Here's the next chapter I hope you all enjoy it! Please Read and Review. I love hearing all your comments and suggestions.


Chapter 6: Dream On

After about an hour of walking through the bitter cold mountain range Cloud, Vincent and Red 13 decided to rest for a bit.

"When are we finally going to be rid of this thing?" growled Red

"Don't worry we'll be at the right cave soon." Replied Cloud

Cloud took a deep breathe when suddenly a shot rang out in the distance. Red barely had any time to jump out of the way as the bullet shot into the snowy ground where he was laying.

"Run!" shouted Vincent as the three of them started to race up the mountain

The three of them ran as fast as they could as bullets flew overhead. Cloud ducked out of the way the bullet barley missing his head. Cloud struggled to get over the nearby cliff as the bullets continued to fly, when he reached the top he took a second to catch his breathe as Red and Vincent caught up. The gunshots stopped after a while, the whole area became filled with an eerie silence. Vincent pulled out his gun, while Cloud unwrapped the buster sword that he had strapped to his back.

Red sniffed the air as he kept watch. Cloud surveyed their surroundings. There was a cave nearby. He silently motioned toward the other two to head for it. They inched slowly, cautiously toward the cave. Cloud and Vincent held their weapons firm as they backed into the safety of the cavern. When they finally entered Cloud breathed a sigh of relief, when suddenly he felt the cold metal of a gun barrel on the back of his head. All three men tensed up when they heard the familiar sounds of loaded weapons aimed right at them.

"Valiant effort….but it would be in your best interests to drop your weapons." Chuckled General Darkwater

Vincent and Cloud dropped their weapons as Colonel Darkwater circled around them to the front of the cave. He pulled out his radio and signaled to the snipers that the targets had bee acquired.

"Now I think you three know what I want. So hand it over peaceful and I'll think about…maybe letting spend your last moments with your families." Stated Darkwater

"Fine!" growled Cloud

Cloud reached into his pocket he pulled out a piece of Bolt 3 materia. Before he could react Cloud activated the materia sending bolts of electricity through Darkwater and all his troops. Darkwater stumbled back from the shock and fell off the cliff tumbling down the side of the mountain. Cloud and Vincent picked up their weapons then followed Red deeper through the cavern.

Darkwater coughed as he sat up in the snow. He quickly climbed up the cliff to revive his soldiers. Darkwater then called in for back up as the and his army entered the cave in pursuit of Cloud, Vincent and Red.

Meanwhile further down the mountain at the Icicle Lodge the WRO helicopters touched down releasing all of the soldiers. Immediately General Cash ran over to the information officer, while Denzel, Alex, and John prepped the troops.

"Mr. Strife….the latest intelligence reports have come in there are several different high grade transports on the other side of the range. We think they belong to Darkwater and his goons." Stated Cash

"We don't have much time. Cash send a squadron over to the transports in case they come back. Have everyone else spread out along the base of the mountain range and move up. We need some snow mobiles to speed up the search." Commanded Denzel

"Right away SIR!" responded Cash as he ran off to secure the vehicles

"We talked to some of the locals and the workers at the Icicle Lodge they said two men and a weird dog with a burning tail stopped by for a couple of drinks then headed up the mountain." Stated John

"How long ago?" asked Denzel

"Over an hour ago by foot." Responded John

"Damn…..let's just try to find them as quickly as possible." Responded Denzel

"Denzel! We got a problem, a couple of the people around here said they heard shots coming from further up the mountains." Stated Alex as he ran over to his brother

"Let's roll!" shouted Denzel as everyone started up the mountain

Deep the mountains Red used his tail the light the way through the cave as Vincent, Cloud and Red proceeded with caution. Soon they reached a large cavernous area. They took a small break while they prepared their weapons. Suddenly, they heard an explosion as Colonel Darkwater jumped out of a newly formed hole in the wall. He stared down the three heroes as he threw off his winter coat leaving him only in his combat suit, attached to it were numerous amounts of different types of materia.

Darkwater then pulled out his submachine gun and a machete, his weapons of choice. The three heroes braced themselves not knowing how he would attack. Darkwater looked over each of them individually, calculating his moves. Red struck first, leaping straight at Darkwater. Red clamped his jaw around Darkwater's knife trying to pull it away from him. Darkwater fired at Cloud and Vincent; they leaped out of the way just in time to avoid getting hit.

Vincent pointed his gun at Darkwater, but Darkwater lifted up Red using him to block Vincent's shot. Cloud lifted up his sword and ran straight toward Darkwater. Darkwater used his strength to toss red into Vincent knocking him down then used his machete to block Cloud's buster sword.

Cloud started to slash away at Darkwater as Darkwater parried each of his attacks. Darkwater fired some more at Cloud forcing him to fall back away from the gunfire. Vincent got up from underneath Red and started to shoot at Darkwater. Darkwater crossed his arms forming a shield using shield materia.

Darkwater shot a blast of fire straight at Vincent who barely ducked away. Cloud circled around the other way to bring down his sword on Darkwater. Darkwater caste haste on himself allowing him to dodge Cloud's attack with great speed, he followed it up by casting Flare on the three heroes. Vincent stood firm as he raised his arm to reveal that he was holding a piece of Reflect materia, he bounced the blast right back at Darkwater who barely had enough time to dive out of the way.

Darkwater laid defenseless on the ground as Red pounced at him. Darkwater rolled out of the way only to run into a sword slash from Cloud. Darkwater narrowly ducked under the sword only to find Vincent's gun barrel in his face. Darkwater stomped his foot into the ground casting Quake to knock over Vincent. Red leaped at Darkwater biting onto his bicep and dragging him down.

Darkwater used the butt of his gun and smashed it into Red's skull. Vincent Fired more shots at Darkwater, Darkwater countered by firing a Thunder blast at the bullets disintegrating them as it headed for Vincent. The thunder bounced off Vincent's reflect back toward Darkwater who lifted up Red with his arm using him as a shield for th thunder blast.

Red fell to the ground injured as Darkwater used his sub machine gun to fire at Cloud and Vincent forcing them to scatter. Cloud silently signaled to Vincent as he ran straight toward Darkwater. Vincent gave Cloud some cover by firing at Darkwater, while Cloud circled around from the other side. Darkwater threw some mini land mines at Cloud who easily dodged them. Darkwater side stepped Cloud's attack and fired at the cave ceiling over Vincent's head.

Darkwater's firing caused some of the stalactite to fall forcing him to stop moving and jump out of the way, just as Vincent's reflect wore away. Darkwater rolled away from Cloud and used some blizzard materia to freeze Vincent in his place. Darkwater grasped his machete firmly as he pointed his sub machine gun at Cloud. The two stared each other down as Cloud clasped his buster sword in his hands.

Darkwater unloaded a volley of gun fire upon Cloud. Cloud used his buster sword to deflect most of the bullets as he circled around Darkwater. When he moved back far enough Cloud fired a blast of thunder straight at Darkwater. Darkwater rolled out of the way as the thunder blast connected with Vincent, freeing him from the ice. Darkwater sprinted up to Cloud and kneed him in the gut then hitting him across the face with his gun. Darkwater backed away as the three heroes tried to recover themselves.

"There is an easy way…you could just give me the black materia." Stated Darkwater as he tried to catch his breathe

"F#K You!" shouted all three men at once

Cloud, Vincent and Red became filled with rage as they each powered up their limit breaks. Vincent transformed into his Chaos form as he fired an energy blast at Darkwater. The concussion of the blast flung Darkwater into the air, where Cloud jumped up for his climb hazard limit break, while Red came in for his Cosmo Memory limit break.

At the last second Darkwater spun around forcing Cloud to hit Vincent with his limit break, then he tossed cloud straight into Red's limit break. As he started to fall back down to the earth he pointed his gun at Red 13 and used his own limit break.

"Pulse bullet!!!!" cried Darkwater as he fired a volley of bullets made of energy that crashed right into Red.

All four men landed back on the ground with a thud as Vincent transformed back into his normal form. Darkwater slowly made it to his feet as he tried to recover himself a bit. The three heroes struggled to their feet as Darkwater smiled at him. They glared at Darkwater as he started to back away from them. Together they lunged at Darkwater one last time.

He fired his machine gun at them, forcing them to jump to the side to avoid his gun fire. Darkwater stopped to rest for a bit. The heroes looked at him confused as they prepared their second attack. Suddenly, Red noticed that they were standing right over the mini-land mines that Darkwater had thrown at Cloud earlier. They tried to jump away, but were too late as they got caught in the blast.

Darkwater sheathed his weapons as he slowly paced over to the unconscious Cloud and took the black materia from his pocket. Darkwater took one last look at the bodies of the unconscious warriors as he started to walk away.

He only took about ten steps away from Cloud, Vincent and red when a gun shot rang out stopping him in his tracks, nearly missing him. Darkwater turned toward the cave entrance to see John, Alex and Denzel. With John's gunblade pointed right at him.

"Well if it isn't the bouncing baby boys," smirked Darkwater

"Cram it Darkwater!" belted Alex

Denzel went to check on Cloud, Vincent and Red while John and Alex stood down Darkwater.

"You're going to pay, now had over the black materia." Demanded John

"I sorry, but I can't." replied Darkwater

"Then we'll just have to take it from you." Stated Alex as he pointed his sword at Darkwater

"I'm sorry again, but unfortunately I used up everything I had beating those three. So strategically it wouldn't be in my best interest to fight you." Replied Darkwater

'You have no choice, I'm gonna kill you for what you've been putting my family through." Belted Denzel as he pointed a sword at Darkwater

Darkwater slowly reached into his combat pack on his belt as they three young heroes inched closer to Darkwater. As Darkwater pulled out a flash bomb and slammed it into the ground he failed to notice that the black materia fell out. Darkwater made his escape out of one of the other cave passage ways as the flash bomb distracted the young heroes. Alex was the first to recover from the shock, as Darkwater ran off.

"Denzel, John he'll be heading back to his transports. Get some help for our dads and call Cash tell him to send all the troops over there. I'll chase Darkwater." Shouted Alex as he ran after Darkwater

"Okay, You be safe bro!" replied Denzel as he and John went to help the elder heroes

As Alex ran off John noticed the black materia and picked it up. He handed to Denzel as the two of them radioed the nearby WRO troops to help carry off Cloud, Vincent and Red 13.

Alex raced through the dark passage ways with only a small flash light to help him see. Alex could hear Darkwater huffing and puffing ahead of him signaling he was getting tired. Alex turned the corner in time to see Darkwater run out the cave exit into time to see Darkwater meet up with one of his soldiers. The solider handed Darkwater an X-potion and a snowboard. Darkwater drank the potion and used the board to start his decent down the mountain. The solider then pulled out a gun and began firing at Alex. Alex took a deep breathe and dodged the first few shots running up to the solider.

Alex grabbed a hold of his hand and twisted it forcing him to drop the gun as he elbowed him across the back of the neck, knocking him out. Quickly Alex grabbed the soldier's personal snowboard and followed Darkwater down the mountain. Darkwater was a great distance ahead of Alex as he sped down the mountain side. Alex leaped off the first jump he could flying through the air and finishing it off with a perfect landing shortening the gap. Darkwater took a second to look behind him and see Alex gaining on him.

Darkwater made a 360 turn, pulling out his sub machine gun to fire at Alex. Alex swerved away from the gun fire slowing him down abit. Darkwater spun around again putting away his gun as he concentrated on making it down the mountain. As Darkwater past by a small tree he used his machete to cut it at the base forcing it into Alex's path knocking him down.

As Alex laid there in the snow he slammed him fist into the ground and watched Darkwater head off down the mountain. When Alex reached the base of the mountain he found signs of a fight between the WRO and Darkwater's group. He raced past the trees over to where the transports were, but arrived only in time to see Darkwater's helicopters fly off into the distance.

WRO planes flew over head as a few helicopters landed near him, the rest flew off in pursuit of Darkwater's fleet. John leaped out of one of the helicopters and ran up to Alex.

"Alex come on we got to catch up to the rest!" exclaimed John

'What about our parents?" asked Alex

"They're fine….they're being set back to headquarters. Now hurry we gotta join the chase." Replied John

"Wait their going the wrong way. According to the sniper's tracking device their hideout is the other way. They're probably just trying to lose us. Radio Denzel and tell him to keep following Darkwater, we'll head for their headquarters and wait for them to circle back." Replied Alex

"Alright get in to the helicopter." Answered John as they raced off

When the last of the WRO helicopters flew off toward the City of the Ancients, General Darkwater popped out of the snow and threw off his camouflage along with the rest of his troops. Darkwater smirked lightly as they turned off the hologram projectors revealing the massive ground of trees around them were really their disguised helicopters and planes.

A while later Alex, John and a handful of WRO troops reached the Forgotten Capitol. They slowly entered to find the headquarters deserted. The whole place was a ghost town, there were obvious signs that Darkwater and his army had been there recently, but the entire place was cleared out. Desks were empty, storage containers were cleaned out. Alex and John followed the passage ways until the reached an odd chamber. It was a large shrine containing a spiral stair case that lead down to a small isle floating over an eerily glowing body of water. Alex stared intently at the water as he suddenly became compelled to descend the stair case. John held him back as Alex snapped back into reality.

"Alex wait, we don't know what's down there." Warned John

"Come…..I'm waiting." Came a mysterious voice

Alex's mako blue eyes seemed to glow brighter as he proceeded down the steps to the isle. John watched his friend's odd behavior keeping a look out for anything. Alex stood there and closed his eyes. He felt a strange feeling wash over him. The voice became more intense as the water started to rise and form a large protective bubble around Alex

"HELP ME!" pleaded the mysterious voice as Alex became surrounded by the water

When Alex opened his eyes he found himself surrounded by a strange energy. Suddenly there was a flash of white light as Aerith appeared before him. Alex starred at her confused as she smiled at him.

"You….what's going on." Asked Alex confused

'The planet needs you Alex. It's dying…almost all the mako is gone." Replied Aerith sadly

"What do you mean?" asked Alex confused

"Over the years there have been so many disasters, in order to survive all those near destructions the planet has used up almost all of it's mako." Replied Aerith

"The voices in my head……it is the planet speaking to me." Responded Alex

"Yes…..I am Gaia. For all of the planet's history mako has been my lifeblood. The many battles that have plagued me have all left wounds that require the use of my blood to heal." Stated the voice of the planet itself

"The Shinra corporation and al of it's experiments and reactors have drained the planet along with Jenova. The planet is running out of energy Alex" added Aerith

"What dose this have to do with Darkwater?" asked Alex

'If Darkwater is to activate HOLY the way he intends to then the planet must act in order to protect the people. That means using up the last of its lifeblood to stop him." Replied Aerith

"My God! Wait….what about METEOR….the black materia. John said we may be able to use it to stop HOLY. You know to counter act each other." Responded Alex desperately

"No…the disaster will only be greater. HOLY and METEOR are unstable forces of both good and evil. If activated their ensuing battle would cause great damage to the planet. I would have to use my lifeblood to protect everyone. In order to save the lifestream and the entire planet….Darkwater must be stopped. I am weakening, I need to rest. If Darkwater succeeds then we are all doomed." Responded the Planet

Meanwhile John continued to stand watch over the bubble that Alex was contained in. Suddenly John heard a light thud. He looked down the hallway to find that the guards he had posted were mysteriously gone. John pulled out his gunblade and raced down the steps to warn Alex. Suddenly John felt a pinching sensation in his neck, his vision became blurred, he breathed heavily, as everything went dark and he tumbled down the steps unconscious.

Back in the bubble Alex was still shocked by what he had learned from the planet. He clenched his fist and sighed deeply. He was needed now…there was so much at stake….his family…the planet…Alex trembled slightly when he thought of what would happen if he failed. Suddenly a thought popped into his head, it had been bother him for awhile, but now, while he had the chance…..he had to know.

"Why me? Why could I hear you….and no one else?" asked Alex shaking

"Alex Zackary Strife……you are a…..Cetra." replied the planet

"An Ancient…..no…no…that's crazy…..that's not possible." Replied Alex in disbelief

"Alex like me you share a strong bond with the planet. You are able to sense mako and the lifestream….you too can hear the voice of the planet." Responded Aerith

"This is ridiculous! How…how is that possible? Neither of my parents are an Ancient…..so how can I be?" replied Alex in denial

"Your parents also share a bond with the planet, both have been inside the lifestream. But your father, not only has he been infused with mako, giving you your eye color, he has been to the lifestream more times than any human being granting him a deep connection with the planet. These connections have been passed on to….granting you the powers to sense the lifestream in all its forms and hear my voice. Alex you are the Cetra reborn….I am helpless…I need you the one who share a bond with me….to protect me….and all the inhabitants of this planet." Pleaded the Planet

"Please Alex…everyone needs you to be strong." Pleaded Aerith

Alex stood there solemnly for awhile with his head hung low. He closed his eyes and took a deep breathe as he let everything sink in. Suddenly he clenched his fist and raised his head high.

"Fine…but not for you…or the planet…and especially not because its apparently my destiny due to the circumstances of my birth. I will stop at nothing to defeat Darkwater and safe everyone…..because the only and only thing I care about more than all else is at stake……my family." Responded Alex firmly

"Very well then Strife…I…the lifestream…and all people thank you." Replied the Planet

"Good Luck Alex, I'm proud of what a strong man you've become. And your parents are more than happy with who you are." Smiled Aerith

"I know….thanks for always watching over me…even if it was just in my dreams." Chuckled Alex

"No problem I'd do anything for friends." Smiled Aerith

"Go now young Strife…..you have much to accomplish. And remember your bond with the lifestream will always be with you." stated Planet

"You're Welcome…see ya both." Smiled Alex

Aerith disappeared back into the lifestream as the bubbled started to fade back into the water. Alex took a deep breathe as he mulled over all the recent information he had just been bombarded with. The situation was big, but he wasn't going to let it get to him. Now it was time for him and John to join up with Denzel and find out where Darkwater was and take him down.

Before Alex could even take a step, he felt a sharp pain in the back of his head as everything went black. Behind him stood Colonel Darkwater stone faced holding a tranquilizer gun. His soldiers rushed in to drag off Alex's body along with John's.

"This mission has just taken an interesting turn." Smiled Darkwater as he had his troops load the unconscious John and Alex into the back of one of their black vans

Darkwater smiled slightly as they drove off into the distance, leaving the Forgotten City behind

To be continued………………….


From here on out things just get worst for most of the characters. Alex and John have a rough couple of hours ahead of them.