Tifa awoke on a floor. She slowly sat up and groaned. She saw Lightning was the closest one to her and then she looked around. Where was she? Tifa scooted herself back against the wall and looked at the dark gold carpet. The lower half of the walls had dark wood panels and there was dark blue wall paper above that. IT was exquisite and seemed all too familiar. She almost felt safe other than the panic she felt when she saw her friends.

Everyone was sprawled out on the carpet. Lightning slowly sat up. "What the fuck? Where am I?" She asked then looked at Tifa. "What the fuck happened?"

"W-We are in the game," Tifa mumbled. She knew that she had been in this living room before. She didn't know how it was possible though. She stood and began to wake everyone up. Everyone was panicking and there was no door to get out. Tifa sat down on the couch. She felt like she was in a dream. Like this wasn't real. Could it be?

Someone cleared their throat and it paused everyone's chaos and caught their attention. In the darkest corner of the room, the boy from the store walked out. "Who the fuck are you?" Genesis snapped.

"Don't you recognize me?"

"The Prince of Shadows..." Serah mumbled.

"Very good. You all can call me Zack."

"That's your name?"

"It is a good as any."

"What do you want?" Fang asked.

"I want you to play a little game."

"No shit," Nocits muttered.

Zack ignored it. "You are all going to have to face your worst nightmare. The fear that haunts you in your sleep and throughout the day. You were all kind enough to write it down for me."

"We didn'-"

"Know? You swore upon ancient runes that you would play the game and would pretend it to be real. It isn't my fault you were all naive." No one said anything.

"So what exactly do you want?"

"For you all to attempt to win the game. You win or I do. If you win you get your freedom."

"So what could we do for you? What the hell do you want with us?" Genesis said.

Zack looked at Tifa and his smirk grew. "Winner takes all." Tifa wasn't afraid. She didn't know why but she wasn't.

Genesis looked at Tifa then at Zack. "No. No way in hell!" Genesis began to storm up to him when he fell through the floor. Tifa gaped.

"Where the hell did he go?" Cloud asked with wide eyes.

"At the top of the house."

"B-But he went through the floor," Lightning mumbled.

"This isn't real," Tifa mumbled.

"Oh but it is," Zack said. Tifa heard a slight scream. She turned and saw the rest of her friends go through the floor underneath them.

"W-Where did they go?"

"Somewhere in the house. It is all a part of the game and you are the main player. If you make it to the top of the house a door with be waiting for you, if not you stay here forever, with your friends."

Tifa looked at him. She finally felt everything hit her. "Why the fuck are you doing this? Why can't you let us go?" Tifa said now getting mad.

Tifa faced him. "You really do not remember? I thought by the way you reacted to the store. Your immediate-"

"Remember what? Other than this place is creepy as hell familiar, what am I supposed to remember?" Zack looked almost hurt. He pulled her to him and kissed her. She was startled at first but the world around them disappeared. HE pulled away and looked in her eyes.

"You still don't remember?"

"I-uh-I what just happened?"

He looked mad and let go of her. "You will know by the end of the game. You have to." Tifa just looked up at him confused. "You have until daybreak to get all your friends through their worst fears. If you remember, you might be able to send one free." Zack turned his back to her and looked like he was going to leave.

"Wait I-"

"See you soon," he said and vanished. Just then a door appeared. Tifa wanted to stay and wait for him, but she didn't have time. She took a leap of faith and opened the door. Then she was welcomed by a hallway