(Disclaimer: Plata-Azul Firebird does not own Final Fantasy 7 or the songs that are in this story, only her OCs… Otherwise, we might end up having a not-so-epic battle with the lawsuits.)
Altering Rhythm
False Conflict
Silver: Moving to Kalm and to re-supply! Enjoy the intro!
False Conflict
"There's a hundred and four days of summer vacation"
"And school comes along just to end it."
"So the annual problem of our generation…"
"Is finding a good way to spend it…"
"Like… Maybe…!"
"Building a rocket or fighting a mummy!"
"Or climbing up the Eiffel Tower!"
"Discovering something that doesn't exist!"
"Or giving a monkey a shower!"
"Surfing a tidal wave, creating nanobots!"
"Or locating Frankenstein's brain!"
"Finding a Dodo Bird, painting the continent!"
"Or driving Rufus Shinra insane!"
"PFFFFFFFFFFFFTTTTT!" the songstress sprays out her drink when she heard that part. Both girls are taking a short break after they encounter the nasty biker monsters one more, and for some reason Riley suddenly break out into musical with the opening of their favorite Disney cartoon… with one part of it changed. "… Seriously? Rufus?"
"He's going to be a pain on the party's ass, before the encounter with Diamond WEAPON and getting himself kidnapped." Riley explains as she straighten up her sitting posture. "Besides, Hojo is a Mad Cuckadoolander scientist with the self-destruct buttons missing on all of his failed experiments. And for the Silver General… he's more of a lost guy than insane."
Mira gives her a look her before she takes another sip, packs her canteen and stands up. "Come on, we need to get to Kalm soon or else the others will get worried."
"Right… but why do I have a feeling we have forgotten something."
"Well… we did forgot blowing the laboratory up."
If their were any sound effects, the mime swear she heard a record zips when she heard that they forgot to blow up the lab. "Aw crud! The lab! How could I forgot that!" the mime yelps and face palms.
"… We still got the remote…" Mira tries to calm her best friend.
"Mira, I doubt this can do loooooonnngggg range distance control." the mime points out and takes out the remote for the bombs. "Seriously, I doubt it will work."
"Mind if I try it?"
"… meh, go kick yourself." And the brunette toss the remote to her. The songstress checks the remote out before she presses the button, looking back at Midgar. "… You're right, unless we're Phineas and Ferb who defies logic, we won't be getting rid of those information."
"Yeah… by the way, what kind of alien do you think is Jenova?" the mime asked, as they turn and heads for the blue town.
"I don't know, why ask?"
"I just remembered Ben 10." the mime quips, as Mira remembers the show. "Anyway, I'm guessing Jenova is a Osmosian, of sorts."
"Why Osmosians?" remembering the show and a few alien species she can remember.
"They absorb energy, minerals and the list goes on… oh, they can also absorb ten percent of DNA of another species."
"Just one thing, Jenova can imprint her genes into her victims and drives them nuts, Osmosians don't."
"D'oh… down the drain. How about you?"
"… Uh… the one from… the movie?"
"What movie?"
"The Thing."
"… Nah, it can suck out life but that's just it. No antagonizing and torturous nightmare plaguing in the victims' minds, and turning them into freakish beings." and the songstress shrugs at that, suddenly Riley thought of something. "Speaking of it, I have a theory that Jenova is nore of the alien-takeover cliché types…"
"Eh? Didn't the wiki says Jenova's instinct is to destroy life?"
"Not exactly… I mean, in the game, when life is destroyed, it returns to the Lifestream within the Planet and continues with the cycle. Now Sephiroth planned to wound the planet so he can absorb the Lifestream and become god, right? So what if Jenova's method is the same as Sephiroth's in the form of 'destroying', but in a small scale like infecting others and taking their life force as the virus takes over, etc?" her best friend look at her. "Come on, think of our science classes back in high school, conservation of energy?"
"I see, so you're pointing that Jenova is actually feeding on life energy… then Hojo has been indirectly feeding Jenova with Mako!"
"And that adds the list why the crazy scientist should be frozen and launch away into the far, darkness of space." the mime stated and her best friend could not help to agree. "… So… Maybe Jenova is part Osmosian?"
"… Probably."
:::^*^:::
Arriving to the town, Riley can't help but to hum the I'm Blue which is sung by Eiffel 65 and Mira have to suppress her giggles on hearing that.
"I'm officially blue-blind." the mime stated with a grin, as they make their way to the Inn.
"Hee… come on, let's head to the Inn and meet the others. Plus I hope Kunsel did not go interrogating Cloud… that would be bad and Tifa will be kick him out of the party." Mira noted.
"I agree, we need his help in this situation, he's a very good source of info… wow, I guess what the forum said about Kunsel is true… he's a Turk in a SOLDIER's clothing." the mime said as they sees Tifa waving at them and they wave back. "Hey!
"Hey Tifa!" the songstress calls out, as they stop beside her. "Are we late?"
"Not really, so how's the journey?" the female fighter asked.
"Meh, same thing… the heat of the sun, wild monsters, self-defense… nothing really change." the mime stated in a bored tone, making it sound like she and Mira have been doing it for years.
The bar maid gave the two a small smile and motions the two up to the room they rented, the three enters the Inn and heads up to the room where the others are. There they saw the others and… three beds. "Sorry, but this is the only room we got."
"It's fine." Riley said with a wave of her hand. "I can camp on the floor… Mira might be a bit of a diva here."
"Hey, we've been camping out since our travels and you call me a diva?" the songstress stated dryly at the mime.
"Well, you've been complaining about rocks and random monsters…"
"First, the rocks under the sleeping bag is uncomfortable, and two, it was your idea to camp in a bug-monster infested field that ONE time."
"Okay… the latter is something I'm apologizing, but the first… can't you remove the rocks as you put up your tent?" the mime gave her a look as the group watches them banter at one another. "Aaanywaaay… so, we're here." she announces.
"So let's hear your story…" Barret stated, turns at the blonde who gives him a look. "You know, the one about Sephiroth and the crisis facing the planet. Let's hear it all."
The blonde seems to hesitates before he speaks up, both Mira and Riley knew that the story he's going to tell is a weaved version between him and Zack. So for safety, they stand on Kunsel's sides, and ready to prevent him from making any remarks. "…I used to want to be like Sephiroth so I joined SOLDIER. After working with Sephiroth on several missions, we became friends."
"You call that a friend?" Barret scoffs off as Kunsel listens… the former Second knew about Zack and Sephiroth's relationship before the latter's fall into madness. He also knows that Cloud is one of Zack's friends, since he first saw him during the mission briefing in the halls… it is possible for the blonde to befriend the former general since he's with Zack back then. But he soon learns what Mira said about the blonde's mental illness when he said…
"Yeah, well… He's older than me, and he hardly ever talked about himself." Cloud explains as Tifa remains silent. "So I guess you'd call him a war buddy, We trusted each other. Until one day…"
"…One day?" Aerith asked.
"After the war it was SOLDIER's duty to put down any resistance against the Shinra. … that was 5 years ago. I was 16…" then he began telling about the mission to investigate the reactor in Nibelheim, that got Kunsel's attention because he knows about the mission. But one look from Mira, made him wisely shut up and decides to talk about it with them later.
"Sephiroth's strength is unreal." the blonde added once he finishes telling how easily Sephiroth took down a dragon. "He is far stronger in reality then any story you might have heard about him."
" So… Where do you come in?" the flower girl asked.
"Me? I was mesmerized by the way Sephiroth fought." he shrugs. The two girls look at Tifa, who seems to be quite disturbed and confuse… they both now that the rest of the story is about to get messy.
"…and then we reached Nibelheim." he then tells the other about how they reached Nibelheim and the two talk about their family… when…
"Yo! Hold up!" Barret calls out and everyone turns to look at him. "Isn't that, um…? The name of Sephiroth's mother… I remember Jenova. That's that damn headless spook livin' in the Shinra building!"
Everyone seems to roll their eyes on the black man's obvious reaction, but to Mira and Riley it seem to a bit appropriate. Considering learning that the man's mother is a freaky and dangerous alien from a space rock, can be really freaky… "That's right." the blonde stated dryly at the gun-arm man.
"Barret, would you please let us hear what Cloud has to say? You can ask questions later." she scolded him.
"Tifa, I was only…"
Ignoring the black man, she looks back at the blonde. "Okay Cloud, continue."
"It's a reunion of childhood pals!" The flower girl exclaims, remembering that both Cloud and Tifa came from Nibelheim.
" …I was really surprised with Tifa."
:::^Cloud's Tale^:::
" …The town was quiet. Everybody must be staying in their housed, afraid to come out because of the monsters. No, maybe they're afraid of us…"
"We leave for the reactor at dawn. Make sure you get to sleep early. All we need is one lookout, so you others, get some rest. Oh, that's right… You may visit your family and friends." Sephiroth said to the blonde, then he enters the Inn.
The blonde SOLDIER looks around his hometown for a while, to him nothing much change and then he enters the Inn. He gives the Innkeeper a silent greeting and heads upstairs… there he sees Sephiroth again, only looking out by the window and seems to be in a trance.
"What are you looking at?" Cloud asked.
"…This scenery…" He stated. "… I feel like I know this place…" Then he snaps back and looks away from the view and the blonde. "…We have an early start tomorrow. You should get some sleep soon."
"Yeah, let's get some sleep." agreeing to the general's suggestion.
"I've hired a guide to the Mako reactor. I've heard she's young, I hope we can rely on her…"
And so they retired into their room.
:::^*^:::
The next morning…
Cloud woke up a bit late and have to rush getting ready. Once he is prepared, he exit's the Inn and heads to where the general is. He didn't notice there's another person running behind him, but once he reaches the general's side. "Once the guide gets here, we're heading out." the silver man stated, not letting the blonde to ask about it. He then turns to the man, who's with them before Cloud arrived.
"Listen to me, Sephiroth. In case something happens…" the man said, as the blonde moves to greet the troopers.
"…Trust me." then a young girl arrives shortly, wearing a cowgirl outfit and a hat to match.
"I'll be all right, Dad! I have two men from SOLDIER with me." the girl said and turns to looks at the general. "I'm Tifa, nice to meet you."
Cloud is quite taken aback by this. "Tifa! You're the guide?" he gawks, surprise on having her as their guide.
"That's right. I just happen to be the number one guide in this town." she quips cheerily.
"It's too dangerous! I can't involve you in something like this!" he stated and the girl seems to huff at this.
"Then there's no problem if you protect her." the silver general stated and turns to the path. "…Let's go."
But before they even go, a young man stops them for a moment. He asked if he could take a picture of them before they go, he then asked Tifa if her could persuade him. She then looks at Cloud and he shrugs, and then he looks at Sephiroth. The general stiffly nodded and the blonde walks to the right, near the fence of the Shinra Mansion. Then the girl moves to his side and Sephiroth merely stands on one end. Once the picture is taken, they immediately head out for the reactor.
Although the walk there is easy, they did encounter a few monsters in the way but not a hassle for them. However, upon arriving at the bridge, Tifa warned them that it will get harder once they cross the bridge. Then, suddenly, the bridge begins to shake and she notices the rope is going to snap. It is too late to warn them when the bridge collapse and they fell.
Thankfully, they are not that injured but they are missing a trooper. Sephiroth decided to continue with the mission instead of looking for their missing members. So they continue with their way to the reactor and as they climb, they saw the reason why the company chose to build one in this town and a beautiful sight of nature.
:::^*^:::
Cloud and the groups manages to reach the reactor, with little difficulties.
"We finally made it." Tifa said, as she breathe in a bit. "We sure took the long way through." Also she seems to be excited.
"Tifa, you wait here." Cloud said as Sephiroth makes his way into the reactor.
The girl seems shock and disappointed by that. "I'm going inside too! I wanna see!" she whined.
Before Sephiroth could enter the building, the turns to look at her. "Only authorized people are allowed in. This place is full of Shinra's industrial secrets." he stated.
"But!" before she can even say it, Sephiroth instructed the trooper to watch over her and enters the building with Cloud following behind. Tifa tried to get in but is stopped by the guard. Because of that she stomps the ground out of frustration and walks to one corner. "Mm, man! Better take real good care of me then!" and then crosses her arms.
Inside, the two finds the problem, a valve is broken and the blonde quickly fixes it. Sephiroth wondered why the valve broke…
And he sees why…
He then asked Cloud about the process of Mako to Materia, which the blonde answers. Then he instructed the blonde to look at the window, Cloud followed his orders and gets a shock of his life. What he sees is quite scary and fell on his bottom when he let go.
"Wh…what is this!?" he asked out of shock.
"Normal members of SOLDIER are humans that have been showered with Mako." the general explains. "You're different from the others, but still human. But, what are they? They've been exposed to a high degree of Mako, far more than you."
"…is this some kind of monster?"
"Exactly. And it's Hojo of Shinra that produced these monsters. Mutated living organisms produced by Mako energy. That's what these monster's really are."
"Normal members of SOLDIER? You mean you're different?" then when he looks back to see the general in pain… and in denial. "H…hey, Sephiroth!"
"N…no… …Was I?" Then Sephiroth draws out his sword and kept slashing the containers out of frustration and confusion. "…Was I created this way too? Am I the same as all these monsters…"
"…Sephiroth." Cloud called with worry.
"You saw it! All of them…were humans…"
"Humans!? No way!"
"…I've always felt since I was small… That I was different from the others. Special, in some way. But…not like this…"
Then all of the sudden, one of the containers made noises and shakes… and then burst opens. And on the pod's lid, the humanoid laid, roaring in pain and lost.
"Am I... human?"
"I didn't quite understand what Sephiroth was saying at that time. I was even more surprised by that fact that Shinra was producing monsters."
:::^Back to the present^:::
"Damn, Shinra! The more I hear, the more I hate 'em!" The former AVALANCHE leader shouts in frustration and nearly hits one of the bed post, when he furiously wave his gun-arm.
"…Who would have ever thought the Mako Reactor held a secret like that." Tifa whispered with a lace of hatred in it, both Riley and Mira hardly heard her but they managed.
"That would seem to explain the increase in the number of monsters recently. I think we should listen carefully to Cloud. Don't you think so Barret?" the red feline asked and looks at the black man.
'Why are you talkin' to me!?' Barret thought, giving Red a look and then looks back at the blonde. "Keep talking."
'I'm so tempted to ask Cloud if he stole some underwear from Tifa's place…' Riley thought, as her mouth twitch and turns away for a moment to hide her silly grin. Mira sees and rolls her eyes.
"Tifa… You were waiting outside then?" Aerith asked, looking at the martial artist.
"…Yes." The bar maid replied.
"We returned to Nibelheim. Sephiroth confined himself at the inn. He didn't even try to talk to me." Cloud then added.
"Then all of a sudden he just disappeared, right?" Tifa asked.
:::^Cloud's Tale^:::
"We found him inside the biggest building in Nibelheim." he stated
"The villagers used to call it Shinra mansion." she noted
"Long ago, people from Shinra used to live in that mansion…"
After learning that the general is in the abandon mansion, Cloud heads to the said building and looks for him. It wasn't long till he stumble into the secret entrance to the basement… and there he finds Sephiroth pacing around with a book in his hand.
"… An organism that was apparently dead, was found in a 2000 year old geological stratum. Professor Gast named that organism, Jenova… X Year, X Month, X Day. Jenova confirmed to be an Ancient …X Year, X Month, X Day. Jenova Project approved. The use of Mako Reactor I approved for use…" Sephiroth narrates and stops for a moment, then looks up at the ceiling. "My mother's name is Jenova… Jenova Project… Is this just a coincidence? Professor Gast… Why didn't you tell me anything? …Why did you die?" as he looks at the ground and then returns reading.
Seeing this, Cloud didn't have a heart to disturb him. So he decided to take a rest in one of the mansion's rooms and wait.
"Sephiroth didn't come out of the Shinra Mansion... He continued to read as if he were possessed by something, and not once, did the light in the basement go out…"
A week pass and Cloud went back to check on the general…
But he didn't expect this…
"Ha, ha, ha…" the blonde heard him laughing, but it is not a joyful one. Sensing something is wrong, he continue his way to the reading room where the silver general is. "Who is it!?" the general demands and once Cloud arrives. "Hmph…traitor." he miffs.
"Traitor?" the blonde asked.
"You ignorant traitor." Sephiroth hiss, then looks at the wall. "I'll tell you. This was an itinerant race. They would migrate in, settle the Planet, then move on… At the end of their harsh, hard journey, they would find the Promised Land and supreme happiness."
Then he turns to look at the blonde with hatred in his eyes. "But, those who stopped their migrations built shelters and elected to lead an easier life. They took that which the Cetra and the planet had made without giving back one whit in return!" He then looks down on the book-littered table. "Those are your ancestors."
"Sephiroth…"
"Long ago, disaster struck this planet." looking up, the general paces towards the blonde. "Your ancestors escaped… They survived because they hid. The Planet was saved by sacrificing the Cetra. After that, your ancestors continued to increase." He then looks back at him. "Now all that's left of the Cetra is in these reports."
"What does that have to do with you?"
"Don't you get it?" he stops by his side but didn't face the blonde, instead he looks at the littered hall. "An Ancient named Jenova was found in the geological stratum of 2000 years ago. The Jenova Project." he place his hand on his head. "The Jenova Project wanted to produce people with the powers of the Ancients…no, the Cetra! …I am the one that was produced." as he straighten up.
Shock to hear this, Cloud turns to look at him. "Pr…produced!?"
"Yes. Professor Gast, leader of the Jenova Project and genius scientist, produced me." he stated, then he walks down the hall but stops for a moment.
"How…how did he…?"the blonde calls out and goes after the silver general, but he stops once he sees him. "Se…Sephiroth?"
"Out of my way." Sephiroth snarls. "I'm going to see my mother."
Sephiroth left with determination, leaving Cloud to digest what he heard from the general. He didn't know how many hours passed, but the noise outside of the Shinra Mansion snaps him out of his stupor. Sensing trouble and to find the general, he runs out of the mansion.
But he did not expect this at all… the entire town is burning.
"… Wait. Nibelheim burned down?"
:::^Back to the present^:::
The story once more pauses for a moment and Cloud looks at the mime, who looks more confuse then shock like the others. "Yes, my entire hometown is burned down."
Riley looks surprise now, but to Mira, she knew she is acting. They both know what's going on and the two look at one another, as Tifa sighs. "Please, let's just hear the rest-" but she is cut off by the mime.
"Sorry Tifa. But a few months back and during in our travel… me and Mira… weeellllll…." the mime said scratching the back of her head.
"We went to where your home town is." the songstress said, taking the lead. "And… it's still there and intact."
"WHAT!" the blonde Ex-SOLDIER exclaims quite loudly, causing both Mira and Riley to dart behind the former Second to avoid his incoming fury. They peek out to see Tifa is in quite a shock and Cloud is glaring at them.
"What are you pointing at?" the blonde demands.
"Are you saying that Cloud is lying about the town's downfall?" Tifa asked.
"No! Not at all, but that massacre happened 5 years ago." Riley stated quickly with her hands waving in front in defense. "Anything else can happen after that, like thieves scavenged the wreckage, isolated or…"
"Rebuild the entire town to cover up the incident." Kunsel stated, and both girls look at him.
"Rebuild the entire town?" Tifa asked.
"Yes… I did heard rumors of a town burnt down and the company made the decision to rebuild it." he explains. "… So no one would know what happen on the incident that took place…"
Silence roam around as both Tifa and Cloud digest the fact that Shinra rebuilt their home, just to hide the truth that Sephiroth went mad. For Mira and Riley, it is a good idea to tell them about the rebuilt town now, instead of getting a shock once they get there. Then Barret breaks the silence by asking the next part of the blonde's tale, and Cloud decides to continue with the story…
And ask the two girls later about the rebuilt town.
:::^Cloud's Tale^:::
"I went after Sephiroth, who I saw is heading for the reactor where the Jenova room is…"
And there he witnesses Tifa mourning for her father, who's lying dead in front of her. Also beside her is the familiar blade…
"Papa…" she cried and then she straightens up, as her anger starts to build. "Sephiroth!? Sephiroth did this to you, didn't he!?" she slumps and her body shakes. "Sephiroth… SOLDIER… Mako Reactors… Shinra…" with fury, she shouts at the sky. "Everything! I hate them all!
She then takes the blade and runs into the reactor, with the blonde tailing behind.
By the time he reaches the room where Tifa and Sephiroth is…
"How could you do that to papa and all the townspeople?" he heard and sees the general slashed her with his blade. She falls down to the bottom of the stairs and then Sephiroth then went inside the room where his said mother is. He quickly checks on Tifa who is seriously wounded.
"…You promised… You promised that you'd come…when I was in trouble…" she said to him before she faints. Cloud then carries Tifa and places her in a safe place. He then goes inside the room where the insane general is.
"Mother, let's take this planet back together." Sephiroth said to a metal manikin, ignoring the blonde who entered. "I've thought of a great idea. Let's go to the Promised Land."
"Sephiroth… My family! My hometown! How could you do this to them!?" Cloud shouts as he takes out his blade from his back.
The general merely laughs at the blonde's outburst. "Ha, ha, ha… They've come again, mother. With her superior power, knowledge, and magic, Mother was destined to become the ruler of the Planet." he then looks back at the manikin. "But they… Those worthless creatures are stealing the Planet from Mother. But now I'm here with you so don't worry."
He then tears the upper half of the manikin, snapping wires and intricate machinery. And there both finally sees what's behind the manikin… A fragile, alien woman, gray skin and preserved with one of her eyes glowing pink.
This is Jenova…
"What about MY sadness!?" Cloud shouts, as he takes his stance and ignoring what he saw. "My family…friends… The sadness of having my hometown taken away from me!? It's the same as your sadness!"
"Ha, ha, ha…my sadness?" the general asked, he then turns around with arms wide open and his Masamune on one hand. "What do I have to be sad about? I am the chosen one. I have been chosen to be the leader of this Planet. I have orders to take this planet back from you stupid people for the Cetra. What am I supposed to be sad about?"
"Sephiroth…" Cloud said with disappointment and looks away. "I trusted you…" Then he looks back with anger. "No, you're not the Sephiroth I used to know!"
Then…
:::^Back to the present^:::
"…and that's the end of my story." the blonde SOLDIER concluded his tale.
"Wait a damn minute! Ain't there more?" Barret asked, he can tell that something is missing. Both Mira and Riley can't help to agree silently on that one as they kept Kunsel from asking.
"…I don't remember."
"What happened to Sephiroth?" Aerith asked.
"In terms of skill, I couldn't have killed him."
"Official records state Sephiroth is dead. I read it in the newspaper." the bar maid said.
"Shinra, Inc. owns the paper, not everything are written there. So you can't rely on that information." Kunsel stated.
"…I want to know the truth. I wanted to know what happened then. I challenged Sephiroth and lived why didn't he kill me?" Cloud asked.
"…I'm alive, too." Tifa noted.
"Seem like a lot of this doesn't make sense. What about Jenova? It was in the Shinra building, right?" the flower girl asked.
"Shinra shipped it from Nibelheim to Midgar." the blonde replied.
"Then I witness the damn freaky thing come to life and escape from it's confinements." Riley stated sourly, crossing her arms. 'Need… therapy…' she thought.
"It what?" Barret asked, baffled on what the mime said.
'Oh yeah, Barret wasn't there when Riley explained what happened in the lab.' Mira thought, as the mime retold her story of witnessing Jenova's revival and the short skirmish she had with Sephiroth.
"But it go no head!" the black man points out, after hearing Riley's encounter, he's still confuse.
"It got eyes on the body, dude." the mime points back.
"Damn! Don't none of this make sense! I'm going, going, going, gone! And I'm leavin' the thinkin' to you!" the former AVALANCHE leader then goes to the steps. "Yo, Cloud! Let's get a move on!"
"Oi! Before we go, we need to re-supply!" Mira reminded and points at the dwindling items they got. Seeing this, the group decided to stay for a moment and re-supply before they go after Sephiroth.
:::^*^:::
She, Riley and Kunsel go to a store to buy some potions and ethers, while the others picks some tents, basic supplies and new equipments in other stores. Both Mira and Riley saw this part coming and they tried to prepare mentally for quite a long journey, which the songstress is failing since she is dreading the trek. Although they have a camping experience back in high school, this is entirely different since there are monsters, the limit of supplies and the fact that the world seems to follow real world time.
About the limit, back in the deserts of Midgar, both girls dropped some rocks and sand into the pouches to see how many it can pack. Once they filled it to the brim and weight it, they guessed that the smaller pouch is equivalent to a purse, the medium is to a backpack and the largest is to a suitcase. Still, they don't get why the pouches can pack so many, while some people they notice back in Midgar do carry bags from their travels.
It really puzzles them.
Back to the present…
"So… how's Cloud's story?" Mira asked, as she place back a bottle on the shelf after taking a good look on it.
"There's something off in it and some holes." Kunsel stated truthfully.
"Really?" she asked.
"Agree… From the files, you took, it was Zack who confronted the former general before Cloud did." the mime quips as she packs the paid items.
"That and some parts don't match in the files you got, Mira." the Ex-Second said.
"Yeah, now the main problem is… how can we straighten out his memories without interruption." the songstress stated, as they walk out of the store and heads back to the Inn where they will all meet.
"What do you mean?" he asked, the two girls then spots at a certain female martial artist by the entrance and look back at him.
"Mother-hen." they simply stated together and once more looks back at Tifa. Kunsel seems clueless on that one but he is quick to get the idea and he look at Tifa.
"I think I get what you guys mean." as they head back to the Inn
"So…" Riley said, as they are about a good distance from him and the Inn. "What do you think?"
"Well… there is a part there relating to the Modeoheim incident." the songstress replied.
"Ah, yeah… Cloud and Zack's first meeting." then the mime thinks again. "Also I think he omitted the part where both Zack and Sephiroth met Genesis in there, and the fact that he started Sephiroth's fall to insanity."
"Hmmm…"
"Got any idea to 'lessen-the-trauma'?"
"No… but we do need to get Tifa out of the way to apply therapy sessions."
"Mira! Riley!" the two turns to see Aerith and Red walking to them with a bunch of canteens, foods and disposable sporks. "You got what we need?" she asked as she stops beside them and divides the supply with them.
"Yup, two new materias, potions, ethers and a few items to get rid of negative status effects." as the mime gives Aerith a Heal materia and divides the item between them. "By the way… Do you see any candy store around?"
:::^*^:::
Rufus is not too please with what happened…
Not on the fact that a rowdy group made quite a mess in his main company.
Not the fact that the Ancient escaped.
Not even the fact that they escaped.
It's what they did to the archives… some of the files are taken and some of it are destroyed by two girls. He continues to watch the security video of them, in disguise, entering the archives and posing as one of the workers. They pack some files, then they pick some of the files and burn it. The most annoying is this one girl, who convinced a SOLDIER to joined their side, blew up almost all of the vital information in the 45th floor.
'You can't fool me… ' he thought, he can tell that their target is the files they took and the burn files are just a mere distraction.
"Sir…" Rufus snap back to reality and looks away from the screen to see Tseng with an arm full of files.
"Are those the files of the entire group?" as the Turk leader place the files on the new president's table.
"Yes sir, but…" the president picks one of the files. "I couldn't find any files on the two girls, who destroyed some of our important files."
It made Rufus pause for a moment and looks at Tseng. "What do you mean…?" he demands
"There are no file relating to this Riley and Mira, sir."
"So are you telling me that they just suddenly pop out of nowhere, and then wreck my company?"
"No sir." Tseng said. "My guess is that they also destroyed their own files sir, but we did learn one thing from them."
"And that would be?"
"From what I heard from Reno, the company destroyed the girl's hometown."
"And how is that vital?"
"Sir, there are only two villages the company have "forcefully retired"… Banora and North Corel."
"I see…"
"And judging by the files they took and destroyed, most of them are related to Banora."
"So they stole the files relating to Banora and burnt the others for distraction…" Rufus stated and leans forward on the table, looking at the other files. A moment of silence pass and then he looks back at Tseng. "Keep an eye on those two. Right now, there are still a few files missing on the other members."
"Yes sir, a couple of them came from the science department. We cannot access these information without clearance or Hojo's password." Tseng said. "He is currently busy with a few experiments, after recovering from the attack."
"I see, do tell that man that I need access on those files." once the Turk saluted and left, he made a note to fix some of the surveillance cameras in the building…
To the girls luck, not much is recorded in the video.
:::^*^:::
The gang waits for Riley, who went out to buy herself some snacks, and Kunsel, who just remembered to buy another important item. They wait by the town's entrance near the Inn and is ready to leave once the two comes back. Apparently, Cloud heard from a resident that he saw a man in a black cloak heading south. He doesn't know why he's heading south since the only thing out there is the Chocobo farm, still it doesn't stop the blonde on leaving immediately and chase after Sephiroth.
Which made Mira mentally remind herself that she and Riley have to get a leash for him.
"Hey Mira." Tifa said, who's standing beside Cloud, the songstress snaps out from mentally making notes and looks at the bar maid. "Thank you."
"Uh?" the ravenette utters.
"For telling us about what happen to our home town." she replied.
"Oh, it's nothing." the songstress stated. "Besides, it's better to be prepared than to be shocked on seeing it on spot."
"I guess you're right." she silently agrees and looks downcast, which the songstress notices. 'If only…' the bar maid thought.
'Better get the grooves on before we get to the part where Sephiroth controls Cloud for the Black Materia.' Mira thought, as she shifts her sight on Cloud.
"Mira! Look high!" hearing her best friend, she turns to see an incoming object.
Although she fumbles, she manages to prevent it on hitting the floor. She gives the mime a glare for a moment and looks at the item in her hand, which surprises her a bit. "Oh Mr. Krabs…" Mira whispers and looks at the said PHS. 'This is my dad's first cellphone. The friggin exact model!' she thought.
Bulky, not so compact and have a long rubbery antenna, it looks quite the same model her father have back in the 90's in their home world.
"So…?" she looks up and notices Riley is grinning like silly as Kunsel gives the other phones to Cloud and Barret.
"Kinda like my dad's…" the songstress whispered as the mime holds in her laughter.
They are about to head out when Cloud surprises them with some changes in the group. This time, four members in a group so… Cloud, Tifa, Mira and Red XIII in the first group and the second is Kunsel, Barret, Riley and Aerith. Once he explains that a slight group change is essential, both girls bid each other good luck and hopes they can hide the fact that they are different for this journey.
:::^*^:::
Hojo is not too happy to lose his specimen… again.
But he sees something that made the mad man smile…
In one video, shows a girl with his prized specimen.
And in the other… is a girl at created a creature out of a lightings.
'Interesting…' he thought, as the video played, the girl with his prized specimen… recognizes each other. 'Truly interesting.' as in the other, a griffon came out of her lighting-filled hands.
Silver: About the Ben 10 thing… this conversation actually happened. Me and some old high school classmates were watching it, then we (I forgot who started) suddenly began asking about what kind of alien races that were not classified like Jenova. Thus launched a theory that Jenova is feeding on life by infecting it, destroying the cycle in the process and leads to the planet's destruction… Okay, this is not my best chapter. I gave both Cloud and Tifa a heads up about their home town, so by that they are mentally prepared once they return there. And yes, I based the PHS on the Motorola's old phones… and my dad owns one way back. but it's the flip phone. Anyway, it seems Shinra learned that the girls came from Banora but deducts wrongly... and Hojo finds himself two new interest to experiment on... if he gets them that is. Anyway, read and review!