A/N: Let's start with the thanks: Thank you, at this point, to Puja723, CloudRocks86, gunitatsuhiko, truko 100, HazzaTL3, Circle of Phoenix, Kegra, Hollyhock-san, and Shining Sonny for their reviews/adds! Alrighty, after leaving you guys waiting with held breath, I present to you the next chapter you've all been waiting for!

Kegra: I wanted to leave you guys with some good stuff to wait for! =D I know, I'm evil.

DarrenrEal: You'll have to read on to find out if he gets his memory back! He might just go crazy, never know!

HazzaTL3: Yep, introduced Yuffie and Vincent. I feel I did Yuffie justice, but I'm kinda worried I didn't nail Vincent's personality...there will be more revealed about the whole Zack-Cloud-Tifa-Nibelheim incident. I promise you I'll tie it in nicely.

Gunitatsuhiko: I know, I'm evil! I hope this Chapter makes up for it though! =3 I'm sure you're not dead yet, haha.

CloudRocks86: I'm glad ya got the reference! XD I don't really do cross overs, though...so I probably never will. But thanks for enjoying the story!

DISCLAIMER: I do not own FF7, or the characters. They are property of Squarenix. If I owned them…things prolly would be going down like this:

Final Fantasy VII

Shadow: Chapter 9

Wind whistled around Zack as he plummeted through the depths of the Mako reactor. Said wind was interrupted several times as Zack slammed into a pipe, whirled around it, and continued his descent. The first few pipes he had struck, thanks to Sephiroth's strength, he had slammed right through. The pipes didn't hurt, he'd admit, due to the cloak, but several times he hit one one his cloak was whipping open from the wind. Those times caused him to drop his swords, leaving him 'unarmed' as he hit the mako with a splash.

Zack swam for the surface, drenched in the poisonous liquid. Reaching the surface, he moved towards the largest pipe, wet leather gloves sliding off the surface. Luck was with him, though, and he found a service ladder, managing to get himself out of the liquid. Hugging the ladder he let out a shudder, nearly vomiting from the exposure to pure mako, before his blue eyes turned upwards. He was stories—stories-below them and drenched in mako. He'd admit, he didn't feel as bad as he did after his ordeal with Hojo, but he expected that was because of the cloak he wore. If it was resistant to magic, which came from materia, he guessed it made sense. Or maybe it was something Hojo himself had done to Zack. Regardless, the man began moving up the ladder, his movements slow and shaky as he continually forced down the bile that wanted to rise. Aerith, he knew, needed him.

The sound of metal meeting metal rang out through the reactor as Cloud attacked Sephiroth with all the fury he could muster. Ragnarok met Masamune with enough force to shower the area in sparks as Sephiroth deftly blocked the attacks, allowing Cloud to push him back along the walkway, away from the others. He watched the blonde haired swordsman with a condescending smirk, green eyes filled with mirth.

Cloud let out another roar as he brought Ragnarok in vertical slash, slamming the Masamune with enough force to rattle the handle bars along the walkway. Leaping back he twirled the blade once, shouldered it and leaped high into the air bringing the sword above above his head with both hands. He came down at Sephiroth with all the force he could muster, Sephiroth standing with sword over head in a horizontal fashion, not cringing from the amount of weight and power behind the blow.

"For a puppet, you're putting a lot of effort into this," Sephiroth commented, causing Cloud's blue eyes to narrow in fury, teeth grit. Everything he threw at this man seemed to be slapped away like child's play.

He leaped back, landing just in front of the others. The blade came over head, a faint blue sheen seen along the blade as his blue eyes glowed with mako energy.

"Cloud," Aerith asked faintly, Tifa looking on in worry next to her. The walkway was too narrow for all of them to try and help Cloud—it simply just wasn't possible. Their leader took the charge against the man after Kagé had been so casually tossed aside. If he was able to man-handle Sephiroth on the boat to Junon, what the hell had happened for him to be so easily beaten? It was as if he had just flown off the handle. And now Cloud was fairing little better.

Cloud brought the sword down, sending an arc of energy traveling along the ground, towards Sephiroth. The silver haired man watched with a raised brow as it rocketed towards him and he casually brought his left hand around, back handing the blade beam projectile away from him. What the man made Ancient didn't expect, however, was the projectile splitting into two after that, searing through the rails and the ground on both side of him and effectively causing the part of the walkway he stood on to begin to collapse.

Cloud's blue eyes locked on Sephiroth's green as the railing began to collapse, Sephiroth standing calmly on it. Before it got too far, though, Sephiroth merely leaped forward, back onto the walkway that was stable and began walking back towards Cloud.

Cloud stood, dumbfounded before he grit his teeth and brought his blade to bare again as he ran in. Sephiroth merely let out a small 'hm' before he quickened his pace. Upon reaching Cloud, he waiting for the strike. Ragnarok came in, tip leading, and Sephiroth side stepped it, allowing Cloud to move past him, spinning and bringing Ragnarok around in a horizontal slash. Sephiroth's hand shot out and grabbed the blade, catching it and causing Cloud's eyes to widen. Before he could register anything else, the Masamune dove into, and through, his body twice. Letting the blade he caught go, Sephiroth merely pushed Cloud away as the spiky haired man coughed blood and fell to his back.

Sephiroth turned, his smirk still present as he began walking towards the group. Barret lowered his gun arm on the man and Sephiroth frowned. "I'm merely here to say hello...and you all start attacking me as if I'm some monster..."

"Prolly cus you are, you fuckin' freak," Barret roared and Sephiroth's eyes flashed dangerously. Before the gunman could begin firing, Sephiroth's blade dove through his stomach, sending him huddled to the ground as his blood began to pool and drip from the grated flooring. Tifa moved in to attack, bringing a leg up to kick Sephiroth in the ribs. His arm shot out, catching the leg at the calf and he regarded her with a cool gaze, bringing his sword back.

"I suppose you won't be needing this anymore," he muttered, his tone dripping with venom. Tifa tried to wrench her leg free, but Sephiroth held her fast. The blade descended in an arc, but was knocked back, the sound of a shot ringing out. Sephiroth's green eyes narrowed to the source, the crimson clad form of Vincent Valentine. Vincent fired several more shots, Sephiroth moving his blade deftly to stop them. When the blade stopped, though, Red XIII was there to catch the arm, his teeth sinking into Sephiroth's wrist. Yuffie loosed her own weapon at this point, catching Sephiroth in the chest—and a fire ball trailed right behind it, knocking him back a few feet in a stumble. He had been forced to release Tifa, and Red XIII had moved back to rest beside the others. Sephiroth let out another 'hm' before he turned and placed a foot on the railing.

"Since you do not wish to speak with me at this time...let the puppet know that I shall be heading to the Northern Cave" he cut his eyes to Cloud, "if he survives." And with that he leaped into the shadows above, disappearing.

Zack finally crawled onto the walkway that was right below where he had been knocked off. While climbing up, he nearly had been crushed by part of the walkway falling off completely. Having to hug the ladder for dear life, he squished himself as close to it as possible to avoid the metal contraption, and didn't move until several moments after he heard it splash into the mako. He had climbed for hours, easily, and now as he lay on the walkway he gazed around with half lidded eyes to try and discern what had happened. There were several spots on the grating that were brown with dried blood, but no bodies. Zack supposed that was good—Sephiroth would have just left the bodies to rot. Or kicked them off into the mako, of course, but Zack saw no bodies flying down into the depths. Which meant, likely, that someone had been wounded, but the group survived. He wondered, briefly, if it was Aerith's blood and tried to force himself to push up and continue moving. After climbing for several hours, and the exposure to mako though he found himself lacking the strength to do so. His gloved hand went forward, instead, landing on one of the blood stains. "Aer...ith," he grumbled before he fell into the darkness of unconsciousness.

"We made it through the caves," Tifa said as their group exited the cave. It had been a hard trip, with two of their party members wounded, but it was done, and they could rest now and move on once they had regained their strength.

"Should we continue on? I smell machinery not far from here—there's a town we could rest in," Red XIII said as he turned his good eye to Aerith and Tifa. Vincent approached behind him, carrying the wounded Barret on his back. Yuffie was helping him the best she could, but Red had been able to carry Cloud on his own.

"We can't push ourselves too hard...you and Vincent are probably tired from carrying—and fighting—the wounded. We'll rest here for tonight and move as soon as they feel better," Aerith said with a look to Tifa who nodded.

"Hey! I helped too," Yuffie blasted.

"Take him. I'll set up the tents," Vincent told her calmly. Before waiting to see if she is ready, or able, to take Barret, he dumped the large man on her and turned to gather the supplies.

Zack's eyes slowly opened as he turned his head to take in the unfamiliar surroundings. He grunted and pushed himself to his hands and knees. How long had he been out? He wasn't entirely sure...but he felt refreshed. He checked himself for injuries, and then reached for his swords. His memory came rushing back as he realized that he'd dropped them in his descent. Or rather, fall. Or push. Whichever.

Standing, he pushed himself up and began exiting the reactor. He had a lot of ground to cover...

Zack found himself exiting the cave. He produced the cell phone from within the folds of his cloak and opened it. He pushed a button and the device remained blank. He shook it and noticed that drops came out. Turning it to the side, he watched as a small stream of mako poured from it, causing him to whine.

Well, judging by the sun...it's about mid-day.

He had no idea how he was going to get to the northern continent...but he guessed that he could try and get the Turks to give him a ride. Sighing, he headed towards the town in the distance, the crooked rocket standing as a way point.

Reaching the town, Zack made sure his cowl was pulled up and tight. Upon entering the gate, though, Zack saw that the town was in an uproar. He moved towards the commotion, but stopped as he heard the sound of a propeller starting. Looking towards the sound he saw a plane moving around the side of a house, as well as President Rufus and other members of Shinra present.

The hell...?

Before Zack could react, though, he saw Cloud and the others leap onto the plane. The man who had been talking to President Rufus leaped on as well as the plane took off. Zack stood directly in it's path as it flew over head, the members of AVALANCHE looking to him with wide eyes, shocked that the cloaked man was still standing. The sound of gunfire brought Zack to reality and he saw as the plane began smoking, and then descending over the horizon—then the tell tale sound of a large splash faintly heard echoing from the distance.

He moved to sprint out of town, but he caught the voice of President Shinra as he began heading back to his helicopter with a large, rotund man.

"They're still alive," Rufus said as he lead the way. "That plane is made to float—notice the landing gear on the bottom. Palmer, find out where they're going and get me that plane."

"Y, yes sir...," the large man said as he boarded the helicopter with the President. Zack waited for a few more moments before heading to the house where the commotion started. If anything, he could find out a little bit more information.

"Hey! Hey! What happened," Zack asked as he approached a woman with brown hair and glasses.

"Oh, hello. Well...Shinra showed up and started asking Cid for his plane...but them some fellows tried to stop that large man from stealing it anyway...," the woman asked. "I'm Shera, by the way. Would you like some tea?"

"Ah..no thanks. Did they say where they were heading," Zack asked as he looked at the damage done. It seemed like the fence would have to be rebuilt...but at least her house wasn't damaged. "And who's Cid?"

"They said something about a temple...of some kind. I'm not too sure" the woman laughed nervously, "but Cid is the man who owns the plane. He used to work for Shinra's space program—we both did."

Zack nodded. "Alright, thanks for the information." He turned to leave but stopped. "Oh! Do you know where I can buy a new cell phone around here?"

"Um...the General Store should have some...they're older models, but they should be fine," Shera said with a small bow. Zack cried his thanks as he ran off and Shera sighed. "What am I supposed to do with all this tea...?"

"I asked for a cell phone, not a brick," Zack said flatly as he looked at the overly large cell phone in front of him. He understood older models...but this was, like, a first model.

"If ya don't want it, ya can get outta mah store," the older, squat man said. Zack sighed and paid for the cellphone before exiting the store. Looking at it, he shuddered before he punched in the number for Tseng.

The ringing stopped, but there was nothing said on the other end.

"Hey, it's me," Zack said flatly.

"What happened to your other phone? We've been trying to contact you," came Tseng's voice and Zack let out a small sigh that turned into a whine.

"Sephiroth happened. Anyway, I need to be picked up—I'm in Rocket Town. I know where AVALANCHE and Sephiroth are heading," Zack said.

There was a small stint of silence before, "We're already at their planned location. I'll send someone over there to pick you up and bring you over."

Zack arrived at the Temple just in time to see Reno, Rude, and Elena half carrying half dragging Tseng to the helicopter as he got off the aircraft.

"Guys, what the hell happened," Zack asked as they loaded Tseng on board.

"Sephiroth, that's what," Reno shouted over the propellers.

"He's inside," Rude joined in, though his voice still seemed as low as is usually was, as if he wasn't having to yell.

As the helicopter took off, Zack watched it go before he turned to move towards the Temple. Before he could get more than a few steps closer, though, Cloud and his company came sprinting from the entrance, and Zack dove into the nearby foliage as the large structure began to crumble.

The ground shook beneath him the haze of the shifting and shrinking stone caused Zack to grip the sides of his cowl and pull his head down somewhat. Once the shaking stopped, Zack lay there for a moment before he pushed himself up and turned towards where the Temple had been.

And it was gone.

"The hell," he asked, obviously shocked. What could have made it shrink so easily...to nothing?

"CLOUD! NO," a shout broke Zack from his thoughts. He began sprinting up the stairs and arrived at the top of what was obviously a crater just in time to see Sephiroth grinning widely at a black orb in his hand, and Cloud straddling Aerith, punching at her face. The thin flower girl was doing her best to fend off the man, but to no avail.

Zack looked between the silver haired man and Cloud, and it seemed like his decision was made for him.

"Farewell, puppet," Sephiroth said before he was simply gone.

Zack skid down the side of the crater in a flash. Reaching the bottom, he grabbed Cloud by the back of his hair and yanked him off of Aerith. In the same motion he spun around and brought his knee to the man's stomach, sending Cloud stumbling back before a fist planted on his jaw and sent him to his back.

Zack stood, cloak still swishing from the lightning fast movement, over Aerith defensively, daring the man to get up. Cloud merely turned to his side though, shriveling up into a fetal position and shaking horribly. Tifa moved to his side, tears on the edge of her red-brown eyes as she looked to Zack.

"You...didn't have to be so rough," Tifa pleaded and the cloaked form of Zack, which was heaving somewhat from his breaths, merely shook his head. That...nutcase was just sitting on top of Aerith hitting her. To hell with being gentle about it.

Zack turned to Aerith and looked her over as she sat up. Her bottom lip was swollen and busted in the bottom right corner, and her left cheek was bruising quickly. Tenderly, he offered her his hand, still silent. She looked to it before taking it cautiously. He helped her stand and spoke in his usual gruff voice.

"Are you alright?"

"I-I'm fine...thank you...," Aerith mumbled before she straightened her dress and made sure she was alright everywhere else.

"I can't believe that spikey headed punk did that," a blonde haired man exclaimed, smoking his cigarette. "He just gave Sephiroth the Black Materia!"

"Cloud was not himself," Vincent said flatly from the side of the crater he leaned against. He looked to Zack with crimson eyes. "You subdued him, at least. We should be thankful. It could have proved fatal."

Zack merely nodded his cloaked head. What was he going to do now? He had no idea what in hell the black materia did, but if he knew Sephiroth it could only equal one thing—bad.

"It's not over yet guys," Aerith said, smiling and wincing at the effort it took. "There's still something I can do."

A/N: And that's it!

Me: How're you guys liking the story so far?

Zack: *Strangles me* What the hell are you doing to me man!

Me: Gah! Can't...breath...x_x;;;

Zack: Good! Serves you right for putting me through hell!

Me: x_x

Zack: Aerith...I miss you...

Aerith: What's that Kagé?

Zack: N-NOTHING! o_o;