Life as a SOLDIER

Disclaimer: …

A/N: …yeah, let's continue..

Chapter Sixteen: What Are Friends For? Zack the Best Friend!
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"Shachoo, we have it," said Tseng. The whole group of Turks had just come in with excellent news. "We've perfected the BERSERK program. Now all we need to do is see it in action."

Shachoo grinned widely. "That's excellent, Tseng. Really. Give me a moment, I'll get our lead programmer in here. I'll have him test it on Cloud after Hojo is done with him."

"Hojo, done with Cloud?" asked Reno from behind Tseng. "What does that mean? Is Hojo doing tests on Cloud or something?"

"That sounds weird coming from you," said Elena under her breath.

"No, it's nothing at all like that. Hojo is fixing a problem Cloud has… It's nothing that concerns any of you. Now leave the program here, and you are all dismissed. Continue the research of Jenova's actual life signs, okay? I want a full report on it at the end of this week, okay?"

"We'll do our best, shachoo," said Rude, placing the program on the table.

"Come on," said Vincent, and the five Turks left the room.

After they closed the door, shachoo picked up the phone and dialed a number. "Hojo," he said. "How is it going? Your plan had better be important, it's holding up the BERSERK tests."

"Everything's going according to plan, shachoo," said Hojo. "Trust me, what I'm going to do to Cloud will greatly make the BERSERK program much better then it was before. Cloud will be quite safe when he comes back, not a single stand of blonde hair will be ruined."

"It better not be," said shachoo, "otherwise you'll be sorry you ever came up with the idea."

"Sure, sure, shachoo. But after I tell you what I did, you'll be thanking me for what I did. Thanking me enough to give me a raise."

"I wouldn't count on it," said shachoo, and he hung up.

Meanwhile…

Zack entered the doctors office and looked around. "Doc?" he asked, looking around. "Where's Cloud?"

"What?" asked the doctor, looking up distractedly from his desk. "What is it?"

"Cloud, doc. Where's Cloud?"

"Oh, uh…" the doctor sighed. Hojo never said to not tell him where he took Cloud… so I suppose it's safe to tell him what's going on… "Hojo came in here about three hours ago to take Cloud somewhere to fix the problem."

"Hojo!" repeated Zack. "But, isn't Hojo the guy who…?"

"The very same," agreed the doctor with wave of his hand.

"Hojo's gonna mutilate Cloud!" cried Zack, shaking the doctor like crazy. "He's gonna turn Cloud into a frog or something!"

"Ah! Stop shaking me!" said the doctor.

"….oh no!" said Zack faintly, dropping doctor. "I knew this would happen… I knew it…!"

"Knew what?" asked the doctor, fixing his coat collar back on.

"Hojo IS gonna mutilate Cloud, but in an entirely different way! Oh, no! I knew it! What can I do, what can I do, WHAT CAN I DO!" cried Zack, pulling at his hair. "This is the same man who…"

"Zack, Zack, calm down!" said the doctor, rushing over to Zack with a cup of water and aspirin. "Drink this, and sit down. It's not as bad as you think."

"It is, doctor!" said Zack worryingly. "Hojo is going to turn Cloud into a clone of Sephiroth!"

In Hojo's lab…

"Everything's gone perfectly so far…" said Hojo, rereading his own report to himself. "I think this test will actually be a success…"

"Hojo-sama, we're nearly finished over here," said a female voice. "Let me know when to release him."

"It looks great so far," said another voice, a male one. "I think this test will be a success!"

"You echo my thoughts, Reeve," said Hojo. "And wait just a little bit longer, Lucrecia, I want it to be absolutely perfect."

"Okay, Hojo-sama," said Lucrecia.

"Hojo-sama, what makes you think it'll work, though?" asked Reeve curiously. "All of our other attempts always failed."

"Trust me, Reeve, Cloud is just perfect for the project…"

"I know it'll be perfect," said Lucrecia with a fond smile at Hojo. "He succeeded with the Jenova project. I can see that this will succeed too."

"Of course it will," said Hojo, not noticing Lucrecia's fond smile.

Lucrecia sighed, and typed up a few more buttons. "There, that's good."

"The stigma gave you the idea, Hojo-sama," said Reeve, turning to the scientists. "But how did Cloud get the stigma in the first place?"

"It was because of the error Zack caused," said Hojo, walking around to stand between Reeve and Lucrecia. "Zack somehow caused a grave error in Cloud's programming. He had to delete the program, which is highly unadvisable, because it can cause serious side-effects. In fact, Cloud is the first to have his program deleted ever in the history of Shinra. The result, as you see, was the stigma."

"What does the stigma do?" asked Lucrecia. "It sounds awful."

"It is, I've tested the effects of the stigma," said Hojo, bringing up a report on the stigma on his computer. "From what I can deem it makes you feel intense pain in your whole body, and you remember many different things. Sad or happy things."

"That is awful," agreed Reeve, looking at all the test results. "And from these results, you saw that we could…?"

"That's right, Reeve," said Hojo, rereading all his test results. "Cloud seems to have remembered more bad things the good… Anguish like that is perfect for experimenting on."

"Hojo-sama, you're a bit of a sadist," commented Lucrecia. She hit one last button, and looked up at Reeve and Hojo. "I think he's ready."

"Yes, he is," agreed Hojo. "Release him, and let s see how he reacts."

Reeve walked around to the other side of the lab, and Lucrecia hit a release button. The sound of glass breaking was heard along with a splash, and Cloud fell straight to the ground with an "ow" of surprise.

Hojo walked over to Cloud an kneeled down to his eye lever. "Hello, Cloud," he said. "How are you feeling?"

Cloud blinked, and got to his knees slowly. "..? Where am I?" he asked.

"That's usually what they say first," said Hojo aloud as though explaining how two and two work. "You're just fine, stand up, stand up," he said, helping Cloud to his feet. "How are you feeling?"

"…" Cloud looked around. "I feel fine… I guess," he said, "but I feel really tired…"

"That's good," said Hojo, making a note.

Cloud winded and fell down to his knees again, grabbing his left arm. "But… this still hurts…! I thought it'd be fixed…"

"Oh, I'm sorry about that," said Hojo, walking around to where Lucrecia stood. "I couldn't fix it."

Reeve was checking something on the other side of the lab, and walked over to Hojo and Lucrecia. "Is it a success?" he asked quietly to Hojo.

"Let's find out," said Lucrecia, walking over to Cloud. "Does your arm still hurt?" she asked gently.

Cloud blinked and looked up at Lucrecia. "It--It does… Terribly…" he rubbed his arm and closed his eyes. "I'm….I remember…"

"Remember what?" asked Lucrecia. "You can tell me."

"I remember… terrible things…" he loosened the grip on his left arm. "It hurts more terribly then ever now…"

Lucrecia put a hand on his back reassuringly. "Don't worry about that, you're just fine now. I'm sorry we couldn't fix the stigma."

"No, it's all right…" said Cloud quietly, standing up. "Now could someone tell me where I am?"

"Oh, yes, you're in my lab," said Hojo. "I thought my technology could cure the stigma, but I guess not. Do try not to tell anyone about this, okay?"

Cloud nodded slowly. "I won't tell anybody… I don't want to worry anybody… It's not their problem, I'm not their problem…"

"Good," said Reeve. "On your way then."

Cloud nodded again and slowly walked to the door.

"You're letting him go just like that?" asked Lucrecia. "But how will we know if the cloning worked?"

"Easy," said Hojo walking over to Cloud. "Hey, Cloud!" he called.

Cloud stopped and looked back. "Yes, Hojo-sama?" he asked.

Hojo leaned in close onto Cloud's face, observing each eye. "You're fine," he said, patting Cloud's shoulder.

Cloud blinked, and left the room.

Hojo walked to Lucrecia and Reeve. "Yes, it went perfectly. And the great thing is, no-one will ever know that we cloned Sephiroth into Cloud." He grinned wickedly and picked up his phone to call shachoo.

With Cloud…

Cloud walked slowly down the hallway to his room. I feel really strange… he thought. I feel soo woozy now… and much heavier, as if I'm carrying something very heavy on my back… he opened the door to his room and fell down onto his bed. Where's Zack…? I want to see him again…

As though answering his thoughts, Zack burst into the room. "Cloud! Cloud!" he ran over to Cloud. "There you are, I've been so worried! What happened, where have you been!"

Cloud sat up when he saw Zack. "Zack, I'm fine! You don't have to worry about me."

"No, I do, Cloud!" said Zack, his eyes ablaze with worry. "I worry about you all the time! I heard everything from the doctor! He said that you had something called the 'stigma' and that it caused you a lot of pain! Is that true! Tell me the truth!" Zack sounded truly concerned.

Cloud widened his eyes a little in surprise. "Za-Zack? You were worried about me all this time?"

"Of course I was!" said Zack, flapping his arms wildly. "I always worry for you! You do many weird things that make me worry! Things like wanting to be alone or things like--like-- Well, things that arouse worry!"

Cloud gasped, and looked down at the ground, blushing slightly. "You… really, you…"

"Cloud," said Zack, placing a hand on Cloud's left arm. "It's the stigma, isn't it? These past month you've been feeling excruciating pain, haven't you?"

Cloud had winced when Zack placed his hand on his left arm, and said quietly, "…ok-okay, Zack… I'm sorry for making you worry…"

"No!" yelled Zack. "Don't be sorry! You have nothing to be sorry about! I should be the one apologizing! I care about you, Cloud, I don't want to see you in pain or suffering! I should have noticed that you were in pain, but I didn't!"

Cloud bit his lip and looked down. "…it's not--"

"It is!" argued Zack. "All of it's my fault! I should have taken better care of you! I should be more aware if you have any problems! I caused this for you, when I deleted the program!"

"Zack, I don't blame you for anything at all! All that has happened to me, I don't blame you!"

"You don't? But, Cloud…"

Cloud unconsciously clenched at the bed, reaching with his right hand to hold on to his left. "Zack… the stigma does make me feel pain… but seeing you distressed over me makes me feel twice as bad…"

Zack stared at Cloud in shock. "Cloud? You're arm…?"

"It does--" Cloud cut himself off, looking away from Zack, feeling his eyes water slightly. No, don't cry in front of Zack… he…

"Cloud…" said Zack, saddening slightly. "Do you need a hug?"

Cloud looked around at Zack in astonishment. "I--I… No, I don't…"

"Yes, you do," said Zack with a sad smile, wiping away a tear from Cloud's face. "Tell me you need a hug. I'll give you a hug."

"…Zack…" said Cloud, beginning to tear up a little. "I'm sorry I never told you…! But I didn't ant to worry you… Zack, I care for you! Deeply!" he wiped his own tears away. "But I…"

"Not another word," said Zack, and he reached over and gave Cloud a big hug. "Remember that I'm here for you, Cloud. I'm here for whatever you need me for. If it hurts, or makes you cry, or whatever, share it with me. We're friends, remember? After all, it'd be selfish of you to keep all that pain to yourself."

Cloud looked up at Zack and let out a laugh. "Zack…" he said, pulling himself closer to Zack.

Zack patted Cloud's head. "There, there," he said like a father would to a fretful son.

Cloud, however, took it as otherwise; he reddened deeply, and sniffled. "Th-Thank you, Zack…"

"Now, it's time for you to get some rest," said Zack. "Lay down and make some room. I'm joining you."

"Wha…?" asked Cloud faintly, looking up at Zack again. "You're gonna…?"

"You need me here, to be with you," said Zack with a smile. "I'll watch you all night to make sure you're warm and safe and snug!" Cloud blushed again, and laid down on the bed, well aware of Zack laying down on the other side. "Good night, Cloud!" said Zack cheerfully. "And if anything happens, wake me up right away!"

"Good night…" answered Cloud, and he and Zack fell asleep side-by-side like friends usually do. That night proved to the world one thing: Zack and Cloud were now the best of friends, forever and ever, and nothing would ever change that.
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Aaw. This was a sweet chapter, don't you agree:3 I love cute warm little fuzzies like these! I hope you do too! Oh, and quick warning on the next chapter: There might be a lot/some blood, as there's gonna be a final BERSERK battle next chapter. I always wondered what it'd be like to have Cloud battle Sephiroth with geostigma, so I'll find that out next chapter! MWAAHAHAHHAAAHA!
Mario: Enter the sadistically demented battle-scene writer Fairy Red person…
I know, I can't wait:D See you in a bit! Hopefully.