I do not own anything from FFVII or FFXIII

It had been two months after the fall of the Remnants. Cloud, Tifa, Denzel and Marlene still lived in Midgar and they were regularly visited by their friends. That was, until Cloud was attacked and he became mentally ill. Two weeks later, he had murdered Denzel and Marlene. Aerith tried and tried from the Lifestream to cure him, but nothing worked. One day, Tifa braced herself and entered Cloud's bedroom.

She almost fainted when she saw what had become of Cloud Strife. The walls read his friends names in what seemed like red paint. Nine names were crossed out. Two of which were Denzel's and Marlene's. Tifa raised her hand to her mouth and whimpered in terror. Suddenly, a knife slammed into the wall next to her and her heart began to race. She turned around to find Cloud sitting on the dirty floorboards. He was sticking pins in voodoo dolls of his friends. His electric blue eyes were no longer human. The pupils were purple slits and the purple seemed to be leaking into his irises.
"Tifa..." He snarled with his teeth bared. She went to step back and hit her back against the wall.
"Cloud! What happened to you?" Tifa asked in fear. He breathed through his mouth and licked his fangs.
"Nothing of your concern." Cloud replied. He hungrily stared her down like a starving wolf would a baby.
"Cloud! Please! I'm your friend! Why would you hurt me?" She asked with her voice wavering in fear. He halted for a second and then cocked his head to the side.
"If you were my friend, why don't I remember anything about you other than your name?" Cloud asked with a shaking head. Tifa gulped and her breathing quickened. She looked at his bicep and there was a scratch looking as if it belonged to a wolf... or to a large dog.

Then it clicked. The another of the names was Red's.
"You killed Red XIII? Why?" she asked. Cloud grasped her neck and slammed her into the wall.
"If I told you, your name would end up like theirs." Cloud replied.
"Cloud. Who attacked you?" She asked, nervous sweat pouring down her face. He let go of her and she fell to the ground. She raised her head to see Cloud staring at the moon through a hole in his roof and he howled at it. Tifa was bewildered. He turned back to her with his eyes burning with rage. The purple in his eyes spread even further into his irises, making it seem like he had huge pupils due to brain damage.
"You want to know who did this to me?" he asked. Tifa nodded. Cloud pointed at one of the names on his wall. The Tifa got off of the ground and stared at the name. It was crossed out, but Tifa still made out the letters. That name made her shiver with hate and fear. That name was once revered as a hero and now revered as a villain.

"Sephiroth? He did this to you?" Tifa asked. She turned to find Cloud on the ground. He was wincing in pain. He lifted his head and Tifa gasped. Cloud's teeth were as sharp as blades and his hair was slowly turning black like the night sky above.
"He didn't do it." Cloud snarled.
"Then who did?" Tifa asked.
"Look at the name next to his." Cloud replied and then turned to the moon to calm himself. She tried to decipher the writing, but it still didn't make any sense.
"I can't read it." She admitted with a defeated sigh. The blonde stood up and then fell to the ground again. He got up and pointed to the name next to Sephiroth's. She squinted, but she still couldn't read it. Cloud sighed and pointed again at the name.
"Hojo. It's his fault that I had been given Jenova cells. It's his fault that I was mauled by wolves. Wolves that were made to track those with Jenova's cells and kill them. I was bitten in multiple places, but the bite was toxic. I deteriorated until I became what you see now. I don't remember anything before the mauling, however." Cloud replied and let his hand fall to his side.

Tifa sighed and went to Cloud's side. She ruffled his hair and he growled with pleasure.
"Everyone on these walls has been in contact with the wolves at some time. I tried to find out what they knew about them, but I grew frustrated with them and killed them by my own hand." Cloud said with a snarl. She turned to the wall and saw her own name there.
"I've never seen any wolves like that." Tifa replied.
"Yes you have. All that remains in my memories are the wolves and who they had been in contact with. Denzel took care of one. Marlene trained another. Red was friends with one. Vincent had one as a pet. Hojo made them. Cat Sith was chased by one. Aerith healed one with a broken foot. Rufus kept two in the Shinra building. Barrett kept a few. You gave one water and food. Cid had one as a pet. Yuffie fought them as training. Lucrecia was attacked by a few before turning into crystal. Zack was scratched by one. I was mauled by a group of them. Sephiroth, Genesis and Angeal fought them to stay alive. Do you see the connections?" Cloud asked.
"You, Zack, Lucrecia, Genesis, Angeal and Sephiroth all had one thing in common." Tifa replied.

"Jenova cells. Like I said, they were created to take down all life forms with Jenova cells of any kind. Angeal's mother Gillian, was killed by one. They thought she committed suicide. She was killed by one as she had Jenova cells." Cloud explained.
"Now that I've told you, what do you know about them?" Cloud asked, his eyes narrowing to slits. Tifa couldn't think of anything.
"I don't know anything other than what you told me. I swear." She replied.
"Tell me what you know!" Cloud exclaimed angrily.
"I don't know anything!" She replied in fear. Cloud bared his teeth at her.
"I'm growing impatient!" He snarled, saliva dripping from the corner of his mouth.

Tifa could swear that her heart was about to leap out of her throat. She fell to her knees and held the blonde's hands.
"Wait! I'll see if I can find anything about them! Just give me some time! Please!" Tifa begged in fright. Cloud took a deep breath and slid his hands out of hers.
"Fine. But, you have only three days." Cloud replied. Tifa jumped up and wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed his cheek.
"Thank you!" she exclaimed and pressed her lips up against his. She then released his lips from hers and ran out of the room.

"How is he?" Barrett asked as Tifa bounded down the staircase.
"Bad. I need to find somebody, quickly." She replied. Yuffie stood up from the bar stool and sighed.
"Tifa, no one can help him." She said.
"No, I need to find somebody. As in, somebody who knows about what mauled Cloud." Tifa replied. Vincent leaned against the bar and looked down at his wolf. The black creature growled in pleasure as Vincent scratched its ears. The wolf's purple eyes glinted with pleasure. The wolf spotted Cath Sith and growled. Cat Sith jumped from the spot next to Cid and clung to a pole.
"Get down ya pathetic wolf!" Cath Sith exclaimed and hissed at the wolf. The wolf growled again and Tifa gasped.
"Vincent? Is that your wolf?" Tifa asked.
"Yeah." Vincent replied.
"Your wolf sounds like Cloud. Was the wolf created by Hojo?" she asked.
"I think so." Vincent replied.
"Do you know anything? Other than what they were made for?" Tifa asked. Vincent looked down at the wolf and nodded.
"Yeah, I know a few things." He replied. Tifa ran up to Vincent and gazed down at the wolf.
"Tell me what you know. Please!" Tifa exclaimed. Vincent looked down at his wolf and then back at the teary eyed Tifa. He sighed and shook his head. Tifa grabbed the former Turk's coat and pulled him closer.
"Please! If you don't Cloud will kill again! Please!" Tifa exclaimed louder. Barrett looked at Yuffie and Cid with a worried expression. Vincent sighed and nodded.
"Alright. I'll tell you." Vincent replied. Tifa let a smile grace her face and released Vincent's coat. She pulled up a stool and sat down next to him.

Vincent crossed his arms and looked down at his sullen wolf. The wolf wondered around the bar and travelled up the stairs.
"These wolves were created by Hojo and they were mistakenly created as weapons to kill those with Jenova cells. He created them shortly after Lucrecia had Sephiroth. He figured that they would serve as training for Sephiroth when he got older. That was until they began to track his wife's every movements and they attacked her before she turned to crystal. Sephiroth was almost killed by one when he was three. Only then did Hojo realise what he had done. He tried to kill the wolves off, but the originals escaped and they became part of the ecosystem. They have an intense sense of smell. That's why they don't have pupils. You would expect them to be blind, but they see as well as normal wolves do. Not only do they track and kill those with Jenova cells but also those who have power beyond a normal human's capabilities, the slaves of the Pulsian gods. Don't ask me about those gods. To find out more about that, you'd have to ask Hojo." Vincent replied.
"Alright. Thanks!" Tifa chirped and dashed up the stairs.

When she got to Cloud's door, there was a vicious bout of yelping and snarling coming from inside. She burst through the door to find Vincent's wolf attacking Cloud. But what made Tifa nervous wasn't the fact that Cloud was being mauled again, it was the fact that he was attacking with claws and fangs instead of his Fusion blade.
"Vincent!" Tifa yelled. The former Turk heard her calling and ran upstairs to see what was going on. He gasped and shook his head.
"Charlie! Heel!" Vincent called and the wolf sat on the ground sullenly, looking from Cloud to Vincent and then whining.
"No. Get downstairs!" Vincent commanded and the wolf plodded out of the room. Tifa pushed Vincent inside and shut the door behind her.
"This is what I was talking about. I think... he's becoming a wolf." Tifa said. Cloud was hyperventilating on the ground and stared at Vincent with his psychotic eyes.
"Why are you back? I told you, three days." Cloud snarled at Tifa. Vincent got down to Cloud's level and checked out what was going on. He sighed and stood up.
"The toxin from when he was mauled. He's turning into one of the wolves." Vincent replied. Cloud stood and up and showed how mutated he truly was. His arms were covered in fur and his hands were slowly morphing into paws. He had a fuzzy tail whipping about behind him. His eyes were completely purple and showed no signs of owning pupils.
"What do you know?" Cloud growled.
"Vincent will explain." Tifa replied and Vincent told Cloud exactly what he told Tifa. Cloud was sitting on his ripped up mattress when Vincent had finished.
"Wait, so these wolves were never intended to track us down? They were to serve as Sephiroth's sparring toys?" Cloud asked in surprise. Vincent nodded.
"You can trust a scientist to completely mess up an experiment!" Tifa laughed. Cloud stared at the two of them with his lifeless eyes. Tifa's laughter subsided and Vincent was getting anxious. Cloud brought his furry hand across his arm and coated his hand in his own blood. He wondered up to the wall and used his blood as paint. He searched the names on the wall and crossed out two names.
"What is he doing?" Vincent asked.
"He's going to kill us!" Tifa exclaimed in surprise. Cloud turned around and bared his teeth at his friends.
"Stay absolutely still." Cloud instructed and brutally attacked them.