The Beginning of the End
Tifa groaned softly, trying to open her eyes. She shut them immediately, the light blinding her. She was moving, someone was carrying her roughly in their arms. They were strong, but she didn't know these arms though, they definitely weren't Cloud's. Cloud's were different, although they were just as strong. Anytime Cloud has ever held Tifa, he was gentle, and these arms weren't. Her head was dangling limply, her left arm hanging down limply as well. She tried to sit up and open her eyes again, but was blinded and found she couldn't move a single muscle.
"Ah, you're awake." The voice was smooth, and it sounded as if two voices had been melded together.
The scary part was that it sounded vaguely familiar to Tifa.
Tifa tried to pull away from him, but only caused her to cry out in pain.
"Hush now, you're not going anywhere...at least not on your own."
Tifa shivered, the voice was velvety, to perfect to be human. He was sitting her down now, her body resting up against a cold wall. She finally managed to pry open her eyes slightly. She couldn't see the man though, just his silhouette as he stood, the light behind him bright. The only thing she could pick out were his eyes, glowing with mako, and greenish-blue. Tifa shivered.
"Don't worry, not much longer now." He said.
He turned, leaving her there, and Tifa heard a door squeak and slam shut. As her eyes finally adjusted she saw she was in a cell, and she saw only one thing. Through the bars she could see a set of empty shackles on the wall, and Tifa had the feeling they wouldn't remain empty for long.
Cloud.
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Cloud walked down the dusty road before him. He'd long left the kind people and their cozy house behind, set with new determination to find Tifa, Denzel, and Marlene. He had seen no cars or people as he moved down the road, and still, when the large black truck drove up, Cloud was not surprised. He also wasn't surprised when the truck stopped, and the driver got out. The man motioned to Cloud, and he didn't question. He climbed into the back, and the man blindfolded him. It wasn't long until Cloud felt the truck start to move.
Tifa.
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It was Barret who saw them first, dirty and disheveled. They were so confused, walking around, their tiny hands clasped tightly together. Barret didn't believe it at first, he merely thought it was the stress getting to him. However, he poked Yuffie on the shoulder who turned and gasped, and Barret knew they were real.
"Denzel! Marlene!" Yuffie ran, and Barret followed.
The rest of the group was still too stunned to even move.
Yuffie reached them first, their eyes were wide with fright, and she put a hand on each of their shoulders.
"Are you okay? Are you okay?" She asked as Barret arrived.
Denzel gave a hasty nod as Barret scooped his daughter up into his arms with a big hug.
"Where's Tifa?" Denzel's voice was soft.
Yuffie set her mouth in a tight line.
"How'd you get away?" Yuffie asked.
"They said they had what they needed." Marlene replied through tears from Barret's shoulder.
"What? What they needed? Did you recognize them?" Yuffie asked.
"They didn't tell us anything." Marlene stated, burying her face in Barret's shoulder.
"Where's Cloud?" Denzel asked, and Yuffie turned her attention back to him.
"We don't know sweetie, did he save you?"
"No, they just let us go in the streets a few hours ago." Marlene replied.
"A few hours ago? That was just after the airship wrecked..." Yuffie thought aloud.
"Yuffie...is Cloud and Tifa with you?" Denzel asked.
Yuffie frowned, "No."
"I think they're in trouble."
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They were in a boat, that was all Cloud knew. The blindfold was removed and he saw that he wasn't too far off the coast. The coast was empty, a secluded part. Turning in his seat he saw that they were driving straight out into the ocean. Cloud frowned, had his instincts been wrong?
Is this guy going to try and kill me out here?
That wasn't the case however, as the water a good thousand feet ahead of them began to bubble. The water rippled, and a metal dome began to protrude from the water. Cloud watched as rose farther into the sky till it screeched to a halt, sea water pouring off of it. By this time the small boat had reached the dome, and the man pulled up to the platform. Cloud stood slowly getting out of the boat and turned to look at the man, but he was already speeding away in the opposite direction.
Cloud walked towards the dome as a hiss of escaping air was heard. A door opened in the side of the dome and Cloud walked cautiously in.
It wasn't surprising that he was apprehended the moment he stepped into the strange base. He felt foolish for not having a single weapon, but that didn't stop him from trying to fight the man off. It was futile effort in the end, as he was overpowered as he felt the barrel of a gun press into the base of his skull.
Think of Denzel and Marlene, I know he has them. Be smart, don't do anything to get them hurt.
"Wise decision, Mr. Strife." The man said.
Cloud recognized that voice, it was the voice from the phone.
"So, Mr. Strife, I suppose you wonder why you were brought here."
"I believe I know."
"Ah, and obviously you're thinking of your children, yes?"
Cloud didn't answer as the man steered him through hall and towards a lift, the gun still pressed to the back of his head.
"Well, I suppose your silence is a yes. I can't blame you for being angry at me, Mr. Strife. I mean, it's not every day you get your children stolen. However, this has nothing to do with the children."
The lift stopped and the man guided him off of it and down another hallway.
"Then why am I here?" Cloud asked.
His eyes narrowed as he saw shackles on the wall ahead of him, and a cell opposite to them.
"Oh, I think you can figure that out." The man stated.
Cloud eyes looked towards the cell, and he stared in open shock. Tifa was there, and Tifa was alive. He could see her breathing from here where she was laying on her side, sleeping. She was bruised, undoubtedly from the airship crash. He was about to rush up to the bars, but the man grabbed his arm in a swift movement, slamming it into one of the cuffs. Cloud went down to his knee as the cuff restrained him so. The man didn't waste any time latching Cloud's other arm to the shackle.
That's when it made sense to Cloud. It'd never been about the children, it'd only been a way to guarantee them to get all the way out here. It was the only way to seperate the group and split them up. That meant that this man knew how the group would react. This man knew the fact that they would pick up on being watched and retreat to a seemingly safe place. That was Cid's airship. He was the one who brought the airship down, he was the one who had kidnapped the kids and hurt Tifa. He seemed to know everything about them, but Cloud had no idea who this man was.
It was now Cloud lifted his eyes in a bitter glare and beheld his and Tifa's captor.
Cloud let out an audible gasp.
The man looked down at him with a grin he knew all too well. He'd seen it on that man's face more than once, and that hair, a silvery color. That wasn't the thing that really bothered Cloud though, as to the fact he had seen Sephiroth clones before. This was different though. It wasn't Sephiroth's face he was staring up at. Oh yes, he had his smile, and a twisted version of his eyes. It was his own face he saw. Yes, Cloud saw his own face in the man that had caused so much destruction to his life.
A/N: Gasp! man, I think that a villan like this one is pretty cliche sounding, with the whole clone looking thing. Although! There is still much to tell, and hopefully the updates will be quicker now that I wrestled down this chapter. Anyways, thanks for everything!