Oh yeah another chapter done! Let's jump right into it!

Chapter 22

"So Kunsel," Zack started as he went back to sitting down on the bed. "How come I've never seen you without your helmet? Like did you ever once take it off during my years at Shinra? Cause I don't even remember you taking it off in the locker rooms… or something. Don't tell me you showered with that thing on."

Kunsel shrugged before laughing. "I was never really one to show my face. Not that 2nd and 3rd were supposed to anyways. Except for you when you got into 2nd class. You got to break that rule probably because you were under Angeal's tutelage."

"And those helmets also sucked!" Zack exclaimed. "You really think I enjoyed trying to get all my hair shoved into that helmet? It was so annoying during my time as a 3rd, I was glad that Angeal said I didn't have to wear it once he started to teach me."

"Yet Cloud was able to wear his helmet perfectly fine," Kunsel said as he looked over to the blond. "Right?"

Cloud nodded. "Yeah… somehow I was able to do it."

"Well…" Zack started. He carefully concentrated to fold his new arm so he could have his arms crossed in a more thoughtful position. "Infantry helmets are different than SOLDIER. Maybe that's why you could fit all of that chocobo fluff in the helmet. Must have been more spacious."

"Hey!" Cloud shouted, giving a slight pout. "Your hair is also chocobo like, remember?"

"Yeah, but…" Zack trailed off as he went back to looking at Kunsel. "Back to what I was asking before. Yeah I get that 2nd and 3rds weren't really supposed to show their face, but we were friends and I never saw your face before. It just seems… weird ya know?"

Kunsel shifted slightly. "Well… there was… is an actual reason."

Zack raised an eyebrow, feeling a little perplexed. "Really? Come on Kunsel, you can tell us. If it is just how you look, there's nothing wrong with that. I'm sure if you showed your face more, the ladies would be all over you."

"Thanks Zack," Kunsel said nodding. "But… I might as well just show you. You're right though. You're my friend… you should know."

Kunsel walked over to the mirror that was on the other side of the room. He pulled out a small case from his pocket and a small bottle from another and placed them both on the table. He reached towards his left eye and did almost looked like he was grabbing or pinching something. A moment later he had something between his fingers that he put into the palm of his hand. With his free hand he used the bottle to spray a bit of liquid into it. Then after that he poured some of it into the open container. He then placed whatever it was in his palm into the container, put a bit more liquid into it and then closed it up.

With a deep breath he turned around and walked back closer to Zack and Cloud, and right away both boys saw something different about him. His left eye was no longer brown, but blue. It glowed with the usual glow like how all SOLIDERs eyes did if they were blue or in that range of color.

"You have two different colored eyes," Zack commented.

"Yeah…" Kunsel whispered quietly. "Now you can see why I wanted to always keep my helmet on. It wasn't until recently I was able to get my hands on colored contacts to cover it up."

"But what's wrong with that?" Cloud asked. "I mean, trying to cover it up."

"Cause," Kunsel answered. "With the mako making the left eye glow, it looked strange in contrast to my right eye. I would always get a lot of looks as a kid for having two different colored eyes. I didn't want it to be more obvious and have even more people staring and judging."

"Hey… Kunsel there is nothing wrong with your eyes. I think they're pretty cool!" Zack said cheerful.

"Yeah," Cloud agreed. "I've never seen anyone with two different eye colors. So I agree it's cool."

"Plus that makes you ultra unique! No one else has eyes like that so all those people are wrong for thinking your weird," Zack said adding on.

Kunsel stared, trying to think over Zack's words no doubt. Slow enough a smile formed over his face and he let out a small sigh. "Thanks Zack."

"You're always welcome!" Zack beamed. He glanced to his new arm and looked at it thoughtfully. A few moments later he was sticking out the mechanical arm, and slowly bringing in his fingers to create a thumbs up.

"You know, aside from my eyes, I think that is the more surprising thing to see," Kunsel stated. "How hard is it to control it?"

"Eh… I don't really know how to explain it. It's weird… like I know it is not real… well not you know… it's metal. That's what I mean. Just a bunch of wires and stuff instead of blood vessels and other human things. But… my mind is acting like it is real, giving it that feel when I try to do things with it."

"It's all right, you don't have to explain it. I think I get what you're saying. It's just kinda… surreal ya know?" Kunsel asked, getting only silence in return as they all three became entrenched in thought.

"So Kunsel," Zack said, finally speaking up once more. "What are your plans? You know… now that you aren't with Shinra anymore?"

"Mainly I want to lay low and get as far away as I can from Shira and Midgar. If I stay here in the city they'll find me sooner or later."

"You don't have to leave though," Zack interrupted. He frowned slightly, still saddened to see one of his friends having to make such a tough choice. "You could stick with us. Cloud and I are going to become mercenaries. Or something like that."

"Mercenaries? Wow, you would really want to do something like that?" Kunsel asked curiously.

"Yeah, why not? Besides, being a SOLDIER was something I'm good at. If Shinra is going to do to others like they've done to us, then I want to be there to stop them," Zack asserted himself firmly, a look of seriousness crossing his face.

Kunsel stared hard at Zack, and then turned his attention towards Cloud. "What about you then?"

"I… I feel the same way. Just after everything that happened. Gotta do something. And, I'm sticking with Zack too," Cloud answered.

"Hmmm…" Kunsel hummed thoughtfully.

"So what do you say, Kun?" Zack said. "Wanna join up with us and form our own little future mercenary group?"

Kunsel let out a bit of a laugh. "I haven't been called that in quite some time. I guess in a way I've missed that."

"I've missed you too. You were the only SOLDIER that I knew I could really trust, especially after everything… fell apart."

"But I have to say," Kunsel started. "I'm afraid I won't be joining you on that."

"But why?" Cloud asked with a shocked look on his face.

"Cloud," Zack began. "It's fine. Kunsel has his reasons and I trust him."

He then turned back to Kunsel. "I understand. I don't blame you for wanting to stay out of it. Information gathering was always your specialty anyways. You always saved my butt before."

"And if I had 10 gil for every time I had to help you, I'd be-" Kunsel started to say, but Zack was quick to cut him off.

"Hey! We don't need to get into stuff like that!" Zack tried to sound angry, but it was easily heard in his tone that he was actually trying not to laugh.

"I'm surprised that Zack would ask for help like that," Cloud began, trying to make some contribution to the conversation.

"Oh you wouldn't believe some of the stuff that he needed help with," Kunsel laughed. "He was… shall we say, like a lost puppy?"

Cloud couldn't help but manage a laugh out of that. He tried to hold it in, but when he saw Zack's flustered face, he couldn't do it. He and Kunsek chuckled heartily as Zack looked back and forth between them, giving them each a stare.

"Yeah yeah, laugh it up," he added in a softly annoyed voice.

He wanted to say something else, but he waited patiently until the boisterous air in the room lifted. Finally he spoke up again.

"Kunsel. If you're not joining us that's fine as I said. But I wanted to get to other matters," he stopped briefly, making sure he had their attention. "What information do you have regarding Shinra still and their activities? I'll take anything you can give."

"You're in luck that I always kept such good records," Kunsel began. "Not to mention, I can remember just about everything about what Shinra would tell me. It was my job after all. The question is, where to begin," he trailed off as he rubbed his chin.

Kunsel had left shortly after divulging some pressing information to Zack and Cloud. Zack had wanted to ask Kunsel much more, but there had not been enough time to be able to do it all. Luckily, however, Kunsel was set up with a new mobile device not attached to Shinra and also on a secure line. He gave Zack the information needed to be able to contact him before leaving, which the ex-SOLDIER was thankful for. But all of the information had given Zack a lot to think about now.

The next several days were spent with Zack working on getting his arm to be properly adjusted. While Zack still didn't know the exact location of where Tseng was hiding him, the place was well made. They had rooms, while small, for all the different things that Zack could do to test out his arm. He did his best to workout as much as possible, and just as Tseng had expected, Zack was progressing faster than most would. It was of course because Zack was… well himself. He had that determination in him that made things possible to improve quicker.

Zack was already able to move it around and grab various lighter items. Though as much as Zack wanted to, Tseng told him to hold off on trying to pick up anything too heavy like his sword. Even though the arm was mechanical they didn't want him to over use it right away, it still had to adjust a bit. Zack wasn't too sure or really fully understanding of the whole technical aspect of it, but he did his best to listen.

"Woo, that was quite the good workout!" Zack exclaimed after coming out of a training room with Cloud. The two had been practicing their hand-to-hand combat to help better get Zack used to his arm.

Before Cloud could respond, they rounded the corner to be met by a familiar face.

"Tseng? What are you doing back here?" Zack inquired.

"I had a break, so I figured that I would come see to you. There was also something that I had forgotten to mention to you about your new arm."

"There's more to this thing?" Zack asked as he held it up, giving it a quick inspection. He started to smile childishly. "You going to tell me it does some cool transformation? Like in the cartoons I watched as a kid?"

Tseng smiled lightly before shaking his head. "No I'm afraid not. Sorry if that crushed your childhood dreams. But I suppose you could say that this is something that is just as good. Follow me."

Zack nodded before glancing to Cloud, who was standing in the doorway of the training room. "Can Cloud come along or is this just a private thing for me?"

"He can come along," Tseng said without looking back. "I am sure the both of you will find this quite exciting."

The two boys followed after Tseng and then they entered into one of the rooms. There were a few people in lab coats there, reading over various different paperwork. When the three of them entered the group looked up and went to greet Tseng and then Zack and Cloud.

"So now that we are here, now can you finally tell me what this is about?" Zack asked.

"Yes, but it is easier if one of these men explained it, they are the ones who designed the arm anyways," Tseng answered before taking a few steps back.

"The arm you have is quite new and has a vast range of elements to it. As you have already seen within the past few days, it is waterproof and extremely durable for someone who is a SOLIDER… or in your case former SOLDIER."

"I would hope it would be durable," Zack laughed. "Good to know at least."

"Anyways, look on the other side of the wrist and there's a small panel. Slide it open and there is a little button inside of it. If you press it, it will open a compartment."

Zack did as he was told, and upon doing so saw the small compartment that opened up. When he looked closer, he saw two round-shaped sockets were now revealed. Before the scientist could speak up, Zack knew exactly what it was.

"Oh nice, so this arm can hold materia! This could really change things for sure," Zack stated, elation evident in your voice.

"Yes indeed," Tseng spoke up again. "You're one of the most proficient with materia than anyone else I'm aware of. So I thought it would make sense to play to your strengths. Plus your gauntlet that you did use was too busted beyond repair, so this was an alternative."

Zack grinned heavily. "Oh yeah! This will be great! Now it will always be right here when I need it. Thanks for this."

Tseng nodded. "I assume you want to try it now that you know it's there."

"Of course. I'll have this thing mastered in no time," Zack boasted with confidence.

Zack was breathing in slowly, trying his best to clear out his mind. He knew that he needed all the concentration that he could get. He could feel the magic generating in him arm. It may have just been in the compartment, but it also felt like he could feel it reaching out through his entire body. It was an entirely different sensation then he had ever felt before when using materia.

He continued his concentration and soon he could feel something warm at his fingertips. That was another surprising element of the arm, it had sensors built into the hand. He was able to feel the sensation of anything just like if his real arm was still there. Things felt closer to normal because of that.

A few more seconds passed, and then in a brilliant blaze, fire shot from the end of his finger directly at the practice dummy across the room. Upon impact, the mannequin erupted into flames. Then, Zack switched to the other element he had equipped at the moment and focused once again. Soon after, a flash of thunder impacted the already burning object, causing it to nearly explode on impact from the force.

"Wow, this feels much more natural than before, "Zack started as he examined his arm in awe. "I feel like I can do so much more, haha!"

"That was amazing!" Cloud said, his eyes wide with amazement. "I gotta agree you made it look so natural. Like you just had the magic yourself… like you could bend the element itself or something."

"Ha," Zack gave a laugh. "Sure looks like it." He paused before smiling greatly. "Just like in that show I used to watch!"

"I know what show you're talking about! I loved to watch it when I was younger. I use to try and imagine doing those element bending moves a lot. Then I got materia and I learned how different it was."

"Man," Zack said as he sat down on the ground. "Those days were easier, weren't they?"

"What do you mean?"

"When we could just sit at home and watch cartoons. We just had it easy back then. Leaving all the big fights and stuff to Shinra, while all of us were eagerly waiting to be old enough to join," Zack answered.

"Yeah, things really did seem to be easier then," Cloud said with a long sigh.

"Those were the good times," Zack exhaled deeply as he stopped. "But then we each had our dreams of course. At least I know I had mine. But… just didn't expect those dreams to come to this…" he trailed off suddenly, getting lost in thought.

A few seconds passed by as he thought to himself. "I mean, things are okay so far. The arm is great too… it's just…"

He reflected on all of the times from the past, from his aspirations to be SOLDIER to his experiences one he was there. It all seemed like a blur when he thought about it. Then of course there was the most recent issue, one that Cloud didn't even remember. While he tried to not think about it, the arm was a constant reminder. A thorn in Zack's side that he could never forget.

While these few days have been rather peaceful, he knew the complacent mood wouldn't last. Thoughts of the future ran a marathon inside of his already clogged head.

"Zack… Zack…"

It was almost as if he could hear someone calling him. Maybe it was his own consciousness trying to get a point across. Or some old memory he was calling up? He wasn't sure but it had deterred him from his current thoughts. The sound kept getting louder with each passing second.

"Zack… Zack!"

Finally the last one was loud enough and he snapped his head back up. He looked around sharply in either direction and quickly found the source of the noise.

"Oh, it's you, Cloud."

"You all right Zack? You looked like you spaced out," Cloud replied with a slight concern in his voice.

Zack started to speak but stopped himself. "No need to worry him or let him know what it is." Once he gathered himself, he tried again.

"It's nothing. Just thinking of what we're gonna do after this. We gotta be doing some good training if we still wanna be mercenaries right?" Zack replied, a lighthearted attitude finally emanating from him again. He himself knew that it was a facade in the moment, but as long as Cloud believed him, then it would be all right.

"Y-Yeah, I guess you're right."

"Good! Now where were we… oh yeah! Here, I'll practice with some other materia. Gimme just a sec," he replied.

Zack moved to change out the materia he currently had with some others. Once he had done that, he put everything back in order and reset the room. "All right, now watch and learn!"

Riku: Another chapter filled with emotions and other things and Zack's arm just gets cooler and cooler lol.

Tmart: We hope that you all are liking what we are doing so far. It's a bit of a tangent, but we'll get back to the main story soon enough. Thanks for all the feedback that you are giving us. We'll see you in the next one!