A/N: Not much to say, so let's continue onward.
I don't own Sailor Moon, Final Fantasy VII(or it's Compilation), Final Fantasy: Spirits Within, the Prince of Persia, Kingdom Hearts, Pokemon, Cardcaptor Sakura, Shrek or Ice Age. They belong to Toei/Naoko Takeuchi, Disney, Square Enix, Dreamworks, CLAMP, Nintendo/Pokemon Company, Ubisoft and 20th Century Fox/Blue Skies. I only own Medge(the city in the present of this story) and Lusie/Chibiusi-Future Mini Moon.
Chapter 6: Reunion and Truth.
Meanwhile, in Cid's airship in the cockpit with the glass window, the rest of the Sailor Team, AVALANCHE, Rufus and the Turks were heading towards into the direction hopefully where Sailor Moon, Kairi, Pikachu and Reno were, praying that the four of them were alright and not harmed by the sick man that his eyes on Reno. Sailor Mars was using her psychic ability to sense their auras and concentrated. Behind her, Rude was pacing back and forth, agitated. Sora was in the similiar vote, but was a nervous wreck. Ash leaned against the railing near the window with a gravely worried expression.
Everyone else were either focusing on how to rescue their kidnapped friends or fearing for the worst. Mickey was trying to piece together the puzzle of how the mysterious man knew about him and why he strangely felt looked a little familiar but knew that he never met the man before. It was also confusing that the mysterious man knew about Sailor Moon as well, and even about Keyblades.
"Do you think Sailor Moon and the others are okay?" Yuffie asked, worriedly, starting to go into the hysterics herself. After what happened just after Kadaj's death, the young ninja Princess didn't want her friends to just vanish and never come back after both Sailor Moon and Cloud nearly did before they returned through the Lifestream in Aerith's Church.
"Who knows? All we can do is hope for the best. If anything happened to them, heck, even to Reno, I'll never forgive myself on this one." Cloud sighed, his arms crossed. He knew that he'll be back to not forgiving himself all over again like how he blamed himself for the deaths of Aerith, Zack and Loran(the latter he was unaware that was still alive in the future), but Sailor Moon was his friend too, and Cloud knew that Kairi was important to Sora, while Pikachu was important to Ash. And even though neither of them said anything, he knew that both Reno and Rude were very close in their friendship, considering how both of them were seen together more often than separated.
"Gawrsh, I sure hope they're okay." Goofy muttered worriedly.
Mickey sighed worriedly, "My too, Goof'. I can't help but feel that this is all my fault."
"Yeah, well, I'm blamin' dibs on that black-horned giant monster that attacked us in the future!" Meowth almost yelled. "I don't know why, but that guy who took Pikachu, Reno, the Sailor Twerp and the red girly haired twerp away is with that monster in the first place!"
"Huh?" Mickey, Goofy, Dawn, Yuffie, Ash, Sora, Cloud, Tifa, Cid and Elena muttered in confusion, wondering what Meowth was talking about.
"Yo' feline! The 'hell you talkin' about?" Barret asked.
"One of the reasons why we're stuck here is because it attacked us when me, Jessie and James followed this girl who went into d'is waterfall cave looking at some dumb leaf that was either a plant or a weed, and for some reason, she had this high-class class that can travel through time." Meowth explained.
"What!?" The Sailor Team, Sora, Mickey, Goofy, and AVALANCHE all exclaimed, shocked.
"You guys met Aki?" Sora exclaimed, eyes wide in disbelief.
"Who is this Aki?" Rufus questioned with a quirked eye-brow.
Dawn turned to the President and explained as briefly as she could, "Well, we have no idea what she was actually doing, but we met her in the ruins of Midgar when three guys and a girl who aren't GMO found us and all five of them come from a future farther than the one the rest of us came from."
"What!? You met that stupid woman who went through the trouble just to find the weed!?" Jessie shouted, leaning too close to Dawn with a mixture of a shocked and furious expression.
"Jessie, calm down." James tried to gently pull his friend back before she could lose her temper again, as usual.
"Yelling and going into a panic isn't going to solve anything." Tseng agreed, feeling a headache coming in. "Our main mission now is to locate Reno, Sailor Moon, Kairi and Pikachu."
Vincent was feeling a headache from the yelling from Meowth and Jessie, but mainly from the latter, as he thought to himself, trying to understand the meaning. 'I don't think I will ever understand women.'
"Easy for you to say." Cid groaned as he steered the ship, before calling up to Sailor Mars, "Y'sure we're headin' into the right direction and that we'll find them without missin' their heads?"
"Don't say the last part, Cid." Sailor Mars grunted, before answering the question, "They're still alive, and I think we're getting closer to them anyway. I can't sense the mysterious enemy, though."
"What do you mean by that?" Rufus questioned.
"You mean that guy just disappeared?" Ash asked, with some hope in his voice.
"Hard to say." Sailor Mars admitted, "When we find them, we'll have to ask how they managed to escape."
"Are you sure they're still alive?" Elena couldn't help but ask, even though her heart was leaping a little to hear the news that Reno, Sailor Moon, Pikachu and Kairi were still alive.
Meowth walked up to the female Turk, saying, "You'd better believe it, Elena. 'Cuz the Psychic Twerp can not only sense people's spirits or hearts, she can also sense the evil in monsters too. A lotta people don't like her Hocus Pocus abilities except for the other Sailor Twerps."
"It's NOT Hocus Pocus!" Sailor Mars argued, irritated. Why did Serena and Meowth always call her powers either Hocus Pocus or Alakazam?
"Considering the landscapes, I think we're heading the towards Gongaga." Tifa realised, before asking, "But, why would that man take our friends all the way out here?"
"Maybe he wanted a place without any interruptions?" Ash guessed.
"But Gongaga has a village there." Mickey pointed out.
Despite the king's knowlage, instantly the eyes of Cloud, Tseng, the other Turks and AVALANCHE all widened in realization. Gongaga did have a village, but it was still pretty deserted and instantly a memory of the one place they knew would be completely abandoned to be the perfect location of solitude and no people since no one has been there in years, even before Cloud and Zack escaped the ShinRa Manor.
"The Mako Reactor." Cloud spoke up first before anyone else could.
"The Mako Reactor?" Sora asked, puzzled. "Aren't those back in Midgar?"
Mickey, also realising this, nodded before explaining, "There are, Sora. But, there are other Mako Reactors in many other parts of the world that are shut down by now. Gongaga is one of the many places on the Planet to have one, even though it was blown up before I ever saw it."
"There was an Mako explosion five years ago in Gongaga." Rufus recalled as he spoke. "It took out half of the population and was never rebuilt or reused. So it continued to remain there, un-attended." which earned him skeptical and annoyed glares from Cloud, Cid, Tifa, Yuffie and Barret which the President just pretended not to notice.
"Who cares about what happened to the Mako Reactor?" Ash grunted, tightening his fist with determination, "All that matters is finding our friends. So I say we head over to Gongaga anyway to check it out."
Before anyone else could say anything further, a ringing sound was heard, causing everyone to gaze around before Tseng realised it was coming from his PHS. Digging into his pockets and pulled out his flip-phone, wondering who was calling his number, the Director of the Turks answered after just two rings.
"Tseng speaking." Tseng spoke.
"Never one to let your phone ring for long, huh, boss?" A familiar cocky but somewhat tired voice spoke through the speaker.
Relief washed over the Wutaiian as he replied to the caller, "Reno! Are you alright?"
Instantly hearing Reno's name, Rude and pretty much everyone else, even Vincent stepped over as Tseng was talking to his Second in Command who had just rang his number.
"Yeah, I'm okay. I'm still with the Sailor Squirt, and her two buddies who are okay too. Had a close call with the bad guys, though." Reno replied back.
In the background, Tseng could hear Sailor Moon's rather annoyed voice say to Reno, "Hey, I'm right here, you know. Don't think that I'm deaf." which made the Wutaiian Turk smirk a little in amusement.
"Where are you?" Tseng inquired, wanting to get to the point.
"Eh, of all places, Gongaga the Dump. We're kinda in a safe house with two of our old co-workers and someone else who you won't believe is here too." Reno answered.
Deciding to question on who was with the group later, Tseng nodded before saying, "Stay where you are. We'll meet you there." before hanging up.
"Where are they?" Cloud asked immediately.
"Gongaga, just as Sailor Mars predicted." Tseng answered.
"See? I told ya she's good at d'at sort of thing." Meowth said, proudly.
"Gee, Meowth. You're kinda actin' like it's you who knew where they were." Goofy thought, slightly confused.
"Yeah, Mars' the one who did all the work in sensing them and Cid doing all the piloting in getting us there." Ash added, annoyed.
Sora nodded in agreement, saying skeptically, "Who are you kidding here?"
This made Meowth curl up into a ball in self-pity, moaning, "The cryin' shame."
Deciding to ignore the annoying whining from the cat-scratch Pokemon from the future, Cloud immediately gazed up to his pilot friend, saying like a leader that he was chosen to be, "Cid, we need to set course to Gongaga fast."
"One step ahead of ya', Spike." Cid saluted, "Everybody fasten your seat-belts!"
"What seat-belts?" Jessie asked, dumbfounded.
"There aren't any." Goofy shrugged.
Rather then answer, Cid and his crew slightly boosted the engine to full speed ahead and while most of everyone else hanged on but weren't fazed at the increase of speed, Goofy and Team Rocket ended up slipping and sliding uncontrolibly while they clumsily tried to regain their balance, with Goofy yelping, "YAA-HOO-HOOEEE!"
In the meantime, Rude, Ash and Sora knew that neither of them would fully be relieved until they saw their friends safe and well in Gongaga despite that Reno and Sailor Moon both sounded alright.
However, Sora himself, along with Cloud, both felt some kind of jolts and neither would realise that someone else was feeling the same thing until they would join up with her.
Back in Balto's childhood home, Reno just put away his phone after Tseng hung up, before leaning back against the back of the couch with a sigh, locking his fingers together behind his head as he gazed up at the ceiling. Sailor Moon, Kairi who had Pikachu on her lap, and Cissnei all sat either on the couch with him or on two seperate chairs, while Veld and Balto both stood, leaning against the wall close by.
"Well, all we have to do now is wait." Reno told the others, before grumbling, "I hate the waiting part."
"How are you feeling?" Cissnei asked.
Reno paused, before admitting, "Okay, I guess. To be honest, I'm not sure what to make with handlin' what's happening to my head. And the fact that Chale, assuming that it's really his name, was actually trying to kill me with unusual magic that didn't come from Materia scares me a lot."
"Maybe he was experimented on by Hojo without you knowing?" Sailor Moon thought with a random guess. "We all know how disgusting that guy was."
"Nah, if that were the case, then he would've gotten out and found me much earlier than that." Reno shook his head, "Unless Professor Creep-Show had some secret basement in the ShinRa Building, I doubt Chale was anywhere near it."
"Did you just call Hojo a Creep-Show?" Kairi asked, a little surprise to hear this from the redhead.
Reno grinned at her, saying, "Well, yeah. Not right in his face since he was not only creepy, but he was the head of the Science Department and extremely dangerous, especially since he created a monster that was Sephiroth. Besides, only three people ever really liked him, which were Rufus's old man, Scarlet and Heidegger."
He then chuckled and said, "Heck, I wouldn't be surprised that even Sephiroth hated him before he went insane."
"That's the only thing I can sympathize with Sephiroth, especially since he was experimented on since even before he was born." Sailor Moon nodded in agreement, folding her arms against her chest. However, this was only part of what she knew. The second other thing she really sympathized with the madman was that he lost two friends that were Angeal whom Sailor Moon never met, and Genesis who, in this era right now was probably sleeping his way towards aiding her and the others in the future to help stop Ultimecia.
"Do you sympathize Hojo himself?" Balto asked slowly, "Not that I ever liked him myself."
Sailor Moon shuddered violetly, groaning in disgust as she said, "Not in a million years. No way. Makes me unfortunately remember the time when Cloud, Tifa, Aerith and I first found him in Costa Del Sol getting a tan while still wearing his lab coat, surrounded by women who thought he was good looking." groaning even louder.
Reno, Kairi, Pikachu, even Cissnei, Balto and Veld all groaned in with their expressions screwing in disgust at the mental image of that.
However, before Sailor Moon could say anything else, the familiar jolting feeling she felt back in the Forgotten City and when she and Cloud were about to finish off the Bahamut-SIN when meeting with Aerith's Spirit hit her hard, and before she could react, felt herself the weird feeling as though she is thrust from her back and was thrown into what felt like some sort of dream.
Blinking, Sailor Moon found herself in some kind of barren like wasteland world, with two planets close in the sky. It was seemingly in the middle of the night and...creepy and strange. Looking around and wondering where she was, she couldn't help but say to herself, "What a weird and spooky place."
Just then, she felt grunts coming behind her and when Sailor Moon turned to see what was happening, to her surprise, both Cloud and Sora appeared, looking as though they felt the same jolt that she did before arriving in this...wherever it was.
The said two were surprised when they saw her, but before any of them could even say anything, the saw movement from two other familiar people and when they turned to look, not only Gray, in just a shirt, pants and shoes was there, but also Aki who both took notice of their pressence. Sailor Moon and her friends walked over in confusion.
"Aki? What's going on? Where are we?" Sailor Moon asked to the female scientest.
"On an alien planet." Aki answered.
"Another planet?" Cloud asked, stunned, before gazing around, muttering, "I guess that explains it."
"How is that possible?" Gray asked, seemingly confused as well.
"I'm not entirely sure." Aki shrugged, gazing around as though she was expecting something to come.
"You seem awfully calm about this." Sora thought, crossing his arms in thought.
"I've been having this dream every night through out space and time in my journeys. Feels like for months." Aki explained.
"Dreams?" Gray asked.
Sora gazed at Gray, saying, "Well, I guess I can see what she's talking about. Some people do have the weirdest dreams in more ways than one. What I don't get is why me, Sailor Moon and Cloud are here?"
"Yeah, one minute was with the others waiting for you guys, and then the next...it kinda feels like when I had the weird flash or whatever with Aerith just a short time ago." Sailor Moon thought.
"Something must've happened, then." Cloud thought, frowning in concern.
"What's happening to me?" Aki asked to Gray. The last thing she remembered was waking up screaming after the previous dream before one of the GMO men shot her unconscious and then...everything was blank up until now.
Gray, knowing the reason why he was here, explained, "Dr. Sid is implanting the seventh spirit directly into your body."
"Seventh Spirit?" Sailor Moon, Cloud and Sora blinked, confused on what they were hearing. The trio glanced at each other, wondering what was really going on. What kind of mission was Aki really doing anyway?
"Then you're my spiritual support." Aki realised, smiling at Gray, "Gray, how sweet of you."
"Uh, 'cuse me, but what about the three of us?" Sailor Moon asked, slightly dumbfounded on the situation. "Why are we here?"
However, before Aki could even answer that, the same fight she'd seen in her previous dreams happened once again, this time Gray, Sailor Moon, Cloud and Sora were all seeing the fight of the living Phantoms that were coming towards them from both sides. Or rather, fighting each other with blasts and powerful punches at each other in a war of hate and rage, at first not taking notice of Sailor Moon or her friends who ducked and tried their best to shield themselves with Sora, Cloud and Gray doing their best to shield Sailor Moon and Aki to avoid the conflict.
Then the five of them were met with silence, and somehow felt shadows loom over them. Sailor Moon, Cloud, Sora, Aki and Gray all slowly stood up to see that the Phantoms just stood there, every single one of the beings about the similiar height of one of those large trolls Sailor Moon met along with Shrek, Donkey, Ash, Pikachu and May that had built a bridge which flooded Duloc and the Swamp back in the Fairytale World a year earlier in the future.
"Why are they staring at us?" Sailor Moon asked, looking around.
"Did they notice us?" Sora added.
Aki, now realising what this means, shook her head as she told them, Cloud and Gray, "Not at us." as they all heard another rumbling coming towards them and the Phantoms.
Everyone turn to find a massive wave of explosion coming towards them, and while Sailor Moon and her friends felt no impact and instead now felt that they were just seeing this like a memory, the Phantoms on the other hand, weren't so lucky. The explosion engulfs the Phantoms who scream in agony. The camera views from space as the entire alien world is blown up and destroyed, a small junk of rock flying into space and away...
As Sailor Moon had blinked, she was back on the couch back in Balto's childhood home.
"Sailor Moon? Are you okay?" Kairi asked as she, Pikachu, Reno, Cissnei, Balto and Veld all noticed that the Moon Princess had a blank look which was replaced by a confused expression.
"W-What? What did I miss?" Sailor Moon asked, looking around in confusion. That vision...had she just blanked out like back in the Forgotten City briefly? It sure seemed like a strange connecting dream that was similiar to when she, Raye, Lita, Mina and Amy went inside Rini's dreams, and then the five of them, Ash, Pikachu, Misty, Brock, May, Max, Rini, and Meowth all went inside Lusie's dreams, both times to save the two from the Grim Man and from Maleficent's dark magic.
"You look kinda pale." Reno stated, before asking, "What's wrong?"
Realising that she did blank out, Sailor Moon shook her head, saying, "Nothing. I think I accidently daydreamed...and having a weird creepy dream." which wasn't untrue. The vision she did see did feel like a creepy dream.
"Are you sure you're alright?" Veld questioned.
"I'm okay." Sailor Moon replied. "I've always been one to daydream once and a while." just as they all heard the sounds of wind whooshing outside of the house, causing everyone to look out of the window.
Reno and the former Turks all stood along with Sailor Moon and Kairi while Pikachu was on the latter's shoulder, and Reno spoke out, "Can't tell if it's either the others having arrived or that those GMO losers are back."
"Stay alert." Veld said firmly.
However, the former was confirmed, as the group carefully checked out of the window and to their relief, a familiar airship landed outside of town, with the hatch opening to reveal the rest of the group Sailor Moon and the others had hoped to have arrived. Relieved, Sailor Moon, Kairi, Pikachu and even Reno went racing out of the house to meet with their friends with Veld, Cissnei and even Balto all smiling in relief.
When Mickey and the others looked around, Goofy was the first to spot their friends and he cried out happily, "Look! There they are!" getting the others' attentions.
"Hey, over here!" Sailor Moon called out from the hill as she and the other three came running.
"Sora!" Kairi waved.
"Pika Pi!" Pikachu cried out happily to Ash.
"They're okay!" Mickey cried out, happily.
"Pikachu!" Ash cried out happily, being the first to race over to reunite with his first Pokemon who was also his best friend.
"Kairi!" Sora cheered in relief, following just half a second later.
"Reno!" Elena cried out.
"Sailor Moon!" Yuffie, Sailor Mars and Tifa all said happily.
The two groups rejoined as a single group, and as Pikachu leaped into Ash's waiting arms, the latter hugged him happily while Pikachu nuzzled at Ash's cheek happily. Kairi and Sora both hugged each other happily, laughing and Sailor Moon hugged Sailor Mars, before the reunited Sailor Team all shared happy hugs and words and replies which was joined by Cloud, Tifa and Yuffie, with Barret ruffling at Sailor Moon's hair, and Cid and Vincent both just smiled. Reno just smiled at the scene that his former enemies were showing off in their reunion. Seeing them like this made him realise that they were just as of a dysfuntional family as he, Rufus and the remaining Turks were right now.
Speaking of which, Reno felt a hand placed onto his shoulder, causing him to look up to see Rude standing next to him. Reno felt slightly embarrassed, saying, "Glad to see you're okay, partner."
He was caught off-guard when his said partner pulled him into a tight embrace and it only took Reno a few seconds before he was overwhelmed and returned the embrace, his face almost buried into Rude's shoulder. Reno then realised how much he would've missed his best friend had Chale killed him in the Mako Reactor earlier. He supposed that he was lucky so far.
The two had been through so much together through out the years of being partners. The two stayed like this for a few moments until they both heard Rufus clear his throat, which made Reno and Rude let go of each other to see their President standing there next to them.
"Reno, are you alright?" Rufus asked, and surprisingly, he had a hint of worry and relief in his usual calm tone.
"Yeah, I'm fine, sir." Reno answered with a nod. "What about you?"
"Perfectly fine." Rufus replied in return.
"Reno!" Elena cried out and, her emotions getting the better of her, raced over and hugged Reno tightly around the waist, once again catching the redhead off-guard.
Despite knowing that it was a little embarrassing, Reno didn't care as he gently returned the hug from his youngest co-worker who was like a sister to him, as he chuckled softly, affectionly saying, "Sorry to worry you like that, Elena."
"Reno." Tseng spoke as he approached with a relived smile of his own. "It's a relief that you're safe."
"Funny, I thought you wouldn't miss me at all, Tseng." Reno teased half-heartedly.
"Nonsense. Of course I would miss you." Tseng replied, though he was very well aware of the joke.
Jessie, James and Meowth, being the last ones to have arrived, raced over and to everyone else's embarrassments and slight discomfort, dragged both Sailor Moon and Reno into a tightening hug after Elena and the others finished theirs, the trio saying words that were almost in blabbering gibberish before Team Rocket bursted into hysterical tears that came gusting out like waterworks.
"Gee, thanks for worrying about us, guys. But could you quit the hysterics please? It's embarrassing." Sailor Moon requested, feeling very awkward.
"Yeah, c'mon guys. What kind of Turks would bawl their eyes out like the bulky crybaby that's named Loz?" Reno added, a little uncomfortably while trying to make the mood lighter, which earned him a skeptical look from Sailor Moon.
"I never knew that guy to be a crybaby." Sailor Moon thought, not remembering ever seeing the Sephiroth Remnant to even break down into tears.
"Are you talking about the one that kidnapped Marlene two weeks ago?" Tifa asked as she appproached along with the others, "Because I remember him saying that he wasn't crying to someone over the phone he had."
Reno snorted in laughter, saying as he mentally chuckled at the memory, "When Rude and I fought him and Mr. Girly-looks that was Yazoo, after I told the two that their 'mother' was just Jenova's friggin' head, Loz called me a meanie like an upset 3 year old."
Despite trying not to laugh, Sailor Moon failed to hold it in and she bursted out laughing at the very thought, which was followed by her friends, even Vincent who chuckled, and even the Turks and surprisingly Rufus joined in the laughter, making Team Rocket stop their crying and let go of Sailor Moon and Reno while standing up, wondering what everyone else were laughing at.
"I don't see what's so funny, everyone." Jessie said with a quirked eyebrow.
"I think they're cracking up with emotion." James joked.
"Whatever they're laughin' at might even make an egg crack up." Meowth joked with a shrug, snickering, "Get it? Crack up?"
This only made his two friends annoyed as Jessie asked, "What kind of joke is that?" which only made Meowth burst into laughter at his own joke.
"Not funny!" James growled.
Pikachu and Piplup both noticed this and shared a dumbfounded glance with quirked eyebrows, once again not getting the weirdness that was Team Rocket.
"I guess things are lighting up a little." Cissnei spoke up for the first time, which, while the three other Turks were shocked and surprised to see her, Balto and Veld who knowlaged this, Rufus didn't seem too surprised, Cloud and the rest of AVALANCHE a little surprised as well, especially Vincent who's gaze was set onto Veld, with some kind of warmth in his eyes, and Ash, Dawn, Piplup, Sora, Sailor Mars and Goofy not recongising the three former Turks.
"Oh! Hi-ya, Cissnei." Mickey greeted as he recongised Cissnei. "Long time no see."
"It's good to see you and the others too, Mickey." Cissnei replied with a smile.
"Gee, I never thought I'd see you again." Yuffie thought, a little surprised.
"Do you know them?" Sora asked, gesturing at the former Turks.
Sailor Moon nodded, saying, "Yeah, they used to be members of the Turks, with Mr. Veld being the leader." before introducing her friends and the three former Turks to each other and explaining brief details and such, while Vincent and Veld greeted again for the first time in years since almost everyone knew that, before his sleep in Nibelhiem, Vincent and Veld were partners in the earlier days of ShinRa and the Turks.
"Which reminds me." Reno remembered now that everyone was together again. He turned his gaze to Rufus and asked, a little harshly than he wanted to be, "I heard that you and Veld made a phone call to each other regards to what was happening between me, my nightmares and the nightmare guy named Chale, something to do with my past, sir."
While everyone else save for Veld were confused by this, Rufus knew he had been caught, and replied to his subordinate, "I apologuise for earvdropping on your earlier conversation, Reno. When I heard what happened to you, I immediately knew that Veld would know how to handle your current problem."
"Why didn't you tell me?" Reno demanded.
"Reno..." Tseng cautioned with a sigh.
"I was going to this morning but, well, Team Rocket interrupted unexpectedly." Rufus answered, turning to give a small glare at the trio who, despite still not understanding what was going on, became embarrassed in realization.
"Oh...Sorry." Jessie, James and Meowth all clampsed their hands together, rubbing them sheepishly with awkward smiles.
"That guy's name is Chale?" Ash asked, not really understanding what was happening, before asking, "What's going on?"
Reno felt uncomfortable all over again as he hesitatedly rubbed the back of his neck, saying, "Well, apparently, from what the boss told me, Chale used to be in the Orphange in Sector 2 of Midgar and that I know that and him very well. I don't understand how it's possible, though."
He paused before admitting, "Though when I was unconscious as these two carried me out of the Mako Reactor," gesturing at Sailor Moon and Kairi, continuing, "I had some sort of dream that looked familiar like I was remembering something. In the dream, I was a teenager that was coming up to my fourteenth birthday and...Chale was there, takin' care of me."
"Yes. That was no dream, Reno. You just had a flashback of your childhood." Veld told him gently as well as firmly. "In fact, it was you who told me about everything that happened in your life, on the day when you and I first met and you were in the progress of becoming a Turk."
"So what you're saying is the nightmares Reno was having were memories of his past, sir?" Tseng inquired with concern, as Elena gasped, and Rude immediately placed a comforting hand onto Reno's shoulder as the redhead was once again speechless.
"Hold on." Cloud spoke up, unable to believe what was going on. "Are you saying that Reno lost some of his memories up until now and that the man who attacked and kidnapped him, Kairi, Sailor Moon and Pikachu is someone from his past?"
"I didn't know Reno had a memory crisis." Meowth thought, shocked.
Jessie, remembering another memory crisis incident, groaned in exasperation, crossing her arms as she slightly slumped, "Oh great. It's the memory problems of the Keyblade Twerp, Sailor Twerp, the Mouse-Twerp, and Chocobo-headed Twerp all over again."
"What's with you?" Meowth asked.
James shrugged, pointing out to Jessie, "It's what everybody does with no control, Jess'. We forget things."
"So that means, the only reason why this fella is after Reno is because he wanted to see him again in a reunion." Mickey realised after realising that it made good sense.
"He could've just told me instead of freaking me out by breathin' into my ear like he's gonna kill me." Reno pointed out, slowly coming to accept that it made perfect sense, even though there was still something missing about this. "But, seriously. Something about this just doesn't add up. If he's supposedly my friend from the Orphange in Midgar, where the hell did he get those powers of sand from?"
"Yeah, and how does know about us in the first place? Unless he was spying on us since Kadaj and his two friends attacked us." Ash thought, agreeing that it doesn't make sense with Chale's abilities either.
"It is strange on how a person like him could produce that kind of power. Then again, I sensed that those sands within his system were very strong and dangerous." Sailor Mars agreed in concern.
Sailor Moon nodded, saying, "Well, we already concluded that Hojo had nothing to do with it, otherwise Chale would've gotten out with that kind of ability and got to Reno in Midgar. Which still begs the question on how he knows me and Mickey."
"It also doesn't make sense to about that since none of us met him in our adventures two years ago." Cloud agreed.
"And we never met him in the future either." Sora nodded, "At least, I don't think we have."
Goofy was tapping the side of his side in deep through, before he remembered something and something perked up in his head, which made him worry and gulp scaredly which was noticed by his friends and the others who turned to see why he suddenly looked as though he was ready to suddenly pass out from shock and horror.
"And now what's with you, Goof-Brain?" Meowth asked in exasperation.
"Well, let's see here." Goofy began with his own theory, "Everybody here includin' Mickey and Sailor Moon not only were tryin' to stop Sephiroth, but they were also tryin' the stop Ultimecia who wanted to rule Time, and since me and Mickey know that the Dahaka, the black giant horned monster you fellers saw in the future, is a Time Guardian."
"What the hell are you talkin' about?" Reno asked, skeptically.
"What is a...?" James began in confusion with question marks floating around him, Meowth and Jessie who were equally clueless.
"Dahaka?" Jessie finished.
Mickey sighed, knowing that since Team Rocket saw the Dahaka and Meowth had blurted it out back on Cid's airship, then explained everything about the Sands of Time along with Goofy as they had explained to Sailor Moon, Sailor Mars, Ash, Pikachu, Dawn, Piplup, Sora and Kairi in Aerith's Church the night before and telling everyone else how dangerous the Dahaka was and it's power and how Mickey himself defeated it along with the Dark Prince just a month before he came to the past to meet Sailor Moon two years previously here.
Once Mickey and Goofy both finished, Cloud spoke, trying to make clear what he heard, "So this Prince of Persia in the future is the reason behind the whole mess?"
"But I don't get it. Mickey, if you managed to kill the Dahaka, why is it still alive?" Tifa asked, worriedly.
Mickey shrugged, "Well, that's what I want to know. The Dark Prince is gone too, and the Sands of Time in the future are gone, so there shouldn't be anything else connected to it that causes the Dahaka to be revived."
"But, what does that have to do with Ultimecia?" Ash asked, not understanding the connection or why Goofy thought it was a horrible coincidence.
That's when Mickey thought up the pieces of the puzzle in his mind and instantly a certain memory of what he heard and connecting it to Chale's kind of power, not to mention everything that's happened made him become horrified in realization. Ultimecia, Chale, the Dark Prince, Chale knowing Mickey and Sailor Moon, Chale using the power of sands, the Dahaka's sudden return, Time-Travel...
Mickey's eyes widened in horror as he gasped which instantly concerned surprisingly everyone upon seeing his reaction. The king began to shake violently in fear, before he slapped both sides of his head with his hands, holding it in fear, crying out, "Oh no! Why didn't I figure that out sooner!?"
"Figure out what sooner?" Dawn asked, starting to fear for the worst.
"W-well," Mickey began, scaredly. "If Goofy's theory is right, then sometime after Reno and Chale got separated for some reason, Ultimecia who was possibly still in Edea's body before two years ago must've approached Chale and then sent him into the future of when the Prince of Persia stopped the Vizer the second time and when the Prince managed to free himself from the Dark Prince, the darkness of his heart still needed a vessel. So, with Chale stuck there for a little while and still having some power from the Sands of Time, took over Chale's body and did all the things he did until I stopped him."
He quickly continued, "So that means, Chale knows me because he was trapped within his own heart, because the Dark Prince had taken over his body until I defeated him, only able to free Chale but he still has that kind of power."
Everyone else's expressions, even Vincent, Tseng, Rufus, Balto and Veld's almost matched Mickey's, which made horrible kind of sense at the same time.
"So Chale can travel back and forth through time too?" Yuffie asked, horrified.
"And whatever's left of the Sands of Time still exists in Chale. The Dahaka's only after us, because it's after him." Sora concluded.
"So what you're saying is that long as the Sands of Time exist, so does the Dahaka." Vincent commented with a frown.
"So the reason why Chale's after me is because he knows that the Dahaka or whatever it is will kill him." Reno realised, horrified. The fear towards the man that wanted to kill him now turned to grave worry. "He was scared that he wouldn't be able to get the chance to see me again. But then...what kind of fate has in store for me, though?"
"Well, for one thing, GMO got to Chale and since the Dahaka will end up coming for him, my best bet is to save him before it's too late so that way he can tell us the full truth." Sailor Moon pointed out with determination. "Only problem us, where do they come from?"
"I may have a theory on GMO's whereabouts." Veld spoke up, which had everyone's attentions return to him. "From my understanding of what Balto, Cissnei and I witnessed earlier before Sailor Moon, Reno, Kairi and Pikachu had arrived, it may be linked to that of a young woman, Dr. Aki Ross."
"You've seen her?" Cloud asked, surprised.
"She was back in the past?" Ash asked.
"Yes. Looking some sort of Spirit. A seventh one, in fact."
Back in the 25th Century...
"So you wish to make use of me, General Hein?" The mysterious man, Chale, who had his hands cuffed behind his back with two GMO soldiers standing on each side of him in case he caused trouble, as they stood in Hein's office in the Barrier City.
"Our intelligence detail that you have a certain kind of power to control and travel through time freely without limitations." Hein nodded, with somewhat of a cruel smirk. "I am pleased to say that your DNA sample matches that of our scanners."
"Not freely." Chale corrected, causing Hein to frown questionly, as the captive man continued, "The cost of this makes me a banquet target for the Time Beast, the Dahaka, since he seeks to make sure those who have changed their fates while either having used the Sands of Time, made contact with the Sands of Time or is made out of the Sands of Time itself die as they were meant to. While it was thward more than once, it keeps on coming back. This time, it had help with another, whom is still yet to be defeated in the past."
"Oh, I see. So what is the Dahaka made out of? A spirit?" Hein asked sarcastically.
Chale snorted, "You have no idea where your heart is taking you, sir. Believe what you like, just remember, your beliefs are false. Dr. Aki Ross is not under influence of the Phantoms. What you saw in those dream recorders are visions of the Phantom's pasts of their own war in their world which caused mass destruction and their demise. She will tell you herself. Her and Dr. Sid's theory is true; that is the power to free this world from the Phantoms and all those who perished by them."
"That does not answer my question."
"No one knows what the Beast is made of, or when it was created. It's only purpose is to keep the balance of time connected with the Sands of Time in check, even if it means the destruction of the world." Chale warned with a frown of his own. "The legendary Water Sword can only repel it temporarely. The true power to destroy it and it's soul for good, is within a connection of hearts by the powr of Light. That light is Sailor Moon."
"Sailor Moon is dead." Hein grunted in disgust. "She only saved the other worlds in the Realm of Light, and left us to die by the hands of the Phantoms, leaving us to suffer while her descentants take over in the next 500 years time."
"Sailor Moon only sleeps." Chale pointed out, starting to get angry. "Yet, in the past, she is still awake, and she could not know what happened. Like it or not, without her, then this world would've perished sooner than when the Phantoms arrived. The world will be saved and so will time. I will not allow you to kill her and neither will she, nor her loved ones or former enemies."
"Well, since you're just an alien in human form like Sailor Moon since all other worlds do not have humans, after we've convince the council to take action for the world, we will use your powers by extracing your heart and brain for experiments and then change the future by killing the traitor. So I suggest you enjoy your last moments, because by extracting your body, I'm afraid you will die." Hein smirked, before ordering his men, "Take him into the labs."
"Yes, sir." The two GMO soldiers nodded, and roughly grabbed hold of Chale's arms, and dragged him out of the door. Chale didn't put up a fight and instead did as he was told, though he wasn't happy about it. All he could think about was Reno who didn't remember him at all. Even worse, his friend was going to suffer his fate due to the necessary power that was needed to stop the Phantoms.
'Reno...forgive me.' Chale thought, miserably.
Major Elliot nodded to the two GMO soldiers he passed before tapping the door of the office. After being told to come in, he entered along with a couple of his soldiers, standing in full attention. "We've arrested Dr. Ross, Dr. Sid and RedEyes, sir."
When Hein didn't answer, and instead, was staring at a photo of a woman and a little girl along a beach, Elliot quiered, "Sir?"
Seeing the image, and heartbreaking memories resurfacing, Hein whispered, sorrowfully, "My wife and daughter...were killed by Phantoms in the East Barrier City. Did I ever tell you that?"
When Elliot shook his head, his expression becoming soft with sorrow and sympathy of his own, Hein continued, caressing the photo of his family, "l try to imagine what that must have been like...seeing everyone around you fall over dead for no apparent reason. And then, at the end, feeling something next to you...invisible...touching you...reaching inside your body..."
Pausing, he gazed up at Elliot, questioning, "You've lost family, haven't you?"
"Yes, sir." Elliot replied, somberly, memories of his own loss lingering but did his best not to lose control of his emotions.
Almost returning to his current self, Hein stood up, gazing soley at Elliot and the GMO soldiers, "That's why I trust you. All of you. You know what must be done."
What Hein was about to do would cost this Barrier City devastating destruction, just as Chale had predicted because of his own selfish and blind revenge. He also didn't realise that the very one he wanted to kill for not saving this world was coming...to rescue at least some people before it was too late.
A/N: Sorry that it's a bit shorter, but I think this story will have maybe eleven or twelve chapters. Hard to say. See you in the chapter, guys!