Author's Note: I do not own Final Fantasy or anything affiliated with it. The rights to it belong solely to their respective owners.
Notice: Hey! Sorry it took me so long to update; my computer crashed and I need to take it to the shop. I posted this using a computer of my friend's, and until it get's fixed I have access to only it and the student computer labs. But I will work even harder, and so, here are the fruits of my labor!
Artorias19: I'm glad to hear that you decided to read my fanfiction, and here's the next chapter of it.
Zexydemyx66: Thanks for helping me determine the chapter length.
Guest 1: Let me just say that he won't be pleased.
Gry17: I'm not sure about the teacher/student idea, but I can make it so that the two are acquainted.
Princessanastasiaromanov646: Glad to hear it.
Guest 2: You are indeed onto something there.
And so, here we go!
Ch.2 First Assignment
As Zack, Angeal and I rode along in the helicopter, we were given the details of our latest missions. "Wutai troops have hijacked Shinra Express MK93 II. The train is currently headed to Midgar Section 8. A SOLDIER and Turk operative will be inserted to neutralize the situation. We are to proceed as scheduled. Commence mission in 3... 2... 1... mark. Begin mission," the pilot told us. I unbuckled myself and stood, pulling my gloves on tight and making sure my sword was in its sheath. Zack opened the door and looked out, seeing the train speed below us. Angeal stood behind us with his arms crossed, and said "The train had been overrun by Wutai troops. Eliminate them and regain control of the train," he said.
At that Zack's face split into a huge grin. "Oh yeah!" he said, while I simply said "Understood." "Get serious, Zack!" Angeal said, his face the epitome of seriousness. Zack jumped out and landed on the top of the train, and I did the same, knees bent to absorb the impact. "Zack!" Angeal called, and despite the fact he wasn't supposed to he jumped down in front of us. "Focus. There are no Shinra troops on this train, understood?" he said. I nodded, and suddenly I felt more than heard several sets of feet stomp across the top of the train towards us. "We've got company," I said, drawing my pair of pistols. Zack smiled and drew his sword, and we charged forward.
The troops lowered to one knee and began firing, and I smiled. I cast Haste on myself, and suddenly it was as if the bullets were moving in slow-motion. I turned and dodged the bullets, firing shots of my own as I did so. Time returned to normal, and Zack slashed at any bullets that could have gotten him. "Hello to you too!" he said, and used a materia to cast a Thunder spell to fry one soldier in his uniform. I did the same without using one, and once we reached the soldier I put away my guns and drew my sword. The blade was double-edged and inscribed with glyphs, each one designed to make my sword a focuser and conduit for my magic-casting.
"Come and get it!" Zack said, swinging his sword in a wide arc and cutting through several of them. I noticed that despite being told that these troops were Wutai, they were wearing the uniforms of SOLDIER infantry. I frowned, but then one of the soldiers fired an RPG and I ducked, too focused on that to worry about it. Rather than duck, Zack leaped into the air, actually going through a gap in the arch above. Both the troops and I looked up, and Zack smiled before swinging down and hitting the ground, casting a Fire spell as he did. The spell cast right against the ground caused a blast of flame, and all of the troops around him shouted as they flew off the edge.
"SOLDIER 2nd Class Zack, on the job!" Zack said victoriously. I smiled and stood, willing to let him have this one. And besides, past experiences had taught me not to shout my name to the world. The train began slowing down as we reached the station, and Zack and I jumped onto the platform. When we did our phones began ringing as one, and we both pulled them out. "Zack speaking," Zack said. "This is Agent Vallis," I said. "Making progress, Zack? Jace?" Angeal said over the phone. "So far so good. What's going on though?' Zack asked. There was no response, and I elaborated "All of the troops you said were Wutai are wearing Shinra uniforms. There any reason behind that?"
"They're Wutai troops in disguise, so that uninformed operatives would let them pass by," Angeal explained. "Now, head to the open area above." "Towards Sector 8?" Zack asked. "Yes. But first, you have to clear a path," he replied. I frowned. "Clear a path?" I repeated. "You'll see what I mean. Be careful. Just then there was the sound of more feet running, and from around a corner more troops appeared. I grunted and hung up, drawing my pistols again. "Let's go!" I said, jumping behind a pillar and firing from behind cover. Behind me Zack continued talking, not even noticing. "So I can cut loose, right?" he asked. I grunted as a bullet passed by a few inches from my head, and I planted one between the eyes of the one who fired it.
Zack smiled and hung up, drawing his sword again. "It's showtime!" he said, and charged. The soldiers were dumbfounded that someone would just run at the while they were holding the firepower. As such they paused, and I took that chance to move out from my cover and fire, unloading half a clip into the chest of a dozen soldiers. Zack slashed, stabbed, and cut his way through the others, and once they were all gone Angeal called again. "Not too bad, you two. Just one week and you're already becoming partners," he said. "Well, it helps that Zack isn't a complete and total idiot," I said. While Zack wasn't sure whether to fell complimented or insulted, Angeal chuckled.
"True enough, Jace. Now, go up the stairs at the end of the platform," he ordered. "You got it!" Zack told him, and we both hung up. We ran ahead and rounded he same corner the troops had come from, finding a trio of them lounging around. They shouted when they saw us. "How did you two survive?!" one demanded, fumbling with his weapon. I simply smiled and charged a Blizzard spell, causing a block of ice to appear over his head. "We're just plain strong," I replied, before letting it fall. The ice hit his head with a sickening crack, and Zack slashed the other two across the chest. With them gone we kept moving, and two more troops appeared to stop us.
"Cover me!" one said, dropping to one knee and leveling another rocket launcher. "Oh no you don't!" Zack said, running forward. The other soldier tried firing at him, but he twisted to the side and evaded them, stabbing his sword into his stomach. "You're dead!" the soldier yelled, and fired the rocket. "Maybe someday. But not now!" Zack replied, pulling sword out and slicing the rocket in half in midair. It exploded and impact and Zack sent stumbling back a few steps, and the Wutai troop drew his firearm. But then I tapped him on the shoulder, and he whirled around to find my weapon pointed at him. "Good bye," I stated, before pulling the trigger. He fell back with a hole in the side of his head, dead.
"Man, do these guys even get any training?" Zack asked. I shrugged, not knowing. "Either way, it looks like the path is clear. Let's keep going," I said, and he nodded. Together we both reached the steps and ran up... only to find a full Behemoth waiting for us. "What the-?!" I began, before the beast roared and bounded forward, swiping a paw with razor-sharp claws as large as my arm at me. I shouted and jumped back, just barely dodging. "Looks like the soldiers had a surprise for us," Zack said, moving into battle position. I grunted and did the same, reloading my guns before settling into a fighting stance.
The Behemoth roared again before charging, this time at Zack. It swung its tail at him and he jumped, bringing his legs up to avoid it. "Come on, you can do better than that!" Zack said, running up and giving it and cut on its left foreleg. The beast snarled and glared at him, and I said "Provoking the thing may not be the best idea, Zack," I said, firing several bullets aimed for its head. But the Behemoth saw me and spun around, suing its tail to knock them away. I frowned and out away my pistols, drawing my sword. Zack came in from behind and slashed it's back leg, and the Behemoth used Gyro Tail in response, hitting Zack hard enough to send him into a wall.
"Zack!" I called, and I focused for a second before casting Cure. A missile of green-white light flew from my hand and hit him, and his body glowed before she stood, shaking his head. I felt a pang of tiredness but shook it off; it was merely a side-effect of my magic casting. While I my need no materia to do it, the amount of energy it uses up is that much greater. The Behemoth ran for him and swiped, but this time Zack was ready. He rolled beneath the strike and swung up, creating a wide slash on the beast chest. It roared in agony and looked down, preparing to use Heave. But then I called "Hey!" and it looked over just as I pointed Potentia at it and cast Thunder.
The glyphs on the blade lit up as the current passed through, and a bolt of energy fired from the tip and hit the Behemoth's flank. It growled and turned to me, forgetting Zack. It lowered down to the ground and I was confused for a second, before it leaped into the air. My eyes widened, and I called "Whoa!" before running back. But it turns out that was what it had planned, as the beast landed behind me and used Heave before I could get far enough away. I shot into the air like a cork out of a bottle, and the blow had also create massive gash down my back, which nearly blinded me with pain. I began to fall back down, and the Behemoth gave that closest thing it could to a smile, its maw open wide.
But then Zack called "Hey, fur-ball!" It frowned and looked at him, giving me the chance to cast Cure on myself and flipped through the air, landing neatly away from the Behemoth. But it ignored that, as Zack said "I may not have asked for it, but that's guys my partner! And he's not dying on my watch!" With that he cast Thunder, hitting the beast in the paw before charging. I cried out in pain at that zap, snapping its fangs at him and catching Zack's sword between its teeth. But Zack smiled, and yanked back, his modified strength allowing him to tear his sword out of the beast's mouth, cutting the roof of it in the process. The beast coughed and hacked up blood, and Zack took the chance to duck underneath and stab it right in the heart.
The Behemoth roared and reared back on its hind legs before falling to the ground, twitching for a few seconds before going limp. Zack pulled his sword out of its heart, the blade now slick with blood. I walked over and smiled. "Well, that was interesting," I said. Zack chuckled and nodded, but then suddenly a sword pointed itself at us from behind. And from behind a deep voice said "Showing your back to the enemy... Overconfidence will destroy you." I gasped, and turned to see Sephiroth, SOLDIER's top operative, standing there. He was tall and wore a long black coat that exposed his chest, with silver pauldrons, black boots and black trousers. His most defining traits though, were his green cat-like eyes, long silver hair and his sword, which was seven feet long.
"Wh-What is this?" Zack said in surprise. Sephiroth smirked, and lunged forward. I shouted and blocked with Potentia, and the silver-haired warrior shoved me back before swinging at Zack. He blocked it as well, but gritted his teeth from the pressure Sephiroth was easily putting on him. "Damn it, you're not the only hero!" he said angrily. He pushed forward, but then Sephiroth flicked his wrist and Zack was sent flying, his sword actually having been sliced in two. "Zack!" I called, and I fired a Thunder spell at Sephiroth. He blocked it with one hand though, and in a flash he was in front of me, delivering a punishing uppercut to my stomach.
The blow sent me flying into a wall, hitting hard enough to create a dent in the shape of my body. Black spots danced in front of my vision, and I could do nothing as Sephiroth pointed his sword at Zack. "It's over," he stated, before raising his sword to attack. "Enough!" we heard the voice of Angeal call, and suddenly he was there, using Zack's broken sword to block Sephiroth. He pulled out his phone and hit "Abort Mission", and and the entire area disintegrated into digital blocks, including Sephiroth. With the wall gone I fell onto one knee, groaning before standing. With the fake landscape gone we were back in the training room, and Angeal announced "Training's over."
"What? Why? You serious? I was just getting warmed up!" Zack said. I didn't complain, but merely shrugged. "Very well," I said. "Zack," Angeal said. "Embrace your dreams." "Huh?" Zack said in confusion. Angeal began to leave, but stopped at that door. "If you want to be a hero, you need to have dreams... and honor," he told him, before leaving. Zack just looked confused, and I walked out. Angeal had a point; those two things were crucial to one being a hero. I had no dreams of becoming one, however. I wasn't even sure what my dreams were. I suppose that they might have been discovering the cause of my powers. But then again, not even Shinra had been able to figure that out after my being under their thumb for years.
I may have honor, I concluded, but I still needed dreams.
Another chapter bites the dust, and now we have seen a little into the mind of Jace. Will we ever find out why his powers exist? Will Zack ever become a hero? These will be answered as he story goes on, so stay tuned!
Please review! If you flame me Liam Neeson will look for you, he will find you, and he will kill you. (I'm just kidding... or am I?)