AN: This is an AU that diverged from canon quite a while before the start of the actual story. I decided to make it more like the game and drop you guys right in the middle of a situation, so don't be surprised when people are out of character or have different roles than they have in canon. Eventually, all will be explained. Zack is canon, so far, and this is mostly from his point of view; he will be in character. This is the prologue for this story and as such, it will be the shortest chapter in the story, the rest will be much longer.

Parings: light ZackxAerith, CloudxTifa

Spoilers: There will be CC and BC (Before Crisis) spoilers. These will mostly be in the form of characters. While you don't have to know BC to understand what's going on, it will help you understand certain characters better.

This starts near the beginning of Chapter Four in the game, during the beginning of Angeal's and Genesis' attack on Shin-Ra. Enjoy!


Prologue
The Newest Turk

Finally, Zack thought as he entered Sector 8. It had been a long night and Zack was tired. Being told your mentor was going to be assassinated was bad enough; having to fight off an attack most likely caused by your mentor was even worse.

Unfortunately for him, there was Genesis-copies in the plaza he just entered. They were heading towards a guy who looked a couple of years younger than Zack. Zack ran across the plaza and started to draw his sword only to have an EMR block his path. He skidded to a stop and looked over to see Reno blocking his way.

Reno removed his EMR from Zack's path and smirked. "Sector 8 is the Turk's turf," the red-haired Turk said, as if it explained everything.

Zack turned around to see where the guy was, only to find himself surrounded by Rude and Tseng. "You've got to be kidding me." He knew Turks were heartless, but still... "Tseng, do something."

Rude pushed his sunglasses further up his nose and smiled at Zack. "There's no reason to worry about the kid."

"But-" Zack turned just in time to see the guy turn around and shoot both Genesis-copies in the heart. He had never seen anyone shoot a gun that fast. "Wow," he said.

"Indeed," Tseng said before he turned to Reno and Rude. "How are the other areas?" he asked them.

Reno snorted. "Monsters are crawling all over Midgar."

"And even SOLDIERs are having difficulties," Rude finished for him and glanced at Zack.

Tseng nodded in understanding. "Take care of it." The two Turks nodded and ran off.

"So," Zack looked at Tseng, "even Turks are on the job?"

"SOLDIER's being stingy with it's manpower, that's why," an unfamiliar voice answered.

"Come on, we're pretty short handed right now." Zack stopped when he realized it was not Tseng he was talking to. He looked to his side and realized it was the guy who had shot the Genesis-copies. The boy had very spiky long blond hair caught up in a low ponytail and pale skin. Sunglasses prevented Zack from seeing his eyes. He wore jeans, gloves, and a black leather trench coat . Zack could see no sign of a gun anywhere on him. The thing that struck Zack the most about him was his age; he looked at least two years younger then Zack was.

Zack ran how Reno and Rude had acted through his head as well as the kid's skill with a gun and it finally hit him. "Wait, you're a Turk too?" He looked at the kid in amazement.

The kid nodded. "Yep. The name's Cloud."

"I'm SOLDIER's Zack." He held out a hand and they shook. "Hey, how old are you?" he asked.

Before Cloud could answer, Tseng interrupted. "Zack, aren't you in the middle of a mission?" Cloud snorted.

Zack's mind raced. "Come on Tseng, our goals are the same. Can I help around here?"

The Turk shook his head. "Thanks, but no than-"

"Oh, he can help," Cloud interrupted. "That is if he can reach the copies before I do." He took his gun out of his coat and flipped it through the air before catching it and turned away. "Tseng. Zack. See you later. Oh Zack," he turned and looked back at the SOLDIER. "If you really want to know, I turn sixteen in August. See you." He walked away down the street.

Zack stared at his retreating back and turned to Tseng. "He's young, isn't he?"

Tseng nodded. "Yes, but we haven't seen anyone with his skill with a gun come through the Turks in decades. Now go."

Zack nodded and ran off.


Fortunately, the next couple of monsters Zack ran into were just mecha; a few sword swipes here and the use of a Bolt materia there sliced through them with ease. The problem started when he almost crashed into another Genesis-copy. It looked a lot more like Genesis did than any other clone he had come across and it was clearly at a higher level than the rest. It was also heavily bleeding from bullet wounds. The most surprising thing about it was the black wing jutting out from its left shoulder.

Right when the copy was about to fly off, Zack slashed at it and succeeded in knocking it out. He stared in awe at the wing. Footsteps approached him and Zack looked up to see Cloud.

Cloud looked down at the copy and then looked at Zack. "To me, wings always symbolized freedom. To be able fly away and leave my past behind..." He looked off in the distance. "I wanted them until I learned your past never really leaves you."

Zack stared at him. How can he think that when Genesis and Angeal have thrown everything they had away? "You should know that humans with wings are monsters; we just fought a monster." He pointed at the Genesis-copy and shook his head in disbelief.

The young Turk stiffened. "You're wrong," he said with conviction.

Cloud's denial startled Zack. "What do you mean?"

Cloud gave Zack a piercing glare through his sunglasses and said, "I would think you of all people would know that being a monster has everything to do with actions and nothing to do with appearances." He gave Zack one final nod and walked off, leaving silence in his wake.

Zack stared at his retreating back until his phone rang. After answering it, he began racing to the Sector 5 Reactor. Angeal, I hope we don't have to kill you, he thought.


AN: As most of you have guessed, Cloud's childhood was a lot different, and as such, he's different. We''ll see a lot more of him later on. Please tell me what you think. Thanks for reading!