Adult-FanFiction.org : Final Fantasy

Premonitions: Uncut	By : Hippo_and_Friends_with_Benefits Category: Final Fantasy VII > General Views: 3901 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VII, and I am not making any money of of this writing.

Chapter List
- 11
- 12
- 13
Chapter 12: The Rescue
"Barret," began Tifa. "I think…"
"I know," he interrupted. "I know Marlene's okay."
"You understood what Aerith meant?" asked Tifa.
"That," Barret replied, "and I just knew."
Tifa sighed. "Those premonitions again?"
"Forget those," Cloud said. "How many people just died?"
"This is all screwed up!" Barret sighed. "They destroyed an entire village just to get to us! They killed so many people."
"Are you saying it's our fault? Because Avalanche was here?" asked Tifa. "Innocent people lost their lives because of us?"
"No, Tifa!" insisted Barret. "That ain't it! Hell no! It ain't us! It's the damn Shinra! It's never been nobody but the Shinra! They're evil and destroyin' our planet just to build their power and line their own damn pockets with gold! If we don't get rid of them, they're gonna kill this planet! Our fight ain't never gonna be over until we get rid of them!"
"I don't know," said Tifa skeptically.
"What don't you know?" demanded Barret. "You don't believe me?"
"It's not that," Tifa replied. "I'm not sure about me. My feelings."
"And what about you?" asked Barret, looking straight at Cloud.
Without responding, he got up and began to leave.
"Yo!" called Barret. "Where's he think he's going?"
It was no mystery to Tifa. "Oh! Aerith!"
"Oh yeah, that girl," said Barret. "What's up with her?"
"I don't really know," Tifa replied. "But she's the one I left Marlene with."
"Damn! Marlene!" shouted Barret. "Tifa, there ain't no turning back now. Cloud, take me to Marlene!"
"You're going to help Aerith?" asked Tifa.
"Yeah," Cloud replied. "But before that, there's something I want to know about the Ancients."
And then, Cloud seemed frozen.
"In my veins courses the blood of the Ancients," Cloud hear a familiar voice say. "I am one of the rightful heirs to this planet!"
Cloud staggered back and fell to his knees. "Sephiroth?"
"Are you all right?" asked Tifa.
"Pull it together, man!" Barret ordered.
LATER...
"Cloud, wasn't it?" greeted Elmyra as he arrived at Aerith's house, along with Tifa and Barret. "It's about Aerith, isn't it?"
"Sorry," replied Cloud. "The Shinra have her."
"I know," said Elmyra. "They took her from here."
"They were here?" asked Cloud.
"That's what Aerith wanted."
"Why is Shinra after Aerith?" asked Cloud.
"Aerith is an Ancient," replied Elmyra as she turned around. "The sole survivor."
"What did you say?" asked Barret. "But, aren't you her mother?"
"Not her real mother," Elmyra replied.
"Of course," said Cloud. "You adopted her."
"We don't look alike, do we?" Elmyra said. "It must have been fifteen years ago during the war. My husband was sent to the front. Some far away place called Wutai. One day, I went to the station because I got a letter saying he was coming home on leave. But my husband never came back. I wondered if something had happened to him, but I was sure his leave was just canceled. I went to the station everyday. Then, one day I met her. She was crying next to her dying mother. Mind you, you used to see this sort of thing a lot during the war. The dying woman's last words were, 'Please take Aerith somewhere safe.' Most people wouldn't do that for just anybody. But my husband never came back. I had no child. I was declared infertile at seventeen. So I decided to take her home with me."
"You did the right thing," Tifa observed.
"Thanks," replied Elmyra. "Aerith and I became close very quickly. That child loved to talk. She used to talk to me about everything. She told me she escaped form some sort of research laboratory somewhere. And that her mother had already returned to the planet, so she wasn't lonely and many other things."
"Wait, back up!" said Barret. "Returned to the planet?"
"I didn't know what she meant," Elmyra explained. "I asked if she meant a star in the sky. But she said it was this planet. She was a mysterious child in many ways. And then two days after I adopted her…"
Flashback…
"Mom," began Aerith as she descended the stairs. "Please don't cry."
"Did something happen?" asked Elmyra.
"Someone dear to you has just died. His spirit was coming to see you, but he already returned to the planet."
...End Flashback.
"Aerith just blurted that out all of a sudden. At that time I didn't believe her, but, several days later, we received a notice saying my husband had died, and that's how it was. A lot had happened, but we were happy. Until one day…"
Flashback…
"We want you to return Aerith to us," ordered Tseng. "We've been searching for her for a long time."
"No!" squealed Aerith. "Never!"
"Aerith, you're a very special child," Tseng insisted. "You are of special blood. Your real mother was an Ancient. The Ancients will lead us to a land of supreme happiness." He then turned to Elmyra. "Aerith will be able to bring happiness to all those in the slums. That is why Shinra would like Aerith's cooperation."
"He's wrong!" Aerith exclaimed. "I'm not an Ancient! I'm not!"
"But Aerith, surely you hear voices sometimes when you're all alone?"
"No, I don't! She's my real mother! I came straight from her vagina!"
...End Flashback.
The four of them laughed in unison. They couldn't resist.
"Kids say the darndest things," Elmyra laughed. "But I knew. I knew about her mysterious powers. She tried so hard to hide it, so I acted as though I never noticed."
"It's amazing how she's avoided the Shinra for all these years," Cloud observed.
"The Shinra needed her. So I guess they wouldn't harm her."
"But, why now?" asked Tifa.
"She brought a little girl here with her," Elmyra replied. "On the way here, Tseng found them. She probably couldn't get away fast enough. She decided to go to the Shinra in exchange for the little girl's safety."
"Must be Marlene," Cloud suggested.
"Marlene!" exclaimed Barret. "Aerith was caught because of Marlene!? I'm sorry! Marlene's my daughter. I'm really sorry!"
"You're her father!?" exclaimed Elmyra. "But you're…"
"Here we go again!" Barret sighed.
SOMEWHERE ELSE...
Aerith sat alone in a cell room. She was not handcuffed or bound in any way; she had indeed gone peacefully. So far, she wasn't regretting it. Marlene was safe. She hoped Cloud, Tifa, and Barret were safe, too. She did not see them make it out of Sector Seven in time. Of course, that did not mean they didn't.
Just then, the door opened. In came Pembroke, a young Shinra executive. He was dressed somewhat casually, in a pair of khaki pants and a black collar shirt. "Hey babe," he greeted.
"What's going on?" Aerith tried to ask casually, hiding the fact she was becoming frightened.
"You're needed upstairs in a few minutes," Pembroke announced. "But I thought we could have a little fun first."
"Not interested," Aerith dismissed. "I'll go upstairs."
"Are you sure?" asked Pembroke as he turned around and dropped his pants and boxers, exposing his buttocks. "Don't make an…ass of yourself!"
"Eeeww!" Aerith exclaimed.
"Fine," Pembroke sighed as he pulled his leggings back up. "I guess we can go up." He walked over to Aerith and smacked her hard in the face, knocking her out cold.
OUT FRONT...
While that was going on, Cloud, Tifa, and Barret had found a way to the front entrance of the Shinra building. It wasn't an easy task; it had involved returning to Wall Market and ultimately climbing a wire. Still, Cloud preferred it as opposed to wearing a dress. But now they were at the front door, ready to infiltrate the place they were saving for last.
"Hey, you oughta know this building well," Barret observed.
"Not really," Cloud replied. "Now that I think about it, it's the first time I've ever been to the Headquarters."
"I heard about this place before," said Barret. "Every floor above the sixtieth is special and not easy to get to even for employees. Must be where they took Aerith. The security's pretty light now. So let's go through the front door and give 'em hell!"
"Wait a second!" Tifa insisted. "You're not thinking of just going right through the main entrance, are you?"
"Well what else does it look like?" asked Barret. "I'm gonna kick some Shinra balls and maybe even wipe out some execs!"
"That's not going to work!" Tifa retorted. "We've got to find another way."
"Ain't gonna be no other way!" said Barret. "If we keep wastin' time like this, Aerith will tested on, and worse!"
"I know that!" Tifa replied. "But if we get caught here, we'll never make it to the top."
"Hey, Cloud," said Barret. "What should we do?"
"Let's bust on in," Cloud replied. He wanted to get in as soon as possible.
"That's more like it!" Barret said with a grin. "C'mon, let's go!"
Before Tifa could argue, the other two stormed through the front door. Sighing, she duly followed them in.
"Excuse me!" reprimanded the receptionist as the three entered the lobby. "If you don't have an appointment, you'll just have to.…."
"Don't need no appointment!" shouted Barret. "This is an emergency! Anyone who don't wanna get their face bashed in better get outta the way!"
Suits frantically cleared the lobby. Two security guards rushed in.
"Intruders!" announced the receptionist. "Seize them!"
Barret, not missing a chance, quickly dispatched them with his gun-arm. "Let's go to the top!" he ordered.
The three entered the elevator. The doors closed behind them. Cloud pushed 59; it was the highest numbered button in the elevator. The elevator began moving up. Barret kept his gun-arm aimed at the doors. Tifa eyed the doors, hoping they wouldn't open with guards attacking them. Cloud watched the numbers climb. The 20s. Then the 30s.
"We're coming, Aerith," he whispered. "We're coming."
Before he knew it, the elevator's doors opened. They had reached the 59th floor.
"Destroy the intruders!"
Barret looked up in time to see two guards advancing on them. He quickly gunned them down.
Cloud quickly began examining their bodies.
"What are you doing?" asked Barret.
"Looking for a keycard," Cloud replied. "They might have one on them." He fiddled through their pockets until he found what he had been looking for. Keycard 60. "This will get us to the 60th floor through that elevator on the other side of the room. The guards monitoring the upper floors are lazy. They're probably even asleep on the job."
"This is the real thing," said Barret. "Don't let your guard down."
"I hope Aerith is all right," said Tifa.
They took the elevator to the 60th floor using the keycard. There, they noticed four guards patrolling the floor.
"Look at that, all the guards are running around," observed Barret. "Cloud, you go on ahead and signal us when it's safe to come."
Cloud did as he was told. He briefly studies the guards' movements. He then snuck through, hiding behind statues whenever the guards were in danger of spotting him. Beyond the guards was an set of stairs to the 61st floor. Once Cloud was safely to the stairwell, he signaled for Tifa and Barret to move, or to hide behind the statues, depending on the position of the guards.
"Ok, we're gonna rock!" Barret said.
"Remember, we're here to save Aerith," reminded Tifa.
"Shit, I know that!"
The 61st floor appeared to be a lounge of some sorts. High ranking executives were moving and chattering about. One of them got up and walked straight over to Cloud.
"The hell are you?" he asked suspiciously. "What're you doing around here?"
Cloud, Tifa, and Barret were silent. None of them could think of anything to say.
"Oh, I see," the executive continued. " So you must be the whatcha call it.…Shinra, Inc. Repair Division! You know, it looks like this building is starting to fall apart. This door was just pushed open. You ought to fix this right away. Oh yeah, and take a look on the other floors too. I'll give you this." With that, he gave Cloud keycard 62.
"That was close," said Tifa as they reached the 62nd floor. This floor was full of books, and appeared to be a library.
"How do you do?" greeted an employee as he noticed the three. "This is the Midgar mayor's Office. Mayor Domino is in his office. I am the deputy mayor. If you should have any questions feel free to ask me."
"May we speak to the mayor?" asked Tifa.
"By all means."
The three entered the mayor's office. The mayor was sitting at his desk. "Oh, and who might you be?" he asked. "I'm Domino, the mayor of Midgar. Actually, I'm mayor in name only. The city and everything in it is really run by Shinra, Inc."
"Tell us something we don't know," said Cloud.
"My only real job is watching over Shinra's documents. Me, the mayor! A librarian!"
"In that case," replied Tifa, "we'd like to talk to the president in his office."
"You want to get upstairs?" asked the mayor. "I tell you what, if you can guess the password, I'll give you my keycard. Yes, that's it. Guess the password and I'll give you my keycard!"
"KING!" guessed Cloud.
The mayor jumped out of his seat. "How did you know?!"
"I just…knew," Cloud replied. He looked at Tifa and Barret. He knew exactly what they were thinking. Another premonition. And they would be right.
"Well," continued the mayor as he handed Cloud the keycard to the 63rd floor, "a promise is a promise. Yes, king! President Shinra sucks! I should be king of Midgar!" He then sat down in his chair. "Why would I do something like this, you ask? To mess with them, of course! Shinra's been torturing me forever. That's why I was a little rough on you all just now. Now go up there and really make them suffer. This ought to make us even!"
Aerith slowly opened her eyes. "Where am I?" she asked aloud. Looking around, she could see nothing but glass. She could see vague figures, but not any faces. She cautiously stood up and walked to the glass. She gave it a kick, only to feel a shooting pain in her foot. She was trapped.
"Somebody help me…."
Cloud, Tifa, and Barret, meanwhile, had made it to the 66th floor. Upon reaching the top of the stairs, the three saw President Shinra and several executives making their way into what looked like a conference room.
"Look's like their on their way to a meeting," Tifa whispered.
"Maybe one of them knows where Aerith is," Cloud suggested.
"Well, what are we gonna do?" asked Barret. "Ask 'em?"
"Barret," replied Cloud, "that's really starting to piss me off!"
"Cloud!" exclaimed Tifa.
"Sorry," he replied.
"No, great idea! Piss!"
"Excuse me?" asked the perplexed Cloud.
"To the bathroom!" Tifa announced.
"Umm…shouldn't you have taken care of that before we left Aerith's house?"
Tifa led them into the bathroom. She took one look around the deserted room. "I knew it!" she declared as she opened the stall door. "Cloud, you know what to do."
Cloud promptly flushed the toilet.
"Cloud, LOOK UP!" Tifa commanded.
Above the toilet was an air duct.
"Oh," muttered Cloud.
The three each in turn climbed on the toilet and into the air duct. Its pathway led straight to the conference room, with a grating allowing a perfect view for all three. There was the president, Pembroke, Heidegger, Reeve, a female executive, and another executive who was grossly overweight, wearing a yellow suit with a bow-tie.
"Geez!" Barret observed. "That's a lotta suits!"
"We have the damage estimates for Sector Seven," Reeve announced. "Considering those factories we already set up and all the investments, the damage is estimated at approximately 10 Billion gil. The estimated cost to rebuild Sector 7 is…"
"We're not rebuilding," President Shinra interjected.
"What?"
"We're leaving Sector Seven as it is," the president explained, "and restarting the Neo-Midgar plan. The Promised Land will soon be ours. I want you to raise the Mako rates 15% in every area."
The fat executive immediately grew ecstatic. "Rate hike! Rate hike! Tra, la, la! And please include our Space Program in the budget!"
"Reeve and Scarlet will divide the extra income from the rate increase," the president continued.
"Oh man!" sighed the fat executive.
"Nice try, Palmer," said Scarlet.
"Sir, if you raise the rates, the people will lose confidence," Reeve warned.
"It'll be all right," President Shinra assured. "The ignorant citizens won't lose confidence, they'll trust Shinra, Inc. even more."
"After all," Heidegger pointed out, "we're the ones who saved Sector 7 from Avalanche!"
"That dirty fuck," whispered Barret.
Just then, a man dressed in white entered the conference room. He appeared about sixty years old, and was a native of Wutai.
"Hojo," greeted the president. "How's the girl?"
"As a specimen, she is inferior to her mother," he replied. "I'm still in the process of comparing her to her mother, Ifalna, but for now the difference is eighteen percent."
"How long will the research take?"
Hojo frowned. "Probably one hundred and twenty years. It's obviously impossible to finish in our lifetime. Or in the lifetime of the specimen too, for that matter. That's why we're thinking of breeding her. Then we could create one that would withstand our research for a long time."
"Excuse me," interrupted Pembroke, "but wouldn't that ruin the genetic purity. I mean, if there's human DNA…."
Everyone was staring at him.
"I'm fired, aren't I…"
"You bet," replied the president as he pointed to the door. "What about the Promised Land? Won't it hinder our plans?"
"That's what I need to plan," replied Hojo as Pembroke sadly left the room. "The mother is strong and yet has her weaknesses."
"That concludes our meeting," President Shinra declared.
"Something stinks," muttered Scarlet as she left her seat.
"They were talking about Aerith, right?" whispered Cloud.
"I dunno," replied Barret.
"Probably," Tifa said.
"Let's follow them," Cloud suggested.
The three made their way out of the air duct. After coming out of the bathroom, they quickly saw Hojo climbing the stairs to the 67th floor.
"Hojo, huh," observed Cloud.
"Let's follow him," Tifa suggested.
"I remember him," Barret said as they climbed the stairs. "That Hojo guy. He's in charge of the Shinra's Science Department. Cloud, don't you know him?
"This is the first time I've actually ever seen him," Cloud replied. "So that's what he looks like."
When they reached the top, they hid behind a crate to remain out of view. Beyond the crate was a glass tube with a frightening cat-like creature inside.
"Is this today's specimen?" asked an assistant.
"Yes," replied Hojo. "We're starting right away. Raise it to the upper level."
The assistant went off to do as he was told. Hojo placed his hand on the glass and peeked inside. "My precious specimen," he said before heading off to the next floor.
The three intruders were now free to come out of hiding.
"Precious specimen?" asked Tifa, looking at the creature. "Is it going to be used for a biological experiment?" As frightening as the creature looked, Tifa realized it was still innocent.
Just then, Cloud collapsed to the floor and grabbed his head.
Tifa and Barret ran to aide him.
"Jenova...Sephiroth's….so they've brought it here."
"Cloud, be strong!" pleaded Tifa.
"Did you see it?" asked Cloud.
"See what?" asked Barret.
Cloud pointed to a metal dome he was facing. "It's moving…still alive?"
Barret peered inside, where he saw a female creature whose head was missing. "Jesus H. Christ! Where's its fucking head?!" exclaimed Barret as he staggered back. "This whole thing's stupid. Let's keep going."
Tifa and Barret helped Cloud to his feet.
On the next floor, the three finally found what they were looking for.
"Aerith!" exclaimed Cloud. He saw her in another glass tube. Her face was pressed against the glass.
"Cloud!" exclaimed Aerith.
"Aerith?" replied Hojo. "Oh, is that her name? What do you want?"
"We're taking Aerith back." Cloud announced.
"Outsiders," sighed Hojo.
"Shoulda noticed it earlier,' said Barret as the three of them advanced on him.
"There's so many frivolous things in this world," Hojo said. "Are you going to kill me? I don't think you should. The equipment here is extremely delicate. Without me, who could operate it?"
The three of them stopped.
"That's right," continued Hojo. "I recommend you think things out logically before you make any rash moves. Now, bring in the specimen!"
The three heard a strange humming sound. It was the catlike creature being elevated to Aerith's chamber.
"Cloud, help!" cried Aerith.
"What do you think you're doing?" demanded Cloud. "Aerith isn't cat food!"
"I'm lending a helping hand to an endangered species," Hojo explained. "Both of them are on the brink of extinction. If I don't help, all these animals will disappear."
"Animal?" exclaimed Tifa. "That's terrible! Aerith is a human being!"
"You're gonna pay!" warned Barret.
" Can't you do anything?" asked Cloud.
"Awright! Step back!" Barret announced as he began to open fire on the glass tube.
"Stop!" demanded Hojo. "My precious specimens!"
The glass shattered. Out leaped the cat, which immediately began to attack Hojo.
"Now's our chance to get Aerith!" Cloud shouted as he ran to help her out of her prison.
"Oh, Cloud!" exclaimed Aerith. Before she could change her mind, she threw her arms around Cloud and pressed her lips against his.
"We have to get out of here!" said Cloud after breaking the kiss.
They made their way out of the shattered tube, and then stopped. They head the humming elevator again.
"What's wrong?" asked Tifa.
"The elevator is moving."
Meanwhile, Hojo had pulled himself away from the cat and climbed safely to the top of a crate. There were claw marks on both of his arms. "This is no ordinary specimen. This is a very ferocious specimen!"
"He's rather strong," said the cat. "I'll help you all out."
"It talked!?" Tifa shrieked. After all of the odd things she had seen in her life, she had never even heard of a talking cat.
"I'll talk as much as you want later, miss," the feline replied.
"We'll take care of that monster," announced Cloud. "Somebody take Aerith somewhere safe!"
"I'll do it," Tifa volunteered.
"Thanks," Cloud replied as the two girls left the area. "I'm counting on you!" He then turned to the cat. "What's your name?"
"Hojo has named me Red XIII," replied the cat. "A name with no meaning whatsoever to me. Call me whatever you wish."
As Red XIII finished, a horrible-looking purple creature with sharp teeth ascended to their level.
"Red XIII suits me," Cloud said. "Come on!"
"What is this thing?" asked Tifa
"It's called HO512," Red XIII replied. "Courtesy of our friend Hojo. Do either of you have any lightning materia?"
"I do!" Cloud exclaimed.
"Use it!" Red XIII commanded. "It's weak against it!"
Although feeling small taking orders from a cat, Cloud did as he was told. The creature staggered back and doubled over on the ground.
Red XIII, seeing his chance, ran to the fallen creature and bit it on the neck. A second later, he tore out a piece of flesh. The creature writhed around for a few seconds, then it was still. It had bled to death.
"Not bad for a kitty cat," Cloud observed.
Author's Note: By now, it's pretty obvious this is a retelling. I've wanted to do this for years, but I resisted for a big reason: readers would know that the characters are not in any danger, as we know how the game ends. But if someone went back and changed the timeline, it solves the problem. Now the characters are in real danger; there's an actual risk anyone could be killed. In any case, I'll give a clue about what to expect: there are four characters who don't die in the game, but will die in the novel, and there are four characters who do die in the game, but won't die in the novel. Bestla changing the timeline will have its ups and downs.
- 11
- 12
- 13
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

Premonitions: Uncut