Here's the next chapter I hope you like it, keep sending the reviews please, I love recieving them.
Chapter 5: Rise of NECRO WEAPON
Rocket Town, the place to go for all your transportation wants and needs. Everyone all over the world knew of this town, as the center of all the latest and greatest technological advancements in transportation. From its massive airships, to sleek submarines and even massive rockets capable of space flight. At the head of amazing achievement was Cid Highwind Sr., The greatest engineer in history. And the person that was the head engineer of Cid Highwind's vast transportation empire was his first born son, Cid Highwind Jr. the first of Cid's eight children. But at this moment Cid Highwind Jr. was having to deal with the second son of the legendary Cloud and Tifa……
"NO, NO, NO, and for the last time NOO!" screamed Jr.
"Come on Cid just a little help we really need an airship." pleaded Alex
"I just lent you the Bronco the other day and it came back with scratches, the throttle was jammed and the fuel tanks were empty." Exclaimed Jr.
"Like I carry around jet fuel Cid." Joked Alex
"That's not the point, I don't know how you can think that you can just waltz in here and ask for a vehicle anytime you want. This is insanity, if my dad knew all the help I had already given you he'd kick my ass all the way to the moon." Screamed Cid.
Cid proceeded his way through the massive air hanger's system of catwalks. He had a lot of work to do, and he didn't have time to deal with his Alex at the moment. Cid Highwind was the spitting image of his father, and being in a house filled with eight kids and his dad made things difficult.
"I don't need this bullshit right now I got a dead line tomorrow for 100 new cargo vans for the WRO, and I have finished all the inspections on my Dad's new Airship yet. So F# off get the hell out off here Alex." stated Jr.
"Come on Cid for old time's sake, it's just a little request." Asked Alex
Cid Jr. turned to look at his friend in shock; he could not believe the Alex blatant disrespect Alex had.
"Are you crazy, you want an airship, not only that, but an airship with top of the line sonar, and not only that an air ship that can house a small submarine. Your F#ing crazy, friend or not I can't do it." cried Jr.
"Cid, this is important do you think I'd come here and ask for something this big, if it wasn't REALLY important!" pleaded Alex
"Yeah……..Of course you would." Exclaimed Jr.
The three friends proceeded past the walk ways until Jr. came across two if his younger brothers and sisters messing around with some of the machinery.
"Suzie, Stanley, Ichiro get the hell away from that it's dangerous, get the hell back the house." Jr. yelled as he shooed them away.
"Please Cid it could be serious, end of the world serious." Stated Alex solemnly
"It always is, isn't it?" sighed Jr.
"That's why were here, right." chuckled Alex
"Dam straight! Follow me!" chuckled Jr.
Jr. lead Alex through the catwalk to a particular part of the massive hanger. Right before the two sat a massive Airship. It was slightly smaller than the previous models, but it was sleeker and seemed top of the line.
"Meet the Shera Highwind Mark 5, it's the latest model of airship. Its small than the others, but it's a heck of a lot faster. It features a smaller missile payload, but the cannons carry a much bigger punch to them. It houses the most sophisticated scanners and sonar, it can locate a penny on the deepest part of the Sea floor." Stated Jr.
"Impressive, what about the submarine?" asked Alex
Jr. led Alex further down the walk way then down some stairs to the hanger dock area. Jr. hen brought Alex face to face with the Sea Bronco.
"This is the Sea Bronco, it can hold up to five people and has all the bells and whistles you'll need to go on you little search mission." stated Jr.
"THANK YOU Cid! I'll take them, when can you have it already." Asked Alex
"Two hours! But you little son of a bitch, I'm not letting you just take em', I'm coming with you! I'm going to make sure nothing happens to my dad's vehicles." yelled Jr.
"Saves me the trouble of asking you." Joked Alex
"Shut up before I kick your ass!" laughed Cid as he headed back up the stairs
"What the hell I'm getting into." Sighed Alex
Meanwhile a few yards away from the Highwind family aeronautics hanger was the Highwind household. Lucy and Denzel were in the living room watching the youngest of the Highwind children the four year old Alice, while Shera Highwind was fixing them up some tea. Vincent and Cid Sr. were in Cid's private study making some calls to the WRO. Shera brought in the tea which Denzel and Lucy graciously accepted. Shera picked up her daughter and sat down on the couch with Denzel and Lucy sitting right across from her.
"Do you think Alex and Vincent can convince your husband and son to let us borrow some transportation?" asked Lucy as she took a sip of her tea
"Well, you know how stubborn Cid can be and his son seems to have inherited that trait from his father." Replied Shera as she lovingly held her daughter close
"How do manage it….being a mother I mean?" asked Lucy
"It's hard, but when you have a child, you love them so much that you learn how to deal with all the hassle. You'll be a parent soon Denzel and your learn about all the hard work it takes to raise a child." Replied Shera warmly
Denzel nearly choked on his tea, obviously taken off guard by Shera's statement. They two women laughed and continued on with their talk about babies, children and the like. Denzel quietly headed for the nearby window sill to think in peace. He had never really thought about being a parent before. When he married Marlene it was one of the best things that ever happened to him. He was so happy and he loved Marlene, she had been with him through everything. In fact when he was stricken with Geostigma he could always remember seeing her concerned face staring down at him always caring for him.
When she told him the news that she was pregnant, he was filled with so much joy, he could remember canceling all his appointments for the day then running out of the WRO building screaming for joy. He remember run straight into Marlene's arms and giving her one of the most passionate kisses that they had ever shared together. But, Denzel had never giving any real thought as to how he would be as a father. He had been so happy and excited that he never stopped to think about if he would be a good parent. He knew from first hand experience that being a parent was hard. Before Cloud and Tifa he could remember the pain of living alone, but even when they brought him into their home they still weren't a family. Cloud and Tifa hardly spoke, Cloud was gone most of the time, still blaming himself for not being able to protect those he cared about. And Tifa, with Cloud being gone so much was always slightly depressed.
It wasn't until after defeating Kadaj, Loz, and Yazoo that things started to change. Cloud started staying at Seventh Heaven more, he and Tifa started to communicate, they even went only little picnics with each other. They mainly consisted of Denzel running around pretending to be like Cloud while Tifa laughed at his antics. Cloud would always sit a bit further back from them and watch, he would even crack a smile once in a while. After Deepground things really started to change, a certain weight seemed to be lifted off of the three now that the last of their challenges had been met and over come. Cloud and Tifa seemed to be closer than ever, and to Denzel's surprise Cloud even seemed to start to really warm up to the boy. Cloud started to take Denzel out by himself, with out Tifa. They would go to the candy store or maybe just ride around on his motorcycle. Denzel didn't care where they went he just enjoyed the time they shared, for the first time in his in a long time Denzel felt like he had a real family, then it happened.
On day Denzel had come home from school to find that all his dreams had just come true. Cloud and Tifa were sharing a passionate kiss right in the middle of the Seventh Heaven Bar, a shiny new wedding ring on her finger. It was then that they explained to him that they were going to get married then official adopt Denzel as their son. Shortly afterwards Alex was born, and that's when Cloud really started to change, he had softened, he now had to sons and a wife who he loved more than anything else in the world, he smiled more and he spent every moment he could with his children from taking them driving around the outskirts of Edge City to teaching them how to be expert swordsmen.
Denzel wondered how he would react to his own son or daughter. Would he be a good father? Would he teach his child everything he knew, show them the world just like his own father had with him. Denzel remembered that after Alex was born for the first time ever he was an older brother. Denzel cherished family more than anything else Denzel would always take his brother under his wing and show him all the cool things he knew and help him out when ever Alex needed him. Would he be like that with his own child? Denzel was so unsure of himself, he wished to god that he would be able to be the parent that he thought his child deserved. But before his child came Denzel had one last thing he needed to do. He wanted to make sure that his child would come into a peaceful world, he had to finish up this mission in order to insure the safety and happiness of his family. Denzel sipped the last of his tea and put down his cup just as Vincent and Cid came out of the study. Shera and Lucy stood up as Denzel walked over to them.
"So honey what's the news." Asked Shera
"Well I talked to Jr. and he and Alex are preparing the Mark 5. I gave him a big chewing out and told him that if any thing happened to my airship I'd wipe him off of the face of the planet." Chuckled Cid
"So when will the airship be ready?" questioned Lucy
"Half an hour, they're loading the last of the equipment as we speak." Stated Vincent
"Did you talk to Reeve." Questioned Denzel
"Yeah, we told him our findings. He said to continue with our plan while Shelke does some research to find out who could be behind this." Answered Vincent
"Okay, then we better get ready no telling what we could find." Stated Denzel
"Or even if we can find anything, all we have to go on is the phrase South Sea, there's no telling where what ever we are looking for could be in the vast ocean." Exclaimed Lucy
"But we have to investigate no the less, someone's up to no good and it's our job to stop them." Commanded Denzel
Half an hour later everything had been loaded onto the airship and everyone pilled in. The team consisted of the Shera Highwind Mark 5's flight crew each hand picked by Cid Sr. himself, Vincent, Lucy, Denzel, Alex and Cid Jr. Junior Had launched the airship on its maiden voyage so far with out a hitch. After ten minutes in the air the main team had assembled in the conference room to discuss the mission parameters. Everyone gathered around the holoprojector as Jr. activated the world map.
"We're going here to the South Sea of the planet, there's a lot of area to cover so we're going to split the area into 15, ten minute scanning areas." Stated Junior
"According to Cid Sr. the sonar will be able to pick up any abnormalities in the water. If anything is found we'll use the submarine to investigate." Added Denzel
"Do we have any idea what were looking for?" asked Alex skeptically
"No, but after talking to Reeve we decided to cross reference our search with the abnormal readings that occurred at Nibelheim." Replied Denzel
"So what do we do right now?' questioned Lucy
"Well, we'll be arriving at the start zone in five minutes, after that all we can do is wait?" answered Junior
"Everyone understand now?" asked Vincent
"Yup!" they replied in unison
Everyone started to file out of the conference, but Jr. held back Alex to have a slight word with him. Jr. then picked up his fighting spear from the corner of the room and pointed it at Alex.
"If this little "treasure hunt" turns out to be a wild goose chase, then I'm gonna shove this spear so far up your ass that you'll be spitting out shaft for a week." Stated Jr.
Alex raised an eyebrow at Jr. as he left, his friend certainly had always been a bit eccentric, nut they again so were a lot of people he tended to hang around. Alex left the conference room and headed down the left corridor and entered the common room, it was empty everyone was probably in the cockpit. Alex flopped down on to one of the semi-comfortable seats and leaded his head back. Alex's eyes started close as he relaxed, he was tired, it had been a long day and he had a feeling it was about to get longer. As Alex started to slip into the blissful state of sleep, it returned.
Alex hadn't told anyone about them, but they had been a reoccurring staple of his sleep and one of the reasons why he was so determined to continue this investigation. This dream was a continual source of annoyance for him, it was always the same.
Dream State
Alex found himself walking through the old abandoned church until he came to patch of beautiful flowers growing out of the ground. As soon as he picked one up, he was suddenly transported to massive field of flowers. Alex looked around in shock of his new surroundings, when suddenly……a strange woman dressed in a pink dress, who he had never seen before appeared in front of him.
"Who are you." Asked a puzzled Alex
"A friend." Smiled the woman
"Why am I here?" questioned Alex
"I've been watching you Alex, you're lost."
"What do you mean?"
"Being the son of Cloud Strife isn't easy."
"Yeah, it isn't."
"But, you have to remember you don't have to be your father."
"Why, My father was a great man, he even defeated Sephiroth single handedly…….I need to be that kind of man, in order…to….be strong enough."
"This is your story Alex, you have to learn that…you can't live in the shadow of your father forever…..especially with the danger ahead you need to realize, exactly how YOU are."
"Who are you to tell me, what I should be, your just a dream, some figment of my imagination."
"No I'm trying to help you Alex, I'm a friend…….please listen to my the danger ahead is great if you don't stop trying to kill your self over fulfilling your father's legacy then…..you'll lose….everything."
"SHUT UP! This is my dream, my mind and I make the rules here, I am Alex Strife, son of Cloud Strife and I'll be as great a man as him, that's my goal, that's my dream, that's……my destiny."
The field and the vision of the woman started to fade away after Alex's last remark, she pleaded with him one last time as he turned away. Alex was done with this dream, it had been a source of anger and confusion for him. As he turned he was suddenly confronted by a tall shadowy figure in front of him. The figure stared to laugh at him as it looked at Alex with its piercing glowing blue eyes. Suddenly Alex noticed that water had started to surround his feet, as he looked down he looked at the reflection of his face in the water. He had always been told he looked almost exactly like his father right down to Alex's glowing blue eyes. The only difference was that Alex's hair was black, but he still styled like his father's. Suddenly the image of his father appeared in the water instead of his own. In anger Alex punched the ground, causing the phantom image to disappear. The shadowy figure laughed as Alex rose to his feet. The figure lifted his head up as two massive black angel wings sprung from his back, as it rose into the air above Alex. All Alex could do was cower in fear of the figure as it swooped down straight toward him, Alex started to scream in fear when suddenly……….
Dream Over
Alex awoke in a cold sweat screaming in fear, right next to him sat a startled Lucy who had come to see if he was ok. The dream had haunted Alex for months, but he didn't want tell anyone, he didn't want to worry the people he cared about.
"Alex what's wrong?' questioned a concerned Lucy
"Nothing." Replied Alex as he tried to regain his senses
Lucy stared at Alex skeptically, she had know him all her life, they grew up together, she knew when something was wrong with him.
"Don't lie to me Alex." Asked Lucy
"Fine….but don't tell anyone, ok" sighed Alex
"On my honor." Smiled Lucy
"For the last couple of months I've been having this dream about a woman in a pink dress." Sighed Alex
"Oh, I see." Replied Lucy making a tinge of hurt
"She keeps warning me about something trying to tell me that there is no way I can be as good as my dad, Then this shadowed figure appears laughing at me, glaring at me….with his glowing blue eyes." Stated Alex solemnly
"That's horrible can you remember anything else?" stated a concerned Lucy
"Yeah, Wings…….he had two huge black angel wings." Stated Alex
"What do you think it means…is it a premonition of some kind."
"No…at least I don't think so……I don't know."
"What about the woman, did you recognize her?"
"No, I've never seen her before, but she said that she was…..an old friend."
"Are you sure it was just a dream."
"I….have no idea, but he keeps coming back, almost every time I go to sleep. It's like she taunts me…says I'm not good enough…what dose she know."
"Alex you're a great person and your father is proud of you, you don't need to impress anyone." Sighed Lucy
"I'm not trying to impress anyone, I need to prove to myself that I have what it takes to really be the son of Cloud Strife."
Lucy sighed, some times it was hard getting through to Alex, he could be so stubborn. Lucy was about to say something when the speaker system crackled to life.
"Alex, Lucy get to the Cockpit right now we found something!" announced Cid
Alex stood up then headed straight for the Cockpit without a word. Lucy sat there for a little before following. As Alex entered the cockpit Denzel looked over to him and eyed his brother, something was up, but he didn't think he should press it. Lucy entered shortly afterwards and moved to stand by her father.
"What's up?" asked Alex
"We managed to pick up a strange reading?" answered Jr.
"Can you identify it." Questioned Alex
"Not exactly, but we have determined that it's a structure of some sort, there's no energy readings, so I'm assuming its some kinda storage facility." Answered Jr.
"When can we have the sub ready?' asked Lucy
"5 minutes but you guys are gonna need a pilot, and I'm all ready busy with this bird here." Jr. said pointing toward the airship
"I'll watch the airship, with the help of the crew, you take them down Cid." Stated Vincent
"Okay, then if ya think ya can handle it."
Vincent glared at Jr. who backed off and headed for the door with everyone else. As Lucy, Alex, Jr. , and Denzel boarded the submarine, Vincent to the wheel of the airship. Everything was set as the four heroes strapped themselves in. When all set Vincent pressed the button and released the sub. Jr. turned on the lights as he guided the sub into the dark depths of the ocean, Denzel monitored the scanners for any readings. Alex stayed relatively quiet, Lucy was becoming more concerned at the effect this situation was having on him. Soon Denzel noticed a reading on the scanners, he notified Jr. had they headed straight for it. When they reached the source they were shocked to find a massive research facility at the bottom of the ocean floor.
"Who the hell could have built this thing?" asked an astonished Jr.
"I'll give you two guesses." Denzel pointed toward the letters on the side of the facility, Shinra Corp.
"It just had to be Shinra didn't it" stated Jr.
"But Shinra Corp has been gone for years." Retorted Lucy
"It could have been Rufus then." Stated Alex
"Let's enter and check things out before we make any assumptions. Cid take her in and call in Vincent to tell him about our findings while Lucy, Alex and I check things out." Commanded Denzel
"Sure thing Boss!" replied Jr. jokingly
Everyone chuckled a bit as Denzel smacked Jr. on the shoulder lightly and told him to shut up. Jr. successfully managed to find a dock and landed the craft, Alex carefully exited first, after securing the area he signaled to the rest that it was safe to enter the facility. The three heroes proceeded with caution past the dark corridors. Some flash lights borrowed from Cid's submarine managed to shed a little light but afforded little help really. Suddenly the came to a massive control room all over they searched until Denzel activated the back up power by accident. The room was massive yet barren, one lone control panel laid at the front of the room with 5 mako chambers in the back.
"What the hell is this place?" asked Lucy.
"We'll know in a couple of seconds if I can get these computers to work." Answered Denzel.
Alex investigated the mako chambers, the facility looked as if it hadn't been used for years, but the control panel and the chambers looked as if they were just recently tampered with. Alex examined the inscriptions on the Chambers.
"Jade, Sapphire, Emerald, Ruby and…huh…the last inscription has been scratched out what the hell were these used for?" said Alex puzzled
"Over here, I got the control panel working, this facility was used by the original Shinra corp. as a holding facility for some of their experiments. It was established here nearly 40 years ago." Stated Denzel
"Can you tell what they had in here." Asked Lucy
"Yeah….It was built to house pieces…..?" stated Denzel perplexed
"Pieces…..of what?" asked Alex
"According to these documents recovered pieces of…..the WEAPONS!" Exclaimed a shocked Denzel
"WHAT, that's impossible….WHY….HOW!" exclaimed Lucy
"Shinra collected the remains of the WEAPONS that our parents defeated and brought them here." Answered Denzel
"We get that but why? Why did they bring these pieces here?" asked Alex
"OH MY GOD…..they did it so they could use cellular re-growth technology to merge the dead pieces together to form a new WEAPON!" exclaimed Denzel
"Wait you mean like the creatures that attacked us and Vincent at Nibelheim, is there any information as to whose behind it." Asked Alex
"It was an old project, the creatures are registered here, but it appears to be an accident, because this facility was abandoned shortly before Meteorfall." Stated Denzel
"Could it have been activated by someone recently?" asked Alex
"No, nobody has accessed this terminal for over 20 years, the tectonic shifting of the ocean floor must have activated the back up generator shortly, which allowed the monsters to escape." Answered Denzel
Alex made his way to a nearby door and opened before him was vastly dark room, suddenly for a second he thought he heard the faint sound of laughter. Shocked Alex stumbled into the room and fell to the floor activate the motion sensors…before Alex was one of the most horrifying creatures he had ever seen. It was a Frankenstein of the worst creatures to ever walk the earth, it was huge dragon-like beast, with thousands of scales covering its body. Six massive blue orbs like filled with Mako were embedded on its legs, arms, back and fore head. It was a massive engine of destruction forged from all the past WEAPONS. The inscription on the plaque placed on its head heralded its name: NECRO WEAPON.
Denzel and Lucy entered the room and stood in awe of the long dead titian. Denzel rushed to the control panel to see what information he could obtain, when suddenly an alert sounded and he was unable to access the control panel.
"Something's wrong, a fail safe has been activated I have no control!" shouted Denzel
Suddenly the massive titian roared to life as it started to fight against its restraints, the facility trembled under its power.
"GET BACK TO THE SUB!" shouted Alex as he started to run from the WEAPON
The three heroes race toward the submarine as NECRO WEAPON broke free of it's confinement, it butted its head against the ceiling a couple of times before finally ripping it open with its massive jaw, water poured in as the beast fought the current heading for the surface. Alex, Denzel and Lucy finally made it to the sub were a panicked Cid Jr. beckoned them in. The tiny sub raced toward the surface past the violent torrent of the waves caused by the WEAPON's accent ion to the surface. Finally the sub reached the surface in time to see NECRO WEAPON break free of the water and rise into the sky where it roared furiously. The WEAPON then gathered a massive amount of energy, which it used to fire a massive cannon of energy into the sky, a beckoning tower of light signaling destruction to all who saw it. For those who witnessed this spectacle stood awe struck at the WEAPON's display of power.
"F&K!" shout Jr.
Chapter end
Next Chapter: Demon Seed: Chaos' Sire