A/N: This is the second story concerning Final Fantasy VII I've ever written, and I hope everyone who gives it a chance enjoys it. Though I won't be holding the story hostage for Reviews, they do help in the motivation department so leave one if you read it! That being said, I'm not going to bother with the standard disclaimer, because honestly, everyone knows that Square-Enix isn't going to write a fanfic and post it on here. Instead, they would just make it into something for us to buy. Anyway, enough of that and on with the story!


Chapter 1

William Carter let out a sigh of utter and complete boredom as he leaned his head on his hand and closed his eyes. It was at moments like this that he often regretted joining the World Regenesis Organization. When he had joined up two years ago, during the Geostigma epidemic, he thought he was going to see exotic lands and see some action in one way or form. It was with this thought in mind that he jumped at the chance to be stationed at a "Top Secret" facility in Mideel. But as exciting as he thought it was going to be, the truth of being stationed in the Mideel Data Facility was as boring as watching water drip into a pan; which was ironic because that was what he was watching happen right in front of his bunk.

The thunderstorm had come earlier in the day and had made his usual duties outside moot, so he was stuck inside the barracks building. The occasional flash of lightning provided the only form of entertainment in the way of William counting until the crash of thunder shook the barracks. The excitement was getting to be too much for him to handle, and sleep was beginning to pour over him when his bunkmates entered and began to talk annoyingly loud about something that was as interesting to William as drying paint. He was about to sit up and tell them to take it someplace else when the sound of a large crash shook the very foundations. William's two bunkmates stopped talking and together all three craned their necks in an attempt to hear it again. After a brief moment of silence, besides the constant drone of rain on the metal roofing and the rolling of thunder, William turned to the others and was about to ask what the hell that could have possibly been when the alarm klaxon began to sound and the red warning light began to illuminate the room as it spun around in an urgent manner.

"Security breach!" one of his bunkmates yelled as he jumped over his bunk to grab his gear. William let out a four-letter curse that his mother would slap him for saying, and grabbed his M57A4 Assault Rifle and his helmet.

"This better not be a damned drill, if it is I swear on all that's holy I'll quit this damn job!" William said as he slammed a magazine into the rifle and pulled back the feed bolt. His two buddies agreed and together they ran out into the hallway and made their way to the exit door.

When they neared the door, the sound of the beating rain was supplemented with the staccato of rapid gunfire. Before they opened the door, they exchanged a look that was a strange mix of anxiety, fear, and excitement. With a firm nod to each other, they swung the door open and ran out into the open courtyard.

The rain was coming down in torrential waves that battered William's face and pelted off of his helmet. Though it was still early in the night, the sky was pitch black. The random flare of lightning backlit the oppressing clouds above. The bright searchlights that were on the watchtowers illuminated the courtyard but the streaking rain made the light spread further from its intended path.

At first, William couldn't make out what the other troops were shooting at, but suddenly the searchlights found their target, and William swallowed hard in terror.

The attacker, which he most certainly was, was a loomingly tall figure, well over seven feet tall. His arms were like tree trunks, but even though they were nearly as wide as a normal man, they moved with a blurring speed. In his hands he held a long pole with twin bladed swords at the end that he spun with a dizzying efficiency that caused all of the bullets fired at him to ricochet away. The attacker's skin appeared to be a deep tanned color, but the unyielding rain was making it hard to see. His hair was cut short against the sides of his head and stood several inches straight up on the top. From what William could tell, it was a pale shade of white. He appeared to be wearing a type of uniform, though it was something that William had not seen in nearly four years.

Before William could figure out where he had seen the uniform before, the attacker spun and swung one side of his dual blades at a fellow WRO trooper and split him in half. The shock of seeing one of his friends decimated in such a way broke William out of his trance and he began to act.

William raised his M57A4 and began to fire without taking aim. The bullets flew out in a rapid yellow flower of fury, but they only met the spinning dual blades as they deflected the bullets with an inhuman efficiency. William gave him the full contents of his magazine before he heard the bone-chilling sound of the receiver slamming forward without a round to place into the chamber.

William's eyes went wide as he watched the massive form of the attacker run towards him, and one of the thin deadly blades streaked towards him aiming for his head. The last thing that William saw on this side of the Lifestream was the eerily glowing blue eyes of his killer.