Thank you everyone who reviewed last chapter (all four of you!) It means a lot, and it keeps me writing!
So . . . here's the next chapter! If anyone has any ideas or constructive criticism, please, throw 'em at me! I do have a plotline already for this that I won't change, but if I can work some of your ideas in I'd be more than happy to do so!
I don't own FFVII (unfortunately)
Enjoy!
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When the doors opened, I don't know how, but time resumed. The cashier looked at me, shocked, before yelling, "Hey! You gotta pay for that!"
Not knowing what to do, I bolted. Not concerned with I was going, I ended up straight in the middle of the street. I heard a loud honk and the screeching of tires. I turned towards the source of the sound, shutting my eyes and holding out my hands to protect myself from the oncoming ton of metal (in hindsight, this really wouldn't have done anything, but it was a reflex).
I never got hit. Cracking an eye open, I saw that the car was frozen in place, as was everything, and everyone, around me. Slowly turning back towards the gas station, I saw the cashier on the phone, still behind the counter. The doors were still open. He was probably calling 911. Shit.
After standing still for a few moments to let my heart rate go back to normal, I began to walk, and as I walked, I thought. What exactly could I do? I knew I could stop time (though at that point, I was still in disbelief), but I couldn't exactly control it. I stopped time when I was in danger, but I turned it back on accidentally when opening the gas station doors. But they were open when I walked into the gas station . . . did I somehow resume time while I was picking out my drink? That was certainly a possibility. Actually, it was the only possibility. Unless . . .
As my mind began to form speculation on how time resumed, I began to wonder: were there other people who could stop time? Could my dad stop time? I stopped. My heart rate picked up again. Shit, shit, shit. If my dad could stop time, it didn't matter how far I ran, my dad would eventually catch up to me.
But wait, if he could stop time wouldn't he have done so to catch me when I froze it earlier before he beat me? And on numerous occasions I've been threatened for no reason other than my dad was running late for an appointment. If my dad could stop time, being late would never be a problem. I breathed deeply. Okay, so clearly my dad wasn't able to stop time. That was a good thing.
What about my mom though? She couldn't have been able to stop time; she was killed in a drunk driving accident. If she would've stopped time, she would have been able to to stop the accident from occurring.
I ended up at the bus station soon enough, and it brought me back to reality. It was still a little jarring to see people frozen in midstride, but I was slowly getting used to it. Slowly.
Time to make things move again.
I merely thought about time resuming, and it did. People continued to move about their daily lives, completely oblivious of the blonde kid who magically appeared before their eyes. I tried to act casual as I approached the ticket counter, thought I was sure that at any moment somebody would pop out and say, "Oh hey, didn't see you there a second ago, where'd you come from?"
I silently vowed to myself to now only start time when I was in a secluded place where no one could see me. I couldn't promise that for stopping time, because I've already had to stop it multiple times in plain sight.
There was a short line for the tickets, and as I waited, I became more and more fidgety. My dad, as well as the gas station cashier, surely had called the police by now. But maybe the police would think they were crazy. Well, at least my dad; Of course they would, who would believe a drunk dad who claimed his son could just disappear?
"Excuse me, sir. Can I help you?" A gentle voice asked. It sounded strangely familiar.
"Huh?" I looked up, unaware of my surroundings. Apparently while thinking I had subconsciously moved myself forward in line, and now and I was at the counter, face to face with none other than Tifa Lockhart.
"Cloud?" she asked, confused. "What are you doing here?"
I could feel my cheeks getting hot. I didn't want anyone that I knew running into me and now I was staring straight into the wine-colored eyes of Tifa.
Trying to play off her comment, I said, "I c-could ask the same of you." My stutter gave me away.
Tifa's face instantly grew concerned. "Are you okay, Cloud? Did something happen at home?" She saw right through me.
I tried to ignore her. "Can I please purchase one ticket to Midgar?"
Tifa pushed for an answer, ignoring me. "Cloud, just tell me what's up. I can – "
"Can you just sell me the ticket!" I shouted, then winced when I saw people staring at me. "Sorry, I just . . . I just need the ticket."
"That'll be one-hundred and thirty-four dollars and seventy-nine cents," she said quietly. I think she was hurt by my yelling. I didn't say anything though. Thankfully she didn't question me when I put down a hundred. Before she gave me my receipt, she scribbled something on it. "That's my number," she said, tucking a strand of chocolate colored hair behind her ear. "If you need anything, just let me know."
"Thanks," I said, hoping I sounded as sincere as I felt.
After sitting down, I checked my ticket. It told me the bus would arrive at 4:30. Taking a glance at the clock hung over the small station, I realized that would be in forty-five minutes.
Great; forty five minutes of anxiety. Fun. Hm . . . what could I do to waste time? Well, I could see exactly what my power enabled me to do. I thought about time freezing, and it did (I would later learn the term "shifting" from a friend) and began to look around.
If I touched or moved something while frozen, would time resume? I pulled someone's bag off their bench to test it. Nope; everything was still stuck in place.
So if I could manipulate things when time stopped, how did the doors to the gas station open?
After sitting back down and letting time return to its normal state, I began to devise an answer to my question. Was it because I touched the back myself, and it wasn't really alive or capable of moving on its own like me? Could I move people without them knowing?
Ugh, too many questions. Maybe there was a scanner that allowed the automatic doors to open, and it caused time to resume? Did that mean if I activated any alarms or automated devices anywhere time would resume? It was all so complicated, and all this worrying was making my head hurt. And it was making me have to pee.
Slinging my duffel bag over my right shoulder, I hurried to the bathroom, looking at the clock again on the way. I had four minutes before the bus would arrive. More than enough time.
Walking into the bathroom, I heard some banging in one of the stalls, but I figured it was just some dickhead spraying graffiti so I ignored it and went straight to the nearest urinal.
Mid-pee I heard a cry coming from the urinal, and I froze. It was a girls voice that cried out. And it wasn't in pleasure. Crap.
I hastily zipped my pants up and threw my bag down, hoping to make enough noise to draw whoever it was in the stall out. I heard a grunt and then another cry, but I was ignored.
Heart beating faster and faster, I stammered, "Hey. Leave her alone."
There was a loud bang and the stall door slammed open, crashing against the wall, and out stepped a guy who was a good head taller than me, and ripped. "What the fuck do you want, punk?" he asked, cracking his knuckles.
He took a step towards me. I took a step back. "Leave her alone," I repeated, this time a little more forcefully.
It was time to see how good I was at controlling time. I shifted, and the thug stopped moving. I stepped around him and into the stall. Inside sat a pretty brunette wearing a sundress. How old-fashioned.
None of her clothes were off, so I hoped that meant the guy didn't get too far. I hoisted (well attempted) her up bridal style, but I quickly learned that a human stuck in the fetal position was as easy to lift as a bag of rocks. I shifted back into normal time in order to adjust. She wrapped her arms around my neck, and as soon as I had a good hold, and in time to hear the thug yell, I shifted. Everything went quiet.
I walked out of the bathroom and looked around. Thankfully what looked like the bus to Midgar had just pulled up. The doors were open and people already piling in. It would be a great place to escape.
It was tough, but I maneuvered around the line without knocking into anyone too badly. Hopefully nobody would take a tumble when time resumed.
"Why isn't anyone moving?" a quiet voice asked, completely freaking me out. I jumped and heard a squealing beneath me. I looked down. It was the brunette. She was moving normally, and she looked up at me with some of the most brilliant emerald eyes I had ever seen.
"Well, that answers one question," I muttered under my breath before stepping onto the bus, ignoring the girl for now, despite her quiet protests.
I saved her from rape, the least she could do was be patient for thirty seconds.
--
So there's the good ol' aloof Cloud from the beginning of FFVII at the very end of the chapter (last line).
I'm aiming for a once a week update of this, whaddya think?
Reviews could always make me go faster :P
-Extra Lives
