Hokay, so...new story! I'm pretty excited about this actually. I want to make it pretty epic and such since I tend to write short stories/one-shots. With this I'm actually trying to stay pretty close to the game. It's mostly the KH-verse but some Final Fantasy worlds thrown in to tie things together.

This is a bit out of my element but imma try! Hope you like it! Drop me a review, even if you hate it!

Zack knew the hallways and tunnels of Shin-Ra like the back of his hand. He quickly and silently glided down dark-lit halls, taking short cuts through storage rooms and elevator shafts. After Hojo realized he had escaped with another one of his experiments, the building went into lockdown. Zack knew all the drills and procedures and knew exactly where the other SOLDIERs would search for him. He should. He is one himself.

By now, though, it was assumed that Zack had already escaped the building, and while everyone was still on high alert, half the Special Forces were searching elsewhere in Midgar. Zack had little difficulty sneaking around the facility, but still took his time. He could not afford to be recaptured, leaving no room for error.

The first class SOLDIER, or rather former SOLDIER, scanned his surroundings. Taking cover around the south wall of the corridor, Zack secured his hold on his companion. Glancing over his shoulder, the small blonde slumped across his back said nothing. His previously bright blue eyes glowed with specs of green, but were emotionless. He had to admit that the uniform he acquired for Cloud didn't suit his small frame. Zack couldn't help but feel guilty for what the corporation had done to him; the pain he'd endured.

"Alright, Cloud. Time to keep moving."

Zack dashed by room after room of the housing floor. Most rooms were used by SOLDIERs 3rd class, who were currently in training, leaving the floor vacant. Zack was 3 doors from the elevator when the light flashed indicating an approaching car to the floor. Thinking fast, Zack took refuge in an abandoned room. Whoever occupied the room had left it unlocked, to Zack's benefit.

Setting Cloud down behind one of the beds in the room, Zack peered through the small window in the door. The elevator doors outside opened, revealing two cadets. They were young, about the same age Cloud was when he met him five years ago. They were talking rather cheerfully, and Zack remembered that it was lunch hour for trainees. It was too risky to let them discover him now.

He acted fast, throwing the door open in front of the students. They gasped at the surprise, thankfully not making too much noise. Zack quickly apprehended the two, giving them each a blow to the head effectively knocking them out, but not causing any significant damage.

After dragging both into the room and placing them on the beds, Zack went back for Cloud, pulling him around his shoulders once again. Once inside the elevator, Zack pressed the down arrow but turned his attention to the door on the roof of the elevator. Throwing open the door with his Buster sword, Zack escaped up into the elevator shaft.

As the elevator zoomed to the ground floor, Zack felt the same pang of guilt from before. Cloud remained silent and motionless on his back, like a ragdoll. He didn't even know if the kid would survive the Mako poisoning; he was surprised enough that he had survived this long. Once they got out of Shin-Ra he could easily find a way to the Slums for temporary medical care, before heading to his hometown.

The elevator began to slow and Zack readied himself. Thankfully, the doors opened and no one stepped on. Yes, they were finally home free. All he had to do was sneak out the back through the garage and hijack a bike and—

"Y-Y-You…You-re…" Zack whipped his body around, and standing down the west hall from the lobby was a scrawny cadet, not even a SOLDIER trainee. He was frozen, with an expression of pure terror on his face. Shit.

Holding out a hand in a peaceful gesture, Zack tried to show that he had no intention of hurting the poor kid. The official reports turned Zack into a dangerous criminal, with his 1st class training and all, no wonder the teen was terrified.

Before Zack could utter a word, the cadet turned and dashed in the other direction. Zack had no time to attempt to catch him. Authorities would be notified within minutes of his presence. Zack had to think fast, and deciding the odds had abruptly shifted against him, he had no choice but to hide Cloud. A large air vent in the wall would have to do. He carefully fit Cloud into the narrow space, leaving him with his Buster Sword and a promise, before securing the cover.

"Red Alert. Suspect identified. Red Alert. Suspect Identified," sounded through the loudspeakers. "All SOLDIERs report to Red Alert positions."

Zack stood in the middle of the lobby, hearing the nearing of footsteps from all over. He was prepared to fight as long as he could, but a part of him knew that this was the end. He had to try. For Cloud.

Zack was surrounded in a matter of minutes. SOLDIERs pointed an assortment of guns and swords in his direction. He remained still, however, eyeing his apprehenders.

"Zack Fair," a deep, unmistakable voice was heard through the crowd of SOLDIERs. A group parted revealing the owner to be a tall, tan man with white hair, and brown eyes that matched the cynical curve of his thin lips. "I am quite impressed by your abilities. You managed to run about the building undetected for quite some time. Allow me to research—"

"Fuck you, Xehanort," Zack spat.

"Now, Zack. Do not make this difficult. I am prepared to use force if you do not cooperate. Why don't we start with the location of your little friend?"

Zack clenched his fists, wanting to tear that smirk off of Xehanort's face, but not wanting to risk Cloud by being reckless.

"Perhaps we should discuss this matter in the privacy of my laboratory, hm?" With a nod of his head, a dozen SOLDIERs rushed to apprehend Zack.

In a moment of survival instinct, Zack attempted to fight off those who approached him, but froze as a pistol was cocked and pointed between his eyes. "You…bastard…" he ground out. SOLDIERs surrounded him, locking his arms behind his back, one had an arm around his neck.

"Tisk, tisk, Zack. I gave you your chance to come with me peacefully. I am terribly disappointed it had to come to this." Xehanort turned to one of the SOLDIERs on his left. "Take him out to the desert." Zack's eyes went wide. "He has become too much of a liability."

Suddenly Zack couldn't breathe as the wind was knocked from his lungs by the butt of a rifle. He felt himself being lifted as officers pushed him towards the garage. The realization that fighting was useless came quickly and he could only accept his fate as he was dragged to a military van. 'Cloud…Sephiroth, I'm sorry…'

Back inside, Xehanort took out his phone from the pocket of his long, white lab coat. "Yes, Mr. President? The situation has been taken care of…he was deemed to be extremely hostile and has been apprehended…Yes…Yes, of course, Mr. President…I understand."

"I'm sorry, Spike. I think this is the end…I'll always be with you, though. But you gotta live. Not only for yourself, but for me. We're friends, right?"

"Hot damn, Squall!" We made it! Can you believe it? Well, everyone knew you'd make it!" Zell cried excitedly as he and Squall headed to ballroom to join in the celebrations.

Squall couldn't help but smile, his happiness getting the better of him. He was so glad it was over. He finally reached his goal. He was a SeeD. Zell was still talking but Squall was only half paying attention. As the two neared the ballroom, a flash of white caught Squall's attention from the corner of his eye. He turned to see Seifer Almasy leaning against the wall of a hallway.

"Congratulations, Leonhart," Seifer muttered. "You too, Chicken-wuss."

Zell stepped forward with his fist clenched, growling. "Hey, who you calling Chicken-wuss! You're the one who failed AGAIN!"

Seifer smiled and turned to walk in the opposite direction. "Yeah, well. Maybe next time."

Zell was still fuming as he watched Seifer saunter away. "That guy really ticks me off. Let's go, Squall," he said before stomping off.

Squall glanced back a final time at Seifer, before following his friend.

Once in the ballroom, Squall frowned. Music was playing, people were socializing…and…dancing. Squall hated dancing.

"All right! This is what I'm talking about!" Zell shouted excitedly beside him. Spotting a group of girls, Zell let out a whistle before making a bee line for the group. "Hey, ladies! Guess who just became a SeeD!" He shouted as he approached.

Squall decided to avoid the bulk of people and ducked to a side of the room where there were few. He sighed and leaned against the wall, arms crossed over his chest. Not a minute later, he heard the sound of footsteps approaching. And from the clicking sound of the shoes, he could tell they were from heels. He hoped if he just looked ahead and ignored the newcomer, she'd be turned off and leave him alone.

Unfortunately, his plan backfired and the girl's face appeared right in front of his own; a big smile on her face. He had to admit, she was quite pretty. She had dark brown eyes, and her black hair fell nicely over her shoulders. His frown faltered for a moment, which didn't go unnoticed by the girl. She stepped back away from him, but still in his line of vision. "I'm Rinoa," she said cheerfully.

Now that Squall could see her completely, she really was beautiful. He noticed a streak of blonde in her hair, and her white dress complimented her ivory skin. "Squall," he replied quietly.

"Well, Squall, let's go dance!" She cried grabbing his wrist, forcefully uncrossing his arms. Squall's eyes went wide as he was dragged by this girl through the crowd of people in the ballroom.

"H-Hey…I can't…I can't dance…!" He cried, but her grip never loosened.

"Don't worry, it's easy," she said, turning him around to face her once she found them a spot on the dance floor.

Rinoa maneuvered Squall's hand around her waist and grabbed his other hand. She began to step to the music of the waltz. Squall was stiff as he stepped clumsily around her. She was actually a very good dancer; the two would make a good pair if he actually put in effort. Yes, Squall knew how to dance, but if he pretended not to long enough she would have to leave him alone, right?

After bumping into a second couple, Rinoa made a face at them before righting their position once more. Squall sighed as the finale of the song began and he gave in. He and Rinoa glided over the marble floor, executing the perfect waltz. His body was on autopilot, as he had practiced these steps so many times he could do it in his sleep. Squall wasn't sure where Rinoa had learned to dance but her movements were timed perfectly with Squall's. A few couples even paused to watch them. Rinoa was grinning as Squall spun her and pulled her back to his chest. They stared at each other as the song ended, but the loud boom of fireworks overhead interrupted their moment.

Giving Squall one last smile, Rinoa turned and left the dance floor, leaving a flustered brunet frozen in place. This girl he had never met before wasn't turned off by him. She had practically broken his shell within minutes. Who was she?

Sora sat on the shore of Destiny Islands, the only place he knew. His toes were buried in wet sand from the tide. Small waves of water washed up the shore over his feet, which sank a bit more into the sand. By this time the water had cooled, making Sora shiver slightly before it was pulled back to the ocean by an invisible force. The setting sun blanketed the whole Island in orangey-pink light. The light breeze in the air rustled Sora's head of spiky dark-brown hair slightly.

Sora loved the Island. He never got tired of watching the sunset, racing along the beach, or exploring his childhood tree house. But, there was always a part of Sora that wanted to see other worlds. Few people ever left Destiny Islands, and even less ever came. Sora let out a small sigh and dug his feet deeper into the sand as another wave washed over them.

"Hey, Sora!" A distant voice was calling out to him. He turned to the dock and saw Kairi jogging toward him. He waved and waited for her to approach.

Kairi was panting a bit when she reached Sora. "You lazy bum! You made me run all the way out here to get you!" She scolded, leaning over him with her hands on her hips. She was wearing a pink bikini, but wore a loose t-shirt cover up. "You've been sitting here forever, ya know. Riku and I are heading home, you coming?"

Sora smiled and scratched the back of his head. "Sorry, Kairi…I'm coming!" He said cheerfully, shifting his feet from the sand. Riku and Kairi were Sora's best friends. The three of them were inseparable. He had met Riku in kindergarten and Kairi a year later when she moved to the island with her grandmother. Sora and Riku were always playing competitive games with each other; foot races, wooden sword duels, and even video game competitions on rainy days.

Kairi giggled and ran ahead of him back to the dock. Riku was there, putting his black t-shirt back on and grabbing his shoes. As Sora ran up to the edge he tossed Sora's navy blue tee at his face. "It's about time, slowpoke," he said teasingly, jumping from the dock towards the path that led to their neighborhood.

Sora smirked and replied, "Is that a challenge?"

"No way," Riku laughed. "I've already beaten you enough today."

Sora punched Riku lightly in the arm and laughed as well. "Tomorrow you're so going do—"

"H-Hey, guys…"

The teens turned and saw that Kairi had stopped a few feet behind them and was staring at a spot at the horizon. "Kairi, what are you looking at…" Sora began but soon saw exactly what Kairi was staring at.

A black mist was spreading over the water, moving up the shore, under the dock, past where they were standing, and kept going. It was only up to their waists, but it swirled and moved around them eerily. Before Sora could question what the strange fog was, the sky darkened disturbingly fast. But the sun hadn't set, it was still there but the entire sky seemed to be covered in a thick layer of clouds. Sora could barely make out Riku about a foot in front of him. He couldn't see Kairi at all anymore.

"Kairi!" he called out, and went to step forward before hearing a high pitched scream. "KAIRI!"

Before he could take two steps, small black creatures appeared from the mist in front him. They looked like four legged ants, their tentacles twitching on their heads. They had small but sharp claws on their hands and feet and their eyes glowed yellow. Sora gasped and began taking slow steps backward as a dozen more appeared. "R-Riku..!" He managed to say, terrified. When no one responded, Sora looked all around him, arms outstretched for any sign of his friend. "Riku!" he cried out again. Every direction he turned, more black creatures appeared.

Completely surrounded, Sora closed his eyes tightly and prayed for his friends…