Thanks for the review you keep, reviewing I'll keep writing. I'm open to all suggestions, let me know what you think of this chapter, It's a bit more action packed than the previous chapter so I hope you like it.
Chapter 4: Nibelheim
A lone figure stood in front of the Shinra manor, shadowed by the early morning dawn. The entire mansion had been sealed off for years now, the abominations that had occurred within its walls were to numerous and too horrifying to count. The figure stood in front of the gates gun drawn, blood-red cloak flapping in the cold morning air. Crimson eyes focused on the evil structure. The lone figure pushed open the creaking gates and slowly walked up to the tapped up door. The figure ripped away the caution tape and entered the dusty hallway. Rotting wood, decaying bodies, and rusting pieces of metal litter the ground. The figure walked down the hallway to the secret entrance, and slowly descended the stair case. No one had been here since the Deepground incident, no body wanted to mess with the place that had created so much evil. It stood in the town as a reminder of humanities past sins. The figure finally reached the bottom of the stair case. Cautiously the figure approached the old abandoned laboratory, the figure pressed the button opening the door way to the lab when suddenly……
"Gone!" exclaimed the figure
Everything was gone, the lab, the books, the research, all gone. There was so sign of forced entry, no clues as to who was behind all of this. The figure's crimson eyes widened in shock, something was defiantly wrong.
Mean while about two miles away Denzel Strife's van made its way toward Nibelheim. Alex had his head against the glass peering out the window toward the distance. Both of the Strife brothers stayed silent dreading anything they might happen upon in at Mt. Nibel. Soon they had reached their destination and pulled up to the town. Denzel parked the van then turned off the engine, both men let out a sigh before exiting the vehicle. They headed to the back of the flatbed trunk, Denzel pulled away the tarp to reveal the First Tsurugi and Ultima Weapon buster swords. They armed themselves with the swords Alex with the First Tsurugi and Denzel with the Ultima weapon. Alex preferred to fight with the First Tsurugi as he was the better swordsman, he had trained for many years to master his father's multi-bladed weapon (the sword Cloud used in Advent Children), Denzel however was the better Martial Artist, but he was still no slouch with a sword. Hopefully they would have no need for weapons, but they were prepared for anything.
The brothers entered the small town they have been here for years, no since the day their parents brought him here long ago to see their parent's birthplace, and the final resting grounds of their grand parents. It was an emotional visit. Denzel could still remember the sight of his beloved adoptive mother breaking down in tears in front of the replica of her former home and see told her children memories of her father. Alex remembered that their father never spoke a word during their visit, he merely looked at everything with eyes filled with sadness. Alex knew that this town was symbol of his parent's shared pain, but he recognized it as a symbol of their love. Their pain had brought them closer together, because only in each other's arms could Cloud and Tifa find the peace of mind, the strength, the comfort that they needed to continue their lives after suffering so much.
As they passed the Shinra mansion, Alex felt the cold melt and heard the click of the gun, faster than anyone could blink he drew his sword and aimed it at the assailant's throat. Alex smirked as he saw the crimson cloaked figure before him. Denzel chuckled a bit at the situation.
"She got you first, bro." chuckled Denzel
Lucy Valentine stepped out from the shadow to greet the Strife brothers.
"That's left up to interpretation, bro. I could have sliced her before she could have even thought about pulling the trigger." Smirked Alex as he sheathed his weapon.
"You couldn't have and you know it" laughed Lucy as she playful whacked Alex on the head with the barrel of her gun.
Lucy holstered her weapon, she then pointed her golden gauntlet covered arm toward Mt. Nibel.
"My brother told me that you were going to come here I thought I'd check things out first. I didn't know you'd bring your brother, Alex." Stated Lucy concerned
"Thanks for your help Lucy; I brought Denzel because I thought I'd need some back up. I would have asked John, but you know how he doesn't like getting involved in these kinds of things." Stated Alex as he smiled at Lucy
"Being the spawn of Chaos isn't easy." replied Lucy sadly
"Hey, Lucy did you find anything?" questioned Denzel
"No, I just arrived here I was waiting for you guys what took you so long?" asked Lucy jokingly
"Marlene wouldn't let us out the door without breakfast, then she had a mood swing and kicked us out the door because she thought Alex called her fat, she spent five whole minutes crying, I had to consol her" answered Denzel
"Alex you insensitive jerk!" exclaimed Lucy as she gave Alex a light punch to the arm.
"Hey I only told her that the baby seems to be growing pretty well, because she was getting bigger. It was a compliment really" said Alex defensively
"You don't say something like that to a pregnant woman you jerk!" exclaimed Lucy.
"Let's just get going up the mountain, guys." chuckled Denzel
The three heroes started their trek up the mountain, unbeknownst to them they were secretly being watched by another shadowed figure from the dusty windows of the Shinra Manor. An hour later the trio had finally reached the entrance to the Mt. Nibel Mako Spring, as they entered they saw the beautiful sight of the spring which had obviously been tampered with. There were cracks in the crystal everywhere, numerous amounts of holes, the size of materia. They briefly split up to investigate the area. After a few minutes they had come up with nothing.
"Maybe we should check the abandoned reactor above." Alex stated
"Are you crazy! NOBODY goes there do you have any idea what happened there, besides Reeves' team already checked it there was nothing, they were right about the spring….I'm guessing they were right about the reactor." Shouted Denzel
"It's worth a look isn't, by the looks of this place something big went down we have to know….we have to know what happened…I have to know." answered Alex
"Alex why is this so important to you?" asked a concerned Lucy
"This is Nibelheim; this is my parent's hometown. This place is a source of pain to them, and somebody messed with it. As much as I hate this place, NO one messes with my family's memories. And NO STARTS THIS Kind of SHIT On MY WATCH!" cried an enraged Alex
Alex stormed away from the other two up the mountain, Denzel sighed then he irritatedly followed his brother up the mountain. Lucy just stared at the two brothers with bewilderment never in her life had she seen such an outburst, especially from the normally laid back Alex. As Denzel followed he knew exactly what Alex was feeling. Before Cloud and Tifa, Denzel had nothing; he was an orphan, alone, unloved. When they found him they gave Denzel more than he ever could have hoped for. Cloud and Tifa gave him gave him love, they gave him a family, he gained a mother, a father and a brother. Coming here and starting this shit was like spitting on everything Denzel cherished most. If some one truly up to something no doubt, soon it would be a threat to his family and to his wife. Alex loved Marlene she had always been there for him, even when he was inflicted with Geostigma, and he vowed to harm would ever come to her.
Lucy was amazed by the new found determination in the Strife brothers; she too realized that something bad was going on. Nobody would go this far if they weren't going to start something. The only question now was what these people were up to. They had finally reached the entrance of the Old Mako reactor. It had been inactive for years having been shut down by Cloud Strife himself, and deactivated so as to never be used again by Barrett Wallace's Alternative Fuel Committee. The brothers stood in place for a second hesitant to enter at first. Denzel approached first, laying his hand on the door, he breathed deeply as slowly pushed the door open, Alex followed with Lucy bringing up the rear.
The old reactor was lifeless and cold. It was covered in cobwebs and dust, it was clear no one had tampered with any for years. Nothing, no clues, not one sign of an wrong doing. Alex pounded his fist into the wall, sending a thunderous shockwave through the room and leaving a considerable dent in the wall.
"Dam it!" cried the brothers in unison
"It was worth a try, I'm sorry Alex." Replied Lucy as she put a comforting hand on his shoulder
Suddenly the trio felt a rumble from underneath the steel floor. They quickly drew their weapons as they readied for battle. Denzel carefully stomped his foot on the floor. Then rumble continued as they heard the faint sound of a roar. Denzel and Alex looked toward each other and silently nodded They raised up their fists then brought them down on the floor causing a massive crater in the ground and creating a massive shockwave, Their mother had taught them well, nobody could throw a punch like her boys. Suddenly the ground started to shake violently as the roar grew louder. Before they could move the ground erupted as a giant Chimera beast appeared. The trio landed on their asses and barley had time to roll out of the way before the Chimera could smash his massive fist into the ground. This Chimera was different from the normal ones first things first It was larger, also it had a huge fragment of mako crystal embedded in its forehead.
Denzel, Alex and Lucy jumped to their feet and backed away from the beast to gain some ground. The Chimera Rushed toward them in rage, quickly the three heroes made their way out of the reactor as the Beast smashed open the entrance. Denzel and Alex turned toward the beast and drew their swords, instantly they started to glow sending a tandem Blade beam Limit Break straight toward the beast as Lucy aimed a powered up shot from her Quantum Cerberus, sending her bullet straight into the beast's heart. The attacks ripped away at the flesh of the beast bringing it down. The three heroes stood there for a while, before starting to relax. Suddenly the creature sprang to its feet fully revived and still disfiguringly scared from the attacks. The Chimera grabbed a nearby boulder and tossed it toward the trio. Denzel leaped into the air letting out a volley of sword slashes breaking the boulder to pieces. Alex rushed toward the beast quickly popped out his switch blade sword from the Tsurugi and tossing it like a javelin straight into the eye of the beast, then he released one of the serrated blade and launched it right into to the throat of the creature.
Lucy kept up a volley of gun fire, covering the Strife brothers as they circled around the Chimera, with lighting quick precision they had jumped up and quickly dismembered the beast slicing off its arms and legs. Covered in bullet holes, dismembered and disfigured the creature fell to the ground lifeless. Denzel and Alex breathed heavily, they started walking back over to Lucy, when the beast suddenly, gurgled to life, its limbs started to twitch as they slowly inched toward him and re connected with its body. The Chimera arose once more and roared louder than ever, The heroes stood dumfounded. Just as the creature was about to attack a gunshot rang through the air, the blast ripped through air colliding with the beast's forehead shattering the crystal. It started to gurgle and foam at the mouth, decaying before their very eyes. A crimson streak shot through the air and landed on the beast's shoulder. I golden clawed hand grasped Alex's sword still stuck in the beast's throat. Lucy took this moment and ran up to the Chimera to do the same thing with the sword stuck in its eye. The Brothers stood back in amazement as the two crimson figures proceeded to dismember the Chimera bringing it to its final end. Lucy and the other figure tossed Alex's swords back at him which landed in the ground right before him. Lucy and the figure holstered their weapons the Cerberus and Death Penalty respectively. Vincent Valentine stood as an imposing figure to the younger warriors a he made his way over to them. Lucy quickly ran over to her father who embraced her with a hug.
"Dad I'm so glad to see you." said Lucy nearly in tears.
"Lucrecia?" replied Vincent warmly as he embraced his daughter
Alex reformed his sword as Vincent and Lucy broke up their hug. The Strife brothers sheathed their swords as they scanned the nearby area for any other threats.
"Thanks very much Mr. Valentine." Stated Alex
"How long have you been here?" asked a puzzled Denzel
"Since this morning, I was investigating something" replied Vincent
"Dad do you know anything about this creature" asked Lucy
Vincent bent down to examine the body and shattered Mako crystal.
"This thing was dead before you got here. Its body was already slightly decayed before it attacked, someone altered its tissues to revive even after death, they used the mako crystal as a power source for the process." answered Vincent
"How do you know this?" asked Denzel.
"I encountered another creature just like it when I was searching the Shinra mansion." replied Vincent
"What were you doing in the mansion" asked Alex
"Someone had tampered with the Cavern, they extracted a couple of samples."
Nobody questioned further they knew what he was talking about and didn't want to press the matter.
"Ok, but why did you come to Nibelheim?" asked Alex
"I called Reeve to see if he had any information, he was out but Shelke told me about the incident at the mako spring up here in Mt. Nibel, I thought I'd start my search at the manor, where they didn't search." Replied Vincent
"Did you find anything dad?" asked a concerned Lucy
"The place was cleaned out the research and equipment were gone, they must have used the underground sewer way to sneak everything out without anyone noticing. After dealing with the creature I saw you guys head up toward the mountain and decided to follow." Stated Vincent
"Well thanks for the help, but do you think all these things are connected?" asked Denzel
"They must be." Replied Vincent curtly as he headed to the busted reactor once more.
The group followed behind him as the entered the now wreaked entry way.
"We already inspected the place and found nothing." Stated Denzel
Vincent ignored the statement and continued to inspect the room, suddenly something caught his eye as he made his way over to western wall toward the north corner of the room. He placed his hand on a section of the wall and examined it carefully.
"Here, this part of the wall is different from the rest. It's cleaner, it's been tampered with lately" Stated Vincent
Vincent gestured toward Denzel to knock it down, Denzel backed up a bit before he ran straight at the wall and knocked it down with a powerful kick. Vincent entered first switching on the light as he walked in. The place was empty, but most assuredly something used to be here.
"He's right this place is clean, spotless. And judging by some of the marks on the ground here there used to be some heavy duty equipment here." Stated Denzel
"But WHAT, WHAT used to be here, I wish for once we could actually make sense out of all this crazy crap!" exclaimed Alex
"Over here!" shouted Lucy
She held up a small shard of mako crystal she found on the ground, Vincent carefully plucked it from his daughter's hands and examined it.
"It's from the Spring." Stated Vincent
"Great news! That means that the guys who messed with the mako spring down there were the same ones who were using this facility." Exclaimed Denzel
"No, this isn't from that spring this is from Lucrecia's Spring." Replied Vincent
"What dose that mean?' questioned Lucy
"I don't know but we're going to find no matter what." replied Vincent
Suddenly something in the corner of the facility caught Alex's eye. Carefully he picked up a small data disk that laid discarded on the floor.
"Look at this! Dam its damaged beyond repair, there's no way to read it." Stated Alex.
"Is there anything written on it?" questioned Denzel
Alex turned it over written on the top of the disk was the phrase south sea.
"What does that mean?" questioned Vincent
"This means we need to find a ride." replied Alex.