Mirror Image

by T'Shael

Chapter 19

"Holy Judgement" yelled Tifa. The summon appeared and turned on the monster. It staggered a bit and recovered.

"Judgement Bolt" sang out Yuffie. A mountain appeared and an old man with a rod raked the monster with lightening bolts.

Barret used his Catastrophe limit break. The monsters squealed and began to stumble under a gigantic beam that struck it repeatedly.

Using the chaos to his advantage, Sephiroth raced past the behemoth and ran toward the Shinra building.

"Where the hell is he going?" yelled Cid to no one in particular. "Why isn't he helping us fight?"

"He's going after Aeris," shouted Red XIII unleashing the energy of his Cosmo Memory.

The creatures tongue just missed Cloud before it was struck by Reds blast.

"What are you waiting for?" demanded Hojo. "Go get the Cetra and return her to her cell!"

Zephiroth wiped the blood from his nose and glared at Hojo. "I'll return her to her cell all right!"

"You're not to cause her any serious injuries Zephiroth!" Hojo shook his finger at the angry clone. "Bring her back here."

"She'll be back when I'm finished with her," Zephiroth walked toward the door.

"Zephiroth!" Hojo put his hand on Zephiroth's shoulder. Without warning Zephiroth backhanded him. Hojo crashed to the floor. Zephiroth paused at the door and gave Hojo a malevolent smile. "She'll be a different Cetra when she comes back. She'll learn to respect me. Don't wait up for us father."

Hojo watched him leave. His predecessor had written of the problems he had with Sephiroth. Sephiroth looked down on the first Hojo and his attitude worsened every day. To avoid problems with the new clone, the first Hojo programmed obedience into Zephiroth's learning tapes. Obviously some improvement was needed. Fortunately there was a duplicate of the tape made for Zephiroth. The Hojo clone decided to reinforce obedience training in the new clones. He couldn't have an army he couldn't control running around. He sat up. His glasses weren't broken. He wiped the blood from his nose and his split lip and went back to work.

Zephiroth ran up the stairs to the first platform with revenge on his mind. He'd tame that wild Cetra. His eyes glowed with fiendish intent. After today, Aeris would never raise her hand or foot to him again. She was going to learn it was a bad idea to run from him too. Once he got his hands on her, he would train her to come when called. Oh yes. Aeris was going to be a good little student.

When Zephiroth reached the door at the top of the stairs, Aeris was no where in sight. Thinking she had probably headed toward the front of the building Zephiroth started that way, but stopped when he heard the roar of an angry creature. The creature outside changed the pitch of its roars as it fought Cloud's team. Zephiroth mistook the roar of one animal for two. He assumed they were fighting. Aeris would have heard the fighting too. She would not have gone that way. Zephiroth chuckled and ran to the right.

Sephiroth ran through the broken doors and stopped. Where would Hojo go? There were no lights on the upper floor. Most of the ground floor was lit. Hojo had to be somewhere on this floor, but where?

His eyes fell on the open panel. Strange. He never knew there was a power panel here. Ignoring the battle behind him, he went to investigate. Studying the buttons inside, he saw only the lights on the ground floor and the lights in the basement had been activated. Why would Hojo want to light the basement? Sephiroth knew of nothing down there that would interest Hojo but then Hojo was a complex individual. None of the elevators was on line. Sephiroth frowned. Maybe he should check this floor first. He started off to the right then stopped. He came back to the panel and frowned again. Maybe he should check the basement first. There was a stairway to the left. Sephiroth turned that way.

Aeris kept running. She had no idea where she was. There had to be a back door somewhere. If Zephiroth got his hands on her after her last stunt . . . she didn't want to think about it. She turned another corner and kept running.

Zephiroth paused and listened. He could hear faint footsteps way ahead of him. He laughed and kept running.

Sephiroth found the stairs and opened the door. The staircase below was lit. Only one light burned above. Hojo had gone to the basement but was he still there? Sephiroth started down the stairs.

Hojo looked at Aeris' empty cell and snorted is disgust. His so called second greatest experiment couldn't even handle the woman he had been begging for, ever since he saw her on the back of Sephiroth's chocobo. Zephiroth would have broken down the door in Nibelheim and taken the Cetra by force if it hadn't been for Hojo's promise that he would have her after his experiments were through.

He had one son who didn't look at women and one who did but couldn't do anything about it. There were definitely flaws in the cloning process. No problem. He would work those out as he went along. He would make sure his future clones knew how to breed. He heard footsteps approaching the lab door. He didn't look back. He had to get these fertilized eggs into the cloning pods. He did notice however that he only heard one set of footsteps. Damn that boy! Hojo was throughly disgusted. He would have to help him find the Cetra.

"Did you find her?" he asked. What kind of pitiful excuse Zephiroth would offer him now?

"No, but I intend to."

Hojo turned around. Sephiroth stood just inside the door in his battle armor. Hojo grinned at him. "Welcome home son."

"Don't call me that." Sephiroth's voice was deadly.

"I'm your father." Hojo kept grinning. "Your natural father."

"There is nothing natural about you." Sephiroth reached back with one foot and kicked the door shut.

Hojo raised an eyebrow. "You don't seem surprised to hear that. You already know. When did you find out? Who told you?"

"What does it matter?" Sephiroth's eyes were blazing. "I owe you for a great many things."

Hojo laughed. "Yes you do. Your strength, your powers, your intelligence. You can thank me for all of it."

"Do I thank you for killing my mother?" Sephiroth's voice hardened.

"Lucrecia?" Hojo shrugged. "She turned out to be weaker than I expected her to be. She should have come through the delivery with no problem."

"The Jenova cells drained her life." Sephiroth glared at Hojo.

"An unforseen complication." Hojo shrugged again. "We managed to save you."

"My mother died calling to hold me in her arms and you refused her dying request!" growled Sephiroth.

Hojo looked surprised. "How did you know that? How could you know that?"

Sephiroth took a step closer. "You told me Professor Gast died of a heart attack. The truth is, you had him killed and you took his wife and baby prisoner. When she escaped, she died of a wound inflicted by your henchmen. She died, but not before giving her baby to another woman to raise. Killing Ifalna wasn't enough for you. You hunted down Aeris down until you captured her. If Cloud and his friends hadn't helped her to escape, there is no telling what you would have done to her!"

Hojo rubbed his chin and looked at his son with new interest. "You seem to know an awful lot about your past. I would still like to know how you learned about it."

"What you need to be concerned about," said Sephiroth taking another step closer, "Is how much longer you have to live."

"You're here for revenge?" Hojo crossed his arms and leaned back against the counter behind him.

"That and Aeris," answered Sephiroth.

Hojo raised his eyebrow again. "I'm curious about that. You never showed any interest in females, why?"

"I never learned to interact with anyone. How could I?" Sephiroth wondered how his father could stand there so casually when his life was in danger. "You never showed any feelings for me and neither did the people who raised me."

"Is that all?" Hojo looked surprised. "I thought the best way to make you tough was to withhold all affection. Not that I have any paternal instincts. Your caretakers were specially chosen. It seems they did their work a little too well. What is your attraction for the Cetra? Do you have a physical relationship with her? Are you planning to?"

"That's none of your business," replied Sephiroth, "And while we're on the subject, where is Aeris? I would have expected her to be in one of these cells."

"Aeris is otherwise occupied at the moment," said Hojo with a strange smile on his face. "I'm sure she'll join us when she has completed a little task I have for her."

A warning bell went off in Sephiroth's head. "What task? You didn't come here alone. Who's with you and where is he?"

"Marvelous!" Hojo clapped his hands in delight. "You are so well informed! Is that a power of yours that I didn't know about?"

Sephiroth took three steps closer to Hojo. "I asked you a question."

"Actually you asked two." He dropped his hands in his pockets. "To answer the first question, I came here with your brother Zephiroth."

It was Sephiroth's turn to be surprised. "I have no brother."

"You do now." Hojo chuckled. "He's been in a cloning pod these past few years. He just hatched a few days ago, along with me."

"You're a clone of Hojo?" Sephiroth reeled back a step.

"Alive and in the flesh." Hojo held his arms out proudly. "Don't worry though, I have all his memories and I have all his skills. I have his DNA. I am just as much your father as he was."

Sephiroth was startled into silence.

"As I said before, I'm glad you returned." Hojo waved a hand to indicate the room. "I am on the verge of my greatest experiment. I am creating an army of Zephiroth's sons. But don't worry. I'll do you next."

Hojo waved at the ten petri dishes on the counter behind him. "These trays contain eggs I removed from the Cetra's body."

He didn't notice the look on Sephiroth's face when he said that. He went on.

"Zephiroth provided the finishing touch. See for yourself! The eggs are already fertilized and dividing. I was just about to put them in the cloning pods when you arrived. The first Hojo developed a process to speed up the growth of an embryo. I will have ten of Zephiroth's full grown sons in less than thirty days. I'm going to make ten more in sixty days. I'm only going to make nine in ninety days, because I'm going to use Aeris' unborn baby as the tenth."

"Aeris' unborn WHAT?" Sephiroth's eyes narrowed.

"Her unborn baby," repeated Hojo patiently. "Well, she's not pregnant yet. She got away from Zephiroth. She's somewhere in the building but I'm sure he'll catch up with her soon. He's very virile. I made sure of that in his mix. She'll definitely get pregnant. After I remove her baby and place it in the chamber, you can . . . uck!"

Hojo found himself bent backward over the counter top with Sephiroth's hands against his throat. He couldn't breathe. He struggled, but he couldn't loosen Sephiroth's hold. Spots began to dance before his eyes. Sephiroth eased up a bit and Hojo frantically sucked air into his lungs.

"I told him not to hurt her!" he cried. " He'll just impregnate her. I'll keep her in the cell when he brings her back. You can see her anytime you like! You can both share her. I'll make a schedule!"

Sephiroth couldn't believe his ears. This clone was just as sick, callous and unthinking as his own father had been. He felt cold inside knowing Aeris was fleeing a man just as sick and demented as this one.

Hojo's eyes suddenly glittered. " I'll tell you what . . . I'm going to find a donor and clone the Cetra. You could have the new clone all to yourself! Think about it, I can create clones in my cloning chambers and you can create sons the old-fashioned way. We'll be the most powerful family on this planet. You, me and Zephiroth. I was going to make another me. Maybe I'll make two Cetra's instead! We'll be the fathers a whole new race and the Cetra clones will be the most important mothers! We can do it son. We can rule the planet!"

"All you're going to do is die!" growled Sephiroth. As he tightened his hands around Hojo's neck, he suddenly felt the muzzle of Hojo's weapon pressing against his temple. He eased his grip.

"I'm afraid not son," Hojo croaked. Sephiroth stepped away from the disheveled scientist. Hojo straightened, rubbing his throat. He kept the weapon aimed at Sephiroth.

"You're not looking down your nose at me now Sephiroth," he grinned. "I was willing to make concessions but since you don't choose to cooperate, Zephiroth will have the Cetra for himself. There's nothing you can do about it!"

"I am going to kill you," said Sephiroth. "Then I'm going after Zephiroth."

"You're too late!" smirked Hojo. "I offered you the planet and you turned me down. If you aren't with me, you're against me. I'll get your cooperation whether you give it freely or not. I imagine Zephiroth has caught the Cetra about now. You think about that while you're in your cell!"

Sephiroth could only stand and clench his fists. He hated the man standing before more than he had ever hated anyone in his life and he wanted Hojo dead.

Hojo motioned toward the open cell door with the weapon. "That was Aeris' cell, but you can have it now. I'll put her in the other one when Zephiroth brings her back. He told me not to wait up."

With a look of hate on his face, Sephiroth turned and walked toward the cell door. Hojo followed him with an insane grin. Just before he reached the door Sephiroth suddenly dropped to the floor and swept his legs in Hojo's direction. He knocked Hojo right off his feet. The weapon fired into the ceiling as Hojo crashed to the floor. He lost his grip and it sailed through the air, hit the floor and slid out of reach. Sephiroth on his feet before the clone could react.

Hojo had bashed his lip on the floor. He raised himself on one elbow. Blood ran down his chin. He looked up at Sephiroth malevolently "So now you're going to kill me?"

Sephiroth lunged forward and the masamune slid through Hojo's chest. The blade skittered on the floor when it came out the other side. "What do you think?"

Bloody bubbles frothed over Hojo's lips and ran down the corners of his mouth. His eyes stared at Sephiroth with disbelief. He opened his mouth to speak, spat a gout of blood, then fell limp. Sephiroth pulled the blade from Hojo's body and wiped it off on the mad scientist's clothes. He slid it back into the sheath. His eyes fell on the petri dishes Hojo had been preparing. These were samples from Aeris and Zephiroth. He looked around the room. On one of the trays Zephiroth had brought in the night before was a large wide mouth jar labeled "acid." Sephiroth grabbed the petri dishes and hurried to the jar. He opened each dish and dropped them into the acid one by one. He would tell the others about the cloning pods. He ran to the door. He had to find Aeris before Zephiroth did.

"Ultimate End!" shouted Cloud.

"It's about fucking time!" Cid mumbled. "How strong is this damned thing?"

Thirteen Knights came to life and the monster was pummeled under their assault.

Red XIII cast a Mimic spell and the Knight of the Round attacked again. The Monster fell to its knees moaning.

"I think we've got it!" yelled Yuffie.

Weakly, it raised its black wings and wrapped them around its body. The wings began to shimmer. Suddenly it stood up, unwrapped its wings and roared a challenge.

"It healed itself!" cried Tifa.

Vincent fired his weapon at the creature. "Damn!"

"Okay everybody, it's time for round two!" Cloud raised his sword, Cid stood beside him with his Venus Gospel. They moved toward the creature again.

Sephiroth ran for the stairs. He opened the door to the stairs and took both stairways as fast as he could. He burst through the door in the hall and looked left and right. Where would she have gone? He could hear the sounds of battle raging outside drifting down the hall on his left. He mentally kicked himself for not finding out how long Aeris and Zephiroth had been gone. If she ran away before the battle started outside, she could have gone either way. If she heard the sound the monster was making now, she wouldn't have known it was Cloud's team outside doing battle with it. She wouldn't have run toward the fight. Sephiroth took a chance and turned to the right.

Aeris came upon what was left of the monster Zephiroth had killed and pressed her hand against her mouth to keep from screaming. Something had been eating it. Parts of its body were spread across the hall. Her ears picked up the sound of heavy footsteps somewhere behind her. She took hopping steps through the gore, trying not to land in anything gooey. She made it to the other side and ran again. She looked back once and stopped in dismay. She was leaving a trail of bloody footprints. She ran to a door and tried it. The door opened. She ran across the room, weaving through desks, scuffing her feet on the carpet

There was a door on the other side of the room. Aeris ran to the door and opened it. There was another hallway that branched into three corridors. Where should she go? Zephiroth would be here any second. She checked her shoes. No more bloody footprints but there was blood on the sides of her shoes. An idea occurred to her. She held up one foot and wiped the blood off her shoes onto her hands. She smeared the blood on the door and handle. That done, she ran for the closest desk. It was perfect. She would not be seen from the other side. She slid the chair back and crawled beneath the desk. She pulled the chair in as far she could and fought to catch her breath as quietly as she could.

It was not a moment too soon. The office door crashed opened tearing loose from one hinge. The door hung against the wall at an angle. "Aeris!" roared Zephiroth. "Where are you?"

Under the desk Aeris pressed her hands against her mouth and froze. She heard Zephiroth panting as he crossed the room. He was following the scuff marks. He stopped and she heard him moving around a bit. She knew he'd seen her hand prints when he laughed.

Zephiroth ran to the opposite door and snatched it open. "I'm coming for you Aeris. It won't be long now!" he ran out the door choosing the hallway on the right.

Aeris pushed the chair out of place and scrambled from under the desk. She ran back through the broken door. Maybe the monster outside was gone. Her only fear was that Hojo would be waiting for her outside the stairway door. Aeris decided to deal with that problem when she got there. Maybe she could find an office with a door that opened beyond the stairwell. She had only taken a few steps when she heard footsteps coming toward her. Aeris' heart leaped into her mouth. Quickly she turned to a door across the hall and ran inside. She held the door and closed it quietly behind her. There was only one desk in this office. She had no choice. She crawled beneath it and pulled the chair in behind her.

Sephiroth ran past the office Aeris' was hiding in as he followed two sets of bloody footprints. One of those sets was small, the other, as large as his own. He grit his teeth in determination. He had to find Aeris first. He followed the scuff marks as far as they went, then noticed the bloody hand prints on the door. He opened the door and looked out. He chose the hallway straight ahead.

Aeris came out of her hiding place after a little while and cautiously crept to the door. She didn't hear anything. She came out of the office and started back the way she had come. She had only gone halfway down the hall when three Hedgehog Pies came around the corner just ahead. She stopped dead. They stared at each other. Then the Hedgehogs charged. Aeris turned and ran back to the office with the broken door. The Hedgehogs were fast. They came around the doorway when Aeris was halfway to the opposite door. She barely managed to slam it in their faces.

Aeris ran down the hallway on the left and tried another door. It opened. Fearing Zephiroth had heard the first door slam. She closed this door quietly. She found a private bar to hide under.

Sephiroth had gone around a corner and was halfway down the new hall when he heard a door slam. The sound his own feet and his cape flapping in his wake masked the sound of Aeris running down the other hall. By the time he reached the hallway junction, there was no one in sight. He ran down the left hall and turned the next corner.

Zephiroth was further away, but he heard the door slam too. He turned and ran back to the junction. His feet and cape masked the sound of Sephiroth running down the center hall then moving up the left. By the time Zephiroth stood in front of the door Aeris had slammed, Sephiroth was out of sight. Zephiroth raced down the middle hall and turned the corner.

Aeris waited a while, then came out of her hiding place. She opened the door and listened. Nothing. She came out of the office and walked back to the junction. It was very quiet. She pressed her ear against the door. Were the Hedgehogs still there? She couldn't hear anything on the other side of the door. Cautiously she opened it just a crack and looked. If they were in there, she would slam the door shut. Aeris didn't see them. Maybe they were hiding. She opened the door wider and peeked in. She still didn't see anything. She strained her ears. She didn't hear anything. Finally Aeris opened the door halfway, braced to slam it if she had to and looked around. Nothing.

Zephiroth was walking back to the junction. He didn't think Aeris would go too deep into the building. He would have to start searching rooms. He wasn't sure where to start first. He was angry at himself for allowing her to escape. They should have been together by now. When he found her, he would definitely teach her not to run from him. He turned the corner and stopped in surprise. Aeris was standing in the doorway looking into the office at the end of the hallway. This was almost too good to be true. Zephiroth wanted to charge down the hall and grab her, but the girl was full of tricks. Rushing her was the wrong tactic. Moving as quietly as he could, he crept up behind her.

Sephiroth stopped. He didn't think Aeris would run this far into the building. She didn't know her way around. What would he do in her place? He would probably hide in one of the offices. The problem was where he should start first? It was clear she had gone through at least one office. He decided to go back to the hallway junction and start there.

Still holding the door, Aeris took a step into the room scanning with her eyes. The Hedgehogs must have given up and gone in search of easier prey. As she sighed in relief, she suddenly had the feeling something was behind her. She turned and looked down, expecting to see the Hedgehogs behind her. What she saw instead was a pair of black boots. Her eyes rose up the black battle uniform until they settled on two hungry silver black eyes, framed by long silver hair. Aeris screamed, and she went on screaming as his arms closed around her waist and raised her off her feet.

"At last my pretty," Zephiroth cooed. "I told you I was coming for you."

He tried to carry her into the office but Aeris grabbed the door frame with both hands. The door closed on her fingers, but she refused to relinquish her grip. She kept screaming.

Her scream echoed through the hallways. Sephiroth heard. He ran toward the junction.

Zephiroth wrenched Aeris' fingers free. The door slammed shut behind them as he carried her struggling, into the room.

The monsters long snake-like tongue whipped out and wrapped around Tifa's waist. It began to lift her from the ground. She beat at it with her hands and started screaming. Cloud leaped forward, his weapon flashed and the tongue was severed. Tifa was stunned. Cloud grabbed her and dragged her back to safety.

The monster stood screaming waving what was left of its tongue around spraying them all with warm blood.

"Yewww! Stop that!" said Yuffie in disgust. When the monster didn't cooperate, she threw her Conformer. It flew toward the monster and severed the rest of the tongue. The Conformer came back to Yuffie and she followed it up with an All Creation spell. The monster rocked back on its heel and sat down hard.

"I told you to stop!" she said with a smug expression.

Cid glanced at her. "I'm impressed."

"Thank you." Yuffie had time to give him a quick smile.

"My turn!" Cid rushed in and let the monster have a taste of his Big Brawl. It howled in agony and swatted at him with a claw. It just missed.

Barret used his Catastrophe. The beast squealed and one wing went limp. Tifa worked on the other with her Final Heaven. Cloud followed up with his Ominslash. The monster lunged at Yuffie and sent her flying with a backhand. She sailed through the air and fell to the ground injured. Cid cast a healing spell on her.

The monster was only able to partially heal itself with its damaged wings. The battle raged on.