By a Fraction of a Degree

A FFVII Fanfiction work by findthetiger129

Rated T for Violence and Language.

I do not own Final Fantasy VII, or any of the characters, trademarks or likenesses from Final Fantasy VII or its spin-offs That honor goes to Square-Enix.

Part III: Demons


Chapter 54, Rumor and Substance

June 15th [ ν ] – εуλ 0008

It was ridiculously easy to sneak into Midgar if one knew how, especially if you wanted to get into the slums. So it was that after disembarking from the Highwind and instructing the crew to remain on standby out over the ocean to avoid the radar, Cid rented a van while Cloud followed along with his motorcycle and, with Zack, Aerith, and Yuffie riding in the back, the five of them quickly made the drive to the city, meeting Elfe and Lou near the entrance to Sector 6. It was Cloud who approached where the two of them waited in plainclothes.

"I see you made it," Elfe said.

Cloud nodded. "That speaks for itself, has anything changed since Kunsel called?"

Elfe looked troubled, and for someone who didn't generally show her emotions, that was saying something. "We can speak when we're somewhere private. Lou will ride with Highwind and I'll ride with you. We'll show you where to keep your transportation safe."

A few minutes later, she had directed them to the remains of an old warehouse where a couple of cars were already parked. "As you can see," Lou said when everyone was out, we've been using this place for our own vehicles for a while." Once they were out of the building, Lou secured it with two padlocks and then they made their way towards the service elevator that would carry them above plate, making sure to steer clear of check points where they could, cutting through Wall Market before eventually finding their way to the elevator shaft embedded within in one of the upper plate's smaller supports.

Lou shut the door behind them before hitting the lift button and typing in a probably hacked security code. "So what's the story?" Zack asked after a moment.

"Not much of one," Elfe admitted. "Freya told us Kunsel was on his way and then he showed up with that other SOLDIER. He only walked out of that back room to take a shower. Other than that, he hasn't left him.

"I see," Zack murmured. "Still…" he shook his head. "I'm having trouble believing it. Kunsel told me Luxiere'd disappeared shortly before he found us. We were almost certain he was dead."

"Even if he is alive, it probably won't be for long," Lou pointed out.

"We won't accept that unless it happens," Zack said firmly.

Aerith nodded in agreement. "We can't give up before we've actually seen him."

Yuffie frowned. "So why does Kunsel even need us, anyway?"

"Because there's some things more important than treasure," Cid grumbled, giving her a warning look.

As soon as the elevator pulled to a halt, Elfe took the lead and they threaded through the backstreets until they reached the apartment building that was their destination. Soon after, they were inside, and Cloud nodded to Shears as they passed him and Veld in the living area. Kunsel peeked his head out the door to the back room. "You made it," he said softly. He walked out into the living area, closing the door behind him. He looked tired.

"How is he?" Zack asked.

Kunsel sighed. "Not much different, he's asleep right now. Spent most of the night muttering about this guy, Usher. I tried to ask him who that was but I couldn't get anything out of him that made any sense." He shook his head, and reached for something that was leaning against the door. "But this is something you really need to see."

Veld and Shears both looked over and Cloud saw that Kunsel was holding what appeared to be a breast-plate in his hands, not unlike what some of the more recent SOLDIERs tended to wear. "Take a look at the symbol on the front," he handed it to Zack.

The dark-haired SOLDIER frowned upon seeing it. "Yeah, that does look kind of familiar."

Cloud moved over to take a look before recognition dawned. "That's the logo on the belt from my SOLDIER uniform. The one you put me in when… we got out…"

"You know, you're right," Zack said. "Come to think of it, why was that one different? It was in the same closet..." He stroked his chin thoughtfully. "Is it possible some of the same guys that took the professor were there?"

"That's a better guess than you realize," Kunsel murmured, and propped the door open so they could see inside. Aerith gasped, and Zack's expression hardened at the sight of the man slumbering in the dark but still wearing the suit with glowing blue tubes.

Kunsel shut the door again, his expression grim. "I considered taking the thing off, but then Shalua took one look and said doing that would kill him. Whatever happened to him, he's been made so dependent on the mako in that suit he can't live without it."

Yuffie looked a bit ill at that. In fact, everyone seemed to. "That's… disgusting…" she said after a moment.

"You don't think Hojo might have known something about this?" Zack asked.

"It's possible," Lou said.

"We should look into it," Kunsel said, "But first, there's something I want to check out here…"

There was a moan from the back room. Kunsel ducked back in to see what was going on and Zack followed him. "Lux?" Kunsel knelt by the man's side. "What's up?"

Cloud watched from the door as Zack sat down next to him in the dark, their three pairs of SOLDIER eyes only just outshone by the light from the suit. Luxiere's eyes narrowed. "I told you to get lost Usher… where's my… sister…? Who's Lux… And… why are there… two of you…?"

"Luxiere," Kunsel said calmly. "You don't have one, and that's your name, remember? My name's not Usher and there aren't two of me. One of them is Zack."

"Right… that $*&%# put her there… just like she put you…" He narrowed his eyes suddenly looking in Zack's direction. "I don't care how many times you drag me back…"

"We didn't drag you anywhere. It's okay…" Zack tried.

Luxiere seemed to be having more trouble staying conscious even as he was clearly fighting for some semblance of lucidity. "Don't lie to me… I got to the lift… Or did I… You're not a Tsviet… Why aren't you in uniform… Did you come from upstairs…?"

Zack frowned, definitely confused. "Upstairs? Lux, it's me, Zack!"

Luxiere looked over at the other SOLDIER and then back at Zack. "Who…?" The whole exchange seemed to have worn him out because at that point he trailed off and his eyes closed.

They waited a minute or two, before everyone left the room to give the man some rest. As they were leaving Cloud asked "What was that all about?"

"I don't know," Kunsel said, his expression grim. "But that was the other thing I wanted to investigate. I found him on the bridge in front of Reactor 5, but he had to have come from somewhere…"

"I get it. He did mention a lift didn't he?" Zack said, taking a seat across from Shears in the living area. "You want us to investigate the reactor, and see if we can find this thing. Maybe then we can figure out what happened."

Kunsel nodded. "Exactly. I don't know what good it'll do, but I think we should anyway. Something's not right here, and we've got to find out what it is."

"In that case, you'll probably need to someone to hack the security cameras," Elfe said. While they'd been in the other room she'd been in the process of getting together ingredients for dinner.

"That's true," Lou agreed. "And you'll probably want to go when there aren't a lot of people around."

"Shalua would probably be up to the hacking," Shears suggested. "She's been holed up in her room working for the last few hours, but I think she'd also be interested."

"Thanks," Kunsel said. He walked over to the kitchen counter, leaning against it as he considered the situation. "Why don't we go early tomorrow morning," he suggested. "That way, it's not likely we'll meet anyone. I just hope I wasn't already noticed when I found him."

At that point, Shears looked over at Veld. "You've been awfully quiet about all this. I don't know if I like it."

The older man frowned. "I'm not entirely sure I like it either."

"What's wrong Dad?" Elfe asked.

Veld shook his head and sighed. "If the Turks didn't already know about something of this nature… This could be an even more dangerous can of worms than we realize."


Late that night, Tseng was working at his computer in his office, looking through a series of files lifted from Scarlet's computer. Unfortunately, Hojo's encrypted files had yet to be completely cracked. The man could be insanely paranoid when he had a mind to be. However, he'd just recently received a lead on a key that just might help in that regard. Further, he'd just stumbled upon a series of messages between Scarlet's department and Heidegger's that might provide a meaningful breakthrough. These too, were heavily encrypted, but after spending months pouring over Hojo and Hollander's missives these were simple by comparison. Hopefully he'd have them decrypted in a matter of days. There was one however that was in plain text and he looked it over with interest:

"From: Heidegger

To: Scarlet

Subject: ?

Has there been any word from below?"

"From Scarlet:

To: Heidegger

Subject: Re: ?

Nothing. There have been no communications since the event. Not even from Requisitions."

After puzzling over them for a moment, Tseng came to a decision. He'd asked them a couple of times already if they knew anything, but perhaps if confronted with a request for an explanation maybe they would come forward. And if not, well, it was Rufus's prerogative to know what was going on in his company. And if they wouldn't tell him, he'd make sure they'd regret it…

His PHS registered a message just as it appeared on both the smaller device and the monitor at which he worked. He read the name of the sender curiously.

"Reactor 5 Security Detail?" Inside the mail there appeared to be a video file dated yesterday afternoon. Selecting it, he found himself looking at the bridge outside the reactor, and that was when he noticed the figure crawling out the front door.

He supposed it was understandable that they hadn't immediately noticed the man there. After all, the first security checkpoint wasn't until further inside the building and the functions of the reactor were almost completely automated aside from the regular checks by technicians. What was even less understandable was the fact that one of GUARDIAN was seen carrying the man away from the scene, and the fact that the man he was carrying... Tseng stared hard at the image of the Ex-SOLDIER looking over the prone figure on the ground and the uniform he was wearing.

It was a mako-powered suit, just like the one worn by the man who had taken the professor, and while he couldn't see former 1st Class Kunsel's face, he could tell by the man's body language, that he had apparently recognized the other person. But that didn't answer the question of how this man had gotten there in the first place. After a moment's deliberation, he reached for his PHS. The first call was to the First Sergeant of the Midgar Military Police that all sectors should be on alert for any sign of Kunsel.

The next call was to Reno. It rang a couple of times and then he heard the sound of someone picking up on the other end of the line. "Yeah boss?"

"I need you and Rude to investigate the Sector 5 Reactor first thing in the morning. I just received a feed and I'll be sending you the details via email as soon as I've alerted Rude."

"We'll get right on it, yo."


June 16th [ ν ] – εуλ 0008

Everyone got up early the next morning and it wasn't long afterward that they were making their way towards the bridge, alert for any sign they'd been spotted. They didn't plan on staying long, but if there was a chance they could solve the mystery of what had happened to Luxiere to leave him in the condition he was in, it could only help. At least, that was Zack's opinion.

Of course they were planning to leave as soon as they had those answers, but not before. Sneaking through the streets, they made their way to Reactor 5 with minimal difficulty. All of them had plenty of practice at moving swiftly, and silently. Where there were roadblocks, they simply climbed to the rooftops and leapt from building to building. It was only when they actually reached the road by the bridge that they actually had to climb down and survey the area.

Zack dropped to the sidewalk, and Cloud landed next to him, allowing Aerith to slip down from where he'd been carrying her through the jump, while Zack visually scanned the alleys for guards. Kunsel took a moment to check the roads and Cloud looked across the bridge. Yuffie was still on the roof, since she was going to be the lookout. Cid hopped down next to the flower girl, his spear at the ready, and for once he wasn't smoking, lest the smell or the light from the end of it alert anyone to their presence.

After a moment Kunsel reported "Nothing on the main road, I saw a kid playing with an airplane down that way, but I saw him before. I think he lives around here."

Zack nodded. "All right then." He looked up at Yuffie and signaled they were going in. She nodded and then crouched lower on the roof of the building, out of sight, but with a perfect vantage point and only a small blind spot right at the far exit to the bridge. Zack reached for his PHS and dialed Shalua's number.

Once she picked up he spoke "We're in position."

"Got it, looping security cameras now… confirmed. Get moving. You've got two hours before the program times out."

"Thanks. That's more than enough time." He ended the call and motioned that everyone hurry towards the reactor. It was not lost on him that this was the very bridge he'd faced Angeal on. Aerith's church was right below them… but he couldn't think about that right now. The group hurried along the catwalk until they reached the T-intersection and turned to the main entrance of the reactor. Not long after that, they were through the doors and into the darkened corridors that led deeper, towards the core.

Kunsel knelt at a place, inspecting the floor. "Keep your eyes open, he very well might have come this way." The others watched as he went a little further and then stopped… "Damn it, I think the cleaners came through here. I saw a tiny bit of blood closer to the door, but here there's nothing. We'll just have to keep looking."

"What exactly are we looking for?" Aerith wondered aloud.

"Probably a seam in the wall or somethin'." Cid muttered. "He said somethin' about a lift, didn' he?"

"You don't think he meant the main elevator, do you?" Cloud asked, indicating a sign painted on the steel plating nearby.

Kunsel frowned. "It's possible. Maybe we should check it out."

"I doubt any of Hollander's stuff is still here," Zack said, "But where he was hiding out might not be a bad place to check either."

"You mean, from when you and Sephiroth came here looking for Angeal?" Kunsel asked.

Zack shrugged. "What have we got to lose?"

Kunsel nodded. "I guess you're right. Okay, I'll search the core. Zack, you and Aerith check where Hollander was." He looked over at Cloud. "How about you and Cid take a look at the walls here to see if you can find anything? If it's here, like Cid said, there might be a hollow wall with a shaft behind it."

"Sounds like a plan," Zack agreed. "If anyone runs into any trouble, we regroup back here."

With that decided, Cid commenced checking one side of the hallway and Cloud went to the other while Aerith and the two remaining SOLDIERs headed towards the elevator. It didn't take very long before they reached it, and not long after that, Zack and Aerith left Kunsel by the ladders as they proceeded to climb down onto the catwalks. It was a little odd, Zack reflected. Had it really been six years since he'd last been down here?

"Everything all right?" Aerith asked.

"Yeah, it's fine," he answered. "I was just thinking."

She nodded and the two of them walked on in silence for a bit. "It's terrible this happened," she said at last.

"I don't know if I can come up with the right word," Zack muttered, "Diabolical doesn't quite cover it." Looking ahead, he found they were almost inside the room where Hollander had been hiding out. It was clear that whatever had been here had been taken out years ago. Even the mako tube with the Genesis copy inside it had been removed. Not that he was surprised.

"Were you close to him, before?" Aerith asked.

"Kind of. We were buds before Nibelheim though I don't think we were terribly close. He spent more time with Kunsel. But he was an ambitious guy. Always boasting how he was going to make 1st before we would. Of course, we know how that turned out." The two of them began checking the walls and crevices for possible exit points.

"So that's why Kunsel seems so bothered by it," Aerith said after a moment.

"Well, I wonder if he feels a little guilty. After all, Luxiere disappeared just before me and Cloud came back."

"Like he… abandoned him to help you?" Aerith asked.

"Something like that," Zack said. "I don't think there was anything he could have done, but it wouldn't surprise me."

They continued searching for a few more minutes when Zack's PHS buzzed and he answered it. "Cid?" Soon after, he hung up and reached for his light broadsword. "We've got trouble."


After parting ways with Zack at the catwalks, Kunsel continued further into the core, climbing down a few more ladders and walking along several pipes. It was eerily quiet down here, with the exception of the mako percolating below him, and he would be all too happy to get out of here once he was finished. But even so, the image of Luxiere, lying on that cot, barely able to move, or even recognize the people around him… Would that have been his own fate, had he not left with Zack? Or would there have been something he could have done to keep it from happening?

He couldn't be sure, he told himself. There was no way he could have known… But that was exactly the problem. He hadn't known… If he'd known anything at all, he'd probably never have signed himself up for SOLDIER in the first place. That would have been the smart decision. His moment of self-deprecation on the catwalk was interrupted when just ahead, he heard voices. On getting closer, he realized it was one voice, and it sent his hand to the Gunblade at his hip.

"Man, this is a wild chocobo chase. I don't care if Tseng did see that guy around here, we've checked up and down this reactor, there's no way he came from down here." It was Reno.

So he had been seen. Damn it. He heard Rude grunt. Did that mean he agreed? He hadn't been around the Turk enough to know how he communicated nonverbally. Stealthily, he crept towards a nearby pipe, hopped onto it, and keeping his balance over the ocean of chemicals below, he started climbing deeper into the shadows. He was half listening when Reno spoke again below. "Hey, Rude. Who do you like?"

Rude didn't say anything at first, and Kunsel was a little surprised. What were they doing talking about relationships like a pair of girls at a time like this? Reno prodded the other Turk again. "What are you getting so embarrassed about? Come on, who do you like?"

Rude took an inordinate amount of time to answer, and when he did, Kunsel was even more surprised. "…Tifa."

"Hmmm," Reno also seemed surprised. "That's a tough one. But Elena's got it worse since she likes Tseng, but he likes Aerith."

Rude shook his head. "She married Zack."

Reno looked surprised. "How do you know that?"

"They were seen in Wutai."

"Well what do you know?" Reno chuckled. "I guess Elena does have a chance then."

Kunsel rolled his eyes. Back in the day, he'd have been all over gossip like this. But even so, he had better things to do right now then listen to them prattling on about their coworkers fantasies. He continued climbing, trying not to laugh.

He had probably made it about twenty feet up the pipe and was almost to the series of catwalks by which he'd come here, when he saw the two Turks come out of the area that housed the central core. Ducking down and creeping further away he started to head back towards the elevator, starting to type a message into his PHS. However, even with his lightning quick typing skills, he found himself interrupted by hearing Reno's PHS go off. The man answered it. "Yeah… what? Of course we're down in the core, where else would we be? Security thinks they've been hacked? All right, we'll go check it out."

Bad luck. There was no time. He jumped to the highest catwalk he could reach, landing lightly on it, and then hurried to the elevator. And that was when his own PHS buzzed. Cloud was calling? Not now. He went back to his message and sent it without bothering to answer as he reached for the button to open the elevator doors. Hopefully the matter wasn't too urgent. Still, he needed to get moving. The Turks already knew something was up, and it wouldn't be long before they figured out what. But he could still easily catch the lift a bit before the Turks could and that should hold them off for a little while.


Yuffie was crouched on the roof of the building where the others had left her, keeping her attention on the surrounding environs and bored out of her mind. She knew it had only been a few minutes since the others had left, but she really hoped they'd hurry up.

She was absently watching a young boy playing on the steps of one of the nearby buildings when suddenly, she felt a presence next to her, and then that presence entered her line of sight revealing that it was wearing a pair of familiar golden boots. Looking up, she blinked in surprise. "Vincent? What are you doing here? And how did you find us?"

"Freya," he answered. "I let Reeve know I was headed this way on a hunch and he asked me to get in contact with her."

"Ah, what kind of hunch?"

"Just a feeling…" Vincent murmured.

"Oh." Yuffie noticed that the boy seemed to be getting closer to the bridge, but he still seemed to be engrossed in the toy airship he was pretending to fly through the air. "Well, the others shouldn't be too long. Shalua hacked the cameras so no one would see them in there…"

Vincent answered with an affirming silence and Yuffie shrugged. Whatever. "Come on guys, get out of there…" she moaned.

A few minutes passed in silence and she found herself watching the boy again. Wait… he wasn't playing with that toy of his anymore. Instead, the little guy seemed to be looking cautiously towards the bridge, like he'd heard something…

"Yuffie…" Vincent got her attention and then pointed in the opposite direction, towards the main road into Sector 5, across the bridge on the next plate, which she knew led towards a military checkpoint. What looked like several regular troopers and a couple of SOLDIERs were headed from that direction.

"Yeah, I see."

She reached for her PHS and almost immediately, it buzzed indicating a text message from Kunsel. "Turks in the core."

"Damn it," she hissed. "Could this get any worse?" Her question was answered when Cloud and Cid backed out of the main entrance, wall spells glowing, their weapons drawn and she angrily drew her shuriken. This was going to suck, she could already tell.


A few minutes before, Cloud had been working his way along the wall opposite Cid, checking for any sounds that might indicate a hollow space when he heard the other man speak. "So what do you think about all this?"

"I'm not sure yet," he admitted.

Cid grunted in agreement. "Can't say I do either. But still, how crazy is this? Sniffin' around behind enemy lines when anyone with a pointy stick is lookin' for us. That'll get the adrenaline pumping for sure." He chuckled.

"If you go for that sorta thing," Cloud said. He tapped on the wall again with his fist. It sounded pretty solid.

Cid moved on to the next panel. "I gotta say, it's a lot more excitin' then hanging around Rocket Town." He paused, knocking hard on the wall. "But then again, I'll bet there's somewhere you'd rather be, isn't there… wait…"

At that moment, they both heard a noise from the end of the corridor leading deeper into the reactor. "Did you hear that?" Cid asked.

Cloud wordlessly pulled the First Sword from his sword harness and held it at the ready while Cid stood ready with his spear. Both men approached the far end of the corridor cautiously, to peek around the corner and Cloud tightened his grip on his blade.

His eyes widened as he saw the panel they'd been searching for suddenly slide open and three figures walked out. All were wearing versions of the same mako suit Luxiere had been wearing, along with helmets bearing only one lens for the wearers to view the world through. That was all Cloud noticed before he put up a Wall spell and ducked back behind the corner seeing Cid go for his PHS. Figuring it wasn't a bad idea he went for his own and whispered "You get Zack, I'll try Kunsel." He waited for a moment as it rang, but when the other SOLDIER didn't pick up, he slipped the device back into his pocket and readied himself to attack. That was around the time the three men cleared the corner, and he saw they were all packing what looked like machine guns. He soon saw four more of the strange men in the mako suits emerge from the opening and motioned to Cid that they should back up so they had more room to move.

The pilot agreed and they backed towards the reactor's main entrance. He felt his PHS buzz, but didn't bother to see if it was a text or a call. Instead, he cast another wall on Cid and the two of them moved out onto the bridge. At the same moment, he heard Yuffie running towards them and to his surprise, Vincent folded out of his cape at the intersection.

"Guys! We've got company coming!" the ninja shouted, right before he glanced behind her and saw several troopers advancing with SOLDIERs in their midst. He wasn't particularly worried about them individually. But get enough of them together, and they could still be overrun. He looked back at the combatants that were emerging from the main entrance and decided this needed to end quickly. He had no worries that Zack, Aerith, and Kunsel could get out, but they needed to make sure the way was clear enough they could escape without bringing the entire army down on them.

One of the soldiers from the reactor made a motion with his machine gun and the others fired. The bullets zinged off the wall spells as Cloud charged, bringing the First Sword around with a mighty swing and Cid vaulted in from overhead. However, the man he would have landed on stepped out of the way, attempting to come at the pilot with the butt of his rifle. Cloud's own opponent ducked, and he realized there was very little he could do here on this tiny catwalk where he could very easily take out Cid too if he wasn't careful. Cid seemed to realize this, as he leapt back and took a position with Yuffie and Vincent, who turned their attention to the approaching Shinra forces. Cloud rushed forward, cutting down two of the men with one swing now that Cid was out of his way. That was when he saw evidence of a Firaga being cast behind the men still coming from the reactor and then he heard Zack's voice. "Whoa, Cid wasn't kidding! Where the hell did these clowns come from?"

"Glad you could make it!" Cid called from the catwalk leading to the plate.

Zack quickly dispatched the enemies blocking his path before he looked around and saw the advancing SOLDIERs. "Man, I guess this isn't our day huh?"

"Did you see the shaft on your way out?" Cid asked.

"Shaft?" Zack asked, drawing his broadsword with his left hand. "I just saw these guys here…"

At that moment, Kunsel hurried out after him. "Zack! Turks!"

"You're kidding!" Zack shook his head in annoyance, "I think it's time to find a better place for this conversation, don't you?..."

His voice trailed off as the troopers finally arrived and one of the SOLDIERs held up a sword. "You are to surrender now or suffer the consequences…"

At that moment, Cloud heard the report of another rifle from the entrance to the reactor and the sound of it zinging off the SOLDIER's sword. There were more of them!? And they were fighting the Shinra troops? What was going on here?

After that, all was chaos. Cloud made his way towards the center of the bridge along with Zack, Kunsel, and Aerith, the three SOLDIER enhanced men doing their best to put up walls and protect her. At some point, he thought he saw a flurry of sparks and a head of red hair near the entrance behind the new wave of strange soldiers, but he couldn't be sure. That was when he saw something else near the end of the bridge that he and his companions were working their way towards. A pair of blue eyes peeking out of a mop of russet brown hair watched him at the edge of the bridge. A kid? Here? Damn it! This was all they needed!

His frustration turned to panic when he saw a few more Shinra troopers coming from the other way, causing the kid to run closer to the center of the bridge. Not really thinking, he ran in that direction, getting ready to cast a wall spell so at least the bystander wouldn't get hurt in this standoff.

He was almost there when something else entered the equation.

One of the soldiers from the reactor tossed a grenade.

There was no time to do anything else. Kicking the explosive towards the Shinra troopers on the Sector 4 side of the bridge, Cloud threw himself over the boy, sheathing the First Sword as he did so. It sort of worked. In fact, had he been on solid ground it would have been quite effective. Regardless, the explosion was huge enough to rattle his teeth, and the next thing he knew, he was falling. Somehow, the blast had knocked him so that the boy was on top of him and they looked each other in the eyes, both knowing what was coming as they tumbled through the air. After a moment, he pulled the kid close, attempting the most powerful Wall he could cast to shield them from the impact. But even that wasn't enough to stop the first blow from hurting like hell, or the second one from making everything go black as his head knocked against something hard…


See ya next week!