The Flip Side of the Mirror

by T'Shael

Chapter 3

Tifa cast a fire spell on the last Zenene and it tumbled over dead in front of her.

"Let's try to get to Shinra before anything else happens," said Cloud.

Barret rolled his eyes at Red and Yuffie and the group started forward again. Half way to the Shinra building, they saw the tell tale signs of a monster like the one they'd fought the last time they were here.

Tifa looked around. "Someday all these monsters will have to be killed. That's not going to be an easy job."

"When I'm ready to tackle Midgar, I'll be knocking on your doors," said Vincent.

"What makes you think I want to come back?" asked Yuffie scowling. "I don't want to spend all my time fighting monsters."

"I'll bet there's all kinds of free materia laying around in this wreckage," said Cid, scratching his chin. "As much as anyone could want."

A sly look flashed over Yuffie's face and vanished. "Count me in Vincent!"

Barret frowned at her. "I'll never understand these new teenagers."

"Wait till Marlene gets older," said Cid. "You'll get your first lesson."

Barret's jaw dropped as Yuffie whirled around and hurled her Conformer in his direction. He hit the dirt. The weapon soared over him and slammed into the Brain Pod behind him. The monster squealed and dropped to the ground, mortally wounded. The Conformer flew back into Yuffie's waiting hand.

Barret found himself nose to nose with the ugly creature. He cried out and rolled away from it. He sat up favoring Yuffie with an evil look.

"What's so hard about yelling "Look out Barret!?""

"By the time I said that, it would have been all over you." Yuffie grinned. "This is your first lesson in understanding us new teenagers."

Barret rolled his eyes and stood up. "I'm going to keep you away from Marlene. You're a bad influence."

They arrived at the Shinra building without meeting anything else.

"The lights are still on," said Red.

"With only two floors using the emergency power, they're liable to be on for a long time."

Tifa shivered. The dark upper floor of the building made her nervous.

"Be careful," said Cloud. "There's no telling what's hiding in there."

They went through the broken doors.

"Which way do we go now?" asked Cid.

Vincent pointed to the left. "I haven't been here in a long time, but I remember a staircase over there."

"We'll follow you," said Cloud.

Vincent led the way. They came to the stairwell door.

"Yew-w-w-w!" Yuffie pointed at the dried green crust around the base of the door. "What is that stuff? It goes all the way down the hall."

"I don't know." Cloud tested the door. "It's stuck tight. Barret, give me a hand."

Barret flexed his arm. "Move aside. I can handle this."

Cloud backed out of the way. Barret put one hand against the door and pushed. The dried mess cracked then broke into jagged green pieces.

Barret pushed the door all the way open and peeked in. "This looks like a place where Hojo would hide a lab."

They crept down the stairs cautiously. At the bottom, Barret put his shoulder to the door. It gave under his weight and slammed into the inner wall.

Yuffie rolled her eyes at him. "If something's down here, it knows we're coming now."

"Be quiet Yuffie," said Tifa. She looked at the door lined hallway. "Which one?"

"I'm going with the door at the end of the hall," Red answered. "Just follow this green stuff."

"The end of the hall it is," said Cloud.

Barret broke the last seal. They entered the room and stood looking around.

"So this is Hojo's lab," said Tifa. "Poor Aeris. No wonder she has nightmares!"

Cloud glanced at her and looked away unnoticed. His eyes fell on the examining. He could imagine how frightened Aeris must have been. Two glass rooms were off to one side. The door to one hung open. That was Aeris room, he thought. He looked against the wall and noticed the cloning pods. They were still running, waiting for Hojo to fill them with life.

"We have to destroy those things before we go," he said. "We can't leave them for someone else to use. All of this must go."

Cid nodded. "Barret, do you have the explosives?"

"Yeah," Barret removed explosives from a pouch at his side and held them up. " I've got them. Let's get this place wired"

"While they're doing that, let's find those samples," said Vincent.

Tifa scanned the floor and frowned "Look at this."

Cloud, Vincent, Red and Yuffie gathered around.

Tifa pointed to the floor. "That green stuff stops here, but what it this? It almost looks as if someone mopped the floor here. Why?"

"It looks recent too," said Cloud. "Why would anyone clean one area and leave the rest?"

"Maybe they didn't." Vincent's voice was grim.

"What is it Vincent?" asked Tifa.

Vincent pointed to a place on the other side of the examining table. "There's something purple spattered on the floor back here and it's not completely dry."

"So?" Yuffie looked unconcerned.

"Don't you see?" Vincent leaned over and plucked something from the floor. He held it up. "This rack holds five test tubes. There's only four here now."

Tifa moved around the table to see. "Maybe Hojo broke one. You can see the light shining on tiny bits of glass."

Cloud shook his head. "That doesn't explain that purple stuff."

Vincent turned to Red. "Could I trouble you for the use of your nose?"

Red snorted and wandered around behind the table sniffing the floor. He moved around to the other side and around sniffed the clean spot. He sat down on his haunches.

"You aren't going to like this," he said.

Barret and Cid had been following the conversation from their place near the pods.

"God dammit," said Cid. "I can tell by the way you said that, we're in trouble."

"We are," said Red. "We're in big trouble."

"Well don't just sit there trying to keep us in suspense!" stormed Barret. "Tell us what the hell is going on."

"I can smell the weak scents of Aeris, Hojo, Zephiroth and Sephiroth," said Red, "But I smell a Whole Eater too."

There were blank faces all around. "A WHAT?"

"A Whole Eater," repeated Red patiently. "Those purple spots are its blood."

"So?" Yuffie looked bored. "With those doors stuck open, anything could get in."

"Tifa may be right about one of the tubes being broken," said Red. "But I don't think Hojo broke it. The other four tubes were corked once, but they're all lying here, corkless and empty. They can't have been empty long because the scent inside each one is strong. I hate to say this, but these tubes are what left of Hojo's Jenova samples."

There was a moment of silence, then Cid spoke.

"What do you think happened, Red?"

"I think the Whole Eater ate them," said Red. "His scent is the freshest one here."

"That's good, isn't it?" asked Yuffie. "If the monster ate all the Jenova samples. They're gone for good now. Right?"

"Yuffie," said Cid, fighting to control his tone, "If Jenova cells can make a Sephiroth, a Zephiroth, and a Hojo that changes form, what will they do to a Whole Eater?"

Yuffie paled and looked from one glum face to another.

"You don't mean . . . "

Cid nodded.

Yuffie went to Hojo's desk and sat down.

"Do you have another rocket on you Cid? I want to get off this Planet!"

"That's all we need," said Tifa. "A Whole Eater with Jenova powers."

"We should have come back and destroyed those samples after we took Aeris home," said Cloud. "We're to blame for this. We didn't finish taking care of business."

"But we were all exhausted!" wailed Yuffie. "And the fight with that big monster would have drawn others to our location. We would have been fighting until we dropped. There's no way we would have had time to get rid of those Jenova cells!"

"Cid couldn't bring us," said Vincent. "Shera was sick. So was Marlene. I was on an emergency job."

"This was an emergency too," said Tifa. "The rest of us should have come back. We could have used gold chocobos."

"It's too late to fret about it now," said Cid. "Let's get the hell out of here and blow this lab to pieces. Do you think you can track that monster Red?"

"That's the other thing."

"What other thing?" asked Vincent.

"The scent in this lab is from that dead Whole Eater, we passed coming into Midgar."

"Shit!" said Cid.

Sephiroth stood at the edge of a cliff overlooking the valley. Tied to a tree behind him, Goldie waited patiently. The silver haired man was not admiring the view. He was thinking of a conversation long ago, in his office at Shinra headquarters.

He was sitting at his desk going over a duty roster. Zack was pacing back and forth in front of Sephiroth's desk talking about the new girl he was dating. Sephiroth was used to hearing Zack brag about the girls in his life. Zack was a handsome young man and all it took was a smile to make a pretty girl eat out of his hand.

Sephiroth never understood why women reacted to Zack as they did. He didn't understand why they reacted the way the same way toward him. He never encouraged attention, but Zack not only encouraged it, he used it to his advantage. He never kept a girl around for long. He stayed with her a while, then tossed her aside when a better one appeared. That didn't keep the rest of them from fighting for his attention. Each girl hoped she'd be the one who would capture his heart. Zack could have any girl he wanted.

Of all the SOLDIERs in his division, Zack was the best of the lot. Sephiroth made Zack his second in command. Zack always followed orders, but he also knew how to make the right decisions when left on his own. Sephiroth was pleased with Zack's work but he always wondered how much better Zack could perform if he used the energy he spent chasing girls in his work as a SOLDIER. He was only half listening when one word caught his full attention.

"What did you say?"

"I said, I'm going to get married," said Zack. "Aren't you listening to me?"

Sephiroth sat back with a look of surprise. "You're going to do WHAT?"

Zack grinned. It wasn't every day his commanding officer wore more than a serious expression.

"I know what you're thinking. You're wondering how a guy like me could even consider such a thing. I assure you I'm serious."

"You want to get married?" Sephiroth shook his head. "I can't see you giving up all those girls just be with one. She must be very special."

"She is." Zack sat down on the edge of Sephiroth's desk. He was the only one who could get away with it. "I've never met anyone like her."

"I think I've heard that line before." Sephiroth pushed his duty roster away. "You'd better think about this. You'll be in love with someone else next week."

Zack laughed. "I don't blame you for thinking that."

Sephiroth tapped his pen. "You'll forget about getting married then?"

"Oh no," Zack stood up. "I won't forget about that. Not ever. I wasn't looking for anyone special in my life. I was just out to have some fun. I spotted her from a distance and decided to make my play for the night, but the moment I introduced myself, I saw the error of my ways."

"You're serious." Sephiroth watched Zack carefully. "She's not in trouble is she?"

"You think she's pregnant?" Zack laughed again. "She's not pregnant. She doesn't fall for my lines like the other girls do. She's different."

"How different is different?" Sephiroth was curious.

"When she looks at you with those beautiful green eyes of hers, you just want to hold her in your arms and never let go." Zack had a far off look in his eyes. "You want to love her and take care of her. I even wrote my parents to tell them I'd be bringing her home to meet them."

"I don't believe I'm hearing this," said Sephiroth. "Shinra's greatest lover is giving up hundreds of adoring women to live with one girl! When do I get to meet her?"

"I'll introduce her to you when we get back from the reactor," said Zack. "I haven't told her how I feel yet, but I'm going to tell her when I see her again. I've even decided on the ring I'm going to buy. It will cost me a whole month's pay, but she's worth every gil. If you deny my request for leave when we get back, I'm going AWOL. I'm not taking any chances on someone else finding out how special she is. She's going to be my wife."

He grinned at Sephiroth's shocked expression.

"You'll like her. She's the sweetest, most gentlest woman you'll ever meet."

"You'd go AWOL over a girl? What am I hearing?" asked Sephiroth.

"I love her," said Zack. "For the first time in my life, I know what it feels like to be in love. I want to spend the rest of my life loving her."

Sephiroth dropped his pen on the desk and steepled his fingers. "What is the name of this special girl?"

Zack grinned. "Her name is A-"

The phone rang interrupting the conversation. The President had a mission for Sephiroth and wanted to see him immediately. Sephiroth gave the duty roster to Zack and went upstairs to receive his orders. The President wanted him to leave for Nibelheim at once to check on a malfunctioning reactor. There were reports of monsters in the area and another convoy had been attacked. Sephiroth called Zack from the Presidents outer office ordering him to chose men for the trip and meet him with a transport at the rear entrance of the building. They never had a chance to finish the conversation after that.

Sephiroth felt as if there was a lump in his chest. How would Aeris feel about him if she knew he'd murdered Zack? Would she still want to marry him?

"Run!" yelled Barret. "Run for your lives!"

Ahead of him Cid, Cloud, Tifa, Vincent and Red XIII raced up the stairs. Yuffie was bringing up the rear. One by one, they burst through the stairwell door and ran for the front of the building. Barret looked back to see Yuffie still dragging behind.

"Get your skinny little ass up here!" he yelled. "I set a bomb. Do you want to die?"

"I can make it!" Yuffie shouted back. "Don't wait for me!"

Barret muttered something under his breath and kept running. Behind him, Yuffie picked up speed.

They made it to the lobby, surprising a pair of Toxic Frogs.

"How the hell did they get here?" asked Cid.

"Who cares?" shouted Vincent, "Kill them!"

Tifa cast an ice spell.

Cloud cast a quake spell.

The frogs fell down then hopped up and began dancing around like little boxers shaking their fists at the group.

"We don't have time for this!" Vincent blasted one of them with his Death Penalty. It toppled over with a smoking hole through its middle.

The second frog cast a Frog Song spell on Yuffie.

Yuffie dwindled down into a little yellow and green frog.

Cloud dashed forward and slashed the second Toxic Frog in half. It died without a sound.

"Let's get the hell out here!" he shouted.

Barret stopped long enough to snatch up the Yuffie-Frog. He ran for the doors. They barely had time to find shelter when the sound of a huge explosion reached their ears. Plaster and steel fell into the lobby of the Shinra building. Smoke billowed out the door.

"Let's go before that blast brings other monsters," said Tifa.

"We've got to change Yuffie back," said Red.

"Hell no," said Barret, stuffing the frog into his empty pouch. "She can stay a frog until we get back to the ship! Hurry up! Run!"

"Barret that's mean," said Tifa. "Turn Yuffie back right now."

A large monster roared behind them and another one answered it. Somewhere, not too far away a third monster joined the cry.

"Look dammit!" shouted Cid as he rushed past Red XIII. "We don't have time for this shit. Run dammit, run!"

They ran back the way they had come.

Three Ghosts appeared in front of them. Vincent took out one with a fire spell. Cid claimed another with Heal. The third ghost vanished and reappeared behind them. It knocked Tifa off her feet. Barret stopped to help her while Cloud cast a fire spell to destroy it.

They were almost clear when three Caesars moved to block their path. Vincent, Cloud and Cid simultaneously cast ice spells and destroyed them in one shot. Running and walking, walking and running, they were exhausted by the time they passed through the city gates. Red XIII stopped to look at the body of the Whole Eater again. A strangely familiar roar came from within the city as they raced across the desert to the Highwind.

"Oh no!" cried Tifa. "It's another one of those Mega-Monsters! Run!"

"Get your ass in gear Red," yelled Cid. "Run!"

"Coming!" Red shouted back.

Barret was running for all he was worth. He muttered an obscenity as Red XIII raced past him and made it up the ramp ahead of everyone.

"Get going!" Cid yelled to his crew. "Get this thing off the ground!"

The Highwind rose into the air. Behind them, a monster burst through the city gates. It was almost identical to the monster that held them back from rescuing Aeris. It opened large pink leathery wings and began to flap them, preparing to fly.

"It's going to come after us!" cried Tifa.

"The hell you say!" Cid turned to his crew and yelled, "Shoot that damned thing!"

The Highwind fired 18 missiles. Each one found its mark. The monster staggered under the assault and fell back against one of the city walls. Blood poured from its wounds. It sat up and the wings began to curl around it.

"Oh no you don't!" Barret fired his Catastrophe. The blast tore one of the wings to shreds.

"Its still got one wing left!" cried Tifa. "Barret! Change Yuffie back into a girl!"

Cloud cast a comet spell on the monster. He didn't cause as much damage as he wanted to the remaining wing.

Barret reached in his bag and pulled out the Yuffie-Frog. It swung a fist at his face.

"Stop that!" he said.

The Yuffie-Frog squealed and began kicking Barret's arm with its legs.

He gave it a shake and held it up to his face. "Stop that or I'll put you back in the bag."

The Yuffie-Frog swung its fist again just clipping the tip of Barret's nose.

"Why you-" began Barret.

"Barret!" screamed Tifa, "Turn her back now!"

Barret turned to look at Tifa and the Yuffie-Frog boxed his ear.

Muttering to himself, Barret put the frog on the deck. He reached into another pocket and pulled out a bottle of Maidens Kiss. The Yuffie-Frog hopped closer and started pounding his legs with its fists.

"I'm just about ready to squash this damned frog," he growled.

The Yuffie-Frog did a handstand and battered Barret with its rear legs.

"You little . . ." Barret raised his foot taking aim. The Yuffie-Frog ignored the raised leg, hopped back on its feet and switched its attention to the leg still on the deck. It hammered Barret's leg like a punching bag.

"Barret!" screamed his friends.

Muttering to himself, Barret lowered his foot and pushed the combative little frog away with his shoe. Squealing in anger, it charged him again. Barett threw the contents on the bottle in its face.

Yuffie was back in a puff of smoke.

"How dare you put me in a bag!" she shouted. "I ought to-"

Tifa grabbed Yuffie and shoved her to the closest window so she could see the monster below.

The ninja's eyes went wide with shock.

"Holy Sh-" she began.

"Get the other wing!" shouted Tifa.

"Damn right!" yelled Yuffie in response.

She cast her All Creation spell. The second wing blew apart before the monster could begin to heal itself.

"Ultimate End!" shouted Cloud. The summon began to attack the monster. Almost before the last knight was through Red XIII joined in.

"Mime!" he shouted.

The Knights of the Round began again. When it was finished, the monster lay barely moving.

"Pandora's Box!" shouted Vincent. When the spell was over, the monster was dead.

"How come this monster was easier to kill than the last one?" asked Yuffie.

"You call that easy?" Cid shook his head. "I worry about you sometimes Yuffie."

"She's right. This one is different somehow," said Red XIII.

"Different parents maybe," said Cid. "Who cares? At least those Jenova cells are gone. The monster ate them and it died. Jenova cells can make people into monsters but monsters can't go back for a second helping. The Whole Eater is dead. Our problems are over."

"I hate to be the bearer of bad news again," said Red. "But I think our problems are just beginning."

Everyone turned to stare at him.

"I looked at that Whole Eaters body again," said Red. "It's definitely the same creature from the lab."

"But it ate the Jenova cells and died right?" asked Tifa. "Maybe they killed the monster. Wouldn't that kill the Jenova cells?"

Hopeful faces stared at Red.

"I don't think it's that easy." There was a somber look in his eye.

"Spit it out Red," said Cloud. "How bad is it?"

"That monster didn't die because it ate Jenova cells," he said. " It died because something burst out of its skull. There was a big hole on the side of its head and all the bone fragments were pushed outward."

Six shocked faces stared at him.

"We screwed up," said Barret. "We really screwed up."