THE ZIRATCHI

AN: Alright, i finally got it posted, the sequel to Journey Of The Outcasts. This isn't the longest chapter ever but i feel i did pretty good. It picks up about a day after we left off so you haven't missed anything. Enjoy! Also to Devil-Speaker, i thought alot on it, and the anwser to your question is i think both are good examples of evil, though in different ways.

Chapter 1

My name is David Mckee, some of you already know this from my previous tale, Journey Of The Outcasts. Like the name? It was Zack's idea really, i only went along because the next best title was, The Journey Of The Hostage Of A Prisoner

To A Maniac. You can see we we went with option one. Now i will recap what basicly happened in the last installment.

Basicly i was sucked into the world of FF7 by an unknown force, though i suspect it was the Ziratchi's doing. Upon entering the world i met Zack, whom i now have a twisted friendship with. Unfortunately i also met Sephiroth who took us both

hostage to use as leverage against Cloud, i also seemed to have the ability to use magic without materia. He began leading us towards Midgar, and my power continued to increase over time, and i even devloped super human strength and speed like Cloud and Zack have which really came in handy when i got my sword. Its a rather nice blade we found in the deserted villiage of Nibelheim, and i now use it quite a bit. Zack and i made an escape attempt in the forest of Gongaga but

Sephiroth cut us off, so Zack stayed behind and fought Sephiroth to give me time to escape. I reached Corel in a near death state but was soon healed, and i got a motorcycle from Barret before going to find Cloud. I did find him on the plains outside of Costa Del Sol, where we had a misunderstanding which resulted in a fierce battle which i lost, which really isn't a suprise. After that incident i explained what was happening to Cloud and we hopped on the next ferry to Junon.

Sephiroth found us and he brought a barely living Zack with him. I managed to heal Zack just before a furious battle erupted right there on the deck. At first Cloud insisted on fighting alone but i eventually joined in anyway, and nearly got killed for my efforts when Sephiroth caught me with a bolt spell, and in the middle of a thunder storm with lots of rain that can be bad. Zack awoke at this point and joined the fight, which was not going well, i was watching all this as a ghost you could say.

I had no physical presence which really sucked, then a being that looked just like me showed up calling itself Ziratchi. Ziratchi began a heated duel with Sephiroth, while i managed to force myself back onto the physical plain, just in time for Sephiroth to defeat Ziratchi, or so we thought. Ziratchi made a stunning come back with an ultima spell which sent a badly wounded Sephiroth under water, though we had not seen the last of him by a longshot. Ziratchi flew off at this point

while Cid came and ferried us over to Cosmo Canyon where we learned that Ziratchi was an entity seeking to destroy the lifestream. He had used me as a template to gain a physical form, and when he left i lost my magic so i now had to use materia. Now i think its time to move onto the next part of the tale, if you want to know more about what had already happened go read the story.

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I sat in a room at the Cosmo Canyon inn, where i was spending my time while we waited for the rest of AVALANCHE to arrive. I had already met Cid and Yuffie, and Vincent had shown up as well though i had not yet spoken to him. In all honesty

he creeped the hell out of me. I had of course continued training against monsters, slowly getting better while Cloud listened for any rumors regarding Sephiroth. The man was obsessed with revenge. I couldn't really blame him. I should probably note that after a small talk with Cloud, and some agreement from Cid and Zack, i was now an official member of AVALANCHE, and i had found a way to prevent Yuffie from robbing me. I simply made it a point to fart whenever she was in the

room, at which time she would refuse to go near me.

My phone rang briefly and i anwsered it. "Hello." I said cheerfuly.

"Hey, its time for a meeting i think, we need to figure out our next move." Zack said on the other end.

"Our next move? Wipe out the bad guys and celebrate would be acceptable right?" I asked.

A laugh from the other hand before "You know i said the same thing to Cloud and he threw a book at me!"

"Thats because he has a stick jammed up his backside." I replied.

"How would you know?" Zack asked, and i could tell he was smirking.

"You told me." I said shortly.

"What!? When was this?" Zack asked in suprise.

"You mumbled it in your sleep" I told him as i hung up. I sighed as i sat there letting my thoughts run free, something i hd been doing a lot ever since i had nearly been killed by Sephiroth during the last battle. If the Ziratchi had not been using

my body i would have died, of that i am certain. My thoughts eventually settled on Sephiroth. here was he now, what was he doing? When we saw him again would he be an enemy, or will he have been redeemed? I had no idea, but it was certainly a thought worth thinking about. After all, it could make a large difference. If he came back on our side then our chances of beating the Ziratchi would greatly improve. But if he was against us it would be twice as hard to survive than if he

had died.

I pulled in my thoughts and grabbed my sword, i figured i might as well head to that meeting. Beforehand i checked my materia real quick. I had a fire, lightning, restore, and heal matera in my sword. I also had a 2xcut materia in my gloves,

which i had purchased shortly before we arrived here. In my other glove i had an mp plus materia which increased my mental energy letting me use more magic without tiring. Finally in a shoulder guard i had bought i had a time materia. I then zipped up my vest and sheathed my blade on my back, before heading for Nanaki's place.

It was about three in the morning right now, and i was kinda sleepy eyed, though the night air quickly remedied that problem. When i reached the room where we were holding meetings i saw Cloud and Zack muttering back and forth in the

middle of the room, Cid and Yuffie were arguing while Vincent leaned against the far wall casting me a quick glance as i entered before looking at the floor again.

"Ok, so any plans yet?" I asked with a smile as i sat myself down on the couch.

"Not yet." Cloud replied.

"In fact, were still trying to figure out which guy to go after first." Zack added.

"Ziratchi, after all we know for a fact he's a threat right now. Sephiroth might still be recovering, he might still not remember who he is for that matter." I said with a shrug.

Nanaki entered the room saying "It would be easier to find Ziratchi, he will go wherever there is an opening into the lifestream so he can attack it."

"And where the & would that be?" Cid demanded.

"Oh come on, it should be obvious!" Yuffie snapped.

"Oh yeah, and where do you think?" Cid said turning to her.

"I don't know, but surely one of you guys should!" Yuffie snapped.

"How often does this happen?" Zack asked Cloud.

"All the time." Cloud replied.

I couldn't beleive they hadn't figured it out yet. Finally i said "Mideel."

"What?" Cid asked.

"Mideel, theres a big gaping hole directly into the lifestream there so we should search there first. The forgotten capital would be a close second because of its connection to the Cetra, who were connected to the lifestream." I explained.

Silence reighned for a moment. Then Zack said "Wow, you guys are al idiots if the new guy could figure it out before any of you!"

"May i remind you that you also failed to find the anwser." Cloud said.

"Nah i knew it all along, i just wanted to see how long it would take you guys to get it." Zack replied.

"Can we please focus?" Nanaki asked.

"I'd love to." I said.

"Well then, we have a destination. Shall we go?" Vincent asked.

Cloud nodded then turned to Cid who said "I've already got the Sheraready to go." So we headed out to his airship and set off for Mideel.