AN;; Do you guys like that I upload lots of chapters daily, or am I going a bit fast with this? :P it's going to be quite long as I want to portray the relationships between all the characters, and the storyline, which will follow somewhat along the lines of Crisis Core, but I'm leaning towards keeping Genesis sane so he can harass some more characters with his Casanova ways..

Don't worry, the legendary sex god Sephiroth will be appearing soon in the next few chapters, guys. Just had to establish Cloud's relationships with the other important characters such as Zack, Genesis and Reno. Sephy is fighting away in Wutai to make big bucks for President ShinRa, so to make up for the lack of the silver haired stud, we've got Genesis tormenting everything with a pulse with endless flirting instead. So without further await, here's chapter 10 ~

CHAPTER TEN

Banora stood as a lonely, quiet village in the depths of the Mideel continent, far from the mechanic megapolis of Midgar where the crimson commander actually sat, his legs hanging off the branch of the tree he sat on, holding a blue pixelated dumb apple in his hand. In his other, he held his sword, radiating the same crimson aura as his jacket shade. He sat on the largest tree, which grew on his parents' estate, perfectly crafted in the hologram ShinRa's programme designers had created through years of research and trial and error.

Genesis and Angeal often activated this scenery when they were homesick, back when they joined ShinRa's facility at only fourteen years of age. A sixteen year old Sephiroth had not been too keen on babysitting them but had taken it as a side career anyhow, much to Hojo's disapproval and to Hollander's delight. Genesis and Angeal had always considered each other brothers since they had first met in their hometown when they were just children, and considered Sephiroth as their elder, their mentor. However all three would willingly put their lives down for one another, despite being raised in much different areas. Genesis often tricked Angeal into thinking they were real dumb apples when they spent hours in the room together, discussing their recent training and any news the president broadcasted once a week. Angeal would bite down into one of the hologram fruits and find his mouth filled with nothing but blue gigabytes. Genesis found this hilarious every time, especially when Angeal would chase him down and tackle him to the floor, much to the dismay of Hollander, their carer whilst they were in the facility. Being two of the first to enter the newly established SOLDIER programme, they were monitored near constantly by the scientists as they adapted to life behind metal walls and prying eyes, their own eyes soon radiating blue with the mako in their veins.

Genesis had wondered what normal teenage years would have been like. He supposed that was why he acted like such a tormenting flirt even at twenty three years of age. That, and the reactions of the ever stoic General Sephiroth were priceless.

He lay back against the tree bark as he heard the door to the training room open, he readied a ball of fire in his hands, aimed it towards the entrance…

"Genesis!"

The crimson commander frowned, the flames in his hands vanquishing as one Zackary Fair entered the room, broad sword in hand, his face contorted in absolute fury.

"Where is he?"

Genesis simply mused for a moment at Zack's demand. That was a very good question. The blonde cadet was approximately two minutes late. Usually the cadets would come running to his every desire should he even barely glance at them. But Strife was different. He was stubborn, cold, just like the general. And that made it all the more interesting.

"He's not here, Zackary." Genesis replied when Zack started to make his way towards him, sapphire eyes hardened. Genesis drew ears and a tail on Zack with his finger in the air, imagining the scowling puppy as a rather disconcerted wolf.

"Why did you call me here then? Your games aren't funny anymore, Gen." Zack sighed, visibly relieved. Genesis wondered if the boy actually thought he was going to kill his cadet friend. If anything, Genesis aimed to torture, not kill. Fire was after all the most beautiful of the elements, especially when it burned through flesh…

I am such a sadist. Genesis thought to himself as the second class stood beneath the branch he sat on. Then Genesis felt himself falling.

He landed easily on one foot, twisting his body to face Zack who had just hacked down the tree with his sword. The tree fell with a loud thud and caused dust to build up in the air, a few apples flying past the commander's head.

"That wasn't very nice." Genesis mused as the raven haired man kept his eyes narrowed.

"Where is Cloud?"

"So demanding." the first class raised a hand to his face, examining the fire materia he had embedded within his very skin, a flicker of flames beginning to make it's way through his fingers. He really should quit this pyrolatry, but it just burned so beautifully… Nothing could compare to the fire. He turned his hand from side to side, playing with the ball of flames which soon began to slither out of his hands and onto the floor by his boots, causing the grass to wither black and die. "You should be more respectful…" suddenly slashing his hand through the air, he hurled the ball of fire towards Zack, "to your elders!"

Zack easily cut the fireball in half, but was thrown back when it exploded in his face. He slammed against a tree, grunting as he sat up, an apple landing on his head.

"Playing with fire will get you burned, Genesis." Zack muttered as he pulled himself back to his feet, using the sword as support temporarily, then brushed his shoulders down with his free hand.

Genesis wagged his finger from side to side.

"Using quotes wont make you any smarter, Zackary."

He knew this would get a reaction and leapt into the air as Zack dashed towards him, slashing his sword to the side and nearly catching Genesis' boot. Genesis flipped backward in the air and landed on another branch, standing, he crouched slightly as he grinned.

"Missed me."

Emerging from the slums, Cloud tried to ignore the last of the civilians who coiled back in disgust at the smell on him. He sighed. Why did he have to listen to Reno of all people? He had kept an eye out for Hiko, the Wutaian cadet, but found he was nowhere to be found in sector eight. Cloud sniffed his arm and grunted audibly. Great. He really did stink of human waste. His blonde hair sleeked back due to the gunk he had bumped into on his way through the tunnel, fifteen year old Cloud Strife felt slightly pathetic.

Scratch that, very pathetic.

He approached the stairs, finding he was the first to arrive back other than the cadets who had tried to use the train. Corporeal Riley was chewing them apart. He noticed Kain in the crowd who grinned and waved at him, clearly drunk. Riley looked like he was about to blow a fuse, furious with the seven he had caught. One of them, of course, was Rob. The elder cadet grinned as Cloud walked past, seeming to forget he had just been battered that morning for trying it on with him in the showers.

"Look who's here. Guess he tried to use the train as well! Oi, Riley! Strife's cheated too!" Rob protested as he sat amongst the rest of the cadets. A drunken Kain backhanded him across the side of his head.

"Sharrup would ya? He's cool." Kain managed to slur through his state, taking a sip of alcohol from a small bottle he had hidden in his shirt. However this was soon apprehended by Corporeal Riley.

"It's Corporeal Riley to you, brat. And you, stop fucking drinking! How many bottles have I taken from you now?!"

"Six sir." Kain bubbled, eyes widening and closing as he fell forward onto his face. Riley threw the bottle away, the sound of glass shattering causing Kain to twitch back, then fall down again and start hiccupping.

"You sure are a miserable lot…" Riley muttered as he turned to Cloud, noticing the state of him, then catching a wiff of the smell, "good Gaia, Strife! Where the hell have you been?!"

"Sir, I took a shortcut through the sewage network, sir." Cloud replied, the other cadets finally getting a waft of the smell. Rob and the others began to feel sick, threatening to throw up, while Kain simply laughed.

"That's my boy!"

"Shut up cadet." Riley groaned as he reached to grab Cloud by the collar, then decided not to, "ugh. Cadet, take yourself to the showers and wash that shit off. Good god, it's actually shit. Actual shit. Never in my career as a corporeal…" he shook his head, waving Cloud towards the door.

"Uh, sir, what time is it?" Cloud questioned, Riley briskly walking past him in an attempt to run from the smell.

"I spend one hour with Zack and everything descends to madness. Why in Gaia's name should you care what time it is?" Riley muttered, then checked his watch, "five past three. Got an issue with that?"

"Sir, no sir!" Cloud frantically began to make his way up the staircase, the guards twitching slightly as the smell began to make it's way towards them. Cloud dashed past, towards the training rooms, causing walkers nearby to protest or scream as the smell and sight of the cadet made their stomachs hurl. By the time he made it through one corridor alone there were six people violently throwing up onto the floor. Cloud slowed to a jog as he made his way past a group of second classes, not wanting to get pulled over for disorderly behaviour but also not wanting to cause a mass sickness within the facility. He tussled his hair to the side out of his eyes, ignoring the muck as he got into one of the lifts up to the training floors located below the facility. He kicked back against the metal, staring at his reflection. Gaia he looked bad.

After the ping queued the end of the ride, Cloud strolled out of the metal box with speed on his side, avoiding another couple of SOLDIERS as they squabbled with a TURK. He looked at the map to figure out which way room 49 was, considering it was a training room strictly reserved for first classes rather than the latter. He found that he could not locate it.

"Excuse me. Are you lost?"

The blonde cadet turned to look at the girl standing behind him. She had a pair of fingers clenched over her nostrils to block out the smell, but smiled none the less. Cloud knew she was a TURK immediately from her navy blue uniform. He straightened his back.

"Miss, just looking for training room forty nine, miss."

Cissnei giggled.

"Miss is it? You're quite the character." she passed by Cloud and examined the map herself, "oh, it's a first class room? They're not listed on the map so the cadets can't spy on them. You're not going to spy on them, are you?" she raised an eyebrow, still holding her nose.

"No, miss. I have a sparring session scheduled with Commander Rhapsodos."

"...Genesis is sparring with a cadet?" Cissnei's disbelief was evident. When Cloud stared back at her with nothing more than a blank expression, wondering if she was going burst into laughter, the TURK rolled her eyes.

"I've got to see this." she turned and started walking down the hallway, expecting the cadet to follow. He did so but kept around four feet behind the girl of whom was of similar height to himself. She noticed his anticipation and giggled.

"You know, we TURKS aren't that bad when we're off duty. You can relax."

Cloud wasn't buying it. He had never seen this TURK before, not when he was with AVALANCHE, nor the time up until Kadaj's gang sent the world back into temporary turmoil. He had no idea who she was and that intimidated him. Had she even existed in his previous world? Was she a fragment of his imagination? His dreams had been taking such horrific turns, he knew not what was reality or not, not anymore. With her friendliness, the TURK simply became more dangerous. He would much rather face a pissed off Kadaj than a calm, manipulating TURK of who's name he knew not.

"Did Reno take you through the sewers or something? You smell like death."

When this statement came out of the blue, Cloud was silent. He didn't know whether he should respond. Would it be wise to mention he had encountered TURKS before her? He decided, eventually, to nod miserably. Cissnei pursed her lips, stopping in front of him. She leaned forward to pat his shoulder with her free hand, then backed away slightly.

"Not the best idea." Cloud murmured, eliciting a soft giggle from the red head.

The TURK simply smiled sweetly as Cloud exhaled sharply.

"I'm going to kill Reno."

Zack grunted as he wiped blood from his lip, staggering to the side slightly as he readied himself for the next attack. Genesis was standing with an apple in his hand, sword in the other, that annoying smirk still plastered across his face. The scene they had stood in was now successfully ablaze thanks to the commander's freak obsession with fire, green leaves burning to ash in the now darkened grey sky. Boiling apples fell to the ground as they split apart, the heat overbearing them as the two SOLDIERS stood facing each other off in the training room.

"You've improved, Zackary." Genesis noted as he held one of the burning apples in the palm of his hand, turning it over as he examined the red skin quickly fading to a sickly brown, then black and crumbling apart, "however, you will never be strong enough to defeat me."

Zack readied his blade for the next attack, his arms slightly burned from nearly colliding with Genesis' flames. While Zack seemed dishevelled and in a mess, Genesis stood perfectly relaxed, in his element, his hometown burning around them. The commander's sapphire eyes flickered with the flames, the pupils of his eyes casting a stunning red reflection of Zack as he prepared to fight within the fire. The heat causing Zack to sweat profusely, the second class slid slightly on the ash beneath his feet, his skin painted with dark grey from the burning forest and buildings.

Genesis was unaffected at the sight of his hometown burning. In fact, he secretly revelled in it. He had always wanted to set it ablaze after hearing his father yelling at Angeal's mother, scolding him for stealing apples from the neighbours. But Angeal never stole apples from them, no matter how large the tree or how easy it was to climb up it. Genesis wanted to set his father on fire right there and from then on had spent most of his childhood with Angeal and his mother rather than his own parents. They would try to bribe him back into the house with toys and treats, but money could never buy his love. Only Angeal held that.

And Genesis' love was as pure and hot as the flames he deemed his true family.

Zack held the broad sword in his hands, clenching down his fingers onto the leather hold. He let out a slow breath, exhaling. Concentrate. Angeal had scolded him for this for months until he finally began to take his advice to heart, back when they had only just become mentor and apprentice. He closed his eyes, loosening his grip on the blade. Relax. Take your time. Breathe. When he finally reopened his eyes, he found Genesis stood right in front of him. The commander grinned and slammed the apple down into Zack's head.

Zack fell onto his back, holding his head in agony. Genesis had only gone and set fire to one of the apples and used it as some sort of bomb. He moaned and clutched his black locks, the fires beginning to fade away as Genesis checked the time yet again.

"Three twenty. It seems our cadet friend will not be showing after all." ever impatient, Genesis was scowling internally. He did not like to be stood up. He could play a game of cat and mouse with ease, but when a person of lesser standing than him, in this case a lowly cadet, did not arrive when he commanded, it left him furious. He was far too important to be rejected in such a publicly humiliating fashion. Genesis glanced at the wailing Zack and exhaled sharply. Someone's plant was going to be burned for this outrage.

The door slid open.

Genesis raised an eyebrow, turning his burning stare towards the entrance where a particularly cute girl stood, waving.

"Zaaack!"

Said second in command sat up slightly, rubbing his head as he noticed the TURK smiling at him.

"Cissnei?" he pushed himself up and walked past the irritated commander, pulling off the headset on his head. Genesis had managed to break it slightly when he slammed the pixel apple into his head and sparks flew from the broken mechanism. Zack dropped it to the floor and approached as the girl stood awaiting him. He then noticed the blonde locks behind her. "…Cloud?"

Cloud was staring down at his feet. He mumbled.

"Huh?" Zack stepped closer as Cissnei moved to the side, then the stench hit him. He blinked, then took that step back, waving a hand in front of his nose. "Cloud, where have you been?"

"Sorry…" the blonde cadet glanced up at him before looking back down at the floor, quite ashamed in his appearance, "got dragged through the sewers…"

"Reno thought it would be fun to take Cloud here through the sewage network to save an hour of walking." Cissnei informed, Cloud staying silent.

Zack felt a small laugh trying to break it's way through his lungs, but the state Cloud was in both psychically and emotionally made him stay sincere.

"I see. Cloud, you know you didn't have to spar with Genesis, right?"

Upon hearing his name mentioned, the commander started skulking towards the door. Cissnei began blushing furiously as the twenty three year old stopped before them, examining the situation. After being given a cold glare from Zack, the commander found some compassion in his flaming spirit.

"You're late, Strife." he muttered, ignoring the stench as Cloud shuffled on the spot before them.

"Sir, sorry sir."

"Any particular reason why you're late?"

"Reno said it was quicker…-"

"You listened to a TURK over your superior officer?" Genesis was no longer content with being nice. Zack ran a hand through his hair as Cissnei began to shift back out the door, wanting away from the implosive commander as quickly as her feet could carry her. Genesis noticed her but paid no heed. However although he was sick of being nice, he was trying to stay calm in front of the blonde. He could take out his fury on Zack later.

"Sir, yes… sir." Cloud didn't quite know what else he was supposed to say. He hadn't expected to be twenty minutes late. But if he hadn't taken the sewer way with Reno he'd be even later. The way Genesis was glaring made it seem like he was picturing Cloud on fire, but if he had been any later than this, he wouldn't be picturing it, he would most definitely be in flames.

Genesis scowled and turned away as Zack frowned. He had no idea Cloud was acquainted with the TURKS. Not just any TURK, but their second in command, the devious Reno. Zack did not trust that guy one little bit, even less than he trusted Genesis. Although he had managed to get Cloud through the sewers unscathed other than the stench attached to his clothing. He turned to smile at Cissnei.

"Thanks, Cissnei."

She smiled sweetly, still flustering slightly at being so close to one of the commanders.

"No problem, Zack." she turned and started to walk away. Zack thought for a moment, then dashed after her.

"H-hey, Ciss!"

She turned as though she was expecting him to give her some sort of ribbon wrapped present. However, Zack had decided something else.

"You know Cloud, right?"

"I did just meet him, yes." Cissnei giggled softly as Cloud glanced back at them, then noticed Genesis was still scowling away in the middle of the room, which had now switched sceneries to that of Kalm's market place.

"Well. He's single. You're single… see where I'm going here?"

Cissnei raised an eyebrow.

"He's a cadet."

"So?"

"A rather… smelly… cadet."

"He looks fine once he's washed up." better than fine, Zack thought. However if he got Cloud a girlfriend he figured he wouldn't have to worry about having any strange desires for the blonde, or a repeat of last night's moment.

Cissnei gave him the look of 'what're you planning' before sighing.

"I'll have a think about it." was all she replied before walking through the corridor, leaving the second class standing there.

"Take your clothes off."

Zack's jaw dropped open.