Planetary Crisis

Disclaimer- I do not own Final Fantasy vii or any associated characters. Final Fantasy vii and all associated characters belong to Square Enix. I do however own characters that I created myself.

This story takes place one year after Dirge of Cerberus.

A/N, I decided to make a few changes to the ages and correct a couple of errors, sorry about the confusion.

Characters

Heroes

Avalanche

Cloud Strife- Age 25

Tifa Lockheart- Age 24

Barret Wallace- Age 39

Cid Highwind- Age 36

Nanaki a.k.a. Red xiii- Age 52

Yuffie Kisargi- Age 20

Reeve- Age 30s

Cait Sith- Age none

Vincent Valentine- Age 27, his body doesn't age

Major

Max- (Age 19) a five tailed Kitsune and prince of the Kitsune World. Max is incredibly intelligent with an IQ of around 350; he has extensive knowledge and skills in mechanics and invents things to help make life easier. He has sea-green fur, unruly green spiky hair, bright aqua-marine eyes, blue tail tips and inside of ears. He has a red scar across his left eye. He wears purple long sleeved undershirt, a black tunic over the top, black baggy trousers, black fingerless gloves and black leather boots.

Pandora- (Age 20) an attractive bat with a sassy attitude, she is married to Max. Pandora is highly skilled in black magic. She has red fur, pink eyes, long black hair. Large ears, two black wings on her back and a long cat like tail. Pandora wears a purple one piece corset and skirt, the corset extends down the length of Pandora's legs. She wears black gloves, fishnet tights ad black knee length boots.

Drogo- (Age 20) a hedgehog who has exceptional thieving skills and wields two kitanas. Drogo is the ex King of Thieves and a recovering alcoholic, he is married to a girl called Sunny and spends most his time catching thieves. Drogo has purple fur and spines, sea green eyes and his fringe spikes are light purple but often mistaken for pink. The markings on his spines are light blue. He wears a blue waistcoat over a dark blue shirt, blue pants decorated with yin/yang symbols, red fingerless gloves, brown boots. He wears a brown leather pouch round his waist. He has a yin/yang tattoo on his right shoulder.

Sunny- (Age 20) a kind, caring hedgehog who has the ability to summon creatures and cast white magic. She is currently married to Drogo and is impressed that he managed to turn his life around. She has peach coloured fur and spines, with dark orange markings, and brown eyes. She wears a light blue halter-neck top which extends down her legs. A blue short skirt. Light blue sleeves that are not attached to her top. Blue gloves, blue knee length boots and a long blue scarf. She also wears a light blue head band with a blue flower in her hair.

Lance- (Age 21) a cybernetic fox who has exceptional skill with a spear. He is married to Angel and also acts as her bodyguard. As a guard Lance is bound to his duties and dislikes anyone who lacks honour. He has sky blue fur, a turquoise muzzle, the inside of his ears and the tip of his tail are also turquoise, the tips of his ears are blue. He has brown eyes, but his cybernetic eye is a light shade of brown, has a red pupil and target sensor within it. He has light blue spiky hair that trails down into dreadlocks. He wears a long red tunic, red shoulder pads, a silver breast plate, brown leather belt, blue pants, brown fingerless gloves, and brown, leather knee length boots clad with armour.

Angel- (Age 21) she is a rabbit with outstanding etiquette and is an accomplished blade dancer. Angel can cast white magic and has some summoning abilities but she isn't a force to be trifled with. Angel is more than capable of standing up for herself and speaks her mind. She is married to Lance. Angel has tan coloured fur with light brown ear tips. The inside of here ears are pink. She has sea-green eyes and her long brown hair is tied back into a ponytail. She wears a light blue corset, and long light blue sleeves. Her long skirt is green-blue, the cuffs of her sleeves, her gloves and her high heeled shoes are also green-blue.

Isis- (Age 21) a cybernetic cat, (more specifically a Persian) who has the ability to materialise weapons, (mainly guns) into her hands at will. Isis takes a vigilante approach to Criminals. She has no life companion and prefers to be alone. Isis has snow white fur with silver markings, yellow eyes with red pupils and target sensors, and long snow white hair. She wears a black, skin tight, bio mesh cat suit that stops that protects her against almost any bullet and black boots.

Nightshade- (Age 41) a seven tailed Kitsune and Max's father. Like Max, Nightshade is highly intelligent and has extensive skills in black and white magic, also like Max, he is psychic. Nightshade agreed to teach Max everything he knew about being a king. He has red-brown fur, blood red eyes usually hidden behind black shades. The insides of his ears and the tips of his tails are light blue, and the tips of his ears are brown. Nightshade has long blue spiky hair that is tied back into a ponytail, which trails down his back to just above his tails. He wears a purple waistcoat on top of a dark blue tunic, dark blue trousers, a light brown leather belt and light brown fingerless gloves. He wears a black coat made of leather and brown shoes.

Minor

Rufus Shinra- Age 20s

Reno-20s

Rude-20s

Marlene- Age 8

Denzel- Age 12

Aerith Gainsborough- Age 22

Zack- Age 23

Villains

Illusion- (Age 9000) a Dark Kitsune High Priestess and ex-advisor to the Dark Kitsune Queen. Illusion is a necromancer, (she can raise the dead) and as her name implies has dominion over illusions/dreams and shadows. Illusion has travelled to the planet Earth many years before and tried to conquer it, but was thwarted in her attempts. After the death of the Dark Kitsune Queen and Scarlet, Illusion had taken charge of the Dark Kitsunes and remained underground until the time was right to reveal herself. Illusion revives villains that were previously dead to help her carryout her plans. Even though she is 9000 years old she has the physical appearance of a 20 year old. She has dark purple fur, golden yellow eyes, her long, maroon coloured hair is styled into dreadlocks, the tips of her ears are black and the inside of her ears and tips of her tails are a lighter shade of purple. She wears a black high priestess robe and has nine tails.

Sephiroth- Age 20s

Hojo- Age unknown

Balthazar- (Age 40) Balthazar is Max's uncle who was hell bent on taking over both the Kitsune World and Terra Firma. He once tried to drain Max of his powers but failed and was eventually killed by Max. Determined to get revenge Balthazar' soul didn't pass on into the after life and he was revived by Illusion to get his revenge on Max. Balthazar has red fur and gleaming orange eyes. He has black spiky hair that ties back into a short ponytail, the tips of his ears are black and the insides of his ears and the tips of his tails are orange. Balthazar wears a black waistcoat over a white shirt, black trousers, black gloves and boots and a black coat.

Scarlet- (Age 18) Balthazar's daughter and Max's evil cousin. Scarlet took over from Balthazar when he was killed by Max, angry at Max for killing her father she tried to have him assassinated but failed. Scarlet was killed by Max and the others when she fused with the spirit of the Dark Kitsune Queen. Like her Father, Scarlet was driven by revenge and her soul was unable to pass on to the afterlife. Scarlet was revived by Illusion to help carry out her plans and to get revenge on Max and his friends. Scarlet has red fur, gleaming yellow eyes, short black hair, the tips of her ears are orange and the inside of her ears and the tips of her tails are peach. She wears a long purple Chinese style dress. Black elbow length gloves and black knee length boots.

Chapter 1: Planetary Alignment

It was a year since the defeat of Scarlet and the Dark Kitsune Queen and everyone had gone their own separate ways. Lance and Angel had rebuilt their hometown that was destroyed by Balthazar, Drogo had gone to live with Sunny and became a guard. Isis became a travelling bounty hunter, she felt like she really didn't have a home to go to. Max and Pandora were living on the Kitsune World preparing to be crowned King and Queen. The head elder Celeste and Nightshade vowed to help them in anyway they could. However it wasn't long before the group was longing to see each other again. Everyone was currently in the Great Hall of the Palace in the Kitsune World waiting for Max to unveil something.

Angel smiled at everyone, "it's so good to be together again, I've missed these moments!" She stated happily.

Lance nodded in agreement, "yeah, it's good to see everyone again." Lance held Angel by the waist and kissed her on the cheek, Angel giggled slightly.

Drogo however was pacing round the room looking impatient. "Max, will you just hurry up and unveil the thing already! The suspense is killing me!"

Everyone laughed at Drogo's impatience as this was very out of character for him, because Drogo was usually very patient.

"Alright, to stop Drogo from dying on me." Max said sarcastically, but he was also grinning inanely. Drogo gave Max an evil stare, but Max ignored it and walked over to a curtain and removed it revealing what looked like eight small watch like devices.

Everyone stared at the objects lying on the table. "What are those things?" Sunny asked curiously

Max picked up a teleportation device and wrapped it round his wrist. "These are teleportation devices," he answered smugly, still grinninh at the others, "I designed them myself. There's one each for everyone, I've set co-ordinates in them already. If you want to come and see us or if me, Pandora and Nightshade want to see you guys, all you have to do is set the co-ordinates and press the green button on the side and it'll warp you to where you want to go. Max saw the confused looks on everyone's faces and his grin grew wider, he loved giving complicated explanations sometimes, it was worth it just to see the look on everyone's face.

Sunny eventually broke the confused silence as she took one of the devices and put it on her wrist. "Neat, thanks Max, it looks just like a watch."

"That was the plan," Max stated as he looked proudly at his creations, "they're small and easy to carry and they're really easy to use too."

Drogo gave Max a sceptical stare, "this is what you've been inventing the whole time?" He questioned.

Max turned his attention to Drogo, "Yeah." He responded, "Why do you ask?"

"No reason," came the response, "I was just wondering, are you sure these things work? I mean the last invention you created did go heywire on you and it started producing monsters and..."

"Alright Drogo, I get it!" Max interrupted quickly, the last thing he wanted was to be reminded of his VR Battle Simulator that had cost him both his job and his home. "The VR Battle Simulator is completely irrelevant, besides my inventing skills have improved since then. I've worked out every bug on those things nothing can go wrong."

Drogo gave Max another sceptical stare, but he knew that Max wouldn't let them use the devices if they were dangerous in any way, so he rather reluctantly picked up a device. Five minutes later and everyone had a device round their wrists.

Pandora knowing only too well what happened the last time Max had invented something gave him a worried look. "As much as I hate to admit it," Pandora stated casting a quick look at Drogo, "but, Drogo is right. Maybe we should test these inventions out, you know, just to make sure that they work."

Max sighed and gave Pandora a doleful look, he never expected his life partner to doubt him, he then smiled at her. "Don't worry," He said an air of confidence in his voice, "I've already tested and re-tested them, they should work fine."

Pandora was still feeling doubtful about this, she had a feeling that something was bound to go wrong, but Max had worked really hard on these devices and she didn't want to hurt his feelings but at the same time she didn't want anything bad to happen. "But…" Pandora was about to respond to Max's comment but she was interrupted by Lance.

"Hey relax Pandora, if Max says that they work, then we've got nothing to worry about."

Isis, the group's resident misery guts was far less convinced, she was the kind of person who spoke her mind and she didn't care who's feelings she hurt in the process. "I estimate that there is a 50 chance of us successfully using these devices." She stated in her own typical fashion.

Drogo glared at Isis, "yeah, thanks Isis for that cheerful point of view." He muttered sarcastically.

"You're welcome." Isis shot back.

"I was being sarcastic!" Drogo yelled at Isis.

"So was I!" Isis retorted.

Nightshade sighed, he hated it when people got into an argument over the most trivial things. Being the oldest member of the group, Nightshade is usually the mature one, but he can still behave like a juvenile at times. Nightshade hated confrontations between members of the group and often avoided them and this occasion was no exception. While everyone was busy discussing or arguing for want of a better word about Max's invention, Nightshade walked towards the window and looked outside where he was greeted by an awe-inspiring sight.

Nightshade whistled loudly causing everyone to stop talking and they stared at him. "When you're quite finished!" He barked glaring at them all, "take a look outside." He pointed out of the window.

Everyone rushed to the window and looked in the direction Nightshade was pointing in and saw a spherical object in the night sky.

"Is that a planet?" Angel asked as she stared in awe at the floating object in the sky.

"It looks like one." Max stated he too was unable to take his eyes off it.

Everyone was amazed to find that they were staring at another planet. This planet wasn't the neighbouring world of Terra Firma, nor was it the Dark Kitsune World, but an entirely new planet altogether and it was shinning brightly in the night sky as though it was a star.

"Oh, it's so beautiful!" Sunny exclaimed hardly able to contain her excitement.

"Every 300 years or so," Nightshade stated as he grinned smugly at the others, like Max he reveled in imparting knowledge that only he knew. It was a case of like father like son. "It's said that two distant planets will align."

Pandora turned away from the planet to stare at Nightshade. "Then what happens?" She quized, curious to find out more.

Nightshade shrugged his shoulders, "I don't know," He answered, "though whatever's about to happen it's big."

For a while nobody spoke but continued to stare at the strange planet that seemed so far away and yet so close. Max felt drawn to this planet and he found himself drifting into a trance like state, his eyes were wide open, but they were glazed and his pupils seemed to have vanished from existence, he began to walk outside.

Pandora was the first one to notice that Max had left. "Max?" Pandora asked her face was filled with worry, "where are you going?"

Max didn't respond but he continued to make his way outside as though he was possessed by something. His friends followed behind him and the next thing they knew they were outside the palace not taking their eyes off this wondrous sight.

"I wonder why these two worlds are aligning?" Angel asked, she stared hopefully at Nightshade.

Nightshade stared back and it obvious from the look he gave that he didn't have a clue as to what was happening either. "No one knows why two planets align." He answered as best he could. "I guess it's just a mystery of the universe."

Pandora glared at Nightshade for his lack of answers. "You mean, not even the Kitsunes know!"

"This knowledge was lost to the Kitsunes, remember?" He stated, he turned his head round to face Pandora, his red eyes pierced into her soul.

Max suddenly snapped out of his trance, his eyes had returned to normal. "It could be an omen." He replied, he spoke in a mysterious voice, the same voice he always used when he was imparting knowledge that he wasn't always consciously aware of until the time he actually imparts it.

Everyone stared at him, too awestruck to even speak, eventually Sunny broke the silence. "An omen of what?" She asked, although some how she was dreading the answer.

"That our troubles aren't over." Max responded still in that same dream-like voice.

Out of nowhere they heard a mysterious voice echoing in the sky but coming from nowhere in particular.

"...In fact your troubles have only just begun..."

At these words Max and the others could feel a powerful wind blowing round them, the devices round their wrists began to glow and spark.

"What's happening?" Pandora yelled at the top of her lungs to make herself heard over the roaring wind.

"I don't know!" Nightshade shouted, did everyone expect him to have all the answers.

Max looked down at his now heavily sparking device. "It's the devices!" He cried out, "they're overloading!"

"How's that possible?" Sunny asked loudly, obviously freaked out by what was happening.

"This wind must be giving them too much power!" Max answered as he shouted as loudly as he could.

"What happens if they overload?!" Drogo questioned, somehow he knew the answer and was dreading it.

Max looked ruefully at the others. He hadn't thought about what would happen if the devices were given a sudden surge of power. Then again, he didn't know that this was going to happen.

"To be honest!" Max spoke as truthfully as he could. "I haven't really considered that eventually!"

Drogo glared at Max, "Oh you're smart!" He bellowed, a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

Pandora quickly jumped to Max's defence, "this wasn't Max's fault!" Pandora retorted glaring at Drogo, "At least Max was doing something constructive with his time! What were doing?

"You mean, apart from puting notorious bad guys in jail where they belong?!" Drogo shot back.

"Will you two just shut up!" Nightshade cut in holding his head. "Can't you two have a normal conversation without exchaging insults? You're constant arguing is starting to give me a headache!"

"Sorry Nightshade!" Drogo and Pandora shouted.

"Guys!" Angel screamed, "I think there's a tornado heading this way!" Angel pointed at a swirling vortex of wind and it was heading straight for them.

They all stared in silence as the swirling wind round them became even stronger and their devices sparked even more as they began to strain under the power.

"I'm not sure how much longer these devices will hold!" Max stated as he gave his friends a worried look.

Everyone screamed when they heard Max's words. "Aaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…!!"

Meanwhile on Planet Earth, it had been a whole year since the Deep Ground Soldiers and Omega Weapon had been defeated and everyone was settling down again. However for Cloud Strife it was hard work as usual, his delivery service had become so successful lately and the phone had been ringing off the hook. In the Seventh Heaven Bar in Edge Tifa Lockheart was busy cleaning the tables and clearing out the bar for closing time. Marlene and Denzel were helping out when Cloud came walking through the door looking exhausted.

Tifa saw Cloud enter the bar and she ran up to him and hugged him tightly. "Cloud!" She exclaimed happy to see him again.

Cloud hugged her back and smiled, coming back home after a week of being away on deliveries was well worth while.

"Hey Tifa." Cloud replied "How's things?"

Tifa released her hold on Cloud and was about to respond when Marlene came running up and hugged Cloud tightly.

"Cloud!" Marlene shouted excitedly "I'm so glad you're home!"

Cloud smiled at Marlene and picked her up and she sat on his knee. "Thanks Marlene," Cloud responded happily, "it's great to be back."

Cloud looked over at Denzel and saw that he was still cleaning a table. The poor kid had lost his parents to Geostigma and had contracted the disease himself, he had been living with Cloud and Tifa since, and even though he missed his parents he was very happy, if a little too quiet at times. Denzel eventually looked up and smiled at Cloud, and Cloud smiled back.

"Hey Denzel!" Cloud joked, "a gil for your thoughts?"

Denzel laughed and walked over to Cloud.

"Sorry Cloud," He said quietly, "I was a little distracted."

"I've noticed." Cloud replied his voice was filled with concern. "Are you feeling ok?"

Denzel nodded, "Yeah?" He answered and his smile left his face. "You're not thinking of leaving again are you?" He questioned not taking his eyes off Cloud.

Cloud placed Marlene back on the floor for a minute and stared intently at Denzel, he eventually shook his head.

"No," Cloud answered firmly, "this isn't like three years ago when I had Geostigma. I realise now just how much you, Tifa and Marlene mean to me. How much my family means to me."

Denzel smiled again, "yeah," he said in agreement, "you're always there for us when we need you, Cloud."

"Yeah, I'll never abandon my family," Cloud stated plainly, "oh Marlene before I forget,Your dad wanted me to give you this."

Cloud stood up and kneeled next to Marlene he pulled a letter out of his pocket and gave it to her, Marlene took the letter eagerly and began to read it.

Dear Marlene, how are things at Cloud and Tifa's place? I'm sorry I haven't been down to see you for a while but you know how these things go. Coral is almost finished we just need to add a few finishing touches and then I can finally take some time off and come and see you alright.

Love from Dad.

"Daddy's finally going to be coming!" Marlene squealed in excitment. "Can you believe that?"

Tifa smiled at Marlene, seeing her and Denzel happy was what Tifa wanted. "I most certainly can," She said her smile now turned to a stern stare "Now come on you two, the deal was you could stay up until Cloud came home."

Marlene stared wide eyed at Cloud. "Do we really have to go to bed?" She asked sadly.

Tifa looked at Cloud and he smiled slyly at her. Marlene was a sweet kid but she had a wild imagination like all kids her age and Cloud knew exactly what to do to make her go to bed.

"No of course not." Cloud replied smiling at Marlene, Tifa glared at him. "We're just gonna be talking about mushy stuff, right Tifa?" He said playfully as he chased Tifa round the table and eventually caught her. He held Tifa round the waist and started kissing her on the neck. Tifa laughed and she smiled at Marlene. Marlene stared back at them with a disgusted look on her face.

"Eeeewwwww….yuck!" Marlene pulled her tongue out at this. "Right I'm going to bed, you coming Denzel?" She asked as she stared at him.

"Yeah," Denzel answered as he followed Marlene out of the room, "night Cloud, night Tifa."

"Night you two." Cloud and Tifa responded, a minute or so later Marlene and Denzel had disappeared upstairs. Cloud released Tifa and she smiled at him.

"You sure do know how to clear out a room." Tifa replied jokingly.

Cloud grinned at Tifa, "I just know what kids are like." He said smugly, "I know they hate mushy stuff." Cloud's grin disappeared almost as quickly as it appeared, he sighed and hung his head as his exhaustion started to kick in.

"You look exhausted." Tifa sad her voice was filled with concern.

"I feel exhausted." Was all Cloud said he sat down at the table again and rested his head on his arms.

Tifa walked over to the table and sat down next to him, she took hold of his hand and he looked up at her.

"Have you ever thought of taking a break?" She asked, not taking her eyes off him.

Cloud shook his head and stared at Tifa in disbelief. "Tifa," He said his voice filled with shock. "I can't take a break. Everyone's counting on me, I can't let them down."

"Well, you're no use to anybody while you're exhausted." Tifa replied sternly, "everyone needs to take a break every once in while, including you."

Cloud sighed, he knew that Tifa had a point, he was pushing himself too hard, but at the same time it gave him a sense of purpose. He was finally getting his life back on track, but maybe Tifa was right, a little break would do him good.

Cloud smiled at Tifa, "You're right," He admited, "I shouldn't go on like this. I think I will take a break."

Tifa smiled back, "well good, I'm glad you see things my way, for once."

"Ha, ha, remind me to laugh." Cloud muttered sarcastically.

Tifa glared at him, "I was being serious."

"I know," Cloud stated, "So...any calls?"

"Well, Reeve called," Tifa answered, "he said that everything was fine in Kalm. He wanted to know how you were getting on."

"I'm doing great." Cloud responded, he smiled but deep down he was feeling exhausted.

"He said he wanted to meet up with you sometime."

"Yeah, I'll do that." Cloud kissed Tifa on the cheek. "I think I'll go do some travelling for a while you know, to clear my head."

Tifa smiled at him, this was the best idea he ever had. "That's a brilliant idea." Tifa said encouragingly. "That might be just what you need."

"If anyone calls…" Cloud started to speak but Tifa interrupted him.

"Tell them you're away, I know."

Cloud grinned at Tifa, he knew he could rely on her, like always. "Will you be ok staying here by yourself?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine." Tifa said reassuringly, "besides I have Marlene and Denzel keeping me company."

Cloud laughed "yeah," he responded, he was determined to do this. "I'm gonna set off first thing tomorrow morning." Held her round the waistand kissed her on the neck. "Just try not to miss me too much." He said playfully.

Tifa also laughed, "don't flatter yourself." She retorted.

Cloud released her, "well, I'm gonna go to bed." He yawned, "you coming?"

Tifa also yawned, "yeah, I'll just be a minute."

Cloud walked through the back and disappeared up the stairs. Tifa stayed downstairs for a moment and looked round the bar before turning the light off and following Cloud upstairs.

Back on the Kitsune World.

"…aaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!"

The devices stopped sparking and continued to glow intently. The glow on the devices was so intense that they all had to shield their eyes.

"Oh shit!" max cursed loudly, "that's not good!"

"What's going on?" Pandora asked him.

"The devices have been activated!" Max answered as he gave her a worried stare, "but with this amount of power they're unpredictable!"

"And what does that mean exactly?" Drogo questioned as he glared evilly at Max.

"I don't know!" Max shot back, "this has never happened before!"

"Max we have to…" Nightshade started.

Nightshade didn't get the chance to finish his sentence because they were all engulfed in a bright white light and they could feel their feet being launched off the ground as they were being sucked into the tornado, the devices glowed even more intensely as Max and the others were being teleported. Where they were going no one knew but it wasn't long before dizziness began to sink in.

"Oh, I feel dizzy." Sunny stated hazily, she hung her head to avoid being sick.

"Sunny! Try to stay focused!" Drogo shouted trying to get Sunny to snap out of it.

"Quick!" Max cried out, "everybody hold hands!"

Max grabbed hold of Pandora's hand and Pandora grabbed hold of Angel's until everyone was holding hands. Wherever they were going they weren't going to get separated. However the force of the wind round them was so strong that it wasn't long before everyone was loosing their grip.

Pandora started to let go of Max's hand, "I'm slipping!" She yelled as she struggled to tighten her grip.

"Pandora!" Max shouted, he to tried to tighten his grip round Pandora's hand but he found that his grip was loosening as well, "Hang on! everyone, whatever you do…don't let go!"

But that was easier said than done and it wasn't long before everyone had lost their grip and were flung apart before disappearing.

"Aaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh!!"

Everyone screamed at the top of their lungs but no one could hear them.

That's it for chapter 1, what happens next? Find out in chapter 2 which is coming soon. This is my first fanfic, I hope it's ok.