Legacy of the Past

The smoke twisted, swirled, and intoxicated the air. The stench stretched across and made it’s way to the nose of a creature. Inhaling the smell, the creature smiled. Things were going perfect, just perfect. It would arise and show the world its power but not yet. The time had not come…not yet. So the Ultimate Evil, with all its power, had to wait.

She stood in the open field, dead silent and completely still. A long sleeved black shirt hung loosely on her slim body. Black pants two sized too big hung at her hips the only thing keeping them from falling, a black leather belt. Draped over her slender shoulder was a large, black trench coat that dragged on the ground even so slightly. On her back in its sheath was her Rune Blade, polished and perfect. The covered the blade making her look like a normal civilian, perhaps an angst teenager obsessed with Satan. Her hair was fire red and it was cut short, just above her ears. Her eyes were sea blue and sparkled in the morning sun. She sniffed the air and wrinkled her nose. It smelled of smog and factories. “Midgar can’t be far.” She thought to herself. She shoved her hands in her pockets and followed the smell in the air. Although she had not stopped to rest for days, she was not tired. She knew why but just thinking of it made her so angry that she had to push the thoughts away just to continue on.

She slowly walked over the hill and when she looked up from her feet that she was kindly watching when she saw it. Midgar. The city seemed to have grown in size even though there was not any more land to expand on. Each reactor had a steady stream of smoke coming from the top. In the middle was Shinra Headquarters, standing like a giant robot standing, looming and towering over the city. “That’s basically what Shinra does.” She said out load. With a glimmer of hope to change the future and a lot of anger from the past in her heart she started toward the city.

Still unsure why she felt so-called to desolate city of Midgar, but something, someone was calling her to the slums. Who or what it was that was calling her and telling her to hurry. She shook off the feeling and continued down the path. She sighed, she knew Shinra too well and she knew getting into Midgar was not going to be easy. “But then again, it never was. Shinra had a lot of pride and pride is a weakness. Maybe…they’ll make it easy so they can show off in front of the civilians. Show them how powerful they are. Prove to them that they could catch anyone who dare sneak into the city?” she thought out loud. Shrugging, realizing it didn’t really matter how she got into the city, they would be searching for her as soon as they had an excuse too.

Walking down to the fences that blocked off the city, she stopped. She leaned in and looked at the fence. Heat was coming from it. Security. She turned left and started walking along the fence. After what seemed like hours, she came to area that was in need of repair. A wire hung over the ground a little over five feet off the ground. She looked up; the wire hung from the plate of Midgar. That was the last place she wanted to go. She could not risk getting caught. Not yet. “Oh, well. I guess I’ll just jump into the slums.” She thought out loud again. She rubbed her hands together and jumped, grabbing the wire. Pulling herself a little over three feet above the fence she started to swing. As soon as she could clear the fence, she let go. Dropping to the ground, she landed easily on one foot and one knee. Straitening, she brushed the dirt off and was about to take a step when a gun clicked.

“Don’t move.” A voice demanded. The girl looked ahead and saw four Turks advance out of the shadows, guns raised. Classic Turk blue suits on each of their muscular bodies, dark sunglasses covered their eyes and hair slicked back. They looked like little clones of each other. She gave them a half smile and didn’t move. “Remove yourself of your firearms.” The Turk in front of the group demanded. She watched his hands on the gun, trembling ever so slightly. Her blue eyes traveled from Turk to Turk, all of them were trembling slightly and shifted uneasily.

Rookies she thought. “I have no firearm.” She replied opening her coat reveling no guns.

“Well…then remove yourself of any weapons you might be carrying.” The Turk stuttered, trying to keep a strong tone. He shifted his position and the gun wavered in his hands, the barrel now pointed to her stomach and not to her chest.

“Is this really necessary?” she asked him not even touching or going for her sword. She kept her voice firm with just a hint of mockery.

“Every Turk and every SOILDER knows who you are. We’re always on the lookout for you, just in case you show up.” He replied with a smile, “Now why don’t you make it easy on yourself and come quietly.” She threw her head back and started to laugh. Not a snicker or a chuckle, but a real and true laugh, the humor evident in the tone. The Turks looked at each other and exchanged puzzled looks. After a moment, when she could regain her breath, the humor drained from her face she and looked directly into their eyes,

“Why don’t you make it easy for me and just take your own lives.”

What d--.” The Turk did not get to finish his sentence, she had her sword in hand and sliced them all across their chests before any of them could even try to pull a trigger or blink an eye. Each mangled body fell to the ground, a pool of blood gathering around their limp bodies. Staring at the corpses, she smirked and put her sword away. “Too easy.” She left the bodies where she had cut them down and walked slowly away, entering the Sector Six slums.

*~*~*~*~*

Tifa Lockhart cautiously looked over her shoulder, just to make sure or to reassure herself that no one was following them. As usual, no one was there or at least no one she could see. That thought did not ease her paranoia. That did not help with that feeling she had, like eyes were watching her every move. Like they were just waiting for her to let her guard down so they could strike. She was not about to let that happen. She kept her guard up at all times. Although she was the leader she very well knew that she had to watch her back, as well as the backs of her comrades. She pushed aside any fears and pressed farther into the Mako reactor. Still so wrapped up in her own thoughts that she barely heard Barret’s big, masculine voice yell to her.

“Yo, Tifa! Slow down will ya? This bomb weighs a ton and Biggs and I really can’t run with it.” She turned around and glared at him.

“Then why the hell did you bring such a big one?” Tifa replied. Biggs gave her a slight shrug.

“We were out of the small, handy-dandy ones I guess. Jessie needs to make us some more.” He answered and he turned around and glared at the girl.

“Give me a break. You want to make them, go right ahead, but we certainly don’t want them blowing up while we’re carting them around now do we? They have to be perfect.” Jessie replied in a matter-of-fact tone.

“Perfect my ass. You want to make them perfect, you can lug this thing halfway around Midgar, make my life a hell of a lot easier.” Biggs grumbled. “Why can Wedge take a shift carrying this thing once and while?”

“Because…well just because.” Wedge stammered.

“Yeah, because you’re a little on the heavy side.” Biggs stated. Wedge looked offended by the remark, but made no attempt to defend himself. “You batter not make AVALNACHE look bad tomorrow, I have a friend from Kalm I haven’t seen in eight years coming and I don’t want to make it look like I joined a worthless rebellion group.”

“Great…visitors.” Tifa grumbled, “Can we trust them?”

“Yeah, she’s ex-Shinra and mad as hell at them. Though...she never told me why in her letter. She just told me that she was going to be in town and that she was going to stop by and pick up a few supplies…like bombs for example.” Biggs said eyeing Jessie.

“Shut up Biggs.” Jessie said darkly.

“No, you know I have to make everyone’s life hell is my job. My life’s dream and destiny.” He said smirking and then his face slowly melting in a serious expression, one rarely seen on Bigg’s normally cheerful face. “Just thought I’d forewarn you, my friend’s a little…well to put in normal terms…weird.”

“Biggs, if you don’t shut the hell up I’m going to knock your teeth out.” Tifa said raising her voice. Having had a touch of Tifa’s wrath before Biggs shut himself up. Tifa rolled eyes and sighed. “I’m surrounded by fools.” She thought.

As soon as they got to the part of the reactor where they would split up, Tifa finally held up a hand that signaled Barret and Biggs that they could rest. The two men set down the bomb and sighed with relief. Jessie sneered at Biggs and walked up to Tifa and said in a voice that sounded like a cross between being very mad and very hurt. Biggs felt a hint of guilt rise in his throat.

“Tifa, we have to set the bomb within the next hour or it will detonate.”

“Fine. Wedge, Jessie you two wait here. Barret, Biggs, you bring the bomb and come with me. Let’s get moving.” Tifa barked. The two men sighed, but did as they were told. Moving farther into the reactor Tifa began to see bits of material laying on the ground. They were either crushed or broken and too small for use. Tifa ignored the temptation to pick them up and throw them half way around the world, and pressed on. Tifa could feel the anger for Shinra grow as they began to reach the core. The feeling that they were being watched swept over her like a wave again, making the hair on the back of her neck come to attention. Shaking it off, she picked up the pace and reached the core before Barret or Biggs had the chance to complain. She looked at the reactor again and tried to hold back the anger and the temptation to punch the pile of soon to be worthless metal. Barret and Biggs set the bomb down next to the core. Biggs leaned against the side and of the reactor and took a deep breath.

“Now that’s my workout for the next year. Jeez, why do things always have to be so difficult?” Biggs asked sarcastically.

“Shut up and set the bomb.” Tifa harshly.

“Don’t go into a hissy fit Tifa, I’ll get to it don’t worry.” He replied. Tifa glared at him and from the look in her eyes he didn’t need to be told twice. “Fine I’ll do it now.” He knelt down and typed a set codes into the bomb. The clock came up and started counting down from ten minutes. “Okay, I set it for ten minutes. I really hope that one of you knows the codes to disarm that thing. You better hope I don’t die and you’ll need to disarm that bitch” He said with a smile and a wink. “Let’s get out of here.”

“Right. Let’s go…now.” Tifa said. She turned away from the core and walked away at a quick pace. Barret and Biggs exchanged looks of confusion.

“I swear Barret, that girls loosing it.” Biggs quipped.

“If Tifa heard you say that you’d be dead.” Barret snapped back.

“I guess I’m the jackass that everyone hates today?” He quipped again. Barret rolled his eyes and jogged to catch up with Tifa. Biggs just shook his head and ran to catch up with his leader and fellow comrade. As soon as Tifa reached the bridge, she knew something was wrong. Jessie was usually explaining something to Wedge and Wedge was usually pretending to be interested. This time they both were standing at attention and facing other direction. They weren’t talking or moving.

“What’s going on?” Biggs whispered.

“Yo! Jessie! Wedge! What the hell are you doing? Barret yelled. Jessie turned around very quickly and screamed at the top of her lungs.

“Run! Tt’s a trap!” and she did not get the say anything more because at that instant a shot was fired. It hit Jessie in the back of the neck. She fell forward, a pain filled and shocked expression on her face.

“Get the hell out of here while y—“ Wedge yelled, but another shot was fired. It hit him in the back on the head. Tifa and Barret ran to their fallen comrades out of instinct. Biggs stood dumbfounded. Tifa fell to her knees by Jessie’s side. She fumbled with Jessie’s wrist as she felt for a pulse. She felt none. Barret leaned over to feel for Wedge’s. There was none. Tifa could feel the tears well up, and then she remembered Biggs was still standing there by himself in open shot range.

Biggs stood numb. He could not believe what he just saw, Wedge and Jessie both dead? "They both went hating me I bet." He thought to himself. He did not see the soldiers coming down on ropes behind him until it was too late. They swung forward and knocked him off his feet. He fell backwards and watched the soldiers drop down with their guns raised. Not given him a chance to say any last words or surrender, the solider emptied a round into both of Biggs's arms and one in the stomach. Tifa wanted to scream. She looked at Biggs, lying on the ground, blood pooling about him. He spit up some blood and took a deep gurgling breath struggling to let the air enter his punctured lungs. Then he said, just loud enough for everyone to hear since the dead silence of the room.

"Burn in hell Shinra…I'm…sorry..."But a violent cough prevented him from saying anymore. He smiled at Tifa and Barret and lay down on the ground, body falling completely limp. Tifa and Barret looked towards all the exits, but advancing troops were blocking them all. The captain, who appeared to be a Turk, smiled at them and said,

"Go disarm that bomb and we'll consider making your deaths quick and painless." Tifa stared back at the Turk with cold eyes.

"We can't for two reasons. One there isn't enough time to get all the way down there before the bomb blows. And two, you just killed the man with the codes to disarm it." Tifa said flatly. What point was there left? They didn't stand a chance of escaping.

"What? You there, go see if that guy is still alive." the Turk exclaimed. A solider ran over to Biggs and felt his neck. He shook his head.

"He's dead." the solider replied. Barret looked over to his right and saw a spare gun lying on the ground. He kicked it and it went clanging and tumbling down off the bridge making a racket.

"Ah, there's our back up." He bluffed. All the soldiers looked over the bridge, taking their eyes off Tifa and Barret, to see where the back up was. Barret shot a wire free and grabbed it while also snatching a dumbstruck Tifa. They swung away from the reactor. The soldiers looked up and saw them swing away and just they were about to shoot when there was a huge explosion that echoed through the room. A burst of fire came through the door. The Turk remained still, watching the fire come, and closed his eyes as it engulfed him.

*~*~*~*~*

The girl looked up. She heard the explosion and even saw the fire. A reactor had been hit. Nothing new there, there were so many people that despised Shinra and the fact that they were killing the planet that Mako reactor terrorist attacks seemed to be something that would appear in the news at least once a week. She had only been in the slums for a few hours and she already knew that the most active terrorist group was AVANCHE and their favorite targets were the Mako reactors. She raised her eyebrows at the thought of President Shinra’s face when he saw his “precious” Mako reactor blowing up. She smiled, now that would be a sight for sore eyes. She shook her head and walked on.

The slums were an interesting place to her. She found it unusually welcoming and the people surprisingly happy while they scrapped their so-called lives together. After spending so much time outside the slums and in the world, where the air smelled fresh, to her, the air in the slums stunk. The ground was so polluted she felt like if she dug deep enough, something brown or green would come oozing out. She shook her head again. Some people did not have the money to move into the plate. They had an excuse. Others continued to live down here because of foolish pride. “Pride is the essence of human nature.” She muttered to herself. She continued through the slums, passing rusted houses made out of metal. It could make any person appreciate places like Kalm, Mideel and what Nibelhem used to be. She walked, lost in her own thoughts, until she came across a group of Shinra solders. To be more accurate, it was more like they came across her. When they their eyes locked on her they began to advance. She flexed her fingers, ready to kill at any moment. This would be a bad place to commit murder. “To many witnesses” thought as she eased her guard up.

“Excuse me ma’am?” the solider asked in a kind and polite voice. Huh? What the hell is going on?

“Have you seen a group of Turks near by?” Yeah, I saw them and I killed them too and unless you want to suffer the same fate I suggest you keep your trigger-happy fingers away from those guns. She smiled to herself and shook her head.

“Thanks anyway. I’m sorry for disturbing you, have a nice day ma’am.” The solider said beaming a huge smile at her and they were on their way. She was about to shake her head in disgust when she froze. A sadistic smile found it’s way onto her lips. She looked up at the plate above her and smiled. I wish I could be there Mr. President, I wish I could be there when you see what I’m going to do.

*~*~*~*~*

Tifa blinked. Am I dead or alive? Either place would be hell at the moment.. She moved her hand pain exploded through her arm. Shit, yes, alive, there’s only pain in life. She pushed herself up very slowly. She looked around, they landed somewhere on the road between Sector 6 and Sector 7. She shook her head to clear her vision and looked around again. She saw Barret laying on the ground not that far from her. She pulled herself to her feet and stumbled over to where Barret lay. She leaned over and shook him. He moaned and grumbled something about giving him another five minutes. That sent Tifa off and she got so angry so suddenly it she didn’t even remember being slightly mad before becoming furious. The fact that Biggs, Wedge and Jessie were all dead sunk in and it pained her and that pain fed the anger. She clenched her fists and began to shake with anger. She looked down at Barret and screamed,

“God damnit Barret, get the hell up! What the fuck do you think your doing lying on your ass?! Jessie, Biggs and Wedge are dead and all you can do is mumble some shit about giving you another fucking five minutes. I’ll give you five minutes…five minutes in hell if you don’t get the fuck up!” Barret jumped to his feet, swayed a bit, and saluted Tifa. He stared straight ahead and refused to look her into her eyes.

Tifa shook her head and started walking in the direction of the Sector 7 slums. Barret turned and jogged to catch up with her. They walked side-by-side through the strees in silence. Tifa looked straight ahead not really noticing anything or anyone around them. She was concentrating on her anger and how to use it. She probably would not have even heard Barret talking to her if his voice was not so big and deep. It broke the silence between them like china teacup on tile.

“What are we going to do now?” he asked.

Tifa wanted more than anything to ignore that question. She did not want to think about the future, but she could not give him an answer. She was the leader, she had all the answers, but she didn’t have the answers; she was just as lost and confused as he was. “This isn’t the time to lie or make up stories or give false hope.” She had to be honest with him even if it meant giving up some pride. Tifa’s weakness was not in strength or in mind, but that she had a lot of pride. It pained her to even give a little up. She stopped and looked at him and he stopped and looked back. Then Tifa said in the strongest voice she could muster,

“I don’t know Barret. I really don’t know.”

*~*~*~*~*

The girl took a deep breath and continued to pull herself up the wire. She thought of President Shinra’s reaction to her little “surprise.” It made her smile. “They have to know that I’m back.” She said out loud. She reached up and grabbed a piece of metal and pulled herself onto it. She stood up very cautiously just to make sure that the metal pile would support her weight. If she fell, she doubted she would live. She rubbed her hands together and looked down to ground. The climb was long and tiring. Her hands were red and evidence of blisters to come were starting to form. Ignoring the pain, she started climbing the metal mountains again. She looked up in mid climb and she could see the top of Shinra Headquarters. She reached into her pouch and pulled out a hooded black cape. She did not want them to know it was her…just yet. She put it on and pulled on the hood and started to finish the climb. She could her footsteps on the plate and muffled voices. She swiftly pulled herself onto the plate and hid amongst the shadows.

As she suspected, as group of Turks were off duty and wondering around the Headquarters front door. She smiled; this was going to be way too easy. Seven of them: just by looking at them and observing them for a moment, she could tell their ranks. There were four rookies, two intermediates and one professional. The professional was the only one she was a little worried about. He was the only one who could hit her in the head with a bullet…maybe. Since it was late, the rookies were young and of course had downed a few drinks. The intermediates were even worse, they were so smashed that the two men could barely walk straight let alone shoot a gun. The professional was the only was seemed very somber. The other six men had taken their guns off their belts and piled them up about three feet from the sitting professional, but the professional had his gun and he was polishing it tenderly. He was staring at it as if it had one little thing wrong with it or even one speck of dust on it his life would end. He started at it as if his very essence depended on that gun. The girl laughed to herself, “In his case, it does.” She reached behind her and pulled out her sword. It glowed in the light of the building. With one more smile, she lunged forward.

The first man did not even see her coming, nor did he stand a chance of living. Her sword sliced through his back, a steady stream of crimson blood pouring out from his mangled body as he slumped to the ground. The professional’s head snapped up and he reacted quickly, aiming his gun at her head and emptying an entire round. But she was too quick and ducked as he hit his own man in the head. The tip of the sword grazed the pavement as she moved onto the next Turk. The sword sliced up his chest and across his neck nearly decapitating him. The man next to him wasn’t as fortunate. When the sword left the other Turks neck it came around and sliced through his neck, his head rolled a few feet away. The two intermediate men stood in line one behind the other and slowly made their way toward to the pile of guns. She saw them out of the corner of her eye and whipped around shoving her sword in both of their guts. She smiled and pushed them off the blade, their bodies slumping to the ground in a bloody mess. She turned around very slowly and looked at the remaining Turk. He was frozen still with an empty gun. She started to walk towards him, but stopped next to the dead Turk who had the clip emptied on him, the bullet holes were directly between the eyes. She looked at the dead man for a moment and then at the terror stricken Turk in front of her. She smiled at him and said,

“Nice shot, too bad you hit the wrong target. “ The Turk did not answer, he just started at his gun, wishing he had bullets. Then he noticed he had one left, one bullet and one chance. He forced to keep his face as blank and devoid of all emotion as he could.

When he didn’t answer she continued talking. “What’s your name?” she asked. The Turk nearly jumped out of his skin, “Maybe they will spare me.” He thought.

“Erik, Erik Jones.” He replied.

“Really? Okay…Erik, how long have you been in the Turks?” they asked. At that moment Erik realized that this attacker had a girl’s voice. He shook his head; there was no way a girl could be that good. Deciding not to push the patience of this attacker, he answered their question.

“Four and a half years.”

“Well Erik Jones, Turk for four and half years, I need your life to give you boss a message.” She smiled at him, ripped out a dagger, and threw it. At that same instant, Erik shot his final bullet. The dagger sliced threw the air and embedded itself in Erik’s forehead, right between the eyes. When she heard the gun she tried to move out of the fire zone, but the bullet smacked into her left shoulder. She stumbled back and grimaced in pain.

She covered the wound with one hand and struggled to move the battered bodies into a pile in front of the door. Taking Erik by the collar of his shirt, she pulled him into the middle and dragged his bleeding body along the sidewalk, leaving a trail of crimson liquid. She then picked him up and threw him on the top of the pile. She backed up and looked at her work. She put her sword back in its sheath, a hand on her bleeding shoulder and walked back to where she would attempt to climb back down to the slums. Behind her, she left a pile of bodies buy the foot of the main doors, all brutally murdered and a bloody message that read: I’M BACK.

*~*~*~*~*

Tifa and Barret had walked most of the way back to the Sector 7 slums in silence. Neither of them knew what to say. What could you say at a time like this? After walking through half of the Sector 7 slums, Tifa’s bar, the Seventh Heaven, came into view. Sitting on the stairs with her arms crossed was Marlene. She was wearing a little pink dress, she looked like a little angel, but she didn’t look too happy. She looked up and saw Tifa and Barret making their way towards the bar, she stood up and started to stomp her way to them. Tifa and Barret stopped in mid walk and as the furious little child stomped up to them.

“Where the heck have you two been?! I’ve been waiting for five friggen hours.” She squeaked. Barret winced a little at the little girl’s language and thought; “Dyne would kill me if he heard Marlene like this.” The little girl was, at one point, really sweet and loveable, but with her mom dying, her dad disappearing, and hanging around Tifa, he really did not blame her for turning into a “little bitch.” Tifa sighed and walked pass Marlene to the bar. The little girl looked around and suddenly looked worried. She looked Barret with big, worried eyes and asked, “Where is everyone, where is Biggs, Wedge and Jessie?” Barret got down on one knee and looked at the little girl, straight into her worried eyes.

“Marlene…sweetie. Biggs, Wedge and Jessie are dead.” He said very quietly. Marlene’s mouth hung open and she tried to speak, but nothing came out. She looked away from Barret and stared at nothing. “I—I’m sorry honey. I know you really cared for them and—.“

“Gosh darn Shinra!” the little girl interrupted in a harsh voice, stomping her foot. “I hate them and I swear I’ll destroy them! As God as my witness, I pledge to wipe the planet of that scum!” She ran away from Barret and into the bar. Barret sighed; he figured that’s how she’d react. He managed to gather himself and slowly drag his tired body to the bar. He forced himself up the stairs and to open the door. Tifa was standing behind the bar and Marlene was nowhere in sight. He guessed she was either up or downstairs. He walked towards Tifa and sat down.

“I hate to hit us with more bad news, but we got robbed while we were gone. All of our bombs, if we had any, firearm, ammo, the works, everything is gone. They obviously knew where to look because, according to Marlene, who watched from the second floor, they had no problems finding it or getting downstairs.” She said slowly.

“Shit. This is just great. Did they get any secret files that we stole or any info on the other groups?” he asked.

“No.” she replied. They both sat in silence for a moment. Tifa was cleaning glasses for opening time. Barret tapped his fingers on the counter, thinking. When the truth sank in, his heart sank to the pit of his stomach. He sat there for at least five minutes trying to gather up his courage. Finally, he spoke up.

“You know Tifa maybe we should…well you see…I’ve been thinking…have you noticed that…well…what I’m trying to say is…don’t we need to let it go? You know just forget about Shinra and think about starting real lives? I can’t just abandoned Marlene and who would take care of her if something should happen to us?” Tifa looked him and started into his eyes. She brought her fist into his nose so fast he didn’t have time to move or duck.

“There is no way in hell I am ever giving in! Those assholes are sucking the life out of the damn planet and your thinking about giving up? I don’t think so! If you even think about giving up again I’ll beat you into a bloody pulp, put a bullet into your brain, chop your damn body into little bits and then burn those fucking pieces!” With that she brought her fist into his chin almost three times as hard. Barret rubbed his chin and said,

“Feel better?”

*~*~*~*~*

President Shinra paced around his office, not sure of what to think. The events of the day weighed heavy on his shoulders. The people were afraid, afraid that whoever…or whatever had caused the havoc out front would come after them. They also doubted whether or not Shinra could or would protect them, but the President Shinra knew better, he knew that this was one of Hojo’s little “friends” coming back to destroy the company or maybe even him. Damn that little bastard. His stomach twisted and curled and whatever he had for breakfast was barely staying down. He knew this person was strong and extremely pissed. “What am I going to do? The people are losing faith in what we can do.” he exclaimed.

“Don’t worry sir. We will find them and make them pay. I already have a trail and I sent Reno and Tseng after it. Who in their right mind would challenge Shinra? They will parish and you. Sir, will bathe in their blood,” Rude said. He was dressed in his blue suit, his baldhead polished and clean. He was sitting in a chair, legs crossed and hands folded.

“Who could have done this? Could it have Sephiroth? How can we compete against the greatest solider of all time?!” the President said in a panic filled voice.

“It wasn’t Septhiroth. Sephiroth’s masamune is long and thin. This blade was shorter and wider.” Rude replied. He had to give some confront to the paranoid President. He smiled, thinking of watching that vile person bleed. He had lost seven good men and he was ready for blood. He wanted revenge. When he mentioned this to Reno and Tseng, they gave him weird looks and wondered away. They mumbled something about how crazy Rude was getting. Crazy? No, not him. Crazy for blood maybe? Yeah, and that is what President Shinra liked about him the most. His thirst for blood. Rude clenched his fists. He could not believe the two Turks were not willing to help him get blood. The two rookies’ were probably afraid and willing to leave Shinra because of Rude’s behavior. Better yet, they were going to leave, Rude could feel it in his bones. In his mind, they were traitors and had to die, but he had nothing against them except his own accusations, but their times will come. He had a feeling that they would need a scapegoat soon and two would be even better.

“No, no Rude. I will not bathe in their blood. I would much rather seen them “analyzed” by the newest member of the Shinra team. Our new head of the Shinra science department, Professor John Payne.” The President said putting emphasis on “Payne” and a gleeful smile spread across his lips. Rude smiled too, the thought of that person lying on an operating table with needles and IV’s sticking out of them amazed and entertained him. “No, I won’t picture the clocked person. I’ll picture the cloaked person along with Reno and Tseng. I will make them suffer. If they won’t stand by Shinra, and me then let them die a traitor’s death. “ Rude thought to himself. There was a knock on the door and both men turned to see who it was. The door opened and a man stood among the shadows, when he emerged from them, the President grinned.

“Ah hello Professor Payne…a pleasure to see you again.” He said with a vile smile.

*~*~*~*~*

The girl did not feel well. After a long climb back down to the slums, she had lost a lot of blood from her shoulder wound. A soon as she got the chance, she took off the hood of her cape and tried to cover the blood with the cape. People didn’t even give her a second glance and she was glad. It wouldn’t be long now until the news would come on making an announcement trying to calm the public. She sighed; although she knew that she had to let Shinra know that she was around she wished she didn’t have to kill. She hated the blood that was smeared on her hands and she felt like no matter how much she tried to get herself clean again it always just smeared. The blood never leaves and she always has this guilt lying on her shoulders, but on top of being guilty, she knew that if she didn’t kill, others would die or she would have to through pain again and that was the last thing she wanted.

Finally, she grew so exhausted that she had to sit down. She found a pile of garbage and broken pieces of metal lying on the left side of the Sector 5 slums not far from Sector 6. She found an old chair and pulled it somewhat away from the pile. She sat down and sighed, the guilt hurt and so did her arm. She pulled out her knife and started working, struggling to get the bullet out.

*~*~*~*~*

Reno and Tseng surveyed the situation they were in. Rude had assigned them to find who had brutally murdered seven Turks and wrote the I’M BACK message in one of the Turks blood. They waited very impatiently for the scientists to find any trace of blood left by the murderer. Tseng sighed, they weren’t getting anywhere waiting for these damn scientist. He turned to Reno and said,

“Look this is going to take forever. Why don’t I take a cyborg and two Turks and just started looking. If any of the nut balls over there find some blood, follow it with the goggles. This is the only way we’re going to get somewhere.”

“Sounds like a plan to me. If either of us find anything, call on the PHS.” Reno replied. Tseng nodded and started to walk away. Before he could get more than 50 feet from the scene Reno called to him.

“Hey Tseng! I agree they are nut balls.” Tseng just shook his head at Reno and walked away. Reno smiled to himself, he just couldn’t resist. He looked over at the bug-eyed scientists and said, “Is this going to be much longer? I don’t want Tseng to get all the fun.”

“No sir it won’t because we just found a trail of blood that isn’t one of the Turks.” One scientist replied.

“Excellent. Now I get to have some fun.” Reno replied.. The scientist took the sample of blood and put it in the special goggles. Reno made a face to them, they were as large around as a coffee cup and twice as thick as normal glasses. “You men I have to wear those fucked up things? Jesus, there goes my social life.”

“Sir, these will make any trace of that blood glow, even a microscopic drop, but that shouldn’t be a problem to follow. From the looks of it our friend had a very severe injury. Good luck…sir.” Reno gave the scientist a look and signaled his two Turks and his cyborg to come with him. He follow the trail to a hole in the plate, it seemed their friend had climbed up and down. Fool. A God damn fool.

“There is no way in hell I’m climbing down that. I’m taking the stairs.” Reno said and went to the elevator just to the left of them. The three men and the one cyborg got in the elevator and started down to the slums. The two Turks seemed very nervous after what they had seen on the plate. Reno noticed this and laughed to himself. “This guys are wusses.” He thought. The door opened and they were on the hunt. Reno put on the goggles and noticed the glow on the ground ten feet in front of them right away. He followed the trail through most of Sector 4 and most of Sector 5. When the trail started to seem still very fresh he started looked ahead every few steps. After what seemed like hours, he looked up and saw their prey. He knew who it was and he felt the not in his stomach come and grow o fast he didn’t know what hit him. He pulled his PHS out of his pocket and dialed Tseng’s number. He picked up after the first ring.

“Hello?”

“Reno, target found.”

“Location?”

“Sector 5.”

“Go for it and be careful.”

“Always.” Reno hung up the phone. He knew that he had to plan this out carefully or she would make short work of him and his men. He observed her surroundings, she was about five feet from a pile that was her back protection but what Reno noticed was an ally through the junk. He smiled as an idea popped into his head. He told the cyborg to go around the pile out of sight and too wait behind her without making a sound until he had a clear shot of her head. Reno and the two other men would be a distraction and the people that helped the cyborg get a clear shot. He sent the cyborg off and started walk towards his prey. “Well, well, who do we have here?”

“You know who.” She replied not looking at him. She was digging into her own shoulder with a knife. Reno grimaced, that had to hurt. “How did you find me?”

“Traced your blood. From what I could see on the plate, you don’t like Shinra too much now do you?”

“Gee, you Shinra people are about as fast as they come.” Reno made a face. Smart bitch.

“I have strict orders to take you back to the Headquarters.”

“And is that supposed to make you special?” she looked up at him for the first time. Her eyes were a deep forest green. They had a slight glow to them. He smiled.

“You worked for us at one point?”

“That’s in the past. You want to take me back to the Headquarters, huh? I’d like to see you try.”

“Then fight me.”

“I’ve killed too much in one night.”

“Are you showing me mercy?”

“Depends, do you want it?” she had stopped digging into her arm and now was staring at him, an evil look in her eyes.

“No, I want you to take your best shot.”

“Your mistake.” She reached behind her and pulled put a huge sword. She stood up very slowly and that was all the cyborg needed. That moment of a clear shot. He brought his iron fist around and smacked the girl in the head. She fell forward to the ground. Reno smiled.

“No, your mistake.” He pulled out his PHS and dialed Tseng again. Once again, he answered after the first ring.

“Hello?”

“We got her.”

“Great, you up for another catch?”

“Definitely.”

“That “someone” Payne needs was spotted going into a church in Sector 5. You wanna get them?”

“Yup, I’ll take care of it.”

“All right, I’ll send my cyborg. He’ll meet you there in case you need another one.”

“I’m on it.” Reno hung up the phone. By now the girl was being held by the arms by the cyborg. He smiled and thought, “God am I ever going to get a raise for this.”

*~*~*~*

Good evening Midgar. Today, we were hit with a lot of tragedy. Earlier a terrorist group hit a Mako reactor. The group was later indemnified as AVALANCHE, the most active group in Midgar. On top of losing a reactor, we lost some solders to the explosion. Our prayers are with those lost souls.

In other news, a commotion was caused outside the Shinra Headquarters building. A cloaked person attacked and murdered seven Turks. Using the blood o one of the Turks, the murderer wrote a message that read I’M BACK. Rude, head of the Shinra Turks had this to say:

“…We will stop at nothing to find this murderer. We are already hard at work and will not stop working until this person is apprehended…”

Thank you Mr. Rude and good luck. I hope we find this cruel person. We will keep you posted on any new information. Until then, good night Midgar.

“Jesus, this town is more screwed up than ever.” Cloud grumbled. He shook his head and turned away from the giant monitor. The slums were just as he could barely remember them. He had only been there for a few days; two to be exact and he still didn’t know why he felt like he was being called to the town, but when he got there, whatever was calling him still hadn’t shown up yet. Cloud shoved his hands into his pockets and walked around the Sector 5 slums. He had been to Midgar and worked for Shinra at one point in his life. To him, that was the worst mistake in his life and the best thing he ever did in his was leaving.

Cloud wondered around the slums, deep in thought about how much he needed to figure out why he was there. He looked to his left and he saw an old, run down church. He thought he heard someone humming. Why would anybody be in there? he thought to himself. He turned and walked in the churches broken down door. In the middle sat a girl, with long brown hair and pink dress. She was humming some song that sounded like something that was over 100 years old. He looked at her, wondering what she was doing, then he saw what she was tending too. Flowers? Flowers, growing in the slums? He stood in the doorway, mouth hanging open and dumbstruck. Bringing himself back to reality, Cloud forced himself to walk towards this girl. She didn’t even notice that him until he was practically standing over her. She looked up at him suddenly, her eyes full of fear. “Are you here to take me away?”

“Huh?” Cloud replied, very puzzled.

“You work for SOLDIER don’t you? I can see it in your eyes.”

“Not anymore.”

“Oh…sorry. I assumed.”

“I don’t blame you. I would assume too.” She stood up and brushed off her dress. She tossed him a bright smile and then threw out her hand.

“My name is Aerith, what’s yours?”

“Cloud, nice to meet you.” The two people shook hands. They let go and Aerith sat down again and began tending to the flowers again. Cloud knelt down and touched the flowers, very gently. “How can they grow in this ground?”

”I think it’s because this is a church and it’s sacred.” Aerith replied.

“I guess that makes sense.” He said scratching his head, puzzled. He did not believe in that kind of stuff. They sat in silence for a moment, until they heard the door open and a voice that called.

“Aw, isn’t that cute.” Cloud and Aerith turned around slowly and saw the man who held the voice. He had a blue suit, grey eyes, and red hair. He smiled.

“Look, boy, I don’t know who the hell you are but…why don’t you just jet and pretend you never met this girl.”

“Why would I do that?” Cloud replied, “And, who the hell are you?”

“Reno of the Turks and you?”

“Doesn’t matter now does it?” Cloud looked beyond Reno and saw two other Turks behind him and a cyborg. The cyborg was holding a figure in a black cloak, he couldn’t see their face but he did see blood dripping from their left shoulder. “I see the Turks have moved from looking for candidates for SOLDIER to kidnaping.”

“Not technically. Abducting, maybe on that one.” He said pointing to Aerith “But with this one.” He said pointing to the figure being held by the cyborg, “This is an arrest.”

“Arrest?”

“Yeah an arrest. This is the lovely little…person is the murderer who took out seven of our Turks.”

“Really? All by themself?”

“Yeah, well this one deserves everything they’ll get.” He turned around and punched the figure in the stomach and then in the left shoulder. He pulled his hand away and it was covered in dark blood. The figure grunted and Reno made a face, “Damn, why do you bad people always have to bleed.” Aerith grimaced and leaned forward and whispered to Cloud,

“Cloud, can you get me out of here?”

“Sure, we need to get out of this place.” Cloud whispered back.

“What the hell are you two talking about?” Reno asked, “Eh, what does it matter? Cyborg, take our first guest and wait outside.” The cyborg turned and started to walk away but before they could turn, Aerith caught a glimpse of the figures eyes…they were red. She shook off the feeling of fear and went back to thinking about their escape. Cloud whispered to her,

“When I say “go”, run as fast you can.” Aerith didn’t need to be told twice. To her, Reno didn’t seem to be the smartest person in the world. It was at that moment that she noticed that Cloud had a huge sword in a sheath on his back. She sighed at least he was armed. He leaned back and whispered, “…go!” she turned and ran as fast she could from the Turks, Cloud at her heals. She ran up the stairs and didn’t stop until she heard a crash. She looked behind her and saw another cyborg holding onto Cloud’s ankle. She gasped, the cyborg was trying to twist his leg right out of his hip! Cloud struggled until he kicked the cyborg in the face. The blow distracted the cyborg enough to loosen the grip on Cloud ankle so he could pull it free and it also gave him enough time to shove the cyborg down the stairs. As the two-ton monster fell down the stairs, the two other Turks came running into the room. Unfortunately for them, they did not have enough time to move before the cyborg fell on them, crushing them. Aerith grimaced at the sound of their crushing bones. Aerith and Cloud made a break for the roof, disappearing out of sight. Reno made a face at the mess at the bottom of the stairs. He had only one word to say, “Shit.”

Cloud and Aerith made it to the roof. They both sighed out of breath from running. They were about to jump to the ground and walk away until they remembered the other cyborg waiting outside. “Get down.” Cloud hissed.

“We can’t just leave that person in Shinra’s grasp. They will kill them or worse. We have to help.” Aerith whined back, but Cloud was not listening, he was watching the dark figure.

The figure was growing impatience and was starting to struggle. The cyborg grew tired and just lifted them clear off their feet by their arms. That obviously got them even angrier because now they were not just struggling, they were fighting. They were kicked and grunting trying their hardest to get away. Finally they came back and kicked the cyborg hard in the kneecap. It winced in pain and the figure broke free. Within a second they had a sword out and they sliced it down the cyborgs chest. The creature fell forward and the figure moved away. Moving to the left, away from the cyborg had been standing they waited. Within minutes, Reno emerged from the door. The figure didn’t even give him enough time to see that they had escaped. They slammed their fist into the back of Reno’s head. He crumbled to the ground. The figure had their back turned to Aerith and Cloud and they couldn’t their face even after they removed their hood. All they could see was fiery red hair cut short, just above the ears. The figure raised their sword over Reno’s heart and began to descend down. Aerith panicked and screamed at the figure

“N! Don’t kill him! There is no need to!” The figure froze in mid motion and did not move. Aerith held her breath, unsure what they would do. They lowered their sword away from Reno and sighed in frustration. They spit at him and started to walk away, back still turned to Aerith and Cloud.

Before either of them could say anything to the cloaked person, Reno was on is feet and charging at the figure. He football tackled them. The figures sword flew from their hands and fell a few feet away. He held them down and screamed,

“They said I could bring you back dead or alive! I guess it’s going to be dead!” He pulled out a small knife and raised it high above his head. Cloud reacted as quickly as he could. He grabbed a piece of metal from the pile and jumped down from the roof. Running as fast as he could, he came up to Reno and smacked him on the back of the head as hard as he could. Reno fell over, knocked out cold. Cloud looked back at the figure, now on their hands and knees, not moving. Their sword was out of reach and they didn’t seem to be willing to move to get it. Cloud just watched them, waiting for them to make their move. Without warning, the figure brought a foot under Cloud’s feet and sent him flying on his back. While spinning around, the figure pulled a knife and they used their elbow digging into his chest to hold him down, holding the knife to Cloud’s neck. Suddenly the figures green eyes went big and they whispered, just loud enough for spiky haired man to hear.

“…Cloud…?”

"Where the hell is Reno?" Tseng said clenching his fists in frustration. "Grab two girls, that's all. This isn't hard. He probably stopped at a damn bar and got drunk again." Tseng sighed, he knew he should have more faith in his friend. He turned to talk his Turks, but came face to face with Rude.

"Hello, Tseng." Rude said in a dark voice. Tseng froze, he knew Rude and they were the same age and they had been in the Turks the same amount of time, but everyone considered Tseng a rookie and Rude a professional. President Shinra loved Rude and let the man bask in power. With a snap of a finger, he could wipe out as many men as he pleased. Tseng also knew that Rude hated Reno and he was always waiting for the chance to kick Reno out of the Turks. If he found out that Reno was slacking off, he would grasp at the chance to get Reno kicked off the Turks. Reno would receive all hell. Tseng wanted to protect his friend. "What are you doing Tseng? Where is my prisoner? Where is Reno?"

"They are on their way sir." Tseng replied.

"Well, they're late…go find them Tseng. Track down Reno with his PHS. Go, unless you want to say goodbye to your career?"

"Yes sir. I'll do it right down." Tseng took two Turks and turned his PHS to track. The signal came from somewhere in the Sector 5 slums. He felt his eyes grow big and he felt the lump grow in his throat when he saw that the signal wasn't moving. One of two things may have happened to his partner. One: Reno may have gotten drunk and passed out in the streets…again. Or two: the murderous girl may have escaped and killed Reno and the two other Turks. He glanced over his shoulder at Rude, the man was smiling, not the least bit worried about his fellow Turk. If anything, he was hoping that the man was hurt or dead. When Rude caught Tseng staring at him with a pensive expression he felt his smile fall off his face.

"What are you thinking Tseng?" he asked.

"Nothing." he replied quickly.

"You're lying. You are a very bad liar and I want you tell me the truth. Right now or I'll kick your ass out of the Turks faster than you can say, jobless."

"…I just thought that maybe you didn't care if Reno was hurt or dead, but…that's not true, is it?"

"Of course not. He's my comrade; I care about all my Turks. Go find him and bring him back in one piece."

"Yes sir." Tseng turned away and started to walk away, knowing that Rude was lying and knowing he could not care less about Reno. He shook off the feeling and concentrated on bringing Reno back in one piece.

*~*~*~*~*

Cloud was so surprised when she tackled him, holding the dagger to his throat; she was looking at him with a puzzled look, maybe even a surprised look. It took him a few minutes to recognize and when he did he too was very surprised and puzzled.

“Cloud? Is that you? Is that really you?” she asked. She paused, studying his face and then she got a very angry look. She gritted her teeth and shoved the knife closer to his throat. “You can’t be Cloud Strife. Cloud is dead. Jesus, you Shinra never give up do you? Well I have a message for you deliver to the devil when you go to hell. Tell him I’m not going without a fight. You have some nerve to imposter him, trying to hit a soft spot eh? Well, I know you bastards too well and I’ll kick your boss's ass just for thinking of this dirty trick. Cloud is dead.”

“Hell? I’m not going to hell. It’s me, I assure you it’s really me.” Cloud said trying to remain clam despite the fact that every muscle in his body was tense.

“Really? Prove it.” She said through gritted teeth.

“…All right. Nibelhem wasn’t hit by plague, it was burned by Sephiroth.” He said.

“Pfft, anyone could know that. You’re. Not. Cloud.”

“Still don’t believe me. How about…the first thing Sephrioth said when we went into the library? Only you and I were there. Shirna scum wouldn’t know that.

“Okay smart one…tell me.”

“The first thing he said was ‘I thought I told you leave me…oh…it’s you…traitor.’ That’s what he said…right?” She froze. She did not move, blink, she did not even breathe. She just stared directly into his eyes. From the look she gave him, it looked like she was reading his mind. He held his breath, he was not sure if she believed him or even if she remembered him. Maybe he was just a forgotten memory. She tilted her head and looked at him. Then, out of no where she grinned.

“By the gods Cloud, it’s really is you. I thought you were dead--.”

“…would you mind? The knife…” he said as he pushed the dagger away form his neck.

Oh, sorry about that.” She and she jumped off of him. She threw out a hand and Cloud grabbed it, she yanked him to his feet. Cloud brushed himself off and turned around and looked at Aerith who was frozen in place on the roof.

“Come down Aerith.” Cloud called. Aerith popped up from her hiding place and slowly started to climb down the pile of junk. She jumped down and walked over to Cloud and the figure. It was a girl with fire red hair and deep blue eyes. She stared at Aerith, her gaze piercing and Aerith could not help avoiding that gaze. She felt her eyes hit the ground.

“Aerith, I want you to meet an old friend of mine…Karta. She used to be in SOLDIER with me. If my memory serves me correctly, you were a Third Class, but judging by your handy work on the plate and what you just did to the cyborg and that Turk, you’ve improved just a little.” Cloud said pointing to the girl. She glared at him.

“And judging by the way you ran from the battle you haven’t.” she replied flatly. Cloud felt his ears get hot.

“Um…hi! It’s a pleasure to meet you. My name is---.”

“Why were they after you?” Karta interrupted her. Aerith was taken back by the hostility in her voice.

“Long story…” Aerith replied. They stood in silence for a moment until there was a grunt from the direction of Reno. Karta sighed and walked over to man. She spit on his face and kicked hard him the ribs. He grunted and drifted into unconsciousness again. Cloud and Aerith watched as Karta got some old chains from the twisted pile of metal and garbage. She wrapped them around his arms and legs a couple times. After a moment she reached into her pouch and pulled out a pad lock. Typing in a few numbers the lock opened and she connected both ends of the chains. She then dragged him over to the church and leaned him against the wall. She brushed her hands off and looked at Aerith and Cloud staring at her. She walked over to her sword and picked it up and put it back in its sheath.

“Where do you live Aerith?” Karta asked.

“Sector 5, why?” she replied.

“Fair enough, I’ll drop you off at your house and I don’t know if you're coming with me or not Cloud.” Karta stated. Cloud shrugged and asked.

“Where you off too?”

“Sector 7.” She replied

“Sounds good to me.” He said.

“Great.” She didn’t sound thrilled about it. Cloud could barely hear her grumble something about “Another back to watch.” She turned to Aerith and said, “Let’s go before back-up shows up. I’ve killed enough for one night. Aerith, you lead the way.”

Aerith nodded and went to their left, away from Reno and the demolished cyborg. Karta smiled, things are always too easy, a challenge would be nice. Cloud looked at his friend, she had changed a quite a bit from their last encounter. When he last saw her she was fourteen and he was sixteen. It was in Nibelhem on their mission to the reactor. Although his memory was a little fuzzy, the thing that was most clear was their ranks. He remembered her as a timid 3rd class that could barely lift a Buster Sword let alone a Rune Blade. He could remember her telling him something that happened in a laboratory and she joined to hide. He remembered her a little warmer to new comers and her eyes used to look a lot happier, but behind all that sat a lot of pain, that she never told anyone, and, god forbid, ever express it. As he examining her features he felt his eyes wander to hers. She was staring straight ahead, but he could still watch as they changed from sea blue to a blue green and then a forest green. He did not even realize he was staring until she turned and stared back with an icy look. He felt his eyes hit the ground in embarrassment.

“Why are you going to Sector 7?” he asked, eyes still on the ground.

“I have an old friend from Kalm that’s part of AVALANCHE. I’m stopping by to pick up some firearms.” She replied flatly. Cloud then noticed she was holding her right shoulder and on her shirt and hand was fresh red blood.

“You’re hurt.” He said.

“I’ll live.” She replied again very flatly. Cloud dropped the subject and did not bother to ask any more questions. Aerith took a right and there was her house. It was a happy looking place with flowers everywhere. Light poured all around and for a moment Cloud forgot he was in Midgar. A woman came running out of the house. She wrapped her arms around Aerith and held her close. Karta and Cloud stopped a few feet away, Cloud in the light, but Karta managed to hide amongst the shadows. When the women looked up at them from over Aerith shoulder, her smile faded. She gently pushed Aerith away and whispered,

“Honey…you were followed again.”

“Oh no mother. They helped me escape when I was really followed. Mom, I want you to meet Cloud and Karta.” Aerith replied, “Cloud Karta, this is my mother Elymra.” Cloud gave a polite nod, but Karta stood very still, still holding on to her left shoulder. Elmyra gasped at the blood.

“Oh my. Dear, you’re injured.” She gasped.

“I’m fine. Cloud, I have to get going. Are you coming?” she said eyeing him.

“I have no where else to be. Well, I guess I’ll be seeing you around Aerith…Elmyra.” Cloud said. Elmyra smiled back at them and looked almost relieved to see them going in hurry. She seemed to be avoiding eye contact with Karta at all costs. She turned and went back into the house. Aerith turned too, but Karta grabbed her with her bloody right hand. Aerith made a face at the feeling of someone’s blood on her skin.

“A long story huh? I want to hear it…soon. Better yet, make along story shirt right now.” Karta said in a challenging voice.

“I can’t…but I will tell you. Come back to tomorrow afternoon around lunch.” Aerith said not looking in that glare. Karta stared for a moment.

“Your mom doesn’t seem to like me too much.” She said in a cold voice.

“Oh…then I’ll meet you in the church. Same time?”

“Fine.” She let go of Aerith’s wrist. In was covered in blood. Aerith turned and walked into her house and shut the door. Cloud stood puzzled, why did Karta want to know why the Turks were after Aerith so badly? Pushing away any question and knowing this wasn’t the time, he turned to Karta “Let’s go.” She said and she walked away from the house. Cloud followed but looked over his shoulder. In the window was Elmyra, watching them with a look of despair. Cloud turned away from house and jogged to catch up with Karta. Although he wanted to touch on the subject of where she had been the past few years, he decided against it. She did not seem to fond of the past. They walked side by side until they came the door to Sector 7. Cloud looked at her and said,

"Karta, maybe we should take a break. You're not looking very well, a little too pale."

“I'm fine. We'll rest when we get to our destination." She replied as she continued foward, but Cloud knew she wasn't "fine" because only a moment later, she stumbled.

"Are you all right?" he asked helping her to feet. She did not reply, she just pushed herself to her feet and trudged on. Cloud could tell by the look in her eye not to push anything. Before long, a bar came into view called Tifa's Seventh Heaven. Cloud froze, where had he heard that name before? He racked his memory for that name, but nothing came. He looked up and saw that Karta was already half way up the stairs leading up the bar. Cloud jogged to catch up with her. Cloud looked and saw that the bar didn't open for another two and half-hours. He grabbed Karta's arm to stop her from going in.

"They're closed." He said.

"They're expecting me to come. In fact, I was due here a hour ago." She replied and pushed the door open. Behind the bar stood a girl with long brown hair, polishing glasses. Nursing a bleeding nose and a jaw was a buff black man with a gun on his arm. They both looked up when they heard Karta and Cloud come in. The man with the gun arm looked away from Karta not wanting to look into her eyes. He looked upset. The girl looked straight into Karta's eyes. It looked like they were having a staring contest. Cloud could feel the tension growing in the room, and the walls seemed to be closing in. Cloud shut his eyes. He could not believe that he was getting closthrofobic at a time like this. It always happened at the worst time. Karta made her eyes narrow as she and the girl behind the bar refused to let go of her gaze. The girl was the one to break the uneasy silence.

"You Bigg's friend from Kalm?" she asked flatly.

"Yeah, my name’s Karta. This is an old acquaintance from SOLDIER, Cloud." Karta replied. The girl looked up very quickly and the man with the gun arm clicked a clip into place.

"Both of us are ex-SOLDIER." Karta grinned at their paranoia. "Did I neglect to mention that?"

"God damn you…you…never mind. I'm Tifa and this is Barret. Well, since you're a bitch and you seem to be in a good mood I might as well break the news to you. At the reactor the other night we lost three comrades. Wedge, Jessie and…Biggs. To make matter worse, we got robbed and now we have no firearms.” Tifa said to Karta in a hostel voice. The grin melted off Karta’s face like butter.

“Oh…we need a place to crash for the night. We’re going to stay here.” Karta said flatly. Tifa glared at her and she could feel her ears turn a bright crimson. She clenched her fists and forced herself not to scream at the dark this seemingly heartless person before her.

“You heartless bitch, you don’t give a shit that Biggs is dead. You just found out that a friend dies and you demand that you’re crashing here for the night. Biggs really wanted to see you. You Shinra freaks are so fucking self-centered; you couldn’t give a shit if someone asked you to kill your own parents. You would do it in a heartbeat if you could fill your pockets with all the gil they can fit! Your hands are smeared with blood and you’re more than willing to shed more.” Tifa screamed at Karta. Karta just stared back a Tifa, emotionless. She then moved with inhuman speed and grabbed Tifa’s color and pulled her close. Tifa looked surprised and angry.

“Look, I know he’s dead, but he didn’t die in vain, did he? If you think your hatred towards Shinra is great than take that and times it by a hundred and you’ll have mine. Let me guess, Shinra took everything from you. Well they took everything from me and then made my life a living hell. I may have blood smeared on my hands, but so do you. When you blow up reactors, do you have any idea how many die? Innocent people. I have the blood of my enemies on my hands, but you have the blood of children. Don’t even get into parents; they had to live through same torture as I did. I have nothing left and no one to turn too. No family, no friends, no home, the only thing that keeps me going is the fact that I despise Shinra. You want vengeance as do I, so we might as well become allies.” Karta said in dark voice. She let go of Tifa’s shirt and took a step back, “So is that a yes or a no on crashing here?” Tifa grumbled a reluctant yes and she refused to come in eye contact with the other woman. The evidence that she didn’t trust them was very evident. Cloud took a deep breath and held it in. Barret sat in silence staring at his drink.

“Well since we’re going to allies, let’s have a drink.” Cloud said hoping to break the uneasy silence between everyone.

“Why?” Tifa asked while Karta and Barret started at him with weird looks.

“Because I’m twenty-one and if I want a drink then I’ll have a drink.” he said slamming his fists on the table.

“Well I’m nineteen and it’s my natural right to get hung over. Give me the hardest drink you can make, I can handle it.” Karta said slamming her fist on the table. For the first time in two days, Tifa cracked a smile while Barret chuckled. The tension left and Cloud, Barret, Tifa and Karta all sat around a table with one of Tifa’s famous cocktails.

*~*~*~*~*

Tseng wandered the streets of the slums following the signal form Reno’s PHS. The signal had not moved at all and Tseng feared the worst. He knew that Reno was the only friend he had and he also knew that he would go insane if he had to work with Rude, who had some grudge against him and Reno for some strange and unknown reason. When Tseng and Rude entered the Turks together they were pretty good friends. Rude was so tough and so good at his job that he was always surrounded by young secretaries and rookie Turks. Needless to say, his reputation reached the sly ears of the President rather quickly and within a week, offered him a job as Head of the Turks, but almost as soon as he said Yes, Reno made it in. He was one of the youngest people to make it into the Turks and that caught the eyes of all of Rude’s followers. They drop him and ran to Reno. He was handsome enough with red hair and grey eyes. Tseng found himself drawn away from Rude’s serious personality to Reno’s carefree way of life. They became quick friends and although he did not mean too, he slowly drifted apart from Rude. It was then that Rude started sending them on tough missions that he knew they could not handle, maybe some sort of revenge. If Reno died, that would be revenge enough.

Tseng froze, that was why Rude did not like them. He hated Reno because he took the spotlight and he hated Tseng for abandoning him. It all clicked, and Tseng felt terrible. He did not mean to stop being friends with Rude, it just sort of happened. One of the Turks that was with Tseng came over to him.

“Sir, are you all right?” he asked in a quiet, timid voice.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Let’s keep going.” Tseng replied too quickly. The Turk seemed to except the decision although he didn’t believe that his leader was fine. After they wandered around the Sector 5 slums for a while they came to back by the gate and the signal became stronger. He took a sharp right and came upon a broken down church. The first thing he saw was the cyborg on the ground. It was on its side ansd huge sword mark down the chest with sparks flying. It crackled and hissed. On the other side of the door sat Reno, tied up in chains that were bound together with a padlock. He red hair hung over his tilted head. He was not moving and he did not seem to be conscious but, he was breathing. Tseng walked quickly up to his friend and looked at him.

“Reno? Hey man are you okay?” Tseng asked.

“Damnit Tseng I’m a fucking dead man. Both of those bitches escaped and it was my fault. I let my ego take over and I let my guard down. I’m a disgrace to the Turks. Rude is going to kill me and you know all he needs is an excuse to beat the shit of me. Tseng, I got my ass whooped by a girl.” Reno wailed, his voice held a touch of insanity.

“Pull it together Reno, you’re stronger than this. Don’t feel so bad, Elena can kick my ass. You’re delirious, and you have certainly looked better.” Tseng said pulling Reno to his feet.

“Damn man, there goes my raise right down the drain!” Reno exclaimed. His head fell back and he collapsed into Tseng’s arms. Normally, this would not be an issue, but this usually happened when Reno was drunk. Tseng could not count on both hands how many times he had carried his friend out of a bar. This was different, Reno was hurt. The cyborg walked over and broke the chains that bound Reno and threw him over his shoulder.

“Will he be alright sir?” one of the Turks asked. Tseng sighed,

“Physically yup, but Reno is a very proud person and this will hurt his ego. I think this is the last time he will get too proud.” Tseng said as he adjusted his sunglasses. With the condition of the cyborg outside, he could only guess the fate of the two other Turks and the other cyborg. Heaving one more sigh, Tseng began to work his way back to the Shinra building. This is going to be one tough bitch to catch. He thought.

*~*~*~*~*

Rude took a deep breath. The thing he hated more than traitors was reporting bad news to the President. He could not believe that Tseng and Reno screwed up again; how many times was this? Now that he thought about it, it was believable that they would screw up. It happened a lot, maybe too many times. He felt like he had failed and it left a little scar on his ego. That little scar made him look weak. That was the third thing that he hated, the first was reporting bad news to the President, then it was traitors and then it was weakness. Reno and Tseng had failed, not him. He had nothing to do with the mission, he just gave the orders. Those orders were supposed to be followed, but those two rookies couldn’t make a simple arrest. They made Rude look like an everyday fool. A fool…that word tasted bitter in his mouth. Taking a deep breath, Rude pushed the door to the President's office. President Shinra turned around when he heard the door open, he looked at Rude. "What's wrong Rude?"

“I'm sorry to report that we had the murderer, but the two rookies let them get away. I'm terribly sorry, sir." Rude said.

"Don't worry about it Rude, just make sure we keep our men out of the slums for a while. Besides, I have another mission for you."

"Anything, you name it and it will be done."

"I want you to send a helicopter to my house outside of Midgar and pick up my son. I think that he's old enough to uphold the responsibility and title of Vice-President. Today will be the day that I introduce him to the world. After living twenty years alone in a house with only my wife as his company, no contact from other humans, he will finally see how my company has grown and how huge Midgar is. He has been secluded from society, no civilian has ever seen him."

"Don't worry sir. I'll send my best Turks after him. To make sure everything goes well, I'll send two Turks just in case." A sly smile spread across Rude's face.

"Good thinking Rude, and people wonder why I picked you be in charge of the Turks. Send them right away." Rude saluted and left the room. Just as he closed the door, Reeve came running towards the door. Rude's eyes got big as he came plowing into his buff body. The skinny man fell to the ground with a loud thump when he slammed into Rude's body. He looked up at Rude with a look of disgust. Rude returned the look and walked away. He pushed the down button at the elevator. He folded his arms and adjusted his sunglasses. The doors swung open and Rude stepped in. He pushed the button for level fifty and the doors shut. The elevator jerked a little and started to descend. Rude looked at the floor deep in thought. He smiled, he would send Reno and Tseng and prayed that they would do something that would be the perfect excuse to kick them out. The Turks lounge area was on level fifty and he silently hoped the two fools were there. The elevator came to a halt and the doors opened. He stepped out and looked for Reno's flaming red hair. When he did not see it he grabbed the nearest Turk by the collar.

"Where are Reno and Tseng?" he asked sternly.

"Infirmary, Reno got a head injury on his last mission, sir." The Turk replied. Rude turned and walked towards the Infirmary. When he was less than three feet from the door, it swung open and out stepped Tseng followed by Reno. They both froze when they saw Rude. Rude could see Reno cowering behind Tseng with an ice pack to his head. He smiled,

"Well since you two failed to complete an arrest, I'm giving you another mission and a second chance. The President's son is being introduced to the world later tonight. He needs two escorts and I'm sending you too. This is important so don't screw up. Head to the roof, I have a helicopter waiting get going…now." Rude explained pointing to the door. "Oh and Reno, give me the ice pack. You look like a rookie." Reno handed over the icepack and walked towards the door. He seemed a little shaky on his own two feet. Tseng watched him walk and then looked at Rude.

"Look Rude, he has a lump the size of a basketball on his head. Let him rest, I'll go." Tseng offered.

"He's a Turk, he can shake it off." Rude replied harshly. Tseng sighed and walked towards the door without muttering another word. Rude smiled, they were going to screw up.

*~*~*~*~*

Rufus Shinra shielded his eyes from the afternoon sun. He was so excited, he was finally going to be named Vice-President. When they got the message from his father that he was sending a helicopter to pick him up, Rufus insisted that he waited outside. As usual, his mother put up no battle. He had been home schooled his whole life and he had never been to Midgar. This was the first time he would see just how powerful his family really was. Rufus knew that he could not screw up when he walked on stage. He had been known to trip over his own feet and every now and then. Rufus let out a worried laugh; he was lying to himself. I know I'm the all time klutz of the world. I always make a fool of myself whenever my Dad and all his big business people come for dinner. If it isn't me falling off a chair or dropping or knocking over a cup it's me tripping over my own feet. Rufus thought to himself. He shook his head, he just prayed that he didn't screw up…again.

Shielding his eyes again, Rufus looked in the direction that a helicopter sound was coming. He smiled. A hand fell on his shoulder and Rufus turned and looked at his mother. He grinned at her, but she did not look happy, but worried.

"Don't worry Mom, I'll be fine. The message said I'll have two Turks with me." he said in a matter-of-fact way.

"I know, but still…watch your back." She said with a loving smile. Rufus returned the smile and looked towards the helicopter that was almost there. It came down about fifty feet from Rufus and his mother. The wind blew Rufus's blond hair out of place. He gave his mother a quick hug and jogged towards the waiting helicopter. The door opened and there stood in a blue suit and sunglasses. He had black hair. Next to him and sitting down was another man with fire red hair and his sunglasses on his head. Rufus took one last look back at his mother and stepped up onto the helicopter. What he did not expect was that he would slip. The back haired Turk grabbed his arm and pulled him onto the helicopter.

"Be careful sir." He said. Rufus gave a weak smile, but he thought he heard the red haired Turk mutter "klutz" under his breath, but he was not sure. "Good afternoon sir. My name is Tseng and this is my companion Reno." Reno gave him a half wave, but didn't say anything. Tseng shut the door and escorted Rufus to a seat. "Please sir, have a seat." He sat down and Tseng gave the pilot the go ahead. The helicopter roared and took off into the sky.

"Thanks…why doesn't Reno say anything to me?" Rufus asked. Reno looked up and gave Tseng a really weird look.

"Well, he got a good bump on the head on our last mission. He really shouldn’t even be here, but our boss, Rude, made him come." Tseng replied. Rufus looked at Reno who was staring out the window. He could see bump the size of a basketball of the back of his head. Rufus grimaced in pain; it was huge.

"I'll be sure to talk to him about it. No one should be working if they're hurt." Rufus said sticking out his chest. Reno rolled his eyes. "Tseng, when will we be getting to Midgar?"

"You can see it now." Tseng said. Rufus jumped to his feet and ran to the window, almost tripping over his own feet.

"Wow." Was all he could spit out. The city was more amazing than he had seen in pictures, but he frowned; he could see the plate, the reactors and the Headquarters, but not the slums. If I'm going to help rule this city than I need to see it all. He thought. "Tseng, we're taking a little detour. We're going to fly over the slums." Rufus commanded. Reno's head flew up and for the first time during the whole ride, he spoke.

"Why?"

"It doesn't matter now does it? We'll fly over my favorite number, seven." Rufus said.

"But sir--" Tseng started.

"You say you are loyal, but you don’t obey orders when given. Should we test your loyalty?" Rufus inquired eyeing the two men. Tseng and Reno exchanged glances. Tseng turned to the pilot and grumbled,

"Head to the Sector 7 slums." Rufus grinned as they descended. The first thing he noticed when they entered the slums was the smell. It stunk, and he could not believe how bad it was. Through the window he could not see down. He turned to Reno and said,

"I can't see down…open the door." Reno did not reply, he just walked over and opened the door. Giving Rufus a look he went over and sat back down.

"Be careful sir." Tseng said.

"Yeah, yeah." Rufus grumbled rolling his eyes. He walked very carefully over to the open door and looked out. All he could see was a tall pillar that held the plat up and a layer of smoke. He was so angry that he turned to walk away, but tripped on his own feet. He fell forward and slid towards the open door. Within seconds, he was no longer in the helicopter, but plummeting towards the ground. Tseng lunged forward to grab him, but missed by an inch as Reno jumped to his feet. The both looked out the door as the blond haired man fell to the ground.

"Sir!" Tseng screamed. Rufus heard Tseng call at him, but he paid no attention. The ground came fast and gravity showed no mercy. He puffed threw the layer of smoke and closed his eyes as he hit a roof.

Tseng could only watch as he fell threw the smoke and out of sight. This was bad this was very bad. No one could survive a fall like that. Tseng turned to the pilot.

"Get to the Headquarters…now!" he screamed.

*~*~*~*~*

"Fell out of a helicopter? My God my son is a moron! I can't believe this is happening to me. I can't let the public know my only son is the all time moron of the century. They would never trust me again. We can't let them know.” the President paused. “Any idea's how we could…take care of this little problem?" the President asked.

"Well, no one could survive a fall like that sir so we can assume that he is dead. The people of the slums will find him and bury him without question. There were two Turks in the helicopter…let's say that they murdered him. We'll make an arrest and tell the public that your son was just an innocent victim cut down by two traitors. After all, the two Turks didn't protect him did they? Believe me sir, this way overdue. These two are always screwing up." Rude said with a sly smile.

"But what about showing a picture of Rufus? They'll know who it is." The President asked.

"We'll say that your family doesn't want to for personal matters." The President smiled a huge grin.

"I love the way you think. What are the Turks names?"

"Tseng O'Zion and Reno Louinton."

*~*~*~*~*

"What do you suggest we do next?" Tifa asked taking a sip of her cocktail.

"First there are some things I need to know about Aerith." Karta said.

"Then what?" Barret asked.

"Then we--" Karta did not get to finish. A body came crashing threw the ceiling and landed on a table breaking it. It was a man, maybe twenty or twenty-one in a white outfit and blond hair. He lay completely still in the pile of broken wood. Karta tipped her head back and finished her cocktail. "All right I've got my cure materia. Let's get to work." They all took one long drink of their cocktails and walked over to the unconscious body.

Rufus felt like he never stopped falling despite the fact that he felt himself hit a roof. All around him swirled colors and flashes of his past. Pictures of his father's vile smile, his mother's bright eyes, and Reno and Tseng's faces as he plummeted to the ground, their eyes frantic and full of fear. Rufus could feel himself smile at the punishment they would receive. He could only imagine what "they" would do to them. He felt himself smash into a roof and the world went black. It seemed to engulf him, to eat him a live, but now the colors were swirling around him. They were comforting and they seemed to bring him to peace. A peace he had not felt in a long time, but what was that bright light speeding towards him? Was he dead? Was he speeding toward Heaven? Hell? Life? Death? So bright…

*~*~*~*~*

"He moved." Cloud said quietly.

"You sure?" Tifa asked. They all stared at the body. It had been nearly thirty minutes since he came crashing down and he was already moving? He must be a tough bastard. Thought Cloud. They all stared, never taking their eyes off of him, waiting for movement. They all saw it, his eyes twitched. No one said a word, no one moved. After a moment his eyes opened. They were baby blue to match his blond hair. Those eyes set on the four silent people. He opened his mouth, but at first nothing came out. He tried again and this time, a sound came out.

"Where am I?" he asked.

"In my house." Tifa answered in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Who-who are you?" he asked.

"I'm Karta and this is Cloud, Tifa and Barret. And you are…?" Karta asked. He looked ahead, as if he racking memory for his own name. He looked at each of them with a puzzled look in his face.

"I…I don't know." He said with a shaking voice.

*~*~*~*~*

"Are you sure the public will believe us?" President Shinra asked.

"Of course. They trust us with all their hearts. They wouldn't doubt us for a second." Rude replied. "They would lay down their lives for you if it meant more gold for them." The President smiled Maybe Rufus dying was for the better. He didn’t stand a chance, not a chance. He was a worthless son and worthless business partner…and there was no way around that. He thought. “When should we make the arrest?” the President asked.

"As soon as possible. All you need to tell me is when and…how much force you want me to use." Rude said leaning forward in his chair. The Presidents smile grew into a stupid grin.

"Now and as much as needed." He said. Rude smiled and got up. He saluted and walked out of the office. He pulled out his PHS and dialed the pager on the Turk lounge floor. Elena picked up.

"Turk lounge floor, Elena Vogeler speaking."

"Elena, this is Rude. Are Tseng and Reno there?" he asked.

"Yes sir, do you need em?"

"No, just send me two armed Turks to level fifty-one."

"Yes sir." Rude hung up. He smiled; this was so perfect. He walked over to the elevator and saw Reeve walking towards the Presidents office. When he saw Rude, he sneered. Reeve was the Presidents lap dog. He worshiped the ground any Shinra walked on. Rumor had it that the President was going to appoint him Vice-President, due to the sudden death of Rufus. Rude could only sneer back at Reeve; he couldn't guess why Reeve did not like him. Rude pushed the elevator down stepped in. The doors closed and it started to descend. After only a moment elevator stopped on level sixty-eight. The doors opened and in walked a young secretary. When she saw Rude, she turned away and did not look at him. The elevator started to move again. After a moment, the secretary spoke up.

"You’re a Turk, right? Your name is…is…"

"Rude." He replied sternly.

"Oh yes it is. I heard Reno got hurt on his last mission.” she let out a dreamy sigh, “Poor guy." Rude looked up at her, she sighed and whispered "He's so dreamy." Rude clenched his fists. He remembered her; she used to be like that around him until Reno came. The elevator stopped at sixty-three. The secretary turned to Rude and said, "Tell Reno that Lexi gives her best." Without another word she got off. Rude kept his anger down and waited for the elevator to stop. The doors opened and he looked around. The two Turks stood up from the bench they were sitting on and saluted him.

"Let's go." Rude said heading for the stairs, the two Turks at his heels. They walked down the stairs rather quickly and pushed the door open to the Turk lounge open. Rude scanned heads and saw Tseng, Reno and Elena sitting at a table drinking coffee. Reno's head hung down and he stared at his coffee, not touching it. Tseng looked at Elena and nodded every few second, pretending to listen. And as usual, Elena seemed to be doing all of the talking. Rude walked across the room to the sitting group, drawing curious, rookie Turk eyes with him. When Elena saw him coming, she smiled.

"Hey Rude, I thought you had a mission." she called. He stepped forward.

"I do." He replied.

"Do you need back up?" she asked.

"No my mission is here." He said flatly.

"What the hell--?" Elena stammered.

"Tseng and Reno, I have direct orders to put you under arrest immediately.” Rude said looking at them. Reno's head shot up and Tseng came back to reality.

"What the fuck is going on?" Reno shouted

"Arrested?" Tseng yelled.

"Under what charges?" Elena asked evenly.

"The murder of Rufus Shinra." He turned to his Turks; they pulled out their guns. "Now you two can come quietly and no one will get hurt…or you can resist and shed some blood."

"We didn't murder that ass! He fell out of the damn helicopter." Reno insisted.

"The pilot saw differently. He saw Mr. Rufus looking out an open door and he saw you two go over, whisper something in his ear and push him out. No one could survive a fall like that. He was so young, he just turned twenty-one. To make matters worse, he was struck down by the very men who were supposed to protect him." Rude said glaring at Reno. He turned to Elena and said, "They played you for a fool Elena. They played me for a fool. They tricked us all; they are moles for some terrorist group. They want to take us down. They are traitors." Elena turned to Reno and Tseng and shot them looks. The tears started to come.

"Damn you! I trusted you!" she screamed. Reno grabbed her shoulders and looked directly into her eyes. "Get off of me you slimy bastard!"

"Elena I--" Reno started, but Rude smacked him in the back of the head. Right on his just starting it heal bump. Reno crumbled to the ground unconscious. The cut opened and blood started to pool out.

"Rude what do you--" Tseng stammered, but Rude slammed his iron fist into Tseng face. Tseng stumbled back and hit the floor. One of Rude's Turks reacted and went around and smacked Tseng in the back of the head. His eyes rolled back and fell to the ground. Rude stared at them both; this is what he dreamed of.

"From now on, you are relieved of your duties as a Turk." He said lowly. He spit at them and signaled the other two to pick them up. Rude flexed his and fists, it was times like these he was glad he that operation. The operation that removed the bones in his hands and replaced them with iron bones. The room was silent as watchful eyes saw Reno and Tseng get dragged away under arrest. Elena watched too, but something inside nudged her. She shook off the feeling. Why would Rude lie to get them arrested? she thought, she shook her head, He wouldn’t…he wouldn't.

*~*~*~*~*

"Whoa, back up! You don't know who you are?" Tifa asked. The blond hair man shook his head. "Well since you fell from the plate, I guess we can assume you must have been trying to commit suicide."

"I…guess. I do remember a lot of bad thoughts and nights crying myself to sleep." He replied.

"Okay, then it's without a doubt. Well, how about you just forget about your old life and start over. Your old one must have been pretty bad if you tried to end it." Tifa said evenly.

"Yeah, that makes sense. Besides those little bits of information, I think my age is twenty-one." He said. He sat up and looked at everyone. "But I need a name."

"How about 'Naden'?" Karta asked form the back of the room. He looked over at her; she was leaning against the wall with her arms folded.

"That name sucks." He said.

"Sounds good to me." Cloud said.

"Me too." Barret said.

"But--" he started.

"Then it's settled. Your new name is Naden." Tifa said.

"But I really don't like--" Naden started, but no one let him finish. Tifa walked over to the wall on the left side of the room, the eyes of her comrades following her. She went over and pulled a picture from the wall. Behind it was a secret safe. She turned the knob a few times and the door opened, revealing a shotgun, a pistol and some grenades. Karta turned to Tifa and smiled.

"I thought you said you didn't have any firearms?" Karta said in an amused tone.

"I'm a liar, so sue me." Tifa snapped. For once, Karta was trying to be a happy person and Tifa's attitude broke that it half. Karta winced from the harshness in Tifa's voice. Tifa ignored Karta and reached in a pulled out the shotgun and a bag of clips. She tossed them to Naden and he caught them with ease.

"You know, there are only two things I know about my life. My age and that I can shoot a gun. " Naden grinned and pointed the gun at the wall.

"You look good with a gun Naden." Karta said. Naden blushed and turned away. Karta raised her eyebrows and turned to the group, "Alright, it's late, two in morning to exact and we're going to need energy. Let's get to bed."

"Okay, Naden you can sleep in the spare bed just in case you're still hurt. Karta and Cloud can sleep down here." Tifa said. Naden started to object, mumbling something about he had to be a gentleman and give a girl a bed but no one would here it. He didn't bother to fight it; it was a battle already won. Karta and Cloud went downstairs without a word of 'goodnight' or 'sweet dreams'. Tifa made a face, The Shinra type are so cold hearted. She thought. I don't care what happens, I'll never fully trust them. On the floor downstairs were two blankets and two pillows. Without a word to each other, they set up their bed on either side on the room. Karta collapsed onto the floor and lay down. This was the first time in days she stopped for a rest. For the first time in days, she was overcome with exhaustion. She closed her eyes and sank into darkness.

*~*~*~*~*

"…she's still awake…"

"…I know…"

"…should I give her anymore…?"

"…no…"

"…do you think she'll remain sane…?"

"…as long as she's never alone…"

"………….she twitched…"

"…I saw it…"

"…are you sure I shouldn't give her more…?"

"…no, she should know what's going on…"

A sharp pain exploded throughout her entire body and Karta snapped open her eyes into a bright light…

*~*~*~*~*

Karta sat up suddenly, breathing hard and in a cold sweat. She looked down at her pillow; the sun was shining right where her head was. That explained the white light in her dream. Cloud, Tifa and Barret were all watching her and eating breakfast.

"What were you dreaming about?" Tifa asked. Karta did not reply, she just looked at her watch, 11:30. She sighed, she should have been up at six, but that would be four hours of sleep and sleep was something she needed to catch up on. She was planning on meeting Aerith at the church at twelve. She sat for a moment more thinking. "Well, what were you dreaming about? You were mumbling some shit about 'no more pain'. What was that about?" Again Karta didn't say a word; she just walked over to the group just a Naden appeared. They all sat down to eat, without pestering Karta about her nightmare.

"We need to leave really soon." Karta said. Everyone nodded and Barret started to look around, as if something was missing. A look of sheer panic filled his eyes as he turned to Tifa and asked,

"Yo Tifa, where's Marlene?"

"I told her we'd be out for lunch. The neighbors, so kind of them, volunteered to keep an eye on her for the day. She'll be playing with the kids all day long, without a care in the world…lucky little…brat." Tifa replied lowly. He nodded and Cloud, Naden and Karta didn't even bother to ask. Barret saw that look and said,

"Marlene is the daughter of a close friend of mine. His wife passed away and that crushed him. He disappeared not long after. He left a note saying he'd come back for Marlene, but he hasn't yet." Barret explained.

"I feel bad for her." Naden said with his head hanging.

"It could be worse." Karta said. She heard Tifa grumble 'heartless Shinra bitch' under her breath, but she chose to ignore the comment. She was not in any mood to get into an argument with Tifa. Not here and not now. She glanced at her watch again, 11:45.

"Let's go." She said. They all nodded and pushed their plate's aside. Cloud shoved his Buster Sword into it's sheath, Tifa pulled on her Dragon Claw and flexed her fingers into a tight fist, Barret slammed in a fresh clip into his Enemy Launcher, while Naden put his shotgun into his belt with a bag of extra clips. Karta finished polishing her blade and made a mental note to start keeping her eyes open for her old sword, the Nova. She shoved the Rune Blade into its sheath and sighed. "This one will have to do." She thought. She turned and they all left the bar in a hurry.

*~*~*~*~*

The group trudged through the Sector 7 slums. The hour was late in the afternoon and people seemed to be more active than usual. As they were passing through the huge door outside Sector 7, a crowd of people carrying water came running from all directions. Karta grabbed the arms of a passing man.

"Hey, what's going on?" she asked.

"Didn't you hear? There's a fire in the Sector 5 slums. Some house surrounded by flowers is completely ablaze." the man shouted. Karta let him go and turned to Cloud. They both knew; Aerith's house.

"Come on." Karta shouted taking off running, Cloud at her heels. Barret, Tifa and Naden stood still for a moment and then took off after them. It was at this moment that they noticed that Karta and Cloud were running at an inhuman speed. Within minutes the group was standing in front of Aerith's house which was being consumed by flames. People around them were trying their best to get the fire under control.

"My God, what happened?" Naden asked. No answered because no one knew what happened except Cloud and Karta, but they kept silent. Karta glanced around; Elymra was no where in sight. She looked at the house again, and she knew what she had to do. She bolted to the door of the flaming house, despite the shouts from her comrades. She was not stupid, she knew it was dangerous, but did a little fire ever hurt anyone?

This was not a little fire; this was a lot of fire. The flames were everywhere. Smoke stained the once white ceiling and she had only been in the house for a few minutes and she was already sweating. She gagged on the smoke and looked around. Her deep forest green eyes caught a glimpse of a green dress among the flames. She picked her way around the burning debris to where Elymra lay. She was lying on her stomach, her dark hair falling out of its bon. Her face was to the ground and fresh blood was streaming from the hole where the bullet had been embedded into her brain. Karta grimaced, dead. She was about to leave when she saw a piece of paper in her hand. It was folded in half and had her name, Karta, written on it. She leaned down and picked it up. It was written in fancy handwriting. A girls without a doubt, Aerith's handwriting. She properly never guessed "they" would go this far. She looked at the letter and then at Elymra. At least it was a quick death. She thought. A piece of ceiling fell and landed close to Karta's body and made her jump back into reality. More and more pieces began to fall and there was a loud crack. Karta glanced at Elymra's body, not enough time to move it. Another crack and the house moaned. Karta turned and bolted from the room to the door, diving out. Seconds later the ceiling came crashing down, crushing everyone's hope that Elymra was alive.

Cloud ran up to Karta who was lying on her stomach. Sweat dripped from her face and her hands were a light black. Under her she clutched a note. She didn't look up at Cloud, but she continued to stare at the ground.

"Karta, Karta are you okay?" Cloud asked.

"Call the others over here." She said slowly. Cloud signaled Tifa, Barret and Naden to come over to where Karta still lay unmoving.

"What the hell are you looking at?" Tifa asked.

"Look down, what do you see?" she asked.

"Nothing." Naden answered.

"Nothing." Barret replied.

"Dirt?" Tifa inquired sarcastically.

"A footprint." Cloud said.

"Right a footprint. What else, what makes this footprint special?" Karta asked.

"…Tt's got the Shinra logo written on it." Cloud said.

"What else?"

"Nothing."

"Nothing?"

"Nothing."

"Right, look closer." Cloud looked closer, under the imprint of Shinra, something else was imprinted, but Cloud couldn't make it out.

"Yeah, there's something else indented under Shinra but I can't make it out." Karta sighed and used her finger to clear the word. When she finished, it didn't surprise anyone what it said, Turk.

"Whoa there, you mean to tell me the Turks did this?" Tifa asked. "Now that I think about it, it sounds like Shinra to have Turk written on the shoes."

"That's what it looks like." Karta replied. She sat up and looked at the note.

"What's that?" Naden asked.

"Read it." Cloud said. Karta opened the letter and read it.

Karta~

Go to the church. Pull out the loose brick, next to the painting of the rose. You'll find all your answer's there.

~Aerith

"Answer's? Answer's to what?" Naden asked. Karta didn't answer; she just looked at the letter. She stood up and put the letter in her pocket.

"Let's go." She said sternly. Cloud glanced over his shoulder. The house was nothing but a pile of worthless, burning wood. He sighed, if the Turks were involved, then he could only guess Elymra's fate. He looked away from the house, or what was left of it, and ran to catch up with the moving group. Karta really was not walking anymore; she was somewhere between a jog and a run. Everyone else had to keep a quick steady pace to keep up with her. Within minutes, the church came into view. The remains of the cyborg had been moved, but there was a red spot on the ground. Cloud guessed it was from the rather unpleasant encounter with Reno. The group made a left and entered the rundown church.

"All right, look for the painting of a rose." Karta ordered. By the tone of her voice, no one seemed to want to second-guess the order. No one did; not even Tifa. They each went to a wall scanning and whipping dirt, looking for the picture of the rose. After a moment, Naden called out.

"Found it." Karta walked over and could find the brick almost right away; it was the only one that was still slightly red. Cloud guessed because it had been moved. Karta reached forward and pulled it out. She reached it and pulled out what seemed to be journal of some kind.

"A journal? What does that have to do with answers?" Naden asked.

"I guess it's kind of like her life story." Cloud inquired. "Well, Karta, you wanted answers, go ahead, read it." Everyone nodded and Karta opened to the first page.

If your reading this, then you are a really good friend or a complete stranger that I trust more than you can name. Either way, you'll get all the answers you'll ever need.

To put it all in simple terms, I am an Ancient or better know as the Cetra. From what I know, the little bits that I do know the Shinra have been after me my whole life. Ever since Elymra found me. My mother's dying words were to Elymra that she should take care of me, and then she died. Elymra took me in as her own. I tried to hide my mysterious powers; I hated them. The way they made me so different from everyone else. When I was young, a Turk came looking for me. He said that Shinra just wanted my corporation in getting them something. It annoyed me, so I avoided them for all these years. If you are reading this, they must have lost patience with me and resorted to violence. I can only hope and prey that they killed Elymra quickly. I truly hope there was no pain.

The Shinra must have me or I would have told this to your face. It must be a lot to take in at once. I don't know how to say this lightly. I want you to forget that you ever knew me. I am not saying this because I've given hope or that I think that you couldn't or can't save me or anything like that, I tell you this so you won't get involved. The last thing I want is to see you executed or worse. I will miss you all and we will see each other again, if not in this life than the next. Don't worry about me, I can take care of myself.

I'll miss you

~Aerith

"That's it." Karta said closing the book. No one said a word; they all just stood dumbfounded. Where have I heard 'Cetra' before? Cloud thought. He glanced at his friend, Karta did not seem all that surprised, and she seemed quite calm. She looked at the book again, and then she put it in her pouch. She cracked her fingers and started to leave. Naden turned and called out to her.

"Where are you going?" she turned slowly around. She looked at the group. They were all so different; they looked like a group of strangers not friends.

"I was going to break into the Headquarters anyway. There are…things I need to do." She replied.

"I thought she said we shouldn’t get involved." Barret said.

"We're already involved, at least I am." She replied making her eyes narrow. "Are you saying you don't want to wreck havoc on the Shinra building?"

"I’m in." Tifa said almost right away.

"I guess I’ll follow Tifa, I'm in." Barret said.

"I've got no where to go." Naden said with a smile.

"There are some things I need to ask Aerith, I'm in." Cloud said. Karta smiled, and Cloud could feel a grin form on his face. This was not a fake smile or a twisted smile or an evil smile that Karta wore, but a smile of…joy.

*~*~*~*~*

The Turks shoved a half-conscious Reno and Tseng into a cell. The two men stumbled and the Turks did not give them a second glance. The door slammed and looked with a click. Tseng managed to push himself into a sitting position, but he was overcome with dizziness and blacked out. Reno struggled to do the same, but he managed to keep himself conscious. Reno reached behind and touched the back of his head. He could feel his own wet blood flowing from an open cut. He chose to ignore it. Reno was about to say something to wake up Tseng when the door opened and it stepped a very happy looking Rude.

"You're not looking so good Reno." He said bitterly.

"What the hell are you trying to pull Rude?" Reno asked.

"What are you talking about?" Rude replied in a tone full of fake surprise.

"You're head of the Turks, I would sure hope you're not stupid. Everyone knows you hate me. That’s no big secret, but you know what else? I know why. Heaven forbid I stole you damn spotlight. You got the attention of the President, which is more than I can say. Get over it Rude."

"Heh, very funny Reno. You sure have a very vivid imagination."

"Threatening the pilot with his life was pretty low. I bet under pressure he would break down and tell the truth. It was also low to use your own comrades as scapegoats to keep your ego as big as it can get, and to cover up the Presidents pride. You are one sick person Rude." Rude walked up and got right in Reno's face. He spoke low and through clenched teeth.

"Just thought I'd let you know that you hit the nail right on the head. So I used you, so what. No one will challenge me. They would not dare challenge me because they know I would crush them like bugs. Another thing, you worthless piece of shit, you and that other shithead are both sitting in death row. The first one’s on the list, enjoy your last days" Reno spit in Rude's face and said.

"Fuck you." Rude lost it; he pulled out an iron fist and punched Reno's face. He could feel Reno's nose break his fingers. Then he pulled back punched him again in the stomach. Reno grunted he felt like someone had crushed his internal organs. Rude turned and left Reno on the ground gasping for breath. After a few minutes, Reno was breathing normal again. He smiled and reached into his jacket inside pocket and pulled out a bottle of booze and Restore Materia.

"He may be the head of the Turks but he sure doesn't do his job to well. He didn't even check me." he said lifting the bottle into the air, "Hell if I'm going to die, I'm dying drunk off my ass." He shouted taking a swig of the booze.

Rude sat in silence in his office. Things seemed to be coming together nicely. He felt a sense of accomplishment. He had finally found a way to get Tseng and Reno behind bars and on death row. He had also raided the slums earlier that day. He took the Ancient from her house, and then he set the house ablaze and finally, he put a bullet in her stepmother's brain. He left her corpse in the house to burn to ashes. He did all this within an hour, why had it taken them so long to catch her? He picked up a pen and started making a list of ways to kill his comrades. Electric chair? No, a waste of perfectly good energy. Burn? No, the smell would get to anyone. Shot? No, too fast. Beating? No, takes too much energy. Slit the throat? No, too bloody. Gas chamber? Slow, painful and they could broadcast it too the world. Gas chamber was a keeper, but there were other ways to kill a person. He circled Gas chamber and made a mental note that that was way of choice at that point. He was halfway through his list when there was a knock on his door. "Come in." he said. He half expected it to be Elena, crying and whining about Tseng and Reno.

The door swung open and in walked a dark haired man. He had buzzed black hair, deep brown eyes and a cold smile. He wore jeans, a T-shirt that Rude could just read that said, "God must love stupid people, he made so many of them" and a white lab coat. He was twenty-eight and about five feet nine inches. His hands were shoved in his pockets and slouched a little. Rude stood up and gave him a little salute, "Good afternoon Professor Payne." He said.

"As to you." Professor Payne replied. His voice was deep and dark and could send a chill down the spine of any man…including Rude. "Please Rude, call me John. We're friends, we don't need to be formal." Rude cracked a smile. Payne came further into the office; he turned and shut the door behind him. He started to wander the office a little, deep in thought. Rude watched his every move; He's so different than Hojo. So…sane. Rude thought. "Tell me Rude," Payne's voice snapped Rude back to reality, "did you know Professor Hojo?" Rude paused, Can the man read minds? he thought.

"I knew him, but not personally. He seemed to have a few screws loose." Rude replied.

"That man was genius. I feel honored to be in the same lab as him let alone the same position as him. Many said he was insane, but people always genius’ are crazy. The brilliant are always misjudged."

"Yeah, I guess."

"President Shinra tells me your Turks haven't caught the hooded person yet, why?"

"Because looks can be deceiving. That person isn't human and that I'm sure of."

"One tracked mind, as usual.” he replied letting out a sigh. “What if they are human, just a greater model."

"A greater model? You're talking about evolution, right?"

"Heh, heh, no Rude, not evolution."

*~*~*~*~*

Wall Market bustled with activity. It was Saturday and the people of the slums were out spending that week's wages on the next week's food. Most of them seemed oblivious to the strange group. They were either too busy or they didn't care.

"What exactly are we looking for?" Naden asked his eyes wondering around the town.

"A way to the plate, come on Naden. Stay with us." Cloud said, "Karta, you've already been on the plate. Why not go that way?"

"Because they'll have it guarded without a doubt." She replied.

"What are you saying, Shinra scum? Are you saying we couldn't handle a few guards?" Tifa challenged. Karta turned and looked at Tifa, her eyes narrow.

"I know very well that we could handle a few guards, but we don't want to stir up a commotion until we get in the building." She replied. "Plus, what if a guard got away and reported us? There would go our chance of a surprise attack. Also, what if someone got hurt or killed? We need to be in top condition. Being a leader yourself Tifa, you should know that you need do look at all the 'what ifs' of every situation."

"That makes sense, you would make a good leader." Barret said, Tifa shot him a glare. "But you’re nothing compared to Tifa." Karta raised her eyebrows and glanced at Cloud, he shrugged, and then she glanced at Naden. He rolled his eyes and smiled. When he did not receive a smile back, Naden looked other way.

"Okay, whatever." Karta said walking deeper into the town. The group followed without question. Men would glance at the girls, but looks from either Tifa or Karta would turn those sick eyes away and the men's speed to increase. They just wandered until Naden's complaining dragged them into a near by restaurant.

*~*~*~*~*

"Rude, what the hell did you do?" President Shinra exclaimed. Rude looked at the President in utter confusion.

"What are you talking about sir?" Rude asked.

"Do you have any idea how many frantic people called in about a murder, a kidnapping and a fire? I told you to get the Ancient, not burn the house to the ground." The President leaned back in his chair. " We need a way to cover up the evidence. Any ideas?"

"Depends sir, what kind of cover up do you mean?"

"A permanent cover up and we need to make it look like it was those damn AVALANCHE people."

"I've got it sir, but…it's a little inhuman."

"I'm all ears."

"We could drop the plate on Sector 5. That would get rid of witnesses and evidence." The President looked at Rude. The familiar sparkle filled his eyes and Rude waited for his answer.

"Get to work."

*~*~*~*~*

"Damn you Reno!" Tseng screamed.

"What? All I did was have a booze and cure our wounds. Oh, I get it. You wanted some booze. Sorry man, but it's just so good!" Reno retaliated.

"That's not it."

"Well, I didn't do a damn thing wrong!" Tseng fell silent for a moment and sighed.

"You're right, that is all you did. We both screwed up and now we have we're paying for it with our lives."

"Don't worry man, we'll get out of here before they can stick us in the electric chair."

"Rude wouldn't put us in the chair. 'A waste of perfectly good energy' he would say."

"Well, however they're planning on killing us, we'll get out of here before they can."

"How do you plan on doing that?"

"Um…hold on, give me a minute and I'll think of something."

"We're doomed."

"Don't worry…be happy."

"Shut the fuck up Reno!"

"Shit man I'm just trying to think positive. So sue me."

"Positive? Ha! The only reason your not crying in a corner like the baby you are is because you're drunk."

"So? So, I'm drunk, I don't give a shit!"

"Just shut up Reno, just shut up."

*~*~*~*~*

Rude stood by the open helicopter door. He looked over the edge and he could see the top of the piller. Then he looked at the slums below. So many people so oblivious to what was about to what was about to happen to them. The smell of smog and burnt wood filled the air. He grimaced, he hated the slums. He turned to the pilot and said,

"Lower her down a little more." The helicopter came down. He looked down and then up. The piller was huge, stretching from the ground to the bottom of the plate. Below him sat small weak people, struggling to scrape and keep pathetic lives together. There they would wander around towns made of metal houses and smog filled air, waving as if everything's okay. In the cold murky houses, children dream of green grass and the sky. It made him sick. Above him sat the tall, but none the less weak people of the plate clinging onto what was left of their humanity. There they would drink and party and wait for the gil to come rolling in. While they stand at the window watching their neighbors to make sure they didn't get richer. Their greed and snot could make a kind man cruel. They wander the streets with their noses in the air, without expression. They wander like soulless robots. Their children lie in their warm beds, dreaming of what the next new toy would be. That also made him sick. They both deserved to die.

Rude jumped down onto the platform. He glanced around and smiled. He could see the people of the slum's faces when their piller explodes. He could see the looks of the people of the plate's faces when the plate starts to move. The horror in their eyes and the truth sinks in. He could hear their screams already. He looked at the control panel, he could see the red detonation button. The button that all he had to do was push and hundreds, maybe thousands of lives would end. That little button determined whether those children above and below would live to see another day. All that power rested in that button and Rude's thick finger that reached for it…

*~*~*~*~*

A gentle click, no one heard it for it was too small and light. It was drowned out by the sounds a helicopter moving away. No one could predict what would happen next. No one heard the warning alarm so no one had the time to run. No one knew until there was an earth-shattering explosion…and time itself seemed to stop. But not the explosion of a reactor, but a pillar. The sound of metal giving away and pulling apart. Pieces of metal and earth plummeted to the ground. Maybe a few ran, but no one knew what happening. The last metal bar gave away and the plate fell. Gravity showed no mercy and the screams of the people of the slums and the plate formed as one and echoed.

*~*~*~*~*

"What the hell was that?" Tifa screamed. The explosion had rattled the buildings and thrown people to the ground. The group pulled themselves to their feet as the owner of the restaurant turned on the news.

This is a Midgar News Special report. Only moments ago a huge explosion rattled our fair city. I am sad to report that the Sector 5 pillar was attacked. The person or persons set it at self detonate and the plate fell to the ground. We have just received a report on who did this. It was the terrorist group AVALANCHE. We can only hope they perished with the blast.

"Group meeting." Karta said before Tifa could open her mouth and blow their cover. The group came together and put their heads in.

"What the hell is going on? We couldn't have dropped the plate, we're right here. And besides we would never do something like that." Tifa said struggling not to scream.

"I know that and you know that. but the people of Midgar think we're guilty as sin." Karta said looking at her comrades.

"What could Shinra be thinking?" Naden asked.

"They think they can cover up evidence with blame. If anyone saw Shinra detonated, they'll be dead. If the witnesses are dead…there are no problems. And no problems…" Karta said darkly. There was a moment of silence. "We need to get up to the Headquarters as soon as possible. Shinra is trying the crush us, literally. We need to leave before they decide to drop this plate too."

"Yeah, maybe someone will know a way up. Let's look around." Cloud said. Tifa turned and tossed the waitress a few gil and the group left. People seemed pretty antsy and timid now. As the group walked towards the top of Wall Market, a group of young kids shoved their way through the group. Karta watched them meet up with some other kids.

"C'mon you guys, this is so cool!" one kid said fairly loud. The kids ran to the right, through a crack between two homes. She picked up the pace and started to follow them.

"Karta, where the hell are you going?" Tifa asked but she didn't answer. She turned right and followed the kids. The group followed and found themselves in what looked like a dark box. Barret recognized the place, Marlene had wandered there before, but something was different. A wire hung from the top. Karta had folded her arms and gave the kids a look. They turned and ran from her. She reached forward and tugged on the wire. Cloud caught onto what she was planning on doing.

"Karta…what are you planning?" he asked. After a moment when she did not answer he knew for sure what she was planning. "Oh no…you're not serious are you?"

"Come on, that's almost impossible." Naden said.

"Karta, I only have one hand." Barret said.

"Look you Mako filled bitch, we can't climb that!" Tifa exclaimed.

"Tifa…what did you call me? A Mako filled bitch? Harsh. Oh well, I guess I'll be seeing you around then." Karta said pulling on a pair of gloves. She turned her back to them and pulled herself onto the wire. She started to pull herself up the wire with ease. Cloud sighed and put on a pair of gloves he had in his pocket. Naden turned to Tifa and shrugged and Tifa sighed. She reached in her pocket and tossed and him gloves. He put them on and he slowly started up the wire. Barret looked up the wire; a line of his comrades went almost to the top of a pile of metal. He took a deep breath and started up.

Karta pulled herself onto the metal pile, cautiously at first. Just to make sure it would support her weight. Just like last time. she thought. She looked over the edge and saw the group making their way up. Cloud did nott seem to be having too much trouble, but the rest of the group seemed to be struggling. After Cloud pulled himself up, they waited in silence for the rest of the group to come up. After a while, an exhausted Barret pulled himself up.

"Everyone ready?" Karta asked. Naden looked up, he could see the top of the Shinra building. He felt a knot form in his stomach. Why did this place look so familiar?

"Come on Naden." Cloud said. Karta was in the lead followed by Tifa, Barret and Cloud. Naden sighed and started up the metal mountains. He looked up and saw Cloud climb past Tifa and Barret with complete ease.

Karta pushed a piece of the plate off to the side and pulled herself out. She had her hand ready at any moment to pull her blade. Cloud came through the hole followed by Tifa, Barret and Naden. Naden gasped and looked at Cloud and Karta.

" Damn…how do you two move so fast?" he asked, panting from being out of breath. Before Cloud or Karta could answer, Tifa's harsh voice chimed in.

"Where is the President's office?" she asked.

"70th floor." Naden answered automatically. Everyone turned and looked at him, their eyes narrow with suspicion. "How did I know that?"

"Doesn't matter." Karta said dismissing the subject with the wave of her hand. She pulled out her Rune Blade and looked at the main door, "We're going in."

"Wait a minute, you’re not planning on going in through the main door are you?" Barret asked.

"Kill quick and fast, we can't let word get to any floor above the one we're on." She replied. Naden snapped his shotgun into place while Barret put a fresh clip into his Enemy Launcher. Tifa flexed her fists and looked at the long blades on the knuckles of her Dragon Claw and Cloud pulled out his Buster Sword. They all looked at Karta, "Let's go." With those words the group ran forward. As soon as the doors opened, the scene that followed could only be described in one word: chaos.

Karta came in first and she was first one the guards saw. The first guard did not even get a chance to pull out his gun before her sword sliced across his stomach. Ignoring the gurgling breath he took, she spun and took down three more guards in one motion, all across the stomach. Before Naden or Barret could fire a shot, Karta had left four bodies on the floor like broken dolls. Tifa used the long blades on her Dragon Claw to her advantage. If was not slicing across a guard's face, she was rearranging his internal organs. Unfortunately for one guard, the last thing he saw was those long sharp blades as they sped for his face. Naden and Cloud quickly formed a team. Naden used the slow fire of his gun to his advantage by shooting the guns out of the guard's hands. Cloud would then come and shove his long blade into a stomach and slice down a face. Barret was used as a defense. First he used the rapid fire to take out any cameras that were hanging anywhere in the lobby. Then he would take out any potential threats to his comrades with a stream of deadly bullets. When the battle was over, the group of five had taken out nearly fifty men. Their bodies lay on the floor in bloody heaps like a scene from a war. Karta reached into the pocket of the nearest guard and pulled out a keycard.

"Keycard 60." She said, "Not good enough." She went over and a guard and found four more Keycards. Then she walked over to the nearest computer.

"What the hell are you doing now?" Tifa asked. Karta did not respond, she just typed in some numbers and passwords. After a minute she slid each Keycard through a slot. Then she reached in her pocket and pulled out a disk and put it in. She typed in a long password and the screen fuzzed away. She tossed each of them a Keycard and popped out her disk.

"...What did you do?" Naden asked.

"I hacked into the main frame and found their Keycard system. Then I just programmed this slot here to make any card I put in Keycard seventy. Each of your Keycards is unlimited which means we can go anywhere in the building. After that I put a temporary virus in the main frame just stir just some commotion. All I need to do is type in a password and the virus will be gone. The virus is the only one of it's kind because I made it, it's called Slow and Painful." She explained. "Let's go." And she went towards to elevator. The rest of the group stood with their mouths hanging open. She did all that within two minutes. Cloud smiled, the reason they liked her so much in SOLDIER was because of her amazing hacker capabilities. Her code name then was Luna, but there was always another hacker that was always one step behind her. They went by the name of Cortex and no one could every find him or her. Cloud jogged to catch up with the group. Karta slid her Keycard in a pushed the button for the sixty-first floor.

*~*~*~*~*

"Sounds like a hacker got into the main frame. " Reno said, "Judging by the way people are running and around and the lights are going on and off."

No reply came from Tseng.

"Not that I care or anything."

Silence.

"I hope the whole system crashes."

Silence.

"That would be so fucking tight!"

Silence.

"You're ignoring me, right?"

Silence.

"Asshole."

Silence.

"Alright be that way, I'll just talk to the voices in my head for a while!"

Silence.

"Damn you."

Silence.

"I give up."

*~*~*~*~*

The elevator came to a stop and the group stepped out. Naden looked around, he suddenly felt very uncomfortable, like eyes were watching his every move. Like they were waiting for him to screw up, but Naden knew he had never been to this building yet it felt so familiar, like he knew it, but then again he didn't. A million questions ran through his head, questions he knew that maybe would never be answered. Someone out there must have known him in some point in his life, but no names came into his head, just a blur. He looked around the room. Suits were walking around, talking about the latest gossip and drinking coffee. They didn't seem to care about the group, who they were or why they were there.

"Lounge floor? Why?" Cloud asked.

"Because this is the perfect place for us to split up. For us to go our separate ways…for good." Karta said.

"What?" Naden exclaimed.

"I came to Midgar for a reason, to accomplish a task. Now I'm going to complete it…alone." She replied. Tifa turned and glared at her, she clenched her fists and she began to shake in furry.

"Are you telling me you only stayed with us so you could get into the building without a scratch?" Tifa asked with anger in her voice.

"I came to Midgar alone and I'm leaving alone. When I'm done with my personal business I'm leaving without you." Karta replied. Before anyone could continue with the fight, she turned and walked back into the elevator. She slid her Keycard in the slot and turned and faced the group. She did not move and she did not flinch, she just watched them with her forest green eyes. Naden watched her and they made eye contact. The doors closed and she was gone. Tifa turned to the group and said through gritted teeth,

"There is something I need to do by myself. I'll see you around, but I'm not like that bitch, I won't ditch you, we'll meet up again." She ran past the group, through the door and up the stairs. Cloud, Naden and Barret all stood in a daze. Two comrades had left them without much of an explanation.

"What do we do now?" Barret asked.

"We start looking for Aerith." Cloud said sternly.

*~*~*~*~*

Rude worked as fast as he could to get the computer working again. He could feel his blood start to boil. The President was not happy and that made him very unhappy. Some smart-ass hacker had planted a virus and Rude could not break the code to stop it. The other employees were scared that it was the "hooded girl" coming to kill them all but Rude knew it was not. Here he was, sitting on the 66th floor while the rest of the building ran back to their homes. He flexed his fists. He thought about the pain Reno must have been in. When Rude first became a Turk, he had Professor Hojo perform an operation on his hand. He replaced all the bones in Rude's hand with metal ones. And Rude knew he could break a bone and or kill a man with them. Rude shook his head and started typing. If Rude had not been so on his toes he properly would have missed the conversation he overheard outside.

*~*~*~*~*

Tifa felt like her feet could fly, she was on level sixty-seven. So close but yet so far away. She thought. She stopped and looked around; the hallway was dull and boring. She took another deep breath and started running again. The walls and stairs became nothing, but a blur to Tifa's darting eyes. She passed level sixty-eight and walked onto the level sixty-nine. She leaned forward to catch her breath. She cleared her throat and marched forward. No one was in the building because they all thought that Karta was there to kill them all.

Oh how Tifa hated Karta. Just saying her name made her blood boil. She was Shinra and the Shinra were heartless. She did not care about anything or anyone but herself. Cloud at least showed the group that he had feelings, He's okay. She thought. The SOLDIER type were just as bad as the Turks, just ruthless killing machines. They do their jobs, whether it meant killing one or fifty innocent people, they do their jobs and nothing more.

She took a right and walked up the stairs. This was the moment where it would all end. The past could finally be forgotten and she could move, past the heartache and rage. She pushed open the door and he walked into the Presidents office. He turned and looked at her. She stepped forward and walked until she was standing before his desk, almost right in his face. He looked her over and heaved a sigh,

"I thought I told Heidegger to keep his whores in his office." He spat.

"I'll make you eat those words. You'll regret saying that President." Tifa snapped back.

"Oh really? …are you the 'dreaded hooded girl'?"

"No, but she's around, but now, let's get down to business."

"What business my dear?"

"I'm going to kill you."

"You will? How?"

"First, I will slice your body with deep cuts, so you'll begin bleeding to death from the beginning. Then, I'll cut off your tongue, nose and ears. After that, I'll dig out your eyes. Finally, I will send these blade into your stomach and rearrange your organs."

"Really, try me." Tifa accepted the challenge and started to walk forward, prepared to keep her promise, but she froze dead when she felt the cold barrel of a gun on the back of her head.

"Hands up." Reeve demanded. Tifa may have been mad, but she was not stupid, she complied and raised her hands. The President smiled.

"How will you kill me again?" he teased with his sick grin, "Reeve, take our guest to the holding cells. I'm sure there will be more, rat's always travel in packs."

*~*~*~*~*

"How are you Reno? I'm fine Bob thanks for asking. No problem, since Tseng's being an ass I figured you'd need someone to talk too. He can't help it." Reno said to someone that wasn't there.

"Shut the fuck up Reno." Tseng grumbled.

"Don't tell me to shut up!" he paused as if listening to some unknown voice, "Bob says to kiss his ass. Shove it!" Tseng heaved a sigh.

“What a hopeless person."

"I don't really hear voices, I just want you to talk to me."

"You're in denial. It's worse than I thought."

"Up yours."

*~*~*~*~*

"What exactly are we looking for?" Naden asked.

"Not a clue, this is my first time in this building. We need to find the research level." Cloud replied.

"What level are we on?" Barret asked.

"Sixty-six, it seems Karta's virus scared off most of the employees. I haven't seen anyone in over ninety minutes." Cloud replied. Naden really did not hear anything Cloud or Barret were saying. He had so many memories and people talking to him, telling him terrible things, people with no faces. His whole life seemed like a movie out of focus. Naden felt his eyes wander the room, taking in the detail and the strange beauty the entire building seemed to have. The rest of the group knew exactly why they were there and Naden could almost see the fire of hate burning within his comrades. This was something he couldn't understand yet. Maybe if he looked at the building hard enough, he could see the evil.

"Naden?" Cloud asked, Naden yanked his mind back into reality and looked at Cloud and Barret. "We thought we lost you there for a second." Naden shook his head and smiled,

"No, I think--"

"I think you all better raise your hands." A deep voice demanded cutting Naden off. The group turned to a now open door. There, with a gun aimed at Naden's head, stood a tall man. He had sunglasses on, bald head and an all too familiar blue suit. He removed his sunglasses and fixed his gaze on Naden. "Put you hands in the air…now."

"What if we don't?" Cloud challenged. The man fixed his eyes on Cloud now, but he never once moved the gun, he never flinched. He smiled,

"You're in SOLDIER, are you not?" he asked.

"Was." Cloud grumbled.

"So you think you can stop me? Do you think you could draw your blade fast enough? Do you even think you could kill me before I blow your friends brains out? Tell me…"

"Cloud."

"Alright, tell me Cloud, is it worth it?" Cloud didn't respond, he just fixed his Mako eyes on the Turk. After a moment of unconformable silence, the ring of a PHS sang out. The Turk moved his free hand to his pocket to get the phone without taking his eyes off the group or moving his gun hand. He pushed the talk button with his thumb and brought it up to his ear.

"Rude here." Cloud looked harder at the man, At least I know his name now. He thought. Rude listened for a moment and then he smiled. "Thanks." He hung up and smiled even wider. "It turns out one of your other comrade is waiting for you. Hands up and walk." Everyone let out a long, frustrated sigh and put their hands up. Rude let the smile melt off his face; this would upset the President even more.

*~*~*~*~*

Reno's head was hanging, he was somewhere between sleeping and passed out. Tseng let his head fall back and hit the metal wall with a thud. The holding cells were completely silent except for Reno's labored breathing. Tseng rubbed his temples trying to ease the pounding in his head. He knew it was from the gun that one of his former comrades had hit him with. Although the arrest had been made nearly three and half-hours ago, the pain was still there, and part of it came from Reno's blabbing to the "voices in his head" for an hour. He could not think of anyway out of the cell. Reno snorted and Tseng glanced at him.

"I wanna ride the pony." Reno mumbled. Tseng sighed and listened, no footsteps, nothing, but some frantic computer technicians. They were attempting to decode the virus. Tseng leaned back and closed his eyes and did not open them until he heard approaching footsteps.

"All right girly, into the cell." Demanded the familiar voice of Reeve. Tseng heard the cell door next to them open, the middle one. Footsteps entered and the door closed with a click. Reeve chuckled and kicked Reno and Tseng's door. He walked away still laughing. Tseng knocked on the wall quietly so the guard wouldn't hear.

"Hey, who's there?"

"No one that concerns the likes of you." A female voice grumbled. Tseng ignored the comment.

"What are you in for?" he asked.

"Breaking and entering this building, killing guards, and waltzing into the President's office, threatening to kill him in the most brutal way…you?" she replied.

"Framed for the murder of the President's son. I'm an ex-Turk and so is my half conscious partner here."

"Turk huh? Were you on the mission to kidnap, murder, burn a house and then drop the Sector 5 plate?"

"The Sector 5 plate was dropped? No, I bet I was here." He paused, "Did you say murder? How was this person or person's killed?"

"Sick Shinra bastard…why?"

"Because like serial killers, each Turk has their own signal or mark. Most of the time it's the way the person is killed and the position of the body. Where was the fatal wound and how was the body positioned?"

"Bullet to the back of the head, face down to the ground."

"How were the arms positioned?"

"From what my comrade says, in front of the head."

"Yup, just what I thought, Rude. That’s' the way he kills. He kills quick if it's someone he doesn't know, but if it's someone he knows he makes it as slow and as painful as possible. He's also the best god damned liar I've ever met."

"Why do you say that?"

"He's the one who suggested that Reno and I be the scapegoats for the murder of a klutz."

"What's your name Turk?"

"Tseng, you?"

"Tifa, and you said your partners name is Reno? He didn’t happen to get his ass kicked by the 'hooded girl' did he?"

"Yeah he did…why?"

"Her name is Karta and she's here. Where and why I really couldn't tell you."

"Just great."

"Don't worry, you seem okay, I don't think she'd kill you. Where are you stationed…like on death row, prison for life, what?"

"Death row put by Rude and if I know him and I know I do, it will be slow, long and painful."

"That sucks, are you mad at Shinra?"

"Yes, if I ever get out of here I'm taking this god damned company down."

"We could be really good allies Tseng. You’re nothing like I thought the Turks were like, you seemed to have things called feelings."

"Vise-versa, I never thought that rebels could be half intellectual. Maybe we could…" Footsteps started to approach, Tseng counted four people.

"Get moving, Gun arm and red get in the far cell and blondie get in the cell with the slut there." Came Rude's voice. It was at that moment Reno woke up. Two doors opened and shut and Tseng listened to the footsteps. Then his doors opened and in the doorway stood Rude. He grinned, "My little scapegoats, you will be put in the gas chamber tomorrow and do you want to know the best part?"

"Not really, but your not going to give a choice are you son of bitch, whore fucking, lying bastard, ass kissing, cock sucking asshole," Reno said loud enough for everyone else in the cells to hear. Rude's grin fell off his face and he walked over to Reno. He drew his foot back and kicked Reno in stomach. It winded him and he fell over. Rude leaned over and picked Reno up by his collar clear off his feet. He slammed him hard into the metal wall. Rude his other hand over Reno's throat and let go with his other hand, holding Reno against the wall by his throat. Reno's eyes went big and he started gasping for breath, but Rude kept a strong hold, nearly crushing Reno's windpipe. He got in Reno's face and said, "Insult me again and I'll beat you so every bone in your body is broken." He leaned back from Reno's face, by now his eyes were rolling back and he was turning blue. "Your deaths will be broadcasted nation wide so everyone will get to see you die." He dropped Reno to the ground and he fell with a loud thud. With another kick in the stomach Rude turned to leave ,but he turned one more time in the doorway and grinned, "Have a great nights sleep." He walked away with the door closing behind him. Reno gasped for breath and said in hoarse voice,

"Kiss my ass."

"You had that one coming." Tseng informed him. Reno turned and glared at Tseng with a look of sheer hate, fire burned in his eyes. Tseng had never seen Reno look like that.

"Two words: Fuck. Off."

Tseng could hear Tifa informing the new prisoners about him and Reno. Tseng soon learned that the guy in the cell with Tifa was an ex-SOLDIER named Cloud. In the far cell was a member of AVALANCHE and fellow comrade of Tifa's named Barret. And finally there was Naden and Tifa told him that Naden fell threw her ceiling and had lost his memory. Could that be…no way it couldn't be…could it? he thought. Cloud and Reno started laughing about their previous encounter. Tseng and Tifa discussed what Shinra had done wrong over the years. Although no one would show weakness, they all hoped Karta would not get captured.

*~*~*~*~*

"Sir, we may have a problem." Rude said.

"What may that be?" President Shinra asked.

"Rufus is alive."

"What?"

"Yes sir."

"Are you sure?"

"Very sure sir."

"Positive?"

"Positive, sir."

"How, he should be dead. No one could survive a fall like that, you said so yourself unless…Rude did you lie to me?"

"No, sir I would never lie to you."

"He should be dead."

"There is one thing I noticed thought. His new friends were calling him Naden and he had this far away, confused look in his eyes."

"Kid properly lost his memory when he fell."

"What should I do sir?"

"Kill three birds with one stone."

"I'm sorry sir, I'm not following."

"We'll get rid of my ex-Turks, what's left of AVALANCHE and my son. All killed at once and our problems will be over. Are there anymore?"

"Yes the hooded girl, her name is Karta."

"Well, we'll just leave her fate to science."

*~*~*~*~*

Karta kicked open the metal door and held her Rune Blade ready to kill. There was not a sound and Karta lowered her blade. She glanced around the room; a large sixty-eight was painted on the wall that was the level she was on. The room had lots of computers and books and papers where piled up to the point that they were nearly falling over. Each computer screen was fuzzy because of her virus. She slid her sword away and walked over to the nearest computer. She brought up a screen that let her type in a password that would stop the virus. Within a second every computer screen went clear. Karta chuckled; Shinra was not half as good as everyone thought. She began to explore old top-secret files left by Professor Hojo. There were so many files on so many specimens that you had to type in keyword to find one. She typed in A010 and up came a file. She was just about to start reading it went a gun clicked and a cold barrel pressed against the back of her neck.

"Well, well, well, who do we have here?" came a voice. Karta grinned,

"You know very well who I am." She replied. She started to turn around to face him, but the barrel was just pressed harder against her neck.

"Don't move, I will shoot."

"No you won't." ignoring the threat, she turned around and Karta and Professor Payne glared into each other eyes.

"Well this is a face I haven't seen in years." He said.

"I was personally hoping we would never meet again." Karta replied firmly.

"That's you…not me. I was hoping we’d run into each other again someday."

"Sure."

"Well, I guess I better get permission from the President for us to 'catch up'. Get walking." Karta raised her eyebrows, but never her hands. She turned and walked out of the room, she turned and walked down a hallway to the holding cells. "Get in the middle one, don't get too comfy, I'll be back soon." The door opened and she stepped inside. The door slammed and Professor Payne jogged away. Cloud and Tifa looked up at her and sighed.

"Well that's it, we're all caught." Tifa announced.

"What happened?" Cloud asked her. Karta didn't respond she just sat down and leaned against the wall with her head back.

"Cloud?" she said after a moment of silence.

"What is it Karta?"

"We're friends right?"

"Yes, we've always been."

"Promise me, no matter what happens if and when you get out of here, don't go looking for me."

"But why?" Karta did not answer; she just got lost in her own thoughts. She barely heard Tifa say,

"Did Mako bitch just show emotion?" A million things went through Karta's head, hundreds of questions and fears. The biggest question for her at that point was what would happen at this encounter? Footsteps came through the hall and the door opened. Payne was always a man of his word. Karta thought. A guard stood holding a slip of paper.

"Which one of you is Karta Jewel?" he asked.

"I am." She said standing up. Cloud looked around puzzled.

"Karta what…?" he started.

"I'll be fine." She said, but it was not very convincing. She walked out the door, the guard followed.

"Wait." Cloud called to him, "Where are you taking her?" The guard turned around and looked into Clouds eyes.

"Professor Payne want's to see a former specimen." He replied sternly. The door shut leaving everything thinking one thing: specimen?

Elena paced around the Turk lounge. She had been put in charge of keeping everyone or who was left in line. That was a pretty easy task since every other person in the whole damn building ran for his or her lives. Every person in the building had been evacuated when a secretary discovered the heap of soldiers, or what was left of them, in the lobby. Judging by the way that they were killed, the officials announced that it was the dreaded 'hooded girl' who had killed the Turks just days before. In a frantic panic, the people ran from the building, so fast and so scared that a proper evacuation wasn't needed, in fear that they would be next. The people in the this building are so dumb. If it really is the 'hooded girl' she seems to be one hell of a hacker so she could just tap into the main frame and get all the address. That is, if she was there to kill us all. She might not be, she might just want to piss a bunch of executives off and give the building a good scare but then again… Elena shook her head, only a few Turks remained and they looked like they were ready to bolt at any minute. Elena heaved a big sigh, she wished Tseng and Reno were there. They would not have run they would have fought with there all. They would have left the safety of locked doors and gone after the hooded girl themselves. Ever since the arrest, Elena had a feeling someone wasn't being honest. Maybe it was the look Reno have her when he held her by the shoulders, or maybe it was the look Tseng gave her when Reno hit the ground the gun was going for his own head. They looked so…confused and… Something nagged her, but she just could not put her finger on it…

*~*~*~*~*

Cold metal handcuffs slapped on Karta's wrist and the guard pushed her down the hallway. She could not believe what the guard said to her "comrades". I wonder what they'll think of me now? I wonder if Naden will still give me those weird looks or if Barret will even trust me again? And Tifa, I bet all of her questions were answered. She thought, What the hell was I thinking telling Cloud that 'I'll be fine'? Like hell I will. Don't be a moron Cloud, get the hell out of here and leave me behind. She took a left and saw a guard leading Aerith towards the holding cells. Her eyes went huge when she saw Karta tried to stop and say something, but the guard gave her violent shove to keep walking. Her hair was messy and her face was as a white as a ghost, but besides that she seemed in pretty good condition. Her green eyes had a hint of fear and horror in them and Karta had to smile. She knew that Aerith had seen and heard things that her young, virgin eyes and ears should not have seen and heard.

The guard gave Karta a shove and led her into a lab. It was the same she had been caught in, but there was something different about it. Sitting in the middle of the room was an operating table. It was metal, slick and freshly polished. A bright light hung from the ceiling and reflected off the table, it glowed and you couldn't look at it for a long time or your eyes would start to hurt. The guard yanked out Karta's Rune Blade and put it against the wall. He fidgeted and Karta grinned, The guard is scared of him…with good reason. She thought. "Um…sir?" the guard asked quietly. Whatever Professor Payne was doing he seemed oblivious to everything else around him. The guard straightened and cleared his throat. "Sir, I brought the girl like to you said." Professor Payne turned around; he was holding a cloth and a long slick blade. The guard gave a little squeak and Karta chuckled.

"Thank…you. You may remove the cuffs and leave." Professor Payne said in cold strict voice.

"But…I…" the guard stammered.

"She knows if she tries anything I'll personally take care of her friends in my own special way." He said eyeing Karta. She returned the cold stare. The guard undid the cuffs, saluted and left shutting the door behind him. Karta stood her ground not moving. Professor Payne put down the knife and looked up at Karta grinning. "I believe we have some catching up to do, Karta."

*~*~*~*~*

"I don't know what to think." Naden said, "What did he mean by a 'former specimen'?"

"I don't know, why don't you ask Mako boy here." Tifa said glaring at Cloud, "What do you know about this?" Cloud just started into nothing, deep in thought, he did not know a lot, but he knew something…but was it his place to tell them? He glanced around the room and listened to the breathing of his waiting comrades. He took in a deep and breath and looked at them.

"We need to get out of here. When we get out of Midgar, you can get the story from her mouth. Not mine." He replied.

"What are you suggesting?" Tseng asked form behind the other wall.

"That we escape, find Karta and get the hell out of Midgar." Cloud said sternly. Just then, footsteps made their way into the area. Everyone quieted down and listened.

"Get in there." The guard said the door to Cloud and Tifa's cells opened and a guard pushed Aerith inside. The door shut and he walked away. Cloud walked over and helped her to her feet.

"Are you all right?" he asked.

"That…that…that man is crazy! He kept looking at me and poking me with pins and needles and…and…and he kept mentions Karta and whenever he did, he go over and sharpen a knife! Or put some mixture in a shot. He's crazy!" she exclaimed.

"Who is?" Tifa asked.

"The new head of the Science Department." Reno grumbled, "Professor John Payne. He always talks about what a genius Hojo was, he's just as loony as Hojo was."

"What do you mean…'was'?" Cloud asked making his eyes narrow slits with suspicion.

"He disappeared, resigned and disappeared off the face of the earth." Reno replied. No one said anything; they all just thought and listened to the movement around the building.

"But…but…how do you plan on escaping Cloud?" Naden asked. Cloud sat back, thinking of a really good plan that could get them out of there. How could they get a key?

"Hey Tseng…what rank were you in the Turks?" Cloud asked.

"…pretty high...why?" he replied.

"You wouldn't happen to have one of those unlimited keys would you?"

"Um…no I never got one."

"Yeah, but I did." Came Reno's voice interrupting the conversation.

"You…you did?" Tseng asked in disbelief, "…how…?"

"Advantages of a misspent youth." Reno replied rolling his eyes. When all he got was confused looks, he sighed, "In other words, I had some spare time on my hands so I made an extra."

"Where…where is it?!" Tseng exclaimed.

"Yo chill man. I know where it is, its Rude office in some locked draw. The bastard caught me." he replied.

"Why the hell would you tell us now? It doesn't do us any good now." Tseng screamed gritting his fists.

"Whoa, chill out man! Jesus, you need to breathe or take a God damned vacation! Come on, this is me we're talking to me here! I never just make one of something, and Rude didn't think to check me for copies. For the head Turk, he sure is a dumb ass." Reno said pulling out a key from his pocket, "But there is one minor problem."

"What?" everyone asked,

"The lock is on the outside." Reno said pointing at the door.

"Great, now what?" Tifa said. She folded her arms and sat down pouting. Everyone sat for a moment trying to come up with a good idea. Suddenly, Naden spoke up.

"Guard hey guard! The Turks in the first cell came up with a plan of escape!" he shouted. Reno's head shot up.

"Why you…" he started.

"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing." Naden whispered back. The door opened and Reno and Tseng looked at the guard.

This is it, I'm dead. Reno thought but as soon as the thought passed through his head, he figured out Naden's plan. He stood up very slowly with his hands in the air.

"No one ever told me that I couldn't shoot you." The guard said raising his gun. Reno moved like lightning, running forward and slamming the guard into the metal wall. With a sickening crack the guard fell to the floor, blood coming out of his ears, nose and mouth. Tseng sat thunderstruck, but Reno grinned.

"Damn…that felt good." He thought cracking his fingers. He reached down and disarmed the guard of his semi-automatic and tossed it to Tseng. He caught it. "Let's go." Reno said. On the table sat a variety of weapons. A sword, shotguns, clips, gloves and his Night Stick. "My favorite weapon." He said shifting the rod on. Then he turned to the middle cell and put the key in the hole. The door opened and Reno saw his new comrades for the first time. He recognized all three. Cloud was the ex-SOLDIER that he met in the church with Aerith the Ancient. He also recognized Tifa from--

"Hey I know you." Tifa said pointing at Reno interrupting he thoughts. "You're in my bar in my bar every other day. My best customer. My God, you pay the rent." Tseng walked in the room, still a little pale. Her eyes went even bigger when she saw him. She pointed at him and said, "And…and you're the one who always drags or carries him out after a long night."

"Yeah, I guess I do." Tseng replied sticking his chest out.

"And I suppose that makes you special or something?" Tifa asked sarcastically. Tseng did not reply he just looked away.

"So, I suppose the black man with the gun arm is one of our comrades as well." Reno asked.

"Yeah, that's Barret." Tifa replied.

"Okay…I'll let them out." Reno said walking away. He turned and left and walked towards the other cell. He put his Night Stick on the ground and opened the door. He glanced around the room and as soon as he saw Barret he lunged for the other body of the room. He grabbed the other man of the room and dragged him outside the room. He slammed Naden against the wall and glared at him. "You sorry little bastard. Do you realize that if I--" Reno stopped in mid sentence, he just stared at Naden.

"Look I'm sorry that I didn't think this plan through too well. I guess that was a pretty dumb idea. Sorry…" Naden replied. Reno just stood with his mouth hanging open, Tseng came out of the cell. When he saw Naden, he dropped his gun. Reno dropped Naden and he backed up to Tseng.

"What's going on Tseng? He should be dead." Reno whispered.

"I don't know, he's acting really nice and caring. No Shinra is like that. He also changed his name and he looks really confused. He also doesn't recognize us." Tseng whispered back. They continued to stare at Naden.

"What are you guys looking at?" Cloud said as he walked out of the cell.

"Nothing." Reno replied, "nothing at all." He looked at Naden, "have we met before?"

"Quite honestly Reno, we could be brothers and I couldn't know. I fell through Tifa's roof and hit my head. Lost my memory. I think I lived on the plate and tried to commit suicide." Naden replied.

"Oh, I see. Yeah, I think I've seen you around the plate before." Reno replied. Everyone piled out of the cells and gathered up their weapons. Reno walked over and picked up his Night Stick. Tseng walked up to him.

"Why did you lie to the Vice-President?" he asked in a low voice.

"Because if we become friends with Naden, we'll we clear when he gets his memory back. Besides, it's our duty to protect him." Reno replied. They all came together, weapons drawn and ready to go. They all looked at each other and moved out. They crept along the hallway, weapons raised. Without warning, a group of 3^rd class SOLDIERS came running around the corner, their leader Rude.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here? Tseng and Reno teaming up with AVALANCHE? Well who would have thought? Wait, what am I thinking, I already told everyone that you were part of AVALANCHE, and look what happens. You teams up with them, I guess when you're sitting on death row you don't think straight. Not that you ever did Reno." Rude said in a cold voice, "SOLDIERS, take out everyone, but the Turks, that's my job."

"You guys, we're in a bad spot, we have no room to move around." Naden said.

"Going down?" Reno asked. They moved fast and used their weapons to break the floor. Within a second, the floor gave away and they all were sent plummeting to the floor below.

"Ow, well it worked. Now we have room to move around." Tifa said siting up and rubbing her head.

"But we're also that much farther away from Karta." Reno pointed out.

"We need to deal with these guys and get her out before Payne can try anything ugly." Cloud said. "Reno and I will head back up to get her out, can you guys handle them?"

"No problem." They all said in one way or another.

"One little piece of advice, SOLDIERS are nothing without their swords. Remember that." Cloud said.

"Be careful you guys and watch out for Rude's fists…ouch." Reno said. They both turn and ran for the fire escape. They all got around in a circle with their backs facing each other and waited for the SOLDIERS while Aerith hid in a corner.

"Hey Tseng, what did Reno mean by 'watch out for Rude's fists'?" Tifa asked.

"Rude had the bones in his hands replaced by metal ones. They are strong enough to kill a man." Tseng replied. They had no more time to talk the group of twenty SOLDEIRS and Rude came out through the elevator. There was no time to prepare, just another bloody battle.

Rude stood in the back, as if waited for someone to fall or for all of the SOLDIERS to die. Tifa used the same strategy as last time only a little different. Using her Dragon Claw, she slashed across stomachs and faces of the SOLDIERS, but would also use the sharp blades to take off fingers or even hands of someone's face or stomach. Then, unfortunately for those people, they would have a close encounter with her blades…in their faces. Naden shot at hands and wrists for his targets, they he would hit the tops of their heads with the barrel of his gun. With cracks and blood, they would fall to the ground, with their eyes rolled back. Tseng used his quick reflexes to his advantage, he never went for hands, legs for even stomachs, and he used the semi-automatic to put led into their heads. He also never put just one bullet, but at least five. Barret got in front of Aerith and shot off any person that got within firing range. All the while, Aerith was screaming and the ring made everyone squint in pain. When the last body fell, they all looked at Rude. He did not look scared or even surprised, if anything, he looked amused. He brought his hands up and started clapping. The claps rang throughout the room; no one moved a muscle.

"I must say I am impressed. I just wished I could have seen Karta or Cloud or Reno fight. Now that would be even better. Since their not here, they must be loose in the building or dead. Either way, I have to go protect the President." Rude said back into the elevator.

"Backing away form a fight Rude?" Tseng asked.

"Oh no Tseng, you and Reno and I will battle it out someday. Just not now, I want Reno to be here so I can pound that face of his in." Rude replied and the doors shut. Tseng let his gun fall and only word could describe the feelings he felt: damn, damn it all to hell.

*~*~*~*~*

Rude leaned against the wall of the elevator door deep in thought. AVALANCHE is better than I thought. They took out twenty 3^rd class SOLDIERS and no one even broke into a sweat. Rude thought. The doors opened and he walked out. The place was completely abandoned, only a few brave secretaries roamed around, looking over their shoulders every now and then. Rude turned and walked up the stairs to the Presidents office, he opened the door. He heard a gun click and he put his hands up. "It's just me sir." He said. Reeve put the gun down and the President came out from under his desk.

"Ah, it's just you Rude, you gave me quite a scare." President Shinra said.

"I'm sorry sir, I won't do it again." Rude said, "But I have a update on the situation."

"Go ahead."

"AVALANCHE took out twenty 3^rd class SOLDIERS and they didn't even break into a sweat. I think we may have underestimated them."

"I see, that's not good. You may leave; you leave as well you Reeve. I wish to have some time alone."

"How will we guard you sir?" Reeve asked.

"Outside the door of course." The President replied. Rude and Reeve left the room and the President leaned back. He pushed a button on his desk and a cage opened and out walked a red lion creature. The President smiled,

"Hi there Red." He said.

"I told you, my name is Nanaki." Nanaki said firmly.

"I will call you whatever I want and you will like it." Nanaki felt his ears start to burn with anger. He lost his patience with the President; he ran forward and bit the President on the hand as hard as he could.

"Shit! Get out away from me, get out of here." President Shinra screamed. Nanaki ran the office and out of the building. He wondered the slums for a little while until he found the door that led outside Midgar.

"I will find my way home if it's the last thing I ever do." Nanaki said with sheer determination in his voice. He started to walked off into the hills…

*~*~*~*~*

Karta stood in the middle of the lab. Her weapon was near by but she could not get it, it was too far away and yet it was so close. Neither her nor Professor Payne had said a word for a good hour and a half. This was not all too surprising to either of them considering neither of them were very high on each other's 'favorite person list'. Karta stood her ground watching Payne's every move and he would glance over his shoulder to make sure she wasn't trying anything. Another thirty minutes went by in complete silence. Finally, Professor Payne turned around, holding a shot in his right hand.

"Do you remember the old days, Karta?" he asked tossing the shot in his hands.

"How could I forget? They only take up about half of my life." She replied.

"Let's see…how old were you when we first met…?"

"Eleven."

"That's right, so I would have been…twenty-one, correct?"

"Yes, you always did enjoy a good drink."

"How long has it been since we last met?"

"Two months."

"Oh how time flies. Has it been that long already?"

"Yes…"

"Well then…we're very far behind schedule aren't we?"

Karta did not respond.

"Well then…we better get on task…shouldn’t we?" He started to walk towards he her, but Karta held up a hand in protest.

"No, we shouldn’t." she said sternly.

"Why?" he asked, stopped in mid step.

"Because, I've had enough."

"Do you remember what we used to do to you? The mixture we used?"

"Yes…it was a Jenova / Mako mix."

"And what would happen to you after we injected it into you?"

"I would go into 'State of Mind' as you called it."

"Yes…I wish to see it again." This time, Professor Payne did not walk but bolted towards her, but she was too quick for him. She grabbed his hand and threw him too the ground. He landed with a thud on his back. She brought a foot back to kick him in the head, but he rolled away and grabbed her ankle and pulled her to the floor. He picked up the shot to inject it in, but Karta kicked it out of his hand. He was so surprised by how fast she was that he did not have time to react, nor did he have time to stop her from grabbing his collar and yanking him to his feet. Karta pulled back and punched Payne in he face, his collar ripped and he stumbled backwards. She came up to him and kicked him in the stomach and then punched his face again. She picked him up by his shirt and looked him in the eye.

"It's my turn to inflict pain." She said coldly. She gathered all her strength and punched him in the face. He fell backward unconscious. She turned her back to him and walked towards the door. She never bothered to look over her shoulder and she never saw him move until he was running for her as silent as a cat. She never knew until he raised the needle in the air and stabbed it into her shoulder blade. A little stream of blood fell out as Professor Payne pushed the mixture into her body. Karta gritted her teeth: it hurt like hell.

*~*~*~*~*

"Where exactly are we going?" Reno asked.

"To the main lab I guess…I brought you along so you could show me where to go." Cloud replied.

"Hey I was only a Turk, I had no business on this level…I never wanted to go up here anyway. Too creepy for my taste." Reno replied. Cloud felt something go wrong in the pit of his stomach. He started to pick up the pace. Reno noticed and he started to as well. "Hey Cloud, what with the pick up?"

"Something's not right, I can feel it." Cloud replied and he started running up the stairs, Reno close behind.

*~*~*~*~*

Karta gasped for breath, it felt like someone was trying to pull her windpipe out of her throat. Her face was wet with sweat and it dripped off the bridge of her nose. She felt her body start to shake and the world started to fuzz over. Professor Payne held the needle in place, his nose was bleeding and a stream of blood came from his mouth. It all fell on Karta black clothes. He smirked, Now I have her within my grasp. He thought. He grinned even bigger and started to laugh. Suddenly, the door flew open and Reno and Cloud came running in. Payne froze and he was so surprised he didn't have time to block Reno's Night Stick before it smacked his head. Payne fell to the ground with a loud thump. Karta looked up and saw Cloud looking back at her.

"Karta? Karta, are you all right?" he asked.

"Cloud…? I thought…I told you…to get out of…here." Karta struggled to say, although she could barely breathe let alone talk.

"You're my friend…I would never abandon you." Cloud replied.

"Come on you guys, Payne won't be out forever." Reno said. Karta gave him a strange look.

"He's our ally now, I'm explain later." Cloud said, "Well…you can barely talk so I take you can't walk either. Okay, put one arm over my shoulder and another around Reno's, we'll take the fire escape."

"Cloud…you…you don't…" Karta tried to protest but neither of them were listening. They already were dragging her down the stairs. They…don't…understand… Karta thought but her thought were interrupted by the world spinning, her body going limp and darkness overcoming her.

"She went limp, she's passed out." Reno said.

"We need to get out of here, we'll ask her some questions when she wakes up." Cloud said. He saw her sword leaning against the wall, "And grab that." He said pointing at the sword.

"How will we know if she wakes up?"

"When you're passed out, the body is completely relaxed, when she wakes up, her body will tense up and we'll feel it." Cloud replied.

"Oh…" Reno said his voice trailing off. "Let's get moving." They picked up the pace going down the flights of stairs.

*~*~*~*~*

"That wasn't so hard." Naden said twirling his gun in his hands. Tseng did not reply he just stared at the elevator door. "You want to get even with Rude, don't you?"

"Yes…I do." Tseng replied. Aerith walked over and put a hand on his shoulder, Tseng turned his head and looked at her.

"You will, I know you will." She said. Tseng smiled at her. He stuck his chest out again and turned to the group and said,

"They will properly take the fire escape, so we'll meet them down there."

"How?" Naden asked. Tseng turned to him and smiled,

"How do you think, we'll take elevator." Tseng replied. The group grinned and walked into the elevator.

*~*~*~*~*

"Ah shit! Damn man, this is going to be my exercise for the next fucking year." Reno said breathlessly. "Is she still out cold?" Cloud looked at Karta.

"Yes, but we're almost there, I can hear the cars on the street below." Cloud replied. Reno and Cloud continued down the stairs in silence, both secretly worried why Karta was unconscious for so long. Both so deep in their own thoughts, they did not see Karta's eye open, mainly because her body stayed relaxed. They also did not see that her eyes were no longer blue or green, but entirely black.

Karta moved like lightning, she wrapped her hands on Reno and Cloud's shoulders and slammed them into opposite walls with inhuman strength. Her eyes glowed with an eerie black and her voice didn't sound like her own.

"Get…the…hell…away…from…me! " she screamed, her voice shrill and almost inhumanly cold. She held them against the walls glaring at each of them. Before either of them could say anything, Karta snatched her sword from Reno and bolted down the stairs in a blur of speed. Reno and Cloud sat thunderstruck and before they finally managed to get up and run down after her.

"Shit man, what happened to her?" Reno asked. Cloud did not reply he just kept running after her.

When they got there, they met up with the rest of the group and no one could believe what they saw.

Karta was killing any person that got within range in the most brutal of ways. No guard or Turk or SOLDIER fell to the ground dead without a limb missing, if it wasn't an arm or leg…it was a head. Her eyes still glowed with that black tint and when nearly 100 guards or Turks or SOLDIERS lay dead, everyone else got the sense to stay away from her. She turned to the group, blood was smeared on her hands and face and blood dripped from her sword. She then turned her back to them again and started to shake. She dropped her sword and fell to her knees. She covered her head and shook violently, Cloud made his way slowly towards her, but stopped when she moved. She opened her eyes again and this time they were completely white, no pupil, nothing. She stood up and threw her arms into the air and screamed at the sky,

"Come to me, my children!" She then fell to the ground, her eyes shut tight. Cloud walked up to her and looked at her. Her face had the emotion of pain and sweat broke out all over again. She wrapped her arms around herself and started screaming in complete agony. Only this was her voice and Cloud knew something was not right inside her. The agonizing screaming went on for about three more minutes when it stopped and she was out cold again. Cloud looked at her, he lifted up her eyes and looked at them, they were blue again. He signaled everyone to come over, they all stared at her, and millions of questions filled their heads.

"Well…who volunteers to carry her first?" Cloud asked.

"I will." Naden said quickly, too quickly. He kneeled down and gingerly picked Karta up. Everyone nodded and they started on their way back to the slums.

"What the closest town Cloud?" Tifa asked.

"Kalm, we're going there. It's not safe in Midgar anymore." Cloud replied. They all moved in silence, taking the elevator down to the slums and going out the side door using the keycard. Before they knew it, they were all on their way to the small town of Kalm.

*~*~*~*~*

Professor Payne opened his eyes his head was pounding. He pushed himself to his feet and looked out the window. On the ground was a mess of human remains, blood everywhere. He could only guess that Karta had done all that.

"You can run Karta, but I'll find you again. And if it isn't me…then 'he' will." Professor Payne said to no one. He then started laughing, the hysteria filling the entire Shinra building.

"…how much longer will this take…?"

"…I don't know sir…"

"…well, you better get on your toes…"

"…I will sir, you can count on me…."

"…she isn't responding…why…?"

"…the mixture isn't strong enough…"

"…how is that possible…it's the highest we've ever used…"

"…sir…it's double what we normally use…"

"…shit, we are in over our heads…she's too strong…"

"…what should we do sir…?"

"…………break her…today…"

Karta felt a knife slice into her stomach and the pain was unbearable. Her eyes popped open and she saw two greasy faces staring back at her…she screamed.

*~*~*~*~*

Karta sat up very suddenly…but there were no greasy faces and no blinding white light, just the fresh morning sun as it poured in the Inn window. Aerith came over and put an arm around her shoulder. Karta turned around and glared at the girl and then she relaxed. Aerith looked almost nervous around Karta, as if she could kill her without even trying. "Are you okay Karta?" she asked, her voice quiet and shaking. Karta looked around the room, not responding. She knew this room and it made her heart sink. She turned to Aerith and said,

"Where are we?"

"…the Inn in Kalm." Aerith replied. Karta looked around the room again, the reality of where she was made her blood run cold and her heart started beating faster. Aerith took a deep breath and said quietly, "Everyone is waiting outside for you…Cloud's waiting to tell us something, but he wanted you to be there."

"What…?" Karta asked in disbelief.

"He wants to tell us something…" she paused, "I have no idea what he wants to say." Karta looked straight ahead, trying to listen to Aerith, but she could not. Her mind kept wondering to what Cloud could possibly say. What did he want to say to them and did she have to be there? Emotional support maybe…? Tsh, yeah right, like that will happen. She turned to Aerith and watched as the girl talked on and on, she was at peace although she had barely escaped who knows what kind of hell? How could she keep that smile on her face even though she lost her mother…or the only mother she ever knew. Karta sighed and jumped out of bed and looked down at her clothes, they were crusty with blood and her hands were stained with blood. Aerith made a little gleep and said quietly, "Why don't you go wash up? We have your pouch and we washed your cloths. You can change out of those…dirty cloths and meet us in the living room. Um…yeah." She turned and left Karta standing in the middle of the room. She did not need to know the details of what must have happened at the Shinra building but now judging by her clothes…it was worse than she thought. She just prayed she didn't hurt any of her comrades. She walked slowly to the bathroom, taking her first real shower in months.

*~*~*~*~*

When Aerith walked out of Karta’s room ashen and eyes wide, Cloud could only guess that Karta was awake. This was of course because of the expression the Aerith wore; she looked afraid and worried at the same time. He waited a moment for Karta to follow, but when he heard the shower in the bathroom running he remembered her clothes and body. All that blood…he was still pretty baffled by the gore that covered her body, the way it seemed to be everywhere…Cloud shook off the feeling and the group continued to wait patiently.

Reno hated waiting, it was the worst part of life. No matter what you did you always had to wait. People were always saying to him "Can you wait one minute?" or "The wait will only be a minute sir would you like a sandwich?" Well you know what I say to those people? Shove that sandwich up your ass! Reno thought folding his arms and sighing. No one else seemed to be too annoyed with the fact that they had been waiting for the past two days. Yes, two days since they arrived in Kalm with pale faces, exhausted bodies and sore feet. On top of that the people of the town gave them all very strange looks, glancing at Naden the most, but no one knew why. They would point and stare and whisper, while glancing at them with wide eyes. Reno could not figure out why, but the door opening interrupted his thoughts.

Karta stepped out looking refreshed. Her short red hair was wet and combed back and her face and hands were a fleshy pink not the blood red that they were. She had washed the blood from her black boots and her belt. She also had changed her clothes; she now wore a pair of very baggy black jeans, a red tank top covered by a black jean vest. Everyone stared, as if they were ready to pull their weapons on her, but she could only laugh behind her stern face, Look at them, so paranoid. She thought.

She sat down and looked at Cloud, and he stared back. "Are you going to tell them or not?" she asked, her voice horse and deep. Everyone looked at her with strange looks, but she just returned them with an icy glare that said, "Shut up." Cloud took a deep breath and looked at her with a hint of worry in his eyes. "Go." She said firmly.

"Where should I start?" he asked. She made her eyes thin slits and glared at him with fire in her deep green eyes.

"Where ever you want, just tell the damn story and get on with it." He sighed, obviously reluctant to tell his story.

"It started five years ago. I was sixteen and just recruited SOLDIER 1^st Class, and eager to get out into the battlefield. I wanted to get assigned to a job with General Sephiroth. I admired the man and I wanted to be just like him. I went on one or two missions with him and we became, I guess what you could call "working friends". We were given a new assignment to the small town of Nibelheim. Ironically Nibelheim was my hometown and it was very strange to be there again. I left when I was young to find work and I hadn't been back since. The other weird part was the fact that we were investigating monster sightings. Well, about four days before we left we were given a new recruit. She was a SOLDIER 3^rd Class and a computer genius. She was also only fourteen, one of the youngest SOLDIERS to go on a mission with General Sephiroth. Her name is Karta Jewel." Cloud said, giving Karta a small smile.

"Wait a minute! Karta, you were with Cloud on this mission?" Reno asked. She did not say anything to him she just nodded.

"She was young and very strong for her age back then, not very outgoing, but not very timid, and needless to say, we became very good friends. We trusted each other more than we trusted our leader, but that didn't happen until we left for Nibelheim a few days later."

*~*~*~*~*

The car rolled along the mountainside causing the passengers to bump and slide into each other. The new SOLDIER, Karta Jewel looked very uncomfortable bumping into those guards and they kept giving her stupid grins under their garb, but she kept a straight face and chose to ignore it. Cloud titled his head and looked at her; she was only fourteen with bright red hair and pretty green eyes that had a Mako glow to them. Those green eyes seemed so familiar to him, though he did not know why. He had only heard rumors about the girl, but what he did know that she was a computer specialist and could hack into any computer in under a minute. General Sephiroth watched her as well not with interest, but as if was checking her for flaws. After hours of bumping into each other, the car finally came to a stop.

Sephiroth was the first to step out followed by Cloud, Karta and the two guards. The town was small and it looked deserted; the people were too afraid to come out because of the monsters. Sephiroth took a deep a breath of the fresh mountain air. Cloud just felt his eyes hit the ground, this was too weird for him. He glanced at Karta; she stood firmly and looked around the town her eyes thin slits. She reached behind her back and pulled out her blade, eyes jumping from side to side. "Something's coming…" she said very quietly. The guards starting laughing.

"Oh boy. This one's insane. We just ran a search around the area, there is nothing for miles." He paused, "Moron…" Sephiroth looked around, pulling his sword out and lowering his voice

"She's right, something is coming…" Cloud looked at him, while pulling his Buster Sword out just so he didn't look bad. He didn't feel anything coming. The guards started to laugh again, saying things about how crazy the SOLDIER type were. They didn't even notice the huge dragon as it crept up behind them, nor did they see it raise its mouth and take in air. It wasn't until the dragon was about to blow the fire that they saw it. They froze, unable to move or say anything, they closed their eyes, ready for the impact of the flame, but it never came. The dragon had its eye on something else. Sephiroth, Cloud and Karta stood behind the guards with raised weapons. With a loud roar, the dragon used its huge claw to shove the two guards halfway across the town. The creature seemed to smile as the three SOLDIERS got into fighting stances.

With green eyes flashing, Sephiroth was the first to fly forward to attack, the sun reflecting off Masamune, blinding the guards who sat some 100 feet away. The sword sliced down the dragon's stomach, but it seemed unaffected. Karta ran forward next, her great sword: The Nova glowed with an eerie light. The sword was about as long as Sephiroth's Masamune and as fat as Cloud's Buster sword, only a little smaller on both. The blade was painted black except for a thin line of red paint where the sharp part of the blade was. On the top was a picture of a star exploding; that's where the name Nova came from. The sword was a piece of art because it was as light as a fencing sword.

While the giant beast was distracted by Sephiroth's blow, Karta ran around the back of the creature, and raising her blade high into the air, she sliced off the dragon's giant tail. The creature let out a painful roar and as soon as it did that, Sephiroth, Cloud and Karta all ran forward at the same time and sent their giant blades into the dragon's flesh. With those final blows, the creature screamed one last time before it fell to the ground, shaking the houses in Nibelheim. People opened their window's and doors to see what the commotion was about, what they saw were three SOLDIER'S yanking their blades out of a giant dragon. With fear in their eyes, the town's people shut and locked their doors, afraid of those three frightening people.

Sephiroth shoved his Masamune back into its sheath and sighed; he had not even broken a sweat. Cloud made a face at the slime that covered his Buster Sword but chose to ignore it. He glanced at Karta, her sword had nothing on it, but he saw it in go into the dragon. How was that possible? Without a second thought, Cloud walked over to Sephiroth and waited for further instructions. Within seconds, Karta joined then and then was followed by the two shaken guards. They never said a word to anyone.

"We will go up to the Mt. Nibel reactor tomorrow, we should get some rest first. We already have a room reserved in the Inn; we should rest now so we have plenty of energy for tomorrow." He turned to Cloud, "But you may visit your family first, just don't take a long time." Cloud nodded and wandered off. Sephiroth watched him walk into a small house across the street and to the left of the Inn. He then looked at Karta; she was watching Cloud as well, her arms folded and no expression on her face what so ever. "Where are you from Jewel?" Sephiroth asked. She turned to him and looked him straight in the eye.

"I would rather not say." She replied firmly. Sephiroth shrugged it off and walked into the Inn followed by Karta. Just before she went in, she turned to the guards. "You two better watch your backs, I'm watching you. Stand guard." The two guards were about to say something when Sephiroth nodded in the background. The guards gulped and saluted. Cloud watched Karta walk into the Inn; that far away look in her eyes, that look of pain behind a military face, he wanted to know why, but he did not want to ask. Cloud glanced at his house, he debated whether or not to see his mom or to just stick to work. Cloud shrugged it off and headed for his house very slowly. Cloud knocked very lightly on the door and waited for an answer. Silence followed and no footsteps came to the door. There was just silence, no familiar voice telling him to wait, just silence. Cloud made a face and knocked harder on the door hearing the echo of an empty house. Taking a deep breath, Cloud pushed the door open and stuck his head inside.

"Mom? Mom, are you here?" Cloud called out, but only his echo answered him. He pushed the door open and stepped inside, the furniture that he had grown up with was still there, but the house was an eerie quiet. Nothing moved and nothing stirred, just a dead silence that made a lump grow in Cloud's throat. No one came to greet him; the house was there, but no one was around. Cloud glanced around again and he didn't even hear the elderly woman walk up to him. He did not even feel her presence until she laid a hand on his shoulder. Cloud panicked and put his reflects to use, he spun around and grabbed her wrist, glaring into her surprised eyes. It was Mrs. Ness, his mother's best friend, neighbor and the owner of the Item shop. She gave him a forced smile and Cloud released her wrist.

"Hello Cloud, I knew you would come back one day, but…" she paused folding her hands in front her and looking at the floor. "But…now that you're back…I have to be the barer of bad news. I really wish I wouldn't have to be the one to tell you.

"What's happened?" Cloud asked. Mrs. Ness put a hand on his shoulder and sighed. This seemed like just thinking about it was really hard on her. Cloud felt his stomach start to turn and he was not sure if he could keep his lunch down now. This was not just going to be bad, this was to going to be really bad.

"Cloud…your mother…died. She died nearly a year ago…of cancer. News, I guess, hasn't reached you yet. I'm so sorry Cloud, I know she meant the world to you and you're so young to lose so much. First your Dad and now your Mom. Your Mom was my best friend in the world and it felt like my world came crashing down when she died. I can't even imagine what you're going through. She loved you right up until the end; right up until her death she would never stop talking about you." Mrs. Ness paused and looked at Cloud, "You can visit her grave in town if you want…and…I really think you should." Cloud stood in a daze unable to comprehend anything that Mrs. Ness was saying. He vaguely heard her talking about his mother's last moments. She was still talking when he brushed past her and headed for the town cemetery. She did not stop him. Cloud felt like he was walking through a fog, he was moving without knowing where he was going or if he said anything to anyone. Before he knew it, he was standing in the cemetery in front of his mother's grave. He read her name over and over, and then he closed his eyes and pictured her face in his head. Cloud brought himself back and leaned down and picked a wildflower. He smelled it and set the flower on top of the tomb stone.

"I'm sorry." Came a voice from behind him. Cloud turned and saw Karta standing a few feet away from him. She walked up to the stone and looked at it. She stared for a moment and then she got down on one knee and ran her fingers along the words, as if taking them in. She stood up again and stared straight ahead. "You never got to say goodbye…did you?' she asked. Cloud turned and looked at, Why do you care? he thought. She then turned and stared back. Their eyes locked for a moment and her deep green eyes flashed. Cloud looked away and shuck his head,

"No…I didn't." he replied. Karta nodded again and started to walk away from him. As she walked away, Cloud could hear her say to none

"Been there, done that."

*~*~*~*~*

Cloud sat up in the Inn in Niblelheim early the next morning knowing that they were going up the mountain later that day, but it was early and they were not due to go up the mountain until later that evening; he had a day to kill doing nothing. Cloud sighed; he had no one to hang out with. Sephiroth was not the kind of person you would sit down and have a conversation with. And besides, ever since they had gotten there he had been acting really strange, just staring into the space. Ever since the dragon thing, the two guards did their best to keep their distance from the three SOLDIER'S. But what about Karta? he thought, She seems nice enough, just hiding something. Cloud thought. He smiled to himself and threw his legs over the bed. Cloud pulled on his boots, grabbed his sword and went out of the room. First he checked Karta's room, but she was not there. Cloud sighed and headed down the stairs and out the door. People were outside today, moving around and talking. They seemed to be whispering about something that Cloud was not supposed to hear. He looked over and saw Mrs. Ness and jogged up to her.

"Good morning Mrs. Ness. Tell me, what is everyone talking about?" he asked as nice as he could.

"One of your comrades, the girl with fire red hair, went into the Shinra Mansion and hasn't come out yet. People are talking Cloud, some say they saw her out last night killing monsters and other's say she was just practicing. They are all afraid of her…and General Sephiroth…and you." Cloud's head shot up and looked at all the people outside; they were staring at him. Their eyes were dark and full of fear; Cloud could not believe what was happening to him. They were supposed to be the good guys and now they were the one's that everyone feared. These were the people he had grown up with and now they look ready to kill him if he tried anything funny.

"I…I have to go." Cloud said too quickly and brushed by the rest of the villagers, heading for the Shinra Mansion. The old building was dark and dripped with grime, in serious need of a paint job and a job on everything else on the house. Cloud walked through the door and looked around the main room. "Karta…? Karta are you in here?" Cloud called out. He heard something moving around up stairs and he saw Karta run by the balcony, completely ignoring him. Cloud pushed the door open and dashed up the stairs after her. He followed her down the hall and into a bedroom, but it was there that he lost her. There was no where to go and there were no windows. All the windows had so much dust that if she had gone out the window there would be some evidence of that. Cloud looked around the room until he came to the far corner; it looked like a door was in the wall and there were hand smears among the dust. Cloud pushed the wall and a door opened revealing a winding hall down into the basement. Cloud bolted down them as he heard someone moving down there. Cloud did not have a clue what the hell was going on, but whatever it was it could not be good. As Cloud rounded the corner he came to a dark hallway lined with bones and skulls. Making a face, he started down until he saw Karta standing in the middle of the hall; looking at some paper and then at the wall. Cloud jogged up to her and heaved a sigh of relief.

"Karta, Jesus, what are you doing down here?" Cloud asked breathlessly. Karta just looked up from her reading and gave him an icy glare and went back to reading. It seemed to be some kind of paperwork in a file folder. The label had been smeared away and Cloud didn't know what she was looking at. She sighed and slammed the file folder shut; Karta then tucked the folder into her jacket and looked at the wall.

"It has to be around here somewhere…" she said, silently running her hand along the wall. Nothing fell from the rocky wall except at one spot. Karta froze and stared at the spot and pulled out a pair of gloves; putting them on, she started to brush away the rock reveling an old wooden door. She grinned and tried to turn the knob, but it was locked. She tried harder, but the lock wouldn't budge. Karta made a face of frustration and pain as she kicked the wood door as hard as she could…not even a chip fell off. Karta sighed and brushed past Cloud and started up the winding ramp. Cloud looked at the door and jogged to catch up with her. They walked in silence all the way up the ramp and out of the Mansion; with looks from villagers they wondered onto the outskirts of town. When Karta finally sat down in some grass Cloud decided to join her. They sat next to each other for a moment in dead silence just listening to the distant roar of some great beats on top of the mountain.

“So…Karta, what were you doing down there?” Cloud asked trying pick up a conversation. Karta didn’t seem too interested in talking but replied anyway,

“Trying to help I friend that I don’t know.” She said, as she turned at looked at Cloud. Cloud raised his eyebrows and looked at her with a strange look. Karta waved the subject off and that was that. There was another moment of silence until Karta finally said something.

“This is your hometown right?” she asked.

“Yeah, but it doesn’t feel like it anymore. All of the villagers are scared of us…after the whole dragon thing.” Cloud replied.

“And after they saw me killing monsters this morning right?” Cloud looked at her and gave her a surprised look.

“How did you know?”

“I may be young, but I’m not stupid; I hear what people say and I saw them watching me that morning. I’ve stopped caring what people think because, I guess you could say, I have a strong will and it’s something that rumors and uttered curses behind my back cannot break.”

“You’re lucky that you feel that way; I sure wish I did.”

“You can if you want to.”

“No not me.” There was a moment of silence that made both of them feel very uncomfortable.

“Why did you join SOLDIER, Cloud?” Cloud thought about it for a moment, he had been debating with that question for a long time as well.

“I guess I wanted to be like Sephiroth, and to prove to everyone that ever picked on me when I was a kid, that I was strong.” Karta nodded and Cloud looked at her, “What about you?”

“I’m running.”

“What do you mean?” Karta never answered the question, and they just sat there for a while listening to the roars that echoed around them and that filled the canyon with a sick reality.

*~*~*~*~*

The guards came looking for them not long after, telling them that it was time to head up the mountain. Karta and Cloud complied and went back to the town to meet up with Sephiroth. Although they were late, Sephiroth waved it off as if it was no big deal. Cloud secretly said thanks because a mad Sephiroth was not a good thing.

“Are you two ready?” Sephiroth asked.

“Yes sir.” Cloud said in his best military voice. Sephiroth nodded and looked at Karta expecting an answer.

“I’ve been ready since we got here. I’ve been waiting for you.” She said in a matter of fact tone. Cloud and the two guards looked at her in disbelief, no one had ever shown disrespect to General Sephiroth before. Cloud bit his lower lip and looked at Sephiroth for a reaction, he shook his head, and this was going to be bad, but Sephiroth surprised everyone by smiling and putting a hand on Karta's shoulder.

“Finally, someone with some ambition and a need to show disrespect. I am impressed Je…Karta. You belong in SOLDIER.” Sephiroth paused and looked at his gaping comrades, “Let’s get going.” Sephiroth turned and headed out of town, Karta followed without even looking at Cloud or the guards. Cloud could not believe it. Sephiroth only called you by your first name if he respected you and he just started calling Cloud by his first name and this was Karta’s first mission. Cloud shook it off and walked a little faster to catch up with his leader and fellow comrade.

The walk up to the Mako reactor was long and tiresome and the guards would not stop complaining. Cloud was tempted to beat the guards faces in, but it was then that he noticed that neither Sephiroth nor Karta had even broken into a sweat and here he was sweating worse than a pig. Cloud wiped the sweat from his brow and continued along the path. A few moments later they came to a bridge that ran along a huge valley. Cloud gulped; the bridge did not look very safe or sturdy, but Sephiroth did not seem to notice nor care, he just started across the bridge followed by Karta and then Cloud and the guards. The bridge cracked and moaned under the weight of the five people as they walked across it. The guards seemed very scared of what was going on in front of them and they were the last one so they would be the first to fall. Sephiroth made it across followed by Karta and just as Cloud stepped onto the solid ground, the ropes both snapped and the bridge plummeted to the ground, the guards screams echoed throughout the canyon. Cloud raised a eyebrow and looked over the edge,

"I guess we'll be taking the long way down." He said making a face. Karta grunted and rolled her eyes.

"No Cloud we're going to ride across a rainbow bridge on a pony. Yes we are taking the long way down, can we just go and get this over with?" Karta replied looking at Sephiroth. He nodded and continued up the path,

"We don't have a chance in the world to find them, let's just move on." Sephiroth said he walked up the path Karta behind and Cloud trailing behind laughing to himself that the annoying guards were gone and never coming back. The rest of the trail was pretty much up hill and very paved. It only took the three SOLDIERS a few minutes to make it all the way up. The reactor finally came into view and Cloud knew where the howling of monsters was coming from. The reactor. What was in there that was causing these monsters and why were they so ferocious? Sephiroth stopped and looked at the reactor for moment, "What's in there that is causing me to be so strong…?" Sephiroth whispered to himself. Karta looked at him and then at the reactor. Then she looked at Cloud and she nodded at him with a small smile. She closed her eyes and seemed to be in deep thought and a moment later her eyes popped open and they had a red glow to them on top of the normal forest green.

"Oh shit…no way. It can't be…can it?" she asked no one. Not waiting for instructions from her leader Karta started for the reactor. Sephiroth looked at the building for a second and started after her with Cloud following close behind. The reactor seemed to be working for the most part in the beginning of the building as they worked their way to the main chamber but it was there that they saw what made all three of their bloods run cold. All around them were capsules with Mako being pumped into them; there had to be at least a dozen of them all around them and they all seemed ready to burst at any moment. Sephiroth gritted his teeth and made a tight fist.

"Hojo…you've gone too far this time. This will not make you better." Sephiroth said raising his voice. Karta walked up to one of the capsules and glanced in the window.

"Hojo…you asshole! I'll kill you for this!" Karta said pounding a fist on one door. Cloud stood in complete surprise, now he understood where these monsters were coming from, but Sephiroth whipped around and glared at Karta.

"How do you know Hojo? You're only a rookie." Sephiroth screamed at her. Karta stood unfazed as she stared up the stairs and the huge metal door. Sephiroth glanced up and his eyes fell on the name above the door: Jenova.

"My mother's name was Jenova…could I have been made the same way as all of these…creatures? These poor mutated humans?" Sephiroth walked up the stairs and ran a hand along the door. "This is what was calling me…?" Karta stood as if she was frozen, her entire body began to shake in absolute fear, but at the same time boil over with rage.

"Jenova…so…we finally meet." She whispered, Cloud glanced over at Karta and then at Sephiroth. He was so confused, what was Jenova and how was both Sephiroth and Karta connected to "her"? Cloud jumped when he heard one of the capsules open and a mutated human came falling out over of the capsule, screaming in agony…

*~*~*~*~*

The next few days went on like a blur in Cloud's mind. Not long after they wondered down the mountain in utter shock, Sephiroth wandered into the library in the Shinra Mansion’s basement. He read every book down there, every file and every report. He stayed down there for days and never once did the basement light go off. Karta seemed almost as bad; as soon as they got down she did not kill any other monsters that wandered into the town. Even when they destroyed property and even hurt a person she just watched the mutate with a far away look in her now dull green eyes. When the town's people chased another monster with stick and throwing rocks, a bunch of the men glared at Karta. She was watching them from the Inn steps and she did not even move for her weapon. The men marched up to her, grabbed her shirt and yanked Karta clear off her feet. She wasn't even fazed.

"Now look girl you better do your job or the rest of us will re-arrange your internal organs. Do I make myself clear?" the young man who held Karta high in the air said through gritted teeth. She looked down at him, her face emotionless.

"I dare you." She said flatly. The man looked surprised.

"What?" he asked with eyes wide. She brought her face into his and glared into the young man's dull gray eyes.

"I said I dare you. Go ahead, re-arrange my internal organs see if I care." Karta said her voice not even shaking in the slightest. The man looked baffled and dropped Karta onto the ground, she landed swiftly on her feet. The man glared at Karta one more time and went along his way followed by the rest of the town's men. Cloud watched from the upper Inn window and sighed. This was just getting worse by the second.

Not long after that incident, Karta disappeared with no trace. One man thought he saw her heading up Mt. Nibel. Cloud had no idea what she was doing, but he did not have time to check on her. He had gotten a call from the President saying that we better do our jobs or we'll be fired. He said that Cloud had to pass the information onto Sephiroth right away. Reluctant to go down there with good reason, Cloud started down the winded ramp that led to the long underground path and the basement library. Cloud saw the light at the end of the hall steaming through the door. Taking a deep breath he pushed the door open and looked around. The room had a lab table with equipment, books lay all around the room and most shelves were empty. Cloud sighed and walked along the two bookcases to the back of the room where an office was. Gathering his courage, opened the door. He saw Sephiroth sitting at the desk in the middle glaring at him.

"I knew you would come down here eventually." Sephiroth said darkly, "I don't want you in my sight mortal, you traitor." Cloud froze in place and stared baffled at Sephiroth.

"What are you talking about?" Cloud asked. Sephiroth stood up and walked over to Cloud. In one swift movement, Cloud was off his feet and pinned against the wall. Sephiroth grinned,

"Years ago Professor Gast and his team found a creature frozen in the ice in the north. Gast later confirmed that the organism was an Ancient and with that he named the creature Jenova. According to the records, Gast tried many times to create a human with the powers of Jenova. He failed more times than countable and the death toll went up, but he had one success…me." Sephiroth explained with pride in his voice.

"You mean whatever is in that tank up there is your mother?" Cloud exclaimed unable to comprehend what was going on. Sephiroth pinned Cloud harder against the wall and looked angry. This was getting really bad.

"Yes she is. The Ancients are the true rulers of this planet. Long ago, disaster struck this planet and the only way to save the planet was to sacrifice the Ancients. And so the humans did and guess what Cloud, those were your ancestors. So therefor you are my enemy and you have to die" Sephiroth paused and smiled, "But first, to give this planet back to mother." And with those final words Sephiroth dropped Cloud and was out the door in a matter of seconds. Cloud did not need to think twice about where Sephiroth was heading. Jumping to his feet, Cloud bolted through the library, down the hall, up the ramp and through the mansion as fast as he could, but when Cloud burst through the mansion doors he froze in terror of what lay before him.

All around him and all around the town every house was full of flames and burning so fast it seemed that they had been burning for hours. Down by the well, Cloud could see some bodies sprawled out among the ground. Cloud sprinted down the path and knelt down by the first body he saw. It was the body of kind Mrs. Ness. The death had been to quick because no one could live through the wound she had a long gash that spread up her stomach and up to her neck. Cloud looked around and saw an old man tending to the wounded, the man turned and saw Cloud.

"Come over and here and help me boy!" the man screamed as he tried to stop the bleeding of a young man lying on the ground. It was the same man that has harassed Karta earlier that day. He looked up at Cloud and saying through a gurgled breath,

"Stop…that…mad…man." And with that the man died in the old man's arms. Cloud glanced back up at the mansion and saw Sephiroth and two more town's people. Cloud jumped to his feet and ran up but stopped when he saw what Sephiroth was going to do. The people begged for mercy, but Sephiroth ignored them, slicing them both up the stomach. With a nod, Sephiroth disappeared again heading for the path leading up Mt. Nibel. Cloud shook his head in disbelief and ran for the path with all the power he could. His fuel…rage.

*~*~*~*~*

Cloud was standing in front of the Mako reactor before he knew it, he never knew he could run that fast. Taking a deep breath Cloud pulled out his Buster Sword and ran into the reactor. As he passed the turning gears he glanced down and saw Karta. She was curled up in a tiny ball on the floor next to the door leading into the capsule room. Her sword lay next to her and it was covered in blood. Cloud also saw she too was covered in the blood. She really didn't seem to notice too much, her knees were pulled up to her chin, she was staring out into space and was rocking back and forth. Cloud jumped down the rest of the ladder and ran up to her. He knelt down and put a hand on her shoulder. She was not even noticing that he was there.

"Karta…? Are you all right…?" Cloud asked, knowing what his answer would be. She did not stop moving or say a word. Cloud said to himself that he would sit here for hours until she at least said something. Finally, after a minute, she spoke,

"I tried to kill her, but I needed time to think. Just as I was about to go in and finish her off, Sephiroth came up behind me out of no where and brought his giant sword down my back. I fell forward and he stepped over me as if I was nothing. I managed to crawl down the stairs and here I am, waiting to die." She paused and looked into Cloud's eyes, "Hell begins now." With that she buried her face into her knees and continued to rock back and forth. Cloud shook his head silently, she was delirious and speaking who knew what. She was dying and there was not anything Cloud could do. Taking his sword again, he walked past his friend and into the capsule room. Sephiroth was standing at the door laughing his head off.

"Come on mother, let me in so we may take this world back!" Sephiroth screamed. Cloud knew no one was behind the door, but Sephiroth did not open it, the door opened by itself. Sephiroth walked in and Cloud saw no other options, but to follow him. Cloud ran up the stairs and got there just in time to hear Sephiroth talking to his mother. "Let us go mother, let take it back, but those humans…" Sephiroth started to rise up to the body before him, "they are trying to take the world from mother…" Sephiroth pulled the mechanical body off the hook and Jenova was revealed. She…it…whatever was a deep blue teal with magenta eyes and no real body. She looked like a heap of cells in a tank with a head. "Come mother, we will take this world back from the humans that have stolen it from you. Come take your rightful place as the ruler."

"Sephiroth!" Cloud screamed clutching his sword. Sephiroth turned around and glared at Cloud,

"Look mother, they think that they can stop you." Sephiroth laughed, as if it was the funniest thing he had ever heard in his life. "We will destroy them all!"

"No Sephiroth! I won't let you do this; you are not the Sephiroth who I knew. You are evil and therefor you are the enemy and you must die. Raise your sword and let us end this now!" Cloud screamed getting into a fighting stance. Sephiroth looked at Cloud for a moment and drew his own sword. They glared at each other, waiting for the other to make their first move…

*~*~*~*~*

Cloud stopped talking and leaned back in his chair. Everyone was staring at him and waiting for him to continue.

"Well, what happened next?" Reno asked impatiently. Cloud looked at him and shrugged as if it was nothing.

"I don't know, I have no memories from then on. I had no chance against Sephiroth and yet here I am talking to you. And Karta was so badly wounded, she shouldn't be here either, but here we are. Fit as fiddles." Cloud replied. Aerith turned to Karta and looked at her,

"How bad was your wound?" she asked, Karta glared at the girl for asking such a stupid question. Karta rolled her eyes,

"Bad enough that I should be dead." Karta replied she glanced at Cloud and nodded at him, "Thanks for telling Part Two of the story, now it's my turn to tell Part One." Tifa looked at her and made a face,

"What is Part One about? You?" Tifa asked sarcastically. Karta glared at her with darts in her eyes.

"If you don't want to know why I freaked out back at the Shinra building and why Professor Payne called me a 'former specimen' then fine, I won't say a word. I would rather not anyway." Naden looked interested and stole glances at the rest of the team; they all nodded including Cloud. Naden wondered if Cloud knew why?

"I speak for everyone and I say we want to know Karta. Tell us." Naden told her. Karta took a deep breath and looked at everyone in the room.

"Fine I'll tell it, you guys are about to find out what's behind the colored eyes." She replied glancing at them, her blue eyes changed to a forest green and she smiled.

"My story doesn't start five years ago at Niblelheim, but eight years ago when I was eleven and still normal. I lived with my father, mother and younger sister. My sisters name was Tara, my mom name was Krysti and my dad's name was…Naden." Karta started. A silence passed as Naden took in what she said.

"Wait…your dad's name was Naden…? And you named me…after him…?" Naden paused and felt his eyes grow wide, "Oh my…" No one said a word, Karta decided to continue with her story with or without the support of her comrades.

"I was living in Kalm at the time when things started to go wrong. Actually…there was no inn at that time. The Shinra had decided to put a lab by my town but…the townspeople didn't not react to it very well. When they first came into the town I was outside my house learning how to sword fight with my father…"

*~*~*~*~*

"Left! Right! Stab! That's it Karta, great!" Karta's father exclaimed as their swords clashed and clanged. Karta did not reply to his compliment, she just waited for him to let down his guard before she made her finishing move. She spun around swinging her sword up towards his father's face knocking it out of his hand. While the sword flew through the air, Karta brought her foot under her father feet knocking him down. She then reached up, grabbed his sword in the air, put a foot on his chest to hold him put and pointed both swords at his neck. His eyes opened wide and he saw his oldest daughter staring at him. "Holy God…" he whispered. Karta smiled and shoved her sword into its sheath. She then put out a hand and pulled her father to his feet. "Karta…how did you…?" he looked at her in a strange way. Shaking it off he glanced over his daughter’s shoulder at moving bodies behind him. Karta made a face and turned around. A dozen Shinra troops were marching through the middle of town. they seemed to be escorting some people in lab coats. Karta watched them for a long time until she came in eye contact with one of the scientists. He was short and hunched over; with his beady black eyes he watched her back in a way, glaring at her. Without taking her eyes off the scientist, Karta spoke,

"What's Shinra doing here father?" she asked. He did not reply right away, he too watched the moving Shinra body.

"They're building a lab right outside the town…but I'm not going to let them. The town will not let them." He paused, "Come on Karta, let's go inside." Karta's father gestured for his daughter to come inside with him. Karta didn't follow him but watched the scientists with keen interest. Why her town…? She wondered.

*~*~*~*~*

"Karta, why is everyone in town so angry?" Tara asked in her small, childlike voice. Karta glanced over at her younger sister and stared into her curious eyes. She had curly brown hair and bright hazel eyes; she looked exactly like her father. Their mother, Krysti, had long, fire red hair and deep green eyes. Karta looked like her mom and Tara looked like their father. Their father, Naden, had short brown hair and light hazel eyes. Karta gave her sister a small smile and looked back out her bedroom window.

"They need a place to put a lab that's far away from Midgar, but close enough that they don't have to spend a lot of money on transportation. The closest town is here…" Karta replied. The last few days, at all hours there would be soldiers walking in and out of the town, working non-stop without a break. She sighed and rested her head on her hands. They sat in silence together until their mother's voice rang out through the house.

"Karta! Tara! Come on down girls, time for dinner!" Tara jumped up and ran from the room while Karta loomed behind, moving slower than her sister did. Tara always had more energy than Karta did; Tara had always been much more energetic about new things and life. That was just the way she was and that's the way things were. Karta knew that deep down she had a kind soul and caring personality. She just chose not to embrace it. Karta smiled to herself as she walked down the rest of the stairs to the kitchen where the rest of her family was waiting for her. Karta made brief eye contact with each of her family members, but held her fathers gaze for a moment. There was something in his eyes that made her shudder and it took a lot to make her shudder. He seemed so angry at someone or something that if it could happen, steam would come out of his ears. Karta gave her father a look and sat down at the table. Tara knew that something wasn't right in her family but she didn't know what it was. She shrugged it off, as did her mother, but Karta glared at her father, trying to figure out what was wrong with him.

Dinner went by with little or no conversation; no one was in the mood to really talk about the little things. Karta made eye contact with her father a few times, but when they did it was brief and he never held it very long. At first, she just thought that something might have gone wrong at work, at least that's what she was trying to convince herself. After dinner, Karta went up to her room and got her sword like she did every day. This was the small thing in life that made Karta truly happy. She ran down the stairs and burst into her father's study. He was staring out the window at nothing. She raised an eyebrow and walked over to him. She knew that this was one of the things that he always loved doing no matter what kind of mood he was in.

"Dad, its time for my lesson." Karta declared, looking at him impatiently. He glanced over at her, his eyes were dark and angry, and not their usual happy, bright eyes as they always were. They were so dark they almost made Karta step back in fear.

"Not today Karta. I have…things that I need to get done first. Maybe later in the week, just not tonight." With those words he stood up and left the room brushing past his daughter. Karta stood frozen for a moment unable to comprehend what had just happened. Her father had never once canceled a lesson in her entire life. Something was definitely wrong…

*~*~*~*~*

Karta lay on her pack staring at the ceiling her mind wondering to all ends of the planet. She could faintly hear the gentle breathing of her sister in the bed next to her and the almost silent whisper of the wind outside her window. In her head sat many thoughts from the previous day. People in the town were cold and cruel. Children threw rocks at Shinra soldiers and local punks trashed their cars. Adults held protests and even the pets of Kalm held a certain despise for the presence of Shinra. As tempting as it was to join in the fight to run Shinra out of town, Karta was more interested in watching her father. His reactions to little things were hints that only she could see. The fact that he did not keep up a conversation at dinner, the sudden drop in interest in teaching her how to fight, and the lack of patience. He was out a lot more, coming home late with his face full of sweat and ears burning red with anger. She had heard her parents talking about these changes, and at first, Karta's mother thought he was cheating, but later found he had an alibi. A friend had told her mother that they saw him going to the secret meetings that all the older men were holding. Little things did not seem to change the minds of Shinra and Karta feared that the group just might get violent. Or do something that a lot of people would regret. This frightened, her although she did not want to show it to a soul.

Karta sighed and sat up; she glanced out her window at the high moon in the sky, hindered by the winter clouds. This was about the time her father would get home from the meeting, but she wasn't supposed to know that. Karta glanced down at the door beneath her window and saw a lean figure dragging a large trunk behind him. He put a key in the door and opened it and dragged the trunk through the doorway. Karta turned quickly away from the window and hopped off her bed silently. Tiptoeing out of her room making sure not to wake Tara, Karta crawled, silently, to the top of the stairs. Below her sat the foyer with the front door and her parents talking. Creeping down a little more, she could hear her mother talking in a worried tone.

"Naden, I never thought you would do something like this. This is crazy and not to mention dangerous for our family. Those Shinra people have a short fuse and I hope you aren't the lighter. Naden I…" her mother stopped mid-sentence.

"Krysti, I know that this may seem crazy now, but in the long run it will help us more than you can imagine. Karta and Tara should not grow up in a town where kids are becoming violent. I know Karta honey; she wants and is going to join the fight. I had to do something." Her father replied. Karta's mother let her head hang.

"Naden, breaking and entering a lab that is run by the most powerful company in the world is crazy. It's not even that part that gets to me…it’s the fact that you trashed the place and stole documents. "

"If you could have seen that place I know you would be thinking differently. Blood was smeared all over the tables and tools. There were body parts lying around and cages with the worst looking creatures you've ever seen. I looked in files and those…mutates were human. These scientists, Hojo and Payne, are experimenting on humans. I can't just look away from what I've seen, those poor souls. I could see in their "eyes" that they were truly miserable." Karta's father took her mother into his arms and held her. "I have all the evidence I need in that trunk, pictures, files, blood stained lab coats, even a few limbs. I plan in going to Midgar tomorrow to talk to the President about all of this. When these scientists are exposed, they will be punished and forced to leave."

"But what if--" but her father shushed her by placing a finger over her lips.

"Everything will be fine." She smiled and they held each other for a moment and then walked into the living room arms around each other's waists. Karta sat for a moment, waiting until they were to the other side of the house. She crept down the rest of the stairs and to the trunk that sat in the foyer. Her mind had a debate about whether or not she should open it. One side of her head told her to leave it alone, to walk away and pretend she never even heard that conversation, but the other side of her head told her that she would die of curiosity if she didn't just look; she would never be able to sleep that night. Karta sighed and got down on her knees and looked at the latch, she did not even realize that she had lifted it up until it was up. Taking a deep breath, Karta pushed the lid open and let her eyes glance down at the contents. It was as bad as she thought.

On the top lay a folder an inch thick full of files, Karta lifted the folder out and placed it next to her. Next was a bloody lab coat, but calling it bloody was an understatement, it was drenched in blood and from the looks of it, it looked to her…human blood. The lab coat came out and what she saw next made her grimace in disgust. At the bottom lay limbs from the poor souls that they had been taken from, a pale hand that was large and looked like it was from a young man. A tiny foot that was small enough to be a babies and other assorted limbs that she chose not to identify, but the smell from them being so old was terrible. They were rotting. Karta placed the lab coat back on top of the rotting limbs and sat all the way down, the files in her lap.

She was not too surprised when she opened it and out fell pictures, pictures that her father had taken. The first was of the lab, blood was spilled everywhere and cages lined the outside of the room. The next was a picture of a former human, the poor soul was horrible looking with their skin falling off, teeth that were long and sharp with their hair part of their very head. Karta felt like she was either going to throw up or burst out crying. Neither came and that wasn't much of a surprise to her. Not even bothering to look at the rest of the pictures, Karta moved on to the files. She flipped through them, looking at the pictures of the souls that no longer existed. There were so many people, some men, some women, some children, and some unborn and unnamed babies. But one picture caught her eye as she was flipping through. It was a picture of a dark haired Turk; it was an official picture so it was formal. Why would a Turk be in these files? she thought. Karta pulled the file out and placed the others to the side. She looked at the label at the top; the name read Vincent Valentine. The date read that Vincent was last experimented on twenty-two years ago. Karta opened the file and started to read the notes:

X Day X Month X Year

Foolish Turk, what a complete and utter fool. I still find it unbelievable that he made it so far in this world with his naïve mind. I now see that I did the right thing putting that fool out of his misery. But it wasn't like it didn't help me along in my research. Now I know how things will work out for my son, for my masterpiece. I couldn't just do random experiments on my son without knowing what the reactions would be. I needed a guinea pig so I could see what chemicals did what reaction. What better than my sworn enemy. The fact that this Turk was trying to stop my Lucrecia, my pet and my other guinea pig, to stop the experiments on my masterpiece. That Turk tried to convince my dear that what I was doing was wrong. Wrong, ha, I am never wrong. "She" has told me personally that I am her disciple, and I believe in her, for she is my love and my all. But as for Valentine, if he ever wakes from his sleep in the abandoned mansion basement, it will be too late. His love will be gone and I will have won.

Simon Hojo

Karta looked from the paper and titled her head; she felt a hint of sorrow for this Vincent Valentine. Sighing, she continued down the page.

X Day X Month X Year

I never doubt him for a moment, never I do. I am the one who does the dirty work but now as I flip through these files I see they are becoming more of a journal than scientific files. These are just the notes and memos we took as the things went on. I follow him wherever he goes and he follows "her," so in turn I follow her as well. I have yet to have direct contact with "her," but I will…someday. But as for Valentine, I almost pity him, almost. He tried to stop something that he was incapable to stop. It was a suicide mission to say the least, thinking he could get in the way of something so great. The masterpiece will live on no matter what; he is the ultimate weapon and the ultimate god. My son or daughter which ever it will be in time will grow to watch this masterpiece love and conquer the world. To give back what we, as humans, deserve to avenge "her".

Louis Payne

Karta's head shot up, where had she heard the names Hojo and Payne. The rest of the file was just charts and things that Karta could not understand, but those last names sat in the back of mind, she knew that this was not the first time she had heard them. It was at that moment that Karta heard her parents moving out of the living room to go to bed. As neatly as she could in a few seconds, Karta put everything back in the trunk, watching the file on Vincent Valentine blend with the rest of the people lost forever to science. Quietly shutting and locking the trunk, Karta turned and ran up the stairs as quiet as a cat. She burst in her room and shut the door behind her, her heart pounding. Heaving a sigh of relief, Karta sat down on her bed and looked out the window, racking her half-asleep brain for where she had heard those last names before. Karta glanced to her right and saw a burning light at the new lab. The place that never slept. Then it hit her; she knew where she had heard those names before. Simon Hojo was the lead scientist in the lab with his co-worker and assistant John Payne. Karta came to a personal conclusion that John Payne must be the son of Louis Payne. She fell back onto her bed, her eyes wide with fear; these men were blood thirsty and evil. Karta gulped, and her father messed with them. This is going to be bad, very, very bad… Karta thought as her mind started to drift into oblivion, but before she could finally sleep, a small branch snapped outside and made her wide-awake. That wasn't the sound a squirrel would make, she thought, that was too… she sat up and looked out her window. Her fears were confirmed and her heart sank.

*~*~*~*~*

Naden Jewel rolled over and angrily stared at the clock next to his bed, it read 3:00am…and the doorbell was ringing. Naden sat up and nudged his wife Krysti in the ribcage. She yawned and turned over and looked at him. "What is it Naden?" she said sleepily.

"Someone's at the door and there is no way I'm only getting up. You're coming with me,” he said in a teasing voice. Krysti Jewel smiled and sat up in bed, both bodies let their feet down and put bathrobes on. Letting out a tired yawn, Naden opened the door for his wife and they both stumbled down the stairs still half-asleep. Naden looked at the trunk next to him and then, without hesitation, opened the door. He came face to face with a strange face in a lab coat, the mans black hair was thin and scrawny; his face was twisted in a strange expression. Thick glasses covered beady black eyes made them look three times as big. Under his lab coat he wore what seemed to be a black suit and a tie, a very formal outfit. He had a half smile almost when he saw Naden standing there. A little ways behind him stood another man, but a younger man. This young man had short, black, buzzed hair and deep brown eyes. He too wore a lab coat, but underneath was a T-shirt and jeans. But this young man looked maybe twenty years old at the most. He grinned when he saw Naden, his grin was cold and sent a chill down Mr. Jewel's back. It wasn't until that moment that he noticed the soldiers standing behind the two scientists. a lump formed in his throat. The older scientist finally spoke; his voice was dark and husky.

"Are you Naden Jewel?" he asked. Mr. Jewel gave this Shinra scientist a look and replied,

"Yes I am and may I ask who you are?" The scientist grinned and gave his younger co-worker a look. Through a sinister grin he said,

"My name is Professor Simon Hojo and my co-worker, friend and the son of my best friend standing behind me is Professor John Payne." He paused, "But let's just get right to the point of why we are here…" Naden snorted,

"I wish you would." Professor Hojo glared at Naden and went back to talking.

"I know that it was you who broke into my lab. I know it was you who saw everything. And I know it was you who took pictures, lab coats and other evidence against myself and Professor Payne." He paused and glanced at Professor Payne as if telling him to speak. He did.

"Therefore you know it all, all the lives we’re destroyed, all of the blood we have shed in the name of science. Let me tell you Mr. Jewel, breaking into our lab was the biggest mistake of your life. Now you know too much and we can't very well let you spill that to the world now can we?" Professor Payne's voice was deep, but clear and on top of it all, he seemed to find all of this very amusing. Krysti clung to husband in terror, her mind thinking of one thing: the girls. Professor Payne came in eye contact with Krysti and smiled, then he glanced back to Naden.

"I will not let you hurt my family without a fight, I will fight you all with my fists and scream to wake the entire town." Naden said sternly. To Naden’s surprise and disappointment, Professor Payne started to laugh. When he finally got his breath back he glared at Naden with an evil glow in his eyes, his mouth twisting into another evil smile.

"You won't put up a fight if your daughters lives are on the line." He declared. Krysti made a small gasp in terror at the very thought, but Naden stood tall.

"My daughters have nothing to do with this, they are safe in their rooms." Naden replied, he thought that was going to get them, but Professor Hojo just smiled.

"Are they?" with that he snapped his fingers and footsteps came from upstairs. Naden and Krysti turned around to see Tara walking down the stairs crying, a soldier behind her with a gun to her head. Next came Karta, she was not shaking, she wasn't even the least bit afraid of the gun itself. All she knew was that there was a soldier behind her with a gun to her head. She could feel the cold muzzle. Tara stopped crying when she saw her parents. She tried to run to them, but a firm hand grabbed her and held her in her place.

"Mommy! Daddy! Help! What are these men doing?" Tara cried out. The gun was now pressed against her temple and Tara knew that now was not the time to ask questions. Karta was not paying attention to her sister or even her parents, she had made eye contact with one of the scientists, the older one, and she knew who it was: Hojo. They held each other's gaze for a moment, Karta smiled to herself when she knew that he was touching her mind, she could feel it, but as soon as she did, she closed that door. Hojo's face was priceless for her; he looked as if no one had ever shut him out before. Karta smiled again, she loved having a will of iron. Naden turned to the Professors with his head down,

"You’re information is in this trunk by the door." He grumbled. Professor Hojo smiled,

"Good. Now come with us…all of you." With those words gun were cocked and aimed at each family member's head. Professor Payne smiled,

"If you make a noise Mr. Jewel, I will give the order to kill your daughters." He said. Naden let his head fall as the family was led through their small town; not a noise was made except for the sound of footsteps. When the door to the lab was opened, Karta almost froze dead in her tracks. She knew that this place was going to become a personal hell. She just knew somehow that this hellhole was going to be her home for many years. Professor Hojo and Professor Payne watched Karta as she looked around the room; they did not need to say anything to each other. They both knew this one was going to be a prize.

*~*~*~*~*

Karta could only vaguely hear her parents talking in the cell next to her. Karta sat up very slowly, but froze as a sudden rush of pain shot up her back. She grimaced and fought back tears as she forced her body to sit up. She was on the floor on a cage in the lab; the ground was black and covered in dirt. She was no longer in her pajamas, but a pair of torn blue jeans and a ripped up black T-shirt that was many sizes too big. She cringed; someone had undressed her, ick. For all she knew it could have been dirt, her mind was still a little fuzzy. The last thing she remembered was looking around the lab, and then, without warning, someone hit her over the head with what she guessed to be the butt of a gun. Before her mind blacked out, she heard her mother scream. It was a scream of pure and untold terror. Karta rubbed her head and reached behind to find no wound, no blood, not even a bump. She could only guess that she was cured by a Materia. She glanced to the cell next to her to see her mom, dad and sister holding each other. Her family was changed into ratty clothes as well. Her father looked over and saw her watching them. He jumped to his feet and ran to the bars that separated them. Her mother and sister followed him, their eyes frantic.

"Karta! Are you all right?!" her father asked frantically. Karta put a hand to her head again and blinked a few times trying to get her eyes to focus.

"Yeah, I'll live. What happened?" she asked. Although the pounding in her head was almost impossible to deal with, she pushed it aside to hear the story. Her mother spoke up.

"You were the last one in here and you were looking around. Those "scientists," or as I like to call them murderers were watching you. Hojo gave a signal and the guard hit you on the back of the head. You fell over-out like a light." She paused, "Your skull was cracked open and it bled everywhere. Then the Professors picked you up and put you on that table. They put some sort of mixture in a needle and injected you. Five minutes later your heart started again and the wound was gone. They smiled and took some notes, and then finally put you in a different cell from the rest of us." She paused again, "That was two days ago." Karta felt like she had been shot, she had been unconscious for two day. Her head hurt like no other. Her heart had stopped? Her skull cracked open? That was impossible…wasn't it? She looked over at the table in the middle of the room, Payne and Hojo were deep in talking and when they saw that she was awake, they smiled even bigger and walked over to the cell. Karta forced her body to sit up straighter; she glanced at her sister, her eyes full of fear. Here was her family in terror, but yet she did not back away or beg for mercy or anything. She wasn't afraid for herself, but her sister, her mom and her dad. Hojo opened the cell door and walked in. Karta made direct eye contact.

"Well you woke up early. Usually people are out for at least a week if not longer, but not you, you woke up after two days. Very interesting. the back of your head has no wound correct?" he asked. Karta debated about whether or not she should answer; not answering would be stupid. She gave a nod.

"Yes…there is no wound." She replied flatly. Hojo grinned from ear to ear while taking some notes in a file. Her eyes focused on the tab, at the top, her name was written. Her heart sunk, she was going to be like all the others…dead, but still she felt no fear, she glared at him and waited for him to talk again, but he did nott, he just kept on smiling and taking notes. Professor Payne was looking over his shoulder and seemed to be scanning the notes. He looked at her and Karta felt like she was going to throw up or melt at the same time. He was very handsome for someone sinister; they made brief eye contact before he looked back down on the notes. The two professors then looked at each other and nodded. Professor Hojo looked at her family in the next cell. He grinned, "Don’t worry, I won't kill her but I'm going to use her for the benefit of science. As for you three…your time will come but for now…it's her turn." Hojo slammed the file shut and put it on the table near the cell.

Professor Payne went behind Karta and yanked her to her feet. Karta saw the entire room spin and her vision doubled, but focused in a few minutes. Karta could hear her mom and sister crying her father mumbling how sorry he was for her. Payne led Karta from her cell to the table surprising gently, but it was still enough for her to stumble. When she stumbled, he didn't let her fall, but caught her and was very gentle. He pushed her onto the table and lay her back. She did not fight them, but she did not give in mentally and Hojo seemed to know that. He got directly in her face and smiled.

"I know you have a strong will Karta, I can see it in you. I try to read your mind and you push me away, no one has ever done that before, but let me tell you, I will break you. I don’t know when and I'm no sure how, but I will." His breath was sour and smelled old. Karta smiled to herself and back away from his face in disgust.

"Two words Hojo: Breath. Mint." She snapped back. Hojo seemed surprised at her sarcasm for someone so young. He gave her look and strapped her down to the table. Karta could now hear her mother wailing in terror and fear; Hojo had a knife that he was sharpening. He stopped. When Krysti Jewel continued to wail he walked over to the cell and opened the door, glaring at her. He threw the knife at the ground about half a foot from her. She gasped and stopped instantly and he smiled.

"The more you three annoy me, the more pain she goes through. Never and I mean never get me mad before I'm about to work. Or I might just put that knife through her heart and not revive her. Have I made myself clear?" he asked looking at each of the family members. There were silent nods and he pulled the knife from the ground. Professor Payne looked like he was on the verge of an uncontrollable fit of laughter. Hojo walked over and looked at him. His look faded away and he became serious.

"The solution is ready sir." He said handing him a needle filled to the top with a green-blue substance. Hojo waved the needle in front of Karta and smiled,

"Do you have a fear of injections Karta?" he asked. Karta raised an eyebrow at him.

"No." she answered flatly and she was honest, she did not. His face fell a little, but only a little.

"You will." With those words, he stuck her in the arm with the needle. She did not even cringe, although he pushed the needle further and emptied the liquid into her body. He yanked it out and put the needle aside, not even bothering to clean or cover the small bleeding wound, it healed itself. Payne had timed to see how long it took for the wound to clear. When the time was compared to others, it was the fastest ever. That made Hojo smile from ear to ear. Karta did not feel like smiling back at him, she felt terrible. Her body was breaking into a cold sweat, her head was pounding even harder now, and she felt like she had the flu. Payne and Hojo took out notebooks and watched her, while the family watched in horror as Karta blacked out.

*~*~*~*~*

Tara Jewel watched as her sister passed out on the table, her body now covered in sweat. Although it was only a few moments that she was out, it seemed like hours to her. Karta's eye popped open suddenly; Hojo and Payne dropped their notebooks and jumped back. Tara was close enough to see that Karta's eyes were no longer green, but completely black. Her face was dark and evil, her fists were clenched, her knuckles turning white and blood was sinking through her fingers. She so digging was hard into her hands, that it was cutting them. Payne smiled, no, not smiled, but grinned more so and watched her with his mouth open.

"We did it sir, we did it. The first subject to go through State of Mind, we did it." Payne said breathlessly. "This is the first one to make it to black eye. That means that everything will work and "she" can talk through Karta." Payne started to walk over to get a closer look, but Hojo seized him.

"Don't be a fool John, she is in black eye. She has no control of her body what so ever, if she is pressured to do so, she will break those clasps on the table. Keep away until she passes out again. just watch and take notes." Hojo replied. They were not the only one's watching, Tara was interested in what this State of Mind was called. She watched for about another minute before Karta relaxed and passed out again. She held her breath; there was no sound in the lab, but the dripping from Karta's hand wounds. Finally, she awoke again, but this time her eyes were white. Hojo gasped and fell to his knees. Her white looked around the room and then at Professor Payne. He gulped and asked in a small voice,

"Jenova…? Jenova are you there? Can you hear me?" Karta gave him a strange look and laughed, but it was not Karta's laugh but a laugh of evil. When she spoke, her voice was different…older almost.

"Who do think it would be John? Now undo this silly clasps so I may see my new pet." John bowed and undid the clasps and Karta sat up, but it didn't seem like Karta at all, just her body.

"The mirror is where it always is ma'am." Professor Payne said. "Karta" got up and looked in the mirror. She smiled as she ran a hand through her short red hair.

"I sense a lot of strength in this one, a lot. She has a will of iron; I can feel her pushing me away from her mind. She is very strong my disciples, she will be perfect when done." She said to Payne and Hojo, suddenly, she clutched her stomach and leaned over in pain. Hojo ands Payne ran over and put their arms around her.

"What? What's wrong mistress?" Hojo asked speaking for the first time.

"She's…she's pushing me away and it's…it's working. Quickly, strap her down before she goes into the final stage, and she starts screaming." "Karta" screamed at the Professors. Hojo and Payne dragged "Karta's" limp body back to the table. They quickly strapped her on the table and backed up again. "Karta" grinned as she drifted away for the third time in one hour. Tara came to that realization that she was shaking like crazy, that was not Karta in that body, it could not be her and it was not, Tara was sure of that. Tara watched as the seconds passed Hojo and Payne seemed to be waiting for the final stage of this process. Suddenly, Karta's face began to twist into an expression of utter pain. She started to scream a scream that echoed throughout the lab and sent a chill down Tara's spine. She was screaming in agony, like every part of her body was being pulled slowly apart. Hojo started to laugh, the chilling laugh buried the screaming while Payne just smiled, his mouth twisted so much like a snarl that Tara was sure that blood was going to ooze from that mouth…

*~*~*~*~*

Karta took a deep breath and looked at her comrades, they were waiting for the rest of the story. Reno gave her a look,

"Please don't tell me that's all you remember…" he said slowly.

"No." Karta snapped back. Reno looked surprised by the harshness in her voice, he remained quiet. Karta sighed, "I really don't remember everything that happened during the first time I went through State of Mind, my sister gave me the details. I later found out that my eye color changes with my emotions, a side effect or something. Blue means I'm emotionless, just there, blue-green means I'm slightly mad, Green means I'm ticked off. Red means I'm very mad, I usually go into red when I'm battling but sometimes they go maroon. That means I'm on the edge of insanity and black means…I've completely lost it. I have no control over anything I do and I can't remember what I do. You've seen me in black. Rumor has it. I killed almost two dozen Shinra guards. Then there is white, white is the worst that means that Jenova has taken control of my body. If I say anything while my eyes are white it's not me, its Jenova. Hojo mentioned that, when I'm happy, they are silver but that's never happened."

"I see…" Naden said quietly, "So now, years later, Professor Payne is back and when we found you in the Shinra building you were in State of Mind, correct?" Karta nodded very slightly.

"What happened next?" Aerith asked in an almost whisper. Karta took in some air and sighed.

"The next two years are pretty much a blur, I can't remember many detail because for 90% of the time I was either in State of Mind or out cold, but I do remember the event on my thirteenth birthday; it was that event that changed my life forever. By now I had become stronger physically by a lot not to mention stronger by the will. The more Hojo and Payne tortured me, the more I became determined to never let them break me. They only came close once, that day was on my thirteenth birthday…"

*~*~*~*~*

Karta glanced at her digital watch that was on her wrist; she was counting down the seconds until midnight. In the cell next to her, her family slept on the cold floors. Karta glanced back at her watch; "Time is so slow. Finally…five…four…three…two…one…zero. I am now thirteen, happy birthday Karta." She thought making a half smile. Suddenly the door flew open and banged against the wall. There stood the now twenty-two year old Professor Payne, he looked pretty much the same, except older. He smiled when he saw that Karta was still up,

"Happy thirteenth birthday Karta." He said dryly. There was no doubt in her mind that Payne had taken a liking to her. He was still fascinated by the fact that she had not given in yet. He smiled when he saw the piece of metal next to her. "Still working on that sword aren't you?"

"Yes." Karta snapped back, she hated Payne, but she liked him more than she liked Hojo. She despised Hojo more than anything else in the world. He smiled again,

"Today's the big day," he said walking over the cage that held her family. Karta jumped to her feet. She moved as fast as lightning when she grabbed his shirt and pulled him into her face. Payne looked surprised by this fast action, but he smiled none the less.

"Why today is a very big day, today is your families day, not to mention your birthday." She glared at him.

"You planned this didn't you?" Payne nodded and pulled himself away from Karta. He walked over to the cell next to her and opened the door.

"Wake up Jewels!" he screamed. Naden, Krytsi and Tara all sat up suddenly and glared at Payne for awakening them, he returned the cold stares. "We told you the first night you were here that your day would come, well here it is. Get up." The family pulled themselves to their feet and glanced at Karta. They shrugged and walked out of the cage, no fighting was necessary.

"What are planning Payne?" Karta demanded. Payne let his shoulders fall and he turned around quickly and shot the gun. A dart hit Karta in the shoulder, she started to fall to one knee, it was a tranquilizer dart. The world started to fuzz over as Karta watched Payne lead her family away from her…

Karta woke up nearly five hours later, but she wasn't on the cold hard ground of the lab but on the soft grass of the outside world. Karta had to shield her eyes as she looked up into the sun for the first time in two years. At first she thought that she was dead and in Heaven, but when she looked to her left she saw that Payne and Hojo were watching her. She glared at them, she wished she was dead. Sighing, Karta stood up, brushed herself off and walked over to Payne and Hojo.

"Okay, what is this, torture? Did you bring me out here just to rub it in my face that I'm never going to see the light of day again?" Karta demanded, putting her hands on her hips. Hojo grinned from ear and started to laugh.

"No, that is a fate for you to decide, but this, this is a test to see how well developed your skills are." Hojo replied and he turned to Professor Payne, "Go ahead, show her." Payne nodded and pulled a sheet off a large cage that Karta had just noticed near by. Inside were three of the most hideous mutates that she had ever seen. One was big, medium and small. The small one had a big head with a ton of eyes. It was gray with two arms and four legs, the arms had sharp claws and the feet were half the size of the body each. It snarled at Karta and she glared back at the mutate. The medium one had only one, but smaller head it was brown with two arms but three legs. Its claws weren't as long but just as sharp, and its teeth dripped with slime. The largest looked the meanest, with long teeth that hung over it’s lip and long sharp claws. This one was black with long sharp claws and four feet but as she watched it stood up on all fours every now and then. Karta couldn’t think of any animal that they looked like. Hojo looked at the monsters and then at Karta, "You have to beat all three of them using a sword, a dagger and a gun with one round. You make it out alive and you pass the test. If you die, well then you die." Karta gave him a look.

"Who were they?" she asked. Payne shook his head,

He smiled, "Do them a favor." With that he handed Karta the sword, dagger and gun. "Go in and the test begins." Karta glared at him and opened the door. As soon as she was inside he slammed the it and locked it. Karta came in eye contact with each creature and smiled. Putting the sword and dagger down, Karta picked up the gun and smiled. Now the fun begins, she thought.

The first creature she mentally decided to take care of was the small one and then work her way up. This was going to be fun, she thought. She cocked the gun and aimed it at the small creature's head; she started to quickly pull the trigger while dodging claws. The numbers added up perfectly, a bullet for each eye. "Ha! I will put some lead in your head!" she screamed at the creature as it fell over blood spewing in all directions.

Karta tossed the now worthless gun to the side and grabbed the dagger next. She tossed it into the air and caught it by the handle; her eyes focused on the medium creature. She charged at the beast, the large one tried to swipe at her with one of its huge claws, but it missed. Karta jumped over the huge claw with the dagger raised high above her head. She landed on the creature's head and for a brief moment came in eye contact with that single eye. With a grin, Karta slammed the dagger into the creature's eye, far and deep. Blood flew and covered her. The creature fell over as Karta jumped and picked up the sword. The last one.

Karta grinned as she raised her sword in a fighting position the beast seemed to understand that if it did not defeat her, it's comrades would die in vain. That made the creature mad. It took a swing at Karta, but she rolled and dodged it by an inch. She took a slice at the creature, but missed. The creature brought its giant paw around and sent Karta flying into the cage walls. She slammed into the cage side with a hard impact, stars danced in front of her eyes as the creature was moving in for the kill. It stood on all two legs and walked its way over to her, teeth bared. Karta watched it carefully, looking for a place to make a killing blow quickly. The stomach was the closest and her best bet; Karta waited until the thing was only a few feet away before she slammed her sword into the thing’s stomach. It hunched over in obvious pain as Karta shoved the weapon farther into it’s gut, hitting vital organs if it had any. Blood streamed out of the wound and down Karta's arm as the creature started to fall. She made eye contact with the creature as it fell. Something was strange about that thing’s eyes, not only strange, but oddly familiar. A familiar that made Karta tremble when they rolled back and the creature was dead.

Karta took a deep breath and made her way to the cage door where Payne and Hojo were waiting for her, grins atop their faces. The door was opened and Karta stepped out leaving the heaps of those creatures now dead flesh in the cage. Hojo grinned when he saw that she was covered in all three creatures' blood.

"Well done Karta! But I want you to look at your hands right now." Hojo told her. Karta gave him a strange look and looked down, they were covered in the blood of the creatures she had just defeated.

"The blood of those mutates are on my hands, so what?" she asked. Hojo started to laugh as if that was the funniest thing he had ever heard in his entire life. He suddenly stopped laughing and got directly in Karta's face.

"Those mutates, those creatures that were once human. Those monsters who blood is smeared on your hands…that is your families blood." Hojo whispered to her, Karta gasped and suddenly felt sick to her stomach. Hojo smiled even bigger when the color drained from her face, "The small one with the lead in it's head was your sister, the medium one with a dagger in it's brain was your mother and the large one with the sword in it's gut was your father. You killed your own family Karta. That is their blood on your hands…" Karta felt her knees start to buckle and her head to spin. She fell to her hands and knees while fighting back tears. One thing ran through her mind: I killed them. I killed them. I killed them…

*~*~*~*~*

Karta paused again in her story, Cloud figured out what happened next. He looked at Karta with sympathy and pain. He had some blood on his hands, but not that of his family. Cloud decided to finish the story for her.

"Not long after, you broke out of the place and came to Midgar. The only thing you could think to do was to hide in the very corporation that did this to you…right? That's why you joined SOLDIER, to hide." Karta nodded and kept her head down, this was obviously very painful for her to talk about to anyone.

"Yes, I planed to move up high enough so I could get a meeting with the President and expose Payne and Hojo, but…I now know that he wouldn't mind in the slightest and would have just sent me back…" Karta said quietly. Tifa was dumbfounded; she did not know what to think about Karta anymore. She could see why Karta was always in a bad mood now, to hold that kind of guilt must have been impossible for her.

Reno looked down at the floor; he used to feel sorry for himself for being a street bum, a mugger and a gang member. Now he suddenly felt like he had it really great as a kid. Karta had to grow up very fast. Reno did some connecting from each sorry when suddenly something came to him. He looked up from the floor and glanced at Karta.

"Karta, when Cloud said he found you looking in the Shinra mansion for a "friend that you didn't know"…were you talking about the Vincent Valentine that you read the file on?" he asked. Karta looked at him and nodded.

"Good connection Reno, yes I was. If I ever find my way back there I am still determined to find out what's behind that door." Karta replied. A moment of silence passed as everyone took in the two stories they had heard. Aerith did some thinking too, she knew Kalm pretty well and she knew where each house was. The scenes that Karta described had to match the placement and design of one of the houses. After a moment of thinking, it hit, and it hit her hard.

"Karta…" she said quietly. Karta looked up at her.

"Yes?" she replied. Aerith took a deep breath and spoke.

"This Inn, this was your house wasn't it." Everyone's heads snapped up; looks went from Aerith to Karta. Karta sighed and looked at Aerith.

"Yes…it was." She replied quietly. "The main bedroom up here was my sister Tara and my bedroom. It certainly is strange to be back here again…" Naden sighed and looked around the room to each person.

"So what do we do now?" he asked, "The Shinra will be out to find us without a doubt. We're fugitives now. Where do we go?"

"I know where we can go." Tseng replied. Everyone looked at him; it was the first time he had spoken in a few days.

"You do?" Cloud asked. Tseng nodded,

"We aren’t the only fugitives out there." He replied smiling.

Tseng smiled as a similar reaction passed the faces around the room. Karta grinned and sat back in her chair, arms folded.

“And what exactly do you mean by that Tseng?” she asked, a smirk on her face. Tseng smiled back,

“I know a place just beyond the Mythril Mines that is a hiding place for fugitives, a place where we can hide until things cool down a little…” Tseng replied, but as soon as the words left his mouth, he regretted it. He bit his lower lip and looked away from the group. Karta made her eyes narrow slits and sat up straighter.

“Things will not just ‘cool down’ Tseng. They will look for us without delay and with even more determination as time goes on. The longer we hide, the harder they will look and when they find us…” Karta let her voice trail off. “We can stop, but we cannot afford to hide. We will not hide.” Tifa did not like the tone of voice Karta had, and she glared at her red haired companion.

“And since when are you making the dictions for the rest of the group? You don’t know everything about Shinra now, do you?” she asked, raising her voice. Karta turned and the two women made direct eye contact. Reno shook his head,

“She’s right Tifa, we can’t hide. She hit the nail right on the damn head. The longer we’re out of site, the harder they’ll search.” Reno sighed and sunk into his seat, “Either way…we’re royally screwed.”

An uncomfortable silence passed as the sick reality of the situation sunk in. Cloud heaved a sigh and stood up.

“Well if this is our situation, we better get as far from Midgar as fast as we can.” He declared. Aerith nodded,

“But there is one problem…how are we going to get to this place? We have to cross the marsh lands and there is that big…snake…thing.” Reno turned and raised an eyebrow at Aerith,

“Big snake thing? Well that tells us a lot Aerith thanks.”

“She means the Midgar Zolom, Reno.” Barret replied quietly.

“We’ll just have to fight it.” Tseng stated. Cloud felt his jaw hit the floor,

“What, are you crazy? We can’t fight that thing.” Tifa nodded,

“He’s right, there is no possible way. We’ll be killed for sure.” Tifa replied, “And I don’t know about the rest of you scum’s, but I don’t want to die.” Naden sat back and looked at each member of the group.

“Why not? I mean, we fought off god knows how many guards in the Shinra Headquarters. We can handle a snake if we work together.” He said quietly. Karta looked over at Naden. She stood up and got directly into his face.

“What do you think this snake looks like Naden, hm? Like a little gardener snakes that you saw when you went outside? Or the Pythons that you read about in third grade? Not in the slightest…Take the picture you have in…” she paused and hit Naden in the forehead, “that blonde head of yours and multiply it by a hundred. This snake could wrap you in its body and crush your soul not to mention your body. This snake could take you in its mouth; its venom seeping through your skin. You would die a slow, painful death…” she paused again and stood up, looking down at her blonde companion. “Do you still want to battle it…?”

The entire room fell into an uncomfortable and deathly silence. Naden looked down at the floor, his ears burned with embarrassment. Karta rubbed her temples, trying to cease the pounding in her head.

“There was a chocobo ranch there at one point, but it was burned to the ground. The family was killed and the chocobo’s were slain. We can’t climb the mountains. Its impossible and there is no way around. We have one choice…” Karta explained, her voice trailing off. Cloud looked up at her,

“We have to battle it.” He said quietly. The group sat silently in the room, each of their minds plagued with similar thoughts. Karta looked from person to person, none of them seemed entirely eager to leave the small town. Karta walked to the far wall where everyone had their weapons stored. She picked up her Rune Blade and shoved it in its sheath behind her. She turned to the group.

“We leave in an hour.” She declared.

*~*~*~*~*

Naden shoved another clip into his shotgun and sighed. He was not looking forward to crossing these marches. He glanced over his shoulder at his companions. Tifa was pulling on her fighting gloves, Reno was charging his Nightstick and Cloud was shoving his Buster Sword into it’s sheath. Naden sighed and walked silently over to Karta. She was leaning against the wall staring out the window. She turned when he was only a few feet away.

“Is there something you want or need to know Naden?” she asked flatly. Naden shook his head and took a step closer to her.

“You seem really distant. Are you alright?” he asked. Karta turned from the window and looked into his eyes.

“What do you think?” she snapped, and she brushed past Naden and to the door. She turned to the group, watching each member for only a moment. Without a word, she turned out the door and descended down the stairs. The Inn manger behind the desk glared at Karta with a strange look in his eyes. She turned and walked up to him, “Can I help you?” she demanded, trying hard not to sound too pushy. He made his eyes narrow slits and stared at her.

“I know who you are.” He declared. Karta raised an eyebrow.

“What of it?” she asked hotly. He smiled slightly,

“There were a lot of rumors flying around when you and your family disappeared. One of them was Shinra had them killed and spared you because you had the talent with a sword, but the one I believe…” he leaned forward and got into Karta’s face, “I believe you turned your family to the system and did the dirty work yourself. That their blood is on your hands, and you know what, girl? I can see it in your eyes. You know I’m right and just looking in your eyes is enough evidence for me and for the police of this town. Go crawl back to Midgar and lick the boots of President—“

The manager did not get to finish his sentence. With lightning fast speed, Karta seized the manager’s collar. With little effort and one arm, she lifted him clear off his feet. His eyes blazed with terror ay her strength and speed.

“Listen to me you lying piece of shit-yard scum, you don’t know anything and you better damn well keep your mouth shut about me and my family. I work for no one…” she sneered. He gasped for breath and whispered,

“That’s not what the girl in the white top said…” Karta took a deep and shaken breath. She glared at the man and then dropped him. He rubbed his neck and glared at her, “What’s the matter, did I hit a soft spot?” Karta turned and shot him an icy glare, she glanced up the stairs to where the group was preparing for battle in her former room.

“What do you think of me now, Tifa? Do you hate me more than you did before? Or do you look at me now through pity’s eyes?” She turned her back to the stairs and stomped angrily to the door. “I don’t want your pity Tifa…I want no one’s pity.” She pushed the door open and stepped into the afternoon sunlight. People turned and started to stare, but she shot every single one of them icy glares and their eyes immediately turned away. She started to wander the streets of the town, every now and then catching a glare from people. The town’s people made a path for her as she shoved her way through the morning crowds. She knew where she was going, although it was an all around bad idea. She was walking directly to where the Shinra lab was.

“Karta?” She whirled around at the sound of her name. It was Aerith. “Everyone is ready to go, we’re just waiting for you.” She said quietly. Karta nodded and looked towards the lab again.

“Let’s get out of here.” Karta stated pushing her way past Aerith.

*~*~*~*~*

Cloud watched Karta come down the street towards to the group. There was more anger in her step; he could only guess what had happened with the Inn manager. The poor manager was as white as a ghost when they came down, and he seemed eager for them to leave. Cloud was not the only one who seemed to notice; the rest of the group was watching Karta with a keener eye. Maybe they all thought that she would freak out or go into State of Mind randomly. He knew that was not possible of course, but the memories of the mangled bodies of the Shinra soldiers…her facial expressions, would make the strongest man’s spine shake.

Cloud sighed and shoved his hands into his pockets; the day was off to a bad start already. He felt a light tap on his shoulder and turned to see Barret standing before him.

“Yeah?” Cloud said, raising his voice so it was in the form of a question.

“I have some business to take care of here, would it be okay if I caught up with you later?” he asked. Cloud thought about it for a moment.

“I don’t know…you won’t be able to make it across the Marches by yourself…we really can’t ‘wait’. “

“I know…don’t wait for me…If I get left behind I’ll find a way to catch a chocobo or something. Don’t worry; I can take care of myself.” Cloud thought about it for a moment,

“All right, but you just be careful. The last thing we all need is the death of a comrade.” Cloud replied, both men slapped a hand together and held sure. Cloud nodded and Barret turned his back on them and strolled back into the heart of town. Cloud turned back to the group and nodded, they all seemed ready to leave, but Karta especially wanted out of the town. No one seemed to mind; the looks were getting old and almost threatening. Cloud turned his back to the town and started out into the fields. Karta was already a good 100 yards in front of them and seemed to have no intentions of slowing down. Tifa and the rest of the group, excluding Cloud, seemed okay with that. There was fear even if no one would come out and admit it. He glanced up ahead and saw Karta waiting for the group atop a hill. She was looking down on Kalm and Midgar, arms folded completely still, and her face emotionless. Cloud walked up and stood next to her.

“What are you looking at?” he asked. She did not respond right away, she just heaved a sigh of relief,

“It’s just good to be getting away.” She turned her back and Cloud was sure he almost saw her smile. “Let’s get going.” Karta pushed her way through the group and started down the backside of the hill. Tifa turned and looked back at Midgar; although she despised the city, she felt slight remorse leaving the place that had been her home for all of those years. Tossing a piece of her chocolate brown hair over her shoulder she followed the rest of the group, lagging behind and deep in thought. Her eyes watched the ground as they trudged on. It was not until something in the grass caught her eye, that she stopped dead in her tracks. She looked down at it. There wasn’t a doubt in her mind it was blood.

“Everyone stop.” Tifa shouted to the group, they all turned and looked at her. “I found blood in the grass and it is human blood.” Karta turned and walked up to Tifa and looked at the small pool on the ground.

“She’s right, it is human blood. And…” she looked down a slight slope to their left, “…whoever it was dragged themselves here or someone else dragged them that way.” She said pointing to the slope. Brushing off her pants, Karta stood up and walked over to the slope. She looked over the edge, muttered something that no one could decipher and jumped down. “Aerith, get over here.” Karta’s demanding voice arose from the ditch. Aerith looked somewhat surprised, but nonetheless she complied. She too looked down the ditch. She gasped.

“Everyone get over here!” she called. The group came running over and looked down. There stood Karta in knee-deep mud, she was frantically digging through the filth uncovering what seemed to be a body. She looked up at them, her face stern.

“Don’t just stand there, come around.” She sneered at them. She pulled the lifeless body from the mud and started to drag him from the muck. Aerith was the first down there, her level two cure materia ready. By now the rest of the group had walked around the hole. Reno pulled out a blanket while Cloud got a spare jacket from his pouch. Karta continued to clear the mud from the human; when it was gone she turned him onto his back on her lap and patted it a few times. He coughed up a combination of mud and blood, but he still wasn’t breathing. Karta tipped their head back and blew some of her own air into his lungs. Meanwhile, Aerith casted her cure materia over and over. After almost five minutes of working, he responded and was breathing on his own. From the looks of it, he was a young man. His eyes were half open, and he looked up into Karta’s eyes.

“Am I dead?” he asked. She rolled her eyes and sighed.

“No, you’re not.” She replied and helped him sit up. Reno handed him the blanket. The young man nodded and wrapped it around himself. Aerith eyed him for a moment.

“Who are you?” she asked. He ran a hand through his mud soaked head, his real hair colored seemed to be a brown with blond from the sun. His eyes were a light and happy, yet nonetheless mysterious, stormy gray with a hint of deep green. He had a lean frame and face that had a happy smile on it, spread across his lips.

“The name is Buck Lundvig.” He replied, putting out a mud soaked hand to Aerith. Despite the filth, Aerith took the hand and shook it. Karta did not seem so happy.

“Do you work for Shinra?” she demanded. Buck shook his head,

“Nope the Shinra are a bunch of no good low lives.” He paused for a moment, “Let me guess, you are all on the run?” Everyone remained silent for a moment. Buck looked from person to person taking in their faces. “I’ll take that as a yes.” The group went completely silent; everyone seemed to be extremely uncomfortable. Karta thought for a moment, how could they trust this “Buck” anyway. She trusted no one especially people with this good of instincts. There was no way he could look at a mortal face and know their thought process. Then again, she remembered that she was like that before the lab. Her parents always said that she had this uncanny sixth sense to people and whether or not they were telling the truth. She studied Buck for a moment, looking into his eyes watching every movement he made. He either was the best liar in the world or he was sincere. As reluctant as she was to admit it, something told her it was the latter.

Reno stood up and stretched. “Let’s go! I want to kick some Zolom ass!” Karta studied the ex-Turk as well. He was young and eager to battle. We’ll see how tough you are when you are face to face with that Zolom. She thought.

Cloud got up as well and turned to the group.

“Reno’s right, let’s get out of here.” He stated. Karta noted that Cloud had certainly become stronger since their last encounter. Aerith looked from person to person, her eyes wide with worry.

“But what about Buck?” she asked. Tifa made her eyes narrow slits and glared down at Aerith. The girl could not take Tifa’s glare and looked away.

“We trust no one.” She stated. Tseng looked up and tilted his head at Tifa.

“You trust people. You trusted Reno and I.” He pointed out. Reno nodded in agreement. Karta stood up and looked at her brown haired companion. Tifa waited for Karta to say that she trusted her, but the words never came. It was then that Tifa figured out that Karta knew that she still did not trust her. Naden nodded and stood up,

“You trusted me…even though I am a stranger to myself.” He explained. Karta looked out into the horizon, the sun had reached high noon over an hour ago. It had to be nearly one in the afternoon and they still had five miles before they got to the marshes. Karta snapped back to reality when Tifa raised her voice.

“How do we know he isn’t a spy?” she screamed. Buck arched an eyebrow at her,

“You know I am standing right here. I may have been unconscious in the mud for god knows how long, but I can still hear.” Buck said, evidently struggling to keep his voice fairly bright. Tifa whirled around to face him.

“Give us one reason to trust you.” She sneered. Karta sighed and glared at Tifa.

“Shut up, Tifa.” She hissed. Tifa felt her mouth hit the ground; no one had dared tell her to shut up…ever. She crossed to Karta and got directly into her face.

“What did you say to me?” she snapped. Karta tilted her head to the side and looked at Tifa. The woman was predicable.

“No.” she stated flatly with a smile. Tifa, on the other hand, looked dumbstruck.

“What…?”

“No, I do not accept the challenge you were about to say. If you wish to battle me, do it when this is all over. Then, whatever hatred and/or grudge you have over me will be settled, but until then, try to keep that fiery temper of yours under control.” No one moved a muscle, they all barely breathed. Karta turned to Buck and looked down at him, “Can you fight?” she asked. Buck nodded.

“My dad taught me how to fight with daggers. I believe they are still with me…” he reached into his jean pocket and pulled out two knife handles with no blades. He smiled when Karta gave him a strange look; he pushed a button and a blade shot out from each end, making perfect daggers. Karta arched an eyebrow and Buck was defeated, There is no way to impress this girl is there? he thought.

“How good are you?” she asked, jerking him back to reality.

“Pretty good I guess but I’m more of a computer man…” Karta narrowed her eyes at him and gave him a strange look. She put off some questions until after they crossed the marshes. She heaved a sigh,

“Come on. Lundvig, you’re coming too, but if you get in the way one of two things will happen. One: we’ll leave you in some random town, drugged. Or two: we’ll kill you. For your own safety, I would recommend keeping up.” She said glancing over her shoulder. Buck nodded and jumped to his feet. He was still covered in mud, but no one seemed to really care and neither did he. They were crossing the marshes; they were going to be beyond dirty. Tifa clenched her fists and pushed Buck out of her way as she stomped after Karta. He stumbled back slightly and gave Tifa a strange look.

“Is it me she doesn’t like or does she act like that to everyone?” Buck asked, turning his gaze to the men of the group. They all nodded in unison. Aerith felt a smile spread as she passed the men. They all turned and followed the girls north.

*~*~*~*~*

Tifa stepped over the last hill, she could see the remnants of the Chocobo Ranch. Pieces of burnt wood and half full bags of seed lined the ground. Nearby, three gravestones sat surrounded by fresh flowers.

“They were killed a year ago today.” A voice from behind her said. Tifa turned to see Karta walking up and looking at the remains. Tifa raised an eyebrow at her.

“How would you know?” she grumbled. Karta turned and looked at Tifa, her eyes turning to a deep forest green.

“I knew that family Tifa. They lent me a Chocobo when I had no money. The let me sleep in one of their beds and gave me food for nothing. They took me in when I was hurt.” She paused, “They reminded me of my parents and sister…so I felt at peace there.” Her voice trailed off. Tifa watched Karta for a moment, she was extremely miserable with life. The rest of the group caught up and also looked at the ranch remains. The marsh could be seen nearly; none of them were particularly eager to battle the Zolom. The sun was setting behind the mountains, and Aerith shivered.

“Karta, can we wait until morning to battle this thing?” she asked. Karta did not respond, she just watched the marshes. “…Karta?” She nodded and turned to the group.

“I have crossed these marshes before, but never on foot. The best time is right before dawn, when the Zolom is just waking up. I don’t want to hear ‘let’s cross now while it’s asleep’ crap from anyone.” She pointed to the marshes, “We wake that thing up and we’ll have one very cranky Zolom to deal with.” She replied. The group nodded and planned to make camp near the house. Although Karta wanted to be as far away from the ruins as possible she just had to look around. As the group put up camp, Karta wandered to the far side of the house. The fire had, without a doubt, been started from the outside. Every door and window was locked. Karta did not need to look anymore for she already knew the truth. They were murdered. She turned and saw the sun dip behind the mountains, turning the sky from blue to an orange-yellow. Around the bend, a fire was being lit, food prepared and guard duties were being assigned. All the while, Karta could feel that things were going to dramatically change in the near future.

*~*~*~*~*

Buck silently finished the last of his dinner, watching each member of his new companions. They were quite a bunch; each of them had their strengths, weaknesses and different personalities. They did not seem like they should all be traveling together; they were all too different. He glanced past the fire and saw the girl, Karta, sitting far away from the rest of the group, staring blankly into the fire, the flames dancing in her eyes. Buck stood up and walked over to her. She did not acknowledge that he was standing over her so he sat down next to her. That, she noticed.

“What do you want?” she snapped. Buck raised an eyebrow at her and looked at the fire. There was a moment of silence and he could feel her eyes on him.

“Can a man not sit and watch the fire?” he asked, sarcasm dripping from his words. He turned and faced her, she glared angrily at him and with no words, and Buck got his answer: no.

“No one sits near me unless they have a question about something. I wish to keep it that way.” She glared at him harder, “Now, what do you want?” Buck raised an eyebrow at her,

“Well…um…Cloud told me about the conversations in Kalm and I just---“

“You don’t want to finish that sentence.” She sneered. Buck shut his mouth and turned to the fire, “You came here to offer me pity? I would recommend that you spread the word: I want no one’s pity.” She stood up and glared down at him, “Especially from anyone here.” With that, she turned her back on him and walked away, to the far side of the house, away from the fire and the group. Buck looked down at the ground and played with the dirt. Naden watched him for a moment before venturing over and sitting down next to his new companion. Neither of them spoke, for neither of them knew how to start the conversation. Naden finally spoke,

“Don’t take it too personally, she’s like that to everyone.” Buck nodded,

“I can see that but…I can see that in ways she is emotional as much as she may hide it.” He turned and faced Naden, “Can you see it too?” Naden thought for a moment,

“Yeah…I guess I can. There is a lot of pain and betrayal in her. There is more to the story then she is telling us…” Naden whispered. Buck nodded in agreement and they both stared at the fire, unmoving and not uttering a word. Nearby, away from the fire and the group, Karta lay on her back staring at the sky. Her hands behind her head, Karta smiled slightly to herself,

“You won’t win…” she whispered into the night. Smoke from the fire rose into the sky, bits of ash and flame settled themselves in the crisp night. A slight wind blew them out and across the field, across many lands…to a pale, scrawny hand. It snatched the ashes up and gently brought them to their face. He took a deep sniff of the ashes, the smell of their enemies gently touching his senses. He grinned this was perfect…

*~*~*~*~*

Barret wandered silently along the quiet streets of Kalm. He was not sure why he had decided to stay behind but he had. He did not feel…right with all of them. “Maybe I’ll just stay here and make a life for myself.” He thought, shoving his good hand into his pocket. “But if Tifa ever finds out, she would kill me.” He stopped and thought that over again. “Why do I fear Tifa so much? Maybe it’s because, although I am bigger, she has a better mind then me…” Barret walked deeper into town and looked around. Something did not feel right…the town was deathly quiet and it was not that late. There were no crickets, no voices from the bar, just a bone chilling silence. Barret gulped and walked slightly quicker down the street. It was not until a few moments later that he realized that he was right in front of the lab where Karta and her family had been tortured and tested. He gulped and stared at the door in front of him. The temptation was too great, he reached forward and pushed the slightly open door and stepped inside.

The first thing Barret noticed was the reeking smell. It was obvious to anyone what it was the smell of blood and burning human flesh. Barret checked his gun arm; he had a full clip locked and ready to fire. He quietly crept around the corner and looked into the main room. A man was leaning over an operating table deeply involved with something. Barret silently raised his gun when he saw the man sit up straight and look straight ahead. Barret could hear the man laughing silently.

“Come in Mr. Wallace, I know you are there.” An all too familiar voice spoke out. Barret froze and lowered his gun, his mouth dropping open. The man at the table turned around with lightning speed and fired a gun at Barret. He had no time to duck, or dive out of the way; the bullet came flying through the air hitting Barret directly in the stomach. He could feel the bullet tear at his skin, piercing his heart and stomach. The force had sent him flying through the air and against a wall. The man at the operation table strolled over to Barret’s withering body. He smiled and leaned over, staring into Barret’s eyes. “Good night…Barret…” he whispered as Barret’s vision fuzzed over and faded.

*~*~*~*~*

The morning sun rose over the horizon, turning the black night sky a light, cherry red and pastel orange. Karta stood atop the hill nearby watching the sunrise. She sighed deeply,

“I have to admit…this world is pretty much screwed over but even so…” her voice trailed off. Footsteps approached and she turned to see Cloud climbing the hill. He smiled,

“It’s beautiful.” He stated, finishing the climb and also looking out at the sunrise. “I couldn’t help but overhear…sorry.” Karta waved her hand and Cloud interpreted it as “that’s okay”. They both stared out at the horizon, silent and still. Movement beneath consisted of everyone packing their gear and preparing for battle. Karta sighed as the sun made its way over the mountains.

“Let’s go; we need to cross as soon as possible.” She said, turning her back and starting down the hill. Cloud nodded and followed. They both looked out at their companions. Cloud turned to Tifa,

“Any sign of Barret?” he asked. Tifa shook her head,

“Not a sign and not a word.” She stated. Cloud titled his head slightly,

“You think we should wait?” he asked. Tifa shook her head,

“There is no need to because I know he didn’t stay to quote – unquote “do something”. He stayed because he doesn’t wanna come with us. He wussed out.” She replied, folding her arms and leaning on one leg. Reno ran a hand through his fire red hair and avoided eye contact. Buck silently sharpened his daggers while Tseng and Naden both checked their guns. Karta raised an eyebrow at Tifa and sighed again.

“Let’s go.” She stated, pushing her way through her companions. They nodded to each other and started towards the marsh. Karta turned to them and nodded, she stepped into the murky water. She sunk in ankle deep mud, weeds and water. Unfazed by the slime, Karta started to trudge through the water. Reno sighed and also stepped into the marshes; he made a slight face before also walking after Karta. Next came Cloud, followed by Naden, Buck and Tifa. Tseng took his step when he looked over his shoulder and saw Aerith standing there, making a face at the marsh.

“Come on, Aerith.” He said, gesturing to her with his hand. She shook her head,

“No, that’s disgusting.” She declared shaking her head again. “I am not going in there.” Tseng blinked a few times before putting out a hand to help her.

“You can’t very well stay here.” He told her. Aerith sighed and nodded. Taking a deep breath, she took Tseng’s hand and stepped into the marsh. Making a face of disgust, she picked up her dress and started to walk. The group stayed close together in fear of being separated and running into the Zolom. They walked in silence for nearly an hour before Karta stopped dead in her tracks.

“Listen.” She whispered. The group fell silent; they could hear it. The Midgar Zolom was hot on their trail and was nearby. They could hear it’s humungous body moving through the water; it’s huge tongue smelling for them. Karta drew her Rune Blade and got into fighting position. “Prepare yourselves.” Naden and Tseng both cocked their guns, Tifa cracked her knuckles, Reno turned on his NightStick, Buck pulled out his daggers and Cloud drew his sword. The sounds were drawing closer; Aerith began to shiver. The water started to move, splashing waves against their legs. Karta glanced around; it was coming. She turned to her left and saw a shape flying towards them. “Duck!” she screamed.

The Midgar Zolom exploded from the water and let out a terrifying hiss. The companions spread in all directions to avoid being under the creature when it arose. Reno’s eyes grew large as he saw how huge the creature was.

“Holy mother fucker!” he shouted. Karta ignored him. She charged forward, her Rune Blade set to kill. She jumped into the air and shoved her blade into the snake. The Zolom threw its head back and reared a scream in agony. Tseng and Naden stood their ground and started to shoot at the snake’s head. The bullets had no affect what so ever and it seemed to anger the monster even more. Karta yanked her blade out of the snakes back; it’s sticky red blood flowing from the gaping wound. She raised her blade to stab the snake again, but the snake slid out of the way and used its tail to hit her directly in the stomach. The force of the blow sent her rolling back a few feet but Karta rolled on her shoulder and stood, glaring at the snake. Cloud charged at the snake, Buster Sword in hand. He spun around and sliced down the snakes’ torso. The blade sliced down, cutting deep. Red blood steadily flowed from the Zolom’s wounds, turning the surrounding water a deep crimson but nonetheless the creature did not give in. Tifa ran forward and started to slash at the snake with her dragon claws blind with fury.

Meanwhile, Naden, Tseng, Reno and Aerith had their own problems to deal with. While the others were fighting the Zolom, the noise of the battle had drawn other unwanted company to their position. Aerith was terrified and had planted herself to the ground of the marsh. Around her stood Naden and Tseng with their shotguns raised and Reno’s NightStick crackling. Each monster came seemed to be trying to get to the Zolom, maybe to help it. Reno saw a creature get by the fast shots of Naden and Tseng. He grinned, and ran over to the monster. Before the beast had time to react, Reno had hit him over the head with 300 volts and a metal bar, but the small minions kept coming and they had only so many bullets…

Buck stood still for a moment thinking what he should do with his knives. When he saw the main problem in this battle he decided to take it into his own hands. The Zolom’s head came down low and Buck ran in for the opportunity. As soon as it was low enough he ran forward with a knife in each hand. The knife in his left hand went high above his head and slammed down into the Zolom’s head. The second knife, on the other hand, was used to disarm the Zolom of all of its senses. When the snake opened its mouth to hiss, the blade slammed into its skull, Buck brought the second knife around and sliced off the Midgar Zolom’s tongue.

Seeing a window of opportunity, Cloud and Karta both followed Buck’s blow by shoving their own blades into the Zolom’s torso. Reno whirled around and saw that they were putting on the finishing blows. Tifa went to the Zolom’s head and shoved the blades of her Dragon Claws into its head. Reno charged his NightStick to a deathly pulse.

“Get back!” he called. As soon as they were all away from the fading snake, Reno unleashed the pulse. The Zolom jumped from the jolt, but lay still. Everyone stood for a moment, ready to strike again at the slightest moment. A few minutes past and there was no movement. Karta sighed and shoved her bloody blade into her sheath.

“It’s dead.” She declared. A course of “Yes’s” and “all right’s” came out. Karta spoke up again, “No time to celebrate; another Zolom will sense this one’s death and come after it’s killers for revenge. We must travel quickly.” Buck nodded and walked over to the Zolom’s limp body and yanked out his dagger. Karta watched him for a moment, “You handled yourself fairly well, Lundvig. Maybe you won’t be a burden after all.” With those words, she turned and jogged through the marsh. When no one followed she turned. “Unless you wish to battle another one, or two at a time, I suggest you walk much faster.”

That was all they needed to hear. They all broke into jogs although they were all exhausted from the previous battle. After all they had run a good 100 yards; Karta froze. She listened,

“Run!” she screamed. They all turned around to see the outlines of two Midgar Zolom’s coming at them with lightning fast speed. Karta pushed everyone in front of her and shouted to the leader, who just happened to be Cloud, “Run straight ahead, you can’t miss it!” And she was right, no sooner had she said that then Cloud felt dry land.

“Everyone, it’s right here!” He yelled. Cloud stood by the entrance to make sure everyone got in. First it was Aerith, followed by Tseng, Naden, Reno, and Tifa, and Buck. Cloud turned to see Karta emerge from the mist, running for her life. Two Zolom’s were right behind her. “Come on Karta, hurry!” Cloud shouted. She picked up more speed and almost dove into the cave; Cloud directly behind her. There was a humungous crash from the force of the two Zolom’s hitting the sidewalls, trying to follow them. The mines shook and rattled, pieces of rock and dirt began to fall.

“Cave in!” Buck screamed, as the entire ceiling fell on the small group of companions, sending them all into what seemed like eternal darkness.

“Did you hear that? Sounded like the Mythirl Mines had another cave in” Cid Highwind turned his head and glanced in the direction of the mines. He narrowed his eyes and watched the area for a moment.

“Looks like it did. Most likely it was just a Zolom hitting the edge of the mines again. You know those moronic creatures seem to find that beyond amusing and I’ll be damned if I know why.” He turned back to his fellow workman. The young man stood near Cid, watching the mines as well, a pensive look on his young features. Straggly brown hair fell into his deep green eyes and a pair of square, black-rimmed glasses sat on his nose. His hands were in his pockets of his jeans that were stained with oil and a white t-shirt with black smears all over the front and back. He looked like a child who came from working on his father’s car. “How old can he be?” Cid thought to himself, “He can’t be any more than nineteen, twenty at the most. So much youth, what is he doing in a place like this? Why work for the resistance where you could be killed? Why risk it at such a young age? I swear…I will never understand the youth of this world.” He shook his head, pulling himself away from his thoughts. “We have an airship to fix, we need to stop talking and get back to working.” Cid managed to put an edge to his voice that drew his companion out of his own mind. The young man nodded.

“Yes, we need to get the Highwind fixed as soon as possible. That’s what the boss said.” He turned and went to the propeller on the left side. Cid watched him before heading over to look at his blue prints for the Highwind. Someone had shot at the ship three days before, the last time they were on patrol, and decimated the entire left wing and propeller. The repairs were going to take at least a week and that was if they worked straight for seven days with little or no rest. Cid had the ambition to do that and he knew that he could survive a few days without a lot of sleep, but finding someone else to work those long days was another story all together. He glanced over at the other worker, his name still unknown to Cid, and watched him try to put the propeller into a semi reasonable pile of pieces. They had been working for nearly two hours and he still had no idea who this man was.

“Hey rookie.” Cid called to the man. He looked up at Cid and was standing tall in a moment.

“Yes sir?” he replied, his voice was steady and strong.

“What’s your name?” Cid asked. The young man blinked once.

“Lionel…Lionel Phillips, sir.” He replied. Cid nodded at Lionel and gave him a half smile.

“Can the formalities Lionel.”

“I’m sorry sir, but I cannot show disrespect for the man who is second in command of this operation. If I do not show respect then I will disgrace us.” Lionel’s face was completely serious and there was little evidence of any other emotion. Cid felt his smile grow before he burst into laughter. Lionel looked like someone slapped him across the face. “Did I say something funny, sir?” Cid smiled broadly at the boy.

“We are a resistance group Lionel, not an army. We are equals, I assure you of that.” Cid replied, the humor still evident in the tone of his voice. “Now, shall we get back to work Lionel?”

Lionel seemed dumbstruck. The young man stared at Cid for a moment before nodding. Cid also nodded before turning and examining the plans some more. Lionel watched the older pilot for a moment before looking towards the Mythril Mines; silently hoping no one was caught in the mess.

*~*~*~*~*

Cloud…

“What…who are you…where am I?”

I am the one you subconsciously seek…

“What…are you talking about?”

You know what I mean, my child…

“’Your child’? I am no one’s ‘child’…now who are you? Tell me.

Persistent as ever I see…you are buried under rock now, my child, you are merely contacting me while you lie unconscious. Your comrades all lie near to you…all unconscious from the falling rock…

“…and of my friends health? Are any of them wounded?”

Heh heh, a mine collapses on you…and you think no one was hurt? Oh yes, a few of them are very wounded…

 “I need to wake up…I need to help them.”

Worry not about them…my child…for now is the time when you need to help me.

"I won’t help you unless I know who you are.”

You know who I am…you need to dig deep…into the depths of your memory and of your mind. I am there…I am always there.

“I…don’t understand…”

I did not expect you to…I am the essence that breathes life into you child…I am the power that gives you your strength…I am the will that keeps you going every moment of every day…

“…And what does that make you then?”

I am your life…and I am your keeper. I am your Mother…and you are my child. You walk when I see fit…you speak when I permit it…and you will come to me when I call you…regardless of what may stand in your way…and who you might have to cut down in the process.

“You speak of me killing those I hold dear…”

No one will stand between my children and I…nothing will stop me from taking all of you back to me…if I say that you must kill them all…you will kill them all…

“No.”

Excuse me?

“I said “no”, I will not cut down my friends for any reason. I don’t care who you are. I will not take their lives and you will not make me.”

Fool! You think you have the power? Foolish boy! Still so young not knowing what powers he meddles with! You will come to me whether you like it or not…I will not be defied by the likes of a mortal!

*~*~*~*~*

Reno’s eyes felt like they were clamped shut. His entire body was numb with a dull tingling occasionally. “I have to move…I’ll move eventually…” he thought. “But what if I’m paralyzed? What if this cave in crushed my spine and I’ll never move again? God, then I’ll pull the bloody trigger myself.” He felt air brush up against his face and his eyes slowly open. Everything seemed hazed over for a moment before his eyes focused on Aerith. She looked very worried.

“Are you all right?” she asked, her voice was light and timid. Reno could see that she had various cuts and bruises, her hair was lined with dust and her hair ribbon was gone. There were small droplets of blood on her pink dress and dirt smudged her face. Reno struggled to smile.

“Yeah, sure, I’m all right babe.” His voice was hoarse and Reno hardly recognized his own voice. Aerith visibly winced when she heard him speak.

She bit on her bottom lip and studied him for a moment. His hair was matted in all directions and there was a deep gash on his forehead, a small trail a blood ran down his right temple. His right arm was badly broken, it was so bent and disfigured that there was no other conclusion. He did not look “all right”, but she did not see anything that was life threatening. She nodded slightly to and glanced around the cave. She knew she was the only one who had not been hit by the fallen rocks. She had no idea how she had managed to avoid the collapsing ceiling, but when she awoke she had a thick layer of dust over her, but no injuries minus cuts and bruises. Reno was, unfortunately, the only one she had been able to find.

You stay here then…I’ll try and find the others.” Her voice was unsteady, yet determined. Reno started to protest before the girl stood and started to move some rocks to his right away. Reno watched her with lazy eyes, wanting to help, but knowing that he would only hurt himself further.

Aerith struggled to move the masses of rock away, hoping praying for any sign of a body. As she rolled a bolder away, she saw an arm amongst the rocks. She gasped when she saw blood all over the rocks around that arm. She quickly started to push the rock away with frantic desperation. As the rocks fell away, Aerith uncovered the mangled body of Tseng.

Oh my god…” she whispered as she looked down at the man. ‘Mangled’ was not the right word to describe the former Turk’s condition. There was an extremely deep cut along his forehead that still bled, leaving blood to fall off the side of his face. He lay on his stomach and Aerith could see a small pool of blood forming around the man. His clothes were torn and blood soaked and as more ruble fell away from him Aerith could see that both of his legs were broken in horrible ways. There was a flower of crimson blood at the center of his back so dark that it looked like a wilted rose. As more of him became visible, the more Aerith felt her heart start to race. She rolled away the last bolder and kneeled next to him. Her hand trembled as she reached for a pulse. “Please…god…let him be alive.”

A light pulse thumped beneath Aerith’s fingers and she felt her entire body relax. He had a pulse, it was a light one, but he had a pulse. She gently started to pull him out into the open, struggling to be as gentle as she could. He made no noise of protest, he was very much unconscious. Silently, Aerith prayed that he was not in a coma. She laid him on the ground not far from Reno.

Reno glanced up and saw Aerith place Tseng near him. He felt his eyes open wide when he saw the condition of his friend. Reno tried to move so he could get closer when an unbearable pain shot up his right arm. He bit his tongue so hard that he tasted blood. He blinked away the stars that had formed in front of his eyes and looked at his right arm. It was twisted in such a way that he was not sure if it was ever going to heal properly. He found that he was panting slightly, his right arm was his dominant arm, and he could not fight with his other arm. He looked back at Aerith who was trying to put something over Tseng’s worst wounds to stop the bleeding. Reno took a deep breath and spoke.

“Aerith…you can use some of my jacket. I have a shirt underneath, I don’t need it.” His voice sounded a little more sturdy than before, but a lot quieter. Aerith glanced up at him; her green eyes were full of despair and her express was full of a sense of helplessness. She nodded slightly and walked over to him. Reno watched her as she ripped a strip of cloth off of his jacket and walked back to Tseng, wrapping the cloth around his head. She wiped a bit of perspiration from her forehead and stood. She glanced at the tall piles of rock and hoped that someone in there would be strong enough to help her find the others.

*~*~*~*~*

“I don’t know why you keep bothering me, I’ve made up my mind, and I will not hurt my friends or anyone else to help the likes of you.”

You cannot ignore me forever Cloud, eventually, I will convince you to do my bidding. I have made the strongest male bow down…what makes you think that you are any different?

“I assure you, I am different. There is no way in hell I will break.”

Perhaps it is time I began to show you just how much power I have over not only you, but others around you.

“And just what do you mean by that?”

No reply.

“…hello?”

Still no reply.

“Where did you go?”

Silence.

“Answer me!”

*~*~*~*~*

Aerith cried out in pain. She knew that she must have pulled some muscles while trying to move these rocks. She still had no found anyone else and she knew that it was entirely possible that Tseng or Reno or both had internal bleeding. “I need to get them to a hospital soon.” She pushed another bolder to the side and found locks on long, brown hair. Tifa. She frantically pushed rocks away and found Tifa. She was unconscious, but it looked like she did not get the full force of the cave in. She had the remains of a bloody nose and a split lip on her face. Aerith pulled her out of the ruble, struggling not to knock her around too much. Tifa groaned in pain slightly and Aerith let out a sigh of relief. She set Tifa down by Tseng just as the woman’s brown eyes opened.

She blinked lazily as her gazed fixed on Aerith. Tifa sat up and her and the cave spun. She fell back down, breathing hard, her hand resting on her forehead. “God damn it…what the hell happened?” She asked.

“There was a cave in and we were all almost crushed.” Reno replied, his voice was now louder and he sounded a little more like himself. Tifa glanced over and saw the ex-Turk sprawled out amongst the rocks. He looked conscious enough with no serious injuries besides a very broken arm. Tifa looked away from him and sat up again, slower this time. Thankfully, the room did not spin this time.

“How are you feeling?” Aerith asked, she was sitting at the base of Tifa’s feet, watching the woman with worried green eyes. Tifa rubbed her temples and sighed.

“A bump on the head, but I’ll be fine.” She replied. She looked around. The only people that were sitting with them were the two Turks and Aerith. “Where are the others?”

"That’s why I was wondering how you were feeling. We need to find them and get the wounded some treatment. I don’t have enough energy to heal everyone with serious wounds. Will you help me look for them?” Aerith asked, her eyes were pleading. Tifa made a face.

“We should find Cloud and Naden, but let’s leave the bitch and that other guy behind. Let them find each other.” She replied and her voice was cold. “Besides, they’re the one’s who got us into this mess.” Aerith blinked and exchanged a surprise expression with Reno. She looked back at Tifa and could not hold the disbelief in her eyes.

“You really would leave them here to die…wouldn’t you?” She asked, her voice small. Tifa stared back at the girl and sighed.

“No…I guess it would be a real pain if they somehow survived and came back to kill me out of revenge. Fine, we find everyone.” She replied pushing herself to her feet. She felt her knees wobble and her legs were about to give out when Aerith snatched Tifa’s arm and held her steady. Tifa looked at Aerith and the two woman held each other’s gaze for a moment. After a moment of silence, Tifa spoke. “Let’s find the others and get the hell out of here.” Aerith nodded and released Tifa’s arm. She had not expected a word of thanks, but people who were ungrateful for kindness were always the people that Aerith seemed to dislike the most. She turned and Tifa followed and the two women started to push the rocks away. Deep down, Tifa hoped that no one was dead.

*~*~*~*~*

I see that with me gone you began to gain something of a temper. Does not having answers truly disturb you that much?

“What did you mean before…when you said you were going to prove your power?”

Oh…you shall see, my child, you shall see.

“I suppose I shall.”

I sense no fear in you.

“That makes a lot of sense: I’m not afraid of you.”

Why?

“Because why should I fear the little voice in the back of my brain?”

Fool, you still think you are just hearing voices.

“I don’t think, I know.”

Indeed, we shall see how much you know pet, we shall see.

*~*~*~*~*

“I think I found someone Tifa.” Aerith announced. Tifa turned and walked over to wear Aerith was kneeling. They started to pull the rocks away and soon the body of Naden appeared. He seemed to be conscious surprisingly enough. He blinked a few times when he saw the two girls. Aerith sighed in relief. He seemed a bit confused with everything that was happening, but unhurt to the naked eye.

“Good, at least someone isn’t dying on us.” Tifa announced.

“I’m not dying” Reno shouted across the room, with a stupid grin on his face. The two woman glanced over their shoulders and heaved sighs. Aerith touched Naden’s shoulder and he turned to her. His blue eyes seemed so lost, so confused by everything around him.

“Do you know who I am Naden?” she asked, a hint of fear in her voice. The last thing they needed was another wave of amnesia on top of the one he already had. He nodded,

“Yes...I know who you are.” he answered. Aerith breathed a sigh of relief. She pulled him to his feet gingerly with the unwilling help of Tifa. They helped him over to the cleared area and set him down on the ground. Something in his eyes made Tifa look at him again. She knelt down and stared into his eyes. He looked back and blinked in confusion. She pulled out a piece of lightning materia and made the orb glow brightly. She put it close to Naden’s eyes and watched his pupils. They did not dilate. Tifa cursed under her breath.

“Naden, you can’t fall asleep. Do you hear me? You cannot fall asleep.” Tifa said, making her voice hard. His eyes widened slightly and his face faded to a pale white.

“W...why?” he asked, his voice trembling slightly. Aerith glanced over her shoulder at them, a troubled expression crossing her features. Tifa looked mildly amused by the frightened reaction she received from Naden.

“It’s nothing really serious so stop being all mellow-dramatic. It’s only a concussion, but it would be better if you stayed awake. We really don’t need you slipping into a coma.” Tifa replied pushing herself to her feet. She glanced over at Aerith. “Who are we missing?”

“Karta, Cloud, and Buck.” Aerith replied. Tifa heaved a sigh and looked at the pile of rock. They could be anywhere in that pile and for all she knew they could only find corpses.

“Let’s just hurry up and find them.” Tifa grumbled.

*~*~*~*~*

Cloud...

“You again? Don’t you ever leave me alone? Why can’t you just go away so I can wake up.”

Why do you waste your time with these weaklings. You have more important matters to take care of. Let us not worry about that for now. Shall we invite a friend of yours into your head to join our conversation?

“What?”

Oh, do you not want someone else in your head?

“I don’t even want you in my head.”

So I gathered. No matter though, what you want matters not. Only what I want matters and you will soon learn that. You will soon learn that you cannot defy me.

*~*~*~*~*

“...Wonderful my dear...positively wonderful...”

“...I can’t believe that you made me do that...”

“...You did it all of your free will...I never said you had to take the test...I just said it was a test...”

“...You did this to break me...”

“...You are of no use to us broken...you know that...”

“...Let me wash my hands...please...let me wash the blood away...”

“...No...that blood will never wash away...never...you struck down your family...and their blood will never wash away...”

“I think I found someone!”

“...This is only the beginning...”

“Tifa, it’s Karta.”

“...The blood will come...”

“Of course, the stupid bitch had to get herself completely buried. Can’t we just leave her for someone else to dig out?”

“...It will flow like a river...”

“Tifa...please...just help me move these rocks...”

“...The world will bleed...”

“Thank god, she doesn’t seem to be hurt at all. That means she can help us find the other two. She’ll be of some use.”

“...The world will suffer...”

“Come on, wake up. We need you to help us find Cloud and Buck.”

“...All by your hand...”

“Wake up, dammit.”

“...And all for...”

“I think she’s coming around.”

“...Her...”

*~*~*~*~*

Karta’s eyes open very slowly. The world seemed to be covered in a haze that was slowly being pulled away. She blinked and her deep blue eyes focused on the faces of Tifa and Aerith. They were hovering over her. Aerith looked relieved when her eyes focused on them while Tifa’s face held a look that screamed, “well it’s about time you woke up”. Karta licked her lips and slowly sat up.

“Are you all right?” A voice asked. Karta glanced in the direction of the voice and it took a moment for her to realize that it was Aerith talking to her. She made eye contact with the young girls tired green eyes.

“Yes Aerith...I’m fine...just a little dizzy...” Karta replied though her voice held a little uncertainty. Tifa eyed the red haired girl for a moment, searching her face to see if she could catch a glimpse of what was going through the girls head. Much to her disappointment it seemed that Karta had once again managed to cover up all of her emotions. Karta glanced over at Tifa and for a moment the two women stared at each other locked in a common feeling that neither could quite place. Tifa was the first to look away as she pushed herself to her feet.

“We still have two people to find and you’re going to help us.” Tifa stated making it more of an order than a request for help. Karta blinked once and nodded slightly.

“Yeah...sure...” she said in a tired voice. She stood and looked at the pile of rocks and then her eyes drifted to group of human mass across the cave room. “Yes...we need to move faster. They need medical attention.” She turned towards the pile and started to pull rocks away. Aerith and Tifa went their separate ways and the girls continued to search for the last of their missing companions.

Karta easily moved a rather large rock and blinked back a surprise expression. There sat Cloud, his back to a large rock. Above him a flat piece of rock spread across and formed a protective shielding from the tons of sand and stone above him. On each side there was a large rock that acted as a wall between him and the rest of the debris. He did not have a scratch on his body, not a drop of blood and it looked like not a strand of his blond hair was out of place. Karta knelt down and reached out to Cloud. Something’s here...with him...and it feels familiar. Though I can’t put my finger on what it could be. What saved you Cloud? What prevented you from getting hurt? She thought to herself. She touched one of his hands and his Mako blue eyes fluttered open. He blinked a few times and his eyes focused on Karta. There was something in them, a certain look of complete fear. He smiled slightly and the bled away slowly.

“Hey Karta.” His voice seemed steady enough though Karta knew better than to push anything that might be going on in Cloud Strife’s head.

“Come on...we need your help finding Buck and getting the wounded some help.” she stated, standing and moving out of the way for Cloud to crawl out of the mess of ruble. He stood up and as he did so Aerith called out to them.

“I found someone.” Tifa looked up from where she was looking and joined Aerith in pulling the bloody body of Buck out of debris. As they gently carried him over to the other they looked up and saw Cloud. Both women looked relieved to see that everyone had been dug out of the mess. They gently sat Buck down and looked down at him. Much like Tseng, Buck was also a bloody mess though it seemed that he had one deep gash in his stomach that was still bleeding steadily. Aerith quickly covered the wound with some more strips from Reno’s jacket and looked up at her companions. “We need to hurry.”They all exchanged looks and nodded. Karta walked over to Naden and offered him her hand.

“Can you walk?” she asked, struggling to keep her voice from sounding hard. He clasped her hand and she pulled him to his feet. He blinked at her and nodded. Reno grit his teeth and used his good arm to stand. His knees began to shake, but he held his ground. Cloud watched him and then glanced at Naden.

“Naden, Reno, it seemed that both of you can walk, but not steadily. Lean on each other and help each other walk.” He turned to Tifa, Aerith and Karta. “Aerith, you walk with those two and make sure that they make it without falling. Tifa, you and me will carry Tseng because we need to keep his legs as straight as possible. We will use my sword as well as Karta’s as a splint to keep them straight and make it easier for us to carry him. Karta, can you manage to carry Buck on your own?” Karta nodded in response as she handed him her sword. “Perfect, okay, let’s get out of here.” Everyone went to work. Aerith got in between Reno and Naden, letting them lean on her shoulders. Cloud and Tifa quickly placed the swords on Tseng’s legs making splints. Tifa picked Tseng up by his arms while Cloud picked up legs being as gentle as possible. Karta glanced down at Buck and sighed. She picked him up and wrapped his arms around her back and used his legs to hold him to her back. She nods at the rest of the group and as carefully as possible, they began pick their way through the mine.

*~*~*~*~*

“Did you hear that, Mr. Highwind?” Lionel asked as he looked up from his work. Cid heaved a sigh and glanced over at the young mechanic.

“For the last time Lionel, call me Cid and I did hear that. Someone is knocking on the fort door.” Cid replied, wiping the oil from his hands with a rag. “It’s most likely some Shinra soldiers coming to threaten us again. Come on and bring a gun with you.” Cid took his Venus Gospel in one hand and the two men started down the fort. The dirt hallways were cool and dim lights hung from the ceiling. A few people in the rooms off to the side nodded or waved at the pair. Cid walked at a quick pace leaving Lionel to jog to keep up with the older man. When they got to the door, Cid turned to Lionel. “Don’t let them see your gun, but have it hidden to a point so you can act quickly.”

“What if they attack us first, Cid?” Lionel asked. Cid just smiled.

“Then they attack us first.” Cid replied with a smirk. Lionel felt his hands start to tremble as Cid opened the door.

Hello Reader;

For some reason you have stumbled on my oldest and probably worst fan fiction I have written to date. It begin way back in the day and it ended in the beginning of college. The fact of the matter is that it just is too bad and has too many errors for me to even think about finishing it. I just don’t have the motivation to do so and it’s just the way things go. It’s the length of a novella, the longest fan fiction I’ve ever written and I’ll always have a soft spot for it, but Legacy of the Past is discontinued. I am truly sorry for the broken promise I made to someday finish it.

Sincerely.

Safaia