Heyyyy. Shout outs:

AngelicWinds: Me either, I tried not to.

Celeron96: I know, right? I was playing it while typing. And as for your question, I will shorten the time period, but it will still happen.

IScreamer1: Thank you! You too! Even though it's late….ish.

TWI1IGHTMASTER: Well, here it is!

TheEighthLight: Fine, I'll admit it. I looked it up on google and it didn't interest me. There I said it! Please don't be mad….Larxene stay away!

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I own Jack, Mist, Jason, and Illusion.

Chapter 25: The World's Enemy

"I knew something wasn't right from the moment I met Sephiroth."

Zack, Jack, Cloud, and Sephiroth walked in to the village. They had left their helicopter on the launch pad about a mile away. Sephiroth turned to Cloud. "How does it feel to be home after all this time? I have no hometown, so I wouldn't know." he asked. Cloud looked at him nervously.

"What about parents?" Zack asked Sephiroth. The older man turned to him.

"My mother's name is Jenova. She died shortly after I was born. And my father….." he trailed off and started laughing. "Why am I talking about this?" he asked himself. He turned around and led the way in to the village. Jack noticed Cloud put his helmet on, covering his face.

As they walked into the town, a teenage girl in cowgirl attire came running up to them. "Are you from Soldier?" she asked Zack. He nodded smiling.

"First Class." he added. She looked at him curiously.

"Are there a lot of First Class Soldiers?" she asked. He shook his head.

"Nope. We're a small elite group. Jack here might as well be one. He's got the skill and training for it." Zack explained, pointing in Jack's direction.

"So they only sent three?" she asked.

"Yeah. Me, Jack, and Sephiroth." Zack told her. The girl looked at him, nodded, and ran away. They walked to the inn and went inside.

THE NEXT DAY…

Zack yawned and got out of bed to see that only he and Cloud were still in the room. He roused Cloud, and they walked outside to see Sephiroth, Jack, and…."Tifa, you're coming to the reactor, too?" he asked shocked. She nodded.

"I'm the best guide in the village." she told him.

For the next several hours, the five of them walked the long trek up the mountain to the Nibel reactor. Once they got outside, they stopped. "From here, Zack, Jack, and I go in alone." he announced. Tifa shook her head.

"I wanna go in, too!" she protested. Sephiroth looked at the helmeted Cloud.

"Keep the young lady safe." he ordered. Cloud nodded and blocked the way after the three went up the stairs and in to the reactor.

INSIDE THE REACTOR…..

Sephiroth wandered around the room, looking in the various tanks. Zack stood there aimlessly until Jack hit him on the shoulder. "What?" he asked. Jack pointed to the stairs leading upward. Zack walked up them, and saw a sign above the door that read "Jenova." He did a double take at the name before looking at Sephiroth, who was walking back down.

"There's nothing here…..Except monsters." he said quietly. Zack gasped and looked inside the nearest machine, only to see a grotesque face facing him. He jumped back in fright. Sephiroth suddenly clutched his head. "Could it be…..That I was born the same way? Am I….A human being?" he asked himself, staring at his hands. (Jack's Theme 2{The Truth Revealed, FFX})

"No such luck. You are a monster, a being of pure darkness." said a familiar face. Jack detected the attack in time to block, as did Sephiroth, but Zack flew back in to the wall. Genesis floated down in front of them and smiled.

"Genesis, so you are alive!" Zack groaned. Genesis frowned.

'I suppose I am, if you can call this living." he replied touching his face. The degradation had worsened, and Genesis had lost most of the color from his upper body.

"What am I?" Sephiroth asked. Genesis smiled.

"We are all made from Jenova's cells. Jenova Project G gave birth to Angeal….and monsters like myself. Jenova project S combined all failed experiments to make a perfect being of Darkness. They conducted the tests on a small human boy, who stands outside this very reactor. They extracted the darkness from his heart, and you were thus born." Genesis explained smirkingly. Sephiroth gasped in horror.

"What do you want?" he asked quietly.

"Sephiroth, I need your help. My cellular structure is fractured. My body continues to degrade. But, you're cellular structure cannot be copied. Therefore, you cannot degrade. Share your cells with me." Genesis offered, holding a purple apple up toward Sephiroth. Zack knew it to be a Banora White, or "Dumbapple." Sephiroth looked up at Genesis firmly. (end Jack's Theme 2)

"Whether your words…are lies meant to deceive me, or the truth that I have sought all my life….It makes no difference." he said as he knocked the Dumbapple out of Genesis' hand, who frowned. "You will rot." Sephiroth said as he turned and walked out the door. Genesis nodded.

"I see. Perfect monster indeed." he said as he too walked outside. Jack quickly grabbed Zack's arm and pulled him up. They ran outside together. (Timely Ambush, Crisis Core)

Countless Genesis soldiers stood outside. With one attack, they knocked Cloud to the ground, who was protecting Tifa. The two boys quickly ran to engage them. After dispatching a few of them, Zack turned to Tifa. "Get him out of here! We'll be right behind you!" he yelled. She nodded, and put Cloud's arm over her shoulder.

The two friends fought as fast as they could to clear a path. They struck down the grunts, and several dozen massive Genesis fused monsters walked up to them. Jack sighed, and raised his Keyblade, but Zack held up his hand. He charged up again. This time, Jack heard Angeal's voice.

"Prove your honor to me." he said calmly. Zack crouched. "I got it!" he yelled as he dashed forward. He felled the first monster in a series of lightning-fast punches. He dashed to the second one and hit it with some quick kicks. Finally, he flew to the last and dove right through it, leaving an explosion behind him. "Let's go before more show up!" he yelled. Jack nodded and they began running after Tifa. They caught up with her halfway back to the village. Jack and Zack quickly put Cloud between then and ran the rest of the way. (end Timely Ambush)

After making it back to their room in the inn, Cloud was asleep on his bed. "Sephiroth's in Shinra manor, in the library. I think it's best to let him be." Zack said.

"What even happened in there?" Jack asked himself.

"I don't know, man." Zack shrugged. He looked over at his friend's appearance. Jack looked like he was about to keel over. "Get some sleep, man. I'll keep an eye out for Sephiroth." he told him. Jack nodded gratefully and fell asleep.

LATER THAT NIGHT….

Jack suddenly awoke to the smell of ash and burning wood. He ran outside to find the village on fire. Zack quickly came up to him. "Sephiroth's gone insane! He set the village on fire, and now he's headed for the reactor!" he yelled over the chaos.

"What should I do?" Jack asked him.

"Do what you can here! Tifa went after Sephiroth! I'm going to head up there now. Meet me up there when the townspeople are safe!" he yelled. Jack nodded, and Zack took off up the mountain path. Jack busied himself with checking the burning houses, finding only Zangan, Tifa's mentor. He didn't even see Cloud head up to the reactor.

"I've got it from here! Go check on Tifa and Zack!" Zangan told him. Jack nodded and began the run up the mountain.

MEANWHILE….

Zack came running in to the reactor and saw Tifa on the floor badly injured. "Tifa!" he yelled in concern. She turned away from him.

"I hate Soldier! I hate you all!" she yelled as she passed out. Zack looked around in disgust. He ran up the stairs, drawing his sword. He cut the doors apart and dashed in to the room. Sephiroth stood in front of a glass tank. Inside the tank was a naked blue woman with a plate on her head that said "Jenova."

"Mother, we meet at last. Let's go to the promised land together, Mother." Sephiroth said comfortingly. Zack raised the Buster Sword to Sephiroth's neck, who half turned to him.

"Sephiroth, have you completely lost your mind?" he demanded. In a split second, Sephiroth slashed at Zack with his sword. Zack lost his balance and fell into the abyss below.

He landed on a glass platform and looked around. Sephiroth floated down behind him and smiled as he raised his sword. (Controlling the Iron Beast, Crisis Core)

Sephiroth sent four floating crystals to surround himself, shielding him. Zack set to work on cutting them down, but Sephiroth disappeared. He reappeared behind Zack and pushed him forward. Zack jumped back up and jumped in to the air. He crashed to the ground and created a shockwave. Sephiroth was hit by the explosion, but barely flinched. Zack slowed down as Sephiroth did his own special attack. "Traitor." he said as he raised his sword. He and Zack rose in to the air and Sephiroth hit Zack in a quick flurry of slices. "You will pay." Sephiroth said as he crashed to the ground.

"Oh yeah, well here we go!" Zack yelled as he charged up. "You can do it, Zack." said a female voice. Zack tossed his sword into the air and ran so fast that he began to glow. "Yeah, I'm on fire now!" he yelled as he caught his sword. Every strike cut deeper and hurt Sephiroth more. With a final strike, he pushed Sephiroth back, for the moment. (end Controlling the Iron Beast)

"You're not the Sephiroth I once knew!" Zack yelled as he charged Sephiroth. Sephiroth locked swords with him, before shooting him back the way they came. Zack landed on his feet in the Jenova room, but Sephiroth appeared and struck Zack, sending him flying. Zack fell out of the room and landed halfway down the stairs, too weak to move. The Buster Sword stuck in the ground behind Sephiroth as he turned back to Jenova.

He was too preoccupied to see a boy with spiky blonde hair enter the room and pick up the Buster Sword. Cloud charged Sephiroth and impaled him in the back with the giant sword. Sephiroth repulsed and fell to the ground. Cloud went back to check on Tifa. Surprisingly, Sephiroth came stumbling out of the room. Cloud furiously raised the sword again. "Sephiroth!" he yelled as he jumped in to the air. Their blades met, but Sephiroth quickly sent Cloud flying back to the ground, where he lay.

"Cloud!" groaned Zack. Sephiroth smiled victoriously until they all heard the door open a final time. A boy familiar to them all walked in to the room with his Keyblade at the ready.

"You!" gasped Sephiroth. Jack glared at the silver haired man.

"You are twisted! There is only one person I can think of who would something like this. You belong in the darkness, Sephiroth, and I will send you there!" he yelled. Sephiroth smiled.

"Come and try." he challenged. Jack yelled as he jumped in to the air. Sephiroth smiled as he thrust his sword forward through Jack's chest. "Don't test me!" he yelled. Jack winced as he pulled his way forward on the blade until he could touch the ground. He lifted Sephiroth in to the air, and slowly walked in to the tank room. "Impossible!" Sephiroth gasped. Jack smiled painfully.

"Possible." he said. He flung Sephiroth in to the wall, sending the sword with him. Sephiroth gasped as he slumped forward and fell in to the waiting abyss. "Go back to sleep." Jack said clutching his chest. He began to stagger back out, but heard voices. He looked outside to see various infantrymen walking around. There was a man in a lab coat with glasses examining Zack and Cloud. Two Turks stood watching. One was Tseng, and the other was a girl with red hair. He felt himself going unconscious and fell in to the room. The man in the lab coat walked up to him and examined him. He suddenly started laughing maniacally.

"Above all three, this one will make a perfect test subject! One gifted of the light, but also haunted by darkness. Let's see if we can't bring it out, shall we!?" he laughed evilly. Jack stretched out his hand toward the stretcher Zack lay on and passed out.

AN UNKNOWN AMOUNT OF TIME LATER ON DESTINY ISLANDS….

Mist sat on the shore staring in to the sky. Suddenly, she felt the air disturbed. She turned around to see someone watching her. It was a young man, tall and well built. He bad brown hair and wore a tight black shirt. "I'm sorry if I startled you, but I needed to talk to you, Mist." he said sitting next to her.

"How do you know my name?" she demanded.

"My name's Terra, and I'm Jack's friend. He went missing, and I need to know where he is. He's been missing for a month now." he told her. She gasped in horror.

Next chapter is the last one of Crisis Core. Hope you liked this one! Review and PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE VOTE ON MY POLL. Bye.