group. "Let's just get moving. Who knows how long it's going to take to get up there!" Tifa looked at the tall mountains and cliffs above them. She shivered as the cold wind whipped around the group. It was already getting late and the temperature was dropping quickly.
"This is going to take some patience…and a long time." Red XIII yawned as he began leaping onto the rocks at the base of the cliff.
"I hope the Crater is still there when we get up to the top. This is gonna take years!" Yuffie whined. "Oh…you're all lucky that I am a ninja! I'll scale this thing before all you can even get halfway!" Yuffie cackled.
"Ya wanna bet on it, brat!?" Cid stuck his spear into the side of the mountain and began climbing.
"Hey! Who you calling a brat!?" Yuffie jumped and pulled her self over a ledge. "Better be the dog!"
"What!?" Red growled and looked below. "Looks like you're loosing, Yuffie! Gotta catch up with me first!" Red XIII clawed and scratched at the rock surface.
"I swear…all of you…" Tifa sighed. "I give up. They'll never stop fighting." She smiled slightly.
"Bet I can beat you, Yuffie." Vincent said in his monotone voice.
"Not you too!?" Tifa slapped her forehead.
Aeris was pulled into another room down the hall. The soldiers tugged her arms and legs as she tried to kick and pull her way free from their grips. A large, heavy door opened in front of them and Aeris was thrown onto the floor in front of a table with thin padding. It looked like an operating table. There were stains on the floor and metallic objects lying on a small table next to the operating board. From the shadows came the sound of footsteps.
"Where's that pretty pink dress I've grown accustomed to?" Hojo smiled as he entered the room. Aeris spat in his face and glared at the man. Hojo frowned and then looked at the three soldiers in the room. He nodded his head once and the frenzy began. The men tore and tugged at Aeris' clothing. She yelped and screamed as they pulled off her only source of warmth.
"Wow! Look at her!" One whistled.
"Ain't she pretty!?" The other grinned maliciously.
"Hair smells good…like flowers!" The third laughed out loud. The three men began touching her and running their hands over her exposed skin. Aeris kicked and flailed her arms, hitting them in the faces. She knew what they wanted and she was not about to give it to them without a fight. She booted one in the face, sending him backwards.
"You little bitch!" He flew forward and slapped her on the face.
"NO! Don't touch her!" Hojo yelled, silencing the men. "Put her on the table." Hojo filled a syringe with an unknown substance.
"Aw…we was just trying to have a little fun…" One soldier pouted as he lifted Aeris' arms. The men lifted her and carried her to the table. Aeris squealed and cried as they strapped her to the cold surface. A strap was put into her mouth to keep her from screaming and biting.
"Not now, boys…maybe when I'm through…" Hojo smiled as he stuck the needle into Aeris' arm. New tears flew down her cheeks as the drugs were injected into her body. Everything faded. The last sound she heard was the laughing of the soldiers.
Done! Done with this one! I hope I can get the new one posted quickly for you all. Please, please review! I love getting reviews! Its fun to read…and it makes me feel special! Mwa haha! Ok…hope you liked this chapter, it was quite fun to write. Enjoy and ill try to post ASAP!
-Annubis