Bizarre Occurances Chapter 10
Father
By Dino Pollard
Yuffie mopped up the floor of the Highwind.
“Stupid pilot…” she muttered. “It’s not MY fault
he can’t keep the damn plane straight…”
“I didn’t see anyone else pukin’ their guts out,” Cid
said. “You just got a weak-ass stomach.”
“If you don’t watch your mouth, I’m gonna stick this mop where
the sun don’t shine!!” Yuffie exclaimed. “Old man!!”
“Why you little piece of—“ Cid began.
“Children!” Sephiroth exclaimed. The remark made them silent. That,
and the fact that neither wanted to be the cause of Sephiroth’s anger.
“Are we almost to Mideel?” Aeris asked. “I can’t wait
to see Cloud.”
“We’ll be there in about five minutes or so,” Cid said, looking
at the digital map which plotted their course.
“Don’t get your hopes up, Aeris,” Vincent said.
“There’s a slim chance Cloud will be there. That is, if he’s
still alive, even.”
“What do you mean ‘still alive?’” Red asked.
“Mako Poisoning is extremely deadly,” Vincent said.
“I survived it,” Sephiroth noted.
“You are different, Sephiroth,” Vincent replied. “The Jenova
in your body makes you immune to Mako Poisoning.”
“Look!” Tifa said, pointing to a wooded area below.
“There’s a town in those forests!!”
“That’s Mideel,” Cid said. “Take us down, kid.”
“Yes sir,” the pilot said.
“NOT TO HARD ON THE STICK, DAMN YOU!!” Cid cursed.
*****
Mideel was a tropic little town with wooden houses built up from the land.
There were one or two homes on the ground, but the rest weren’t. The
ocean had a certain green tint to it down here.
“What’s dat all about?” Barret asked, motioning to the water.
“Lifestream,” Red replied. “The spot where it comes from the
Planet must be under the water somewhere. Perhaps an underwater cave.”
“Whoa,” Yuffie said. “How do you know all this stuff?”
Red shrugged.
“We will need to restock our supplies,” Sephiroth said.
“There’s an item shop right over there.”
“Yeah, I’ll do it,” Cid said.
“Want me to come too?” Yuffie asked.
“NO!” the whole team replied.
“Fine then,” she said, rolling her eyes.
*****
Cid walked out of the nearby item shop holding a bag and muttering curses.
“Stupid bitch,” he said. “Overcharged me for some potions.”
“Shoulda let me come with,” Yuffie said. “I could’ve
stolen them.”
“Cid, it looks like you have a new friend,” Aeris giggled.
“Wha--?” Cid asked. He looked behind him to see a small white Chocobo
sniffing his supply bag. “What’s he want?”
“What do you have in there?” Tifa asked.
“Just some leftover greens,” Cid replied.
“Let’s give it some!” Aeris said. She took the greens from
Cid’s pouch and fed them to the Chocobo. “Ahh, he’s so cute!!
I just have to tickle him!” She reached behind his ears and gave him
a little scratch.
“WARK!” the Chocobo replied with joy. It dropped a Materia orb.
“YES!” Yuffie shrieked. She grabbed the orb and looked at it.
“Cool! It’s Contain!”
“If you’re all finished,” Sephiroth said. “Perhaps we
can get some information on Cloud.”
Tifa noticed a dog following them.
“Oh, you poor thing!” she said, kneeling down. “You must have
been separated from someone you love.”
She petted it and Aeris joined in.
“Let’s move on,” Sephiroth said, a tone of annoyance in his
voice.
“Must’ve been about a week since he washed up here,” they
overheard a man say.
“Yeah, I know,” another one replied. “Poor spikey-headed young
thing. His eyes had this glow to them.”
“But the weirdest thing about him was this big sword that was on his
back,” the other man said.
“Huh?” Tifa asked. She ran up to them. “Excuse me, where is
that man you were just talking about?”
“Oh, he’s in the clinic over there,” one of them said, pointing
to a building at the edge of town.
“Cloud!” Tifa exclaimed. She broke into a sprint to the clinic.
“H-hey!” Yuffie shouted. “Wait for us!”
*****
“Cloud?” Tifa asked, running into the clinic.
“Whoa, slow down,” the doctor said. “The way you’re running
around, you’d think Meteor fell or something.”
“I’m sorry, doctor,” she replied. “But I’m looking
for a friend of mine.”
“Oh yes, that young man,” the doctor said as the rest of Avalanche
entered. “He’s right in the next room.
*****
“Cloud?” Tifa asked again as she entered the room. There was Cloud
sitting in a wheelchair, his head bobbing up and down.
“Ugh…oh…ugh…” was all he could say.
“Damn,” Barret said, shaking his head. “Lookit his face.”
Cloud’s eyes were distant. The glow seemed stronger before. Except they
weren’t Cloud’s eyes. They could all tell that by looking at him.
“Mako Poisoning,” the doctor said. “Quite an advanced case.
A large amount of Mako-drenched knowledge was put into his head at once.
It was too much for him to handle. Frankly, I’m amazed that he’s
still alive. But right now, he is literally thousands of miles away from
us. In a place no one can reach.”
“Cloud…” Aeris said. She turned away, not being able to look
at him.
“It’s my fault,” Sephiroth said. “Perhaps if I told him
the truth of his past sooner, I might have been able to break Jenova’s
influence on him. But it was no use.”
“Don’t blame yourself,” Vincent said. “You couldn’t
have prevented this. No one would have.
Sephiroth nodded.
“Cloud,” Tifa said, kneeling by his wheelchair. She turned to the
doctor. “You can help him, right?”
“I can try,” the doctor said. “But to be quite honest with
you, there’s not a whole lot I can do here. I suggest we move him to
a more advanced facility. Such as a Midgar hospital. Perhaps we’d have
better luck treating him there.”
“No,” Sephiroth said. “He stays here.”
“Sephiroth…?” Aeris asked, looking at him.
“If you care for your friend, then you should do what’s
best—“ the doctor began.
“No!” Sephiroth replied sternly.
“As you wish,” the doctor said. “I’ll do what I can.”
“What about a potion or Cure spell?” Red asked.
“Wouldn’t help,” the doctor replied. “Materia is condensed
Mako energy. And potions are manufactured using Mako. They would only worsen
his condition.”
“Everyone,” Tifa said. “I’d like to be alone with Cloud
for a little bit.”
“Of course,” Red said. “We’ll be waiting outside,
Tifa.”
“Thanks Red,” she replied.
*****
“What tha hell’s wrong with you?!?” Barret exclaimed.
“Sephiroth, I know you and Cloud aren’t exactly close friends and
would be more likely to combat each other than work together,” Vincent
began. “But that is no reason to deny him a chance to live.”
“You do not understand,” Sephiroth replied. “Have you all
been blinded? If we send Cloud to Midgar, the Shin-Ra will discover him and
his chances of living would be extremely slim.”
“But isn’t Tsunami in Midgar?” Red asked.
“Yes,” Sephiroth replied. “Which is why it is important that
we stay out of their way.”
“Damn,” Cid said. “Sucks to be us, eh?”
“You can say that again old man,” Yuffie said. They all stood in
silence for several minutes until Tifa walked out of the clinic.
“Everyone, I have something I need to tell you,” she began. “All
I care about is Cloud. Not Meteor or Shin-Ra or anything. Just Cloud. I want
to be by his side, always. That’s why I am staying here until his condition
changes.”
“Then ya gotta be true to yourself,” Barret said.
“Barret’s right,” Aeris said. She put a hand on Tifa’s
shoulder. “Look after him for me.”
Tifa smiled and patted Aeris’ hand.
“I will,” she replied. “In the meantime, you take care of
yourself.” With that, she turned and walked back into the clinic.
“Well, we should probably get back to the Highwind,” Sephiroth
said. “We will plan our next move there.”
*****
“With Cloud and Tifa gone, our number has been reduced,” Sephiroth
began. “And witht that barrier around the North Crater, we can’t
go after my brother either.”
Everyone turned to Cait.
“What do I have something on my face?” he asked.
“Yer da Shin-Ra spy,” Barret said. “What’re they up
to?”
“They’re not planning anything right now,” Cait replied.
“That means that all their efforts are concentrated on Tsunami,”
Sephiroth said. “Perfect.”
“Shouldn’t we be worried about them?” Aeris asked.
“Shen is a powerful warrior and a capable leader,” Sephiroth replied.
“He knows what he’s doing.”
“CAPTAIN CID!!” one of the crew shouted.
“What the hell do you want?” Cid asked.
“I’m getting something on radar,” he replied. “And it’s
moving pretty fast.”
“Get me visual!” Cid exclaimed. “NOW!!”
“Y-yes sir!!” another crew replied. On the screen was the image
of a Shin-Ra Military Jet.
“SHIT!!” Cid cursed.
“Can’t we outrun them?” Red asked.
“We should be able to,” Cid replied.
“What about weapons?” Vincent asked.
“We’ve got a fair share,” Cid replied.
“Captain...?” the pilot began. “It flew right past us.”
“What the fuck?” Cid asked. He looked at the radar. “Then
follow it, damn you!!
“The plane has made a crash-landing,” the crew member said.
“Outside Nibelheim.”
“Of all the places...” Sephiroth muttered. “Let’s get
moving.”
*****
Cid examined the remains of the jet but found no pilot. The ejector seat
had been activated, and the pilot appeared to have gone with it.
“Fuck,” Cid cursed.
“He couldn’t have gone far,” Red said.
“LOOK!!!” Yuffie exclaimed. She pointed to a man running into the
town.
“‘Dere’s our mystery man,” Barret said, loading his gun-arm.
*****
“I think I saw him run down here,” Aeris said as they entered the
basement of the Shin-Ra Mansion. Carefully, the team approached the entrance
to the library. Sephiroth put up his hand to stop Aeris from going any furthur.
“Our answer lies behind this door,” he said. Clutching the Masamune
in one hand, he eased the door open and entered, ready to attack. The others
followed suit.
“What do you want?” the man inside asked. He had grey hair from
age which hung down to his shoulders. His face was lined with battle scars.
His eyes were blue and seemed to glow.
“Look at his eyes,” Vincent said.
“Whoa,” Cait replied. “You look familiar...”
“Who are you people?” he asked, aiming a gun at them.
“You’re from Shin-Ra, aren’t you?”
“We thought you were from Shin-Ra,” Aeris said.
“Dat’s right!” Barret exclaimed. “We’re
Avalanche!!!”
“Oh,” the man sighed, lowering his weapon. “Allow me to introduce
myself. The name’s Jonah. Jonah Strife.”
“STRIFE?!?” the team explained in unison.
“Your son wouldn’t happen to be Cloud, would he?” Red asked.
“How did you know about Cloud?” Jonah asked.
“He’s our leader,” Aeris replied.
“Then where is he?” Jonah asked.
“In Mideel,” Red answered. “Currently suffering from Mako
Poisoning.”
“I see,” Jonah said. “Do me a favor. When Cloud awakens,
don’t tell him about me yet. It will only add to his troubles. I will
be in Gongaga. I have some old friends there I need to check up on. So just
promise me that you’ll take Cloud to Gongaga when the time is right.
I’ll be waiting.”
“Yes,” Sephiroth replied. He turned to the others. “Let’s
go.”
*****
The Highwind was in the air within minutes.
“Damn...” Barret said. “I just... damn.”
“It was surprising,” Red said. “But now what should we do?”
“We need to head over to Mideel,” Sephiroth replied.
“Yeah,” Aeris replied. “We should check on Cloud and I’m
worried about Tifa. I think she may have collapsed taking care of him.”
“You heard ‘em, shitheel,” Cid said to the pilot. “Now
get your ass in gear and fly this ship to Mideel!!”
“Yes sir,” he replied.
_____________________________________________________________________________
AUTHOR’S NOTE: Hope you liked Chapter 10. A nice, little revelation
that Cloud’s father is still alive. Hey, I brought Professor Gast back
to life, didn’t I? And now Cloud’s presumed-dead father is back
as well. Damn, I’m such a sentimental guy what with all these family
reunions. But don’t worry. I won’t bring back EVERYONE’S dead
family members. Unless it would make a good story. Now you’re probably
wondering, “what about the Huge Materia quests?” Well don’t.
Anyhoo, in Chapter 11 the team heads to Mideel and faces off against Ultimate
WEAPON.
.