Chapter 4 – New Friends, Old Feuds

"They actually called the Mako Hunters on you? Those creeps, every one they try to 'cure' are never seen again." Yuffie announced as they neared Robert's house. The Mako Hunters or 'MH' are a secret government group created seven years ago when a mako infected person became a monster and went on a rampage, killing several people before being killed by a small military group. So far the world knows of seven factions, MH1 is there response division. They are usually in charge of calling and dispatching the proper units to calls or outbreaks. MH2 is a militaristic faction that shoots first and asks questions later concerning mako. MH3 handles weapons and other types of technology that can help against Mako Monsters. MH4 is the more balanced faction opting to use investigative styles rather than just going in and doing whatever they want. MH 5 is like there Police; they take care of Mako related crimes like making drugs or poisons from it. MH6 is like a training facility and trains recruits to work in the fields, then separates them into the other factions. MH7 is there research division, they are supposed to be working on a cure for Mako Infection but so far they keep more secrets than the government.

The house was more of a store type place being a corner building with a 'Game Shop' sign hanging above it. Inside the first floor was the actual shop. Games and game consoles of all kinds were strewn out in a merchandising fashion to optimize business. At the far end of the shop near the back was a closed door. As they approached the door Robert could hear a man's voice coming from the other side, one he recognized. "James must be arguing with a customer again." Robert said as if it were supposed to be obvious. "James?" Yuffie asked in concern. "My twin brother." Robert sighed and knocked on the door. "TWIN? You're a twin?" Yuffie asked in surprise. "LOOK AROUND FOR TEN SECONDS! I'M ON MY WAY!" James yelled from what sounded like up stairs. Stomping could be heard as James made his way to the door, and Yuffie was getting nervous, "Maybe I shouldn't." she said as she began to back away. Before Robert could respond the door was flung open by a man who resembled Robert in many ways. Their differences were there hair styles, while Robert's spiked up in the middle, James kept his slicked back and groomed, and now they had two different eye colors. He also wore blue jeans and an orange t-shirt with a white thermal under shirt. "What do you…" he began to say, but stopped and took a better look at who he was talking to. "Robert?" he asked. "That's my name, don't wear it out." Robert responded. "What happened to your eyes?" James asked as if it were a crying shame. "I fell in a Mako Pool." Robert retorted. "Oh. Who's this?" James asked nonchalant looking at the young girl. "That's Yuffie. I promised she could stay in the spare bedroom." Robert told his brother. "Huh… Well come on in you two. We'll go shopping for the little lady tomorrow." James announced as he swung the door open wider and went to go lock the door to the shop. "Shopping?" Yuffie asked trying to wrap her mind around what just happened. "Yup. Gotta have extra clothes if you're gonna stick around. Maybe you can help me with the store." James chuckled. Yuffie was shocked to say the least, she had just made two new friends, gotten a place to stay and a job working there all in one day. How does someone handle something like this? Yuffie handled it her way, "I CALL FIRST SHOWER!"

Imagine having to go without a shower or fresh cloths for a few years and then suddenly you were in a place that had running hot water and plenty of it, as well as working plumbing and electricity. The feeling of being in heaven filled Yuffie as she let the hot water of the shower run over her and wash away every ounce stress she ever felt. She washed everywhere just to get that clean feeling all over her, enjoying the bliss of having a semi-normal life. Suddenly her bliss was shattered when a knock was heard on the bathroom door. "Yuffie you've been in there almost an hour, are you done yet?" she heard Robert call from the other side. "Just a minute Cloud." she called back. Then she heard chuckling come from the other side of the door. "Cloud?" she heard James say, "She calls you Cloud? Your old high school nickname? HA! Your girlfriend's a riot." Yuffie blushed from ear to ear after hearing that. Quickly she turned off the water and wrapped herself up in a fluffy white towel. As she opened the door, she saw Robert standing there with a towel of his own in his right hand, both staring at each other in silence. Robert than cleared his throat and handed her something in his left hand, an extra large shirt. "For your night gown I guess." He said in all awkwardness. Accepting the shirt she slowly pushed past him, accidentally brushing her arm against his. A shiver went up her spine and she sped up to get to her room quickly, blushing furiously and thinking one thing, 'What's wrong with me?' Inside her room was plain being a guest bedroom, there was an empty dresser and a vanity; a queen sized bed was sitting in the far corner with just plain white sheets and grey blankets. Suddenly she shook her head and said, "It's got to be that girlfriend comment of James'. I'll straighten it out tomorrow." she decided then put the shirt on. The shirt was large enough to cover her down to her knees, being a dark blue with the design of a European dragon breathing fire on the front of it. She then plopped onto the bed and let sleep take her almost before she was under the covers.

Morning came and Yuffie wanted to sleep all day, the mattress was like a cloud and she was in heaven. Covered for the first time in a long time in warm blankets and a roof over her head, a pillow comforting her head so it didn't hurt in the morning every time. This is what she had always wanted and she smiled at the thought of the nice boy she met who offered this to her. As she thought of Robert she suddenly remembered the events of yesterday all too clearly. Yuffie shot up in bed and looked around, finding herself still in the room she was given. The white walls, the grey blankets, even the dark blue shirt she had was all the same as it was before. The air was different though, it had a smell to it, the smell of pancakes and waffles. Even bacon was added to the mix of scents tantalizing her, teasing her stomach. She slowly got out of bed and stretched, then made the walk from her room to the kitchen using just her nose as her guide. That is where she saw him; Robert was at the stove flipping pancakes like a pro. On the table were two plates of cooked bacon and scrambled eggs, and a plate of waffles in the middle. He was fully clothed in a black turtle neck and fresh blue jeans so she had nothing snide to say about only wearing black. "Oh gosh that smells so good." she said scaring him out of his wits. "Yikes, can you please make some noise when you walk?" Robert said as a flapjack landed on his head. "Not a chance Cloud." she said with a smirk on her face. A thought suddenly hit her and she had to ask, "How am I going shopping if I've got nothing to wear?" Robert's response was, "I washed your old cloths. You can use them and I'll let you wear an outfit out of the store." "You'll let me? What about James?" she asked. "He went grocery shopping this morning. We're running out of milk." he said. "Ah milk…Wait will he turn us in?" Yuffie asked in worry. "No. He doesn't trust or like the Mako Hunters very much." Robert reassured her. "Ok. When do we go cloths shopping?" she asked. Robert smiled before saying, "Right after breakfast."

Shopping to say the least was a nightmare for Robert, Yuffie had to try on everything that fit her and sometimes even asked if something made her look fat. Security jobs like his made good money because of the liability, so he was not too worried about prices, he was embarrassed that Yuffie was making such a big scene. At least she never modeled her underwear for him. At the food court she nearly inhaled her food and made a mess of herself and the table. "Do you always eat like this?" Robert asked in complete embarrassment. "Not really. I'm lucky if I get two small meals a day." Yuffie answered in all honesty. "Well at least chew your food please." he suggested. When she nearly choked on a bite of hamburger he helped her by patting her hard on the back, she slowed down after that. After shopping they made their way back to the shop Robert to rest his legs, arms and head, and Yuffie because she wanted to put all her new cloths away.

Talking about anything she could think of Yuffie barely noticed when a man stepped into their path, however Robert noticed right away. "What do you want?" he asked the man. With a wicked smile the man spoke in a familiar voice the scared the guard out of his wits, "Good to see you to, Cloud." Suddenly, in a black wisp of energy, the man transformed into the same silver haired man that caused this whole fiasco, Sephiroth. "YOU!" Robert yelled and did the same thing he did when going up against Yuffie; he Mako Shifted the Buster sword. This time he noticed something was different, his shirt had no sleeves. Looking at the rest of him he found that his cloths had shifted to, he now sported a black cotton sleeveless turtleneck and black baggy pants that were tucked into his brown combat boots. His left arm had a metallic shoulder guard with four metal pieces sticking up from it, a heavy duty looking wrist guard and leather glove with grey finger tips. On his right hand the same leather glove and around his waist was a large black belt that looked like it would better serve as a back support belt, if it were not for the leather suspenders attached to it. Using the blade of the sword as a mirror, he noticed that his hair had not changed just his cloths. "Did I look like this the first time?" he asked Yuffie. She nodded with a "Yep, you did." "Back to old styles I see. Do you fight as weak as you did in the beginning?" Sephiroth taunted. "Listen I don't know what's going on but my real name is Robert not Cloud." Robert said trying to reason with him. "You can't fool me Cloud, I know you're real. And soon this world will belong to me to use as I see fit." and with that Sephiroth created his sword, the masamune.

The battle was mainly one sided as Robert mostly kept the buster sword between him and Sephiroth's lightning fast strikes. Not even letting the boy think Sephiroth continued to overwhelm the poor soul until he hit the sword hard enough to send Robert flying around fifty feet back before he landed and skid to a stop. Sore and bruised Robert made an attempt to rise to his feet, only to find Sephiroth coming straight at him. In desperation he put up a block again only Sephiroth was ready for it and spun around to hit the Buster sword again with enough force to send Robert flying again. "Ugh. He's going to use the pavement to kill me." Robert told himself. "You're stronger than you think. Just fight him and you'll be fine." said a calm monotonous man's voice from inside his head. "Easy for you to say, you're just me going crazy." Robert retorted. Sephiroth was on him in seconds, ready to finish the fight, "You've made this too easy Cloud. All your skills and you've failed so miserably. Perhaps this race is too weak to help you fight." With that he raised his masamune high into the air ready to deliver the finishing blow, Robert tried to rise the buster sword to block but Sephiroth stepped on the sword the moment it moved. All Robert could do was close his eyes and wait for his life to end, it never came. Opening his eyes he noticed Sephiroth was no longer standing over him, instead he was ten feet in front of him sitting on his butt and rubbing his stomach. Robert looked behind him and saw Yuffie standing there with a huge smile on her face. "Sorry but I don't let friends get killed by psychopathic swordsmen." She responded. Robert laughed silently to himself and said, "What would I do without you?" "That question will be answered shortly." they heard Sephiroth say, and he attacked Yuffie mercilessly. Yuffie seemed to have a better time defending herself. Her agility was astounding and she Mako Shifted on the move. Using her shuriken to deflect and attack, it seemed as though she might actually win, until Sephiroth spun his body in a circle and used his masamune to nearly cut Yuffie's head off. Instead she blocked with her arm guard and the masamune ripped right through it, cutting her forearm deeply and shattering the armor. Yuffie screamed out in the pain and collapsed to her knees while holding her injured arm tightly.

Seeing this, Robert became furious even as Sephiroth poised himself to put the masamune straight through Yuffie's heart. His eyes began glowing brightly and violently. In surprise Sephiroth turned around only to be blinded by the light that Robert's eyes gave off. "What is this?" Sephiroth shouted. Robert's only response was a battle cry as he charged in and leapt into the air and with his sword in hand came crashing down on the mad man. As Robert's eyes dimmed and stopped glowing, everyone could see the hero's sword blade down underneath the villain's legs and Sephiroth standing sill as a statue, the expression of shock still on his face. Then as he tried to move, a spurt of blood came from the top of his head. A red line from crown to belt made its self seen as blood came slowly seeping out of an invisible wound. Robert collapsed in exhaustion to the floor and Sephiroth spoke few words before fading back into the black mist he was made from, "Limit…Break?"

To be continued…