"Yo, Cloudy, I'm back!"
Cloud looks down from his bed, thoroughly exhausted. Zack had decided that in celebration of Cloud not quitting, they needed a day to run around doing everything and nothing at the same time. So he had been dragged to Angeal's office, where Zack was surprised when the Commander agreed to excuse Cloud from his classes for the day. At first Cloud was startled too, but the look Commander Hewley gave him on his way out made it clear he was allowing it only because of the burning of Nibelheim. And just maybe because it was Zack asking.
Zack had pulled him all over the building, showing him to mass amounts of people, most of which he couldn't remember now. Cloud wasn't even sure Zack had known all of them, considering some of the looks they had gotten.
So when Reno came in and started yelling to him, he really wasn't in the mood.
"Cloudy? C'mon, didn't ya miss me?"
"Honestly?" Cloud replied, turning back over and trying to block the noise, "I didn't realize you were gone."
He really should have known saying that wouldn't help.
"Whaaaaat?" Reno screeched, leaping up the beds and landing next to him. "No way, yo. I was gone all day, and you didn't even realize I wasn't there? What's with that, yo? You some kind of apathetic, I dunno, apathy person? No way, yo, not happenin'."
Cloud groaned and slapped his hands over his face. "I didn't go to classes myself, Reno. Long story. Zack happened, so please just leave me alone."
Hands gripped his shoulders and forcibly pulled him into an upright position, patting him on the head when he didn't immediately fall back down. When Reno got like this, there was no fighting him. "C'mon, talk to me, yo. Promise I won't scream at ya anymore."
Cloud shook his head, but swung his legs over the edge of the bunk anyway. "I just need some air now. I promise I'll amuse you tomorrow, when I'm not falling asleep on my feet."
Reno landed on the floor with a thump and Cloud followed, being slightly more mindful of the noise when he hit the ground.
"Well if it's air ya want, yo," Reno suggested despite his annoyance, "you could try goin' out on the emergency stairs. Don't worry, yo, the door doesn't set off an alarm or anythin'. I've tried it."
That was actually a good idea. Maybe the cool air would help clear his mind, and he could figure out how exactly he wanted to save the world this time.
Cloud nodded to Reno then walked out into the hallway in his bare feet. No one else had been in the room, which was strange, but no one else was out here either. Maybe there was an assembly they hadn't heard about since he and Reno hadn't attended classes. Either way, he doubted it was anything important.
He stood in the doorway for a moment before exiting completely, enjoying the feel of the cold air rushing over him and into the building. As soon as he stepped out the door shut behind him, but even if it didn't let him back in there were other ways to get into the building. Outside the sun had set, and the last remains of light in the sky slowly faded as he stood there. In the future technology had been developed that allowed machines to take pictures of the stars and planets, and even whole systems of other stars an unimaginable distance away. After the world had been completely explored, their focus shifted to the space. Cid would have loved it.
Cloud leaned against the railing, staring out at the city below. The streetlamps formed a pattern, he realized, forming lines going straight out from the Shinra tower. It made sense, he supposed, since Shinra was the whole reason Midgar had been built.
Then black and red leathery wings eclipsed the lights below and Cloud stepped back, prepared to run. He had a feeling he knew who it was, but if it was actually an escaped monster of Hojo's, he wasn't ready to die just yet.
Chaos landed and morphed into Vincent. In the future, the ex-Turk had lost the cape and shoes, trading familiarity with obscurity. Of course, people still noticed the golden gauntlet wrapped around his deformed hand, but they had decided there was no way to take it off without amputating the hand underneath.
"Cloud."
Cloud nodded. "Vincent."
Well, this was unexpected.
Vincent took one step forward. "How much do you know?"
Cloud raised one of his eyebrows, wondering how much Vincent knew, if he was asking that. "Up to 280 or so. What am I missing?" It was becoming more obvious that he was missing something. The ex-Turk's face revealed nothing, but that did nothing to ease cold feeling gathering in his stomach.
A pause, then, "Hold still." The metal hand reached out for his head, and Cloud froze. The claw went into his hair and pulled out again, this time holding a small electronic between two pointed fingers. Vincent dropped it over the edge and looked back at Cloud. He didn't say anything, but his question was clear.
"Reno. I'll go get him."
Vincent nodded and Cloud strode back through the building, his face carefully blank. He opened the door to his room and watched as Reno hurried to stuff a pair of earphones back into his locker. "Reno."
The red head turned around, eyes wide before they were smoothed back to normalcy. "Hey Cloudy, how was the weather out there?"
"Pretty nice, actually. I found an insect in my hair though, and came in to ask if you could help identify it. Otherwise I could bring it to you, but it probably wouldn't want to be inside and might bite."
Reno stood up, slightly pale, but otherwise composed. "Sure I'll come look at come look at it, yo."
Cloud nodded. "Don't worry," he added, "He'll love to meet you."
They stepped outside and Reno gasped. Vincent was looking very intimidating right then, with his hand on his gun and sideways to the breeze so that his cape fluttered behind him. Reno stood gaping at the man, and though the situation was certain to cause problems, Cloud couldn't help but smirk. Seeing Reno, even in a younger form, so outwardly affected by someone would never stop being a novelty.
"Cloud?" Reno croaked, taking a shaky step back. "We're buds, right? One trainee to another, I wouldn't never do nothin' to hurt you."
Vincent turned to look at the red head, his ghostly pale skin glowing in the moonlight. "We will not injure you. We are here purely for Hojo."
Cloud nodded stepping forward so that the three formed a triangle. "You see, Reno, things are a bit more complicated than they appear. However, I'm afraid we can't just let you go until we can be sure you won't be telling on us. I'm sorry, but," a soft glow of materia briefly lit up the balcony and Reno collapsed into the blond's arms. Cloud sighed and lowered the boy to the floor before turning back to Vincent. "You have a plan?"
The ex-Turk nodded.
"Good." Cloud returned to his feet and brushed off his palms on his pants. "When we came back I don't think I got all of my previous memories, so you'll have to fill me in as we go. We had better act fast though. That sleep Materia won't last forever."
Vincent nodded and paused before morphing into Chaos. The demonic figure hissed at Cloud before gesturing for the boy to get on its back. Cloud slowly climbed between its wings, fully aware that without the mako that had made him almost immortal, one swipe from Chaos could kill him if it refused to listen to Vincent.
The demon took off and Cloud held tight to its back as they swooped nearly straight down the Shinra tower. The wind fiercely blew back his hair and stung his eyes, making Cloud wish he had a pair of the goggles Reno always toted around.
Before he knew it they were on the ground again, the abrupt stop throwing Cloud from Chaos's back and sending him sprawling across the pavement. Chaos shifted back into Vincent in a transition that looked anything but painless, though the man always remained stoic through it. Cloud rose to his feet and looked expectantly at Vincent, but the red cloaked assassin only turned and started to walk up to the main enterance.
"Hold up!" Cloud whispered pointedly, running up and tagging Vincent's arm to get his attention. "I would rather hear the plan before we get started."
Vincent turned to stare at him., though Cloud couldn't tell what the man was thinking. "I go in and tell the receptionist that I have experiment results to deliver to the science department. She lets us into the lower floors. We find and kill Hojo." Vincent turned away and swept through the sliding doors. Cloud followed somewhat reluctantly, hating that he was almost clueless going in.
Since Vincent had landed on the balcony, Cloud had realized just how ill prepared he was to change anything. It was clear from the first sentence his old companion had uttered that Cloud was missing something big. Without that information he couldn't help plan, and without his old body he would be close to useless in a fight. He didn't even have a sword with him, just a bracer with a few Materia. How had he expected to affect anything before Vincent showed up? Without certain proof that he was from the future any information he released to those who could do something wouldn't be believed. Luckily, his assassin friend was here with a plan, and hopefully it extended beyond killing Hojo.
Vincent strode up to the desk with the confidence of a Soldier and the expression of a Turk, drawing the receptionist's immediate attention. "Do you have an appointment?" She asked, already bringing out her clipboard.
"We are to see Hojo," Vincent responded, his voice near monotone.
The woman nodded while flipping a page, before glancing up in surprise mingled with suspicion. "But I thought-"
"You are not being paid to think," the demon-wrought man growled, his voice echoing with a hint of chaos. "You are- I apologize. It is urgent."
The receptionist, her eyes wide, glanced down at the clipboard once more before setting it down and reaching for the phone, only to be stopped by Vincent's metal gauntlet.
"There is no appointment," he confessed, "but it is urgent. The name is Largent."
She nodded quickly, and Vincent let go of her arm. She abandoned the phone and pressed a button on her keyboard, opening the door to the first lab. "The professor isn't in," the woman hurried to tell them, "but an assistant should be able to help you."
Cloud looked at the two of them, confused on why they were being allowed access, but not about to ask while she could hear. He followed Vincent through the door and slid shut behind them, barely making a noise. Cloud glanced back at it uneasily before trotting to catch to Vincent, once again bemoaning his short legs.
"So," he asked, wishing he wasn't missing quite so much, "Why are we still here if Hojo isn't?"
"It would be suspicious if we were allowed access and then left after learning the professor wasn't here. Even though I doubt our problems can be solved by anyone else."
Now that didn't make any sense at all. "But isn't she in on-" Cloud's flow of words came to an abrupt halt when a gloved hand held his jaw shut.
"Be careful with your words. The wrong phrasing will get you killed. I did not know you to be so talkative."
Well he obviously wasn't getting any answers now, Cloud thought as he rubbed his head where bruises were surely forming. And though he needed to know what was going on right now, Vincent was right. Cameras were surely tracking their every move, and asking information sensitive questions probably wasn't the wisest idea. His last sentence was true as well. Perhaps spending so much time as a child was starting to have an effect on him. He definitely felt little, trailing after Vincent like he used to after Zack.
They came to a door and Vincent swung it open, revealing- actually, Cloud wasn't sure what it revealed, because as soon as the scent of mako and raw lifestream hit is nose he was down and out.
Chapter 19: Vincent. 2,104 words. January 16, 2014
Wow. Just wow. Even after all this time, I'm still getting like 15 people a day? What even I don't. I don't even know how long it's been, and I apologize sincerely.
Excuses: Well... I got Minecraft, and then I got Guildwars 2, then I got a steam account and with it Binding of Isaac and FF7 which I will finally get around to playing in its entirety, and then I started playing Civilization 5 like there was tomorrow, and somewhere in there I got a job but I quit after a while because it was stressing me out and not doing good things with my mental state, and then this chapter somehow got deleted on my computer and I didn't have the motivation to rewrite it then add the ending, but half an hour ago I found a flashdrive I had stored it on and finished it off. Now I'm going to see Frozen!
On another note, I'm not sure if I've mentioned this but there aren't really going to be pairings. Maybe maybe maybe Zack/Aerith but we'll see. I was really only going to do them because other people wanted them, but I decided I don't want to so I'm not going to. Anyway, next chapter you find out lots of stuff about stuff, of course I need to write it first.
Happy late/early birthday to all the readers I've gone more than a year without talking to!