The Stop For FF7 Freaks - Nightmares Chap3 - Video Games - http://maxpages.com/theff7stop/Nightmares

Nightmares: Chapter Three

Cloud continued to run, fleeing the screaming souls that were chasing him. That damned voice kept laughing, mocking him. Cloud ran into a dark forest, and, when he got out of the forest, he came to the cliff that Zack was shot at. There was nowhere to go; the cliff ended here, the souls were behind him, and nothing but jagged rocks loomed below him. Cloud looked back, seeing the souls catching up to him, a horde of transparent, milky white monsters.
"Cloud," a familiar voice said to him. Zack?
Cloud turned around, facing the cliff again, and, sure enough, Zack was standing there, as transparent as the horde of screaming souls.
"You left me here to die, Cloud. I thought you were my friend..." the ghostly image of Zack said to him.
"I thought you were dead. You weren't moving," Cloud whispered in defense.
"I thought of you as a brother; I cared for you, became your friend. I treated you with more respect than any of the other Shinra officers did. And then you left me here to die...."
"No...I thought you were dead! Its not my fault!"
"You are a disappointment, Cloud. A loser. A nobody."
Sephiroth appeared behind Zack, then moved to stand at Zack's left side.
"You are useless," Sephiroth said.
Cloud's parents stepped from behind Zack and moved to Zack's right side.
"We never wanted you," they said together.
The rest of Cloud's friends, except for Tifa, appeared behind Zack, Sephiroth, and Cloud's parents.
"You are hopeless," they said in unison.
"No, please, no.....I never did anything to you!" Cloud whispered, "Why are you doing this to me? Why??"
"You are a loser, a nobody, a disappointment," Zack, Sephiroth, the souls, and Cloud's friends and family said to him.
"No....No!!!.....NO!!!!!!" Cloud shouted, denying what he knew in his heart to be true: he was a failure, not a hero.

The cliff disappeared, the souls disappeared, Sephiroth disappeared. Everything just vanished. He was no longer being tomented by the accusing voices. He was standing about fifty feet from a rock wall, kissing Tifa. He wrapped his arms around her waist, holding her close; Tifa threw her arms around his neck. When they came for breath, Cloud looked into her eyes......and recoiled back in horror.
Tifa's eyes weren't red-brown anymore: they were green. Green Mako eyes. Sephiroth's eyes. As Cloud pulled away, Tifa began to change. Her body got taller, more masculine. Her hair turned silver-white. Her clothes began to change was well; the skimpy, revealing short skit and tank top were transformed into a black coat and black suit. A katana appeared in her hands.....
Where Tifa Lockheart once stood, now stood the diabolical Sephiroth.
Sephiroth advanced slowly on Cloud, gripping his Masamune tightly.
Cloud backed away, terrified.
Sephiroth continued his advance.
Cloud continued to back away, mouth gaping.
Sephiroth never slowed, hesitated, or stalled.
Cloud eventually backed up against the rock wall. There was no place he could run. He was terrified. He went down on his knees, turning his head so he couldn't look at Sephiroth. He cowered against the rock wall, unable to stand against the dark man.
Sephiroth's form blurred, and Tifa stood in his place. The woman knelt next to her lover, wrapping his arms around him. She whispered into his ear, trying to soothe him. Once Cloud calmed down, she stood up, and so did he. Cloud looked into her eyes--now their normal color--and started to thank her when she slapped him.
"I don't know why I ever fell in love with you," she snapped.
"Tifa...?" Cloud asked, confused.
"You're nothing but a nobody, a loser, a disappointment,"
"Not you too...."
"I don't know why I even slept with you!"
"Please...not you too...."
She turned around and stormed off. Cloud raised a hand to stop her, but she vanished before he could catch up to her.

The world shifted again.

Cloud was now in a dark place. He couldn't see anything. It was just to dark. Then he heard it; footsteps coming up behind him. Cloud turned around and saw himself and Sephiroth, fighting in the underwater cavern. He heared gun shots to his left; when he turned to look in that direction, he saw Barret unleasing load after load of bullets at the Emerald WEAPON lookalike. Then he heared a soft moan to his right. When he turned, he saw Tifa's bed, with Tifa and himself on it.
"The two of you were so happy," the voice said to him. "Now, look at what your lover is doing right now...." The scene shifted, and now Cloud saw Zack, sitting in a chair; Tifa sitting in his lap. They were kissing. Cloud's Mako eyes flared, hands clenching into fists.
Cloud could barely contain his anger and rage. He no longer cared if he went insane. No longer gave a damn about what happened from here. His best friend was putting the moves on Tifa!
*I'm going to kill them both,* he thought, murderous rage boiling within him.
"Yes, succumb to that rage, Mr. Strife. End your pain. It will just take a few slashes from that marvelous sword of yours to end all of your pain....." The voice had a soothing, calming effect. Like a soft wave hitting the beach. Cloud felt that he could trust this voice, felt that killing his former friends would be a good thing..... To finally end the pain....the torments......to be free....
"Yes, to be free of all that pain. Only a few strokes will end it all...." the voice said to him.
Cloud was on the verge of an emotional breakdown, but, somehow, he retained his hero's heart.
"You underestimate the trust my friends and I have," Cloud said.
"Huh?" the voice replied.
"You see, my friends and I have been through a lot together. We trust each other. No illusionary world, like your's, can turn us on one another,"
Cloud punched the scene in front of him. The scene shattered into a thousand pieces. He wouldn't believe the lie.
"Ah, but you have been living in an illisionary world all this time, havent you, Mr. Strife?" the voice stated more than asked.
"That was my biggest mistake," the tormented man admitted, "I have learned from those mistakes! I will no longer live the lie!!!!"
The world shattered as she said those words. He was now in some strange, glassy room. The floor, ceiling, and walls were made of glass. The room was about one hundred feet wide and a hundred long. The ceiling was about one hundred-fifty feet up.
"Show yourself!!" Cloud screamed.
From the shadows of the glassy room stepped out the owner of that mocking voice: the evil, the lie, the dreaded......Cloud Strife.
By, the master, SenshiB@aol.com

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