paixaorpg | To The Rescue! [Complete]

Entry tags:

To The Rescue! [Complete]

Character(s): Zack, inhabitants of the Fortriss
Content: Zack goes running off like an idiot to save Cloud from Hojo.
Setting: Morem O Lisboa, then the ex-Fortriss of Darkniss
Time: Mid-Wednesday
Warnings: none yet

Zack was starting to feel more than a little bored. Since he didn’t have much to do at the hotel but wait for Ichigo and his friends – he was starting to doubt that they were all precisely friends, though - it wasn’t surprising that the evening had seen him fiddling with the journal system again. A short time later one particular journal entry had him yelling incoherently at the screen. So much for Cloud being sane. Apparently mako poisoning destroyed your common sense. What was the kid thinking, calmly agreeing to be a mad scientist's lab rat like that?

This time he really was going to strangle Hojo, Zack thought cheerfully while he scrawled a quick note in his journal. A few minutes later he had left the Morem O Lisboa behind him, heading for the Muspelheim gate. He felt more than a little guilty about abandoning Ichigo and the others who had joined his cause, but it probably would have been worse if he dragged them miles out of the city expecting a fight and only found a solitary scientist. And anyways, Ansem was no longer an issue. If he couldn’t handle a wimp like Hojo on his own, he was so far gone he might as well kill himself and save someone else the trouble.

Anyways, it wasn’t like they could get into much trouble sitting around a hotel, right? At the moment, Zack was considerably more concerned for himself. He had forgotten just how big Paixao was, and how by the time he reached the fiery gate where he had first entered the city it was already morning, or what passed for morning in this place.

And it was just as damn cold as it had been the day before, and he wasn’t exactly dressed for the weather. A SOLDIER’s enhanced metabolism helped, but only so much. Maybe it hadn’t been such a brilliant idea to go charging off to rescue Cloud without making a few plans first, Zack thought ruefully after he had been wandering vaguely northwards for what felt like hours. Getting lost and dying of hypothermia would be ridiculously embarrassing. What a lame way to go.

When he finally encountered Ansem’s erstwhile fortress, the place was unmistakable. The man had definitely had a taste for cliché, Zack thought as he looked up at the chiselled obsidian edifice. Things were kind of a mess inside – it looked like the events surrounding Ansem’s disappearance hadn’t been entirely peaceful. And in spite of all its grandiosity, the fortress seemed to be deserted.

“Uh, hello,” called Zack, “anybody home? Cloud, Hojo, random evil monsters? Somebody?”

The dark hallways remained empty as he wandering further into the fortress. Damn, this was starting to be kind of creepy.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Cloud had spent the time away from Hojo recovering his belongings. It had taken longer than he'd estimated, but he came away with everything he'd lost: journal, his proper clothing, and, most importantly, his sword. He felt infinitely better once they were all in place.

What unsettled him was the journal's network. He'd updated, and a swarm of concerned responses returned. How come everyone and their mother pretended to know more about his situation than he did? It was annoying, and he soon grew tired of giving them all the time of day.

Most upsetting was news of Zack's departure from the domes. 'The impatient idiot,' he thought irritably, 'running off to involve himself in my business.' Soon he'd show up and make a mess of everything, trying to get Cloud away from his arrangement. Well, it wasn't going to work, no matter how big a scene Zack made.

Cloud took to wandering the halls, knowing Zack would walk right in, given his impetuous nature. Soon enough he heard the distinctive voice in a nearby corridor. It was easy to track him by his voice. Annoyed, Cloud stepped out a ways down the hall from Zack to confront him. "Ah. So you came, like you said you would."

Zack nearly jumped out of his skin when a voice spoke out of a hallway he was sure he'd checked twice already, but breathed a sigh of relief when he realized it was Cloud. He looked none the worse for wear, or at least he thankfully wasn't still darkness-ified or just plain catatonic. The kid didn't look too happy to see him, but then, he had taken his sweet time getting to the fortress.

"Hey, spike," Zack said brightly. "You owe me big, the way you're always making me come save you from crazy bastards like Hojo. Even though this is kinda my fault, since I'm the one who had us working for Ansem to begin with." He frowned, finally realizing that Cloud was not only intact but mysteriously unrestrained. "Damn, here I was all ready to bust you out of a lab and beat the crap out of Hojo, but I get here and you're wandering around like you own the place. I'm never gonna get that fight I've been wanting, am I?"

He grinned at Cloud and headed off the way the blond had come from. "You said there was a girl here? Some lawyer guy said his friend got herself kidnapped, so I guess we'll take her with us when we leave."

What a casual attitude. Cloud held his ground as Zack walked past him. His presence would definitely complicate things. Cloud followed him with his eyes.

"For one, I did not ask to be saved, Zack," he began. "There is nothing to be saved from. You don't have to be here right now. Another, yes, there is a girl here who is important to those lawyer people. Thirdly, you will not harm Hojo. He has done no wrong to you. You will stay out of our business, understand? This is something I do voluntarily."

Zack was too nosy for his own good. Cloud didn't like the thought, but he knew he might have to cross blades with Zack if it got into his head to beat on Hojo. This was a matter of honor, and Cloud would see to it that his debts were cleared.

Zack blinked. "You think Hojo owes you something? Has he been shooting you up with hallucinogens already, or what?" He shrugged. "If you won't come to your senses and stop acting like an idiot, I guess I'll just have to hit you over the head and re-kidnap you. Because I am not leaving you here with the freaky professor."

Zack had continued down the corridor while he talked, not noticing Cloud going increasingly annoyed behind him. Stepping out into what was obviously Hojo's laboratory, he shook his head. The lab wasn't in much better shape than the rest of the place, but it already had that special Hojo-ish touch. Glowing computer monitors, completely harmless-looking chick in a cage...ugh.

Kinda gave him a feeling of deja vu. Except he hadn't gotten stabbed yet. The way Cloud was acting, Zack figured he might end up fighting him instead of Hojo. Which would suck, because the kid wasn't quite such a wimp anymore, and he had to admit it might be a tough fight.

Cloud followed Zack all the way to the lab. 'He'd better not mess with anything. Hojo still has a lot of work to do yet.' Best to keep an eye on him. As long as Zack didn't screw anything up, Cloud didn't care what he did.

"If you're not leaving here without me, you'll have to stay and wait out the experiment. This is something I have to do, regardless of your feelings towards Hojo," he said, watching Zack cautiously. "And I am not drugged up. I'm actually the most coherent I've been in days." Which said a lot.

He glanced around. Hojo still wasn't around, and the girl from earlier hadn't moved from her cage. Things might yet work out, as long as Zack didn't throw a wrench into the works.

Zack stalked across the room to examinine the unconscious dark-haired girl in the cage. "I guess she volunteered too? Maybe you're crazy enough to think this is a good idea, but I fucking hope you're not the kind of person that thinks it's fine to hand a helpless stranger over to the likes of Hojo."

"Hojo hasn't harmed her," Cloud said, frowning at the implications of Zack's words. "All he did was take a blood sample from her. She has nothing to do with my experiment, as far as I know, so you may free her." Cloud moved closer to the cage and looked at the lock closely. "It's a simple lock that can be broken easily with enough force. She needs to be taken back to her friends. And you're the perfect escort." Anything to get Zack the hell out of here.

"Don't think you're getting out of this that easily," said Zack, noting that the cage was indeed as flimsy as Cloud claimed. He drew his sword and brought the hilt down on the lock, which shattered easily. Setting the Buster Sword aside, he reached inside and lifted the girl out, sitting her on the ground outside the cage for the moment.

"Now listen, you spiky-assed moron," he told Cloud, "I don't care what your whacked-out sense of honor makes you think you have to do, we're all leaving, as soon as I make sure Hojo can't keep up this science crap."

Zack walked over to the bank of half-repaired computers and reduced the first of the monitors to a slightly smoking pile of rubble, grinning. Smashing things wasn't as much fun as fighting people, but it was a hell of a good stress reliever.

Oh, that pissed Cloud off. 'Just be thankful Hojo isn't here to see this,' he thought angrily. There was now a fork in the road. He could stand against Zack, fight him to prevent him from creating more destruction, drag his sorry ass out of the fortress, and then hang around here until Hojo came back and left again to get more parts for repair. Inconvenient. It would not do.

The other choice was to go along with Zack for the moment, and returning later whenever Hojo was ready to begin again. Summons could be made easily via journal. He'd simply keep a lookout. All would not be lost. 'Decision made.' Cloud nodded once to Zack, then turned, drawing his sword, and took out his aggression and frustration on some nearby machines as well, showing solidarity. He made quick work of them. Hojo would just have to do a little more repairwork than before, but it wasn't anything irreparable.

"Fine," Cloud said tightly once he was through. "Let's take this girl and get the hell out of here."

There was a click from the doorway to the laboratory.

"Don't move, either of you." Oh, Hojo did have wonderful timing. He would have to thank Elena later for tipping him off and giving him the foresight to load the gun before he got back to the fortress. "I reccommend you both drop your swords and step away from them and the girl. Now."

Zack looked at the irritated scientist standing in the doorway and groaned. "Son of a-- I just have all the luck, don't I?" He made no move to lower his sword, merely shifting into a better stance. "Look, there's two of us and one of you, and I doubt you're all that good with that gun to begin with. Let us go and maybe I won't kill you."

He wasn't quite as confident as he claimed, but still, surely he and Cloud could take out a solitary geek. If Cloud stopped being such an idiot. The younger man still didn't seem to understand precisely what he had gotten himself into.

Hojo showed no sign of surrendering, which wasn't exactly surprising. "I'm going to give you ten seconds," said Zack. "Drop the gun."

Hojo actually hesitated for a moment, wavering, unsure. Not even a SOLDIER could dodge a bullet, obviously, but if he missed he would probably not get the chance to shoot again. Really, one could practically see the gears whirring in his mind as he weighed his options.

And a moment later he seemed to discard everything he'd been considering, because he adjusted his aim and fired two shots at Zack's chest.

As soon as Cloud's decision had been made, it immediately became irrelevant. Hojo's presence changed everything.

Too late for thoughts. Hojo had fired at Zack. He couldn't say that Zack didn't deserve it, though. "Hojo, don't!" He had no idea if Hojo's gun was still loaded, but he didn't want to play games with luck. Cloud quickly shifted his stance, leveling his sword at Zack, wherever he ended up after the shots. "Don't move, Zack. This is for the best." His eyes were cold and deadly serious.

Truth was, if he had to fight Zack, he wouldn't last. Cloud may have had the energy to bang up a few computers, but after days of being stuck in a cage and being without quality food, he was pretty weak. Zack would easily be able to best him if it came to exchanging blows.

Today just wasn't his day, Zack thought, still leaning against the cage Hojo's shot had sent him him stumbling into. The first bullet had only grazed him, but the second had landed somewhere below his right shoulder. Didn't feel like it had hit a lung, but it hurt like a bitch.

Not that he had ever known getting shot not to hurt like a bitch, except the time he died immediately afterwards and didn't have time to think about what it felt like, but still. It was goddamn annoying. And it had to be his sword arm, didn't it. Zack hoped Hojo was out of bullets, because at this rate the scientist looked to be the least defenseless person in the room, and his aim was bound to improve eventually.

And Cloud... looked like he wanted to join in one the beating the hell outta Zack, and it wouldn't surprise him if the kid would be able to, at this rate. "You know what?" said Zack, wincing. "It's your funeral, Cloud. You wanna let the crazy doctor stick needles into you, go right ahead."

This whole idiot rescue attempt could wait until Cloud finally realized just what he had gotten into. And until he wasn't bleeding. "Considering you shot me," he told Hojo, "it would be nice if you made sure I don't die of blood poisoning or something. I promise I'll be a good little specimen and not engage in any more random acts of vandalism."

Hojo tilted an eyebrow. "I hope you mean lead poisoning," he said flatly. "And, really, I wasn't planning on doing anything other than killing you, but if you insist I'm sure I can find some use for you." He shrugged and approached, cautiously, keeping his gun trained on Zack. Of course he didn't trust the man just because he happened to graze him with a bullet or two. "You're not going to die from those shots, any way, unless you're a haemophiliac, which I doubt."

Cloud kept his guard up, still wary. Not so much about Zack, but rather Hojo. Anyone with a gun was a threat. He couldn't be certain how much Hojo saw. Cloud did smash some equipment. Who knows, it could have been vital to Hojo's experiment. He might be seen as untrustworthy, and that could be qualification for being shot.

He kept his eyes solely on Zack. "You keep calling him crazy, Zack. He's done nothing to deserve that label." It was annoying. But maybe there was something behind Zack's convictions. "Hojo, don't kill him. He may have smashed a few machines, but that's nothing to be killed for." Even if his opinions mattered nothing, at least they were voiced.

"Totally in favor of not-dying, here," said Zack brightly. "And also in favor of not sitting here forever with a bullet in me, but whatever."

He shrugged, and winced. "Look, if Hojo isn't crazy, I'm sure he'd be glad to explain what exactly this perfectly safe, ethical experiment of his is going to involve."

Hojo frowned, considering, then shrugged once, keeping his gun trained on Zack. "I'm going to put you under anaesthesia, butterfly your ribs, and hook one of those machines up to your still-beating heart and see what happens." He gestured with his free hand to the few devices that were still intact, most of them rather questionable-looking. "Nothing too scary."

Cloud held his postion for a little more, then put up his sword when his arms grew too tired to hold it. Hojo had Zack covered well enough with the gun. What Hojo described for Zack didn't sound so bad. But he was curious now. "And what do you have in mind for me, Hojo?" Everyone who commented on his journal entry had practically demanded to know. 'I could make a post telling everyone what the experiment is,' he thought blandly.

It was getting bad when he thought more about shutting people up on his little journal than about the very real danger he was in. Chalk it up to the exhaustion.

"...still-beating heart what?" echoed Zack, after an uncomfortable silence. The SOLDIER hadn't expected Hojo to be quite that honest. "Dude, and here I thought mako tubes were bad." If Cloud still wanted to stick around for the experiment after this, he was definitely as certifiable as Hojo. But there wasn't much he could do about it at this point.

...one of these days he really needed to learn not to run off by himself without waiting for backup.

Hojo was quiet for a moment or two more, looking thoughtfully over at the machines, some working, most ruined.

"Most likely the same," he said after a few more moments of quiet contemplation. "Ansem spoke of darkness and hearts as if they were something mythical and after looking through the information on the computer, it seems I can use those machines to see what he meant for myself. Oh, would you knock him out for me?" He gestured to Zack absently. "I would like to get this done before he breaks anything else, you see."

Cloud nodded once. Absolute dedication to the job was required. All or nothing. Hojo held all the cards. 'It'll be better this way, Zack, regrettable as it is,' he thought. Even if he hadn't wanted to, there was no choice now. 'For honor.'

With one motion, he drew his sword again and brought the flat of it down fast towards the top of Zack's head. Head injuries were quick ways to send someone spiraling towards unconsciousness.

"Ah, excellent," said Hojo as Zack crumpled to the floor. The loss of some of the equipment shouldn't make the procedures too much more difficult; he would likely need Ansem's journal with him during them, though, just in case something needed to be looked up. He didn't mention this, though. He set the gun aside now that it wasn't needed.

"Shall we get started, then?"

Cloud stared down at Zack before responding. It wasn't the best way to treat a friend, of course. Zack had been the only person to show him kindness in this strange place, and Cloud returned it by bashing him over the head. He didn't think it'd be a good idea to be around when Zack woke up again.

It felt like he'd been waiting for this experiment for ages. At long last, he'd fulfill his debt to Hojo and be able to leave the fortress. Even if the experiment turned out to be unsavory, there was no going back now. How bad could it be, anyway?

Cloud set his sword down and looked at Hojo, eyes blank. "Yes. Let's get this over with."

[I'mma put a closed tag on this thread, since it's effectively over. When Zackmun gets back on Sundayish she can change the header as well. :D]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

To The Rescue! [Complete]

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

To all

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject