The Stop For FF7 Freaks - C and Z Part 4 - Video Games - http://maxpages.com/theff7stop/C_and_Z

Final Fantasy 7: C and Z part 4

The dark man looked at his sword, a blade of strength, of resilience. Although it was thin, almost fragile looking, it was by far the finest weapon ever constructed. The weapon that had killed the last of the Ancients...no, the Cetra. The weapon that would kill the Jenova Project C. He could feel Zack standing nearby, anxiously waiting the final fight with Cloud. They would win. Cloud had no chance against them.

"Hey, Tifa, you look a little tired. Busy night?" Barret asked laughingly.
Tifa blushed. She thought that bit of information had stayed under wraps. Apparently not.
Seeing her confused look and embarrassed look, Barret explained, "We all heard a lot of moaning and groaning from your room last night. And since Cloud wasn't in his room...."
"Damn you Barret...." she threatened.
They were all eating breakfast in the mess hall of the Highwind. The airship was only a mile away from Junon. Reeve had gone to Junon to get a sub ready for them. Cloud was eating by himself, away from Tifa, surprisingly. She wondered why he was trying to avoid her.....

*Cloud.....come to me.....kill me.....*

Cloud stood up, chair screeching against the floor of the mess hall. Cloud abruptly ran up the nearby stairs, headed for the upper decks. Everyone looked at him, wondering what he was up to.

*Cloud....*

The tormented man entered a new section of the Highwind: the escape pod hanger. Thirty escape pods were here, locked down in the pod hanger. This section was added only a few months ago. Cid ordered it added, just in case the Highwind was in trouble. Cloud entered one of the pods, activated the controls, and opened the hanger door. The pod Cloud was in fell out of the Highwind, heading for the ocean.
Back on the Highwind's bridge, Cid looked at the monitor beside him.
"What the &%#$!?!?!?!" Cid yelled, looking at the blips on the monitor.
"What's wrong?" Vincent asked him.
"Yeah, what's with the weird blips?" Yuffie added, pointing at the monitor.
"Someone's jettisoned one of the #$%@ escape pods!!" Cid answered.
"Cloud must've done it!!" Barret said, "But why?"

He had no idea why he was even here, in an escape pod, underwater, using the pod's thrust boosters to propel himself fathoms below the ocean's surface. He just had the gut feeling that something was down here, something that could free his tormented soul.
Cloud maneuvered the pod through the dark depths, heading for...something... There! That rock wall! That's what he's looking for! The rock wall began to open up, revealing a large opening in the wall. Cloud maneuvered the pod inside, heading for God-knew-what. Strangely enough, Cloud didn't feel any kind of motion sickness. He didn't have any time to think about it, though, for he had just broke the surface of the water, realizing that he was in a very large cavern. The two lookalike WEAPONs, a computer, a chair, a man sitting in that chair. A man with white hair, a man with the dreaded Masamune lying across his lap. The man turned in his swivel chair, facing Cloud, who had come out of his pod.
Sephiroth stood up, blade in hand.

"Welcome, Cloud. I take it you have met my two WEAPONs," Sephiroth said to the younger man. "Now, I would like you to meet my other WEAPON,"
Zack came out from behind the computer, in his armored form, sword in hand.
"Reveal yourself," Sephiroth ordered.
The armor retracted into a belt buckle once again, and Cloud stood there, shocked to the core: Zack WAS alive!! He was more muscular, taller, had broader shoulders and a new haricut....but it was him.
Cloud's sword dropped to the ground and his jaw nearly dropped just as far.

"Ok, I've got a lock on his pod's signal!" Cid said, looking at a tiny little radar in his hand. They were all inside a Junon Submarine. They were tacking Cloud's pod's homing signal.
"The signal's...behind that rock wall??" Nanaki asked, more than stated, in surprise as he looked at the tiny radar.
"Must be a hidden door or something," Yuffie said, looking at the mossy rock wall in front of them.
"It won't be hidden for long," Tifa said quietly, "Lightning Materia!! Bolt 3!!" A blast of lightning ripped from the green materia Tifa had in her hand, it somehow went through the submarine without damaging it, and crashed into the rock wall, destroying the hidden door. The sub moved through the now open doorway, into darkness.

"Well, they're finally here," Zack said, looking behind Cloud, who had jumped onto the peninsula earlier, "Your friends have made the mistake of following you, Cloud,"
Cloud looked behind him, seeing that his friends were indeed in the cavern, their sub parked next to Cloud's pod. They began moving onto the peninsula, weapons ready.
"He's alive....." Tifa whispered, seeing that Sephiroth was there, standing tall and very much alive.
"Cloud," Sephiroth said to him harshly, "I destroyed your friend, the last of the Cetra. Now, I will destroy your lover!" The dark man leaped into the air, heading for Tifa, blade poised to strike.
"NO!!" Cloud yelled, also leaping, trying to intercept Sephiroth. He managed to deflect Sephiroth's attack by slamming his Buster Sword into the extended Masamune. Sephiroth quickly landed on his feet and jumped back at Cloud, again his blade was poised for a strike. Cloud and Sephiroth clashed, sparks flying. Zack was standing there, arms crossed over his chest, waiting for the order to eliminate Cloud's lover and his friends.
Cloud managed to trap Sephiroth's blade between his own sword and the ground, sparks again flying. Blue Mako eyes locked stares with green Mako eyes, neither giving any hint of backing off. Sephiroth fell to his knees, kicked out with his foot, and thereby knocking Cloud off of his feet. Cloud rolled backwards as he fell, the roll absorbing the shock of the fall. He came up on his feet, eyes flaring.
"Zack, help me kill him," Sephiroth said to the black haired man. Zack drew out his sword and charged at Cloud. Cloud barely blocked Zack's attack, surprised that his only friend from Shinra would attack him. Sparks flew as Sephiroth and Zack attacked Cloud together, their blades clashing with Cloud's.
"WEAPONs, attack!!!!" Zack yelled, ordering the two WEAPONs to go into auto attack mode. Barret was the first to react, dishing out load after load of laser and bullet fire. Vincent took up Barret's example, also firing. The Sapphire lookalike was hit hard by Barret's and Vincent's attacks. It still hadn't recovered from the Knights of the Round Table attack, and it began to stagger. The Emerald lookalike began dishing out a retaliatory strike against the two gunmen. Barret and Vincent just barely jumped out of the way. Laser fire ripped into the peninsula, chunks of rock flying all over the place.
Yuffie started throwing her ninja star all over the place, the star ripping a gash into the Emerald lookalike, then went spinning back to her hand. Nanaki and Cid had managed to climb up onto the Emerald lookalike, and began jabbing, chewing, and clawing at the thing's head. Barret and Vincent continued firing on the Sapphire lookalike. Reeve hung back, rapidly pressing buttons on the remote controller. Cait Sith responded to Reeve's commands by throwing a barrage of exploding dice,
toy soldiers, little exploding mog dolls, and other ridiculous items at the Emerald lookalike. Tifa, having no long range attacks, just kept on casting Knights of the Round Table until she had no more energy to even cast a single spell.
By the time Tifa ran out of energy, the Sapphire lookalike had been blown to bits; the repeated use of Ultimate End and the constant barrage of lead bullets and plasma lasers had done it in. The Emerald lookalike was barely phased.

"You will die, Cloud!!" Zack said to him coldly, black Mako eyes burning.
"Why are you so intent on killing me, Zack? I thought we were friends...." Cloud whispered.
"We stopped being friends after you murdered Aeris!!!"
"What!?" Cloud stammered, "I didn't kill her! Sephiroth did!"
"Liar! I saw you kill her! Sephiroth tried to help me beat you! But, you defeated us...and killed Aeris when she tried to heal me with her materia!"
"Sephiroth's the liar, Zack. He's manipulating you, just like he manipulated me!"
"Enough! I've had it with your lies!!" Zack charged at Cloud, enraged and confused. Cloud parried each attack Zack made at him. Cloud knew he should strike back, but, this was his friend! He couldn't attack his own friend!
"Zack, kill him now!!" Sephiroth ordered. The dark man also charged at Cloud, pushing Cloud into a corner. Cloud did his best to parry the repeated attacks, but it was no use; to many slashes were breaking through his defenses. Already his left leg was torn to the point that he could no longer stand on it; he had to shift all his weight onto his right leg. His right arm was also severly damaged; he had to use only one hand on his huge Buster Sword. A dull ache erupted from his abdomen, where Zack had stabbed him back at the cliff near Midgar. He tried his best, but realized that he couldn't keep up against two SOLDIER 1st Class Officers. Cloud ducked, forced as much energy into his good leg as he could, and propelled himself through the air by pushing with his good leg. Cloud landed in a roll and quickly got back up, sword at the ready.
"Zack, I can prove that Sephiroth is the liar, no me!" Cloud said to him, trying to get through Zack's thick head, "Why would I attack you? Or Aeris? I didn't even know Aeris was your girlfriend in the first place!"
The questions stopped Zack as surely as a brick wall would. He stopped in his tracks, trying to remember. How DID Cloud find out that Aeris was his girlfriend? Why would Cloud, of all people, want to kill him? Sephiroth told him that Cloud wanted to prove he was the strongest, but, that was never Cloud's intentions when he first met him......
Zack dropped his sword, put his hands to his temples, and screamed. The pain in his head was overwhelming, but now his real memories were flooding in: the good times he and Cloud spent together, working side by side on several missions, his memories of his girlfriend, Aeris, and the disappointment he felt when he learned that Sephiroth had gone insane. He recalled his time in the experiment tubes, being injected with Jenova cells...and he remembered the pain of when he was shot repeatedly by Shinra soldiers.
"Zack...?" Cloud asked his friend, moving toward him.
"Hey, Cloud...long time no see..." Zack replied shakily, picking up his sword, its tip pointing at the ground.
"Welcome back to the land of the living,"
"Thank you, Cloud. You brought me back,"
"My, how touching," Sephiroth appeared behind the two reunited friends, Masamune in hand. "Die!!"
Cloud and Zack both jumped back, dodging the attack. Sephiroth jumped at them again, sword flashing. Cloud brought his blade up in time to block the strike, sparks flying wildly. Zack managed to duck, the slash harmlessly swishing above his head.
Zack stood up, sword at the ready; Cloud was also in a prepared positioned. Anyone who saw them would have instantly noticed the similarity between the two warriors.
Sephiroth, once again on the ground, started removing the cumbersome coat he was wearing. He also removed his shirt and gloves, dropping the cumbersome materials to the ground. He stood there now, blade at the ready, staring at the two young men, an icy glare in his eyes.
Three warriors, each battered by a dark past, each manipulated time and again by forces not of their own will, each a Jenova-filled puppet. Green Mako eyes bore into blue Mako eyes and black Mako eyes. Each warrior staring down the length of his blade. They stood there, in a perfect triangle, muscles tensed for the one attack that could finish off the opposition.

The Emerald lookalike opened fire once again on the already battered team. They had all run out of energy to cast any spells, and had been hit again and again by laser fire from the WEAPON. Vincent, Yuffie, Cid, and Nanaki were down, unconscious, but alive. Cait Sith was almost out of battery power, the stuffing pouring out of the giant Mog doll from a rather large hole in the doll's stomach area. Tifa and Barret were the only ones capable of fighting at this point; Barret being the only one with a functional long range weapon. The WEAPON was only slightly scratched; its exterior armor was quite thick.
"Damn, we have to break its armor somehow," Tifa said to Barret. Tifa's wounds were quite serious; her left leg and right hand were broken, her left shoulder had been dislocated, she was bleeding from numerous wounds, and she had a serious head injury that was beginning to make her vision blur.
Seeing that she was beginning to get a little woozy, Barret said, "Why don't you back out for a while? I'm sure I can handle this thing by myself,"
"Thanks for the offer, Barret, but I'm fine, really. I just need some time to let the dizziness pass," she said to him.
"All right, have it your way."
Then, suddenly, the WEAPON fired all of its weapons at once. Barret, Tifa, and the others were lost in the ensuing explosion.....

Cloud and Zack looked in the direction the the explosion, and Cloud just stood there, mouth agape, frozen in horror. He knew that his friends were in the explosion's radius, maybe even in the center of the explosion itself! His sword dropped to the groups, clattering. The tormented man fell to his knees, tears trickling down his cheeks.
Then Cloud heard that laugh. Cloud's eyes flared as he looked up at Sephiroth, who was laughing like a madman. Something in Cloud's mind finally snapped. He just broke, physically and mentally. His spirit shattered, hopes destroyed, and dreams broken, Cloud picked up his sword, and began stalking Sephiroth, like a wolf would stalk its prey. Sephiroth paid him no heed, just stood there laughing, oblivious to the murderous look in Cloud's eyes......
By SenshiB@aol.com

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Page Updated Tue Apr 10, 2001 3:30pm EDT