Oh hey! We finally got back to this story. Sorry for the wait, but we got busy with a lot of story (including a new FF7 story). But enjoy the new chapter!

Chapter 10

Genesis and Hollander stood before Zack, who was frozen there as his disbelief turned into annoyance. However, he was also curious. He was still lost in his thoughts for a brief moment as he thought that he might be able to find some answers to what had happened to he and Cloud, and to everything else for that matter. His mind had raced quickly through possibilities as his concentration was broken when Hollander started to move and speak.

"You are a former member of SOLDIER," he said as he pointed at Zack as he took a few steps forward. "Your cellular structure has already mutated."

"Hollander!?" Zack finally said, expressing his surprise seeing the man out loud. Now seeing the man up close he really could take in what he looked like and saw how much he had changed. His clothes appeared tattered"You did it… to yourself?"

"Yes, after nearly being killed by Genesis. It was really all I could do to survive," Hollander replied as he shook his head slightly. "I merely borrowed some cells from Genesis…"

Zack took in a deep breath as he hesitated with his next words. "You know, you're… degrading."

"Indeed, but there is still some hope…" Hollander replied.

Zack glanced briefly at Genesis in the back, who was remaining silent. Though he held a purple fruit… another dumbapple, in his hands and looked at it carefully. Zack started to think though what Hollander meant with his words. What hope was there left for them? He wanted to almost feel bad for them, but after what they had done, he had no sympathy at that moment.

He could hear the monsters behind him still muttering about 'S-cells' but that didn't really help him. Besides that, everyone else remained silent for a few more moments. The only other voice was Zack's internal voice as he continued to process everything that was happening at that moment. Though as that happened, Genesis started to walk closer to Hollander.

"The gift of the goddess… A pure S-cell sample will stop the degradation process," Genesis stated as he held out the purple fruit in his hand.

"Pure?" Zack asked.

Genesis lowered his hand as he stared coldly at Zack. "There are… two of you, on the run."

Zack took a step back as he saw where Genesis was starting to go with it. A look of concern spread wide across Zack's face as he moved his head side to side, trying to shake what he had just heard. Now he understood what Hollander had meant earlier when he had said there was hope. He started to worry slightly about the situation.

Zack didn't want to hear anymore, but it seemed that Genesis still had more to say. "One is a former SOLDIER operative. The other, an infantryman."

"That infantryman carries within his body, the last pure S-cells in the world!" Hollander exclaimed before he flew up into the air. The monsters behind Zack followed in suit.

"Hey! Get back here! Leave Cloud out of this!" Zack gritted his teeth as he ran forward, only to have Genesis hold out his arm and stop him. Zack looked at him with contempt, ready to fight him again if need be.

"Do you know the verse in Act IV that leads into the final act?" Genesis asked.

Zack rolled his eyes and scoffed as he turned his head away. "Of course not!"

However, Genesis continued anyways as if he had never even heard Zack.

"Legend shall speak

Of a sacrifice at world's end…"

Genesis started off as Zack started to walk away from him. He wanted to just leave and get away from the auburn-haired fanatic, but he felt there was a chance that he could still get some answers from Genesis. But hearing him prattle on about his poetry was starting to annoy him.

"The wind sails over the water's surface,

Quietly, but surely"

Zack had stood there silently and listened to Genesis prattling on. His eyes narrowed into a slight scowl as Genesis's words danced upon his ears. Zack shook his head. He didn't want to hear any more of this.

He turned around to face Genesis and glared at him. "Enough about sacrifices and endings!" he shouted, not even noticing the small crack of fear and frustration in his voice. "I don't want to hear it!"

Why would he want to hear about such terrible things after everything he had been though? That wasn't what he wanted to think about, not at all!

Genesis tilted his head back as he looked to Zack. "You don't understand the beauty of these words. How tragic… I'm not surprised. Even I didn't understand all of it. The greatest mystery behind the gift of the goddess…" Genesis paused for a moment before he reveal the rest of the sentence. "''The water's surface'. And the answer I have arrived at, is the lifestream."

"What?" Zack asked. He had just listened to what Genesis had to say as he adorned a skeptical look. However, the last parts were interesting. He was about to try and ask more thoughts that were on his mind, but Genesis just continued.

"There are various theories regarding the missing final act. However, only my theory is correct," Genesis boasted as he stretched his arms out. He then held out the arm that held the dumbapple again. "And I will prove it to you."

That was it. Zack had finally had enough of Genesis and his riddles. His answers would have to wait until another time, if there was another time. It seemed that he wasn't actually going to get anywhere with him. "No, that won't be necessary!"

He lunged forward as he prepared to tackle down Genesis, only to have him fly away at the last second. Zack grunted as he missed his target and slid across the ground. Much to his surprise though, there was now something in his hand. It was the dumbapple that Genesis had been holding.

Zack scrambled back up to his feet to see black feathers falling to the ground. He then averted his eyes quickly to the sky above as Genesis flew away. "You will understand," Genesis said before disappeared into the skyline.

Zack huffed angrily at Genesis. He still wished he could have managed to get some relevant information from Genesis, but he knew that was not his main priority. All of the thoughts he had been building during that conversation finally spilled out.

"Cloud! He's in danger! I shouldn't have left him alone there. I gotta get back to the reactor! Run like you mean it, Zack!" Zack instructed to himself before he took off running.

Zack took off running like a man on a mission. Well, he was on a mission actually; to save Cloud. He sprinted around the abandoned houses where they had just been and took a sharp left, but just as he did he encountered some monsters that had not been there before.

"Ahh, you're in my way!" Zack exclaimed with frustration filling his voice. He readied his sword and quickly started slashing at the monster with ferocity. A few moments later and it was completely defeated and faded away as Zack was able to get back on the run.

He continued as he crossed over a small river and took another sharp turn, but this time it was to the right. The path he was on now was leading to the outskirts of Gongaga village. He passed a few more houses that were there, not caring to pay attention to anything else. There, he encountered yet some more monsters. However, they were quite weak and Zack quickly defeated them as well as he was able to press forward.

After rounding another corner, the path forward was one of a constant descending slope. This of course led to the mako reactor that had been abandoned, which was where he had left Cloud. It was a bit of a ways there, which gave Zack some time to think. Cloud...if only he had been more able move freely. If only he was a bit better. Zack knew already that Cloud had made a lot of progress, but it still wasn't enough to fully manage on his own. If that was the case then Zack would have brought him along. However, after thinking about that, he figured that Cloud would have been in more danger because of what had happened. It was a tricky situation either way.

Time seemed to have been moving much slower now that Zack was racing towards trying to get Cloud. Eventually though, he was able to start to see something in the distance below the hill. It was the area where he left Cloud as he could faintly see the motorcycle. However, he could also see some other things there with him, which he assumed were Hollander, and the other creatures. He picked up his speed and raced harder, slashing through monsters easily on the way to get to his best friend.

As he approached, he could see that Cloud was just sitting there in the seat of the motorcycle, seemingly not paying attention. Hollander was slowly getting near him with his hands outstretched in an attempt to grab the blond-haired boy.

"Cloud! Run!" Zack yelled as he finally reached where they were.

Cloud then suddenly jarred his head and raised it up to see what was going on. He saw Zack was in front of him, but he felt something to his side as well. He looked over to his right to see a strange man coming towards him. He gasped in surprise as he then started to try to scoot backwards, but there was not much of a place to go in the extra seat. He then toppled out of the sidecar and started to crawl away from the man as fast as he can.

"Wh-what's happening? Zack?" he questioned as he was confused about everything. He had no idea what had even happened as he had fallen asleep.

"It will be fine Cloud. I'll take care of all this. Just go find somewhere safe!" Zack yelled again as he had already begun his spring forward towards Hollander and the creatures.

Cloud did not need to question that as he nodded his head and finally managed to make it to his feet. He was hobbling along as he was still half asleep, and the mako was still affecting him as well. He saw a broken down building that he could hide inside of, but as he tried to move forward, he decided to look back for a moment. The man, who was Hollander, was trying to follow him slowly now.

Zack has just about reached Hollander to cut him off from Cloud when something flew by him quickly. It looked like a white streak from the short glance that Zack was able to see. It quickly landed in front of the creatures, cutting them off from Hollander, who stopped his progress towards Cloud at the sudden arrival of this new thing. They were finally able to get a look at what it was now, and it slightly surprised Zack.

The single white wing that this thing, now recognizable as a person, possessed was unmistakable. The face was a dead giveaway. It was Angeal. Or rather, it was someone that looked like Angeal. Zack knew that Angeal had perished at his own hand, so why was he here now? Zack was trying to figure this out quickly.

From a quick glance, the man had on white pants with a seemingly grey jacket with the cuffs rolled up. Under the coat was a white shirt with a lighter grey ascot around the neck. His hair was just like Angeal's too, but it was solid white, which matched the large wing. Though, from the looks of the man, he was also suffering from degradation. Regardless of that fact, it seemed as though he was there to help.

Zack looked out of the corner of his eye and saw that Cloud was slowly making his way into the dilapidated building beside them. He breathed a sigh of relief for a moment to know that Cloud should be safe there. Then he quickly turned his attention back to the man he had just seen, who was avoiding strikes from the deformed creatures surrounding them. Then, before Zack could make a move, Hollander swiped at the man and flung him to the ground.

"Why you!" Zack said in frustration, his full attention now on Hollander.

Hollander apparently had briefly forgotten about Zack standing close to him though. As soon as he heard the former SOLDIER's voice, he started backpedaling in an effort to get away. He soon had broken into a small run, though he was limping slightly.

Zack then turned around and started to follow him. He was too fast for Hollander as he soon caught up to the degrading man, who seemed to stop as he breathed heavily for a moment. Hollander grabbed his head as if he was in pain and started shake rapidly until he then stopped moving, seemingly lost in a daze as he stood there. Zack had already prepared his sword as he approached.

He did not want to hurt anyone specifically, but he knew that he had to protect Cloud. And Hollander and Genesis were not going to stop their pursuit of him. Zack pushed those thoughts to the back of his mind as he resolved himself. "I'll do whatever I have to do! I will protect my friend!" he yelled with confidence as he entered into a fray with Hollander.

Zack rushed forward and began to strike at Hollander forcefully as he began to land several blows on point. However, Hollander's body brushed them off like it was nothing, even though it was obvious that he was taking damage as blood began to spurt from some of the wounds. Zack stopped swinging for a moment as the man had gotten still, and he waited to see what happened.

Hollander threw his head back slowly, and then suddenly released some kind of yellow mist from his mouth. Zack barely had time to dodge it as it had caught him off guard. He had no idea what that yellow mist would do, but he figured that it would be best to avoid it at any rate.

As the Zack began to move back to him, Hollander had pulled something from his pockets and dumped them on the ground. From that spawned some worm-like monsters to try and shield him. Zack grew slightly agitated as he beat them all down as quickly as he could. Finally, it was just he and Hollander again.

The small fight continued as Zack obviously had the upper hand as he was slashing and then evading, making sure to stay clear of the mist and the wings that Hollander had started to use to swing at him. After a few more minutes, Zack laid into Hollander with a blow that stopped the fallen scientist in his tracks.

The fight was finally over.

Hollander could not utter any words, but only fell to his knees. He reached out his hand and held it out towards Zack, almost as if reaching for help. Then, he fell forward onto the ground as his body started to disintegrate into green particles that returned to the lifestream.

Zack watched on and only sighed slightly, but knew that he had to do it. He returned his sword to his back and then set off back in the direction that he came. His first priority was to check on Cloud and make sure he was all right. As he approached, he turned right into the rubble of a building where he saw Cloud go. He found the boy just beside a fallen wall, but the sight he saw was not one that preferrable.

Cloud was shaking and rocking back and forth with his knees clenched up against his chest. His eyes looked almost glazed over as he was staring straight with no direction. He was having another panic attack, most likely over the scare he must have gotten from Hollander. Zack knew he had to do something to try to help his friend though.

"Hey Cloud, it's me Zack. I'm back you see. I know you're in there," Zack prodded, trying to reach Cloud with his words and familiar voice.

Cloud still sat there and did not look at Zack, or even acknowledge that he was there. Zack bit his lip as he hoped that it was not as bad as the last time, but he would be there however long it took to get Cloud back to a functional state. He knelt down in front of him and placed his hands on his shoulders. "Hey," he said softly. "It's okay. I'm here. Cloud."

Finally, Cloud seemed to snap out of his trance as he blinked a few times before focusing his eyes. When he did, he finally was able to see that Zack was right in front of him. "Z-Zack? Zack! I-I don't know what to do. I think...it's getting to me again…" he trailed off with a worried tone in his shaky voice.

Zack's face wore a more worried expression now as he looked upon his best friend. Cloud seemed to be in the same shape that he had been that night when he had run to the shores of Nibelheim. Zack knew they would have to get moving eventually though, and he had to get Cloud to focus and get back to a stable state. He couldn't just carry him everywhere.

"Cloud," Zack said with a more direct and serious tone. "You have to snap out of it. They are not going to do anything else to you. I'll make sure of that. But, you have to work with me. You're strong Cloud. Show me that strength and determination you had before," he uttered with a determined plea to Cloud.

The blond-haired boy looked to Zack again. "I-I don't know. I know...how I was before. I felt f-fine… But n-now… Not sure...what's wrong. Head...hurts…" he trailed off as he gripped his head as his knuckles turned white. He must have been experiencing quite the pain to grabbing at his head that hard. He lowered his head as he continued to hold on to it, but then suddenly he just stopped.

Zack held his breath for a moment, hoping that Cloud was finally overcoming his issues at the time. He stood back up and reached his hand down to Cloud. "Well, if you've gotten through that th-"

He wasn't able to finish what he was saying though as Cloud suddenly stood up on his own. Before Zack could say anything else to him, he turned and took off stumbling away before breaking out into a slight run.

Zack stood for a second before realizing what was going on. "Wh-Cloud, wait!" he said as his voice escalated as he took off in pursuit of Cloud. This was just like that time before when he ran and did not know what he was doing. Zack knew it was likely that he would not remember anything of it this time either, but he hoped he could get him under control before anything happened.

Cloud had not run very far and Zack still had him in his sights. He was now in the open area where the motorbike had been left, along with the person that looked like Angeal, who was on the ground now. Cloud looked back to his friend for a brief moment and stared at him, then he started to run.

"Ahhh, come on Cloud, just come back already," Zack said with an exasperated sigh. He didn't expect this to happen, and after a tiring battle, it just was another thing added to the long day. But he couldn't stop though.

As Cloud began to run however, he stumbled over his own feet some before then crashing to the ground. This was a perfect chance for Zack to get to his friend, so he accelerated in order to reach him before he could get up. Once he approached Cloud, he jumped onto him to try to hold him down, but Cloud was writhing as he tried to get up, but Zack was too strong.

"Just stay still Cloud," Zack muttered as he struggled to keep Cloud down.

The boy showed more strength than normal, but Zack was able to manage. Cloud was trying to fight him though for some reason, and even tried to claw at his face. He squirmed and grunted as he tried to break free. Zack could only assume that he was dreaming while he was awake, but other than that he really had no idea. A few more seconds passed as the struggle continued, and Zack finally knew what he had to do.

"Forgive me Cloud, I hate to do this to you."

He then readied his fist and he ran it into Cloud's abdomen hard. The wind seemed to be knocked out of the boy, but then his body went limp. Zack looked and verified that Cloud was still breathing as he then got off of him.

"Well, at least you won't remember any of this... I hope. Let's get you back to the motorbike now."

Zack then placed his arms under the back of Cloud's body and proceeded to lift the young boy up. He threw him over his shoulder and then began to carry him back to the area where the motorbike was, which wasn't too far from where they had been. Zack was relieved that situation was resolved now though. He still was in thought about what happened as he approached the bike finally. He then laid Cloud gently into the sidecar where he could rest.

Zack then straightened back upright, and turned his attention to what was in front of him now.

Angeal. Or, rather the person that looked like Angeal.

He walked over to the person, who was still laying on the ground, though the monsters surrounding him were gone. Zack assumed that he must have defeated them. He did seem to appear tired though, so it must have taken its toll on him. As Zack got near him, he felt as though he knew the man though as there seemed to be something familiar about him.

He then looked up. "It's been a long time, Zack."

The two stared at each other for a little while and then they shared a chuckle like old friends. Zack grinned at him as he tossed the dumbapple in his hands, which he had still been hanging on to through all of the encounters that had just happened. He continued to toss it in his hand.

"So what happened earlier? That thing wasn't so tough!," he said with a motion of his hands toward the man and a tone of confidence in his voice.

The man was still slightly smiling at Zack. "I can't fight like a 1st," he admitted as he motioned towards Zack. "I'm just an Angeal copy."

Zack looked bewildered for a moment as stopped playing with the dumbapple and narrowed his eyes and tilted his head. "Copy?

The man then placed his hand on the ground and used it as leverage to be able to stand up. Once he was on his feet, he spoke again. "It's Lazard," he admitted, revealing his true identity.

Zack wore a look of shock at first, surprised to see the man he once knew as the director of Shinra in such a state. However, he then realized that it made sense now why he felt that the man, now known as Lazard, felt familiar.

He was about to say something until Lazard cut him off. "So real quick, if I may ask, just what happened just a bit ago? With that boy?"

"Oh you mean Cloud," Zack said as he prepared to tell all. "You see, the basics of it is that we were kept in the Shinra mansion and experimented on after the Nibelheim incident. But I escaped and took him with me. But, from the reports I saw, his mind could not handle the normal tests that SOLDIERs were put through."

"So he has mako poisoning," Lazard rationalized.

"Yeah," Zack admitted. "And every so often, it's almost like, he forgets himself and blacks out. I'm...not really sure what to do. It hurts to see him get like that… cause it's hard to get through to him at first. But we'll figure it out."

Lazard chuckled. "Yeah, that sounds just like you. You haven't changed."

Zack returned the laugh slightly before changing the subject. "So what about you? What happened exactly?"

The two of them then started to discuss in detail the things that had gone on in the time that Zack had been away. There was many things to cover, and they took their time trying to catch up with what time they had. After some time had passed, Lazard had gotten to a detail that seemed to have interested Zack more than the others, and gave him a chance to hopefully gather some more information.

"So, you're the one who helped Hollander out of Junon?" Zack asked as his voice raised in pitch, noting his curiosity. "Why would you do such a thing?"

Lazard looked down. "To exact my revenge, I needed Hollander," he said as he sat back down and propped one leg up and rested his arm on his knee.

Zack looked down at him. "You really chose the wrong friends, didn't you?"

"I agree," he admitted. "I never dreamed I'd be turned into an Angeal copy."

"Well, just be happy you're linked to Project G." Zack turned forward and smirked slightly, his words indicative of his dislike for Project S as compared to the aforementioned one.

Lazard then narrowed his eyes. "It's a strange feeling…" he paused and clenched his fist as Zack turned his gaze on him "The lust for vengeance that had so consumed my life is all by gone now."

He re-opened his hand as he paused for another moment. "In its place...is a desire to help you, a desire to save Genesis," he proclaimed as he glanced up at Zack. Then, he moved his head back forward. "No, it's bigger than that. I...I want to save the world." He slowly outstretched his arm and moved his hand upward with palm open.

Zack then stepped forward and started to walk some without saying a word. He had listened intently to everything that Lazard had to say, and it all made sense. He had first thought that he would need some convincing, but that was untrue. He knew everything Lazard had said was fact, and that he meant what he said.

Finally, he halted his progress and slowly removed the sword from off of his back in his right hand while still clutching the dumbapple in his left. Lazard looked on with curious eyes, wondering what Zack was doing. After Zack had his sword held out in full length, he rotated his body to a side glance towards Lazard.

"Nothing strange about that," he spoke as he then pivoted completely around to face the man. He extended the buster sword forward and then lifted it up in a vertical position to hold. "Angeal, lives inside you."

Lazard stifled a small chortle, knowing what Zack said was true. But, Lazard knew they had to get to the task at hand. "Genesis is trying to obtain the 'gift of the goddess,' but what is it, exactly?"

He waited for an answer, but immediately came to one himself. "No, it doesn't matter. Whatever it is, he must be stopped," he said with an almost pained look on his face.

Zack then put his sword back onto his back. "I just, don't understand what he's talking about at all. What should I do?"

"Angeal may show us the way...perhaps."

"Maybe...I hope so, Director."

"Heh, Director…" Lazard lamented as he sat there and thought for a moment's pause.

The Director soon spoke back up. "So, Zack, what is your dream?"

"Huh?" Zack looked surprised but then understood what was going on. "Oh, let's see…" he trailed off as he placed a hand on his chin in thought. Though, he already knew the answer.

"To become a hero!" he proclaimed as he placed his free hand on his hip and smiled.

The Director smirked as he shook his head. "Hmph, unattainable dreams are the best kind."

Zack then stepped forward to look the Director in the eye. "Oh come on! Lend me a hand! You and Angeal both. If we pull this off, we'll all be heroes! At the very least, I'd feel like one! Zack said as he awaited the Director's response.

"Well, if you wanna be a hero, you still need to do something about that boy there," he said as he pointed to Cloud.

Zack glanced back to where his friend was, suddenly remembering what had happened just a while ago with him. Cloud still rested there peacefully, breathing steadily as if nothing had happened. A slightly uneasy filled Zack's chest and mind as he looked. Slowly he drifted to thoughts of regret. He regretted leaving Cloud alone again. Just look what happened. But he had no choice really. Still, the Director was right. He needed to make time for every possibility if he truly wanted to be a hero.

"Yeah, I know...I've got to get better. And I will. Maybe he will even be able to help if he can get better," Zack explained as he hoped for the best.

"Hmph, maybe…" the Director trailed off as the two were in silence for a few seconds.

Then, a voice broke that silence. "So, Zack, where is Genesis anyways?"

Zack was perplexed by the sudden question, as he did not have an answer. Though a thought came to his mind and he pulled something out from his pocket. It was the fruit Genesis had given him before. He stood there in deep thought for a few seconds, mulling over all of the information that he had heard from Genesis. Then in an instant, it all clicked as he was staring at the apple.

"Oh!" he gasped as he then presented the dumbapple forward to show to the Director.

He looked and understood. "I see…"

A single white feather then fell from Lazard's wing and drifted down to the ground, as Zack noticed and watched it fall. They both seemed to understand now, however, where it was that Genesis would be. The knowledge Angeal had of his close friend, which was imprinted onto Lazard's person now, and the recollection Zack had of Genesis's ramblings all added up. It would lead them to the place where dumbapples are found.

Banora.

Getting closer and closer to the end of CC. Heh. We got plans though don't you worry!

Thanks for reading though! Let us know what you thought!