FINAL FANTASY VII

THE CHANGE OF TIME

Chapter 24

The first thing Sephiroth noticed as he, Barret, and Vincent entered the center of the crater, was the presence of Rufus, Scarlet, and Hojo. Sephiroth's blood boiled at the sight of the scientist, whom he now knew to be his father, thanks

to f-Aeris. His hand itched for the masamune, but he restrained himself, knowing he had more important things to worry about.

Rufus was the first to notice Sephiroth, with a startled cry of "S-Sephiroth!!"

Hojo looked up, and an amused grin crossed his face as he said "Ah, I was wondering when you would arrive,"

"Be quiet Hojo," Sephiroth snarled, then looked to Rufus as he said "Its hard to explain, but the Sephiroth you have been chasing, and I, are two seperate people. I am on your side,"

"Hah! What foolishness is this? I never made a full clone of you, only those useless fools who carried your cells," Hojo declared.

"I believe he said to be quiet," Vincent said, slowly aiming his gun at Hojo.

"Vincent, long time no see," Hojo said spreading his arms. "How have you been?" The scientist asked, his voice taking on a mocking edge.

"Enough of this!" Rufus snapped, then looked at Sephiroth as he asked "How do I know you aren't lying?"

"If I were lying, then you would be dead now, as would my companions," Sephiroth said simply. Rufus nodded, it was hard to argue with that kind of logic.

"Hey! We came to do a job here! Now wheres the evil Sephiroth!?" Barret demanded loudly.

"Who knows? We only recently arrived here," Rufus said.

"Sir, I don't think we should trust these people!" Scarlet insisted.

"I don't trust them, but at the moment we share a common enemy," Rufus said.

"Not to mention the paper work you would have to do if you killed me," Sephiroth said, then at Rufus's confused look he said "I had myself reinstated as the SOLDIER general," Rufus groaned, that was going to complicate his job somewhat.

--

George found himself frowning rather strongly as he looked at the Black Materia in his hand, before returning it to his pocket. The thing gave him the chills, and to be brutally honest, he was about ready to pee his pants. The others were mostly

giving him the silent treatment. He supposed he couldn't blame them, seeing as he had tried to kill them when they first met. Suddenly he was surrounded in a flash of light, and when it cleared the others were gone.

"What the, hey guys!" He shouted in alarm. Fear pounded through him as he franticly looked around, and shortly noticed Barret rushing towards him. "Hey! Did you see the others!?" George asked.

"Yeah, they're all up ahead wit' Sephiroth, he needs your help to!" Barret declared.

"Right!" George acknowledged, then rushed down the path, intent on prooving himself to these people.

Suddenly Barret chuckled, only it wasn't his voice. His features morphed into those of f-Sephiroth who smiled evily as he said "And don't forget the Black Mateira," A chuckle escaped him before he seemed to dissapear. As he did, the others

appeared on the ground, unconciouss.

--

Zack frowned as he rounded a corner, and very nearly collided with George. Neither spoke, but instead rushed forward until they came into sight of the others. As they ran up George asked "Whats going on?"

Sephiroth turned towards him sharply as he demanded "What are you doing here!? I ordered you to stay behind and guard the Black Materia,"

"But Barret came, he said you needed help," George explained.

"I been here the whole time!" Barret exclaimed.

"It must be the other me, he must have used the power of Jenova to decieve you. It doesn't matter now, let me have the Black Materia," Sephiroth said as he extended his hand. George nodded, and did so. Tifa and Yuffie chose this moment to

arrive, both appearing out of breath, and exhausted. A sudden tremor ran through the area, and a moment later the ceiling cracked and a large mako crystal slid through, and inside they could see the upper torso of f-Sephiroth.

"His real body," Zack observed coldly, his hand gripping his sword tightly.

"My my, so there are two of you," Hojo stated. Everyone simply ignored him.

"So now we finsh this," Sephiroth said, and suddenly went rigid as he felt something within him. He could feel his insides suddenly shifting, and an odd sense of weightlessness.

"Sephiroth! Whats wrong!?" Zack cried in concern as Sephiroth fell to his knees, his hands grabbing his head with such ferocity that blood emerged from his scalp.

"I don't kn-" Suddenly his sentence was cut short, and his body lifted into the air as a maniacal grin twisted his features and he gazed upon the group. "What a fine puppet this imposter makes," He spoke, only the others knew it wasn't

him, it was f-Sephiroth.

As the evil man floated there he said "This makes things so much simpler," That said, Sephiroth lifted towards the mako crystal.

"Sephiroth no!!" Zack cried.

"Stop!" Rufus added, a note of panic entering his voice as even he realized how hopeless this was.

"Sephiroth!" Zack shouted as he leap up towards his friend, determined to stop him, but the silver haired general drew the masamune and the long blade tore across Zack's abdomen throwing him to the ground with a cry of pain.

"What a fragile creature," f-Sephiroth commented, then returned to his work as he hovered just in front of the mako crystal containing his real body.

As Tifa rushed to Zack's aid, the SOLDIER glared hatefully upwards, but knew there was no time to do anything. f-Sephiroth's hand extended, and the Black Materia passed into the crystal. In an isntant powerful bolts of energy began to

run over the crystal as the ceiling began to literally caven in, and the large WEAPONs in the walls began to move.

"Come on! I have an airship waiting!" Rufus said urgently, knowing it was time for a retreat as rocks smashed down all around him.

"So do we! Zack declared as Tifa healed his wound. "We'll meet you at Junon!" The SOLDIER declared. Rufus nodded, and ran off with his companions, while Zack rushed towards where he could see Sephiroth lowering to the ground.

"What did I do?" Sephiroth asked, a look of horror and confusion on his face. "Why did I do that?" He asked.

"Don't worry about that now we have to go!" Zack yelled. Sephiroth looked at him, and nodded. In an instant they all ran back towards the waiting airship. As they reached the area with Nanaki and the others Zack said "Come on!"

It took little to no time to reach the airship, and as soon as they boarded the ship was in the air and moving away from the crater.

Zack, Tifa, and Sephiroth watched from the deck as the WEAPONs shot out from the crater releasing shockwaves of energy, and one of those shockwaves slammed into the airship throwing Tifa hard to the deck, knocking her out.

As they watched this, and saw a barrier erecting itself around the crater, Sephiroth said "I've doomed us all,"