Q: Barrett and Cid made an appearance finally. Will Red XIII visit next?
A: Red XIII/Nanaki already made an appearance alongside Bugenhagen in chapters 8 and 9.
WARNING!
There are some very scary threats/suggestive language in this chapter. Please keep this in mind while reading. I don't plan to have anything else like it after this chapter, but if there is, there'll be another warning.
"There you are, Strife."
If the sight of Johnson and five of his closest friends wasn't enough to set off all sorts of alarm bells in Cloud's head, then Johnson's use of his last name definitely was. The other teen only ever used some sort of Chocobo reference when talking to him. If he was opting for his real name this time, the cadet definitely meant business. And it would not turn out well for Cloud.
Taking a deep, albeit shaky, breath, Cloud tries to keep his voice even. "Come on, Johnson. We're going to be late for class." He has no escape – his only way out is completely blocked by the cadets in front of him. Six against one isn't good odds, even if he is being trained by Sephiroth. His best bet is to diffuse the situation before it even starts.
"Yeah. Don't care," the other teen answers flippantly. Sneering, he continues, "I've been watching you, Strife. For weeks." Cloud's first mistake was assuming that the situation hadn't started yet. Of course it had. It had started the moment Cloud became Sephiroth's student. "You're always surrounded by those 1sts." Johnson pauses and Cloud does not like the look on the other's face. "Well, almost always. You never have any protection between lunch and classes and you do seem fond of taking a shower during that time."
Cloud feels the blood drain from his face. The teen had been planning this. And for a while from the sound of things. This was bad. No. Bad didn't even begin to cover it. He should have known that Johnson behaving for so long was a terrible omen. "Why are you doing this?" Hopefully, he could stall until somebody else showed up. He ignores the nearly frantic thought that everybody was in class and wouldn't return for hours.
"I'm tired of you waltzing around like you're something special when all you're doing is sleeping through the ranks." The bully says, looking at Cloud as if he were a Bugaboo that needed to be squashed. One of Johnson's friends crosses his arms over a puffed-out chest, as if silently daring Cloud to deny the claim.
But deny it he does. "What are you talking about?! I'm not sleeping with anybody!" This was absolutely ridiculous. He was 14 for Gaia's sake. Ok, almost 15, but that was still underage. He almost accuses the other cadet of being a bumbling idiot, but he had already proven himself to be unfathomably clever in cornering Cloud and cutting him off from any form of salvation. Though, apparently the cunning he showed planning this ambush didn't extend to anything else.
Johnson snarls, face twisting unattractively – not that it was pleasant to look at normally. "I've seen the pictures!" He then gestures to his friends, "We all have."
Not this again. Cloud was so sick and tired of those pictures. Of the fan clubs in general. Why couldn't they just mind their own business? If they had, maybe he wouldn't be in this terrible mess.
"He is rather pretty, Johnson."
Cloud's not sure which one had spoken – not that he knows their names anyway – but he does not like the sound of that.
"Not when I'm finished with him," Johnson returns, pausing thoughtfully, looking Cloud up and down like a piece of meat. "Or wait. I wonder how he would look on his knees."
The leer on the bully's face, the implication of his words, and the manner in which the other cadets laugh at that statement prove to be extremely effective in causing Cloud's blood to run cold. As if that wasn't enough, though, one of Johnson's bootlickers takes the statement as permission to goad the bully on further. "Put his pretty mouth to good use, Johnson!"
"Yeah! He won't be able to talk back like that!" Another cadet cries, sniggering at the alarmed look on Cloud's face. He really does not like where this is going.
"Time to show you where you belong, Strife. Beneath me." Johnson laughs cruelly, raking his gaze over Cloud's body one last time and smirking. "I might as well get some fun out of it, too."
Cloud watches in terror, breathing shallow and heart beating out of his chest, as Johnson starts to slowly descend on him like some sort of alpha predator. When the teen flicks open the button on his pants and reaches a hand inside to stroke himself, Cloud realizes that no help is coming – he's all alone. Swallowing back the bile rising in his throat, he slips into a battle stance, turning to the side to become less of a target, and tries to calm his racing nerves. Sephiroth had taught him how to handle multiple enemies at once, all he can do is try to take advantage of that. Granted, he had only ever faced a couple of Nibel Wolves and they had never threatened to assault him, but he has no other options now. Maybe he can make it out of this relatively unscathed if he can just. stop. the. damn. shaking.
"You can have the leftovers when I'm finished!" Johnson calls to his friends, cruel eyes still trained on Cloud.
"Would you care to repeat that?"
Disregarding the positively frigid tone, Johnson whirls towards the new voice. "Mind your own damn business!"
"Wrong answer."
Realizing his mistake entirely too late, Johnson watches on in horror as the red-eyed Turk reveals himself, his appearance so sudden and unexpected, it was as if the man had materialized out of thin air. A single murderous glance is more than enough to have the bully scrambling to redo his pants, the other cadets frozen in fear with the understanding of just how much trouble they were in.
When the Turk turns red eyes on him, Cloud swears he can almost see worry hidden beneath all of the rage. "Cadet Strife, you are free to go," the man says to him, voice surprisingly gentle. One of the cadets tries to flee while the Turk's attention is otherwise occupied, but the sound of moving has the man spinning around. "Did I dismiss the rest of you?" The cadet stops in his tracks, practically vibrating in fear and looking on the verge of tears.
"Uh, sir…?" Cloud's not sure what he wants to say, but his mouth has a mind of its own.
Returning his attention to Cloud, the Turk smiles down at him, wild and bloodthirsty, but Cloud finds it strangely comforting nonetheless. "Don't worry. I'll handle this," the man says, red eyes appearing to flash golden ever so briefly.
Cloud stumbles down the empty hallway, his traitorous mind replaying Johnson's words and actions, summoning up images of what would have happened if his Turk savior hadn't shown up. He had been ready to fight, as terrified as he was, but would he really have been able to succeed? The other cadets weren't like Nibel Wolves – they had hands. Yes, he most likely had more stamina and skill with a sword, but they were larger than he was and much stronger in terms of brute force. If even one of them had gotten a hand on him, he could have easily been pinned and then – No. Stop that train of thought. right. there.
Staggering into his dorm room, he slumps against the door once it closes. If he could only get his shuddering under control, then maybe he could still make it to class without being too terribly late. But, did he even want to go now? How would he explain his tardiness? Heck if he was going to tell anybody what had actually happened. What had almost happened. Besides, he had Monster Theory today. He had no friends in that class. What if the other cadets were as upset as Johnson? …What if they decided to do what his bully didn't have the time to? Oh Gaia. Six would have been hard enough – no way would he be able to fight off the rest of the class by himself. And he had no more Turk backup. There's no way he could go to class now.
"Hey! We're gonna be late!"
Cloud tries to bite back the screech at the sound of the unfamiliar voice, but a tiny squeak still makes it past his lips. Footsteps stopping right outside his door leave him petrified, both hands clamped over his mouth as he tries to muffle the noise of his rather uneven breathing. "Did you hear that?" A different voice says. Great, there were two of them. At least.
"No…?" The first voice says. "Stop stalling, dude, and get your textbook. You're not the one being trained by Sephiroth. It's not like you can afford to miss classes. Not with that face."
The other cadet huffs. "Shut up, man."
A pause. "He's kinda pretty. Strife, you know."
"What? Are you into that sort of thing?"
"Ha! Not normally, but for him… maybe."
Put his pretty mouth to good use, Johnson!
Resisting the urge to cry out at the voice of Johnson's friend in his head, Cloud squeezes his eyes shut and tries to will away the stray cadets. The glorious sound of retreating footsteps does little to ease his pounding heart, though, his mind tearing through an endless list of scenarios of what could happen if one of the other cadets found him. If they decided he was as pretty as Johnson and his friends had. He couldn't stay there.
When he can't hear either cadet any longer, Cloud flings open the door and bolts. He has to get out of the building. Now.
Just tell me if he tries anything again. Zack's voice rings through his head, but how can he face him now? How can face any of the 1sts? He knew he was a loser – he had even tried to tell Zack – but this was definitive proof. No way would any of the 1sts have been weak enough to be in a situation like this. No way would any of them want to see him again. Better if he just disappeared.
Sephiroth is nearly finished with his paperwork for the day when the phone on his desk rings. Sighing, he picks up the handset. If that was Reno being a pest again, he was going to march down to the General Affairs floor and show the red-head exactly why he was known as the Demon of Wutai. In front of all his Turk friends, no less. "Hello?"
"Uhh... General Sephiroth, sir?" The person on the other end sounds hesitant, but at least it isn't Reno.
"Speaking."
"Sir, this is Sgt. Williams from Infantry."
"Oh, you're one of Cloud's instructors. Monster Theory, correct?"
"Yes, sir," the man says, sounding rather flattered that Sephiroth knows who he is. "I was actually calling about Strife. He never showed up for class today. Is he still with you, sir?"
Never showed up? That was entirely unlike him. Sephiroth does not like where this is going. "Cloud and I parted ways nearly two hours ago."
"Oh."
"Thank you for informing me, Sergeant. I will take it from here."
Not even bothering to set the handset down, Sephiroth immediately dials a new number – Cloud's. His sense of foreboding only grows, though, when the call goes straight to voicemail. Lingering a little longer than necessary on the boy's prerecorded voice, the message cuts off as he hangs up and tries a different number – this call thankfully going through.
"Hello?"
"Zack. Cloud never showed up to class today and he's not answering his PHS. Can you check all the places he's likely to go in the building and report back to me?"
"Shit. Yeah, of course."
"I don't understand. Where could he have gone?" Zack sounds rather distressed as he paces back and forth throughout the room. "I looked everywhere but there was no sign of him…" Coming to a stop, the teen slumps into the chair in front of Sephiroth's desk with a sigh.
"When was the last time you saw him?" Genesis asks, addressing Sephiroth but keeping his attention on the Puppy, who had dropped his head into his hands dismally. While far more composed, the Commander was no doubt just as worried. Sephiroth was just glad that both he and Angeal were available on such short notice.
Crossing his arms over his chest, Sephiroth responds, "It's been about two hours." And he doesn't like it. Cloud's been missing for hours and none of them have any clue what happened to him.
"So, something must have happened between then and the start of his classes." Angeal deduces, a deep crease in his brow. While he hadn't spent as much time with the boy as the rest of them, the man had still grown rather fond of him and his 'innate ability for gardening.' If the quickest way to Genesis's heart was Loveless or magic, the quickest to Angeal's was definitely gardening.
Picking up his phone again, Sephiroth dials a number by heart. Time to call in backup. "Mr. President. Cloud has gone missing and none of us can get into contact with him."
There's a sigh on the other end. "Given the circumstances, it's not all that surprising."
Sephiroth feels a flash of anger at the meaning hidden behind the man's response. "Given the circumstances? Why wasn't I informed about these circumstances? I am the boy's mentor after all."
"I'm telling you now." Sephiroth can almost hear the rolling of the man's eyes, which definitely does nothing to quell his building anger. "Actually, why don't you and your fellow 1sts come up to my office. There are some people here who could enlighten you as to the reason behind Cloud's disappearance."
"We'll be there."
When they arrive at Rufus's office, Sephiroth is not surprised to find the Turks already there – he had rather expected it. What is unusual is the manner in which they are acting. Vincent is off to one side of the President's desk, leaning against a pillar, an absolutely menacing aura about him. Reno stands to the other side of the desk, tapping his electro-mag rod against his thigh methodically while Rude cracks his knuckles in a threatening sort of way next to him. As for Tseng, the second-in-command stands to Rufus's right, an incredibly dark look on his normally impassive face.
More noteworthy, though, is who they are all glaring at. In the center of the room stand several bedraggled-looking cadets who seem to be hoping for a chance to run far, far away. Not that running would save them from the wrath of several angry Turks, whose job it was to track the untrackable.
"Thank you for joining us, gentlemen," Rufus says in greeting, though his eyes never stray from the cadets in front of him. If at all possible, more color seems to drain from the teens' faces when they see just who had joined them.
"What happened to them?" Angeal asks, gesturing to the cadets in front of them and looking a little put-out at their haggard appearance.
"Vincent took care of them." Rufus gestures towards the Turk, whose attention remains fixed on the cadets as he fiddles casually with his gun. The cadets look fearfully between Vincent and his weapon and Sephiroth gets the feeling that 'took care of them' was code for 'used them for target practice'. If they had harmed Cloud, then no wonder. "It seems that Jackson here," Rufus continues, motioning towards the largest cadet. "No. Wait. That's not his name…" The President's face is entirely deadpan, though, so Sephiroth gets the feeling that he's forgetting on purpose. "What was it? Jameson? Jenson? Judson?"
There's a sudden growl from Sephiroth's right. "Johnson." Ignoring Rufus's "Ah, that's it," Zack stomps over to said cadet, dragging the teen up to eye level by the collar of his uniform. "What did you do to him?! Where is Cloud?!" Zack's bellowing echoes throughout the entire floor and Johnson shakes uncontrollably in the SOLDIER's grasp, the darkening of his pants a clear sign of just how terrified he is.
While the cadet no doubt deserves the rough treatment from what little Sephiroth had heard of him, it wouldn't do them any good if Zack killed him before they found out exactly what he had done. Angeal must feel the same way, since he pulls his former student off Johnson, lightly scolding him with a "Calm down, Zack."
"Let him have his fun, yo. That's what this little shit was tryna do with Blondie anyway." Reno provides, electro-mag rod crackling ominously.
"What do you mean?" Sephiroth asks, eyes narrowing. He knows whatever the cadets must have done can't be good, but he does not like the way Reno phrased his words.
Rufus grimaces, showing his disdain for whatever he is about to say. "Johnson here tried to rape Cloud and told his friends that they could have, and I quote, his 'leftovers'."
.
.
.
"What."
It's only when a fireball soars past his head and lands at Johnson's feet, causing the teen to yelp as he falls backwards, that Sephiroth realizes that he was the one who had spoken. And that Masamune is currently half-unsheathed in front of him, the other cadets frozen terrified at the sight of him. As he re-sheathes his sword, he hears Genesis's glib "Sorry, my hand slipped." Turning to check on Zack, he finds the teen currently being restrained by Angeal, though the other SOLDIER looks like he himself is fighting with his morals, an extremely dangerous look on his face.
"Can you tell us exactly what happened?" Sephiroth asks. Once he has the full story, then he can decide whether or not to skewer anybody.
"These six apparently have been frustrated with Cloud's new training situation. They watched him for weeks, found a pattern, and ambushed him when he was alone." Sephiroth grits his teeth as Rufus smirks darkly. "Or when they thought he was alone. Vincent here has been keeping an eye on the boy ever since we found out about his little bully problem." The President turns cold eyes on Johnson as he continues his tale, "It seems that Johnson here is convinced that Cloud has been sleeping through the ranks."
"What? The kid's only 14!" Angeal points out, scandalized, arms still holding Zack in place.
"Yes. Cloud tried to deny it, too, but they didn't believe him. It seems like they were only planning on roughing him up until this one," Rufus looks pointedly at another of the cadets, who for his part shrinks in on himself, painfully aware of all the angry looks on him. "This cadet here said that Cloud was 'rather pretty' and Johnson decided he wanted to see what Cloud would look like on his knees. Said he might as well get some fun out of showing Cloud his place." Sephiroth hears the creak of leather as he reflexively tightens his grip on Masamune's sheath. "None of Johnson's friends here tried to stop him either. They only laughed and goaded him on. Something about Johnson putting Cloud's pretty mouth to good use so Cloud wouldn't be able to talk back."
As Zack's struggling against Angeal's hold intensifies, another fireball goes flying by, this one grazing Johnson's terrified face. Genesis sighs. "This seems to be malfunctioning." The man says, tone dangerous, as he whacks his bracer, fireballs shooting forth rhythmically at each of the cadets. "I really need to get this fixed. You have my sincerest apologies."
Genesis's enraged onslaught is only quelled by the buzzing of electricity as a volley of lightning explodes in the middle of the room, the cadets sent writhing to the floor. At Rude's surprised "Reno?", the red-headed Turk responds flippantly, "What? 'Gift of the Goddess' shouldn't have all the fun, yo."
If Rufus or Tseng are bothered by the violent disruption, neither say anything in the cadets' defense. Instead, the President watches the commotion, expression almost bored if not for the sharp glint to his eyes, Tseng barking out a clipped, "On your feet."
As the bullies scramble to obey, a couple still twitching from the mild electrocution, Sephiroth does his best to remain calm. To tamp down on the murderous instinct. Entire body tense, he tries to control the urge to join in on his colleagues' extrajudicial vengeance, hand shaking almost imperceptibly around the sheath of Masamune.
"That's not all of it," Rufus offers and the singed cadets in the middle tense. "You know how I said Johnson told his friends they could have the 'leftovers'? Well, he played with himself in front of Cloud first."
Zack stills in Angeal's arms momentarily before resuming his struggle, body shaking with barely suppressed rage, the older SOLDIER doing his best to restrain the nearly-rabid Puppy. "Let me go, Angeal."
Rufus sighs. "Lieutenant Fair. Please calm yourself."
"But they tried to hurt Cloud!"
"I am aware. And they will be punished." Rufus regards the miserable cadets in silence for several long moments, letting the suspense build. Slowly lacing his fingers together in front of him, the President then doles out his judgement. "The six of you will be dishonorably discharged – a permanent mark will be placed on your record and you will never find employment with Shinra ever again. You will also be shipped off to Corel Prison where you will work until you learn the error of your ways."
One of the cadets lets out a strangled sob. "I'm sorry."
Rufus raises an eyebrow, an entirely disgusted look on his face. "Oh? For what? Are you sorry for laughing while your friend nearly assaulted one of your classmates? For thinking of assaulting him yourself? Or are you just sorry that you were caught?" The cadet doesn't answer, though, tears streaming down his face. "If you don't like my ruling, you're welcome to test your luck with the SOLDIERs here and find out the extent of their generosity." When the cadet does little more than stare fearfully back at Rufus, the President continues, "Hmm. That's what I thought. As the ringleader, Johnson will receive five years of prison time, the rest of you two and a half. Understood?"
There's a pathetic, dissonant chorus of "Y-yes, s-sir" as the cadets shiver under the intense scrutiny.
"Good. Your parents will be informed of exactly what has happened – to you and what you tried to do to your classmate." The cadet from before lets out another sob, but Rufus doesn't stop. "You are welcome to try to appeal my decision, but remember that there is video evidence." He smirks wickedly. "Also, keep in mind that I have eyes everywhere. If you so much as look at Cloud in the wrong way again, I will turn a blind eye to whatever the SOLDIERs decide to do with you and then let the Turks cover it all up. Do I make myself clear?"
There is more than one cadet crying now as they fail once more to say "Y-yes, s-sir" in unison.
Rufus nods imperiously. "Vincent, I will have you escort these delinquents to Corel once all of their parents have been notified. I will also ask Reeve to accompany you to make sure they arrive there in one piece." Vincent nods, though he looks a little disappointed. Sephiroth thinks this might have more to do with the fact that he won't be able to torment the former cadets any longer rather than the knowledge that it will be Reeve accompanying him – the two seem to be on good terms. "Reno, Rude, please show these gentlemen to the holding cells."
"You got it, Boss!" Reno exclaims, sounding far too excited for prisoner duty. As Rude herds the bullies towards the door, the red-head closes in on Johnson, prodding the wretch in the back with his electro-mag rod. "Move it, yo!" The teen's seizing is all the evidence Sephiroth needs to know that the weapon was still charged. Reno stares at the rod in feigned shock before turning back to Johnson. "Oops. My bad, yo. I forgot to turn that off."
Once the bullies have been ushered out, Angeal releases Zack, who just crosses his arms and mutters darkly about the former cadets. Focusing instead on something Rufus had said earlier, Sephiroth turns to the President. "Sir, you said that there was video evidence. Why didn't you just show that to us?"
Sighing, Rufus looks uncharacteristically uncomfortable. "I already reviewed the footage while Vincent was out disciplining them. Trust me, you don't want to see it." Sephiroth opens his mouth to protest – Cloud was his student and he needed to know what had happened, no matter how disturbing – but Rufus just waves him off. "I've told you everything that the bullies said and did, but the video is far more visceral. You already looked like you wanted to reenact the Nibelheim Incident with those bullies. If you had seen just how distressed Cloud was or the way that they looked at him, I have no doubt that you would have killed them where they stood."
Sephiroth's mood darkens at that admission as he tries to keep himself from following after Reno and Rude and acquainting the former cadets with the sharp side of Masamune.
"Well, that doesn't make me want to kill them any less." Genesis counters, voicing Sephiroth's own rage-filled thoughts.
Rufus looks between the 1sts thoughtfully for a moment. "You should know that even without his memories, Cloud was extremely brave throughout that whole ordeal. He was shaking like a leaf when he realized what those scumbags intended for him, but he never once gave up. Even with how terrified he was, he looked like he was ready to fight tooth and nail."
"Thanks," Sephiroth says, voice softer and more open than he's ever heard it. While he's mad at himself for leaving Cloud to deal with all of that in the first place – he was the boy's mentor, for Gaia's sake, he should have kept him safe – he's indescribably proud of Cloud for keeping his wits about him and being so, so courageous even when he still has such trouble believing in himself.
"You should focus on finding Cloud for the time being." Rufus reminds them, fiddling with some controls on his desk before a holographic monitor appears in front of them. On it, they see Cloud hurrying down a hallway, arms wrapped around himself defensively, body trembling from head to toe – perhaps Rufus was right, watching this is painful enough. The boy stops suddenly, glancing around frantically as if checking to see if he had been followed. Then he yanks open a door, slips inside, and closes the door just as quickly. "Well, we know he returned to his room at first." As the playback continues, they see two more cadets enter the hallway.
"Hey! We're gonna be late!"
Sephiroth's eyes narrow when the cadets stop right outside of Cloud's room. If they had done something to the boy, he would be the one hunting them down this time.
"Did you hear that?"
"No…? Stop stalling, dude, and get your textbook. You're not the one being trained by Sephiroth. It's not like you can afford to miss classes. Not with that face."
"Shut up, man."
"…He's kinda pretty. Strife, you know."
"What? Are you into that sort of thing?"
"Ha! Not normally, but for him… maybe."
Sephiroth snarls without entirely realizing it, at least not until Angeal turns startled eyes on him. "I don't believe they meant it in the same way as Johnson and his friends." The man says, trying to reassure him.
"Tell that to our little bird, though." Genesis says, voice somber, as they watch Cloud race down the hallway as if a Coeurl was at his heels. Rufus changes feeds and on-screen Cloud continues running straight through the lobby and out of the building.
Zack lets out a heartbroken "Cloudy…" as Rufus turns off the video feed and the holographic monitor disappears.
"So, he definitely left the building. A little over two hours ago, it would appear." Rufus states, a frown on his face. "I would like the four of you to search the plate for him. I have eyes on the ground who can search the slums. Zack, I'm sure Ms. Gainsborough is familiar with them, used to go by the name Avalanche. Could you ask her to assist in their search?"
"Yes, sir."
