Chapter I:

Three Years Later


The sun was shining brightly on the face of the Planet. It had been several months since the Geostigma virus had been destroyed. Along with the three silver haired remnants, who had tried to fool everyone to believing that the Planet was the enemy. As for the famous group, Avalanche, they had gone their seperate ways once again. Going back to the lives they were living before the Geostigma virus and the three Sephiroth clones.

Cloud Strife was sitting against a tree, resting his eyes and enjoying the warm rays of the sun. He had been extremely busy with his delivery business that he hardly ever found time to himself. And now that there wasn't any deliveries at the moment, he was going to enjoy this hour of peace. He was resting in a forest that was only a few miles from Kalm. He had been on his way back to Neo Midgar from making a delivery at the Chocobo Ranch. Cloud had not changed very much since the fight against the young Sephiroth clone, Kadaj or his brothers. He was still the same Cloud Strife, only he was more open and not so distant from his old friends as he had been before the fight. He helped his best friend, Tifa Lockhart with her bar and helped her with some of the children she looked after. They were quite the pair now. People often wondered out loud if they were ever going to get together. But they still hadn't. Cloud and Tifa never thought of it about getting together. They were friends and that was all they were going to be.

As he sat there, his warning sense was going off. He continued to just sit there when he heard someone approaching him. The under growth under them snapped and crackled. Cloud's eyes snapped open and he just looked at the men standing in front of him. There were three of them. They were all wearing black and black hats on their heads.

The first was handling a machete with one hand. He was a quite a large fellow. His hair was dark brown and so was his eyes. The second one had a gunblade in his hand. He was a little smaller than the large man but no stronger or weaker. He had long dirty blonde hair that was pulled back into a ponytail. He was sneering down at Cloud. The last one was no doubt the leader. He wasn't holding his weapons but they were a pair of guns sitting in the holsters. He had very short black hair and his were a dark brown color. He had a sharp goatee on his chin. He wasn't smiling at all. He just stepped forward.

"Cloud Strife?" he asked in uncertainity.

Cloud just slowly eyed the first two before looking at the third. And very slow like, he got to his feet, keeping his hands away from the sword leaning against the tree. "So what of it?" He asked quietly. His blue eyes baring right into the leader's.

The leader finally sneered. "Are you Cloud Strife, or are you not?" He asked coldly.

Cloud's lips curved a little into a smirk. "I am."

And then he ducked as the big boy swung his machete. Cloud's hand shot to the sword and he pulled it quickly. He spun out ward to the side and slashed down at the big man, who recieved the wound on his arm. He just growled in annoyance as he spun around. Cloud quickly dodged the blade of the gunblader backing away as he rose his sword with both hands. He was smirking. The leader yanked his guns and began firing. Cloud quickly rose his hand.

"Barrier!" He yelled and the bullets bounced right off his invisible shield.

He rushed forward and met the gunblader's blade with his own. He quickly shoved it off and spun in a circle yanking his second sword out. He blocked the machete with it. He stood there holding both swords in his hands, smirking at the two astonished thugs.

"Your mistake."

He then kicked at the gunblader, knocking him back. Cloud used his sword to slash at that one. The Gunblader let out a cry of pain as he was cut down easily. He fell to the ground bursting into black powder. That surprised Cloud. His eyes grew wide but he quickly ducked as the machete came down at him. The blade missed him by an inch. Cloud spun in a full circle as he slashed the attacker. The big man cried out in pain as he fell next. Bursting into black powder just like the first. Cloud looked at the piles of black ash at his feet before his eyes rose and he met the cruel green eyes of the leader who was aiming at him.

"Die, Strife!" he began firing.

Cloud gritted his teeth as he rose both swords and began swinging to deflect the bullets. He then jerked to the side and charged the leader, who jumped to the side as Cloud slashed down at him with one of his swords. They faced one another again.

"Who sent you?!" The blonde swordsman demanded.

The leader grinned evilly before he began firing again. Cloud crouched low then jumped high into the air and flipped right over the leader. The leader tried to follow but he missed Cloud. The blonde landed on his feet right behind the man before swinging his sword. The blade went right through the gunner and like the first two, he burst into black dust. Cloud jerked his head to the side as the dust came flying at him.

Then it was silent.

Cloud opened his eyes and looked around. The black dust was sitting all around him. And in it, was tiny green crystals. Cloud slid the swords back into their hidden scabbards and bent down to examine the crystals. His eyes narrowed in confusion. The crystals were diamond shaped. He had never seen anything like it before. He carefully scooped up some of the dust and the crystals, looking it over. His eyes squinted as he looked away trying to think. He sat there for a minute before reaching into his pocket and pulled out a small empty bottle. He filled it up with black dust and green crystals, sealing the bottle with a cork. Cloud stood up straight and tucked the bottle away.

Something was going on and he didn't like it. He had heard of the new numbers of strange monsters appearing all over. He had recieved a call from Barret once telling him about how he had to fight a very strange looking four armed and one legged monster with a giant horn on it's head. Once it had been killed it had burst into black dust and blue-green crystals. He wondered if Shinra ever knew about these monsters. There was only one way of finding out. Going to Neo Midgar and find him.

Cloud shook his head as he turned and went straight to Fenrir, which was leaning against a tree. He picked up his pack and climbed on. He was going to solve this strange mystery, no matter where it lead to. He could only hope that it wasn't going to lead in the direction he didn't like. The direction where he was afraid that it would. Another crisis against the Planet. He sighed just thinking about it. "Why can't they just leave us in peace." he muttered as he kicked Fenrir alive and sped away from that clearing, heading straight to Neo Midgar. It was time to find out what was going on.

Far across the field, into the small town of Kalm, the people were just getting their daily chores done. Children were smiling as they chased one another. One almost ran into a young woman as she was passing by with a basket full of bread. She stepped to the side as they skidded to a halt. She smiled gently at him.

"Sorry!" The child said shamefully.

The young woman just shook her head. "Don't worry about it. Just be careful, all right, Kit?" The boy nodded and raced off again.

The young woman, herself was a very pretty woman. She had long cinnimon brown hair that was pulled back into a pontytail. And keeping it from falling out, was a red ribbon. The young woman's eyes were a emerald green and full of life. She had long bangs hanging down by the sides of her face. She was wearing a red jacket over a pearl colored short sleeved shirt and a long dusty rose colored skirt, running down to her ankles. She was wearing brown boots on her feet. She had the looks of an angel.

That was what some of the people called her. No one really knew her real name. She only went by what the people called her. And that was just Angel.

Angel was the town's baker's assisstant and when she wasn't selling bread in the town square or making deliveries, she was attending the flowers that laid just behind the town.

It was a mystery on where the flowers came from. There hadn't been flowers in Kalm for many years. But once Angel showed up, looking quite dazed and confused, they began to sprout from the ground. Angel was loved by all the children of Kalm and was adored by the women. The men just loved to look at her. For she was like a flower herself. She was also known as Kalm's Rose. Hardly anyone in Kalm didn't know about Angel. She was quite the healer too. So if there was anyone who needed to be healed, they would go to Angel.

"Angel!" Angel turned around and looked at the little girl who was hurrying up to her. She smiled as the girl slowed her pace to stand right in front of her. "Why, hello, little Tasha. How can I help you?"

Tasha looked innocently up at Angel. "It's my little brother! He fell down and scraped his knee! Can you please come help him?"

Angel smiled gently and nodded. "All right. Take me to him." She held out her hand to Tasha, who giggled and took her hand.

The little girl led her towards the entrance where they found a crying little boy. He was kicking at the ground and holding his knee close to him. Angel tilted her head looking a little surprised. "Oh, you poor dear." She said as she bent down right by the little boy. He sniffed as he looked up at her. "Angel?" He asked. Angel just smiled as she gently touched his knee. "It's okay, Kori. I'm here." She said as white light surrounded her hand. She healed the boy's knee without any effort at all.

Kori sniffed as he smiled up at her. "Thank you, Angel."

Angel gave him a gentle smile as she helped him up. "You be careful from now on." She told him.

Kori nodded as he jumped and down with his sister. The two began running around the smiling woman. "Yea!" They cheered.

Angel just laughed and shook her head. "I have to go back to work, kids. So if you'll run along now." She said. Tasha and Kori nodded. "Okay! See you later!" They both said and hurried off. Angel just smiled as she started to turn to go back to the townsquare. But she suddenly with a frown. Her eyes grew wide and she turned around to look back out at the field. She could feel something in the air. It wasn't a very pleasant feeling at all. Angel's eyes squinted as she continue to search the sky for anything.

"What is going on now?" She whispered.

The wind slightly blowed against her and her eyes lit up. She then frowned and looked serious. "Something is terribly wrong." She whispered. Then she turned and went back into the town. She only looked over her shoulder once before shaking her head.

"Hah!" She yelled as she swung her fist at her opponement, who managed to block the attack with his own arm. He stepped back just as the young woman sent her foot flying towards his head. He had to jerk his head back to avoid collision.

Both of the fighters had sweat beads rolling down their faces as they began to fight a hardcore battle against each other. They sent fists flying at each other but they were blocked very quickly.

The first fighter was a very lovely young woman. She had long brownish black hair that was pulled back into a loose ponytail and reddish brown eyes sparkled as she continued to attack her opponment. It was none other than Tifa Lockhart. She was wearing black shorts and a tank top. The pink ribbon was still around her arm from the several months before. She had not changed herself that much. Only that she was still as pretty as ever.

Her opponement was an old rival of her's. During the Meteor crisis they had been enemies and in the beginning of the Geostigma crisis. But now they were only fight buddies. He, too was a fist fighter. He was a dark skinned man, only five years older than Tifa. His head was clean shaven and the only hair he had on his head was his goatee. He usually wore dark sunglasses but today he had decided to take them off just in case he did get punched in the head and they would break. It was Rude of the Turks. He was wearing his usually dark blue pants from his uniform but he had taken off his jacket and was wearing a sleeveless muscle shirt.

They were not alone.

In fact they were being watching by a few of the children who lived in Tifa's bar and inn. Outside from the children, there were two full grown men watching as well. Both around the same age. One of them was Rufus Shinra. The other was Reno.

Rufus had changed only a little. He had grown his hair slightly a little longer but still kept it short. He still kept it combed back with only a few strands of bangs hanging over his icy blue eyes. He was wearing his original white-grey suit.

Reno was just the same as always. Still wearing his blue Turk uniform and his firery red hair was messy as ever. He was grinning as he watched his friend spare with Tifa Lockhart, wincing as he was almost hit by her fist. "Don't let her hit ya, Rude! Or you're going to have a major headache!" He called.

Rude just shot Reno a look from over his shoulder before ducking under Tifa's fist. "Reno! You're not helping!" He called as backed away from Tifa, who continued to attack.

Tifa cracked a smile as she heard Reno laugh his little impish and wicked laugh. Rufus did the same as he shook his head.

Finally Rude stopped and bent over, placing his hands on his knees. "All right. I think it's time for a break." He said. Tifa nodded as she stood up straight. She went over and picked up her towel to wipe off her forehead. She tossed another towel to Rude, who caught it and gave her a nod of gratitude.

"You two are getting better." Rufus finally said as he leaned against the wall and folded his arms.

Tifa undid her ponytail before doing it up again. She just nodded to Rufus before looking at the children. "All right you kids. Time for lunch." She said. The children all cheered and hurried into the house. Tifa walked into the house with the three men right behind her. "Tifa! Tifa!" One child cried out as she hurried up. "Can we have stow agin?" The young five year old asked. Tifa smiled at her and nodded. "All right. I'll make some stew."

There was cheers from the children as they all found their places around a large table. Tifa went to the large fridge in the corner and pulled out a large pot. "Hm. There's still a lot of stew in here from last night's dinner." She looked over her shoulder at the three men. "Are you three hungry too? There's more than enough." She said.

Rufus and Rude just shook their heads while Reno grinned. "Hey! If you made it, Lockhart, then I'd eat anything!"

Tifa rolled her eyes smiling then put the pot on the stove to cook.

"So, how's business?" Rufus Shinra asked as he sat down on one of the stools. Tifa glanced at him as she turned the stove onto high. "Hm? Oh, it's all right. Maybe a little slow once a week." She said. She shook her head as she went to wiping the counter off.

Ever since the Geostigma crisis had ended, Rufus Shinra had been more civil to Tifa, even though she was still not happy with him. She was still trying to get over the time he tried to have her killed just to make himself look good. She knew that he was only being nicer than he used to because he would only get his butt pounded in the ground if he ever tried to threaten anyone again or tried to go back to power. There had been quite a lot of people who was not happy with him at all for still being alive. He had been threatened quite a lot since the people found out that the last Shinra still lived. Of course, the Turks kept him alive as much as possible. And they were doing quite the job too. They had to go every where he did just to keep him from getting mugged. He had been attacked once or twice by a few protesters, but he always got out of it without losing anything. He hardly ever fought back, knowing that it would only provoke more people. And now that he had lost almost everything he owned, he was trying to earn his keep. He was working for one of the Avalanche's friends, Dallas Reeve, who was also the creator of Cait Sith, another member of Avalanche. It was the only thing Rufus could do to try to pay back everything he had done.

People, though, wondered why the Avalanche members hadn't done anything to end Rufus Shinra's life. They kept asking why they were keeping him alive. Tifa only thought the answer was very obvious. So did many of the others. What could Rufus Shinra do now? He couldn't rebuild ShinRa Inc, and try to take over the world again. Not without people constantly trying to kill him, which was happening now. He was one of the most hated men on the face of the Planet.

Not to mention, he was still a little weak from his recovery of the Geostigma virus. He too had been effected long ago and he had been deathly sick. He still was trying to regain his strength from it. The only part he was happy about was that he didn't have to sit in a bloody wheelchair anymore.

"Hm." Rufus said as he rest his arm on the counter. "Still a lot of deliveries though, huh?"

Tifa only nodded as she looked at him. "Most of them are only letters being sent to loved ones or such. Or just packages being sent. Cloud never minds though. I think he just likes to get out of the city to fight more monsters when he gets the chance. Things are getting slower each and every day."

Reno rest both elbows on the counter as he found interest in the wood. "Ya know. Rude and I don't have much to do. No one needs protecting anymore. We wouldn't mind starting a new trade." He said. Rude only glanced at him as he pulled his fighting gloves off before nodding. Tifa gave them both a faint smile. "Well, I suppose we could use a little more help. But I'll need to talk to Cloud before we make our decision. He's still a little hesitant about you three." She said. Rude only nodded.

"Can't really blame him." Reno shrugged lazily. "Hey, Lockhart. Ya mind if I had a drink?"

Tifa rose an eyebrow at him and he gave her his most innocent smile. She rolled her eyes. "Whatever. But I don't want you to be dead drunk in front of the kids, got that?" She asked giving him a stern look. Reno grinned. "No prob. I'm not going to dead drunk. Just drunk." he said. Tifa shook her head while Rufus and Rude rolled their eyes.

Just then Tifa's phone rang and she went to answer it. "Hello, Strife's Delivery Service. You name it, we deliver it." She was quiet for a second before she nodded. "Yes, sir. And where are we picking up this package?" She asked as she began writing on a pad of paper. She nodded again. "Okay. We'll have it here as soon as we can. You are going to come pick it up from here right?" She paused and then nodded. "Okay. Thank you." She then hung up. She put her hand on her hip and looked at the address.

Rufus tilted his head. "Something wrong?"

Tifa turned around. "Huh? Oh, no. I just need to go pick up a package near the south end of the city but Cloud's not back yet. I'm just trying to think of how I can do this."

Reno sat up a little straighter. "Hey, why don't you let me or Rude go get this package. It would be the great opportunity to show you that we can do the job." He said. Tifa looked right at him before smiling. "That's really nice of you, Reno, but I think I can go get it." She said frowning and looking at the kids. "But..." She paused.

Rufus shook his head. "Reno and Rude doesn't have very much to do. And neither do I. Any one of us could do it while you're watching your kids."

Tifa looked at him before smiling. "Well, I guess you can do it. It doesn't take three men though. Just takes one. How about you, Reno, since you spoke up first."

Reno shrugged before standing. "Yeah, okay. Where's the place?"

Tifa tore out the paper and handed it too him. "The man just said that he wanted the package to be picked up, that's all. Just bring it back here once you have it." She said. Reno nodded as he stuffed the paper into his pocket. "Alrighty then. Back in a flash." he said and strode right out of the bar. Tifa then put a thoughtful look on her face.

Rude tilted his head. "Anything else wrong?"

The young martial artist looked at him and shook her head. "No. I'm just thinking. That man on the phone. He sounded kind of familiar. All well." She shrugged and went to start dishing out stew for the children.

Reno had used his motorbike to get to the South end of the city. He would pause only a few times to check the address again. The neighborhood he was in was one of the still building areas. He didn't know who would be living in that area. He finally found the place. The house was more like an old church, not like the one in Sector Five, and it looked like it should have been condemned. Reno pulled off his helmet and looked up at the house.

"Huh." He muttered. He shook his head as he put the kick stand down and climbed off. "This is the place." He said to himself as he stared up at the building. He shrugged and headed up the stairs to the door. He knocked a few times but there had been no answer. So he just pushed the door open and looked around.

The inside of the house was completely empty and some of the floorboards weren't even laid down. Reno pulled a face as he pushed the door open and looked around. The floor was coated in dust.

"Hello?" He called into the house.

Reno looked down as he slowly walked and stepped on only the solid boards of the floor. He glanced around to see where this package could be. He began wandering in the house, looking for anyone that might could help him or even for the package. He glanced back at the paper in his hand before putting it away. He wandered into what was suppose to be a kitchen and spotted a box on the counter. He shrugged as he walked over to it and examined it. It was the only box in the place so it must have been the package. He picked it up and looked over. "Hm. I guess this is it." He said with a shrug. He turned and started to walk out. He was very unaware that he was being watched from the rafters above.

There was a dark shadow there with glowing green eyes. There was a low and annoyed growl before the figure pulled out an object in his pocket and pressed a button on the remote. Then the shadowy figure quickly climbed through a hole through the roof.

Reno was half way towards the door when he heard something. He slowed his pace and looked around. "Huh?" He muttered.

The sound he heard was a ticking sound. Was there a clock somewhere close by? He listened very hard before realizing that the ticking sound was coming from the box. He blinked a few times before raising it and pressing his ear up against the box. His eyes squinting as he listening to the ticking sound. Was there a clock in the box?

Reno shook his head as he turned to a short table on his right and set the box down. He carefully pulled the flaps back and opened it to see what was inside it. The ticking only grew louder. He had to pull some bubble wrap back to see what it was before his blue-green eyes widened. "Oh...shit!" He exclaimed before turning and running away from the box as fast as he could.

Inside the box was an alarm clock and a small bundle of dynamite. And the numbers on the face were counting down from five seconds.

Reno was half way towards the open door when the bomb started ringing and then the explosion. Fire burst out of the dynamite and the impact sent Reno flying out the house. "Ahhh!" he cried out as he flew ten feet into the air and went sailing across the street.

The explosion had completely destroyed the house effecting the next one beside it. A mushroom cloud full of flames flew up into the air and shook the ground. People who were luckily far away from the house gave cries of surprise and jerked around to see the mushroom cloud. Some people gasped and began talking to their friends.

Cloud had just arrived right in front of the 7th Heaven when he saw it. He just sat on Fenrir as he pulled off his glasses and looked wide eyed up at the mushroom cloud of fire and smoke. He stared up at it for a long time before he heard someone gasp. He turned his head to see Tifa, Rufus Shinra, Rude and a few of the children coming out of the bar to see what the commotion was about. It had been Tifa who gasped. "Oh, god. I hope no one was hurt." She said as she covered her mouth. Cloud shook his head. "Don't get your hopes up, Tifa. An explosion that big, there's no doubt someone hurt."

Tifa turned sharply and looking surprised. "Cloud! You're back so soon!" She said smiling.

Cloud nodded as he put Fenrir's kick stand down and got off it. He looked at Rufus, who nodded his greeting. Cloud just stared at him before looking at Tifa. "Hey, Tif. We have to talk." He said. Tifa tilted her head in interest. "Huh? About what?" She asked. Cloud nodded. "Let's go inside first. I could use a drink." He said. Tifa nodded as she turned. "All right, everyone. Get inside and finish your stew." She told the kids. The boys all groaned but the girls obeyed immediately. They all went back into the house and sat back down.

Tifa went around the counter and began pouring drinks. Rufus sat a few stools from Cloud with Rude. The blonde swordsman just glanced at him before looking back at Tifa. "What's he doing here?" He asked in a cool way.

Rufus rolled his eyes as Tifa looked at her friend. "HE came with Reno and Rude. I was sparring with Rude again. And, Cloud, be nice, all right? I don't mind him that much anymore." She said handing him a glass. Cloud just stayed quiet and drank his drink. "So, Cloud, what did you want to talk about?" Tifa asked leaning against the counter.

Cloud drained his drink before getting into his pocket. He pulled out the small bottle of black dust and green crystals. "About this." He said placing it down. Tifa's eyes lit up as she looked at it. Rufus and Rude both stood up and moved over to see it better. Cloud never objected. He had wanted Shinra to see it anyways, just in case he might have known something.

"What is that?" Tifa asked looking back at Cloud.

Cloud shook his head. "Don't know. I got it off some thugs that attacked me while I was resting in the forest outside of Neo Midgar. There were three of them but once I killed them, they exploded into this black dust. They even had these crystals inside them."

Rufus looked at him confusion. "What are they?"

Cloud shook his head. "I think they're Mako crystals. But I'm not sure."

Tifa looked at him in surprise. "Mako? Do you really think it's Mako?" She asked. Cloud shrugged. "What else would it be?" He asked. Rude removed his sunglasses to get a better look. "Unusual shape for Mako." He said quietly. Cloud nodded his agreement. "That's not all." He looked at Tifa. "I recieved a call from Barret two days ago. He said that he was attacked by some kind of weird monster. He killed it all right. But it turned into black dust and had green crystals in it too."

Tifa looked alarmed at hearing such a thing but she nodded. "I've heard rumors about strange and unusual monsters. Cid called me this morning to tell me about a very unusual purple worm with four whip like tongues. It nearly ate him too but he stabbed it in the head with his spear. It escaped though." She told him. Cloud looked down at the ground and rubbed his chin. "Hm. This is weird."

Tifa looked a little nervous now. "I don't like this one bit, Cloud. What is going on?"

Cloud shook his head. "I don't know. But I'm going to get to the bottom of this one way or another."

Just then the door opened and two 11 year olds hurried in. It was Marlene Wallace and Denzel. They were just returning from school that was only a few blocks away from Tifa's bar. "Tifa! Did you see that explosion in the South end?" Marlene said rushing over to the counter. Tifa looked at her before nodding. "Yes, we saw it, Marlene. Don't worry. We're sure no one is hurt." she said. Denzel shook his head. "But it was so big! There was fire and smoke every where!"

Cloud shook his head as he patted the boy on the head. "Don't worry, Denzel. If there is anyone hurt, the medics will help them. At least you and Marlene are safe." Tifa nodded.

"Tifa, did Papa call?" Marlene asked.

Tifa shook her head. "Not yet. But I'm sure he'll call later tonight to check on you. You have to be patient." She told her. Marlene nodded. "Okay. Can I get me something to eat?" She asked. Tifa nodded. "Sure. There's some stew still in the pot. You and Denzel get something to eat then get started on your homework. Okay?" She asked. Both, Marlene and Denzel nodded, hurrying around the counter to dish them some food out. The four adults began talking about what might have been going on while the little kids went out back to play for a little bit. Marlene and Denzel just worked on their homework while they ate their bowls of stew.

Just as Cloud was telling the other three about his trip, the door opened again and in staggered Reno. All four adults froze. Reno was in the worst shape he'd ever been. He was holding his arm as if it was hurt really bad and he had blood running down the right side of his face. His clothes were slightly singed.

"Reno?!" Tifa gasped covering her mouth.

Rude rushed over to Reno's side as he started to fall forward. He caught his friend just before he hit the ground. Cloud and Rufus rushed to help him while Tifa quickly grabbed some towels. Reno winced as he fell to his knees and clutched his arm.

"Reno! What happened?!" Rufus asked looking the Turk over.

Reno had one eye shut as he forced himself to look at Tifa. "Yo, Lockhart. You...you better be glad...th-that I went t-to get that package instead of you." He winced again. "It was...was a bomb." He then passed out on the floor, against Rude.