Chapter 58: Beginnings
MEANWHILE, BACK IN THE PRESENT
July 9, 0011
The interior of the reactor was old and musty, with large pipes coming out of the walls, and smaller ones waiting to be tripped over on the catwalk.
Yuffie, Barret, Jessie, DiStefano, and Red XIII proceeded down the catwalk until they arrived at a small flight of stairs.
"Hail Weiss!" called a voice from above.
Barret, immediately seeing a Deepground soldier, dispatched him with his gun-arm.
The next room appeared to be some kind of a core, with pods shaped like cocoons, and the bottom immersed in a pool of yellow-green fluid.
"What is this place?!" Yuffie exclaimed aloud.
"Damned if I know," DiStefano replied.
Just then, a screech sounded the room.
Everyone looked to see seven gargoyles bearing down on them.
"Shit!" Barret exclaimed as he fired his gun-arm at one of the gargoyles.
The gargoyle quickly dodged him.
DiStefano shot at another one, but it also dodged her bullets.
Just then, Yuffie looked to her right, and noticed they were on a ramp that led downward.
She then saw what was down there.
She darted down the ramp.
"Yuffie?!" exclaimed Red XIII.
The gargoyles continued to close in.
Jessie armed her nunchucks.
Suddenly, the sound of machine gun fire began.
One of the gargoyles began to shake before dying and falling into the green fluid below.
Then, another one.
Then, another one.
Jessie looked to see Yuffie sitting at a turret, firing away at the gargoyles.
A minute later, all of the gargoyles were gone.
"All I had to do was look!" Yuffie laughed.
The third room was a catwalk suspended over several vats of the same fluid seen in the previous room.
Just then, two Deepground soldiers emerged from the doorway, pushing a turret.
"Oh no, you don't!" Yuffie said as she charged the soldiers.
She quickly knocked one of them unconscious by striking him in the face.
The other soldier grabbed her, but Yuffie quickly flung him over the railing, causing him to land in one of the vats.
Yuffie peeked to see the skin melting off his body, and quickly turned away in disgust.
The fourth room was a long hallway with pipes running horizontally through the middle of it. Three Deepground soldiers were behind the pipe, and DiStefano shot them dead.
Upon entering the fifth room, Yuffie could see that they were below a catwalk. As soon as she set a foot in the room, gunfire came from above, causing her to jump back.
"Hold on," Barret assured them.
He stepped forward, and raised his gun-arm.
He opened fire on the catwalk.
He did not stop until the fire from above ceased.
"All clear," he announced.
The sixth room was full of robotic bugs.
"Dammit, I hate these things," Yuffie muttered as she began to kick them over on their backs and stomp them one by one.
The floor grating glowed green, and gas leaked from below.
"I think it's safe to say we shouldn't be breathing that in," Red XIII suggested as everyone made their way through the room.
The next room found everyone on a thick bridge that seemed to lead to the core.
Just then, the sound of a helicopter began. Moments later, a Dragonfly emerged from behind the core, occupied by more gargoyles.
"I'm totally not in the mood for this," Yuffie sighed as she threw a shuriken.
It had been an explosive one, and the Dragonfly suddenly exploded, its debris dropping into the green fluid below.
Everyone stared at Yuffie.
"It's almost over," she assured them. "We need to get into that core."
"We're all with you," Jessie assured her.
"I second that," Red XIII added.
"Nobody's going nowhere until the job is done!" DiStefano said.
Yuffie smiled.
"Everyone," she said, "thank you."
She then led everyone across the bridge and into the core.
She led everyone down the dark corridor.
Then, they were on a walkway that was illuminated in green on both sides.
A door awaited everyone on the other end of the room.
"You look like you've seen a ghost," Red XIII said.
"I've been here before," Yuffie replied. "With Vincent. In the original timeline."
"I don't remember anything," Red XIII dismissed.
"You all weren't there," Yuffie informed them.
She then turned her attention to the door at the end of the hallway.
"Through there," she commanded. "You won't like what you see."
Nobody objected.
She led them through the door.
Inside the next room, everyone's eyes were greeted by the sight of a shirtless man slumped backward on what appeared to be a throne. A small bridge led to it, with a green abyss on both sides.
"Is that him?" Red XIII inquired.
Yuffie nodded.
"That's Weiss."
"He looks dead," DiStefano pointed out.
"But not for long," said a familiar voice approaching from behind.
Yuffie turned to see Nero.
"The hell's that supposed to mean?!" she demanded.
"A new life breathes inside him," Nero replied. "Just as one does in your friend, Vincent."
"So you're making another Vincent," Jessie said.
"Soon," said Nero, "my dear brother will awaken. It seems like an eternity since I was granted the knowledge of rebirth."
"What do you mean, 'granted?'" Jessie demanded.
Suddenly, the ground began to rumble.
Yuffie closed her eyes.
"Omega," she whispered to herself.
She then raised her Conformer, aiming it at Weiss.
"Stay away from my brother!" Nero demanded.
With that, he fired a beam of darkness at Yuffie.
Yuffie, being the ninja she was, darted out of the way.
"What the hell were you trying to pull?!" she demanded.
"Oblivion perhaps," Nero replied. "My darkness….it can absorb as well as extract almost anything. However, some things remain….things as black as the heart of a daemon. The essence of death. Its ululations are like a lullaby."
"You're totally psycho," Yuffie said.
Suddenly, Nero stretched his arms out, and all surroundings seemed to fade to black.
"No one will take my brother away from me again!" he announced.
A moment later, Yuffie found herself in what appeared to be another world. The clouds were green, and there were waterfalls of what appeared to be Mako everywhere. Behind her was a ledge, and a few yards in front of her was a pit of lava.
She looked up.
A black distortion was bearing down on her.
First, eight legs emerged.
Then the rest of the spider, complete with Nero's upper torso, became visible.
"I'm not arachnophobic, asshole!" Yuffie shouted.
Suddenly, comets began to fall from the sky, which Yuffie dodged with the greatest of ease.
"Is that the best you can do?!" she taunted.
In response, the spider-Nero leaped onto the ground.
Yuffie, who was much smarter than she appeared, stood near the edge of the lava pit.
"Step into my parlor, said the ninja girl to the spider!" she announced.
Angrily, the spider-Nero charged her.
Yuffie quickly jumped out of the way.
The spider-Nero ran off the ledge and into the lava pit.
"Hot enough for ya?" Yuffie victoriously taunted.
Just then, a pillar of black energy shot up from the lava pit. A moment later, Weiss, now back in his normal form, landed a few feet in front of her.
"You just don't know when to quit!" Yuffie sighed before kicking him in the stomach as hard as she could.
Suddenly, the background changed again. Yuffie realized they were in the hallway outside of Weiss's "throne room."
"Weiss," muttered Nero as he limped back to the throne room, clutching his lower torso.
Yuffie followed him into the room, just in time to see Weiss on his feet.
Green energy seemed to be feeding him.
"What happened?!" she exclaimed.
"He just stood up," Red XIII answered.
"Weiss," began Nero. "My beloved brother. It is time."
In response, Weiss began cackling hysterically.
"This probably isn't good," sighed Jessie.
"Together at last," Nero continued, "I won't leave you again. Never...Weiss…"
Nero crossed the bridge and reached his destination.
Once he was there, Weiss jabbed him in the stomach with his left hand.
Even Yuffie gasped in shock.
White energy began to appear where Weiss's hand was.
"Weiss?" exclaimed Nero in shock,
"I'm finished with you!" Weiss announced before flinging the limp Nero across the room.
Weiss began to cackle and jumped toward Yuffie.
Yuffie drew her Conformer.
"You can't stop me," Weiss informed her. "My body is one with Omega. There is nothing that can destroy me. Nothing."
Weiss then began to cackle.
"You must be under some bogus spell!" Yuffie deduced.
"I am not under a spell, magomusume," Weiss retorted.
"Magomusume?!" Yuffie replied in a quiet, skeptical tone of voice.
"Still in the dark?" Weiss inquired. "I'm afraid I'm a bit different from when I kidnapped you three years ago."
Yuffie's eyes widened in horror when she realized who it really was.
"You know this guy?!" DiStefano interjected.
Yuffie silently nodded.
"Three years ago, while I was still running about looking for Sephiroth, I took it upon myself to distribute my data….my mind, my knowledge, my inner being, across the worldwide network."
"Who is he?" Jessie whispered.
"It's that son of a bitch again," Barret whispered back.
"And even though my body had died," Weiss continued, "and the world had been left in ruin, I survived in a virtual reality. When the network was restored, the scattered data regrouped and I was reborn. A neo-Reunion, you could say."
"Shinjirarenai!" Yuffie exclaimed.
"That's right, it's me," Weiss continued. "Dear granddaughter."
Suddenly, a holographic image of Hojo appeared beside Weiss.
"Like I told you all upstairs," Hojo said, "I'm everywhere!"
"Kuso!" Yuffie exclaimed.
"Watch your mouth, young lady!" Hojo cackled.
"That's Hojo?!" DiStefano whispered.
Red XIII nodded.
"I missed you," Hojo continued. "It's been three years since I saw you. You do need to keep in touch with your Poppy more."
"Pass," Yuffie sighed. "By the way, your widow and Vincent are together now. It's almost like you never were."
"You know, when I first read it, I thought that woman's thesis was utter nonsense," Hojo said. "I couldn't believe some fabled beast from legend past had anything to do with Vincent's survival. However, three years ago when he transformed into Chaos right before my eyes, I must say I was shocked. Who would have thought her theory was actually valid? And so I began thinking. If Chaos exists, then so too must Omega. And if you could become one, then maybe I could become the other to traverse the cosmos in a blaze of glory! It was the chance of a lifetime."
"I guess you didn't get the memo, grandpa," Yuffie sighed. "Vincent got dipped in the Lifestream to make him living again. He can't transform into Chaos anymore."
"I learned that Chaos can only lie dormant," Hojo replied. "The same applies to Omega. It's rather hard to destroy. But there was a problem. Only a strong shell could hold back Omega's might. And it could not be just anyone. You see girl, the reason Vincent was able to play such a perfect host for Chaos was because my experiments had endowed him with a nearly indestructible body. Thanks to me, he is standing here today."
"I guess you haven't noticed," Yuffie retorted. "Vincent ain't here!"
"I will track him down," Hojo insisted. "Now, where was I? I attempted to perfect my body for Omega by injecting myself with Jenova's cells. However, that didn't go as I had planned. I failed to consider the fact that the cells might try to take over my mind and eat away at my soul. And so, as a safety measure, I came up with a brilliant plan to transmit my neurodata across the worldwide network."
"So that's why we saw you earlier," Red XIII said. "Both here, and the Southern Continent."
"He really is everywhere," Jessie added.
"However," Hojo continued, "after completing this, I realized I still required a durable body. And that's when I remembered Deepground-home to the most powerful beings on this planet. I even found a willing assistant in the lad Nero here to help carry out my so-called rebirth."
Yuffie scanned Nero's body.
"At the expense of his life," she reprimanded.
"Though never did he expect I would take control of his 'beloved' brother's mind," Hojo continued. "And thus, with a new body, I began my final experiment. If the Chaos within Vincent was born of a tainted Lifestream, then the almighty Omega would be born of a pure one. So I had my minions gather up the 'uncontaminated' to create a stream of refined mako, thus awakening Omega inside me. Genius, I tell you. Pure genius. Pure genius. Only a scientist of my caliber is worthy to become one with Omega and leave this planet for the stars!"
"You're mad, Sofu," Yuffie dismissed. "And I thought I was the craziest one in the family.
"Yuffie, I'm sorry," Barret began, "but I've had enough of this and I'm fixing to open fire on this motherfucker."
"You have my blessing," Yuffie assured him.
Barret opened fire.
Weiss drew two swords and began rapidly deflecting the bullets.
DiStefano also began firing, but Weiss managed to deflect those as well.
Suddenly, Barret's gun-arm began clicking.
He was out of bullets.
A moment later, DiStefano's gun clicked as well.
"Empty," she sighed.
Weiss then approached the ninja girl.
Before Yuffie could react, Weiss performed a roundhouse kick, causing her to fall to the floor.
"You're no match, Yuffie Kisaragi!" Hojo taunted.
Weiss approached the fallen Yuffie.
"You just can't leave me alone, can you?" Hojo continued. "Now, sit right there. I want you to see this."
Weiss then turned to where his throne was. A green glow began to emanate from the ground.
"And once I have absorbed the Lifestream," Weiss continued in his regular voice.
"I don't think so!" Yuffie groaned as she rose to her feet. "Not until I'm good and dead."
"Don't think I won't harm my flesh and blood!" Hojo warned.
"I wouldn't be the first," Yuffie said.
"Very well," said Hojo. "I wanted to test out this body before I began my journey, anyway."
Yuffie quickly charged Weiss and kicked him in the chest.
Weiss did not even flinch.
Instead, he struck Yuffie with his arm, causing her to fly halfway across the room.
"That wasn't much of a test," Weiss said.
Yuffie attempted to raise herself to her feet, but the pain was too intense.
She felt her nose bleeding.
Her vision was blurry.
And then, she heard a familiar voice.
"Yuffie," it said.
A moment later, an image of Shelke appeared before her.
"Yuffie," began Shelke. "You cannot defeat this enemy by simply trying to overpower him. Take control. Be Yuffie. Be the stealthy ninja she is known to be!"
Yuffie, slowly and painfully, rose to her feet.
"Enough of this charade!" shouted Hojo.
"Please, Yuffie," Shelke pleaded. Moments later, she was gone.
"I brought you into this world," Hojo said, "and I can take you out!"
With that, Weiss fired a beam of energy at Yuffie.
Despite her pain, she quickly slid away to safety.
"Anata ga watashinohaha o kono sekai ni tsurete kita no yo, kono yarō!" Yuffie retorted.
"Why you little!" Hojo hissed
"Time to put a stop for this for good!" Yuffie announced.
"You insignificant fool!" Hojo taunted.
Without responding, Yuffie approached the Hojo-possessed Weiss.
She armed her Conformer.
Weiss armed his swords.
She continued to approach him.
They were now only a yard apart.
Weiss prepared to strike.
And then, Yuffie hastily reached with her free hand and ripped out a chunk of flesh from Weiss's neck.
Blood sprayed everywhere; on the floor, and on Yuffie.
Weiss staggered back against the wall and collapsed to the ground.
Yuffie turned to her friends, and flaunted the piece of flesh she had torn, almost as if it was a trophy.
All were stunned.
"Why!? Why is Omega's power fading?" Hojo exclaimed as the seemingly-dead Weiss gazed at Yuffie. "Why?"
"Weiss," called a familiar voice.
"What is going on?" Hojo demanded.
Yuffie turned to see Nero once again on his feet.
At least it had been Nero; he appeared darker than before.
"Weiss," he repeated.
"Impossible!" Hojo exclaimed.
Weiss quickly knocked Nero away, sending him across the room.
And then, without warning, Nero's energy appeared to come out of the throne and merge with Weiss from behind.
"Get out of me!" exclaimed Hojo. "Omega's host must be pure! Why do you think I had you create mako untainted by Jenova!? If a filthy being like you infected it..."
"Silence," Nero interjected.
"What?" Hojo exclaimed.
"Silence!" Nero repeated as he approached the fallen Weiss. "I'm speaking with my brother."
"You're what?" Hojo demanded.
Ignoring him, Nero reached his destination.
"Dear Weiss," he began.
"Nero," Weiss acknowledged.
"No!" Hojo cried.
"Brother," Nero began as he placed his hands on Weiss's shoulders. "Let us become one. Let us come together, so that none may ever tear us apart."
"Yes," Weiss agreed. "Let us.….Let us go join him."
"Weiss…" said Nero.
"Nero…" Weiss replied.
With that, Nero dissipated.
"No!" Hojo exclaimed. "Stop it! You can't! This is my body now!"
But Weiss stood up, and began to slowly make his way toward the throne he had been sitting on.
"No!" Hojo pleaded.
But it was too late.
Moments later, Weiss dissipated in the green, glowing light.