The Fifth Act, Chapter 8

[sinnatious]

Title: The Fifth Act

Rating: T for violence.

Summary: FFVII Time-travel. Gen. Cloud has an accident with a Time Materia.

Author's Note: Wasn't terribly happy with this chapter, and I apologise for the predictable twist, but it all has a point eventually, promise. Also, Aeris/Aerith poll is still tied, go vote if you have a preference.

Comments

[searisme]

Oh noes! No Jenova! ...well, that came out wrong, as "no Jenova" would be a good thing.

Can't wait for more Vincent. It's so good how his and cloud's alliance is so tenative. Well, it would be, they've just met. ... sort of dislike Hojo inspired could bond even the worst of enemies. So true. Also, Cloud's "bash the coffin-lid/door in" approach is just pure win - especially when Vincent just solves it so easily.

And there is Genesis. And was it Seph's obseration of Cloud's so called subtlety in Wutai? - and well, he's just so right about that, considering what I myself wrote about Cloud's attitude. He's really not subtle at all, is he?

"Genesis, shut up.” Somehow that was the best line in the whole chapter.

[sinnatious]

I guess when you carry around a Buster Sword, subtlety is automatically thrown out the window. :D Heh, you did pretty much hit the nail on the head there.

I suspect many people wanted to tell Genesis to shut up in the game. As much as I adore him, the line was deliciously fun to write.

[searisme]

Ah, yes, the multi-purpose tool that is the buster sword - great for general mayhem, cleaving, cutting, and splitting open things...

I could totally see how "shut up, Genesis" just would be Angeal's standard respons, no real malice or bite behind it, for whenever Genesis.. just won't shut up.

[sinnatious]

Thanks! Writing the three of them feels very natural, probably why they turn up a lot more than I originally planned... :P

As normal as one can get when discussing death threats, I suppose. XD

[ixtey]

“You’ll understand. Just wait until you see his sword,” Genesis interjected with a lewd grin.

LOLOLOL CAN'T GET OVER THIS

asdf;; And so the plot thickens! Jenova's probably at the side of Hojo's bed lol. Can't wait for the next chapter XD

[firedraygon97]

Going down here again, willingly, alone and without backup. It had been hard enough with Tifa and the others at his side

Did he realize it his first time going down post-escape? Or was it just a general creepy feeling you're referring to? Either way, poor Cloud. T__T Nibelheim is just not a nice place for him. I really like that he acknowledges his fear, unlike most 'heroes'.

Vincent stared at it as though betrayed.

Vincent~~! ♥ Haha, I love that this is his first expression. And that Cloud knows he's not a morning person and apologizes. XD; "Sorry. I thought this was more important." I can't tell the tone though. Is he deadpan?

Explaining that he's groggy in the mornings also helps me come to terms with why Vincent's so whiny/ultra-repetitive at the start. XP;

Maybe he should have stuck to the original script he used

Hahaha, I could see Cloud writing something out and then losing his cue cards. XDD;

ALSO: Vincent questioning Cloud's crusade = YES. Excellent. I'm glad he can be the voice of reason. Now he just needs to

[sinnatious]

Why yes, were you not aware that if you return to the lab again later after the big reveal, Cloud blanks out and has a second flashback of the lab? *__*

I was going for deadpan, yes. Guess I should look on reworking that paragraph a little. ^_^

They ARE fun friends! Every conversation is like an amiable cold war. They write themselves.

And glad that Vincent has so far passed muster.

[firedraygon97]

As has been quoted so many time already: “You’ll understand. Just wait until you see his sword,” Genesis interjected with a lewd grin.

Oh Genesis. :D Angeal's response is gold, too. I love his mother-hen qualities, but he's not overprotective to the point of being annoying. I just like how, again, he scolds them but ends up following along anyway. These three have such a great dynamic together!!

Turk!Vincent!! It's amazing how his skills haven't deteriorated after 24-26-whatever years in a coffin, haha.

Like swyrel wrote, this new development is rather similar to Green Dreams. This kind of thing is always what I'm worried about when I start a new fic, whether or not the idea's been done before and I just haven't kept track. :/ Regardless, I think Jenova being gone is a reasonable twist considering the past is being changed. *shrugs* What can you do? I'm still looking forward to your take on events, haha

[sinnatious]

Well, interestingly, if you follow some extended timelines, Jenova isn't actually brought to Nibelheim until after the Wutai War, so her absence is not actually due to a timeline change (yet), but of course Cloud doesn't know that. So I'm maybe using the same reference timeline as Green Dreams. :/ Bit of a facepalm, but considering not much else is very similar, I'm not going to fret over it and change everything. ^_^

[swyrel]

http://www.fanfiction.net/s/3782200/27/Green_Dreams

This chapter was a lot like the one in the link above. Getting Vincent and then Jenova missing. Of course, just about every other aspect of the twos stories are different. I can't wait to see how the both go from this point.

And oh god, Genesis' lewd comment about Cloud's sword. Sin, you are making me want that Genesis/Cloud even more...

Is he not going to burn all of the research materials in the mansion? I mean, isn't that partly why Sephiroth went insane? Oh, and thanks so much Vincent for putting the idea in Cloud's mind that this Sephiroth is innocent (as much as he can be anyway) so far. I love your Vincent~

[sinnatious]

Green Dreams updated?! Last I remembered they were in the basement of a building doing the SOLDIER exam! Win! \o/ The alert must have disappeared into my spam folder.

...aaaaaand just caught up then, and crapcrapcrapcrap. They are a bit similar. I suppose you can't really avoid it, since it's a logical progression of events, but gah! ;__; I can't even change it, because the next ten chapters hinge on this...

No burning of research (thankfully, given that Green Dreams already did it, headdesking over here) - Cloud's still intent on killing Sephiroth, after all, and wants to fly under ShinRa's radar as long as possible.

Heh heh, I guess my slash leanings shone through even in gen. Oops.

[swyrel]

Well, they are similar, but thankfully, they're very different as well. Well, you update more too, so anything else that may be similar after this, won't be on you. lol

I hope the no burning of research doesn't come back and bite Cloud in the ass later on. D8 And Cloud, you need more doubt to why you should kill Sephiroth. Don't do it! D8

Keep throwing in slash! I love it~