Chapter Nineteen: The Man in the Black Cape

Calvin and Hobbes just stared at each other before anyone decided to move towards the sounds. Pretty soon, they could hear someone's voice. Whoever it was, this person was laughing madly one minute, then shouting furiously the next.

"Wait a minute," Hobbes suddenly shivered. "Whatever's in that room doesn't sound safe to be around. We should get out of here."

"It's just coming from the other side of this door. I just want to take a peek…what could happen?"

"Calvin…no…"

But before Hobbes could say anything else, Calvin was nudging the door open ever so slowly until he had enough room to fit his head through it.

"I don't see anyone," Calvin whispered, looking around.

"Good…let's get out of here now please," Hobbes pleaded.

"Come on…we've beaten a bunch of monsters we should be able to take on whoever's in this room. If things get out of hand, we'll just clean his clock, okay?"

"No, it's not okay," Hobbes growled. "What would be okay is if we could get out of here right this minute!"

"Well, I'm going in to check it out. You want to stay out here all by yourself, you can do that. But if a monster sneaks up from behind you and sucks your brains out, don't expect me to come to your rescue."

Hobbes snarled at this statement and muttered under his breath as he followed Calvin into the room. The room turned out to be a massive library in which there were mountains of books piled up on tables, chairs, and even on the floor.

"Whoever is in here last sure is doing a lot of research about something," Hobbes said.

"Whoever is in here last obviously had no life," Calvin laughed. "I mean, who spends their spare time studying and researching? That's what school is for!"

"Who do you think is in here?"

"I don't know. What I'm curious about is what this person is reading about," Calvin replied as he picked up a book on the ground.

"What does it say?" Hobbes asked, looking over his shoulders.

"If you'll get your hairy head out of the light, I'll tell you," Calvin grunted.

After Hobbes moved his head, Calvin read the text out loud. It read:

Jenova: the mystical ancient who landed on this planet numerous years ago, believed to be one of the last surviving Cetra. When Shinra found the corpse of Jenova, they kept it alive in the Neibelheim Reactor, using its genetic cells and the resource of mako, life blood of this planet, to create ultimate warriors for Shinra.

"Who the heck would want to read about a sick idea like this?" Calvin demanded in disgust.

"Wait a minute," Hobbes replied in shock and anxiety. "Think about it: who have we heard of who is obsessed with these experiments and Jenova?"

Calvin thought about it for a minute and when he was done, he immediately picked up another book. Sure enough, it was another report on the Jenova Project. So were the rest Calvin and Hobbes looked through.

"Hobbes…"Calvin barely whispered in fear, "…do you suppose that the person in this library…the library we're standing in right now…is…Sephiroth?"

"I told you we shouldn't have come in here!" Hobbes shouted in anger.

"SHH!" Calvin hushed immediately. "If he is in here and he hears us…"

"…you would be in an enormous amount of trouble, wouldn't you?"

"You can say that again Hobbes," Calvin replied.

"I can say what again?"

"What you just said."

"I didn't say anything."

"If you didn't…then who did?"

Before Hobbes could respond, Calvin saw his orange coat of fur turn white with fear as Hobbes looked behind Calvin. Calvin hesitated as he turned around. What he saw made him turn white as well. Standing right behind him was a man in a black cape and long, silver hair. He also wielded a massive sword that measured more than two Hobbes' standing on one another's shoulders. But the scariest features of this man were his pure, blue eyes that made him look so evil.

Calvin and Hobbes were so afraid that they didn't even have the nerve to shout at the sight of Sephiroth as he looked down upon them with an evil grin on his face.

"I suppose the two of you were talking about me, weren't you?"

Neither Calvin nor Hobbes replied.

"You will do well to respond to my questions if you value your lives," he said as he drew his sword.

At this point, Calvin and Hobbes were slowly backing up to the exit, trying frantically to find the handle.

"WHAT ARE YOU TWO INSIGNIFICANT FOOLS DOING DOWN HERE?" Sephiroth demanded as he swung his sword through the air.

By this point, Calvin and Hobbes were screaming at the top of their lungs. It was the only thing their bodies would allow them to do. Other than their vocal cords, they were paralyzed with fear.

"IF YOU WISH TO LEAVE THIS MANSION ALIVE, ANSWER ME NOW!"

"Please don't kill us!" Calvin pleaded. "We were just looking for something about why this town is still standing and we thought the mansion would e a good place to look around and we know that the library has a lot of information in it and I didn't know you were in here cause if I had known, I wouldn't have come in here in the first place!" Calvin was so nervous that he was speaking in run-on sentences and extremely fast.

"What do YOU two know about that? ANSWER!"

"Our friend told us about an incident that happened years ago in this place!" Hobbes replied. "He told us about how you were a product of Jenova and…"

"DON'T EVER CALL ME A PRODUCT AGAIN!" Sephiroth shouted as he swung his sword through a nearby table, slicing it in half.

"Sorry! Please don't kill me!" Hobbes pleaded. "That's what Cloud said and…"

"Cloud?"

"Yeah…Cloud Strife."

"So…he is here then?"

"…yes…"

"Interesting…so he has decided to hunt me down and confront me about what happened five years ago."

"Basically."

"Well…I think I'll pay him a little visit."

With that note, Sephiroth began to levitate as he flew towards Calvin and Hobbes. Unaware that Sephiroth was heading towards the exit and not at them, Calvin panicked and involuntarily fired three shots at Sephiroth. Though the darts made contact, they did not even faze Sephiroth. In fact, Sephiroth seemed very irritated at this as he landed in front of the two.

"So…you two think you can take on the mighty Sephiroth, do you?"

"NO!" Calvin pleaded. "I THOUGHT YOU WERE GOING TO KILL ME! THAT'S WHY I FIRED AT YOU! IT WAS IN SELF DEFENSE! PLEASE DON'T KILL US!"

"Self defense, huh? Well, you fired at me first…therefore, I guess it's my turn to retaliate…and I'm going to in my own special way…against Cloud and all his friends…including you!"

On that note, Sephiroth blasted off through the library entrance and flew up the stairs of the mansion.

"I don't like the sounds of that," Calvin shivered. "Do you think he's going to try to set fire to the town again?"

"If he does, it's your fault!" Hobbes criticized. "Like usual, if we had minded our own businesses, we wouldn't be in this predicament!"

"This isn't the time to be sarcastic!" Calvin shouted. "We need to go warn Cloud and the others right now!"

Without any time to spare, Calvin and Hobbes raced back upstairs to the mansion and ran as fast as they could outdoors. When they got to the door, what Calvin and Hobbes saw was indeed a rare sight. Right in the middle of the town was a man floating in mid air, scoping the town.

"Cloud…Come out immediately, I know you're here!" Sephiroth demanded, grasping his sword. "You wish to settle the score with me? Come on, then! Let's do this right here and now!"

Within a few minutes, Cloud and the others ran into the square upon hearing this voice. Cloud appeared to be the most shocked out of the entire group. In fact, one could go as far as to say Cloud was the most hesitant of the group.

"Well…it's been a long time, Cloud," Sephiroth laughed. "But why does it appear that you're not happy to see me."

"Shut yer trap!" Barret shouted as he took aim with his gun arm.

"So…this is the amazing Sephiroth," Cait Sith whispered, intrigued by his presence. "The famous ex-SOLDER who went mad."

"SOLDER…yes, I remember being part of that worthless group of ingrates…can't recall why I joined, though. Now that I look back on it, it was nothing but a waste of my time."

"What are you doing here?" Tifa demanded. "After what you did to this town, you have no right to be here!"

"Well, if you must know, I've been doing a little research…about my mother."

"You mean that damn headless spook?" Barret asked.

"Don't refer to mother like that if you value your life!" Sephiroth demanded.

"You mean Jenova?" Aeris asked seeming interested as to what Sephiroth had to say.

"My, you ARE a clever little girl," Sephiroth snickered. "Yes…and I have discovered something simply amazing…my mother's time to reclaim the planet as her own is finally upon us!"

"What are you talking about!" Cloud demanded.

"It's simple…Jenova's Reunion: when mother calls forth her children to come back to her! On that day, mother will wipe the useless creatures on this planet and take back what is rightfully hers! And I will be at her right side, eliminating all who are against her and to make the people of today pay for the sins of their forefathers!"

"This guy's a lunatic!" Hobbes cried out.

"I don't have four fathers…just one father. But I can honestly say I don't know him that well," Calvin declared.

"You mean…other than you and Jenova, everyone on this planet is going to die at your hands?" Red XIII questioned in disgust.

"I WON'T LET YOU DO IT, SEPHIROTH!" Cloud shouted as he drew his sword.

"So…it's a fight you want, is it?" Sephiroth grinned. "Well then, this should be fun."

Upon those words, Sephiroth held his hand out and waved it a little. As he did this, the ground began to come alive. Creatures were popping out all around town, though they weren't like any other creatures no one in the group had ever seen before…save Cloud.

"What are they?" Aeris shrieked as one tried to grab her leg.

"They look just like the people that were in the Neibelheim mako reactorI saw that day when I went with Sephiroth five years ago!" Cloud replied in horror.

"Correct," Sephiroth replied. "These poor souls, whom I have called brothers for some time now, were buried underground for the past five years since the Shinra confiscated the ruins of the town and the reactor five years ago. However, the Shinra were unaware that they have been alive for all these years. When I discovered they were still alive, I whispered to them that I would free them one day! They whispered back that when I freed them, they would forever serve me and do as I told them."

"Blackmail, huh? Why don't you come down here and fight us yerself?" Barret demanded.

"I might…if you can defeat all of my brothers," Sephiroth laughed.

"No way!" Tifa shrieked. "There has to be at least thirty of them!"

"All extremely powerful," Cait Sith added. "I just scanned these guys…level of thirty-three! And we're only at twenty-seven!"

"I would stop talking and start fighting if I were you!" Sephiroth laughed as the mako-infected humans began to advance on the group.

Meanwhile, Calvin and Hobbes were watching from a distance, shocked at what was taking place.

"Oh, man…this is our fault!" Calvin said in disbelief.

"OUR fault? You're the one who opened the door!" Hobbes gritted.

"In any case, we have to do something now!"

"You can drop the 'we' stuff out!" Hobbes said. "You got them into this mess! Now you have to get them out of it!"

"But I need your help!" Calvin pleaded.

"Tough!" Hobbes said as he turned the other way.

"OKAY, FINE!" Calvin shouted in anger. "I WILL! WHO NEEDS YOUR HELP ANYWAYS! I'LL TAKE CARE OF THE WHOLE SITUATION! NOT ONLY WILL I KILL THOSE MONSTERS, BUT I'LL KILL SEPHIROTH, TOO!"

As Calvin said this, he aimed his dart gun right at Sephiroth and prepared to fire shots that were juiced up by the deathblow materia.

"WAIT, CALVIN! DON'T DO THAT!" Hobbes shrieked.

But it was too late. As Hobbes went to grab the gun, Calvin fired three shots at Sephiroth. All shots hit the intended target, but it didn't faze Sephiroth at all. In fact, the only thing it did was make him angrier. Calvin and Hobbes could tell because Sephiroth slowly turned towards them with the evilest and angriest look on his face that anyone could imagine.

"I've had enough of you two!" he shouted. "Brothers! Turn your attention away from Cloud and his friends! Instead, bring me the heads of the child and the tiger!"