Title: Mako Blue Horizon

Chapter: 1

Author: Kage Kashu

Archive: Ask. Give credit where it's due. Then... ?

Genre: General. Humor/Drama/Angst/Romance/Action/Adventure

Story Summary: What would happen if Cloud never went to Midgar? Who would take his place? And who would take Sephiroth's place as Jenova's right hand? Because of a Mako induced illness, Cloud never went to Midgar. Because of his absence, things that were supposed to happen never did, and things that were never supposed to happen did. Sephiroth-centric with Cloudy moments.

Chapter Summary: Number 1 Reactor goes boom. More strange changes. Where's Aerith?

Disclaimer: Dun own them, wish I did.

Author's notes: You need to have played the game to get this part. Things are stranger now. I like strange. I don't like Barret. He's a Marshmallow.

Warnings: Very AU. Barret-bashing. I don't like Barret. He's okay, but he's stupid. IMO. And, once again, AU.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Beginning of Game, Train Station 1-0b

A large black man jumped out of the train. He immediately knocked down one of the station guards with a mighty large fist. A smaller man followed knocking out the second station guard. They looked back and forth for a moment before the smaller man waved at the train. A short chunky man hopped out, followed by a pretty brunette girl.

"C'mon, c'mon," she whispered fiercely.

Finally, a fifth person came out from the train. A tall man with shoulder- length black hair, tied in a ponytail. If you looked closely, you could see that it was dyed. The roots shone dull silver in the low lighting of the station.

He snorted as the others ran on ahead of him. His black trench coat swooshed behind him as he began following them... only to be stopped by more guards running up.

It was a rather simple matter to dispatch them. Even if he only used the flat of his blade...

Speaking of which... He wasn't really sure if he liked the katana. It was too short, really, for his tastes, but it would have to do. He didn't want to be recognized. He was here for a reason. Yes, a mission...

Speaking of which... He realized that he had been left behind.

Damnit. Now he had to chase them down.

Although, as it turned out, it was a rather short walk to where they were all situated.

Then there was an introduction session.

"Jessie" "Biggs" "Wedge"

And of course, he had to introduce himself. "Seph."

And then of course, Mr. T had to be an ass. Yelling at everyone for loitering. Of course, Seph would have done the same, but that man... Well, he didn't do it _right_.

He sighed and continued on.

Once inside the reactor, Mr. T introduced himself as Barret. Seph was tall, mind you, but Barret... well, he was taller. And bulkier. He was like a barrel standing next to a bat. Taller, yes, and ever so much wider.

~*~

In the Deep Bowels of Reactor 1, Five Minutes of Strenuous Arguing Later

Seph lifted an eyebrow elegantly. The man couldn't be serious. "You want me, the newbie, to set the bomb?"

"Quickest way to see your colors, Pretty Boy."

"You could at least give me the dignity of a proper name," Seph sighed, and stepped forward.

/Watch it.../

He paused, blinking. 'Zack?'

/You remember this, right?/

'Of course. Security, right?'

/Hook it just... to the side... Just like that... Although, one might wonder what you're doing here./

He shook his head, and the voice cleared away. "Careful," he said to Barret, who was hovering anxiously.

"What?"

"The security here is strange..."

"What do you mean, strange?"

"The Brain's setup should work just fine... but not here..." Seph frowned at the wires on the wall. "Security's tighter than it should be. We should leave, now."

He grabbed Barret by the arm and edged the huge man in the direction they had come from.

"Quickly now."

/That's right, quickly. Although I don't know what you're worried about, 'General'./

'Nothing... everything...'

~*~

Three Minutes of Strenuous Running Later

The bomb went off more quickly than it should have. Luckily he was a somewhat caring person, or they all may have been dead.

Because he would have had to go back for Jessie.

Although it was rather amusing to watch Wedge run around with his pants on fire, Seph decided that he had better fish to fry and attempted to speak with Barret. Who said to wait 'til they were back at the 'hideout'.

And so they were off.

After the fire of the explosion, the relative cool of the station felt nice. Passing through it was easy for a man with his training, however.

But what really bothered him, was that in the panic, a little girl selling flowers had gotten knocked down to the floor. He leaned down to help her up, and was rather shocked to find that he recognized her. It was the little girl from the bar.

"Why are you out here, child?" he asked her, gently as possible. She'd seemed afraid of him earlier.

"Was selling flowers. I pick them at the church."

"You do know that this is a bad place to be right now, don't you?"

She shook her head silently. He sighed and picked her up.

"I'll bring you back to Barret, okay?"

She smiled at him and hugged him.

And then, he realized that he couldn't run like this...

~*~

Five Minutes Later, Late Train

Barret had just gotten through yelling at his lackeys. They all seemed upset about Seph. Not that he wasn't, mind you, he'd have to be rather cold-blooded not to be. But the time to mourn wasn't now. They really should wait until reaching the base for that.

*thump*

He twitched. Trains don't thump.

*thudathudathudathud*

Okay, then. They don't generally make that noise either.

*thudathudathudathud*

He twitched again. It sounded vaguely like...

*thudathudathudathud*

Someone was knocking on the door.

~*~*~*~*~*~

I've been told that cliffies are evil.

So... Read, Review. Tell me what you think. (I like it.) Is it any good? (Please tell me what you think.) My opinion is subjective... (I need objective opinions...)

Danyella Skyler Silverfire, What? You want me to what? You... What? Okay.

Thank you, for reading.