FF7: Scapegoat - Ch. 10

Awakening

It's not human. Nor does it move like a human – it is too quick, too nimble in its movements through the ducts. But it must be roughly the size of a human … much larger and it would not fit, though could be as small as half the size, judging from the sounds it makes. To move so quickly, it must be making heavy use of its arms, indicating that it is quadrupedal, or at least comfortable enough to move as such … Its upper body strength must be greater than a human's, for its size at any rate, in order to scale the walls at speed; likely, equal or better strength in its lower body, as well …

Sephiroth stood, silently, in the doorway of a darkened lobby leading to several offices. The only light came from a single, dim, fluorescent bulb in a hallway ceiling panel behind him, which cast his shadow into the room, and the lamp upon the secretary's desk, forgotten in the haste of evacuation. He had followed the creature here and had, for the moment, lost track of it. As his eyes pierced the dark corners of the room, he mentally reviewed what he knew of the creature.

Hearing better than average, unknown whether it surpasses that of a SOLDIER. Possibility of excellent night vision, adequate sense of smell, sharp teeth and claws …

Sharp eyes caught on a few strands of hair snagged near the base of a potted plant across the room.

… And it is furry. He frowned at the slight sounds of rustling beyond one of the other doorways. Also, likely hungry. Intelligence unknown.

During the course of the past two hours, the ShinRa building had been methodically evacuated as the SOLDIERs tracked the movement of the creature through the air ducts. The building had slowly become vacant as the SOLDIERs cleared the sectors in its path.

After having lost the creature near Zack's apartment, Sephiroth, with the aid of SOLDIER's canine unit, finally located it on the current level. He had ordered the unit to stay behind; the dogs, though Mako-enhanced, would likely have given away his position. They were more effective against people, rather than monsters, in any case.

A short while ago, he had received an unwelcome call from Tseng, notifying him that the Turk had left with the President and his son upon their private chopper for the secondary base at Junon. It was unwelcome news, not because of the sudden absence of the President, but because of Tseng's forced absence – Sephiroth needed the man's expertise here, where he was most useful. But the Turk's primary duties lay with protecting the President; likely, the large man had finally felt threatened by the creature roaming through the building, and chose to abandon his fellow coworkers to fend for themselves. Though Sephiroth was irritated, the situation wasn't without its advantages – he preferred to be left to his own devices.

Free to finally evacuate the rest of the building, Sephiroth had the infantry see to it that all nonessential personnel were escorted out. But this would take a while – even with the sectors that had already been cleared, the building was so large that it would not be done quickly. With the evacuation being done in stages to ensure some measure of order, this would take even longer.

But, regardless, it was being done. Sephiroth had the main lights shut off to indicate vacant levels, leaving only emergency lighting in their stead. So, for once, much of the building was dark and quiet, a contrast to the normal flurry of activity from the heart of a metropolis that was rarely still.

The sudden hum of the chiller on a water cooler in the corner startled him from his thoughts, and the rustle in the other room ceased. He gazed attentively beyond the doorway.

Even now, the building is not silent, he thought, wryly.

Casting his gaze about the lobby, he made sure that the creature did not intend to double back, before stepping forward.

This was one of the nicer lobbies of the ShinRa building, located in a division where the wealthier paper-pushers and money-handlers sat. Plush carpet, dark red in the light, lay upon the generous, circular space, and a single, sleek secretary's desk set near one wall on the left. Doorways, two on each side of the desk, led to the offices, while across from them stood a wrought iron railing that transformed the area into a balcony and separated it from a carpeted stairway descending to a lounge and additional offices below.

An expansive wall of curved windows beyond the railing and stairway allowed a broad vista of the glittering lights of the city, far below them. The windows had been darkened earlier against the sun, and remained that way, already giving the illusion of the deep Midgar night that was rapidly descending upon them.

As he entered the room, Sephiroth cast a last, quick look into the hallway behind him, then turned his gaze upon the shadows cloaking the corners. The smooth, polished wooden surface of the desk was bright, gleaming in the light of the lamp, but that was all the lamp really illuminated. The light died upon the nearest walls, leaving hooded spectres looming in the furthest reaches of the room, and pools of blackness spilling out from beneath the desk. The lounge below and beyond the railing was a pit into which no light reached at all.

He knew nothing was there, of course – the creature was in the office furthest from him – but scanned the room out of habit. Slowly, he advanced, ears straining for the sound of any movement. But other than a lingering gurgle from the water cooler, he heard nothing.

At the doorway to the office, Sephiroth was confronted with a matrix of cubicles. The emergency lighting in here consisted only of a single light in the bank upon the ceiling, much like the dim bulb in the hallway. The walls of the cubicles left most of the small spaces in shadow. His left hand tightened upon the hilt of the Masamune, and he raised it slightly, in preparation.

Finally, he heard a shuffle upon one of the desks hidden from view. Swiftly, but with soft footsteps, he advanced around the perimeter of the cubicles toward the one in question. After a moment, he came upon a desk with its surface in complete disarray. The monitor screen was broken, wires to the mouse and keyboard severed and gnawed, and the remainders of a wrapped sandwich scattered all over. Crumpled papers from the trashcan littered the floor, and a step to the side revealed that the cushions in the seat and back of the chair had been torn, the stuffing pried out and left among the floor with the rest of the garbage. There was no sign of the creature itself.

It was nothing Sephiroth hadn't expected from a wild animal. But what he hadn't foreseen were the torn remains of a photograph on the corner of the desk. Its frame lay on the floor, glass shattered and wood splintered from when the creature had attempted to pry the image out. A chunk of the photograph was missing, snagged by the broken glass, and it had been crumpled, scored, and punctured by sharp claws. This was strange enough, but even stranger – and somewhat unsettling, he thought, as he carefully picked it up – was that the faces of the people in the photograph had been removed, only ragged holes left behind.

He frowned. What kind of creature would do this? Was it intelligent? But what kind of intelligence would prompt such behavior? Was it obsessed? Deranged? Mad?

Further inspection of the trash on the floor revealed pages from a calendar, the faces of people in the images also torn off.

Strange.

A sudden, metallic clank caught his attention, and he stepped back just as the trashcan beneath the desk tipped over and clattered to the floor. He took a second step back for good measure, knelt for a look at the underside of the desk … only to find a large hole gnawed into the heavy fabric of the cubicle divider.

Quickly, he stepped around to the other cubicle, only to be presented with another messy, but otherwise empty desk. He frowned.

An abrupt movement out of the corner of his eye prompted him to glance upward. He only had time for a split-second view of a dark, furry mass gathered at the top of the cubicle wall, before it sprang with a sharp snarl, wicked teeth and claws clutching for his face.

It was only heightened SOLDIER reactions that saved him. He jerked away, backhanding the creature to the floor. But its heavy mass caused him to continue a backward stumble, and a sharp line of fire along his left wrist and forearm let him know that he hadn't come away unscathed.

Almost before he could recover, a stabbing pain caught his left calf in a vise-like grip, and abruptly yanked him forward. He was brought down to a knee, the creature having locked its jaw around his leg and punched sharp teeth through the heavy leather of his boot.

As it tried to secure its position by raking claws into his leg and wrenching its head to the side to finish taking Sephiroth down, the General, though limited by space, frantically brought Masamune down across the back of its neck.

With a rumbling squeal, the creature instantly released him and jumped away before Sephiroth could finish the cut. It landed in a crouch, entire muzzle and face scrunched up, and solid black eyes narrowed to furious slits as it bared long fangs at him. With a scream, it lunged forward again … only for the General, fully prepared this time, to present it with a Fire spell straight to its face.

The creature howled, tumbling to the ground. It rolled away, scrambled to its feet, and flew back through the room and out the door, thick flames eating through its fur. A loud thump and bang followed, with, a moment later, a heavy crash. Then there was nothing.

Adrenaline pumping, Sephiroth stared in the direction it had gone, as the acrid stench of burned fur and flesh filled the room. Small fires licked the carpet.

A sudden throb from his leg finally drew Sephiroth's attention to it. Rearranging into a less awkward position, he bent forward to examine the injury as best he could, eyes narrowed against the pain. The leather of his boot bore large punctures, though remained mostly intact, having resisted tearing when the creature pulled away. His pants were less fortunate; the creature's claws had easily torn into the thinner material and left the lower part in shreds. Long gashes scored his leg; blood seeped through the tears in the leather and dripped steadily onto the carpet.

Hissing, he carefully peeled the ragged strips of leather to the side and prodded the injury to determine how deep the gashes were. … They hadn't made it to the bone, but they were serious. He'd have to use a Restore before continuing, and quickly. Though the best practice was to clean the wound before applying materia, he didn't have time. He'd have to hope that the Mako in his blood would take care of any bacteria and that the creature didn't harbor a poison that would affect him, as he didn't have access to Poisona.

At any rate, I can always call for backup, in an emergency.

Activating the Restore and casting a low-level Cure, he watched in satisfaction as the green wash of energy washed over him, gathering around the wounds and sinking into them. In a moment, they were reduced to deep scratches, something that he would ignore for now. A tingle in his arm let him know that the scratch there had also been taken care of.

Quickly, he returned to his feet and strode to the door. He had no trouble tracking the creature now – a trail of minor destruction followed in its wake: patches of blackened carpet, the fires now extinguished, were littered here and there; it had apparently slammed into the secretary's desk on the way past, dislodging the lamp which now lay dark on the floor; and, finally, a mangled section of the railing revealed which direction it had recklessly chosen to go in its pain-induced madness.

Hoping to stay on its trail, Sephiroth disregarded the stairs and vaulted over the railing himself, effortlessly landing on the floor of the lounge's dining area below. Only a twinge from his calf as he straightened marked his injury.

He gave the area a cursory once-over, though he was fairly certain where the creature had gone – a gaping hole in the panel of the expansive window, ringed by jagged glass, allowed the cold evening air to gust into the room. Sephiroth walked over to inspect it, mildly impressed. Though not bulletproof as the President's windows were, it was still meant to contain anyone (aside from a SOLDIER) trying to slam into it with suicidal thoughts. The creature must have taken it at some speed.

But with such speed, it was likely to have flung itself out to plummet to its death, sixty stories below. The General frowned, leaning out the window. Savage winds, wild at this height, tore at his clothing and hair, whipping his silver locks around and seeking to pull him from the safety of the building. The view below was almost dizzying at this height; as he glanced downward, dozens of levels of lit windows advanced away from him and shrunk into the distance. He could almost feel the tower sway with the wind gusts.

It was late, the sunset breaking through the smog and painting the sky with reds and yellows. But Sephiroth was on the opposite side of the display; the sky here darkened to a deep purple, ShinRa's tower casting its long, dark shadow far across and over the edge of the plate. Green reactor plumes drifted into the sky, before getting caught by the wind and merging into the clouds. Far below, though obscured by the plate, Sephiroth knew the lights of the Slums were already burning, as their night began early.

A thin ledge, barely six inches across, ran beneath the wall of windows. As Sephiroth's gaze drew to it, he saw that a good chunk of it was missing, and, further down, a set of four, deep marks, scoring through it. So, the creature had been nimble enough to catch itself before falling.

Leaning further out, after taking a moment to glance upward to ensure there would be no danger coming from that direction, he spied a metal grating some distance away, near the corner of the building. It was warped, pried away from its foundation and left to dangle in the wind. It occasionally slammed against the side of the building; Sephiroth knew it wouldn't be long before it broke away entirely and fell.

He took a moment to consider following the creature's path around the side of the building and into the duct, braving the winds, but decided against it. He had no doubt he could do it, but the close quarters of the ductwork would put him at a disadvantage. He would have to trace the creature another way.

Pulling back inside, he turned and made his way to the single elevator in the back, already flipping his phone open to alert the other SOLDIERs.

Sephiroth fought the urge to give a weary sigh. As a SOLDIER, he could certainly operate on very little sleep, but he preferred not to. He'd come to appreciate its benefits, especially during the long months in Wutai, when sleep was a luxury they could rarely afford. Despite what most might think, he did get regular hours of sleep each night - they might be less than what many of the other SOLDIERs enjoyed, but, regardless, they were there.

Now, the too few hours of sleep he'd gotten in the past few days, coupled with the long, arduous task of tracking this creature, were beginning to weigh on him. He was far from collapsing on the spot, but he was beginning to strongly wish to get this over with. And his irritation was beginning to show in his short, clipped commands over the phone to the other Firsts.

Rubbing his forehead in annoyance at himself, he continued down yet another dim hallway, still on the search for the elusive creature. They'd found blood spatters at the point where the thing had exited the air ducts, and had been able to trail them … to a point. After a while, they stopped finding them, and that's when Sephiroth had been forced to begin going through the sector, level by level. Even the dogs had been confused.

There was always the possibility that the creature had passed on to another area, but he was counting on the other SOLDIERs to notify him of that. So far, he hadn't received any calls.

Idly, he wondered how Zack was doing. Probably pacing the floor in his room, now that he knew what Sephiroth was up to, worried that the General would need his help and that he wasn't there to give it. He found his lips twitching up into a slight, fond smile. Zack was becoming quite the SOLDIER. Already, Sephiroth found himself relying on his friend more times than he could count, and wished he were here as much as Zack likely did. Angeal would be proud of his young apprentice.

Angeal … The smile turned sad at the thought of his old friend. His death had been … difficult, at best, for all of them, all of SOLDIER … but particularly for him and Zack. Sephiroth regretted how he had handled that case – it had been his last card to play, sending Zack after both of them, and his gamble had backfired horribly. It was a wonder Zack ever forgave him.

Zack had been pushing himself hard lately, ever since Angeal's death. Of course, things weren't nearly as bad as they had been initially, but Sephiroth could see that it was still difficult for him. Every once in a while, during paperwork days, the scratching of the pen in the adjoining office would stop, and Sephiroth would glance over to see Zack staring blankly at the page of some report, probably reminded in some small way of his lost mentor. Then he'd either raise his eyes to the ceiling, or get up to stand at the window for several minutes. Often, when it became too much, he'd walk out without a word. Sephiroth would find later that he'd taken on another mission.

Come to think of it, that was how Zack's last mission had begun, actually … Zack had been scrounging for something else to do and been offered the mission to Mideel. It had been new, so hadn't yet had a mission plan and, once Zack had come to him with it, Sephiroth had decided to allow him to try his hand at planning the mission himself, thinking it would be good for him.

The young SOLDIER had been surprised, but took to it with enthusiasm. Sephiroth had reviewed and approved it afterward; he'd found a few items he would have done differently himself, but they hadn't been critical, so he allowed Zack to do things his way. If they could be done better, Zack would learn so along the way.

Now Sephiroth wondered if that had been a mistake. Perhaps putting the entirety of the mission's burden on his shoulders had been the wrong thing to do – perhaps he should have eased Zack into it. He'd already been allowing Zack much leeway in accomplishing missions, but planning one from the start was something different … Was Tseng right? Had the strain finally been too much for him, after everything else? Was that why his behavior was so erratic?

Was that why Zack had killed an innocent and forgot he had done so?

"Zack … I should have been there for you. More than I was … I should have seen this coming, should have done something … What happened to you?" He shook his head. He hated these doubts about his friend. And he hated himself for having them. And now he was forced to deal with this monstrous distraction, when his real concern was pacing through the carpet somewhere above, berating himself for getting into a position where he was of no use to anyone.

"Hang in there, Zack." He resolved to finish the creature he was tracking as soon as humanly possible.

Returning his thoughts to his current task, he mildly berated himself for becoming so distracted. Had he missed some sign of the creature? It had been a while since anyone had heard from it … No, he was fairly confident that he'd have noticed if he was about to pass some indication of it.

Sharpening his focus, he again reviewed what he knew of the creature, trying to identify a critical weakness, if any, that he might be able to exploit. From his last encounter, he knew –

A thump and a shuffle from a doorway up ahead caught his attention. Narrowing his eyes, he drew close to the wall. Pressing back against it, he drew the hilt of Masamune up and back to its favored position along his cheek, keeping the blade parallel to the floor. He advanced slowly, taking care to make his footsteps quiet. There was additional shuffling, and a light flashed across the hallway.

When the tip of the sword drew even with the doorway, Sephiroth quickly swung around, sliding the long blade into the room and presenting it against his potential foe … only for the man inside to squeak in terror, drop a flashlight and several books with a clatter, and freeze with the sword a mere inch from the crook of his neck and shoulder. The flashlight rolled to a stop against the leg of a nearby table, now illuminating Sephiroth's boots.

Sephiroth narrowed his eyes. The long, white coat identified the man as a scientist; his glasses completed the stereotype appearance. But he was not supposed to be here – this level had been evacuated an hour ago.

"S-S-Sephiroth!" The man stiffly pushed his glasses further up his nose, in a futile attempt to recover some dignity. "It's a p-pleasure to-"

"What are you doing here?" the General demanded, not bothering to lower his weapon. "This level has been shut down. Why aren't you with the others?"

The man's eyes flicked nervously to the blade and back. "J-just getting some work … some important b-books …"

Impatient at the man's density, he allowed his sword to drop to the side, and drew closer, fighting the urge to grab him by the lapels. The scientist's relieved sigh was cut short by Sephiroth's suddenly intimidating height. He gulped.

"Do you realize," Sephiroth began slowly, clipping the words, "that the reason you were evacuated is because there is a monster loose within these halls?"

"Well, y-yes, but-"

"That this creature may be responsible for several brutal killings that recently took place?"

"B-but, I-"

"That it would have no problem ripping out your throat before you could scream and slicing you apart?"

The scientist paled and opened his mouth to reply, but nothing came out.

"Pick up your books," he snarled.

With another squeak of terror, the man dove for his books, scrambling to stack everything together and gather the few documents that had fluttered from them. A last frantic grab slapped the flashlight on top of the stack; he barely had his arms around it before Sephiroth hauled him up by the back of his coat and physically moved him into the hallway.

As Sephiroth forcefully paraded the man down the corridor with one hand, he reached for the phone with the other. Inwardly, he was seething. He was doing his utmost to protect the people of ShinRa and ensure that there were no more casualties. All he needed was for one reckless fool to upend everything and turn all his efforts to naught. Did the man not know what was good for him?

A button later and he had the nearest SOLDIER on the line. "MacVale, get a SOLDIER up to my level now. I have a civilian I need escorted out of the building. I'm headed to the west elevators."

"Yes, sir! Right away."

He put the phone away and gripped the scientist's coat more tightly to grab his attention.

"Under no circumstances are you to return to this level, or any other level. You are to exit the building, and you will not return until ShinRa has given the all-clear. Do you understand me?"

"Y-yes, but I … My supervisor-"

"Your supervisor has no authority in this matter. You will do as I say. Is that clear?"

"Y-yes, sir-"

"Good." Sephiroth escorted the man around several other corners, until they finally reached the hallway leading to the elevators.

He slapped the call button. The elevator arrived a few moments later, dinging softly. The doors slid open. As he had hoped, there was a SOLDIER waiting, darkly silhouetted against the red emergency light in the back of the ceiling. Sephiroth shoved the scientist into the compartment.

"Take him out."

The man stumbled slightly, turned and righted himself, as the SOLDIER clapped a hand on his shoulder. He looked up at the General. "T-thank you, sir."

Sephiroth grunted in response and spun away as the doors closed. Perhaps the man had finally understood the gravity of his situation.

Allowing a sigh, he began retracing his steps. At least that was one person he had been fortunate enough to save from a potentially grisly fate. Likely, there was no chance of finding the creature on this level any longer, but perhaps all was not lost, and he would find some clue as to where it had been. If it had been on this level at all.

He hadn't gone five steps when he slowed, catching a whiff of something odd. It smelled strongly of … of burnt fur …? No …

His phone rang, and he absently answered it as he turned to regard the elevator, a coil of apprehension knotting in his stomach.

"Sir?" It was MacVale. "Sir, we'll be a little late sending someone up. Have to take the stairs, since the elevators are giving us trouble-"

"What?" Suddenly, all his attention was directed toward the phone. "The elevators aren't working?"

"No, sir, we-"

Sephiroth uttered a rare curse, snapping the phone shut and sprinting back toward the elevators. He should have paid more attention! The red lights only activated when the elevators lost power. His efforts in punching the call button were rewarded with nothing; instead, he dug his fingers into the joint between the doors to pry them open.

A moment later, he was staring into an empty car, wiring from the button panel exposed and left to hang; a glance upward revealed an open escape hatch.

No! How could I have been so blind? All too late, things were beginning to click into place. He didn't understand them fully yet, wasn't even close, but now he knew …

And I delivered another man right to his death! I was supposed to protect him!

With the kind of quickness only a SOLDIER First could possess, Sephiroth was across the elevator car and hauling himself through the hatch in an instant. Once at the top, he found himself in a wide shaft housing two other elevators. But there was no sign of either the creature or the scientist.

Where …?

With a suddenness that caused him to jerk in surprise, something wet struck his forehead. He touched one gloved hand to it, and upon drawing it back, found some kind of dark liquid on his fingers, the dim, yellow lights of the elevator shaft lending it red highlights.

Blood.

He glanced upward and finally spied the humanoid creature, high above him, and continuing to scale the elevator cables. It greedily clutched a limp form, as if it were a beloved rag doll.

Sephiroth feared that the man must already be dead. But he refused to give up hope; securing Masamune to his back, he began to climb the cables himself. At the same time, he wondered how the creature was able to get so far, so quickly, burdened as it was.

Almost immediately, he was noticed. A high-pitched laughing sound echoed through the shaft, bouncing off the walls in an eerie fashion. Sephiroth looked up to find that the creature had stopped and was staring at him, though its features were difficult to make out in the darkness. Grimly, he continued.

After a moment of consideration, the creature abruptly clamped its jaws around one of the elevator cables and began gnawing. Sephiroth narrowed his eyes. Surely, it couldn't expect to actually …

… Apparently, it could. About twenty seconds later, the cable came free and snaked heavily downward. Sephiroth was forced to hastily readjust his grip and swing away from its path, or be taken down with it.

The General eyed the creature above. It must have incredibly durable jaws to cut through twisted steel cables like that. Unfazed, he continued upward. The creature glared at him, and upon seeing that he had not yet fallen and apparently had no intention of giving up, gave an angry shriek and leapt several feet upward. Then it attacked the next cable with renewed savagery.

Sephiroth gritted his teeth. There were four cables left … Given the distance between him and it, and considering the quick rate of the creature's climb, he was not going to make it before it severed all of them. The elevator would be in no danger of falling; it had electromagnetic breaks that engaged when the power was cut. But Sephiroth was rapidly losing his chosen method of transport.

The second cable loosened and fell. Sephiroth had to make another quick scramble to adjust.

Searching around, he spied a line of rungs bolted into the wall behind the elevator – the service ladder. That would do nicely.

Tensing, he gathered himself, then sprung toward the rungs, twisting around to snag one. He grunted at the impact, but it had been fairly easy, and he resumed his climb.

The creature, for its part, had been single-mindedly grinding through the cables. The third and fourth came quickly. Another upward leap and the creature was working on the last one.

Suddenly, a low hum reverberated through the chamber. The lights flickered.

The power had been restored.

But that would mean that the electromagnetic breaks …

A series of distant clangs, one after the other, rang through the shaft, as the breaks disengaged on each elevator and snapped back into place. There was an aggravated groan from the cable behind him – it was suddenly the only thing supporting the elevator's weight. With renewed urgency, Sephiroth quickened his rate of climb. He wasn't worried about the elevator, additional safety breaks would stop it. But that was only after it had built up enough speed – it had to fall first. And sudden tension on the cable had transformed it into a live whip, on the verge of breaking and potentially snapping at everything else in the shaft as the elevator fell.

And he was about to lose his quarry – they were secured to the other ends of the dangling cables, which were in turn attached to the heavy counter-balance …

His hands flew over the rungs. But the creature and its victim were still a dozen yards away.

There was a twang, almost musical in nature, as the cable finally snapped. A screech tore his ears. He flung his gaze toward the creature, had it …? No, somehow it kept its grip on both the cables and the body as it was yanked upward.

But Sephiroth had something else more pressing to worry about. The severed cable slammed against one wall, rebounded as it was pulled downward, and headed straight for him. Bracing for the impact, he looped an arm through the rungs and seized them firmly.

The cable lashed heavily across his back, sharp and jarring, slamming his body against the rungs. The shock nearly caused him to loose his grip; he would have fallen had he not adjusted his hold in time. He gritted his teeth in pain, as the cable snaked away into the distance.

After a moment, he relaxed his hold with a wince. Thankfully, his shoulder pauldrons and Masamune had protected him from the worst. But he was still likely to end up with a nasty bruise; likewise across his chest where he'd been hammered against the rungs.

A distant, high-pitched squeal from below announced the emergency breaks activating.

But … what of the creature and the scientist? Sephiroth scanned the area, but could no longer find them. Had the creature lost hold and fallen? Leaning back for a better vantage point, he examined first the shaft below, and then above.

There. Far above, an open set of doors. With the creature's strength and quick reactions, it wasn't farfetched that it had somehow leapt to safety. Sephiroth could only hope that it had kept its hold on the scientist … though he feared that it was now too late.

What kind of General am I, if I cannot save someone from a monster right in front of me? Shaking his head in self-disgust, he goaded his limbs into action and scaled the ladder.

He went as quickly as he could, past the regularly-spaced patches of weak light offered by flickering bulbs on the walls, pausing every so often to listen. The only sounds were the rhythmic, metallic beating of his boots on the rungs, and the background throb of electricity. Everything else was silent. It was disconcerting. Was the creature still there? Had it gone? Was it hiding?

Though it was cruel, a part of him wished at least to hear screams … He would know, then, that the man was still alive, that there would still be a chance. But there was not even that.

Sephiroth had always been good at killing people.

Finally, he arrived at the level of the doorway. As he twisted around to peer into the dark corridor, he noted that the doors had been bent, pried from the rails. Far beyond them was a single, flickering emergency light. And beyond that, a dark, misshapen form stirring at the end of the hallway.

It was a small effort to jump the distance to the doors; he landed silently, drew Masamune. He advanced slowly; he could see now that there was no point in hurrying. There was no question that the man he had tried to save was dead.

The creature was simply finishing its work.

A thick trail of blood ran unevenly down the center of the hallway. Further down, there were splatters on the walls, here and there. It was as if the creature had been too impatient to wait. Red footprints – those of SOLDIER-issue boots – meandered back and forth, sometimes jumping ahead, sometimes circling in one spot.

A sick feeling grew in his stomach, as Sephiroth approached. He frowned, craning his neck to the side to see better.

What he could not see clearly in the uncertain light of the elevator shaft was plainly visible now. The creature – and Sephiroth knew it was the same one he'd been tracking, its behavior left no doubt – was dressed in SOLDIER First charcoals. It had its back presented to him, bent over what remained of the scientist. There wasn't much left of the man. What hadn't been left behind in the hallway … Well, Sephiroth had no doubt as to what the creature was currently doing.

As he neared, Sephiroth's blood suddenly ran cold at what he saw. His steps slowed to a halt. In addition to the uniform, it … he? … sported black hair, arranged in a very familiar pattern of spikes, and when the head canted to the right, just so, a very unique, X-shaped scar was visible on the jaw …

He recoiled in horror.

No. It can't be …

A buzzing filled his head, and all his thoughts splintered. He staggered backward, clapping a hand over his mouth.

Gaia, no! It's … it's …

Even had he believed Tseng, he would never have thought … not like this …!

The creature before him, having been obsessively focused on the corpse beneath it until now, twitched its head to the side at the sound of Sephiroth's careless movements. Then, slowly, it turned, bringing its face into full view.

What was human once was human no longer. The vague shape of Zack's face was still there, but twisted into something monstrous. It was longer, more animal-like. Fine, tan fur spread across it, stained with blood, to blend up into its hair. Tall, frayed ears sprung from the side of its head, focused on Sephiroth's position, and a sharp, catlike grin split its face. Large, solid black eyes narrowed at him, and the creature drew up to its full height, gaining a foot on the tall General. Part of him registered bunched shoulders that strained at clothing, corded, furred arms, and curved, scythe-like claws at least five inches in length. Legs, twisted in a way they shouldn't be, shifted in preparation for a lunge, and a long tail lashed behind it.

When Sephiroth stared into those empty eyes, instead of finding Zack there, he saw only death.

It dove at him.

"Zack, no!"

to be continued …