Disclaimer: I do not own FF7 or FF13.

It was a silence that shouldn't be found on the Lindblum. None of their calls had been received, and none returned, but only the sound of static hissing in the transport's speakers told them of the impending danger. Their airship hovered for a moment as they surveyed the darkened landing pad before it made touch down. "Get ready for the worst." Fang said as she secured a gun around her hip, "Eyes pealed because we have no idea what the hell's waitin' for us out there."

There was no audible answer, but the grim looks she got from the group told her that they knew the severity of this situation. Tifa tugged on her gloves and sucked in a deep breath that she forgot to release before carefully stepping out of the transport after Fang and Vanille. With the two Oerban's ahead, Tifa followed shortly behind with Aerith while Sazh and Cloud wrapped up the group. "Where's Cid?" Cloud asked, glancing at Sazh briefly.

"I heard that he had arrived on the Lindblum... but I've got no idea what happened after I left to pick you lot up." The older man said, hands gripped tightly around his two pistols, "I mean, I was gone for two- three hours tops. What could've happened?"

"Everything going to hell apparently." Fang snorted before she suddenly lowered her body, motioning for everybody to do the same. She moved and pressed her side to a metal crate. They could hear the quiet patter of footsteps and the low hiss. "What the hell is that?" The spear-wielder murmured, peering out to see the black four-legged beast.

"What do you think we should do?" Vanille asked.

"It's harder sneakin' up on monsters."

"But if we fight it we'll draw attention to ourselves." Cloud concluded, "We can go around the right-" A sudden explosion rocked the grounds, making them duck their head and whip around to the fire that had burst out of one of the adjacent doors linked to the metal walkways hanging above their heads. It metal groaned loudly, echoing throughout the entire area. The smoke and dust whipped around an unseen force, and they heard the beast let out a short roar before it deteriorated swiftly into a whimper and dispersing into dark fumes. With the crimson blade set beside her, Lightning's back was facing them. She swiftly jerked her head to her right, watching as a group of those monsters charged straight for her. Electricity cackled around her fingertips, erupting into a roaring thundaga that completely destroyed her foes in a single blow.

"L-Lightning?" Vanille gasped, quickly dashing after Fang who had already charged out towards the pinkette.

"Lightning!" Fang breathed, looking down the hallway that the pinkette had just cleared, "You're back?! What the hell happened here?"

Looking worse for wear, her usual garb lacked the white cloak and armguards, consisting only of her black leather bodice and boots. There was evidence of blood smears on her white skin. "I let Caius deal with the clone. Sephiroth's here."

"Are you sure?" Cloud asked, his grip on his fusion blade tightening until his knuckles were white.

"These monsters... he's summoned them to take down the entire ship. I ran into him just as he was about to kill Raines-"

"Is Raines-"

"Alive." Lightning said, her teal blue eyes looking over everyone, "Hope's unconscious. Sephiroth knocked him out because he thinks that he has the Heart."

"But you have him somewhere safe now?" Vanille asked worriedly and sighed a breath of relief when Lightning nodded, "Then what about Noel and Barret?"

"Haven't seen them."

"Cid?"

"No." Lightning shook her head and glanced around the empty landing dock, "The hangar's filled with those monsters... hell, so is the rest of the Lindblum. Raines and Hope are the only ones I've come across that are still alive."

"We have to Barret." Cloud insisted, "I know he's still alive."

"I've secured the bridge." Lightning said, pointing her finger up towards the doorway she had just destroyed, "That's where I left Raines and Hope."

"We can rendezvous here then." The blond continued.

"So you're suggesting that we split up?" Aerith breathed, looking between Lightning and Cloud warily, "I don't think that's a good idea. If Sephiroth's here, then we should stick together."

"But what about Noel and Barret?" Cloud asked, "We can't-"

"Noel's hurt." Lightning interrupted, "He lost his arm... and Caius hasn't come back yet." A grim silence set in, leaving them writhing in the dreadful agony of fear and anticipation of something terrible. "The Lindblum's too big for us to cover as a group." The pinkette reasoned, "If Barret and Noel's still out there, then it's only a matter of time before they're found."

"We can split up into groups." Cloud suggested but Fang quickly shot him down.

"No. Splitting up is a crappy idea." Fang said, shaking her head firmly, "No way in hell."

"I agree with Cloud." Lightning stated simply, crossing her arms across her bust, "We should split up. Cover as much ground as possible. The group that finds Barret and Noel should bring them back here, and that goes to say for Raines and Hope. Sazh could get them out of here. Take them back to Edge. They need medical attention."

Rolling her eyes in frustration, Fang petulantly glared at Lightning, "We're too scattered. We have to regroup!"

"And we can't regroup if the others are somewhere on the Lindblum!" Cloud vented, "We know for sure Barret, Noel, and Cid are somewhere on this ship."

"If they're not dead already."

"We won't know until we find them." Cloud retorted, "Hope and Raines are here. We know where they are. We go get them, bring them back to the transport, then we can get them to safety."

"Y'know what?" Fang yelled, raising her hand in mock defeat, "Fine. Do what you want. Whatever the hell you guys decide though, I'm going with Lightning."

"Alright then." Cloud nodded before turning to look at the rest, "We'll keep the groups the same as last time. Vincent, Aerith, Tifa and I will go looking for Barret, Cid, and Noel. Lightning, Vanille, Sazh and Fang will go back to find Hope and Raines."

"Then we're decided?" Aerith asked, glancing around at everyone as if to gauge their expressions. Tifa shrugged helplessly, before she snuck a look at Lightning. The pinkette's eyes immediately darted over to meet hers. Nothing was given up. Her face remained completely stoic and unexpressive, making Tifa hesitate in the trust and assurance she had placed between them. Unconsciously, her hand drifted over her Heart, and she watched carefully as Lightning's eyes seemingly flickered towards her movement before an unseen intent instantly brewed in her stare. A part of her wondered if she had received the Heart, or if it was some sort of ploy. She truly didn't know because she neither felt any different and Lightning hadn't treated her any differently. Instead, the pinkette seemed increasingly distant.

"Let's go." Cloud rushed, beginning the new search task that had been given to them. Tifa watched as the blond man departed with Aerith following closely behind.

"Tifa?"

"H-Huh?" The fighter nearly jumped out of her skin when Vincent's voice called out to her. He was like a shadow, seemingly non-existant to them at times, and only spoke when absolutely required to. "Right." Nodding, Tifa looked at Lightning one last time, and felt a certain unease in how intense her stare was. Vincent's body however, soon broke the eye contact, forcing the fighter to look up at the man before she unwillingly walked onwards after Cloud.

Only after when they were in the darkened hallways, did Vincent surprisingly speak to her."Be careful." He warned lowly so that only she could hear, "Sephiroth will be after the Heart."

"Well I-" Halting in her speech, she looked curiously at the man whose red eyes seemed to glow slightly in the darkness, "I mean, Hope has it... right?"

"You and I... we're beings of the Chaos. I know what you carry within you." Vincent said quietly, confirming the fact that the Heart was indeed within her, and that he was the only one she knew who had the knowledge that she was the true Guardian of the Heart of Chaos. "There is... something different about Lightning."

"Different?" Tifa echoed numbly before focusing her eyes down the hallway where Cloud and Aerith were. She couldn't help but wonder if Fang and the others were safe.

...

Their steps clicked against the solid floor. Lightning led the pack to Fang's insistence. Her steps were well-measured, calm, and precise, but the strides were too large. Her shoulders were straight and that formality seemingly extended throughout her entire body. There used to be a sort of strut that they had all known Lightning to have. Then, there was the question about Etro. The Goddess' persona seemed strangely fused with Lightning's despite the fact that they had been kept separate. She was too calm to be Lightning, but too emotional to be Etro. Fang knew the Goddess would never have allowed them to split up in order to look for survivors when the threat was still out there. The red spear lifted in the air quietly like a stealthy predator prepared to attack until everything came to a grinding halt when Fang pressed the tip carefully to the nape of Lightning's neck. The pinkette's footsteps immediately stopped before she turned to look over her shoulder at the other three. Fang stood there, her expression hard and her eyes nearly burning with anger. "What did you do to Lightning?"

Sazh's pistols were wielded and held carefully at his side while Vanille's strange weapon folded open. "What are you doing?" Lightning started.

"Don't give me that shit!" Fang yelled, "If you had found Raines and Hope, you could've brought them to safety yourself. The damn portals weren't working. Even communications with Hope had been cut off."

"I was fighting Sephiroth."

"Those things stay open unless you decide to close them." Fang hissed, "Where is Serah and Snow?"

"I don't know."

"Bullshit! Wherever the hell Serah is would be the first thing you would've thought about."

"I just got back."

"Bullshit."

"I found Raines and Hope. They were already hurt and this place had already been over-run-"

"Bullshit." Fang repeated menacingly, "Something like this doesn't happen in a few hours."

"But it did-"

"It did, and you're acting way too calm about this."

Turning around, Lightning didn't even seem to care that the tip of the spear drew against her neck, "Then what would you have me do?"

Pressing her lips into a thin line, Fang further pushed the spear closer until the tip pierced the skin, "Tell me. Who has the Heart of Chaos?" Sazh and Vanille both looked at Fang wearily and Lightning could already see the hesitance seep into their stares.

"Fang, are you sure-" Vanille started but the older Oerban simply flung her hand out to silence Vanille completely while still carefully maintaining the spear held threateningly against Lightning's neck.

"Who the hell has the Heart?"

"You think I would give it to someone?"

"I know you did."

"But you don't know who I gave it to."

"I don't know... or maybe I do, but if anything were to happen to Lightning, that's the one piece of information that she'll guard until the end. Especially from the likes of you."

"Exactly." Lightning stated, tilting her head mockingly at Fang, "Why would I tell you then?"

"You-"

"Maybe you don't know, but Rufus has reported in. Apparently, JENOVA has the ability to take on the traits and appearances of its hosts." Lightning said coolly, "How do I know... that you're the real Fang?"

"What?"

"I am the Goddess of Death and Reincarnation. If I did give the Heart away, then what are you trying to accomplish? You know you can't kill me. But... if I didn't give the Heart away, then what? You kill me and the world ends."

"I know that!"

"And that's exactly what you want isn't it?" Lightning asked, "It's exactly what someone possessed by JENOVA might do."

"Don't try to turn this around on me!" Fang yelled, her grip tightening around the spear until it was shaking. Lightning's darted away from the spear-wielder, staring into the eyes of the other two. The uncertainty was poisonous, and although Fang remained adamant of her accusation, Sazh and Vanille were starting to crumble beneath the pressure.

"You don't know who I gave the Heart to." Lightning continued, "No one does except for the one who has it. I did it in-case JENOVA really did get a hold on anyone of us. All so Sephiroth wouldn't know. And... Hope told you didn't he? He told everyone that he had the Heart." Lightning's hand swept up faster than any of them had anticipated, seizing the red spear to twist the tip away from her neck. Her eyes widened as the realization hit her; a short chuckle escaping her lips. "That is exactly why he does not have the Heart." Lightning yanked on the red spear, abruptly pulling Fang towards her. In a blinding light, the Muramasa arched forward, cleanly slicing Fang's stomach open.

Everything seemed to happen in slow motion as the spear wielder's body crumpled. Horror possessed their expressions as they staggered to comprehend what had just happened. Sazh lifted his guns, a few bullets escaping to graze across Lightning's cheek but the pinkette then threw the spear straight at the older man. It entered his gut, skewering his body. In reality, it was all but in a few seconds of exploited shock and surprise. Vanille stumbled and fell onto the ground, eyes wide with her weapon forgotten at her feet. "L-Lightning..."

The blue eyes turned to her, cold and ruthless. A reddish hue slowly bled into her irises before her pupils slimmed into a slit to reveal her true nature. Stalking over to Vanille, she allowed the long blade of the Muramasa to screech against the floor, "Vanille," she said softly in Lightning's voice, "you really are better off dead."

"F-Fang. Sazh!" The young girl yelled, green eyes wide with desperation as she looked to the defeated two. The Muramasa lifted, hovering over Vanille but Lightning had caught the reflection on the blade, leaping back to avoid the large chunk of ice that was hurled at her.

"Lightning!"

"Sis!" Serah's voice was echoed by Snow's.

"If it isn't my dear sister." Lightning muttered sarcastically, turning a tired stare to the two standing there along with a large red feline.

"Sephiroth." Serah corrected her earlier words with a trembling voice. The baby blue eyes looked to Fang and Sazh, and Snow seemingly instantly reacted to his love's distress. The air chilled until their breaths could be seen.

"Serah-" Lightning started. A thick layer of ice slammed into her from both slides, created from both sides of the wall around her to encase her within.

"Vanille! Now!" Snow yelled for the younger girl. Snapping out of her daze, Vanille crawled over to Fang and Sazh, immediately conjuring a curaga.

The ice shattered like crystalline rain, shimmering as it descended around them. Lifting his ice hammer, he clashed with Lightning head-on, staring into the red eyes with slit pupils. "Damn it Lightning!" Snow yelled before he shifted his weight to one side, allowing the pinkette to move past him before he jumped back to put the distance between them again. A blue crystal swirled into his palm before he shattered it. The dark hall way was instantly lit up, the large intricate circles pulsing a bright brilliant blue before ice shot up from the ground, completely sealing the hallway off. Layer after layer, it shot up. Delivering a slash to the ice, it shattered before condensing into spikes that lurched forward aggressively like a tidal wave. Lightning leaped back continuously, avoiding the magic with delicate grace. It pushed her back to the very beginning and the ice continued to seal over the entire entry until it completely closed the passage way.

Raising from his knee, Snow nodded to Shiva and Nix before the two disappeared again. "She... shouldn't be able to get in." The man said, looking around to inspect the ice cage they had locked themselves in. Walking to Sazh, he gently rested him back against the wall, "Hey old man. She did quite a number on you didn't she?"

Sazh managed to chuckle, despite coughing up blood as a result, "Nothing too bad." He said, resting his head back with a deep grimace, "I'll live."

Snow nodded and rested a hand over the red spear protruding from Sazh's gut, "I'll get this thing out of you." Freezing the metal beneath his hand, he quickly cut it in half with the sharpened ice. "You ready?" Snow asked, moving behind the older man.

"As ready as I'll ever be."

"Alright." Steadying his grip, Snow nodded to Serah who was prepared to heal before he pulled, dislodging the broken weapon.

...

She rested her hand against the cold surface of the ice, pressing on it lightly as if to test its solidity. It was solid indeed, a stark contrast to Snow's frantic attempt to get her away. They were the L'Cie of the Goddess, in other words, her L'Cie. They could be turned C'ieth at her whim.

Although... she would much rather them suffer than have a painless death such as turning into a mindless monster. With that amused thought kept in her mind, Lightning turned around and looked at the hallway Cloud and his group had gone. Cloud's idea of them splitting up had been a brilliant idea, if not completely idiotic and naïve at the same time.

...

There wasn't a single enemy despite the number of bodies they had came across. Tifa exchanged uneasy looks with Cloud, remarking how eerily similar this situation was with the time they had invaded SHINRA corporation without a single soldier to stand in their way. "Barret!" Cloud yelled, after growing confident that there was truly no enemy in their vicinity, "Where are you!?"

"Barret!" Aerith repeated after him, looking down the numerous hallways they passed. It appeared as if the power had been cut to some sectors of the Lindblum while it was still intact for others.

"Cloud." Vincent murmured, instantly calling for their attention. The red robed man nodded to a particular door down the hallway lined with scorch marks as if it had been burned.

"Let's go." The group nodded to each other and began their jog towards it. Tifa too before her feet became heavy. Her Heart constricted painfully as if it were reacting to something. She watched as Aerith, Cloud and Vincent get a lead on her until her feet completely stopped. Turning around, her breath hitched when she saw Lightning standing there. Tifa clamped her hand over her chest as if to control the deep throbbing that was becoming increasingly painful. A certain glint shone in her blue eyes that Tifa couldn't recognize nor understand but simply learned to fear.

And things just keep getting worse. JENOVA/Sephiroth is completely dominating and a part of me reasons: "Why not?"

Sephiroth is already an incredibly strong individual (already stronger than the protagonists of FF7 in his own right), plus he's completely fused with JENOVA, and on top of that, they're fused with Lightning. She did defeat the big baddy of her games on her own and reached a God-like status.

I just seem to have this power ranking in my head that makes me think that the others really wouldn't stand a chance. I hope that doesn't make the recent chapters seem rushed with the good guys being plowed down...