Chapter 10: Battle at Kalm

It was early evening in Kalm and the sun was just setting, most of the local shops and stores were preparing to close for the night, however all the bars and restaurants were still open. The new Wutinian restaurant that Reno and Rude were talking about was very popular with the locals, so much so that by the time Reno, Rude and Pandora arrived there were no seats left inside. However they didn't mind eating outside as the evening was cool and quite pleasant, it was over an hour since they arrived and they were no tucking into their food. Reno and Rude were telling Pandora everything that happened.

"…and then," Reno was just finishing his story as he dipped his chopsticks into his noodles. "Cloud rode passed us on his bike and we blew up Yazoo and Loz."

Pandora was intrigued by their tale and she hung on to their every word. "Then what happened?" She asked curiously as she finished eating.

Reno shrugged in response, "We don't know what happened to Cloud after that," Reno answered vaguely, "something about Sephiroth coming back from the dead, and Cloud kicking his ass. We had to get back to our boss and he was cured of Geostigma."

Pandora thought about this, she had read books on Geostigma in the WRO HQ. "That's when Jenova infects someone isn't it?"

Reno nodded, "yeah."

"It's what happened after meteor fall," Rude explained, "Jenova cells managed to get into most of the planet's population."

"Including Cloud?"

Reno shook his head, "No," he replied, "he had Jenova cells in him long before that."

Pandora stared at the two Turks, "how's that possible?"

Reno and Rude looked at one another wondering whether they should tell her everything or nothing. "Hojo's experiments," Rude stated as vaguely as possible. "It's a part of Shinra's past."

"Hojo?" Pandora found herself wanting to know more. "Who's that?"

"Sephiroth's biological father," Reno answered as he had finished the last of his noodles.

"He conducted experiments on any form of specimen," Rude added, "Even his own son."

Pandora gasped, "That's terrible!" She exclaimed not taking her eyes off Reno and Rude. "Who else did he experiment on?"

"Let's see," Reno began counting Hojo's experiments on his fingers. "Cloud, Zack, Red, practically all of SOLDIER, Deep Ground, and anyone off the streets."

"Zack," Pandora thought to herself, "surely not, surely not the guy I can hear in my head."

"You just earned yourself a medal," Zack said sarcastically in Pandora's head.

"Zack?"

"I'm going."

"No wait!" Pandora called after him, "Come back!"

Zack sighed, "fine, I'll wait till you've finished talking to Reno and Rude."

"Fine," Pandora agreed, "but there's a few questions I want to ask you."

"Ok, ok" Zack stayed in Pandora's head but he remained silent.

"Even the Turks had experiments done," Reno continued to explain.

"Hojo sounds like a sick and twisted man," Pandora said in disgust, "like someone else I once knew."

"Scientists with no morals tend to be," Rude responded, "it's funny that Vincent was the product of an experiment that saved his life, and he used it to kill Hojo."

"Well surely he must've known that one of his experiments would rebel against him," Pandora cut in.

"Here's the thing," Reno told her, "it was only part of his experiment."

"What do you mean?"

"Vincent was mainly Lucrecia's experiment," Rude added, "she saved his life, Hojo just added the finishing touches after Lucrecia went missing after Hojo took her son away from her."

"That would be Sephiroth, right?"

Reno nodded, "bingo!" He exclaimed and he gave her a thumbs up sign to show that she was right.

"How long ago was this?" Pandora questioned.

"Hmmm," Rude thought about it for a while, "I've lost count, it was when Sephiroth had just been born."

"And this Vincent guy was there?"

"Hojo shot Vincent when he was a Turk," Reno informed her, "he was the first one of us to die."

"Die?"

"Well he was on the brink of death," Reno continued, "the old Vincent died along time ago, before I joined the Turks."

"So how old would he be?"

"His body stopped aging," Rude answered Pandora's question, "but he would be 61."

Pandora's eyes grew wide with shock, "61?"

"He stopped aging," Reno replied grinning at the look on Pandora's face, "he looks like he's in his mid 20s, and he's such a miserable git that you'd be bored."

Pandora snickered at this, "sounds like someone else I know."

"There used to be a lot of us," Reno continued with his explanation as he leaned back on his chair and placed his hands round the back of his head. "Now there's just me, Rude, Tseng and Elena."

"What happened to the rest of you?" Pandora asked.

"My guess," Reno answered taking his time with his reply, "it was either Hojo or Deepground."

Pandora thought about this, "Hmmm…"

"I still don't know which is worse," Rude added looking as taciturn as ever, "Meteor, Kadaj, Yazoo and Loz, or Deepground."

"They all sound equally bad," Pandora cut in.

"Then there was Zack's death," Reno said he cringed as he divulged that information. "And that was not pretty."

Pandora managed to hide the shock in her face, she couldn't believe that the man who was talking to her in her head had died a brutal death. She had the sudden urge to find out more about her new friend's death.

"How did he die?" Pandora questioned inquisitively.

"The old boss of Shinra, Rufus' father wanted to keep Zack under raps," Reno replied. "As long as he kept his mouth shut we would've had no need to kill him."

"Of course," Rude cut in, "some low class sergeant wanted the glory of taking Zack out and they shot him in the head."

Pandora nodded trying to take it in. "You didn't tell me you were shot!" Pandora questioned Zack in her head.

"It was on a need to know basis," Zack was quick to defend himself, "and Reno and Rude are still talking to you."

"What did he have to stay quiet about?" Pandora continued to ask the Turks questions.

"Hojo's experiments and Nibelheim," Reno answered her.

"What happened to Nibelheim?" Pandora remembered Max telling her that he was found in a town called Nibelheim and she was wondering whether Reno was talking about the same town.

"Sephiroth went insane after reading about his fake origins," Rude responded, "and he burned the town to the ground, Zack and Cloud confronted him, Sephiroth disappeared and Zack and Cloud were mortally wounded."

"And Zack and Cloud were captured right?"

Rude nodded "Correct."

"What did Hojo do to them?"

"The Sephiroth Clone Project," Reno said he stopped tilting his chair and he sat up straight to look at Pandora.

Pandora almost cried out in shock, "he was going to make clones out of them!"

"He was turning them in to mindless super soldiers that Sephiroth could control," Reno corrected her.

"Did it work?"

"Cloud and Zack escaped and reached the outskirts of Midgar five years later," Rude informed her.

"Were they ok?"

"Well Zack was his usual talkative self, and Cloud was just a mindless puppet on Zack's back," Reno said with an inane grin on his face.

"He was experimented on for five years and he was still his normal self!" Pandora exclaimed hardly daring to believe it.

Rude merely shrugged in response, "Zack was already a super soldier so it must've failed on him."

"I see," Pandora thought about this, "were you trying to kill him or capture him alive?"

"Capture," Reno answered, "unless he proved uncatchable."

"I guess that's a situation where if you didn't kill him he would've killed you, right?" Pandora asked, both Turks nodded, "I guess I can relate to you guys in a way," Pandora continued, "but I don't think he would've killed you guys."

"He broke an army of soldier's necks, in a single hit!" Reno told her as he reminded himself of Zack's strength.

"He was that strong?"

"With no sword," Reno continued.

"He fought with no sword!"

"He was protecting Cloud," Reno explained.

"By putting the sword in front of him."

Reno nodded, "yeah, and now said sword is on a hill overlooking Midgar collecting dust."

Pandora gave Reno a confused look, "why is it on a hill?"

"It's like an unmarked grave," Reno said not taking his eyes off Pandora.

"Was that where Zack was killed."

"Yeah."

"Who put it there?"

"Cloud," Rude answered.

"As a mark of respect?"

Reno shook his head, "At first no, Cloud just took the sword and left, thanks to Hojo's experiment Cloud's mind was wide open. Zack told Cloud about some of his adventures on the road and then he began to think that he was Zack."

"In a sense," Rude added, "he thought that he was the first class SOLDIER that Zack was."

Pandora gave Reno and Rude another confused stare, "that's a bit screwed up isn't it?" She asked them.

"Much like this Max of yours when he lost his memory," Reno reasoned with Pandora.

Pandora nodded, "yeah, but he didn't go around claiming that he was something he wasn't."

Reno gave Pandora a sceptical stare, "he thought he was MB the genetic error on the planet when really he was a prince. In short that's what you told us."

Pandora thought about this and she knew that Reno was right, "yeah, it was hard explaining to him who he really was."

"In a way he was like Cloud," Reno told her, "Cloud didn't know who he was either."

"So how did Cloud get his memories back?"

Rude shrugged, "we don't know, Cloud never told us how?"

"And what about Zack's parents?" Pandora continued to ask as she lusted for more information. "Did they know about his death?"

Reno and Rude looked at each other awkwardly, "we failed to mention it to them," Reno finally answered.

"You mean they don't know!"

Rude shook his head, "no."

"Shouldn't someone tell them?"

"They think that Zack was a bad son for not speaking to them for lets see now, about 12 years." Reno explained the situation to Pandora.

"But he had a good reason for not telling them," Pandora was quick to defend Zack.

Rude nodded, "yeah."

Pandora sat back in her chair and looked up, "Max and the others should be here soon," she stated, she knew that she had over stepped the mark a little and she decided to change the subject.

"Yeah, you're right," Reno agreed with her, he looked up as he heard a voice that was all too familiar to him.

"He he, lets play!"

Reno and Rude stood up suddenly, Reno withdrew his rod and Rude got into a fighting stance with his hands balled into fists. "Pandora, stay here," Rude told her.

Pandora gave them a confused look, "why, what's going on?"

"Yazoo and Loz," Reno whispered to Pandora.

"I thought you told me they were dead," Pandora whispered back to Reno.

"They're supposed to be."

"So, why are they here?"

Reno shrugged, "I don't know, but stay here." Reno and Rude stepped away from the table as two silver haired men approached them.

"What are the peons to tired to have fun?" Yazoo asked the Turks in a mocking tone, Reno gave Yazoo an evil stare he hadn't forgotten the last time they fought.

"You grow some brain cells in the life stream," Reno joked.

"We don't need any to keep on par with you," Yazoo retorted.

"Yeah," Loz agreed, "where's brother? We've got some unfinished business to settle with him."

"He's out of town," Rude answered still in his usual calm manner as he stared at Loz.

"Yeah," Reno cut in still in a joking manner, "why don't you go back to the life stream and we'll tell him you called."

Yazoo and Loz merely laughed at this, "we wanted to play with brother," Yazoo said sarcastically, "he was so much fun."

"But for now," Loz added as he withdrew the Dual Hound and Yazoo withdrew the Velvet Nightmare. "We'll play with you guys!"

People started to run away as they recognised Yazoo and Loz, the only people in the streets were Yazoo, Loz, Reno, Rude and Pandora who had currently ran for cover. Reno and Rude charged at Yazoo and Loz and the battle commenced.

Meanwhile in a clock tower Vincent Valentine was sat at a small table examining the Cerberus handgun. "Hmmm," Vincent said to himself, "maybe if I upgrade the chamber it could fire faster." A flash of light blinded the room and Vincent leapt out of the way just in time as a giant humanoid Persian cat smashed on to the table and slid to the floor. If Vincent was in shock he didn't show it, he calmly loaded his gun and he pointed it at the foreign being. "One of Hojo's experiments," He whispered quietly to himself as he placed his finger on the trigger, ready to shoot.

The being heard the gun clicking and she flipped knocking Vincent off balance, she turned with two handguns, one in each hand and she pointed them at Vincent who at the same time had pointed Cerberus at her face. The cat woman grinned, "it seems that we're in a bit of a stalemate," she said abruptly.

Vincent didn't say a word but he thought quietly to himself. "Hmmm…" Was all he said in response.

"What's the matter big guy, cat's got your tongue?"

Vincent held the gun closer to the woman's face, "what are you?" He asked coldly as he gave her a sceptical stare.

"I could ask you the same question," she shot back just as coldly.

"You're not a monster," Vincent stated, "nor are you one of Hojo's experiments."

The woman looked confused but she kept her guard up nevertheless. "Who's Hojo?"

"Lower your weapons, and I'll tell you," Vincent said still maintaining his coolness.

The woman gave Vincent an evil glare, "And how do I know you won't kill me if I lower my weapons?" She demanded not taking her eyes off Vincent.

Vincent sighed, "you have my word."

The woman also sighed, "fine," she said as she lowered her hand guns and they de-materialised. Vincent flipped Cerberus into its holster. "So, are you going to tell me what you are?" She continued to ask.

"I could ask you the same thing," Vincent responded, "you don't look human."

"I'm a cybernetic Persian cat," the woman explained, "my serial number is 1372. but my friends call me Isis."

"I'm part human," Vincent answered, "my name is Vincent Valentine."

Isis gave Vincent a strange look, "part human?"

Vincent turned away from Isis, "I don't want to talk about it," he told her.

"Hmmm," Isis began to scan her surroundings, "what is this place?"

"We're currently in Kalm," Vincent replied, he turned to look at Isis, "where are you from?"

"I'm from a world called Terra Firma," Isis answered in her typical emotionless manner.

Vincent thought about Isis' answer, "hmmm," he said thoughtfully, "that would explain a lot."

"What is this world and what are the creatures that inhabit it?"

"This world is called Earth," Vincent explained, "the creatures here come in all shapes and sizes, but humans are the dominant species."

"I see…" Isis nodded to show that she understood though she was still sceptical. "You haven't seen any of the others have you? I haven't seen then since we were separated."

Vincent shook his head, "No,"

Isis merely shrugged in response, "I suppose they could be anywhere."

Vincent didn't speak for a while, he sat back down at the table, he laid Cerberus upon it and began to work on the gun. Isis walked up behind him to see what he was doing, Vincent had obviously sensed her presence as he eventually spoke. "Oh, just one thing," he told Isis, "people will stare at you a lot, cats don't usually walk on two legs, talk or be the size of a human."

"I get a lot of stares on my own world, I'm used to it."

Vincent grinned at Isis, "Good, then you'll know that a cat is smaller, walks on four legs and meows." A cat jumped on to the windowsill and walked up to Vincent, Vincent walked into the kitchen and got some milk from the fridge and he poured it into a saucer. He laid it on the floor, and the cat began to drink it, Vincent looked up to see Isis staring greedily at the milk.

"What?" Isis demanded staring evilly at Vincent, "I like milk."

"Hmmm…figures," He opened the fridge door again and got out a fresh carton of milk, he poured it into a glass and gave it to Isis.

"Thanks," Isis replied gratefully as she downed the milk in one. "So let me get this straight?" She asked as she placed the empty glass on the counter, "you mean to tell me that this is how cats on your world behave?" She pointed to the cat which was now happily drinking the milk that Vincent gave it.

Vincent nodded, "Yes," He replied as he walked back over to the table and he began working on the Cerberus. Isis was watching him again.

"What type of gun is that?" She asked him.

"A three barrelled handgun I built," Vincent answered, "I call it Cerberus."

Isis merely laughed, "Ha, you call that a gun!" She leapt back and spread her arms out, two tri-barrelled Gatling guns materialised in her hands. "These are guns!"

Vincent looked at the guns in Isis' hands, "I'm guessing you're a cyborg."

Isis nodded, "yes," came the reply, "I have a friend who is a cyborg."

"Well…" Vincent was about to say more but he was interrupted by screams outside, he fixed Cerberus and walked over to the window sill and leapt on to it. Isis walked over to the window and looked out, they both looked in the direction that people were running away from. "Those monsters are all too familiar."

Isis looked at the monsters through her targeting sensors. "Shadow Creepers," She informed Vincent.

Vincent jumped out of the window doing a back flip in mid air, he unloaded nine bullets into three of the Shadow Creepers that were in his landing spot. Isis jumped off the building and landed perfectly on her feet, she unloaded gatling gun bullets as she landed. "You've fought these things before, right?" She asked turning to Vincent as she said so.

Vincent nodded, "yeah," a behemoth charged towards Isis and Vincent pointing its horns directly at them. Isis leapt into the air and unloaded gatling gun bullets down the length of its back, finally landing a bullet squarely between its eyes, the monster screamed in pain as it collapsed to the floor dead. Isis landed gracefully on to the ground, Vincent stared at Isis obviously impressed. "Nice shot."

Isis grinned, "thanks," they heard the sound of a horn as a truck came speeding towards them. The driver was killed by one of the Shadow Creepers. Isis quickly de-materialised on of her gatling guns and she materialised a rocket launcher in its place, she quickly aimed and fired at the truck causing it to explode. The truck flew over Isis and Vincent's heads and skidded to a halt 20 meters away. Isis de-materialised the rocket launcher, "now what?" She asked Vincent.

"We find the source of the monsters," Vincent answered as he ran in the direction the monsters were coming from. Isis followed him and she re-materialised the second gatling gun.

Reno tried to kick Yazoo who easily dodged Reno's attack and he kicked him into a pole, Reno smashed into it back first and he cried out in pain as he slid to the floor. "Reno!" Pandora yelled she had a sudden urge to help the Turk but something told her to stay where she was.

"Pandora, are you there?" Zack's voice rang in Pandora's head.

"Zack?"

"Good," Zack sounded relieved, "that's not the real Yazoo and Loz," he informed her.

Pandora looked confused, "What?"

"It's like their evil sides have come back," Zack explained as best he could.

"Evil sides?"

"I don't know how to explain it," Zack continued, "it's like only their evil sides have come to life, but not their good sides."

"How do you know this?" Pandora asked Zack.

"Because I'm right here," A new voice that Pandora had never heard before spoke in her head. "Yet I can feel an evil me walking the world."

Zack sighed, annoyed that someone had cut in when he was explaining. "Kadaj, I was just explaining…"

"You can talk to him?"

"Aerith," Zack answered Pandora's question.

"Aerith?"

"How do you think I'm able to talk to you?"

"You're linked to Aerith."

"Bingo," Zack replied, "and Aerith looks after misguided people like Kadaj, Yazoo and Loz, and since their current spirits are here…"

"I see…" Pandora thought about this, "so you have the knowledge of the Ancients inside you right?"

"No," came the reply, "I'm just telling you what Aerith told me because it makes me feel smart."

"Hmmm…" Pandora looked over at the battle scene as Loz picked up Rude and threw him towards Reno. "What about Reno and Rude?" Pandora asked the spirits, "should I help them?"

"Let lose and have fun with it," Kadaj advised her.

"Ok, thanks guys." Pandora ran towards the battle to help out her new friends. Rude landed on top of Reno, Reno tried to stand and he stood on Rude's sunglasses in the process, Rude stared wide eyed at Reno.

"Oh, he, he, sorry Rude," Reno apologised with a sheepish grin.

Rude merely grunted in reply as he took a spare pair of sunglasses from his pocket and he put them on. Loz and Yazoo grinned at them and they advanced towards their foes ready to give them another beating when they were hit by a fusion of fire and lighting. Loz and Yazoo were sent flying into a wall of a nearby house and went through it. However a moment later they emerged from the rubble and walked back towards Reno, Rude and now Pandora who had run back to check on Reno and Rude. Yazoo and Loz wore glowing bracelets on their wrists.

"Zack, Aerith, Kadaj or any other spirit," Pandora spoke in her head again to anyone who was listening. "What do I do now?"

"Those things on their arms," Zack answered, "Are not from our world."

"Then what are they?" Pandora asked.

A new voice that sounded familiar to Pandora spoke, "They're Kitsune anti magic bracelets."

"Aurora? Is that you?"

"Yes," Aurora answered.

"How can you talk to me?" Pandora asked her deceased mother in law.

"Aurora is a Kitsune and she's dead," Aerith cut in before Aurora could respond, "that means she can freely roam planets and talk in people's heads."

"Hey!" Zack argued with Aerith, "I wanted to say that!"

"Really," Aerith shot back, "And did you know that, Zack?"

Zack hesitated for a moment before answering, "no…did your people become extinct because they knew too much?"

"No," Aerith shot back, "they became extinct because they sacrificed themselves to save the world from Jenova, need I remind you that some of her cells are inside you."

"Cetra are not evil!" Zack retorted, "Aerith the know it all is!"

"Guys!" Pandora yelled, "You're not helping!" Pandora was so wrapped up in Zack and Aerith's argument that she didn't even notice Loz appear in front of her, he seemed to come from out of nowhere. Loz punched Pandora into a brick wall and she went through it and shot out of the other side landing back first on the ground. "Owwww…" Pandora moaned in pain as she slowly staggered to her feet, Yazoo and Loz were standing opposite her trying to resist the urge to laugh.

"What is she blind or something?" Loz asked mockingly.

"She can't play very well," Yazoo added in the same mocking tone.

"She probably can't even see us!" Loz laughed loudly, "talk about being as blind as a bat!"

Those words rang in Pandora's ears and she saw red. She glared evilly at Loz and Yazoo, a flaming aura was all around her as he whole body shook in anger. "WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?!" Pandora bellowed at the top of her lungs. Reno and Rude stopped in their tracks as they heard Pandora shout.

"Hey!" Reno asked turning to Rude, "Is that fire emitting from Pandora?"

"Oh boy…" Zack whispered in Pandora's head, "she's pissed."

Pandora continued to glare at Yazoo and Loz, fire was in her eyes. "NOVA STORM!" Pandora yelled as she raised her arms into the air and she created a fused nova spell above her head, the fireball in her hands was so bright and enormous that it engulfed and illuminated the whole town.

"Hmmm…" Vincent said as he stopped running to take a glance at the giant fireball in front of him.

Isis ran up to Vincent's side and she too stared at giant fireball. "I'm guessing that's Pandora," Isis told Vincent.

"A friend of yours?" He asked turning to face Isis.

Isis nodded, "yes."

Loz and Yazoo stared at the fireball above Pandora's head, Loz merely laughed. "Heh…I see, we'll play ball then!"

Pandora launched the spell at Loz and Yazoo, Loz ran forwards and punched the fireball, the bracelet began to crack as he struggled against the force of the spell "Huh?" Loz looked down at his bracelet as it broke off and the explosion hit him. Loz was sent flying into a building and he kept going. He threw his gauntlet off as it exploded and he finally stopped when he went crashing into the clock tower.

Reno and Rude stared at Pandora their eyes were wide with shock. "Wow!" Rude stated open mouthed.

"NOW THAT'S FLASHY!" Reno exclaimed obviously impressed by Pandora's sudden surge of power.

Pandora however began to feel drained by the spell she had cast and she started to collapse to her knees. Yazoo grinned and seeing his opportunity he pointed his gun at Pandora as another man with a kitana walked up until he was next to Yazoo.

Pandora looked up at the man, her eyes were wide with shock. "…Kadaj…" She could barely utter his name.

"I really didn't have that hair cut, did I?" Kadaj's good half asked in Pandora's head.

"What do I do now?" Pandora asked desperately in her head, "I'm too tired to cast another spell."

Evil Kadaj and Yazoo grinned at Pandora, they knew that in her weakened state she wouldn't be able to fight back. They walked slowly towards Pandora, they both had their weapons pointed at her, Pandora could only watch as she saw the two men advance towards her. She closed her eyes tightly and she hoped against hope that something would happen that would save her from this fate.

"Max, I hope you can hear me," Pandora pleaded in her head, "please help me."

…To be continued.

Well there you have it, chapter 10 is finally finished. Sorry to leave it at a cliff hanger but I didn't have enough space to include the whole battle scene into a single chapter. Will Max and the others get there in time to save Pandora from a grizzly fate? Find out in chapter 11 which will continue where this chapter left off. Just a reminder that I don't own Final Fantasy Vii or any of its characters, I do however own characters I have created myself.