Sephiroth had fallen and so had his dreams of summoning Meteor to destroy all life on the planet. The surviving eight members of Avalanche thought that their trials and tribulations were over. They were glad when they defeated Sephiroth, as it should be. They had had enough adventures for one lifetime. They thought that since the threat of Sephiroth and Shinra were gone that they would get a little off time, and that the planet would safe for at least a few hundred years. Boy were they wrong, for little did they know that another adventure was just on the horizion. This is the story taken a year after the demise of Sephiroth and the birth of an evil, just as great.



Everyone throughout the world knew how the top company who held an iron grip on the world had fallen a year before. They knew that Rufus ordered one last shot from the Sister Ray in order to destroy the Diamond Weapon. They also knew how the Diamond Weapon managed to get one last shot off, one that would destroy the Shrinra's Executive Office. Shortly after Rufus fell, Scarlet and Heidegger met their end at Avalanche's hands when their prized invention, Proud Clod was destroyed. Shinra was no more...or so everyone thought. No one knew that Rufus had a son, one who made his father's before him look like kind gentle men who wouldn't hurt a fly.



Unlike President Shinra who tried his share at ruling the world through lies, or Rufus who ruled the world with fear, Dimitri wanted to rule the world with both fear and deception. His idea was that if his lies failed, then the village or city in which defied him was to be destroyed. With his ideas in mind, he took what money his father had earned from Shinra and started up his Grandfather's business once again. Shinra was back...and this time it would not be as easy as it had been before for Avalanche to stop them. Knowing of the fact that the Avalanche eight were still alive and would probably be hounding at him every time he took a wrong turn, Dimitri set up an unreal barrier of super Soldiers and Soldier 1st class. The super Soldiers were those who had been showered in mako as regular members of soldier, yet had the ability to become much stronger than even Sephiroth himself. Dimitri knew that with these loyal soldiers backing him, he would be unstoppable, even against Avalanche. This is where our story starts off, right after the rise of the newly formed Shinra and the new and improved Mako reactors.



"WHA!? THE HELL IS GOIN' ON HERE!?"



A furious Barret sat in his home in the newly rebuilt North Corel looking at a newspaper in which had just been established, called the Shinra Times.



"DID WE, OR DID WE NOT FINISH THESE @#$%*&' JACKASSES A YEAR AGO!?"

"Barret...calm down. We understand that you're mad..."

"HELL YEA, I'M MAD! They've started up the Mako Reactors again...Do they not see that they're killin' the planet!?"



Cloud stood in the corner with his arms crossed while Tifa sat next to Barret, trying to calm him.



"I NEED TA TALK WIT' THIS NEW PRESIDENT OF SHINRA!"

"That's impossible, and you know it. He's set up an army of Super Soldiers around him and no one but trusted Shinra Employees can get near him."

"Super Soldiers? The hell is that?" Barret said, turning to Cloud for some answer.

"Don't ask me...I've never heard of 'em, but if their stronger than first class Soldiers by as much as they say, then we've got our work cut out for us."

"So that means..."



Tifa nodded as a smile crossed her face.



"We're going to find some way to fight the Shinra..." she said, still smiling.



Barret turned to Cloud and raised an eyebrow, an expression of wonder on his face.



"You...too Cloud?"

"You've said it before Barret..."



In unison the three said Barret's favorite pep phrase.



"There ain't no getting off this train we're on."



The three broke up into laughter as smiles crossed all their faces. The silence was broken as a familiar voice was heard from outside the small brick house.



"Hey! HEY! YOU DAMN STUPID JACKASSES GET OUT HERE!"

"Lem'me guess...Cid knows too." Barret said shaking his head.

"We couldn't just leave him out." Cloud stated calmly.

"Yea, he's a part of Avalanche too, Barret." Tifa pointed out.

"Yea, well, if he calls me a jackass again, I'm gonna have ta ruff him up..."

"DAMMIT! STOP @%!*&' IGNORING ME AND GET YOUR ASSES OUT HERE!"



The three shook their heads laughing and walked out of the house catching sight of their friend and his newly built airship dubbed 'Shera.'



"Like the Airship, Cid." Barret said smirking.

"Yea, Ditto..." replied Tifa.

"It's ok...but one thing bother's me about it, Cid."

"What's that? I swear if you say you see sumthin' wrong with her I'm gonna shove my spear so far up your ass you won't be able to walk for a month."



Cloud just rolled his eyes and let out a puff, showing how much he cared about Cid's threat.



"As I was saying, The thing that bother's me is...you married Shera."

"Yea, so?"

"Well, when we met you did you, or did you not say that just thinkin' about marring her gave you the chills?"

"Hey, that's right you did Cid." Tifa replied smirking.

"Yea, man. What's up wit' that?"

"Ahh shaddup...Ain't none of your damn business. 'Sides, we ain't here to talk about my love life. If we wanted a juicy story on that we'd just ask you, Cloud."



Cloud rolled his eyes again as Tifa turned away blushing.



"Yea, that's what I thought..."

"Anyway...," Cloud said cutting in, "We need to go get Vincent, Red XIII, and Cait Sith before we start discussing what to do about Shinra."

"I agree..." Tifa chirrped, still a little red from earlier.

"Fine then, let's go."

"HEY, HEY, HEY!"



They turned around to see the now 18 year old Ninja behind them, standing on top of Barret's house. She crossed her arms looking a little peeved at them for forgetting about her.



"What the hell? What're you doin' on my house...Get down from there now, the roof isn't stable as it..."



Before Barret could finish Yuffie was gone and a loud thud was heard from inside the house. Tifa's face fell with fear, as did Barret's, while Cloud's was bright with amusment.



"Yuffie!?" Tifa yelled.

"MY HOUSE! MY ROOF!"



The group of four ran into the house to find Yuffie laying a pile of broken wood and shingles which used to be Barret's table and roof.



"Ahh, Dammit...you know how much Gil it's going to take to fix this mess..."

"Enlighten us, Barret." Cloud replied, eyes still bright with amusment.

"FORGET THE DAMN HOUSE YOU MORONS!" Tifa yelled running to Yuffie. "Hey, you okay Yuffie?"

"Ugh...Look at all the Chocobo's flyin' around my head..."



At this, Yuffie began to count the hallucination's floating around her head.



"One Chocobo...Two Chocobo...Three Chocobo...Four Chocobo...FOUR CHOCOBO'S!"



Cloud and Cid fell on the floor with laughter as Barret sat on his knees sobing over the mess which used to be his roof and table. Tifa knelt next to the dazed Yuffie and helped her up, worry etched on her face.



"Yuffie, how many fingers am I holding up?"

"Four..." she replied. "What a stupid question. I'm not blind."



At this Tifa looked even more worried.



"Yuffie...I'm holding up two fingers..."

"Really...then how come I see four...Let's count...One..."



She put her index finger next to Tifa's then moved it again.



"Two..."



She moved her finger again, except it missed.



"Three...HEY! YOU MOVED YOUR FINGER!"

"Yuffie, you need to sit down..."



Cloud and Cid continued to roll on the floor laughing while Barret was no longer sobbing, but now cursing the floor. A few minutes later Yuffie regained her right mind...at least as right as it could be, while Barret was still in hysterics.



"Hey, Barret...look at it this way, at least now you have a sky light." Cloud said smirking.



Cid began laughing as Cloud did the same, as the big black man went back to sobing.



"Yo, man...your gun arms gonna rust if you keep crying on it." Cid said grinning.

"I DON'T CARE! I HAVE A BROKEN ROOF!"

"Sorry...Barret." Yuffie said sincerly.

"I know you are...but that ain't bringing my roof back."

"Well fine then...I'll be outside...waiting for the big baby to stop crying so we can go get the others."



As Yuffie walked outside, Tifa began to pat herself down...anger growing on her face.



"Hey, Tifa, what's wrong?" Cloud asked walking over to her.

"THAT BRAT! SHE WASN'T IN A DAZE!" Tifa yelled.

"So...?"

"SHE STOLE MY MATERIA! I'M GOING TO KILL HER!"



Tifa ran outside of the small house and as she did Cloud turned to Cid.



"I think we need to stop her..."

"Nah...Cat Fight's are always fun." Cid replied.

"Yea, but you're a married man. I don't think Shera would like you watching two girls, younger than you, fight each other. Especially when it's muddy out."

"Heh heh heh... What Shera don't know won't hurt her."

"Yea, well, I'd prefer not to watch them fight...So I'm going to stop them." Barret said running out of the house just in time to catch Tifa chocking a stunned Yuffie.

"WHERE'S MY MATERIA YOU...!"

"AGH...IT'S...RIGHT...*HACK*....HERE! JUST...LET...ME....GO...!"

"Tifa, let her go...she'll give it back, and never take it again. Want you, Yuffie?" asked Barret.

"YES! JUST GET...HER...AWAY...FROM ME!"



Tifa dropped her as Yuffie handed her back her materia. Tifa turned around and walked back over to where an amused Cloud and Cid were.



"Let's go. We need to go get Red XIII, Vincent, and Cait Sith, don't we?"

"Heh heh...Yea, we sure do." Cloud said, stifling a laugh.



With that the group of five turned and made their way to the airship, Yuffie and Barret trailing behind sulking while the still amused Cloud and Cid led the way to the airship, Tifa following behind Cloud, as usual.