Hello People, I am alive and I have a new update for you all, Shinigami Merchant who is my new beta, I own the a big thank you too.
Any way I have began the next chapter . and I am back in the game.
I hope you enjoy it and please leave a review,
Enjoy People :)
(I do not own Final Fantasy VII)
"My Friend, the fates are cruel. There are no dreams, no honour remains. The arrow has left the bow of the goddess." Genesis mumbled under his breath as he watched his men run around building the SOLIDER base in Wutai.
The war was now official; there was no room for honour, when you were simply killing a man for his land.
All of this was over a disagreement of a Mako Reactor, of all things. President Shinra wished to place a Reactor at Wutai. However it was not to improve the life of the locals, but to achieve total control of the world's source of power. The people of Wutai refused to surrender, as it was to date the only independent western island nation which was self-sufficient without Shinra.
The people were too proud, and fought with great pride for their land. While the Shinra dogs battled for the praise of the press back home. Genesis had managed to kill a great number of the enemy, just a few hours after arriving.
The war had already turned bloody. Even with their poor arrival.
It had been an unpleasant entrance to the war as Shinra had just deserted them on the border, with no knowledge of the new environment, or skill to combat it. The monsters that existed here in Wutai were unknown to many of his men, and had caused a few major injuries already. From his point of view it seemed the company would not wish to waste such valuable assets such as a plane to save the common foot soldiers in distress.
It had forced them to travel to an appropriate site, but that was not the worst aspect of the mission. Due to the fact he was given inexperience SOLIDERS, his men have been dropping like flies under the Wutai trooper's guerrilla tactics. He had already lost four men, and it was only the first day.
The need of rebellion whispered in the back of his mind. He was not planning to follow Hollander's instructions. He was going to find a better incentive for the good doctor to find a cure for him. His fingers gripped his shoulder; underneath he could feel the wound that would not heal. The only thing he needed was a little more time.
But if he received any injuries, even minor ones in this war. Before it was time to leave this retched company for good, it would make him too weak to execute his plan.
He didn't get the opportunity to bring that thought to completion. One of the scouts approached him "Commander Rhapsodos, sir! We've received reports of a unit of the emery troopers north of the base, sir!"
"Kill them, take no prisoners." Genesis replied without hesitation.
"Sir! Yes Sir!" The SOLIDER ran off to complete his orders.
"My soul, corrupted by vengeance Hath endured torment, to find the end of the journey in my own salvation, And your eternal slumber."
It was nearly midnight. For Cloud arriving at the barracks, coming back late at night was not something new. He would usually spend hours on end in the gym.
Cloud felt drained, the fight with Sephiroth had taken its toll on his young body; as little as he'd slept most nights, ever since he returned to his younger years. Some clean clothes and a warm bed was what his body needed the most right now.
As soon as he entered his shared residence, he caught sight of a potential Turk waiting for him. And the hope of falling asleep anytime soon, was lost.
"Cloud," Reno greeted. "We need to talk," his fellow team mate continued.
"No, we don't." Cloud said. It took a lot of self-control to keep his voice level; he was still out of breath from running all the way back to the Shinra building.
"Over the last few weeks I have known you, you've changed. What going on? Why is the class nerdy kid and loner suddenly changing into, this…." Reno paused, unsure of what word to pick for the strange behaviour change in only a few days. Not only that but there was something else, why did a slum rat like Reno jump onto a friendship with this blonde guy so quick? Why did he feel that he knew Cloud more then he liked to admit? What the hell was going on?
Reno snapped his fingers when he found his word, "Bad ass!"
"I am exhausted" Cloud replied, doing his best to change the subject.
"And I am confused." Reno snapped, folding his arms.
Cloud did not reply, Instead he walked towards his towel hanging on the side of his bed, picked it up and then walked calmly to the bathroom; he then stopped at the door.
"People change Reno, not because they want to. But because it is needed."
"What the hell is wrong with you, man? What is this big secret you're hiding? I know you don't go to the gym every night Cloud; the others went out looking for you. Also what's the deal with the SOLDIER? Fair was it?"
Cloud tensed up, and Reno saw.
"Why does he have so much interest in you? Wait hold the phone. Why do the guys in suits have interest in you? Karl, oh wait I mean Cloud." Reno smiled and rolled the word around his month.
"You mean the Turks? How do you know that name?" Cloud questioned, turning his head towards Reno.
"I passed most of the tests Rude gave me before I came to the SOLIDER cadets; I was only here for basic training before I get to enrol to be a Turk recruit officially. Is it the same for you? Is that it? Does SOLDIER not want to let you go off to the dark side?" Reno chuckled at his own joke.
Cloud had no idea, that Reno had been under the Turks thumb, he should have been more careful.
"If I where, why would that concern you?"
"I heard them talking, I think Tseng wants you as a recruit, and if I can convince you to apply then…"
"You'll have his favour, and be more likely to survive the next stage of training?" Cloud finished.
"Exactly!" Reno said with a smile. "What do you say Cloudy?"
Cloud let out a snort. And like a broken record he repeated his famous line.
"Not Interested."
Cloud shut the bathroom door.
Reno stood still looking at the door and smiled, the game was on. He was going to be a Turk and Blondie was coming with him.
Vincent had be a silent observer to the whole exchange between Tifa and Cid. That man seemed familiar, and by the looks of It Tifa had done rather well in getting transportation to Midgar.
For once in Vincent's life he had found two people, who he did not treat as a threat. The girl was strong, and would seem to be able to be very convincing when she wanted to be. She appeared to be fragile and weak, but Vincent knew from having had time to assess her in their small journey had shown him that she was a capable fighter.
Cid he knew would make a great ally, being a pilot. And with the knowledge that Cid would have had his contract terminated, with the failure of the space program would mean that he would have some hate towards Shinra.
"Why must you evaluate, every human you meet?" the demon questioned echoed from the back of his mind
"Do not ask pointless questions." Vincent replied, with a slight hint of annoyance. The demon had never been so interested in communicating with him before, as when it did speak it had always taken great pleasure in tormenting him, and did its best to destroy whatever plan he had in progress.
"Do you not enjoy my small talk, Human? Perhaps I need more practice."The demon retorted. Vincent could almost sense the demons toothy grin.
"It does make one wonder, where you found this need to converse about senseless topics. As why would a demon of discord concern itself with my behaviour to strangers?" Vincent retorted.
"I am not as heartless as you think; the war with her has showed me that even I the Lord of discord need an equal. Without one the other is nothing."
"What war do you speak of Demon.? You talk as if you have been witness to one." Vincent responded. The ex-Turk had been growing more suspicious of the demon. It did not do anything without a target to aim for. What was it up to?
"For Discord to transpire, harmony must first be achieved."The Demon whispered in the back of his mind.
"Harmony?" Vincent probed.
"Harmony, to beings such as I it means the quality of forming a peaceful realm, or maybe the definition is that it is any simultaneous combination of tones?" Chaos answered with a chuckle.
Vincent snorted. "I was already aware of the definition De-"
"Quiet human, I have grown tired of interacting with you."
"I suspect that this conversation has come to an end?" Vincent did not get another answer.
Reeve could not believe it, the little robot has been a greater success the he had ever imagined. The little cat had been able to pass the start-up tests and showed signs of independence, but now Reeve wanted to teach him how to talk, but he did not want to open him up again. The cat had proven it could learn without the programming. He was such a clever cat; all he needed was to learn conversation.
"Hello." Reeve said with a small smile as he looked at the little cat sitting on his desk.
"Hey boss-man. Was I broken or something? The last thing I remember was looking for Blondie with the others." Cait Sith asked while scratching his left ear. The little fella looked a bit confused.
"Cait Sith, you have no memory on your database regarding such issues," Reeve told the robot. Where did that come from?
"What do you mean boss? We were doing so well fighting the clones, but then the mummy's boy, came back again! I mean come on Boss that guys like a cockroach! He just will not stay in the ground. You know, I think we should throw acid over him next time or something, so that he can melt and not go in the life stream, I swear if I see that son of a bi-" Cait Sith was stopped mid-sentence, he was talking a lot faster than he meant to.
"Alright, just relax. Don't over excite yourself" Reeve said calmly. He did not want the little guy to go into overdrive to soon.
Reeve looked at the cat on his desk for a long time. He was so puzzled, what the cat was saying sounded so familiar. He also believed the little guy, but he was a man of logic. He did not believe in the impossible, he believed in facts.
"I think the only explanation for this is that your data has been corrupted. Sorry little guy I think I made a mistake with your programming." Reeve said with a sigh, he was so positive about this project, maybe he had got distracted with his daydreams when he did Cait Sith wiring.
Cait Sith looked at his boss, what was wrong with him? Cait Sith watched as reeve began to mumble to himself, something about his database. And that he should have done the paper work like the Urban Department usually does.
Wait, Urban Department?
"Hey, Boss man. What do you do for a living?"
Reeve signed "I suppose there is no harm in telling you, I am the head of the Urban Department for Shinra, my primary job is to design the reactors, but as the plans have already been made for one, no other reactor plan is needed. So I spend my time doing useless jobs that no one wants to do. I am ignored in meetings, and am looked down upon because I want to build a better Future for the Planet." Reeve said bitterly. The man got up without looking at the cat and turned to the window.
Cait Sith, Just sat on Reeve desk and looked at the man, saying nothing. This could not be real.
"And it appears that I cannot even work on a pet project without messing it up." Reeve continued with a frown.
Cait Sith had to choose his word carefully. If he had somehow time travelled, he would do his best to do the right thing, but he could not allow Reeve to reprogram him, he would lose all his knowledge.
"I am messed up?" Cait Sith Said with a flat tone, standing up from the desk. "What about you Laddie! You're the one who sits on his back side and takes orders from a fat fella, who lets good people in the slums suffer for nothing more than a profit."
That had got Reeves attention. He turned to look at the little robot on his desk. "Ho-" he began but the cat cut him off.
"You need to get your big human head out of the sand, and put it to good use lad. Shinra has hurt, and will hurt a lot of people. And you know it." Cait Sith said, Reeve was his best friend. But if he dare try to re-program him, thinking that he was 'corrupted' or something. Cait Sith would run for the hills.
"I don't th-" Reeve Began but stopped himself. "You are a robot; I am not having an argument about my career path with you." Reeve stated.
"You know I am right." The cat said looking Reeve straight in the eyes. "Hey, Boss. Quick question, have you made my controls yet?" Cait Sith asked.
"Actually I haven't yet. Why?" Reeve asked the man seemed grateful for the topic change.
"And you are unable to make them, without me nearby?" Cait Sith asked yet another Question.
"Yes, that is correct." Reeve answered.
"Brilliant!" the cat said as he jumped up and ran for the air condition vent. He was not about to wait around for Reeve to open him up, to re-program him.
"Wait!" Reeve shouted, but the man was too late as the cat had already got through the vent, and all that could be heard was fading footsteps.
Reeve's robot cat which was more than capable of killing someone had run away.
"Oh dear."
It was cold here, and dark. The chains that were strapped to his paws prevented him from moving, not that he could if he wanted to. The small cage was not high enough to allow him to stand on all four of his paws anyway.
The smell of burned flesh and fur still lingered in the air; it had only been a little while since the human with the glasses had branded him. The human said it was a better alternative than a collar, as such things could get lost. He growled at the memory.
That human took pleasure in tormenting him. He deprived him of food, water, and used agonizing methods into provoking him to speak. That human, no that monster, that prodded and pocked him for, what had he said? The monster had claimed it was for "the greater good."
However now he knew, it did not take weapons or strength to make a terror in this world, but the sick twisted mind of a weak, ugly, waste of being such as that monster. What he would not give to sink his teeth in to that bony little neck.
The sound of light footsteps rang in the almost empty laboratory, that monster was coming back. Nanaki was lying on his side all of his limbs were chained to the hard concrete ground in the little cage in the centre of a dark laboratory.
White light suddenly filled the room, it burned his eyes, but the long-lasting burn on his left front leg, from the Roman numeral "XIII" that the monster had burned into his flesh in his last visit, had most of his attention.
The monster went to a small desk, Nanaki paid him little attention. He then heard a soft click and the monster began to speak.
"Professor Hojo, Day 93 of project XIII" The monster began "Specimen has remained docile, and even with the aid of Electroconvulsive therapy, that has shown successful results on extracting information on other Specimens and prisoners of war have failed to provoke a single verbal response. Physically the Specimens exhibits strong palpations throughout the session of Electroconvulsive, no other bodily response has been recorded." The monster continued to ramble on, using big words that Nanaki did not care to know the meaning of. Hours could pass and the monster would use so many words and yet say nothing of import that would gain Nanaki's interest. His one defence was to remain mute, the monster had begun to suspect he could not talk, which could give Nanaki an advantage.
"….Healing is remarkable, Specimen is regenerating cells. Flesh wounds repair almost immediately.… " The talking never stopped with the monster, sometimes Nanaki could swear that the monster's voice is worse than the head ache he gets from that electronic thing with the wires the monster stapes to his head.
The monster stopped his rambling, Nanaki held back a breath of relief, he missed the peace and quiet of Cosmo Canyon, he even missed grandfathers scolding.
"Are we going to have a chat today, XIII?" Hojo asked
Nanaki did not even move.
"No? You do know that we will have to find another method of commutation, if you continue to remain voiceless." Hojo said calmly, he then bent down with his knees to look at Nanaki straight in the eyes.
Nanaki closed his eyes, not wanting to look at the monster that was before him.
"Where are the others?" Hojo demanded "I know that you can verbally communicate, and if you keep this up, then perhaps I should let the SOLDIERS have you. In your current state, you would be beaten to death. And maybe your remains would serve me better and your coat would make a charming rug." Hojo cackled loudly at his own jock. Then continued "But sadly your fur does not match my curtains."
"Now that is enough of the pleasantries." Hojo declared "I need a blood sample; about one pint should be plenty for my next experiment. You can never have too much of a sample." Hojo said a grin appearing on his face. Nanaki was almost surprised his face did not crack.
It had been a long day.
Angeal had finally begun the long trek back to the Shinra Building, he had spent the entire day working below the place, and he was covered in the black blood of the countless monsters he had slain that day. His buster blade that was strapped to his back however remained unblemished. Angeal took better care of the blade them himself most of the time.
The SOLDIER was about to make his way to the train station when he heard the heavy footfalls of yet another monster nearby. Knowing that Sector 7 had many children in the population, the SOLIDER sighed and let his sensitive ears lead him to the source of the sound.
Angeal made his way thought the piles of rubble, taking care not to make any loud sounds that would scare the monster.
But the effort turned to be fruitless as he the sound of Gun shots reached his ears. As well as an unfamiliar accent.
"Take that, Fool." Angeal herd, it seemed someone had save him a job "Ha-ha! You dead now sucker!"The voice said again.
Angeal smelled the stench of monster blood in the direction of the voice. It appeared that the locals had grown enough to defend themselves. Angeal smiled at the thought. Hopefully the slums will become a little safer for the children, if that was the case.
Knowing the monster was slain, he found no reason to continue in that direction, so the SOLDIER began his walk to the train station again.
After today Angeal could feel the toll it took on his body, His muscles were straining more than they should, and little cuts he received, which were barely bigger than a paper cut from the monsters had taken over an hour to heal.
Not only that, but this morning Angeal found his first grey hair. The stress of his job was having a negative effect. Angeal cringed at the thought, Wait until Genesis found out he was going grey the teasing would be unbearable.
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