The Stop For FF7 Freaks - Dread Harbingers Part3 - Video Games - http://maxpages.com/theff7stop/Dread_Harbingers

touch me!"

A hot, feral glitter burned in Cloud's Mako eyes as he stared down
at his old tormentor-now-victim. "Why should I listen to you? You
never listened to me. No matter how much I begged. No matter how much
it hurt."

"Don't take it out on me! I was just following Hojo's orders!"

Cloud snarled, "But you enjoyed it, didn't you? You and your damned
hands always poking and prying... sticking them where they damn well
didn't belong! Treating me like a fucking piece of meat...."

"Come on! It was nothing personal. It was my job to do regular
examinations of you and the 'Z' guy... what's his name... oh yeah! That
SOLDIER fellow, Zack."

Cloud pounced on the quivering scientist and grabbed his neck.
Viciously shaking his victim back and forth, he hissed, "You remember
HIS name, but you can't remember MINE!? How come you were always
hurting ME and not HIM!?"

In a distinctly nasal whine, Dr. Stephen said, "You can't blame me
for that! Of course he withstood the treatments better than you! After
all, Zack was a SOLDIER, first class, not to mention Sephiroth's
right-hand man and protege. A guy's got to be exceptional to be someone
like that! While you....! Hey, I saw the personnel files! It's not MY
fault that you were too weak to handle the same sort of treatments. But
what do you expect from just a nobody from a hick town...."

Cloud suddenly dumped the terrified scientist on the floor and
grabbed at his head as those last few words echoed loudly in his brain.

/ Too weak.... nobody.... Just a nobody.... /

// Leave him alone! He's a human being, damn it! //

/ No one cares about me..../

// Hang in there. //

/ I'm losing myself.... /

// I won't leave you alone. //

/ Get out of my head! /

// We're friends, right? //

/ Tifa.... /

// Hope the girl's okay.... //

/ I'm standing right in front of you.... /

// Why are you hiding from her? //

/ Why can't you see who I am? /

// Don't you want her to recognize you? //

/ Of course she doesn't notice me.
/ Teasing little bitch....
/ She's damn too busy flirting with Zack....
/ ....and Sephiroth.... /

// Seph.... //

/ It's all his fault. /

// It's all my fault. //

/ He destroyed my life. /

// I could have tried harder. //

/ Zack....
/ Everybody likes Zack.
/ Everybody respects Zack.
/ Everybody trusts Zack.
/ I have nothing.
/ And Zack's got it all.
/ But a few good whacks will soon take care of THAT. /

// ....!? //

/ Nothing to say now, Mr. hotshot SOLDIER? /

// .... //

/ Stop it! Stop looking at me! /

// .... //

/ Get out of my head! /

// Wish I could.... //

/ What... what have I done? /

// Don't be so hard on yourself. //

/ I didn't mean to.... /

// It wasn't really YOU. //

/ Oh god, I'm sorry.... /

// I'm sorry I couldn't save you.... //

/ You saved my life. /

// ....from the darkness eating you inside. //

/ Why can't I be strong like you? /

// Strength isn't the answer for everything.
// It sometimes really... hurts... to be strong. //

/ I'm just a murderer.... /

// I'm a murderer....//

/ I killed my only friend..../

// I killed my best friend.... //

/ ....because he had everything I desired.... /

// ....because he became a soulless monster.... //

/ ....because he was everything I wanted to be. /

// ....because he was going to destroy the world. //

/ I must be crazy. /

// He was insane. //

/ But that's no excuse for what I've done. /

// But that's no excuse for what I've done. //

/ I didn't HAVE to do it. /

// I HAD to do it. //

/ It was the wrong thing to do. /

// It was the right thing to do. //

/ And that only makes it worse. /

// But that doesn't make it any better. //

/ I want to be like you. /

// Just be yourself. //

/ ....want... to... be... you.... /

Taking advantage of his attacker's distraction, the doctor hastily
scurried out of the room as Cloud sagged to his knees. He stayed that
way for several moments before slowly struggling back to his feet.
Grabbing the examination table for support, he stared at the unfamiliar
surroundings.

"How did I get here? Oww...!" He winced as he moved his head too
suddenly.

Just then Tifa walked into the room, dry and clean after her shower.
When she saw Cloud conscious and standing, she ran toward him and
grabbed him with a cry of relief.

"You're awake! Are you all right? You had me really worried there!
Here, sit down before you fall over. Where on earth did that doctor
run off to? Damn it!"

She helped Cloud into a nearby chair, then knelt beside him.

"Cloud, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I... think so. Except for this headache."

"Do you remember what happened to you?"

Cloud frowned slightly and rubbed his forehead. "What happened?
All I can remember is... hell, falling off that damned outcrop. God,
how totally stupid of me." He grimaced.

"That's it? You just... tripped and fell off a cliff?" Tifa
sputtered in disbelief.

"No, that wasn't exactly it. I got off Nikki to take a quick look
around. The next thing I know, the ground collapses under my feet.
That's about it." He gave Tifa a curious look. "How did you guys find
me?"

"We managed to track you there using the signal from your phone.
How are you feeling? Everyone else is in Reeve's office but we can put
off our meeting until you're feeling better...."

"No, no. I don't want to do that. I'm fine."

"Are you sure? Maybe I should go find that stupid doctor and let
him take another look at you."

Cloud hastily shook his head, then winced at the dull throb of pain.
"No, don't. Doctors give me the creeps."

Tifa's expression softened. Considering Cloud's experiences with
Hojo, it was only natural that he had developed a strong aversion to
doctors and scientists in general.

"All right. I'm sure that the guys will be thrilled to see that
you're okay."

Cloud give her a wry grin. "They probably want to poke fun at me
for tripping over my own feet."

But as they were walking out of the infirmary, Dr. Stephen suddenly
popped out from one of the side offices. He nervously asked Tifa, "Is
he... is he gone? God, I thought he was about to... EEK!"

His words trailed off into a pathetic squeak of terror as he saw
Cloud standing behind Tifa. His eyes bulging in panic, the scientist
fled back into the side office and slammed the door. There was the
click of locks, followed by the sound of furniture being shoved against
the door.

Tifa blinked in astonishment. "What the hell was that all about?"
She turned, then jumped when she saw the expression of intense, barely
controlled rage and hostility on Cloud's face.

"Cloud, what's wrong? Do you know that man?" she asked.

He tersely replied, "Yes. He was one of Dr. Hojo's flunkies at
Nibelheim. He was the one who carried out a lot of the actual...
experiments." His fists clenched. "I'd like to pound the crap out of
him for some of the stuff he put us through." He took a few deep
breaths as he struggled to calm himself.

"Cloud...?"

It took him a minute or two before he could bring himself to respond
to Tifa. "No, I'm fine. Really. It's just that I never thought about
running into one of THEM." He shivered slightly. "I... don't want to
think about it any more, Tifa."

She said quietly, "Okay, Cloud. But I'm here if you ever need to
talk about it...."

He gave her a small grin. "Thanks."

"....and I can always help you beat him to a pulp."

Cloud chuckled softly as they entered the elevator and headed for
Reeve's office.

(end of Part 1)

**********************************************************************

Sephiroth smiling... that's rarely a good sign.

Cloud's past turns out to be much darker and murkier than anyone ever
imagined (like that's any great surprise). But who is this dear friend
he can't -- or won't -- remember?

In parts 2-3,
- mad scientists galore...
- object, object -- who's got the object?
- Reno gets carried away while Elena ends in the sewer...

--------------------------------------------
By CaitSeeth@aol.com Thanx CaitSeeth!

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