AUTHOR NOTES: Okay, first fanfic since the last 4-5 years, whew. This one was inspired by a certain Nickelodeon movie, but I promise it won't be a half-assed rip-off. It's actually deeper and more grim than said movie, but I thought it would make for a good FFVII fanfic idea. Also, as most of my fanfics will do, it will feature Sephiroth as a good guy, having been granted a second-chance tho he lost alot of the knowledge he gained and had a power decrease, to about what he was in CC. Lastly, if you don't like Sephiroth in a good guy role and/or having a second chance, DO NOT READ and then bitch at me.

FINAL FANTASY VII: INNER DEMONS

Prologue

Edge City: 20 years in the future...

The wind lightly played with his wavy brown hair, tied back in a short pony-tail, some of the wavy locks hanging at the sides of his face. His left foot was down on the ground, steadying the bike he was on, bearing a brown boot as did the other foot. A semi-long, faded black jacket, down to his thighs in length, gently swayed from the wind as well, his white shirt moving with it. He put up his clipboard to make one last delivery, sliding the pen into the side pocket of his grey pants, alongside his phone. The day seemed to have gone by rather fast, but Denzel, 33 years old, didn't really mind. At least he was nearly done with his daily deliveries. He sat and enjoyed the view of the somewhat more technologically advanced Edge a little longer before he straightened his bike and started it up, taking off from the hill soon after.

As he zipped through the country side and towards the city, his mind drifted to recent times. Lately things really started to finally seem content and normal again, some semblance of peace having hovered over the planet for about 5 years now. Feeling the wind in his face, it really felt as if all those dark memories from the past were finally beginning to wane and become more faint, like a blanket of fog had started to lift.

Is it really okay to finally let myself relax?,he thought to himself, Maybe it really is finally over...

Perhaps it was. It had been 5 years of relative quietness. Coming out of light reminiscing, he made a mental note to go see Reeve about the recent progress of the oil manufacturing. So far, progress had skyrocketed since the last time Denzel has faced that nightmare, beginning the circulation of oil to replace the use of mako and was at the halfway point. Reeve himself, though aged, was in current negotiations with Wutai to further help the replacement along. Reeve had long since served as CEO of the World Regenesis Power Company, having combined and claimed ownership of the old ShinRa Company, with Rufus still providing funding where necessary and currently serving as fellow board member. The people's hostility against ShinRa eventually waned, notably after the joint-union of both companies. As he made his way into the city and slowed down some, his phone began to ring and he reached a hand down to his pocket to answer it.

She was busy tending and picking flowers, still growing around the pool of water in the now very old church when she took out her phone and dialed a number. When Denzel picked up and greeted her, Marlene, 30 years old, could tell he seemed happier, as he had been for awhile now, just as she was. Continuing with her flower duties, she asked when he would be done for the day and the former orphan explained he would go by to see Reeve after his last delivery and then he would come back to help her open the 7th Heaven bar for the night. She agreed and then smiled as he said bye to her and she closed her phone. Yeah, seems things have finally calmed down. She finished with picking flowers and tending to the rest, putting her work-gloves away in a pocket on her faded blue-jean capris and slipping the phone back into the other pocket. She stood up on her dark brown tennis shoes and walked back out of the church to her bicycle, slipping the wrapped flowers in the bag on the handles, mounting said bike. Her white and pink short-sleeve shirt started to sway in an incoming breeze, reaching up to the pink ribbon in her semi-long brown hair. Marlene then rode off back to her florist shop to tally up restock of flowers, reminding her of their wedding day, one of the few happy memories they had.

Denzel finally made his last delivery and stopped his bike just outside of the inner district of Edge to recount his deliveries for the day on his clipboard. He pulled out his pen from the side-pocket of his pants.

"Denzel...", came a subtle and faint, but inherently sinister voice.

His body was suddenly wrought with a very cold shiver, having gone down his spine and even through it. His eyes widened a bit, dropping his pen to the ground and the arm holding the clipboard sank to his lap.

No... that wasn't... was it..?,he thought to himself, feeling foreboding beginning to flood his mind, It can't... no it just can't be!

He looked around the area, trying to see if anyone else was near him, but found no one. A twinge of an old fear started to prick somewhere within, the breeze in the afternoon feeling as if it had suddenly gone cold. He started to feel those old dark memories beginning to resurface, trying to keep out any images that might come to mind. He knew that voice and it filled him with utter dread.. and underlying sadness. He mounted his bike and sped off, seeing clouds hovering overhead and turning a dark grey, almost black.

No, not now... not again. Dammit!,he sped up on the bike, I thought this was all over... why?

He pulled his phone out again and dialed a new number. Whatever peace he thought he had started to feel had just completely shattered to pieces.

A gloved hand answered his phone, seeing Denzel's number on it after having noticed the same foreboding feeling in the air. The former orphan's voice sounded a bit shaken and Vincent, now physically in his 40s, could tell he had been right.

Something was very wrong.

The wind began to pick up as Denzel nervously conveyed to the former gunman over his phone to meet up with him at a certain building that was still under construction on the outskirts of the city and then hung up. It was made clear now, Vincent had a very bad feeling about this. Even he had started to think they wouldn't see him again, but it seemed they were wrong. The former Turk made his way to said building, his old but durable red cloak whipping around in the moderate wind, his now shorter hair doing the same, having cut it a few years back from having started to grow too long.

So it seems, even you are too persistent to be a mere faded memory..., the gunman thought to himself, his eyes narrowing in irritation and deeper anger, trying to keep down that sliver of fear wanting to creep up.

Marlene, meanwhile, was closing her store for the day when she noticed the dark clouds rolling in and the wind picking up. She thought maybe a storm was coming, but something else started to nagg her at the back of her mind. Feeling as if something wasn't right, her phone went off again, this time in the form of a text message:

Stay n town & watch every1. HE's here

Marlene froze when her eyes caught the last part, finding herself mouthing the words 'Oh no..' but no sound came out. She knew exactly who Denzel was talking about, a mix of anger and fear welling up inside her.

Not him... please no...,she thought, her mind beginning to race.

She slowly closed the phone and slid it back in her pocket before she finished locking the shop and left her bike chained to the pole, instead walking to the inner district on foot while pulling her black training gloves out of her pocket and slipping them on. When she finally got further into the city, the shrill sounds came, scary sounds... inhuman sounds, unlike any standard Gaian creature. The back of her neck began to prick as she saw them coming into sight. Yes, it was them...

Legion.

She went for one right away as the people began to panic when they saw them, putting a foot in the chest of one and knocking it away, a volley of fists hitting the few others near it. She backflipped and landed a spinning high-kick to one creeping up on her and spared a young man who was on the ground freaking out. She urged him away as fast as she could and went around to others being chased by the demonspawn. Marlene had wanted to help Denzel during those past dark times so she took to training hard to be able to fight hand-to-hand and eventually gained mastery of Martial Arts, just as Tifa before her had, having continued from the few moves the brunette martial artist had originally taught to her. She also garnered good use of staffs and poles, but preferred the former and would only use it in needed times.. such as this one. Denzel himself had eventually learned to handle swords and even use in guns, also carrying his own sword a friend had forged for him after having saved the forger's life from back then.

Marlene continued to keep legion back, but grew tense, beginning to worry about Denzel. As much as she wanted to help him, she knew it was his battle and his alone, especially that time she had almost died before from it... but she had her hands tied with the demonspawn appearing and only had her faith in him to give her hope he would be okay.

Denzel... be careful.,. she thought to herself, pondering what would happen this time.

Denzel stopped his bike and got off, taking his sword with him and making his way into the building-in-progress, the workers apparently having left early. He then picked up Vincent nearby and saw him leaning on an unfinished wall apparently having gotten there first, which meant he probably hadn't been too far away. Denzel walked to him.

"Vince, did you feel-" he was cut off.

"Wait... listen." Vincent said, turning around, facing the direction of the main part of Edge.

Denzel noticed the shrill roaring sounds, "Shit... them too..?" he muttered, becoming slightly frustrated.

"I take it you sensed him?" Vince asked, walking inside, Denzel following.

"No... I heard his voice, but I couldn't pinpoint where it was coming from..", Denzel explained, "...I think I heard it in my head.."

The former Turk removed his trademark Cerberus from it's holster.

"I couldn't pinpoint his location either... he seems to be getting good at that." he stated, going on high alert.

The gunman took notice of the nervous expression on Denzel's face and could tell the ordeal was really bothering him. Vince wasn't quite ready to admit it was bothering him too. The former orphan suddenly caught on to an all-too-familiar aura and tensed up more.

"Vince.. he's here." he said in a lower voice.

"I know." replied Valentine.

Denzel tried to pinpoint it but it still wasn't working.

It feels like he's all around us... this is confusing.., he pondered, trying to keep his guard up.

The longer he felt his aura, the more the wavy-haired brunette grew more reluctant and inwardly angry with underlying fear. He started to feel chills go down his back. It was too quiet.. way too quiet. Vincent himself was having trouble trying to sense his location, but kept his cool, at least, on the outside. Inside he was feeling nervous, which was very rare for him and it was getting on his nerves. He never liked how he would feel overwhelmed by his aura, when the only other person who made him feel like that at all was..

Denzel was instantly dragged hard to one side, his jacket being yanked on as Vincent had seen it coming a single second before they slammed into the ground where the former orphan had previously been standing. Denzel went on high alert and looked behind, seeing the swords sticking out of the ground. A shiver went through him at the sight.

Shit... I nearly didn't even see that coming, let alone feel it, he thought, his mind racing from the narrow dodge, but then something occured to him, Wait... why are there only 5 swords? He has 6 of-

He was cut off mid-thought as a spining blur of silver whizzed by right behind him, feeling the air from it, and slammed into Vincent, pinning him to the wall by his cloak, adjacent to the wavy-haired brunette's standing spot. Denzel whipped his head around to see if Vincent was okay for a split second.

"You're getting slow, Denzel." came that sinister voice again.

Putting a chilld down his back, the former orphan turned to see a shadowed figure standing on an unfinished platform some ways away. Denzel tried to keep his his rattled emotions down and gave a serious stare.

"You..." he said to the shadowy figure.

The figure seemed to have shifted in place.

"And here I thought you'd be glad to see me.." he stated, "Tho it seems Vincent is losing his touch as well."

Vincent managed to pull the sword out of the wall to release his cloak, having narrowly dodged the weapon from hitting his abdomen. Denzel kept his eyes on the figure, slowly coming out of the shadows.

"Denzel, are you trying to think you can forget about me? Trying to bury me away with the rest of our past memories somewhere in the back of your mind?". asked the shadowed figure his red eyes piercing into the brunette, "If you actually believed you could, you're severely mistaken.", his tone became more sinister.

"No... you're not him, Cloud died years ago." Denzel retorted, that old pain beginning to surface again.

A sinister grin spread on the figure's face, revealing his black, spikey shoulder-length hair, pale-white skin and piercing red eyes, wearing his original ACC uniform, minus the shoulder pad and battle skirt, but an added black long, floor-length coat, folded just under the elbows of his sleeves.

"Did I? Because I'm standing right here in front of you." mused the demonic Cloud.

AUTHOR NOTES: Bet you didn't see that coming did ya? ;) Hope you guys liked it so far! I'll be trying to get following chapters up when I can, so stay-tuned!