DARK AVALANCHE

by Dark VoidLich

Team Dark is let into Midgar by a strange dimensional rift, and meets AVALANCHE. The two groups must join forces to defeat Sephiroth who is becoming strengthened by the new appearances on The Planet... My own slight remake of FFVII plot, collaborate effort with HTKWolfe777, he writes for Team Dark and I write for FFVII universe.

2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Aerith, Tifa and Shadow are in a holding cell. Aerith lies on the bed, stirring awake. "Ughh… what happened?"

Tifa is sitting against the wall, "I think they drugged us somehow. I can't feel any power, so they're still suppressing us in some way…"

Shadow just frowns as he leans against the wall with his hands behind his head. Drugs don't work on him, but he wasn't about to abandon them. "It's the cuffs," he explains. "The moment that man put them on me I couldn't feel the CH- the Materia anymore."

"So that's what knocked us out? Makes sense… ShinRa develops such evil technology." Aeriths eyes become heavy with sadness.

There are two other cells on either side of the middle one containing Shadow and the two girls. In one of them Barret is passed out on the bed, sitting on the floor are Rouge and Omega. In the other cell Cloud is curled up with Red XIII. He begins to wake, "Ugh… wow Red, you're so soft…" He starts to drift back to sleep when he hears Aerith's voice, "Aerith! Is that you?" He runs to the wall and raps against it hard, it seems to easily absorb the impact.

"Cloud! Yes, I must be in the cell right next to you… I'm so glad they didn't separate us!"

Cloud sighs heavily, "Me too, I'm so glad we found you Aerith!"

Tifa's jealous voice rings out, "Jeez, should I cover my ears? Sounds like things are getting personal..."

"Tifa! I didn't know you were there!"

Another voice rings out, Barret this time. "Yeah, looks like we're in three different cells. I'm in here with the Tin can and Batgirl."

"And I'm thrilled out of my mind," Rouge announces sarcastically.

Shadow speaks up, "I'm in here with Tifa, and Aerith so I'm guessing that means Cloud is with Red. These cuffs are going to be a problem since we can't stay here."

"Omega might be able to do something about them, but you never gave me his access information Shadow." In her cell Rouge leans against Omega's offline frame.

Shadow bangs his head on the wall in aggravation, and to his surprise the wall completely absorbs the impact. "The hell…?"

Barret starts to growl, "These bastards can try to lock me up, but I'll kill 'em all for what they've done to Marlene."

Rouge folds her hands behind her head, "Down boy, we gotta get out of here first."

Barret scowls, "Think I don't know that?" He leaps and punches the wall and bounces back, smacking his head and almost flattening Rouge.

Aerith blinks. "OH! Barret, I took Marlene out of the city long ago! She is staying with my mother, perfectly safe and don't worry- my house is not in Sector Seven."

Everyone hears the sound of Barret's ass hitting the floor, and a sigh of relief.

Cloud rolls his eyes, "I wish we'd known this earlier…"

Red XIII's head pops up. "I can feel that it is getting close to nighttime. Unfortunately there does not seem to be anyway for us to escape our current predicament, so shall we try to sleep? I'm still quite tired; the sleep they forced us into was quite restless."

"I don't trust them to let us rest peacefully," Shadow says. "I can go without sleep for days, I'll warn you all if there's trouble."

Aerith and Tifa nod, Aerith almost instantly passing out. Tifa leans back against the wall and closes her eyes, soon everyone is asleep but Shadow.

Shadow pretends to sleep, but his senses are on high alert. He can't help wondering at the same time if this team AVALANCHE is really going to be as much of a help as a hindrance. So far the answer is "no".

A few hours pass. Suddenly there is a loud "BANG!" from a couple floors below. Suddenly night-shift workers can be heard screaming, and the cries are cut short. Something is wreaking havoc downstairs.

Shadow's eyes snap open, "No… It can't be…" He stands, and doesn't bother waking the others. If it's what he fears, then they won't be able to do anything anyways.

A horrifying alien presence is stirring downstairs. The tank containing the headless woman-creature is burst wide open. There is a loud, rapid series of pounding noises as something jumps into the elevator shaft and quickly crawls into the hallway where our heroes holding cells are. A dark figure comes around the corner, and the normally silent guard cries out and raises his gun. He fires but the bullets bounce of the figure and ricochet, and the guards blood suddenly splashes across the wall.

Shadow glares at the cuffs on his hands, and tries in vain to break them with sheer strength. Another part of his mind wonders just how the others can sleep through this. He hears a stirring in one of the cells, and guesses Rouge woke up. Shadow stands in the middle of the cell. Even with his hands bound, and his powers suppressed he can still put up one hell of a fight.

Suddenly Shadows body feels frozen as a numbing cold creeps over his body, and he and his friends are rendered totally immobile as if encased in invisible blocks of ice. The figure steps into the light, he is a tall man with silver hair framing his face in two long strands in the front, somewhat like Aerith's, but long and untied in the back, flowing down to his waist swaying gently as he steps. He wears a black trench coat wide open in the front and two large, multi-plated silver shoulder pauldrons with black straps that cross over his chest and he holds a katana in his hand that is seven feet long. He walks through the hallway, his emerald green eyes staring forward with his cat-like slitted pupils, his massive katana gleaming. He continues to the upper floors and more screams are heard.

Shadow blinks, that wasn't… Just who, or what was that?! He notices the guard that the silver-haired man slaughtered has dropped his keys right next to the bars.

Shadow stares at the keys for a moment, and then grabs them. A small device in the rings seems to pulse with the energy cuffs on his wrists, and he grins. With a push of the button the cuffs vanish from all of them, and he unlocks the door with another key.

He chuckles darkly, and then shouts, "Everyone on your feet! We're out of here now!"

Cloud wakes up, startled and groggy. "Wha…? He rubs Reds fur and stands up. Tifa and Aerith do the same, and Tifa walks out into the hallway and stretches. Yawning, she blinks and realizes she is outside of her cell. "What the hell happened?" She looks at the walls and floor, seeing all the blood and gasps. Cloud sees her and cries out, "What the hell? How did you get out?"

Tifa spins around to Shadow. "What's going on? Did you kill the guards somehow, Shadow?"

Shadow rips open the doors to Cloud's, and Barret's cells, "I'll explain later, for right now let's get the hell out of here!"

"I concur," Rouge rubs her wrists. Shadow goes to Omega's back, and opens a command computer. A few minutes later Omega has rebooted, and is primed for combat.

"The master elevator is in ShinRa's personal office, where we saw him earlier. We can get to the bottom from there." Barret runs out of the cell, incredibly focused.

They climb the stairs cases to ShinRa's office, along the way every single employee that had been there is slaughtered, mutilated mainly by bifurcation. Entrails are scattered in some places, and some parts of the floor are drowned in shallow pools of blood. Tifa slips in it and almost falls. "Jeez, this is so fucked up…"

They finally reach the large, dark office where they had been cuffed earlier, the full moon shining through shattered, bloody glass. President ShinRa is in his chair, face on his desk and the seven-foot katana is lodged straight through his torso.

Shadow narrows his eyes, "Well, that's one less for us to take care of…"

Cloud starts to grip his head , lurching forward in pain. "That sword… Sephiroth! No! Fuck, I can feel the heat in my skull! NO, SEPHIROTH STOP!" He falls to his knees screaming and clutching his face.

Shadow stares at him, taking a defensive stance. Rouge takes three steps back, and Omega raises his guns slightly.

Cloud pants and puts his hands on the ground, "Shit! That sword, it belonged to an old friend of mine." He walks to the dead president and eyes the katana piercing his back. Barret begins to laugh, "Gawhahah! I'll be, ShinRa is finally dead! So this Sephiroth guy is on our side, right?"

Cloud gives him a grave look. "No. Sephiroth… he's supposed to be dead. There's no time to explain right now though- hey! Get back here!" A man in a green suit with shaggy black hair and a huge black beard pops out from behind the desk and tries to flee, but Cloud and Barret grab his arms on either side and he skids to a halt, squirming.

"Let me go, let me go!"

Cloud makes a fist in front of his face. "What happened here?"

"S-s-s-sephiroth was here… h-he killed ShinRa, and then he told me that he is going to take the Promised Land for himself! Then he jumped out the goddamn window!" He points to the shattered window, and the cool night air blows in suddenly, as if in response.

Aerith frowns. "Sephiroth wants it too? This is bad…"

Cloud asks Aerith, "What is the Promised Land?"

Aerith shrugs, "I was never really told what it is. All I know is that before the Calamity from the Sky came, my people walked the earth in search of it."

Cloud throws Heidigger (The bearded Suit) to the ground and he scrambles off. "Wherever it is, it probably has more Mako than ShinRa ever saw in his life."

A black helicopter suddenly and alarmingly rises in front of the open window, blasting gusts of air into the room causing Clouds hair to flap wildly. A man with a blonde ponytail in a white suit hangs from the side of the side, double-barreled shotgun in hand.

Barret bellows, "DAMN! I forgot about his son, Rufus ShinRa! Shinra's just like a hydra, aint it? We cut off one head, and another just grows in its place…"

Shadow throws a Chaos Spear into the propellers of the helicopter, sending it to the ground below like a rock. He looks at the others, "I'm going to level this building in five minutes from now."

He leaps into the air, and Spin-Dashes straight down. He punches a wide hole in the floor, and by the sounds of reoccurring crashes he's punching through more every second.

Rouge catches on, "Express elevator going down!" She leaps into the hole after Shadow, followed by Omega.

The helicopter crashes into the ground and erupts into a ball of fire. Amazingly, Rufus crawls out of the wreckage, Rude the bald agent has shielded him with his own body and is scorched black. "You haven't seen the last of ShinRa! It's gonna take a lot more than an emo kid and his idiot little friends to stop us!" They run off into the night, Reno's cattle prod crackling yellow in the darkness.

Cloud dives through the holes in the floor and finally stops at the second to the bottom floor, smacking into the ground and cracking the tiled floor heavily. "We gotta get out of here, Shadow!" He looks to the right and notices he is in the ShinRa employee reward store, and there are two red motorcycles and a large yellow jeep slowly rotating on a platform in the center of the floor. "I think I have a plan…"

Tifa and Barret fall through, Barret standing at the bottom to catch the others. Red lands perfectly on his paws and Cloud quickly has them pile into the jeep. He jumps on a motorcycle and revs the engine, and blasts off on the Mako-powered vehicle driving straight through a window, glass shattering to bits as he flies out and lands on the road outside. Immediately a swarm of SOLDIERS riding motorcycles is deployed from large bay doors and begin to chase him, slashing their swords at him. He effortlessly deflects them and sends their motorcycles careening off the road, exploding. Dozens and dozens more SOLDIERS riding motorcycles come out of nowhere, blasting down the road after him.

Suddenly a deep red light flashes from behind them, and they feel heat on their backs. Rouge looks over her shoulder from within the jeep in time to see the wave of red energy blow out several of the lower floors. With a mighty creak the building begins to tilt IN THEIR DIRECTION!

Cloud calls out, "Level the building? He's gonna level us!" He races forward, but the building (larger than an entire sector!) is descending much faster.

Barret smiles, gritting his teeth and aiming his chain gun hand at the falling building. He's been through more crap today than he's been in a long time, and his emotions have been pushed to the limit. "I'm gonna use my Limit Break!" His chain gun spins and red energy begins to gather at the front of the barrel, becoming a large sphere of volcanic plasma the size of Barret's torso. Suddenly it blasts forward, the jeep lurching as he fires, and hits the falling building, tearing straight through it as it is reduced bits, debris exploding straight up into the air. Gravel and metallic dust rains on them from above as Cloud presses on, the jeep close behind him.

Shadow appears in a flash of purple light beside them, skating with ease. He gives Cloud a satisfied grin.

Rouge shakes her fist at him, "You almost killed us Shadow!"

"I'll let you know when I start caring."

Next to Rouge Barret has taken the wheel, he swerves hard just as two ShinRa bikers lunge at the Jeep and they lose control of their bikes, careening off the road as they skid with blasting sparks across the ground, disappearing into the dark. He turns to Rouge, "Darlin, I hope you know your friend there is an asshole. And I got a bad feeling that hes gonna get what's comin to him sooner or later…"

Cloud reaches the end of the road, and they are on the brink of escaping Midgar altogether. He skids to a stop, waiting for the others to catch up when he hears a loud clunk behind him, and the earth quakes slightly. "… I don't even want to turn around, do I?"

A massive vehicle with six spike-covered wheels has halted to a stop behind cloud. Built almost like a tank, sitting atop the six deadly wheels is a large, bulbous steel structure from which protrudes two cannons. It begins to morph into a humanoid shape, with a visor over its face that makes it resemble a medieval knight. The strange robot raises to bladed arms tipped with spikes and swings low. Cloud raises his sword and clashes with the gigantic blades smiling pugnaciously, sending the metal beast rolling backwards.

Shadow narrows his eyes at it, "Omega, CATCH!" Shadow flips into the air, the energy blade returning as he descends on his robot companion. Omega raises a hand, and as Shadow makes contact with it the Ultimate Lifeform is incased in a golden field of energy. Inside he spins faster, and faster as Omega aims his arm at the hulking foe.

"Annihilation… Fire." He shoots Shadow like a cannonball at the enemy robot, breaking a huge hole in its armor.

Shadow lands on his feet, sliding on the ground. "Now!" The giant robot crackles with electricity and twitches, trying to attack but its systems are failing, and Cloud smiles wide as he sprints up to it and jumps, slashing his sword down and splitting the robot clean in half.

"Enemy neutralized," Omega puts away his mini-guns, and his clawed hands return. Shadow gets to his feet less steadily than he would have liked. Rouge smirks, "Getting tired Shadow."

"When Hell freezes over," he retorts, but he heads for the jeep.

Cloud chuckles and speeds off, Barret driving the rest of them close behind. They finally reach sunlight, and are soon zooming through the dead lifeless area around Midgaras they exit the horrible city into the world. Barret closes his eyes, and sucks the clean fresh air deep into his lungs. Aerith and Tifa hop out, evidently they had been talking in the Jeep…

"So Barret, we were thinking we should elect a leader for AVALANCHE while we're searching for Sephiroth."

Barret grunts, "I'm the god dang leader!"

Aerith smiles. "We were thinking it should be Cloud." Red XIII nods, and so does Tifa. Barret grumbles, "Ok ok… but I think we should split up. We can meet back together at Kalm." He points to a quaint little town in the distance, past the dead zone around Midgar.

Rouge shrugs, "Sounds fine by me. Shadow?"

"We should ditch the vehicles while the going's good. ShinRa might have some way to track these." Shadow hops out of the jeep, and starts walking in the direction Barret had been pointing in. Rouge, and Omega follow close behind.

Cloud calls out, "We'll meet you at the Inn. We can pay, Barret and I have fake IDs." Aerith, Tifa and Red XIII follow Shadow and his friends, Cloud and Barret decide to take a longer route around the dead zone, where no plants can grow due to Midgars constant draining of Mako. This area is heavily populated by hostile machines, so they figure they can train here a bit while the others walk.

"Damn… I wish we had all that Materia we found at Shinra HQ." Cloud rubs his neck, slightly embarrassed that he hadn't grabbed the pile in his rush.

Barrets scowl begins to lighten as he reaches for a pocket inside his vest. As he unzips it, an unearthly glow seeps out and Cloud begins to grin wide. Suddenly a large wave of robots armed with missile silos land in the dusty, plant less earth. Cloud picks a piece of Materia and both of them charge at the group of robots.

xxx

The town of Kalm is appropriately named. A quiet little Inn sits near the entrance to town, and people walk through the sleepy little village rarely leaving their homes.

Rouge looks around with a grin, "Tranquil little place you've got here."

Tifa cocks her head, "What the hell do you mean, we've got?"

Red XIII purrs, "Yes, the way you three have been talking is quite strange. You aren't even of this world, are you?"

"Actually no," Rouge turns her head to Tifa. "But maybe we should wait until your leader with the man-sword comes back to explain everything." She chuckles, "Did you ever think maybe he's compensating for something?"

Red XIII bursts out laughing, as Tifa begins to blush. "Wha… what the hell is that supposed to mean?!" She balls her hand into a deadly fist, and Red XIII rubs up against her. "Calm down, human… it's only a joke."

Tifa relaxes her grip, "Careful what you say about him…"

"Gyahahaha! Doin a good job protecting your boyfriend, huh?" A gruff voice rings out as Cloud, and Barret land next to the rest, covered in dirt and scratches, Clouds sword stained with motor oil.

Aerith's eyes widen, "Jeez you guys. No wonder you took so long, were you fighting each other or something?"

Cloud, and Barret strut over to the Inn, "Nah, we were just having some fun! Come on up, we're about to rent a room. I think we all could use the rest."

Shadow simply follows them with the others as they pay for the room, and head up the stairs. As they walk Omega says, "Now is a suitable time for debriefing."

"I guess so," Rouge nods as they head into a room. Shadow walks over to a window, and leans against the wall next to it. Omega stands on the other side of the window.

"Okay," Rouge flexes her wings as she stretches. "I guess we'll start with what Red said out there. No, we're not from this world." She pulls a wallet from her pocket, and pulls out a picture.

"Here, this is us back in our Home world, Mobius."

In the picture stands Omega, unchanged, and standing in the center. On his shoulder above his namesake symbol sits an anthropomorphic bat with white fur, and Rouge's clothes. Rouge has two fingers raised in a victory symbol, and one eye closed at the camera. On Omega's other side stands a black anthropomorphic hedgehog that is undeniably Shadow. He has his arms crossed as he looks coldly at the camera.

Red XIII realizes instantly that the figures in the picture are the same as the ones standing in front of him. The others look confused as Cloud walks in with Barret, looking at the picture and asks; "…What the hell? Please… please tell me that isn't you…" But he already knows it is.

Rouge raises an eyebrow, "That's me there on Omega's shoulder, and anybody could recognize Shadow." She tosses a lock of hair out of her eyes with a wink.

"Hmph!" Shadow looks out the window.

Aerith smiles coyly, somewhat interested in Rouge's flirtation with Shadow, "So how did you end up on The Planet?"

Omega picks up the narrative. "Approximately three days ago a hole in the space/time continuum was detected just outside the orbit of Mobius. With no immanent threat to the planet's welfare the Guardian Unit of Nations, the G.U.N., deployed Team Dark to investigate."

"And that would be us," Rouge informs them. "Omega the rogue robot, Me the world's best treasure-hunter, and Shadow the Ultimate Lifeform."

Omega continues, "Our mission is to investigate life on the other side of the rift, however there have been complications. Our ship was nearly destroyed upon arrival, and as a result we were separated. Rouge and Shadow both underwent drastic changes to their anatomy. Fortunately these changes have not affected their abilities at all."

A compartment opens in Omega's chest, and Materia spills out over the floor. A purple one hits Shadow's foot, and pulses at the contact. He picks it up, and looks at Cloud.

"Our worlds seem to be very similar," he says. "This for instance seems to works very much like a Chaos Emerald. On Mobius there are seven of them; gems of unknown origin, and unlimited power."

Omega speaks up, "Judging from the technology of this world, it appears that your civilization predates our own. Possibly even that of the Echidna Tribes."

"And that was millennia ago," Rouge finishes.

"Nice, you grabbed some too!" Cloud picks up a green Materia with the single word "Ultima" engraved into it and smiles confidently. "Ultima! This is the strongest and most expensive man-made Materia ever created!" he looks up at Rouge and his face becomes more serious.

Aerith suddenly speaks up, "That's so interesting, Rouge! I guess I should give you a little background then, this world is very old. Over two-thousand years ago, my people The Cetra (or "Ancients", as you non-magical people call us) were suddenly wiped out by a strange alien being that rode a meteor into The Planet. This being, known as The Calamity from the Skies, warred with my people until we were almost extinct. The Cetra were finally able to defeat the horrible thing and seal it away in a geological stratum, half-dead. We had a daughter race, who hid while we fought the Calamity, surviving long after we were wiped out." She smiles and pauses for suspense. "This race would later come to be known as Humans."

She lets that sink in, and then continues. "The Lifestream however had been developing its energy to create ultra powerful monsters that would be able to defeat the Calamity in combat, creatures called WEAPON. Since my people were barley able to seal the Calamity away, these WEAPONS were never woken up- and now I'm scared that Sephiroth will try to use them as part of his plan… well, looks like that's where you come in Cloud."

Cloud nods, "Well it all started in my hometown, Nibelheim. I was a ShinRa SOLDIER, 1st class, and I was with my friend, the legendary SOLDIER Sephiroth. He was older than me, and kind of acted as my mentor…"

Tifa frowns at this, and continues to look extremely concerned as he tells his story.

"Sephiroth and I arrived in Nibelheim to investigate the Mako Reactor there, and imagine my surprise when we met the tour guide and it ended up being my childhood friend, Tifa!"

Tifa's face becomes even more concerned.

"Tifa took Sephiroth, and I up to the Reactor, and we saw many mutated humans. Then Sephiroth started wonder if he had been created by a project like that… he completely changed that night. He stayed the entire night in the old ShinRa mansion, and he found tons of secret documents. After that whole night of reading, he came out and set fire to Nibelheim. Then he went out to the reactor and found a being called "JENOVA." He said that JENOVA was an Ancient, and his own mother. So I confronted him…" He shakes his head, "But after that I remember nothing."

Tifa holds up her hand. "Cloud, I need to speak to everyone without you here. Can you please go down to the shop and buy me some new gloves?"

He nods quickly and hops out the window.

Tifa turns back to everyone, "Cloud… thinks he was there that night. But the way he told that story is completely wrong."

Shadow actually looks interested, "These Ancients sound like aliens. That would explain…"

Rouge glances at him, but turns back to Tifa, "So what really happened?"

Aerith smiles, "The Ancients themselves are not aliens, they were the ones who started Human life… but if you want an alien The Calamity was the most powerful one ever recorded."

Tifa looks down at the ground sadly. "Cloud wasn't the 1st class SOLDIER with Sephiroth that day. It was out friend, Zack Fair, the original owner of Cloud's sword. After going crazy, Sephiroth attacked Zack and went into the Reactor to take JENOVA with him. But..." She looks incredulous. "When I went in there, probably straight to my death, Cloud was inside with Sephiroth, despite the fact I hadn't seen him anywhere around Nibelheim in years. He somehow overpowered Sephiroth and since then he's been considered dead. I recently found Cloud wandering the slums of Midgar, acting like someone completely different, and had him join our new team AVALANCHE."

Aerith runs out of the room. Tifa looks after her, confused. "Did she start acting strange after we told her of Zack?" She shakes her head slowly, "This is all pretty damn confusing…"

Rouge looks thoughtful, "Well… I guess we didn't have to know that last part. Thanks for sharing though." She smirks at Shadow, "Wanna tell them about your sob story? They'll probably never hear another like it."

Shadow shoots her a murderous look before vanishing in a flash of purple light.

Tifa arches her brow, "Cloud is gonna be with us this whole journey, so isn't it kind of important you know this stuff?"

Red XIII nods. "We must think ahead. This situation is very mysterious, and Sephiroth is incredibly dangerous… we should try to absorb all information possible."

Tifa collapses on one of the many beds in the room. "Whatever… I'm going to sleep. We can re-group tomorrow…" She's asleep before her head hits the pillow.

Red chuckles and curls up at her feet. "I'm also quite exhausted."

Omega powers into standby mode in a corner, and Rouge lies in a bed beside him. It's a little uncomfortable at first because she doesn't have a tail anymore, but eventually she slips into quiet slumber.

Outside Cloud has met the crying Aerith, and is very confused as he tries to console her. The others begin to drift off to sleep as Cloud and Aerith climb the stairs and sit outside the room, talking quietly.

Shadow sits on the roof of their building, brooding. His eyes open to narrow slits as he hears Cloud, and Aerith talking.

"You don't understand, Cloud… you have to remember! Why won't you remember?"

"Sorry. I guess I just have amnesia."

With that they retire to the room where the others are sleeping quietly, Cloud quickly falling asleep but Aerith's green eyes are still staring at the ceiling.

Shadow scowls to himself, and mutters, "Foolish girl… Some things are best left forgotten."

Suddenly a female voice sounds in Shadows head, patient and wise: "You have been chosen by the Cetra, Shadow. It was the hand of fate that caused the ShinRa to bring you here. You must help Cloud unlock his memories, and his true self, and together the he, Aerith, and you must save the Planet."

Shadow's eyes snap open, and he growls. "I answer to no one! Who are you to give me orders?!"

The voice is patient with Shadow's slight arrogance. "I was an Ancient called Ifalna, now long dead. A victim of ShinRa's evil..." The voice laughs soothingly; it's the voice of an angel. "I am sorry, my stubborn young warrior. I do not mean to order you… but you have no choice. While you are on this world, your soul is connected to the Lifestream. That is how I am able to speak to you, even though I am dead. If it is destroyed, so shall you be, and all your friends. You have a good heart, Shadow… you will do what is right."

Shadow leaps to his feet, and almost snaps a retort. He closes his eyes… He hates being used more than anything, and this feels a lot like manipulation. But Ifalna is right; he has to do the right thing.

"How?"

"My individuality is fading… soon I will be nothing more than Mako. Before this happens, I would like to tell you what really goes on in this world… that day that Cloud told you about, did actually happen. But Cloud was not a 1st class SOLDIER, in fact he was nothing more than a normal ShinRa sniper. To make a very long story short, Cloud was implanted with the memories of his friend Zack Fair." The voice suddenly fades, then comes back slightly quieter now.

"Drat… I am becoming weaker." Her voice speeds up. "The Calamity from the Sky that Aerith spoke of is actually the JENOVA that Sephiroth believes to be his mother. He thinks that he is one of us, an Ancient, but he is wrong. JENOVA was a horrifying alien, more terrible and powerful than any demon. And thousands of years later, ShinRa dug up JENOVAS body and made a terrible mistake." The voice shudders strangely, as if coughing of an illness. "They labeled JENOVA as an Ancient… but they couldn't have been more wrong. They had no idea that JENOVA was actually the alien that wiped us out, and they injected her DNA into human fetuses in order to create the "Ultimate SOLDIER." They succeeded when a baby named Sephiroth was born…"

The angelic voice warps and distorts for a second. "I haven't much time left… before I go, I beg of you Shadow, be strong so that Cloud will follow your example. The humans of this world can do incredible things if they gain life experience… Sephiroth and JENOVA must be utterly defeated, or they will destroy this planet and traverse the universe together, and one day they will find your world and destroy it as well. Farewell, Shadow. Good luck- the Cetra may be gone from the world of the living, but we have faith in you." With that the voice is silenced, and another voice enters Shadows head. This one is a complete opposite of Iflanas, a man's voice, deep and smooth as steel.

"YOU AND THAT FAKE SOLDIER WILL NEVER STOP US. While that other foolish soul has now faded to the Lifestream, I remain here stronger than ever. I am the true Last Ancient, I will become God of the Planet, and you will all burn for eternity! I am the true Ultimate Lifeform, SHADOW!" As Sephiroth says this, Shadow's vision turns red and his sight is distorted as if the whole world is shaking. Flames come up from the corners of his eyes, as if his soul is burning within him. "...Whoever she was, she spouted nothing but lies. You are doomed to burn on this Planet, like every other GODFORSAKEN HUMAN!"

Shadow is still for a moment, and then his face hardens into pure fury. Red energy cascades over him like lightning as he glares murderously into the night.

"I know a thing or two about Fakers Sephiroth. I swear I will hunt you down, and then I'll show you a true Ultimate Lifeform! When I'm done with you there will be nothing left for MAGGOTS!" The Materia in his pockets pulse as he vents his rage to the empty night, his irises glowing crimson.

The deep voice laughs, "I look forward to seeing you try, you pathetic worm. Nothing will stop the Reunion. Nothing will stop JENOVA. NOTHING CAN STOP ME!" With this, the ground begins to quake and the Inn shakes violently, windows shattering, tiles falling from the roof. Cloud wakes up and jumps out of the window to the roof. "Holy shit! What's going on? Earthquake!"

Shadow snarls, the energy slowly fading, "Nothing but me you bastard. You're gonna wish you'd left us in ShinRa to rot!"

Cloud screams, "…WHAT? Who the fuck are you talking to?"

Cloud cannot hear the voice, as it is inside Shadows skull. "Come, you disgusting animal. I am waiting… and be sure to bring the copy with you." The blood-red hallucination and the illusory fire fades away, and the evil presence leaves Shadows mind.

Cloud stares at him, wide-mouthed as the earthquake slowly begins to lose magnitude. "SHADOW! WHAT THE FUCK IS HAPPENING?"

The others pour from the building, the entire town is waking up. People stumble outside, surprised, an earthquake as never rocked Kalm like this before.

Shadow glares at the moon, "Sephiroth, Cloud… he's happening!" He cracks his knuckles, "And I will destroy him… For the good of all life, and my oath to Maria I WILL DESTROY HIM!"

Rouge looks up from where the others stand on the ground, "Shadow's not doing this, but…" She looks around with wide eyes. Omega widens his stance to avoid falling over.

"Sephiroth…?" Clouds eyes widen and he drops to the ground, holding his face. "Sephiroth, no, stop! STOP!"

Tifa grabs him and slings him over her shoulder. "God dammit…" The earthquake subsides completely, and she jumps to the ground and sets him down as he curses and repeats Sephiroth's name. Red XIII looks at him concerned, but is unable to think of anything that could be comforting to the young man.

Aerith steps out, gently helping Cloud to his feet. "Come inside Cloud, we need rest. We have a big day ahead of us."

Shadow storms past the group, eyes filled with bloodlust. Rouge watches with concern.

"Shadow… are you alright?"

"Fine," he relies curtly. Rouge sighs as he heads back to the room.

"I haven't seen him like this since the ARK… This isn't good."

"Agreed." Omega gently places a hand on her shoulder.

Everyone retreats to their beds drifts off to sleep, except Aerith who is silently watching Cloud and Shadow. Omegas power systems shut off with a whine…