Final Fantasy VII

Rebirth

A/N: Well, although the story isn't picking up momentum as fast as I'd like, I still have one reader who enjoys it, and I'll keep updating regardless. Thanks goes to Lady Helsing for the very first review of the story. Uh...lets see...school started today, and I have two study halls so that takes the overall workload off of me lol, so the updates should come steadily. Alright, then, with no more to say, here's chapter 2.


Chapter II

Reno was pretty sure that he had always been the black sheep of the Turks.

Turks dressed well and in suits.

Reno dressed in suits, but not well.

Turks were neat.

Reno could be neat, but oftentimes wasn't.

Turks were also serious.

Reno was serious. But he also had a side that told him it was okay to laugh every now and then.

So as he sat there, reflecting on these many qualities of a Turk that he seemed to not have, but yet did, Reno stared at his complete opposite. Rude. And although they were pretty much opposites – Rude was silent, Reno was loud; Rude was big, Reno was lean, et cetera – they were like the perfect team and had been partners since day one of recruitment training. Elena was added into the equation later, but she still fit their group nonetheless and sure as hell did a good job in keeping Rude and himself from looking like a couple.

"What is it that makes me good at my job?" Reno finally blurted. It took Elena by surprise because she turned to him quickly.

"Your riot prod has a lot to do with it…" Elena replied in a murmur, turning away from him and attempting to fall into a sleep again.

"No, I mean…look at me, and then look at you all. I'm like…the complete opposite." Reno explained with a bit of a frown.

Tseng opened his mouth to say something, no doubt something smart-ass, but Rude beat him to it. "We're no better than you, partner." The large man assured.

Tseng laughed. "I was just about to say that you're the…'comic relief' of the Turks."

Reno grinned happily, content with the answers he got. Thinking about it, he partly expected them. "I can live with that."

"Mm. Now shut up." Elena snapped dryly. Tseng chuckled an agreement.

Reno shrugged. "I'm just trying to make his ride more interesting."

"Or more stretched-out?" Tseng deadpanned.

Reno took the cue to shut up and settled down in his seat. He stared out at the sky, watching the clouds as they passed by. A group of birds moved overhead, all in a neat formation as they crossed the sky. Interested, Reno perked up to watch them. Their formation was close to perfect, resembling that of a bunch of military jets straight from Shin-Ra. Normally, he wouldn't give a rat's ass but he asked anyways. "Are birds taught to fly in formation?"

"SHUT UP!" Tseng and Elena yelled in unison.

Reno sank further in his seat and cursed.

Rude snickered lowly.


Fenrir was a fine motorcycle. A one of a kind, parallel to no other single motorcycle in the world – it was truly a magnificent bike. Made of titanium painted an attractive, sleek jet black, and with so many luscious curves, the Fenrir always turned heads. What was hidden inside was the true magnificence, though. With the push of the button, the chassis opened up like a pair of wings to reveal slots specified for each part of First Tsurugi. The engine was tremendously powerful; the large wheels were reinforced to the extent of being able to take a few bullets without a hiss of air escaping. The Fenrir was actually going to be in mass production, via Shin-Ra, and used as a military vehicle since it had an almost infinite array of configurations available. But when Shin-Ra fell from power – their military completely dissipated – production halted. It was only when Rufus Shin-Ra decided to finish the motorcycle and hand it over to Cloud in hopes of it being a good peace offering.

Indeed it was.

Fenrir roared along the Midgar Wastelands, the cloud of dirt that followed behind him was barely able to keep up as Cloud pushed Fenrir to its limits. The sound was almost deafening, the engine certainly pumping on all cylinders. It was a monster of a machine, and Cloud would have it no other way. He swerved around large boulders, in and out, and even popping wheelies and using some as ramps. The suspension reacted wonderfully, Cloud would never have even known that he left the ground and all several thousand pounds of the bike had plummeted back down to the dirt.

But he wasn't out here to show off to anyone who may be watching from afar. He needed to clear his head. Through his shades, Cloud actually didn't see what was ahead of him. Instead he saw his life, significant events that spanned from what little he remembered from his childhood, to just days ago when he locked swords with his arch enemy risen from death. Only a slight sense of his surroundings saved Cloud from crashing into a boulder and being lost in the aftermath that was sure to involve an explosion and lots of flying rock.

Never in his life had Cloud tried to assume position as a leader. After going through his recollections of life, Cloud wasn't surprised to find that he really never was a leader. As a child, he never objected to the games his friends wanted to play, he never suggested anything, never leaded his friends through games in front of his home in Nibelheim. Even in Shin-Ra, Cloud was just another soldier - not SOLDIER. Sure he was good, sure he was one of the most elite (even though he hadn't made it to the ranks of SOLDIER), but he never commanded anyone in his life. Throughout his years in Shin-Ra, Zack had served as Cloud's guide to everything. Zack was a natural born leader, just like Sephiroth. Cloud wasn't. Cloud never made his own decisions, or at least not the big ones. Most of everything he did was somehow affected by another's opinion on the situation. He wasn't fit to be a leader.

All of this, of course, wasn't to imply that Cloud was weak or would let people walk on him. If need be, Cloud would gladly leave a grown man sprawled out on the floor in his own blood if need be. But Cloud just wasn't a leader, and had only assumed that position after AVALANCHE escaped Midgar since their mission now became more about himself. But to himself, he never was an actual leader. Without the right information, Cloud wouldn't have known a damn thing about what to do next.

All of that came down to what had Cloud a bit bothered. He was no leader…and he sure as hell wasn't a hero. He didn't want people looking up to him, because he didn't want people to be like him. Lost…full of shattered dreams and idols, full of unfulfilled ideals that would never really reach the surface of his conscious. Cloud was more bothered on the inside than safe, and he knew that all too well. If it were some other crazy guy trying to destroy the world, and not the man who was the catalyst for everything that was wrong with Cloud, the world probably wouldn't have been here today.

If a totally different group of crazy guys that had nothing to do with Sephiroth had decided to show up in Edge, Cloud wouldn't have batted an eyelash at them. Cloud simply was no hero. He wasn't trying to save the Planet, or save the people of the Planet. He was saving himself, and in turn he had to save what he loved. Tifa, Denzel, Yuffie, Barret and Marlene, Cid, Vincent and all the others. If it weren't for them, Cloud may never have saved the world. He didn't want recognition for doing something that was so natural to do. It didn't make sense for him to be praised because he was only doing what any other person with loved ones would do.

That's what's bothering him.

He applied the brake, killed the engine, and lifted his shades once the dust around him had settled. He'd moved a ways from Edge in about ten minutes; the city wasn't visible on the horizon. Cloud turned away from Edge, silently noting that the sides of Fenrir felt a bit warm. In his trance he hadn't realized he was redlining Fenrir the entire time. "Sorry about that…" He mumbled to the motorcycle. If someone were around to hear him, he would've felt stupid.

If it weren't for lifting his shades, Cloud would not have seen the cloud of dust far off on the Midgar Wastelands, heading toward Healin. The only people he knew that traveled regularly to and fro Healin was Reno and his gang. The friction between the Turks and AVALANCHE was no longer present and, ironically enough, Cloud was actually starting to like them. The quirky Reno could always provide a laugh, and Tseng and Rude were two knowledgeable men he could carry a meaningful conversation with, and Tifa got along fine with Elena. Rufus was also a pretty good guy, one that Cloud enjoyed in his company. During his years in Shin-Ra, Cloud oftentimes saw Rufus tagging along with his father. Rufus always seemed a bit stuck up, always was, until the true weight of being Shin-Ra president began weighing on his shoulders.

Lowering his shades, Cloud started Fenrir again and started after them. He paced Fenrir, though, allowing it to cool off so as to not overheat it.


Barret watched amusedly as Cid and one of the customers knocked back shots one after the other. More than a dozen empty shot glasses lay on the table they were seated at, neither of them showing any signs of giving in anytime soon. Yuffie was cheering them on, as was Reeve – through Cait Sith – as the two men continued to fill their bellies with alcohol. Red XIII sat in sight of the men, his lips pulled back from his teeth in what could pass for a grin. Vincent sat in a dark corner, but was eyeing the two with just as much amusement as anyone else.

"They're racking up one helluva bill." Barret commented, making a grin spread across Tifa's beautiful face. She was standing next to Barret, who was sitting in a chair that he'd pulled up in order to watch the drinking contest.

"We need to have more of these…" Tifa murmured as Cid downed his tenth shot. Barret caught a glimmer in her eyes, and before he could speak, she was blurting out her idea. "Maybe we could put up posters around Edge. 'Once a week: Drinking Contest, winner gets it free.'" She suggested.

Barret shrugged, but before he could comment on her idea, the man that was attempting to match Cid shot-after-shot jumped out of his seat and ran to the bathroom where he proceeded to puke about fourteen shots and his lunch in the garbage can.

"Oh yeah!" Cid exclaimed, knocking back another shot, courtesy of Yuffie who had been pouring the alcohol.

"Yeah, that's what I'm talkin' about!" Barret whooped, rising out of his seat to put Cid in a playful headlock.

After being released, Cid stood atop a chair and lit a cigarette triumphantly. "Come on back, boy!" He yelled to the man that was still in the bathroom.

Once everyone settled down, and Tifa and Yuffie cleaned up the shot glasses, Cid and Barret sat next to each other at the bar. Interested, Barret turned to Cid and asked, "Where'd you learn to hold your alcohol from?" Although Barret was fully capable of holding his own, also.

Cid shrugged as he took a long drag of his cigarette and tapped the ashes off in an ashtray. "Back when I was with Shin-Ra, before I became commander of the Twenty-Seventh Airborne division that fought in Wutai, me n' all the other trainees would hold contests like this a couple times a week. 'Course, our commander would have our asses the next day since we weren't in shape to train properly, but it was still about the best thing I ever did in Shin-Ra. I kind of grew immune to it as the years went by." Cid puffed on his cigarette a bit more and smiled. "Yep, those were the good ole' days."

"I wonder if Cloud ever did anything like that?" Barret queried, turning to study the pictures Tifa had hanging on the wall. She had a picture of everyone, group pictures, and old pictures of him, herself, Biggs, Wedge, and Jesse, too. The picture was of the five of them on the steps of the old Seventh Heaven bar. Barret sat in the middle of Jesse and Tifa, an arm around either of their shoulders, and Biggs and Wedge were trying to strike the coolest pose possible. Barret swallowed hard, trying not to remember that they were dead.

"Probably not."

"Huh?" Barret asked, forgetting all about his question.

"I said Cloud probably never did the things we did. I was in Shin-Ra years before him; the rules were probably a lot stricter when he enrolled." Cid smashed out his cigarette and pivoted on his seat so that he was facing the rest of the bar. Red XIII, Reeve, and Vincent were locked in conversation now, as Yuffie and Tifa were also talking something about something that was undoubtedly completely different. "Ain't it weird how we all got together?"

"All because of Cloud." Barret commented. "If it wasn't for hunting down crazy-ass Sephiroth, we woulda' never met you, Yuffie, Vincent…or Aerith."

"That boy sure does miss her…" Cid reflected with a frown. "Can't help but feel bad for him."

Barret nodded. "Yeah, he loved her. But I think he's puttin' it behind him now. You can't go through life dwellin' in the past and mournin' the people that passed. I lost my wife, and I won't let that pull me down."

Cid nodded, too. "Can't be said any better. I lost plenty of my friends in the Wutai-Shin-Ra war. If I went around moping all the time, I'd have to ask you to shoot me."

"Cloud's just been through a lot." Barret commented.

"You ain't kiddin'."


Reno plopped down on a couch and bounced up and down on it. It didn't make a sound. "Nice…" He commented in a whisper.

Rufus sat at a table, a cup of coffee in hand. Apparently he had just woken a bit ago (although it was well into the afternoon by now) since it wasn't his tradition to drink a lot of coffee. Albeit he may have just woken, Reno would be damned if he still didn't hold an air of professionalism and superiority even now. At the table, Tseng, Rude, and Elena also sat. The three of them were quiet, patiently waiting for Rufus to speak as he sipped his coffee slowly.

Well if no one else if going to speak up, I will, thought Reno as he sat on the couch that sat against the wall only a few steps away from the table. "Whatcha' need us for, boss?" It could be confusing when he addressed Rufus or Tseng when they were in the same room together, since he referred to both of them as 'boss'. Tseng was, in all respects, his boss, but Rufus was Tseng's boss, so that made Rufus Reno's boss as well. Why that had anything to do with current events will stand to be unknown. Luckily enough for Reno, Tseng had understood that the question was directed at Rufus.

"I want you to take me to Edge," Rufus replied. "I heard that Reeve was there, and I'd like to talk to him about the merger."

The 'merger' was just Rufus' way of saying 'the event in which Shin-Ra – a monster of a military power – was slowly evolving into the World Regenesis Organization – a organization that still had military presence but was a lot less menacing since they were focused on helping the Planet recover.'

"Mm."

Rufus turned to Reno with a sharp glance. "Do you have something to say, Reno?"

Reno shrugged. "Just a shame, seeing this company turn into the WRO." Reno didn't pronounce each letter of the acronym, but instead pronounced it 'row'. No one else did that, so no one else really knew why the hell he did. "Us Turk's are going to see a change in occupation. Just imagine," Reno started to use his arms as if to glorify his words, "The Turks, a highly elite group of assassins working for the former Shin-Ra company are taking a turn for the better…by planting flowers and trees in small communities to bring new life to everything around!" Reno finished the last part in his usual drawling tone, no emphasis used at all.

"Would you rather be planting flowers and getting paid for it, or not having a job at all?" Rufus replied quickly, a hint of victory in his voice.

"Touché." Reno said with a smirk.

"Should we be going?" Tseng asked after several seconds had passed. The other Turks had let Reno's words sink in, but also put Rufus' words into heavy consideration. After two seconds, Reno's speech was no longer relevant.

Rufus shook his head. "I have some pastries in the toaster. We'll eat first and then we'll get on the road." As Rufus brought his coffee up for another sip, his ears perked up. He put down the mug, that read 'World's Greatest Boss' – a gift courtesy of Reno –, and listened intently. The sound then hit the other Turks' ears and they all recognized it as the roaring sound of a motorcycles engine. But not just any engine – the Fenrir.

"Great…" Reno drawled, "Spikey's gonna join the party. Got any extra pastries, boss?"

Rufus rose from his seat and walked to the door to unlock it. The door itself was made of two inch steel, effectively bullet-proof – as were each and every window. The locking mechanism, which appeared simple enough, actually controlled a much more sophisticated series of steel bars that would slide back into hidden recessed in the wall when unlocked. No one would ever have a chance of knocking that door –or the back door- down, unless that person just so happened to carry an RPG with them. Which, seeing as how this place was designed to ensure Rufus wouldn't get assassinated, really didn't seem all that farfetched since there were lots crazy people that didn't like him.

"Cloud," He greeted as he opened the door. Cloud was just making his way up the series of stairs. He acknowledged Rufus with a nod, and once Cloud reached the door he gave Rufus a firm handshake. Inside the vacation getaway home of the President of Shin-Ra / WRO, Cloud acknowledged everyone else with a nod also.

"I see you still have a few marks." Cloud commented, referring to the few bruises that Reno and Rude still had from their scrap with Yazoo and Loz.

Reno laughed as he stood up from the couch to shake Cloud's hand. "Yeah, it's surprising that not one Turk carries a Cure materia with them."

Cloud gave a quiet smile then reached into one of his pockets and produced a green orb. "Just give it back," he stated, handing the Cure materia to Reno.

"Will do."

Rufus disappeared into the kitchen as Cloud shook both Rude and Tseng's hand and then gave Elena a small, friendly, very un-Cloud-like hug. Reno snickered as he applied the Cure materia to his visible bruises. Albeit they didn't seem like much, they hurt like hell and marred his skin. Just in case he was to meet a lady some night soon, he didn't want to turn her away with some ugly bruises. "Yo, Spikey." Cloud, knowing his nickname well, turned to Reno, at the same moment his reflexives sent his hand up to snatch the Cure materia out of the sky before it could collide with him. "You're good…" Reno commented with a laugh.

Rufus appeared from the kitchen with a large plate, ten toaster pastries piled on top of it. He sat it down at the table and looked up at Cloud. "I'll have to apologize, but my employees have yet to eat and I do not have enough for you. Help yourself to the kitchen, though, if you'd like."

Cloud shook his head. "I'm fine, thank you."

A few seconds passed as they ate in silence, Cloud had made his way across the room to stare silently out the window as they finished.

"It's strange, isn't it?" Elena started, more of a statement then a question.

"What's that?" Tseng queried.

"Two years ago, we would be trying to kill Cloud." This made Cloud turn around and face them. "But now, there's not a strand of hostility between us."

"Reno did attack me the last time I came here," Cloud reminded them.

Reno shrugged. "You came in without a knock. Coulda' been an assassin here for my boss." Reno chuckled.

Cloud got ready to speak, when there was a muffled thump at the door. Before any could act, another thump sounded and was followed up with two consecutive thumps. The Turk's all rose to their feet, each had produced a handgun from somewhere on their person and had their red dots focused on the door. Rufus was also at his feet, a hand was inside his long white trench coat, where Cloud knew all to well that the young Shin-Ra president concealed a sawn-off double-barrel twelve-gauge.

In silence, Tseng told Cloud to move to the door with a notion of his head. Cloud did so, standing flat against the wall next to the reinforced door. Unsheathing First Tsurugi, Cloud reached a hand out toward the lock. With a simple flick, he unlocked the door, the unseen metal bars moved soundlessly into hidden recesses in the wall. The door squeaked opened up and their beams fell on a young man with brown hair and muddy overalls on. 'Choco' Billy.

"Ain't you the kid from the Chocobo farm?" Reno asked, none of their beams faltering from the young mans chest.

"Something's wrong." Cloud said, backing away from Billy with First Tsurugi drawn. "I was just at his ranch this morning, there's no way he could have made it here on foot." There's no Chocobo at that ranch fast enough to get him here. The distance from here to the Ranch is at least a day's walk.

It was at that moment that Billy's hand snapped out, the appendage stretching across the room and slamming into Reno's chest, sending the red-head flying to the far wall and left him in a heap on the floor. Before any could react, his arm retracted and snapped back out again, this time missing its target as it made a sizeable crater in the wall just past Rude. Again it recoiled, but before it could snap out again Cloud brought First Tsurugi down on the appendage and cut it in two. All of this happened in two seconds.

The severed limb flailed on the ground, black liquid oozing out of it. However, the part of the arm connected to Billy quickly reconstructed itself and struck out again. This time the Turk's were ready for it and they all ducked behind the stainless steel table that Rufus had instinctively flipped over to take refuge behind. Blindly, Rude took a few shots, none of which landed.

Cloud reared back First Tsurugi and struck out, but the tentacle-like arm of Billy caught him defenseless and sent him flying over the couch. Reno, who was just getting his senses back, fired off several shots. Four landed, punching holes into Billy's abdomen and chest. Black liquid burst forth from the holes, marring Rufus' clean floor with the fluids. The holes quickly sealed up, though, and Billy took a step forward. Several other shots hit him, and Cloud took the chance to take cover behind the upturned table with the Turks. He slid to a stop on his knees, Reno quickly joined them. The table was large, thankfully, and was enough to provide cover for all of them.

Among all other indications, Cloud also saw when he peered out from behind his cover that the whites of Billy's eyes had gone black, as if they were full of something, and he knew for sure that something was wrong.

His heart skipped a beat when he realized what was wrong.

"Jenova." He breathed.


Tifa always told him that Edge was pretty much the shadow of Midgar. Almost exactly the same in almost every aspect besides the fact that there were not economical classes to divide the people…whatever that meant. Tifa had explained that Midgar used to have a large plate that separated the rich from the poor – and that she used to live under the plate in what was called the slums. But since Edge was primarily crafted by those that lived in the slums – those that were never treated fairly by the upper plate population – they found a way to spread money pretty much equally so that no one had too much more power over the next.

Edge was also like Midgar in the fact that there really wasn't a government. The World – something-or-other- , or the WRO, as Denzel remembered it, pretty much oversaw everything that happened in Edge. But so as to make sure that the WRO doesn't get as power-hungry or tyrannical as, say…Shin-Ra, the people of Edge had the right to vote on laws and also get rid of the laws after they were passed as long as the majority voted to ban it.

But it wasn't like Denzel understood all of that, anyways, so it really didn't make that much of a difference to him.

In his thoughts, Denzel nearly ran into a woman who was carrying an armful of grocery bags. Apologizing, Denzel continued on his way and Marlene giggled at him.

"What?" He asked.

"You're clumsy." She responded teasingly.

Denzel stuck out his tongue. He stopped several paces later and pointed ahead of them. "There it is," He said, "That's the place Tifa wanted us to go to."

Marlene searched through her pockets and produced a piece of folded paper. Unfolding it revealed a list of items Tifa needed for the bar – napkins, peanuts, and the such – and for Denzel, Tifa, and Cloud's dinner of cheeseburgers. There were also a few items on the list that her dad wanted them to pick up. She handed the list to Denzel, memorizing the things that her dad needed – toilet paper, soda, eggs, were a few. Inside the store the two split up. They did this once a week and often made it out of a game; whoever was done first got bragging rights, and not much else.

Denzel dropped three packages of napkins into his basket before moving over to the dishwashing detergent and dropping two bottles of it into the red basket. Moving through the store, Denzel grabbed various items, knowing by heart what was in each aisle. Expertly, he filled his basket with whatever was on the list, mentally crossing off items as he put them in the basket. When he crossed Marlene's path, the two would whisper small mockeries that made each of them hurry along faster.

When Denzel came to the aisle with the food – the last thing on his list – he briefly eyed a bag of chocolate-covered raisins. He could taste them even as he eyed the package, but knew that Tifa had only given him enough to buy what they needed. Usually she'd give each of them five extra gil to buy a treat for themselves, but since they both just finished off a few left-over pastries Tifa didn't want them to 'get fat' as Yuffie had once put it.

Moving to the various things used to make pastries and such; Denzel hurriedly put them in the basket and then retrieved the peanuts – the last thing on his list. Then a 'hoot' came from the other end of the store and he knew that Marlene was finished. He heard her running footfalls even as he sprinted to the front of the store, items inside the basket bobbing crazily. Marlene had beaten him, as she was emptying her baskets contents out on the counter. The man behind the cash register smiled, accustomed to their antics.

Outside, Marlene stuck her tongue out at Denzel who rolled his eyes. "I'll get you next time." He said assuredly. "I was just distracted."

"Uh-huh, you say that every time." Marlene giggled, and then changed the subject abruptly. "Do you think Cloud will play another game of Eagle when we get back?"

No response.

"Denzel –"

"Look." Denzel interrupted in a whisper. When Marlene looked at him, she followed his finger to where he was pointing to a man walking down the street. The man had a bit of a limp, but other then that nothing seemed peculiar about him. Some other people were watching the man to, as he silently walked along the street, his right leg seeming to want to collapse underneath of him with each step.

"What?"

"His eyes are weird."

Marlene looked harder, and then discovered that the whites of his eyes were not white – they were eerily black. Marlene shuddered. The black-eyed, pupil-less, man was on the other side of the street and soon enough his back was facing them and he was disappearing down the street. Toward Seventh Heaven.

Instinctively, the two followed the man, keeping their distance all the same.


"Jenova?" Reno blurted out in surprise. "Thought the bitch was dead?"

"Sephiroth was dead, too, but that didn't stop him from coming back." Tseng deadpanned. There was a hint of malice in his voice. He wouldn't soon forget the injury Sephiroth dealt to him in the Temple of the Ancients.

Cloud nodded quick agreement.

"How do we kill it?" Elena asked from behind Tseng. All of the Turk's had a small firearm drawn. Reno's riot prod was also at the ready. Rufus was unarmed.

"Just like anything else…" Cloud murmured.

"So we just lay into it until the bastard dies?" Rude asked rarely, more-or-less stating a fact and finishing off Cloud's sentence then asking a question.

Cloud nodded.

"Then what are you all waiting for?" Rufus asked impatiently, hearing the things plodding footsteps from behind the cover. "Don't just sit there –" And the thing growled, surprising all six of them. Apparently it was confused and didn't know where they were. For a higher being – as was the supposed nature of 'aliens' – it wasn't all that bright.

All at once, the armed Turks rose and fired off their handguns. Empty shells clattered to the ground, rounds dug deep into the creature that had once been a human being. As if it were made of water, the rounds split right through the Jenova-creatures body and slammed into the far armored wall, not making a dent as the bullets lost all momentum. Thinking quickly, Cloud cast a Haste materia on himself. As instantly as the green aura rose over him, he felt his heart pump faster, his blood flowed with the effects of the haste materia. Gripping First Tsurugi tightly, Cloud jumped out from behind the cover as the Turk's guns all clicked empty. Rufus did too, disappearing into another room.

Moving as quickly as he was, Cloud was surprised when the Jenova-creature side-stepped his attack and slammed its rubbery arm into his back, sending the blonde into a wall. Cloud cringed, but gathered himself quickly. He rose to his feet, sword never having left his hand, and readied to go on the defensive. Just as soon as he presumed the creature would strike, its body seizured as an electrical current flowed through it. Behind the creature stood the red-headed Turk, his riot prod buried deep in the Jenova-creatures back, so deep that Cloud could see the tip of it pushing through to the front of the creature's rubbery torso. Reno then pressed his handgun up to the back of the creatures neck, Cloud guessed it was an execution move he'd learned as a Turk. The creature reacted quickly by stretching a rubbery arm around its back and seizing Reno by the back of his shirt.

Reno fired wildly, the shot hitting the floor and ricocheting into a lamp that exploded into hundreds of glass shards. The creature swung Reno up over his head and slammed the redhead down to the ground, the Turk's handgun and riot prod fell from his hand. He screamed painfully as the back of his head hit the floor, the carpet not doing much to soften the landing. Reno moaned in pain, but before the Jenova-creature could finish him off Cloud lashed out at the convulsing creature. Slowly, although not detectable under an untrained eye, the Jenova-creature was losing Chocobo Billy's manifestation e and forming its own appearance.

Cloud's heavy blade cut deep into the Jenova creature's side, splitting it open and causing gallons of black fluids to flow out onto the carpet. It stumbled a bit, dazed, and Cloud struck out again, this time hacking into its left shoulder. Black fluids stained the ceiling and walls. If the creature were a human, it would have crushed bone, but since it was not, it just sliced through the rubbery exterior of the Jenova-creature's shoulder. This still caused it pain, though, as it screeched an unearthly sound. Cloud heaved First Tsurugi out of the creatures shoulder and in the same motion he delivered a powerful kick square to the things chest that sent it stumbling into a wall. Its head smashed into the two-inch thick steel wall, tinting it black. Reports sounded as the Turk's emptied their clips once again into the creature that had slid down into a sitting position against the wall.

As Cloud regained his center of gravity, he split one of the sub-swords from the main formation. A sword in both hands, Cloud charged forward as the Turk's firearms clicked dry for the second time in less than a minute. He thrust the sub-sword into the creatures chest and reared back the much larger main sword, chopping back into the Jenova-creatures left shoulder, this time cutting the arm clean off. More black fluid spilled out. Cloud pulled his sub-sword from the creature and chopped into its right collarbone, just missing the creatures' neck, the sword lost momentum when it was about four inches deep. Quickly, Cloud brought the main sword up around his back, and at the peak of its arc he let gravity take over. Sword hit sword, the main configuration crashing into the sub-sword and driving the blade several inches deeper into the creatures' torso. In effect one gash met the one inflicted earlier and the creatures' entire right side, from its collarbone down to where its belly button should be, fell off in one chunk of meat that quickly turned into gurgling black liquid.

Cloud brought the two swords together, experience reminding him where the sub-sword belonged in the configuration of the First Tsurugi. The sword clicked into place and he raised it up over his head, not a second thought crossed his mind as he was intent on splitting the Jenova-creatures head in two. First Tsurugi was stopped, however, just inches above the creatures head, the black fluids that had stained the ceiling managed to form into ropes and stretch down to wrap around the blade. Cloud strained, but the alien tendrils were too strong. Before he could react, more black fluids came alive, sliding across the floor in one mass and formed a puddle around his feet, the next second it had hardened.

Right under his nose, helpless to do anything, Cloud witnessed the regeneration of the Jenova-creature. What parts that hadn't been damaged by him or the Turks still held the appearance of Chocobo Billy, while everything else was an eerie black-purple color. Cloud struggled to break away from the fluids that were actually millions of Jenova cells that had come together as one. First Tsurugi wasn't about to budge, and his feet might as well have been cemented to the floor.

The Jenova-creature rose from where it had been sitting on the ground, the facial expression of Chocobo Billy's stolen features were emotionless. Then First Tsurugi was free, Cloud's feet just the same, but in the same second the Jenova-creature lashed out and sent Cloud soaring across the room and into a wall next to a closed metal door. Reno lie not far away, a red puddle of blood had stained the carpet, but he was regaining his wits. First Tsurugi clattered to the floor.

The Jenova-creature moved in twitching steps, all of its scraps of body parts had rejoined the being by now. It soon stood over Cloud, the other Turk's were helpless to do anything as their handguns were empty and they had no more back-up clips. The creature reached out and wrapped a hand around Cloud's face, its grip incredibly firm. Cloud's scream was muffled. He flailed his arms and legs, the thought of summoning magic never crossing his mind in his frantic struggling.

Then the creature cried out, stumbled a bit and turned around to face the one who had smacked it with a metal riot prod. The prod met the creature's face this time, at the same time Reno hit the red button located on the handle. An adequate quantity of voltage exploded from the prod, sending a tremor over the creature's body that lasted for two seconds before Reno pulled the prod away and reared back for another strike. The creature countered, smacking the prod out of Reno's hand with one rubbery arm, and smacking him in the face with another. Reno fell back to the floor again and the creature quickly took stance over him. The Jenova-creature lifted its extendable arm, the appendage stretched up to the ceiling, suddenly gaining mass, appearing to be one large, hypothetical, hammer. Reno, still dazed, had no time to protect himself from the impact of the falling arm.