FFVII - Backup Plan XV

“Hey, you aren’t allowed in –“ the scientist let out a squeak as the point of a buster sword nearly gave him rhinoplasty.

“The remnants are on their way,” Cloud announced softly.  “I really don’t think you want to be here when they find their woman in a cage.”

The man let out another squeak and bolted out of a side door.  

Cloud approached the force-shield enclosure and shattered the controls with one decisive swing of his sword.  The silver haired figure inside clapped her hands to her ears and curled up in a tight ball.

“Come on; we don’t have much time—“

“PISS OFF!” the woman screamed.  “You’re not Loz!  You aren’t even Yazoo! I’d sooner trust Kadaj to rescue me and he’s one!”

“Don’t be grateful or anything,” Tifa growled.

“Come on,” Cloud repeated, gathering her up with difficulty.  “We’re going to find somewhere better to meet up with the remnants.”

“My family has already reached the city,” Maya announced.  “They came to tear the President to pieces but I heard them.  They know where I am and they’re coming to get me.”

“What do you mean, ‘you heard them’?” Cloud asked, pausing in the hallway.

You know exactly what I mean, Maya informed him.  You have some of Mother’s cells as well.  Not enough to make you like us, but a few.  The things you’ve done to my family, Cloud . . . . what a terrible brother you are.

The silver haired woman paused.  She reached for the hilt of Cloud’s buster sword. Popping the materia free from their slots, she shoved bother Master Ice and Master Lightning into her mouth and swallowed.  Cloud moved to stop her half-way through the motion, but a mental snarl of warning made him stop.

“Did – did she just eat your materia?” Barrett asked.

“And you just let her?” Tifa added.

“ . . . it’s the mako.  That’s what she’s after.  She needs it,” Cloud muttered.

Maya licked her lips and smiled at her would be rescuers.

“My family will slaughter you all!” She declared.  “You pathetic humans will fall and I’ll bathe in your . . . blood . . . . . . . . after . . . . . . . . . . .”

Maya slowed trailed off.  She tilted her head back and stared at the ceiling.  Cloud mimicked her.

“Who’s that?” he asked.

“You again . . .” Maya breathed.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Loz’s motorcycle smashed through the front doors, sending guards and office workers scattering.  Yazoo followed close behind on his own bike.  Arariel clutched his father’s waist as the bike bucked and jumped over the debris from the doors.  From the steady “ehehehehehehehe” coming from the bulletproof pack on Yazoo’s back, Kadaj was experiencing a bumpy ride of his own.

Both bikes aimed for the open elevators – then Loz and Yazoo’s heads tilted back abruptly, their green cat eyes wide.

“Father! Watch out!” Arariel cried.

Loz snapped to face forward once more and veered sharply to avoid slamming into the wall between the elevators.  Father’s bike ended up slamming against the curved staircases that led to the lobby.

For just a moment, Loz and Yazoo’s eyes met before the lift doors closed on Yazoo, Kadaj, and Yazoo’s bike.

Keep going, Loz ordered through Maya’s mental link.  Find Sister. Find Little Raindrop.  Tell them Father’s coming.

The big clone spared half a second to be amazed at his own confidence.

Of course you're confident, Maya thought, joy and pride singing through their mental link. Father protects the family.

A second happy bubble of non-coherent thought tickled his mind. He was puzzled for a moment.

She was asking for you, Maya informed him. Whenever I became frightened or worried, she wanted to know where you were.

A wave of pure emotion washed over Loz. He was proud and touched so deeply smitten with his unborn daughter that he felt tears prick his eyes. His little one depended on him before she even knew his face. Without appearing to notice, Loz drew the Velvet Nightmare from its holster and shot five guards trying to creep towards the bike.

"Come on, Ari; let's go find Mother," the big clone said, turning his bike up the staircase.

At that moment, Loz was feeling such love for his family that he would have taken on a wounded red dragon with a bent thumb tack to protect each and every one of them from harm.
It was information Cid could have used a few minutes later. It probably wouldn't have changed anything, but the pilot might have felt better about it.

~*~*~*~*~*~

“Aww, damn it!” Cid howled. “Kid, we’ve got incoming up the staircase!  How close are you to the roof?”

Cloud didn’t answer.

“The boy is coming up first,” Vincent observed.  “ . . . Cid, could you let him pass?  Delay the big remnant? Just for a few minutes.”

“Vince, what do you think yer gonna accomplish?!  That kid doesn’t know who—“

“Please?” There was such pain in those red eyes Highwind couldn’t bear to refuse.

“Okay, Vince, but –“

“Promise me.”

“Damn.  I promise,” Cid breathed.        

There was a quick smile like a flicker of starlight in the darkness, then Vincent was gone, just a shadow rushing up the steps.  Cid ducked behind a column as the remnant boy ran past, his buster sword draw. His silver hair was pulled back into a short tuft of ponytail.  He really did look like Sephiroth.  This must be killing Vincent.

Well . . . if he weren’t already dead.



”Ya ain’t comin’ through here son, so ya’d better jest back off…ooof!”

The crunch when his skull and vertebra hit the wall resounded through the empty corridor and Venus Gospel clattered to the floor by Cid’s feet. A normal human would have passed out, probably even died, but Cid was a seasoned dragon and Sephiroth-killing hero. He shook off plaster and managed to get to his feet. The damn punk he’d been trying to stop had the audacity to look mildly curious as to why his opponent’s brain wasn’t plastered all over the wall.

“That the best ya got?” Cid wiped a bit of blood from his nose with his work gloves and engaged the Materia on his weapon.  

He wasn’t the most comfortable with magic, but a bit of Speed couldn’t hurt right now. As an afterthought he engaged Restore, too because he sure as hell wasn’t twenty anymore; that damn punch had hurt. But the pain of the casual attack hurt his pride even more.

Cid jumped, rushed and attacked, but the silver haired punk wasn’t where he’d been a split second ago. All was a blur of punches and blocks for a few second, then a boot hit Cid in the guts and sent him reeling back across the corridor. Without even getting to his feet, Cid lit and tossed a stick of dynamite.  Surprised, the clone caught it.

It blew up in the pale face, knocking the clone back half a step, but to Cid’s distress it seemed to have no other effect. The big remnant wiped the soot from his face and glared at the engineer as if he was an annoying insect.

“Stop it. I’m going to find Sister. Don’t get in my way and I won’t have to kill you.”

Cid bristled. Who the Hell did this punk think he was anyway?! Brushing off one of the planet’s strongest melee fighters like he was gnat! Turning his back to Cid Goddamned Highwind ?! Who the Hell did he think….oh, right. The embodiment of Sephiroth’s strength. Yeah, that was a bit difficult, but damn it, he’d promised Vincent…

The clone was already clomping away, heavy boots making the floor shake. Cid’s head spun; he could attack again but the clone would probably just shrug him off once more. He needed to stall him, needed to keep him busy to buy Vince enough time…The embodiment of strength. Not smarts.

“Ya looking fer that chick? Can’t say I blame ya. She’s a hot one. Maybe after I’m done grinding ya inta dust I’ll take a little ride with her myself, eh?”

Inwardly, Cid cringed at what he was saying. His ma would have kicked his ass if she heard. Shera would have kicked his ass! Hell, he’d kick his own ass for what he implied, but he’d promised Vincent to give him as much time as possible and distraction seemed to be the only way.

“Bring her home ta my place and do the dirty three times a day whether she wants ta or not!”

The big clone stopped and turned around, looking at Cid up and down. The clone took in Cid’s manly - albeit scruffy – looks; the stubbles and cigs and few greying hairs. There was a strange sound.  It took Cid a second to realize the remnant was chuckling.

“You?  Maya would never choose you. She would eat you alive.” He scoffed, walking away again.

More disturbed than he wanted to let on – who the Hell knew if ‘eat you alive’ was a metaphor with these people? – Cid desperately pressed on.

“Heard she already had a brat in the oven though. Would have ta do something about that, I guess.” For the rest of his life, Cid would secretly hate what he was about to say, but...Vincent. Promises. “Gonna have ta thrown that one out with the rest of the trash once it pops out. Right in the garbage with all the other useless shit.”

The clone stopped again. This time there were nothing in his stance to indicate amusement.

Loz couldn’t think. His mind was crowding over with mental images – images of Little Raindrop crying, weakening, and dying, in filth and fear. Images mixing up with memories of baby Kadaj when he and Yazoo rescued him from the labs – a pale, terrified, neglected baby – and vague memories of his own childhood of fear and pain and loneliness. No.  That was not the life for his daughter.  Girls brought happiness and love and joy.  Sister was even sad that Arariel had to grow up so fast.  

He couldn’t think.

Rage welled up inside him, coiling as dark and overwhelming as Geostigma. He was Father; his job was to protect the family. The very notion that someone would hurt his family, hurt his babies, hurt Little Raindrop . . .

“I mean, it’s gonna scream for a while but I figure the rats will find it soon enough.”

All went black inside Loz’s head.

All Cid heard was a roar of rage and then the clone was upon him; the first punch drove him straight through the reinforced concrete wall. Rolling aside, Cid avoided a boot that would have smashed his head in and retaliated with a stab at the groin. This was no time to be fighting fair. The stab missed and the pilot was hoisted up; he screamed as electricity shock-waved through him from the clone’s weapon. The pilot was thrown across the room to smash into the opposite wall.  Well, mission fucking accomplished; the clone was distracted. Right now Cid was too busy trying to survive to even be pleased about the time he bought his lover.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~


The corridor was empty before Ari and then suddenly it wasn’t.

In the dark lit only by the eerie green glow of emergency exit signs, shadows seemed to flow together and suddenly a man stood before him, red eyes burning down on the child who drew his sword. This strange new man was tall, taller even than Father and more lithe than his uncle Yazoo, and as pale as anyone in his family. Taking stock of this new opponent Ari’s quick mind noted the dagger shoes and razor claws as well as the enormous gun strapped to his hip. This man would be dangerous both at a distance and close up and those long limbs gave him a reach far wider than Ari’s. The boy nodded, almost pleased. This was a worthy enemy, one who might even have been a challenge in his….previous life.

For a short while, boy and man stood silent, observing one another. Then, very slowly, the man reached into his cloak and pulled something out. Ari tensed, ready for an attack, but was completely dumbfounded when the man held out a soft-looking teddy bear.

“I brought you this.” The man said awkwardly. “I suppose you are far too old for it, though.”

Seeing the boy’s absolute distrust and non-comprehension, the man sighed and carefully put the bear down on the floor, as close to Ari as he could. Ari didn’t even glance at it, keeping his eyes on the man’s movements as he’d been taught.

“You don’t know who I am.” The man continued, tilting his head so most of his face was hidden behind the red cloak and black hair. “My name is Vincent Valentine. I wish there was a non-cliché way of saying this but…I am your father.”

Silver eyebrows shot up as Ari tried to stop from laughing. This man, Father? This withdrawn, stuffy, intelligent man – compared to his own warmhearted, loving and a bit dumb Father? The comparison was hilarious, but deep paranoia gripped Ari a second after. He didn’t have Mother’s telepathic abilities but he did have senses that in a human would be considered super-senses. He took a deep breath and then strained his ears.

“You have none of my family’s smells, or cells. And….you are dead. Or almost.”

There were no heartbeat….no, there was a heartbeat but it was faint and slow almost as if it wasn’t necessary but more of a habit.

“Indeed.” Vincent nodded. “I am dead. But I am also your father.”

This was stupid and a waste of time; Ari knew who his Father was and it was not this man. And yet the man’s words made him deeply uncomfortable.

He attacked.

The Buster Sword swung right through the man – literally right through as Vincent seemed to dissolve into shadows and melt away from the blade.

“Please. I don’t want to fight you.” Vincent tried reaching for his son, but all Ari saw was a clawed hand reaching at his through shadows and darkness. “Listen to me. Hojo….”

Ari howled in rage and wacked again; the mere mention of the scientist’s name engaging some kind of racial memory in him. Vincent could have stopped him, unarmed him or killed him, but he was too distressed at his failure to do more than stay away from the blade. A swish of the blade and the teddy bear’s head was suddenly rolling on the floor.

“This is all my fault.” Vincent blocked with his claw. “In your previous life…surely you must remember…I never got to hold you as my son…”

Panting with effort and pent up rage, Ari stared at the man.

“Who is your father?” He asked grimly, wiping sweat from his brow. The man was fast.

Off balance with the question, Vincent stared.

“His name was Grimoir.” He said finally.

“And in your life before that?” Ari pressed, green eyes shining as emergency lights in the dark.

“I…don’t know. It is not important. You must listen to me, I…”

“It is not important to you, who was your father in your previous life? Well, it is not important who was my father in a previous life either!” Snarling, Ari sensed Vincent’s hesitation as the truth struck the man. “I know who my Father is, my Mother, my uncles and little Sister. And I will not let you destroy that to atone for some ancient sin!” For a second his eyes flashed and Vincent could see the man Ari had been…in a previous life. “I have enough ancient sins of my own to atone for.”

“Ari?” His son’s distress cut through Loz’ rage like a match flaring to life in a dark room.  

He stepped away from the pile on the floor he’d been pummeling mercilessly for at least ten minutes. Without even looking back at the pilot, he hurried away through the dark corridors.

Cid took a second to reflect that he was still alive. A Barrier and the last ticking Restore was all that had saved him from really, literally being a wet stain on the floor.

“Damn it Vince,” he mumbled as he saw the clone run down the corridor. “I sure hope ya had time ta fix things up.” Then he passed out.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“Father!” Seeing his Father, his real Father, come running down the corridor to him, Ari threw himself into those strong arms, gulping down breaths filled with the sweet Jenovan smell. The smell of family, not the other man’s weird smell of graveyards and death.

“Ari, are you alright? Did he hurt you?” Loz tried to look all over his son for signs of blood or broken bones, but Ari just shook his head.

“No Father. He can’t hurt me. He can’t do anything for me anymore. He had his chance and he is not getting another.” Perplexed, Loz stared at him, but Ari smiled and pulled his arm. “Come on, let’s go get Mother!”

“I…I should stop you.” Suddenly a man appeared in front of them, a tall brooding man with deadly looking weapons. But there was a strange shine in his eyes and the huge gun in his hand was shaking.

“Step aside, Vincent.” Ari raised the Buster Sword again.

Loz frowned.

“Vincent? The man down the hall who tried to stop me called out for you a few times. While he could still talk. Or scream.” He added, pleased.

Vincent hesitated, eyes darting between the two silver Jenovans before him and down the long corridor where he’d left Cid. Choosing between the future he might have had thirty years ago and the future he could have now, he ran from the child who was no longer his son to the man who was his love.

The decapitated teddy bear laid abandoned on the floor as Loz led his son towards Mother.