Emotions

by Marcus Yu



  A small spark flashed as gunshots were fired.  Rushing down the beach

of Costa Del Sol was a man carrying a briefcase.  He fell down as the

bullets pierced his back.  Four men in suits surrounded the man.

  "He tried to steal data on the new technology we've discovered," a

brown haired man with long bangs in front explained.

  "What technology?" a blond hair man that sported a pony tail asked.

  "Mako injections," the third of the group muttered.  He was bald and

wore sun glasses, hiding all emotions.

  The fourth member of the group picked up the briefcase nodded.  "Lets

go back to Midgar now that we finally got it back."

  All of a sudden, the wind picked up and blew through the fourth

member's jet black hair.  A droning sound started to get louder as a

helicopter landed, with its spotlight shining.  The four members walked

into the vehicle with their prize.



  "President Shinra will see you now," the short lady at the desk told

the four men in

dark grey suits.

  They walked up the stairs one by one as President Shinra's voice

boomed to greet them.  The bald man

walked up first.  "Rude."  Next came the black haired man.  "Tseng."  

The blond hair man strided into the room.  "Josh."  The last one to be

greeted was the brown haired man. 

"Vincent.  Welcome, Turks."

  President Shinra ran his hand through his slightly graying hair and

clasped his hands together.  Vincent

noticed that there was another man behind the leader of the company. 

The second man wore a starch white

lab coat, while sporting a short pony tail, similar to Josh's.  His

glasses had mirror lens, covering his dialated eyes.  His lips wore a

slightly insane smile.

  "Meet Dr. Hojo," President Shinra introduced the Turks to the man

behind him.  "He is the head of the Mako research group."

  Hojo outstretched his hand but the Turks didn't flinch, they just

nodded in acknowledement.

  "So, where are the files?" Hojo grinned.  Josh handed Hojo the

suitcase.  "Thanks, and ta-ta!"

  The scientist walked down the stairs, chuckling to himself.

  "I don't trust him..." Josh muttered.

  "Nor do I," Vincent replied.  "Nor do I."

  "Rude?" Tseng raised an eyebrow.  "You know more about this Mako

injection thing than any of us."

  "Lets go to the bar then," Rude said as he used his pointer finger to

push up his dark glasses.



  "Mako is the energy the Planet gives off," Rude started, "it is what

makes the grass green, the sky blue, and

the ocean full of water.  This energy can be utilized to power things

also.  In fact, a test Mako reactor has already been built and that's

what this building is powered by, Mako.  Mako can be used to power more

things than man-made objects however.  They can be injected into people,

enhancing their strength and power by tremendous proportions.  That's

what Hojo and his group are trying

to figure out, how to extract the most power from Mako."

  Josh took out a piece of paper from his pocket and studied it.

  "What's that?" Tseng asked as he glanced over.  "Josh!  That's

information on draining Mako!  Where did you get it?"

  "I got it from Hojo's oh so valuable briefcase," Josh replied

sarcastically.

  "You're going to have to return that to Hojo," Tseng said in a low

voice as he took the paper and gave it to Vincent.  "Vincent, take it to

the 67th floor and give it to Hojo."

  Vincent nodded and left the table.



  "Doctor Hojo!" an assistant came running down the catwalk. 

"Something's been discovered near Nibelheim!  Something that might be

more powerful than Mako!"

  Hojo just grinned as he looked at his assistant.  A young woman with

long blond hair.  His assitant wore high heels and a skirt, while also

wearing small glasses.  "Alright, thanks for the information."

  Just then, Vincent came down the catwalk, briefly stopping to look at

the woman.  "Hojo, here's a paper you left behind.  Something on

draining Mako."

  Hojo snatched the paper out of Vincent's hand and chuckled.  "Thank

you.  Lucrecia, please file this."  Hojo handed the paper to his

assistant.

  "Lucrecia..." Vincent said to himself silently.

  "Yes?" Lucrecia turned her head up to face Vincent.  She had obviously

heard him ask for her.

  "I, uh..." Vincent scratched his head.  "Um, would you mind...going on

a date with me?"

  Hojo laughed when he heard this but Lucrecia just smiled and winked at

Vincent as she walked away.



  As Vincent walked down the corridors, he knew he was in love with

Lucrecia.  He started to plan how he would show up and didn't even  hear

the Turks' discussion.  Instead, he was thinking about his plan.  Once

the Turks disbanded, Vincent bought a boquet of flowers at the 48th

floor.  These were especially beautiful, considering that for some odd

reason, flowers were starting to diminish throughout Midgar.  Vincent

started up the stairs to the 67th floor when he heard Lucrecia groaning.

  'Lucrecia!' Vincent immediately thought.  'She's in trouble!'

  Vincent immediately took out his pistol and loaded it.  The Turk ran

up the stairs quickly but silently and peered around the corner.  What

he saw shocked him.  On Lucrecia's desk was his love, shirtless and

without a bra.  Hojo was naked except for his briefs and he was on top

of Lucrecia, kissing her neck, putting a hand up her skirt.  Vincent

immediately turned away in utter shock.  Then, he dropped the flowers

and silently stormed off.



  Vincent was not seen for three months.  The Turk was a sensitive man,

and didn't take to these things lightly.  He didn't appear until one

night, in the fourth month after the event.  It was a stormy night in

Midgar as lightning flashed and thunder roared.  Outside the Shinra

Tower stood Vincent, with his head down and water dripping down his

front bangs.  He held something in his hand, something that made his

fingers tremble.  All of a sudden, Vincent raised the object and

screamed.  Vincent pulled the trigger of the object in his hand, a gun. 

Bullets pierced the windows of shops across the street, sending several

of the shoppers in panic.  Vincent lost it.  He knew what he thought he

had to do.  Kill Hojo.  Vincent walked right back into the Shinra Tower,

drenched in the night rain and took the elevator straight to the 67th

floor.  When he got there, he noticed the lights were dimmed and it was

empty.  Vincent continued on to the 68th floor and found Hojo was awake

but Lucrecia was on a table, obviously unconscious.  Hojo stood over,

raising Lucrecia's shirt to expose her pregnant belly.  In his hand was

a needle, connected to a tube that held a glowing blue serum.

  "What the Hell are you doing!" Vincent's voice boomed.

  Hojo was startled as he raised his head to find Vincent across the

room, pointing the pistol at Hojo's head.

  "Ah, Vincent I think," Hojo grinned as he put his hands in the pockets

of his lab coat.  "What brings you here?"

  "What the Hell are you doing!" Vincent's voice faltered this time.

  "Nothing really," Hojo chuckled.  "Just about to inject our unborn

baby with some Mako.  You know, just a test."

  "You're testing on your child?" Vincent growled.  "Risking its life?"

  "Aw, Shinra wouldn't let me test it out on other people's children,"

Hojo laughed.

  "Wipe that grin off your face!" Vincent yelled.

  Hojo just stood there, still grinning.  Vincent growled as he started

to squeeze the trigger.  A gunshot rang out, but Vincent was the one to

fall to the floor, wounded.  Hojo removed the gun from the pocket of his

lab coat and laughed.



  Vincent woke up on a lab table.  He was in an unfamiliar place but

Hojo was there.  The Turk was still drowsy but heard a few words from

Hojo.

  "Lets head to the mountain," Vincent heard Hojo say.  "Jenova is

there.  Maybe it can supply us with more power!"

  Vincent blacked out again.  When he woke up again, he was fully

awake.  He got up and heard chains snap.  The Turk looked down to see

that he had broken metal chains that were supposed to be holding him

down.  He just shook his head and was about to run his hand through his

hair when he noticed it was a claw.  Vincent just gaped and then finally

broke down in tears.  When he was done crying, Vincent noticed that Hojo

was in the room.  Instantly, Vincent took out his pistol and started to

shoot at the scientist but Hojo was too quick and ran up the stairs,

yelling for help.  Five soldiers dressed in blue armor raced down,

equipped with a machine gun each.  They all fired upon Vincent but with

the enhanced strength and speed, the Turk proceeded to do a back flip

high into the air and then firing upon the soldiers, taking two down. 

Vincent then rushed toward the remaining soldiers and slashed with is

claw, instantly killing one of the soldiers.  Only two were left now.  A

punch was thrown by one of the soldiers at Vincent, in fear of shooting

his ally with the machine gun.  Vincent  just moved his head to the side

and shot a bullet through the punching soldier's gut.  The last soldier

started to run but was immediately shot in the back.  Vincent panted

heavily and then started to speak to himself.

  "Emotions only bring pain," Vincent muttered.  "I will feel them no

more."

  He then unofficially resigned from the Turks and walked into the next

room, a room filled with coffins.  Vincent filled all of the coffins

with the dead soldiers except for the center one.  It was supposed to be

where Vincent would be placed, had Hojo's claw implant and strength

increasement failed.  Vincent shook his head and stepped into the center

coffin, closing the lid above him.  He fell immediately into a sleep

that would last over thirty years.