The Planet's Enemy: Chapter 8

[ebonrune]

Title: The Planet's Enemy
Author: Ebonrune
Rating: PG13
Warnings: Possible swears and violence
Disclaimer: I of course, do not own Final Fantasy VII or any of the compilation. That pleasure belongs to Square-Enix.
Status: Complete
Summary: It's been half a year since Omega was sent back to its rest and everyone has moved on with their lives. As Cloud and his friends soon discover however, the past refuses to remain buried.
Author's Notes: This story occurs post Dirge of Cerberus and makes references to it, as well as Crisis Core, the original Final Fantasy VII, Advent Children Complete, and Before Crisis--a game released on cellphones only in Japan. As well, I've chosen to use the fan names (according to the Final Fantasy wiki) for Cloud's various swords, since they don't have official names and 'Tsurugi' is Japanese for 'sword'. As the swords are not labeled which is which on the wiki, here's the picture for your reference.
Prequel: Ties of Friendship
Chapter Links: One Two Three Four Five Six Seven Nine Ten Eleven Twelve Thirteen Fourteen Fifteen



"Yuffie."

The voice came from behind her and the young ninja jumped, giving a squeak of surprise. She had been lost in thought and so the sudden speech had badly startled her. She spun around to glare at the man who had spoken to her.

"Damnit Vinny, stop being so quiet! You scared me half to death!" She sputtered at him.

"Ah. My apologies." Vincent responded blandly, not sounding at all contrite. He hopped down off the concrete block he had been crouched on and stepped over to her. "It seems you made good time from the Shinra building."

"Never underestimate the speed of a Wutai ninja!" Yuffie said proudly, puffing out her chest a bit. She blinked then and straightened up. "But what're you doing out here, Vincent? I thought you'd gone with the others."

"I had." Vincent stepped past her, clearly expecting her to simply follow him. "But we will be shortly departing for the Western continent, so I thought it best to find you."

"We're heading to Western?" Yuffie fell into step beside him, looking up at his face curiously. "What for?"

".....Cloud apparently has chocobos to sell, though we can get other matters done while we are over there regardless."

"Chocobos to sell?" Yuffie shook her head slightly. "Whatever." She fell quiet briefly, looking down. "Nothing ever phases you for long, does it?" She said softly. "You just....shrug things off so quickly.....how do you do that?"

Vincent arched a brow. "What do you mean?"

Yuffie played with the hem of her shorts, still looking down. "Lucrecia died, but you got over it within what....a day? And when we found out Sephiroth was in Cloud, you didn't seem even a little bit bothered by it....and you backed Aerith when she said to let Sephiroth stay....."

"Ah." Vincent sighed softly. ".....I am used to the burden of sins. However, what good does that do me or anyone else for me to show that burden openly? I do not mourn Lucrecia, because death was what she wished for. I mourn only my failure in protecting her, and when we find our enemies, they will pay for her murder. As for Cloud....as I had stated, I knew something about him had changed, so discovering what it was became more of a relief for me than a shock. Finally, as to agreeing with Aerith....we know where Sephiroth is this way, and Cloud has proven fairly able to handle his influence in the past as well as now. I believe in Aerith, and I believe in Cloud."

Yuffie had begun to stare at him about midway through, and then she shook her head out. "That was a lot of words, Vinny. I don't think I've ever heard you say that much at one time before."

Vincent tilted his head slightly at her. "Oh. It seems I've used up my quota for the day. I shall now remain mute until tomorrow." He looked off ahead of himself as if this was exactly what he planned.

Yuffie's lip quirked up in a small smile and she pushed at his arm. "Jerk." She said fondly. She liked Vincent's subtle sense of humor, it proved that the usually stoic man did indeed have a personality. "But really." She became more serious again. "How do you do it?"

Vincent exhaled softly through his nose. "I hide it. That is all. Why are you pursuing this line of questioning?"

"......Nothing. Never mind." Yuffie fell quiet again and Vincent didn't pry. They walked along in silence for several more minutes before Yuffie spoke up again.

"Why are all these people coming back from the dead?" She said, tone somewhat distressed. "Zack, Sephiroth, and now that Angeal person....SOLDIERs. And Zack razed Fort Tamblin!" She looked at Vincent, some of the earlier anger coming back.

Vincent gave a low growl, flexing his gauntlet hand. "It was the Wutai war, was it not?" He said in the tone of a man who was losing his patience. "What is done in war is a very different thing from what is done in peace. He was an employee of Shinra, he would have to do as he was told."

"He could've left!" She made boxing motions. "He should've left! He could've helped us, maybe we wouldn't have lost!"

"Yuffie...." Vincent said lowly. "How old are you?"

She blinked at him. "Just turned twenty, pretty much."

"Then why, pray tell, do you not act it?"

"Excuse me?!" Yuffie put her hands on her hips. "I think I have a right to--"

"You act little older than when we first met you, you are complaining about something that--I believe I recall Zack saying you were ten--happened when you were a child. I realize the hypocrisy considering my lamentations when I first joined all of you....however, I had been asleep for those years and so the event was still fresh in my mind. What is your reasoning?"

Yuffie blinked a few times, thrown off as before by Vincent's uncharacteristic verbosity. After a few moments however, her eyes narrowed.

"You wouldn't understand." She said. "You couldn't possibly understand. Our honor....we're disgraced! We live in shame, our land owned even now by Shinra!" She grit her teeth. "You can't imagine!"

Vincent looked away from her, silent. He could in fact understand quite well, but he knew he could never explain that to her either. The risk was simply too high. "That's not an excuse to act like a child." He said instead. "Do you not dishonor yourself by behaving thus?"

"See?! I knew you wouldn't get it!" She fumed at him.

"You are right." Vincent looked at her, red eyes brighter than usual. "I do not understand how it is in any way honorable to rant and rave like a child, to make yourself look incompetent and foolish. I do not understand how you believe you would be worthy to take your father's place when you cannot even gain the respect of your friends."

"You.....you don't respect me.....?" Yuffie said in a soft voice.

"Your abilities, yes. Your behavior, no." Vincent looked away, but not before he saw the stunned hurt in her eyes. She was his friend, but his patience was much thinner than usual thanks to recent events and frankly the words needed to be said. She was not worthy to rule Wutai when her father passed on, and for reasons he never felt he could say, that greatly bothered him.

The rest of the walk back to the bar was done in silence.

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"Gongaga, Cosmo Canyon, Rocket Town, North Corel and the Gold Saucer." Thessa took the headset off her ears and looked to Tseng on the other side of Rufus. "Those seem to be the confirmed locations. They will--generally speaking--seemingly be on Western for at least a day or two."

Tseng gave a slight, thoughtful nod. "They shouldn't be too difficult to keep track of then." His eyes slid over to Reno sitting beside Adrian and Rude in the front of the six-seated vehicle briefly before they focused on their employer. "What would you have us do, sir?" He inquired.

Rufus tapped his fingers on his arm, frowning thoughtfully. "Reeve doesn't answer to me." He began. Though he was funding the WRO and he knew Reeve knew that, as it was done anonymously, Rufus couldn't use that as leverage. "And Cloud and his friends certainly don't either. I'd much rather leave them to their own devices, but too many strange things are going on for me to ignore......Reno." Rufus waited for the redhead to turn around. "You seemed sympathetic to their cause earlier, correct?"

Reno frowned faintly. "You mean when I was fussing about Deepground?" He asked slowly, not liking where the conversation was going.

"That, and what you were discussing with Ms. Lockhart." Rufus confirmed. "I'd like you to follow them, observe them and if possible, join them."

"Join them?!" Reno looked incredulous. "Sir, I don't mean to question you, but why?!"

Rufus tapped his fingers on his arm again lightly. "Because you're often underestimated. Vincent apparently has a low opinion of you" He ignored Reno's scowl at mention of the other man. "and therefore won't see you as capable of what I'm sending you to do. Just make sure you keep your temper in check."

Reno sighed softly. This was definitely going to be one of his tougher assignments. "I'll do my best, sir." He said with a two-fingered salute, then he turned around and plunked down again and crossed his arms to sulk to himself for a while.

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We're going to start seriously owing Reeve if this keeps up. Cloud thought as he waved to the departing vehicles Reeve had once more sent to transport his friends to the Squall outside Edge. He turned his attention to his friends, and then shifted his attention to the newest addition. He still had his doubts about Angeal. He gave off a sense very much like the one Vincent had when they'd first met the man, that of someone not comfortable in their own skin. The largest difference between Vincent and Angeal besides the obvious physical was that Vincent had monsters while Angeal was one....or rather, just wasn't completely human. With the Jenova in him, he could potentially go insane without any obvious trigger. Sephiroth had had a trigger yes, but what had driven Angeal to his actions before? What was driving Genesis now?

He heard the grinding gears as Cid, who had gone ahead to board, lowered the access ramp so Cloud could get his bike on board and he turned the engine on to drive the vehicle onto the ship. The sooner everyone got on to their business, the sooner he could get prepared for the stress of dealing with buyers and gawkers while selling his birds the next day. Boarding the Squall, he set about locking down his bike and then he looked around the expansive loading bay briefly before heading up to join the others.

"Alright Spiky," Cid addressed him. "where to first?"

Cloud strode over to the corner where the holographic globe was so he could activate it and manipulate as necessary to bring up the Western continent and its landmarks. He studied it for a few minutes, then sighed.

"We'll head to Gongaga first." He said. "Then if we have enough light, head to Cosmo Canyon and try to locate Red."

"Wait, Gongaga first?" Zack blinked at him. "Are you planning on just dumping me on my poor parents and flying off on me?"

"Well, it's getting late in the day, and Cid isn't a fan of flying at night."

".....Well then, don't fly!" Zack looked up at Cid standing at the wheel. "Park outside Gongaga for the night, then you can get everything else done in the morning and--"

"And dump all of us on your poor parents instead?" Angeal spoke up, arching a brow.

"Well, I wanted them to meet you anyway, Angeal....but why not?" Zack looked to Cloud now. "You can say how you found me and brought me home. Even if word got to them about my death, well....Shinra made those death reports all the time! It's easier than having to fly back again and I know there're sleeping rooms on the ship too, so...."

"That's true...." Cloud conceded, then sighed. "I'll call the hotel and let them know not to expect us tonight." He took out his cellphone and walked a bit away from the others to do so.

This seemed to be a signal for Yuffie, who decided to slink out of the room at this point. This in itself wasn't unusual as this would be a long flight and with her tendency to get airsick, she much rathered being alone in case she threw up. What was unusual was the fact that Vincent watched her leave and then gave a soft sigh afterward. Though the two of them had arrived together, Yuffie had been considerably subdued and Tifa wondered what words her and Vincent had exchanged to make her behave in such a manner. Like almost all things concerning Vincent however, it wasn't a question that could easily be asked. There were however several other questions that Tifa had in mind now, some important to the immediate situation, and some not nearly so much so.

Tifa loosely crossed her arms as she continued thinking. Cloud was their leader, but he was at least partially distracted by having Sephiroth in his head and he wasn't usually one to go prying anyway. Being a private person himself, he wouldn't want to get into someone elses business unless he absolutely had to. Tifa however, felt that the 'absolutely had to' situation had already come. How had Genesis and Weiss gotten the jump on Vincent? Had they used Lucrecia to force him to comply? How did the two fight? What were their capabilities? Things they needed to know when they eventually caught up to the men. Things Vincent had not told them. Finally making her decision, Tifa moved from where she was standing over to where Vincent was, by the pilot's wheel.

"Vincent." She said softly to give him the illusion of privacy even though Cid was standing well within earshot. "We need to talk. About Weiss and Genesis....what happened that night."

Vincent tilted his head to look at her sideways from his greater height and stared for several seconds. He had a habit of doing this sometimes, mostly--Tifa supposed--when he didn't really want to talk and was hoping to intimidate you into backing off. She had no intention of doing so however and just stared back at him. After several moments of this, he gave a soft but heavy sigh and looked away.

"I let my emotions take control of me." He said quietly. "Genesis got me from behind while Weiss occupied me from the front. I was foolish, I was arrogant...." He gave a seemingly offhanded shrug. "I failed and lost utterly. What more is there to say?"

"How they fight, for one thing." Tifa responded, trying not to sound irritated. Was it a Turk thing to be evasive?! It certainly was annoying.

Vincent exhaled quietly and continued to look away, arms loosely crossed. "I couldn't tell you how Genesis fights. Weiss has two gunswords--katanas with single barrel rifles grafted to the backs. He is very quick with them. Only Cloud or Zack.....would likely be fast enough to keep up with him." He looked at Tifa more fully this time. "I wouldn't recommend Zack though." His glance slid away briefly to look at the man in question, who was standing in silence by Angeal. "He seems to have a gun phobia."

"He was shot to death." She pointed out and shuddered, remembering the gruesome photo Tseng had shown them. "But...Vincent." She frowned up at him. "You said Cloud or Zack. What about you?"

".....Perhaps." Vincent looked away again. "I do not yet know to what extent I am limited by Chaos' lack."

"Mm...." Tifa continued to frown at him. It seemed that the stoic, older man was having some confidence issues. Coupled no doubt with the continuing guilt over failing to protect Lucrecia....well if he was anything like Cloud, he would ruminate on that until the chocobos came home. She wanted to say 'it's not your fault', except that it would be untrue. Even Vincent admitted going after Genesis alone had been foolish, and while it was true that there might not have been any way to save Lucrecia, there was no way to know that there hadn't been either.

"Don't dwell on it." She said quietly instead. "We'll catch them."

"....Mm, of course. Please do excuse me." Vincent pushed himself away from the wall to turn and make for the door.

Tifa watched him go and sighed quietly. Well, he was acting about as sociable as he'd been when they'd all first met him. Could have been worse, she supposed. She looked over toward Cloud then, who was just finishing up his phone call and was frowning.

"Cloud?" She called to him softly and moved away from the pilot wheel to approach him, reaching out to touch his arm. "Is something wrong?"

His bright mako blues slid over to look at her and then the blond sighed a soft but heavy sigh. "Nothing's wrong, at least as far as the hotel goes. They were happy I was canceling the bookings for today, actually. Some wedding party was scheduled and someone had messed up on reserving or something. There will be free rooms tomorrow though....but that worked out well."

Tifa arched a brow at him. "If that's true, then why are you scowling like that?"

Cloud gave another sigh and tapped the side of his head. "Just....this."

......Oh yeah. "What's he saying?" Her tone almost turned hostile for a moment.

"No no," Cloud shook his head. "it's nothing like that. It's just that he's there, that's all it is." He looked off out the window.

"......Can he hear everything?"

Cloud gave a slight nod. "......Yeah."

Tifa turned to look out the window herself and sighed heavily. "Great."

".....Sorry."

Tifa gave a soft snort. "It's not your fault."

"Well....that depends on how you look at it." Cloud glanced at her. "What did you say to Vincent?"

Tifa sighed heavily and pushed at her bangs, though they fell right back into place afterward. "I asked him what happened the night he'd gone to rescue Lucrecia. He wasn't interested in talking.....I can't say that I blame him. You and him both, you don't talk!" She punched his arm abruptly and gave an irritated huff. "You just keep things in until you explode from it!"

Cloud took the blow without protest, then sighed and looked away. "Maybe we don't want to burden our friends with our problems." He said after a few moments. "If we can't handle it ourselves--"

"Then you ask for help." Tifa finished for him, definitely irritated. "You kept your Geostigma to yourself, and now you hid Sephiroth. The world isn't your sole responsibility, but you seem to think that it is!"

Cloud resisted the urge to facepalm. What was with some women and dredging up old issues as if they hadn't already been beaten to death? "Sorry." He said, trying to end the conversation as simply as possible.

Tifa gave an exasperated sigh anyway and gave him a look. Cloud arched a brow at her in response, but then switched his attention when he saw Angeal heading over to them, Zack following with a frown. Cloud stiffened when Sephiroth gave a wordless hiss in his mind, but managed to resist the urge to bolt like a frightened chicobo.

"What was I hearing about Sephiroth?" The ex-First Class asked bluntly.

"Lie, Strife!" Sephiroth growled. "He can't know!"

Now wasn't that interesting? It was true that Sephiroth hadn't made Cloud lie about his presence to his friends--he had done that on his own. But now here he actively didn't want someone to know. Tifa was looking at him, waiting to see what he'd say.

".....I told you my team and I had to hunt him down a few years ago." Cloud began after a few moments. "Well, uh....I....." He grit his teeth briefly. He wasn't exactly lying, simply opting to 'misunderstand' Angeal. Still, that didn't make it any easier to talk about. "He was....I...."

"Cloud was experimented on by Professor Hojo." Zack spoke up. "So was I.....it left Cloud a bit confused, and Sephiroth took advantage of that. Is that how it was, Cloud?"

"......Yeah.....like that." Cloud agreed lamely. He couldn't look at Tifa and it was hard not to look guilty. It certainly didn't help that Angeal towered over him and was scowling. Even Barret seemed like a teddy bear in comparison, and it was certainly easy to see how Angeal could have commanded respect within SOLDIER and even most likely outside of it.

"......I see." The man said at length, backing off slightly. After a few more moments, he turned to return to where he'd been standing before.

"Cloud?" Zack inquired softly.

"He wanted me to lie." Cloud whispered to him and Tifa, shaking his head slightly. "I don't know why."

"......I think I do." Zack glanced back at his once mentor and then looked back at Cloud. "Him and Angeal seemed to be pretty close, from what I'd gathered."

"Sephiroth had friends?" Tifa said in a somewhat dubious tone, crossing her arms.

Zack exhaled heavily. "Yeah, he did. Me for one."

"Fat lot of good that did Nibelheim." She muttered bitterly.

The two men stared at her and Zack rocked back on his heels. "......That's not fair."

Tifa gave him a bit of a glare, but then she pushed on past to leave the bridge.

"Zack." Cloud grabbed his arm when he tried to go after her. "Just let it go.....she lost everything on that day."

"She still blames me...." Zack muttered, drooping a bit. "Yuffie blames me for Fort Tamblin and Tifa blames me for Nibelheim...." He looked to the blond. "Do you blame me too, Cloud?"

"No Zack, I don't blame you." Cloud let go of him. "I was there too." He frowned a bit, furrowing his brow. "You.....told me what he was doing down there, but how could either of us have known it would end the way it did? It wasn't our fault, it wasn't your fault. There was no way to know."

"Wasn't there?" Zack turned away bitterly. "Genesis went crazy, Angeal went crazy....stands to reason, doesn't it? Den of monsters...."

"Shinra was the monster." Cloud replied. "Leave it at that."

"......Guess so." Zack was still somewhat drooping when he moved away to rejoin Angeal and Cloud gave a soft sigh. As much as it was a relief to know he wasn't the only one with problems, a good number of his team--of his friends--were becoming upset for some reason or other and unhappy people didn't fight at their best, which they'd need to fight Genesis, Weiss and possibly even Genesis copies. Hopefully going to the Gold Saucer would help, but if it didn't.....

Cloud put a hand to his face and sighed again. Tifa was wrong. He couldn't go to anyone for help, because his friends needed him to be stronger than them.

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It was early evening when Cid touched the Squall down on the outskirts of Gongaga and he'd just barely began to lower the exit ramp when Zack launched himself off the command deck, down the hall and all the way off the ship. They could see him running under the landing lights as he headed pell mell for his hometown.

Angeal shook his head in affectionate dismay as he watched his former student, the man who could seem so mature one second and the next he was bouncing around or running off.

"Damn puppy." He muttered to himself before he turned to follow after the others as they too exited the airship. He didn't particularly want to be there, he didn't know these people he found himself traveling with. But at the same time, these people were hunting Genesis. It was difficult to think about facing him again, but he had already run away once and....

And he didn't want to hurt Zack again. In the end, that's what it seemed to come down to. It had nearly broken his heart, looking up at Zack as he'd died and seeing the pain and betrayal in the younger man's eyes. Cloud had given him an interesting argument, but in the end he was staying for Zack. He knew he was a monster, but his sense of honor still remained. He couldn't turn his back on it again, not when he'd been given this second chance at life. Not when he had a chance to do the right thing this time.

He quirked a faint smile when he saw Zack waiting for them outside Gongaga. The younger man was swaying on his feet with such child-like eagerness it was almost impossible to remember that he was in fact in his early twenties. Once Zack deemed them close enough, he turned to continue on into Gongaga. He walked, but it was clear he wanted to run. Angeal couldn't blame him for that. If he was in Banora, the way it had been, with his mother alive and waiting for him....he would probably find it hard to keep from running too.

They followed Zack as he marched with purpose toward his house and watched as he stopped in surprise near it, staring at a woman hanging clothes up to dry. She had her back to him, her wavy auburn hair tied up in a ponytail and she was wearing a light green dress with baby blue trim.

"H-Hey...." Zack intoned after a few moments.

The woman paused mid motion and tilted her head slightly in puzzlement before turning. Her brown eyes widened as they focused on him. ".....Zack....?" She squeaked out quietly.

"I thought so!" Zack's face broke out in a grin and he strode over to pick the young woman up around the waist--ignoring her startled exclamation of protest--and swung her around before setting her down again. "Cissnei! So my parents really did adopt you!"

Cissnei still appeared rather startled, but after a couple more moments her expression hardened and she brought her hand up to smartly slap him across the face. "You idiot!" She snapped while Zack jerked back in surprise. "You go missing for four years, even the others were saying you're dead and now you go showing up right back here again! Are you completely stupid?!"

Zack rubbed his cheek, waiting out her tirade. "They're not hunting me anymore, Ciss." He told her quietly, seeming a bit hurt that she'd hit him. "Saw the Turks in Edge, they weren't interested." So she hadn't known for certain that he'd died, that was a relief. He was glad Cissnei hadn't seen that picture.

Cissnei frowned, but then reached out to pull his hand away from his face. ".....Your scar." She said slowly. "It's gone. How?"

"Oh....that.....well....." Zack grimaced. "Well, you....you know Hojo had Cloud and I....guess all that experimenting healed it up somehow....."

The young Turk arched a brow at him. "Mm hmm. I don't think so. You had that scar both times I saw you. If it was going to mysteriously heal up, it would've done it back then." She reached up to grab Zack by his ear. "So tell me the truth."

"Ow! H-Hey!" Zack did a bit of comical flailing while both Cloud and Angeal found themselves having to hide amused smiles. "Lemmie go! Cissnei!"

She gave his ear a good tug before she did so, and then gave him a stern look that reminded him so much of his mother that he almost cracked up in spite of the fact that she was angry with him. He rubbed his ear sorely instead and pouted at her. "I'm not sure you'll believe me...."

"Try me." She responded.

"Whoo boy...." Zack rubbed the back of his head now. "Okay.....well, I did die back then....but Hojo made clones, and Aerith shoved me into one just recently. So.....brand new body!" He spread his arms out and smiled.

Cissnei stared at him for several moments, then sighed heavily and shook her head. "You're right, that's pretty unbelievable.....but I guess that would make sense. Hojo is pretty depraved."

"Was." Cloud corrected her. "Hojo's been dead for several years now."

Cissnei gave a start, having been so focused on Zack that she hadn't noticed the others at all. When she looked over however, her eyes immediately focused on Angeal instead of Cloud and she did a double take. "What the....? Angeal?"

Angeal arched a brow at her in response and didn't answer her, not that it was neccessary to do so.

"See?" Zack said, as if Angeal's presence explained everything. "What'd I tell you? Clones."

Cissnei looked back at him, frowning slightly. "But why would Hojo....? No." She put a hand to her forehead briefly. "Never mind." She finally cracked a smile and hugged Zack. "Your parents are going to be so happy to see you....you big idiot."

"Er.....thanks?" Zack brought his arms up to hug her back, but she pulled away.

"They're probably still at the chocobo pasture. I'll go get them." And with that, Cissnei turned to head off.

"Popular with the ladies, I see." Cid commented with an amused smirk.

Zack looked back at them with a sheepish smile. "Eh heh....she's a friend of mine, a Turk. Or well....was a Turk, anyway. Apparently she's been somewhat out of the loop." He looked back at the abandoned laundry and decided that as his first act upon coming home that he would finish the job and proceeded to do so.

Cloud looked around himself at their surroundings. The village nestled near the edge of a tropical forest that didn't seem to have changed all that much since the last time he had been there four years ago. The houses were still just as small and cozy-looking, the people around them seeming just as cheerful and off in the near distance stood the rusted husk of the blown out mako reactor. He sighed quietly.

"They never even bothered to tear it down." He muttered. "....That figures...."

Cid and Angeal looked over and Cid--who like Cloud had seen the sight before--took a cigarette out of his pocket with a grunt. "Whatd'ya expect, kid? Shinra's useless like that."

Angeal frowned and looked at the grizzled pilot, but didn't say anything.

Zack also looked over, and as Cloud had, he sighed. "I should take a look at the graveyard." He said, unsurprised by the view of the destroyed reactor. It had been like that when he'd come here last time, it wasn't a new sight to him. "Graves means bodies, which means people who didn't go to the Lifestream. Probably died too quick to realize they were dead. Maybe I can convince some of them to move on."

Cloud gave him a weird look. "......You're going to go talk to dead people?"

"Well later. Gotta wait for my parents right now." Zack shrugged.

"You're a damn weird son of a bitch." Cid commented, pulling out a lighter. "Then again, I guess you aren't any weirder than Spiky is."

"Er...thanks." Zack arched a brow. "And if you're gonna smoke, could you take it somewhere else? I don't want to be breathing that stuff."

"Eh, you're as bad as my wife." Cid looked to Cloud. "Come over here, kid. I wanna talk to you."

Cloud arched a brow, but moved to follow Cid when the older man led a little away from Angeal and Zack's location and turned to him. "So. I'll head back to the ship, see what the others are up to and make sure nothing needs tuning. What'll you be doing?"

"Mm...." Cloud tried not to look surprised that he hadn't noticed the lack of his other friends. "I think maybe I'll circle around and go take a look at those chocobos Zack's family raises. See if they'll compare to mine."

"Hm." Cid lit up and took a thoughtful puff, stuffing the lighter away again. "By yourself? Is that a good idea?"

"A good...oh." Cloud sighed softly, realizing what his friend meant. "I'll be fine, Cid. He wants to get at Genesis too, so we're all in agreement."

"Uh huh." Cid crossed his arms and scowled at him, but after a few seconds he gave a heavy sigh and shook his head. "You're a stubborn son of a bitch, Cloud. Don't be afraid to let us know if something is going on though, alright?"

Cloud quirked a faint smile. "Of course, Cid. See you later." However, when Cid turned to go, Cloud's own feet didn't head in the direction Cissnei had gone in. Instead, he headed for the blown out reactor. He felt bad deceiving Cid, but he'd been feeling stifled ever since the fiasco at the Forgotten City and he needed some time to himself.

"The puppet seeks to be alone." Sephiroth stated on the obvious. "And he even lies to do it. My my, how deceitful of you."

"Don't you have anything better to do than make irritating comments?" Cloud responded aloud. "Also. I have a name. Use it."

Sephiroth manifested in his ghostly form, keeping stride with Cloud. He looked around himself briefly, then turned to look at Cloud from the side of his cat-pupiled eyes. He regarded the blond in silence for several moments before looking away again.

"Do you think there is anything to do in that head of yours?" He gave Cloud a contemptuous glance before looking around again. "Watch your memories? A movie I've already seen. Alter them? No point, it's unlikely to make you any more interesting."

"You could always try for civilized conversation." Cloud didn't even seem phased at having the ghost of his enemy walking beside him and only appeared annoyed at having to deal with him. "I'm sure the idea isn't a completely foreign concept to you."

Sephiroth gave a light snort. "Sarcasm and a backbone. You certainly have come a long way from the cowardly Infrantryman who hid underneath his helmet."

Cloud gave a heavy sigh. "Throwing Nibelheim at me, huh? How many times are you going to poke at that before you realize it doesn't hurt anymore?"

"It hurts you." Sephiroth disagreed. "It will always hurt you. Helpless to put out the fires, helpless to save anyone."

"I took you out." Cloud replied, stepping into the reactor. "That's why you can't let it go. It's not about me, it's about the fact that a 'cowardly Infantryman' took you down." He tilted his head to look at Sephiroth sideways, but then froze. In his preoccupation with the conversation, he hadn't noticed what--or rather who--was crouched on the remains of a rusted wall.

"You're either on one of those new handless phones, or you're having a very engaged conversation with yourself." Genesis tilted his head, black wing rustling. "I wonder which one it is?"

Sephiroth was still standing there, plain in Cloud's view, but Genesis apparently couldn't see him. Maybe Zack was right, and only those who have died can see him. "Genesis." Cloud acknowledged the man coldly. "What are you doing here?"

Genesis hopped down to the floor. "My soul, corrupted by vengeance hath endured torment, to find the end of the journey in my own salvation....and your eternal slumber."

"The middle of Act Four." Sephiroth said in irritation, curling his lip. "He hasn't become any more original."

Genesis, unaware of Sephiroth's presence, drew his sword and pointed it at Cloud. "This reactor was destroyed years ago by your old compatriots. I'm curious as to what use it might be to you now. If you answer me quickly enough, I might even consider giving you a merciful death."

"My....old compatriots?" Cloud echoed cluelessly. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Genesis moved his sword to balance on his shoulder and began to pace, keeping his eyes on Cloud as he did so. "Let's see....what were you saying? 'Cowardly Infantryman'? So you must have been one of the moles." His expression was thoughtful.

"What 'mole'?!" Cloud was getting annoyed, but also a somewhat concerned. He might have seemed crackers talking to someone Genesis couldn't see, but Genesis was definitely off his rocker, and Cloud didn't have any way of defending himself as Merciless was still on the airship. "I don't--"

"But what I want to know is;" Genesis stopped and pointed his weapon at Cloud again. "what you're up to now. Shinra Corporation is all but sunk--congratulations on that by the way--so what's left? What was your plan for that WEAPON?"

Cloud stared at him in absolute bewilderment while Sephiroth stared in contempt and disgust. What the hell was Genesis going on about?! "Any idea?" He questioned Sephiroth.

"He's a delusional idiot." Sephiroth snarled, shaking his head. "But it was the original AVALANCHE that had purportedly destroyed this reactor."

If the situation had been less serious, Cloud would have facepalmed. "We're not AVALANCHE." He stated, giving Genesis a deadpan look. "We're WRO."

"A name change makes no difference." Genesis gave a shrug. "Now are you going to answer my questions, or not?"

Even though he had a sword pointed at him, Cloud pinched his brow and gave a heavy sigh. "You're insane. It's a little late to pretend you're one of the good guys at this point."

"I see." Genesis gave a put upon sigh. "It's time for your eternal slumber then."

"Cloud!" Sephiroth snapped. "Move!"

Cloud launched himself backward, barely avoiding the downward swing of Genesis's sword that could have concievably cleaved him from shoulder to groin. He kept hopping backward as Genesis continued to swing at him and Cloud ended up grabbing a coolant pipe half detached from the wall to wrench free and block the next blow.

"Mako eyes...." Genesis commented with a note of surprise, noticing now from their proximity. "You're SOLDIER...." He backed away, only to swing back at Cloud more viciously and bite deep into the rusted metal of the pipe. "Traitor!"

"You're a fine one to talk about traitors!" Cloud threw the pipe at Genesis and dodged aside. He knew he couldn't keep avoiding him and he glanced up at the high walls of the reactor that were open to the sky. Cloud could easily jump that height, but Genesis was slashing at him so quickly all he had time to do was dodge. Worse, he was being herded into a corner and he knew it. It would only be a matter of moments before he wouldn't be able to roll out of the way anymore.

Agony. Genesis's blade bit deeply into his side and Cloud let out an involuntary gasp, though it was followed by a choked scream when the sword plunged into his chest and was jerked cruelly upward, biting into muscle and bone and yanking Cloud briefly off his feet before he collapsed bonelessly to the floor.

"You're going to die." It was stated, a fact. Behind Genesis, Sephiroth stood. His expression was calm, watching as Genesis began to push the now rune-activated blade deeper into the blond's chest, causing white flashes of pain with every inch, not allowing Cloud the chance to recover enough to move. "He's going to kill you, and it seems he's going to make it slow."

Cloud couldn't have responded if he wanted to, All he knew was the nameless agony. The searing of his flesh as the blade burned and cauterized, cooking him from the inside out. His eyes turned sightless and then the life faded from them entirely as the blade touched his heart and boiled it as it sliced it in half.

Sephiroth's lip curled up in disgust when he saw Cloud's eyes glaze in death. What a pitiful end to a pitiful enemy. He watched Genesis straighten up, pulling his sword free and dousing the runes with a gesture and he frowned. No. It was a pitiful death, and that bothered the once General. Was it because it hadn't been his sword slicing into flesh and bone, ending the life of his most stubborn enemy? No, that wasn't it. Was it the swiftness of it, that Cloud hadn't suffered long enough? No, it wasn't that either.

And then it struck him. It hadn't been a fair fight. Genesis had a sword, while Cloud had been unarmed. Cloud had been Infantry, trained to use a gun. SOLDIERs were honed so that their very bodies were weapons and they could fight with or without their swords, while Infantry--at least so far as Sephiroth understood it--being more common and therefore dispensable to the company, were nearly helpless if they lost their primary weapon. Admittedly Genesis had thought Cloud was SOLDIER from his eyes, but that didn't change the fact. Cloud was self-taught with a sword and he didn't have the skills to defend himself properly without one. The battle had been fixed in Genesis' favor from the start.

"Damnit." Sephiroth growled before vanishing. It seemed that Angeal's honor lectures had gotten more into his head than he'd thought.

Genesis had turned away and was preparing to spread his wing to leave when he heard shifting behind himself and he turned back to see Cloud's body moving. The movements were jerky and slow, blood gurgling from both the chest wound and his mouth. He shouldn't have been alive, he wasn't alive....and yet, somehow he was moving.

Like a clumsy marionette, Cloud's hand moved jerkily, fingers twitching. The hand found his pocket, though it took three tries to get the digits inside to pull out a Phoenix Down. As Genesis watched in morbid interest, the magic was cast and a shuddering breath was taken as damaged organs were healed enough for life to be restored. Cloud then moved to rise to his feet, but the eyes that met Genesis' once he had done so were slit-pupiled and green.

"Well now." Genesis commented softly. "That's a new one."

Cloud's lips curled into a cold smile and he brought his left hand to his chest. "Curaga." He muttered rasply, voice much deeper than it should have been. Health then restored, he straightened up fully and shook himself out. "Idiot...." His mouth formed the word, but it was a different voice speaking.

Genesis' eyes narrowed. ".....You....who are you....?"

In answer, a black wing sprouted from Cloud's back and swept once across his body. When it was folded back once more, Sephiroth had taken the blond's place. "Genesis." He said simply, acknowledging the other man.

Genesis stared in complete startlement. The spiky-haired blond had just transformed into Sephiroth and it took him a few moments to get over his shock. Once he had done so however, he straightened his posture slightly.

"Well then, Sephiroth." He half-sneered. "It seems you are the ultimate monster, indeed."

Sephiroth's lips quirked slightly in a mirthless smile. "Perhaps I am." He agreed. "You never could match up, could you? You can't even manage to degrade properly."

Genesis shrugged. "The Goddess granted me another chance, and I follow her will now."

A silver brow raised. "....Interesting." Masamune appeared in his hand and shook his head. "I can't believe I'm fighting for this forsaken world." He gave a soft sigh and launched himself forward to engage Genesis, who unprepared for the charge, barely brought his sword up in time. Sephiroth pressed his advantage and for several moments all Genesis could do was block before he recovered and was able to retaliate.

"Damn you!" Genesis hissed, calling forth fire in his left hand to throw point blank at Sephiroth. "Why are you helping the terrorists?!"

Sephiroth jumped into the air to avoid the magic, spreading his wing to remain airborne. Staring down at Genesis with obvious contempt, he raised his right hand and magic began to form in his hand. Genesis only had a few moments to acknowledge this before Ultima was being thrown at him.

There was an explosion, but Sephiroth knew better than to think that the attack had in any way significantly harmed his opponent and so he remained where he was, waiting for Genesis to show himself. To his surprise however, Genesis darted out of the obscuring smoke away from him and seemed to be trying to escape.

Where is he going? The once General dove after the man who had betrayed them all. Genesis leapt into the air, his own ebony wing spreading and he spun around to block Masamune. The two stared at one another, slit green pupils to round blue ones.

"Why are you helping the terrorists?!" Genesis hissed again. "Answer me!"

"If I was helping terrorists, I'd be helping you." Sephiroth responded. "Though I commend you for your efforts, world destroying is what I do." Confusion flickered across Genesis's face, while a cold smile spread across Sephiroth's. "Ironic that I seem to be fighting for it's preservation now. Mother would be disappointed." He backwinged, but only to dive back at Genesis and attempt to ram him into the ground.

"Fira!" Genesis threw the spell point blank into Sephiroth's face, temporarily blinding him and he side-winged to get out of the way of the charge. He stared at Sephiroth with a look of bewilderment on his face, and then he turned to make an escape.

Sephiroth shook his head out to clear his vision, taking a few moments to locate Genesis again. He gave a low hiss under his breath and made to pursue when pain lanced through his chest, sending him hard into the ground. He knelt there, hand over his heart and panted heavily. Cloud's body seemed too weak to sustain him, and if he kept trying to push it at this point he would be likely to destroy it.

"Damn....weakling...." He snarled under his breath before his eyes closed and he collapsed, Cloud's body returning to its natural state upon unconsciousness.

------------------------------------------------------------

"It sure is taking Cissnei a while to get back." Zack commented, squinting off in the direction she'd gone. "I don't remember the chocobo pasture being that far away. I hope everything's alright."

"It's probably quite the shock for them." Angeal intoned softly, arms loosely crossed. "Telling them their son had returned from the dead."

"Guess it would be." Zack agreed. He looked over at his mentor and friend, and after a few moments he licked his lips. "I'm sure it wasn't because of you." He said softly. "She loved you....you were her son. There's no way she could have been ashamed of you."

Angeal flinched and his eyes hardened. "She was ashamed." He said. "Perhaps not of me, perhaps of the experiments she allowed to be done to her to create me. None the less, she could no longer live in dishonor....and so she ended her life. Now we're ending the conversation, Zack. Don't talk about my mother again."

Zack bowed his head, but when a shadow passed overhead he looked up again and his jaw dropped open upon seeing Genesis flying overhead. He was flying quickly and probably hadn't even noticed them, but what was he even doing there?!

The sound of a large wing being spread caused Zack's attention to shift again in time to see Angeal's white wing unfurl, and then the older man had launched himself into the air after his childhood friend.

"No!" Zack leapt at him, but Angeal was already too high. "Wait! Come back! Angeal! ANGEAL!!!"

Angeal paid no heed to the other man's calls and only coaxed the wing of this clone body to give longer strokes, faster speed. He would catch up with Genesis within a couple of minutes, but what he would do once he got there....that was unknown.

Zack stared after them until they were out of sight, and then he plucked a white feather off his shoulder to twirl it slowly between his fingers. "Angeal..." He muttered, staring at it with eyes turning watery. I thought I could trust you....please Angeal, please don't betray me again....I don't want to fight you. He squeezed his eyes shut, but then gave a jerk when he heard voices calling to him and he turned to see his parents hurrying toward him with Cissnei trailing behind. He hastily dropped the feather and wiped his eyes, forcing a smile for two of the most precious people to him. However, he found it hard right then to feel any joy at seeing his parents when it felt like there was cold lead sitting in his gut.