Anchor-End

Donnel had been in the thick of things when the Deepground people had suddenly begun attacking people, and had found even one patrol group was a problem—a big one—if he was on his own. When had the patrol groups started not having Thirds and occasionally Seconds in them, anyway? As far as he knew, part of the agreement had been that the mixed groups were required, and even the President had volunteered that as the state of affairs for the patrols. Or...was this not an 'official' patrol group? Either way, he'd called for back-up and was now just mostly aiming to keep them where they were so they couldn't leave.

It was harder work than he liked, thought he had to admit being able to even manage that as an un-enhanced Turk against a dozen enhanced combatants was actually impressive. Usually, though, he'd fight and aim to kill. He'd taken two down before they had all focused on him, hence why he was now only able to keep their focus on him, but not attack. The element of surprise had been lost, and just like with SOLDIERs, numbers and power were too much for a single Turk to actively defeat. He needed more people to help him.

If Doriss was bringing Kariya with her, that would definitely even the odds. He just hoped they got there soon.

Suddenly, a bomb exploded in the middle of five of them, and all five were down for the count—and most of them were in more than one piece. Donnel looked past the Deepground members, who had been distracted by the explosion, and saw Kariya smoking a cigarette while pulling the pin on another bomb and tossing it. That time, of the group of six to one side he'd aimed for, three were able to get out of the immediate blast zone, but the other three were in no better shape than the first five. That left four, five if he counted the one who had backed into a corner and stayed there, but he didn't think that one would intervene now.

There was a momentary pause, then a shout as several civilians ran past the two Turks from behind Kariya—and another dozen or so Deepground people, all grinning wildly, followed them. They were hunting the civilians like it was a sport!

It was Doriss jumping in from a side alley who got to take the first two down, and managed a third before she had to duck and dodge away, leaving them with the original four plus...He paused to get an exact count, and found the total new arrivals was thirteen after the losses of those three Doriss had killed. Seventeen in total. At least the four from the original group who hadn't been killed yet didn't attack the civilians as they ran past. He'd take small mercies at a time like this.

All three Turks turned to face the group, which had stopped, as the four from the original group moved to join them. Everyone was already wary of Kariya's bombs, but one thrown into the middle of the group forced it to scatter, and that mean the Turks had a better chance of actually taking down a few at a time. By silent agreement, Doriss and Donnel parted to focus on either side of the middle—obviously, Kariya wanted to take care of that. Then again—"Death God of the Battlefield." Donnel had never before realized how damned accurate that title was, until he saw the man hold the middle of a battlefield against over a dozen enhanced fighters.

But then, the crowd control Kariya had been doing for him and Doriss suddenly cut off as he yelped and spun to one side, catching a blade on a metal device Donnel thought was a handgun. He could only spare a glance just then, when faced with his own opponents. The initial clash, he missed completely, though he managed to take down his last two stubborn assholes with his flaming kicks before too much had happened. It helped that the majority had turned Doriss' way, likely assuming she was the weaker of them, only to find out the hard way that they were dead wrong, literally.

He turned to scan the battle zone, already starting to step towards Doriss—only to freeze as he saw the battle Kariya was caught in. The random Deepground member who had backed into the corner earlier was guarding Kariya's back against another one—the only difference between those two was the ally's lack of helmet. But Kariya was fighting a man in street clothes whose belt had the Deepground icon on it—and that man was one Donnel recognized, knew well.

It was his father. The same one who had sold him into slavery, and who had vanished without a trace one day. The one who had been in the photos he and Doriss had been going through.

At first, he wasn't sure what to do, and stayed frozen from shock, but the indecision and shock quickly melted away to anger, to pure, burning rage. That bastard actually had the gall to appear to his face and think he wouldn't get any retaliation? Especially when it looked like he was seriously out to eliminate Kariya!

Before he could think it through, Donnel launched himself at the man, striking him with his strongest kick combined with Fire 3 thanks to his Elemental. It sent the man flying back to the nearest wall, where he stumbled, but didn't seem to be all that injured. Seeing that, his gaze hardened and he said, "Kariya, help Doriss. I'll take care of him."

"You sure?" the orange haired Turk asked, his tone wary, but Donnel couldn't see his expression while his gaze was focused on his father. He was already pacing towards the man, who smirked at him.

"Well, well, well! If it isn't my failure of a son!" the man called out—and everyone froze and turned to look, though those words made Donnel even more angry. "Why don't you be a good boy and kneel to your Master?"

The tone and the phrase were ingrained into his mind as something to react to, but as his knees started to buckle, his rage turned that buckling into a forward dive as he launched himself at the man with a furious snarl. Yes, he still has some 'slave' traits, and sometimes he relapsed, but he'd dealt with the control factors others had tried to place on him, and he wasn't going to bow to the bastard who had done it to him!

Apparently, his father hadn't been expecting that, because he was stunned enough to forget to guard himself from the attack. And that was all Donnel needed to slam into him with so much fury he ended up exploding like a fireball—and hitting his father with all that force at once. He felt the surge of the fire's direction all move and focus on his father, doing Donnel no harm despite how it surrounded him just then (was that how Genesis kept doing that?), and heard the man scream as the fire burnt away his defenses and reduced him to ash.

Then he realized the man was dead, some time after the man had died, and started in surprise. It was only then when the flames around him split and dissipated.

"Holy fucking Hellfire," Kariya breathed, and Donnel turned to face him in surprise. It looked like the battle was over, only because everyone was too busy staring at him in shock.

"...Sorry?" he asked in confusion. Then he realized what that surge of flames would have looked like from outside them and turned red with shame for having worried them.

"Just...Don't make a habit of that, okay?" Doriss asked, making her way to him and giving him a hug. "Good on you for taking him out yourself."

"...Thanks, Dor," he answered quietly, returning the hug as he relaxed.

It was finally over. His father would never be able to hurt him, or anyone else, that way again. Never had he felt more relieved or at peace, despite the battlefield Midgar had become once again.

FoWD

Zack and his group arrived in Wall Market to hear quite the commotion, but coming up from near the core pillar also meant they came up close to Corneo's mansion. There weren't supposed to be Deepground people right outside the place, and there were a lot of them. A glance at Weiss showed him the white haired Tsviet was just as confused by the rampaging group of Deepground members as he was, so this definitely wasn't something planned for. At least, not on Weiss' end. It looked like they weren't going to make it to the patrol group, because this one was in the way, and with about a hundred, maybe more—they had already done enough damage.

"Okay, guys!" he called, and everyone with him, SOLDIER and Deepground alike, turned to face him reflexively. "Looks like we're not going to reach the patrol group, since we have to clean this up first! Keep an eye out for Deepground members attacking other Deepground members—those are likely allies. And if you can, steer clear of Corneo's men, because they aren't picky about who they kill, and we'll probably have to clean them up, too, if they don't stop fighting once Deepground's down, too. Now, let's get in there and get them under control!"

He then jumped forward into the fight, already knowing he couldn't let the clearly insane members of Deepground live—they'd never be able to integrate into society. As such, he fought to kill, and the others all followed his example. Weiss was the first to follow him, right on his heels, and the others had to blink for a moment before they also joined in. He and Weiss made quick work of the nearby opponents, and when Weiss moved forward, the rest of the group with them followed.

At about that time, Zack noticed a shift in the crowd in the distance, but couldn't see what it was through the mess of bodies, so he climbed on top of two which had landed on top of one another. That gave him just enough extra height to look over everyone's heads—and to notice two other groups stemming the Deepground members on both the main street and from the other side of Corneo's mansion. He could definitely see Sirra and Ruluf down the main street, and—Percia and Aeris across the way! Then, he noticed a big, white shape not far from the two women and groaned as he realized Nina was there, too.

While the little girl's healing was fantastic, he wasn't pleased to find she was in the middle of a human-versus-human massacre, rather than one against mindless monsters. Maybe that was a little hypocritical of him, but a child shouldn't have to see humans murder one another.

Another glance around told him Sirra and Ruluf's group were holding their own just fine, so he turned his attention to Percia and Aeris. They had been joined by the twins who had left the Cetra and Moto cavern town with them, which probably meant Veta and Danato were there, too. He'd thought Aeris had told him Deneh and Nanaki were exploring the city themselves, so he briefly wondered where they were. Regardless, the push was harder on that side, as it also was the most direct route into Sector 5, so he figured that was the best place to aim for.

"Weiss!" he called as he jumped down and rejoined the battle.

"Yeah?" the Tsviet replied, cutting down one opponent, then turning to face the black haired man.

"Percia and some healers—including a five-year-old child—are across the way from us. Let's push in that direction," he answered, and noticed Weiss blink in surprise out of the corner of his eye while Zack kept on fighting.

"Sure thing," Weiss agreed, jumping to a new position. The rest of their unit shifted to place themselves between the two 'leaders' of the group, and they cut a swath through the Deepground members. Incidentally, they also cut down a few of Corneo's men because they actively tried to attack uniformed SOLDIERs, not members of Deepground.

But by the time they were within view of Aeris and Percia, something in the battle had changed, and one of the Deepground members surged with energy and turned into some sort of deformed thing which could have been a cross between a squid, an ape, and a butterfly. Beside him, Weiss hissed, even as both watched in horror when it launched itself at Aeris, who was distracted with a different Deepground member. Even Weiss couldn't move fast enough to intercept it, even though both of them started forward.

Then Zack blinked as Sirra was between the monster and Aeris, emptying her guns into the monster—and managing to slow it down in the process. He and Weiss took the chance to close the gap, both of them aiming for one shoulder—but instead, it was like the thing knew they were there, and it bent and twisted. All they managed to do was hit and cut off the wings, even as it sent the Lady Turk flying. And those wings took a life of their own, re-forming into something more butterfly-ish to attack them directly. Both men had no choice but to fight, so they did, but Zack kept an eye on Aeris.

Once again, the monster launched itself at Aeris, and Percia sliced off its arms—only for the same thing to happen to her as the arms re-formed and attacked her. Actually, her fighting two of the thing's detached arms was creepier. But that also left it free to attack Aeris—only to be skewered on Odin's blade. The retaliation for that was harsh, however, and Odin was effectively torn apart and reduced to energy form in a lengthy recovery. What surprised him was that, while Odin had been dealing with the thing, Aeris had cast Great Gospel, which he only noticed by virtue of the light and wings around him and the sudden lack of damage they were taking.

That had become Aeris' saving grace as the monster hit her and sent her back several feet—but unharmed and able to stand. And there was nothing else anyone could do for her—

His eyes suddenly widened, however, as the woman he now called his girlfriend raised her staff—and light shone around her body, from her eyes, from her staff and clothes. As the monster launched itself at her once again, she swung her staff forward and down, and unleashed that power by channeling it through the staff...And suddenly, every one of the monster's pieces exploded with white-red light and heat so intense everyone was forced to back away or be burned. Zack was blinded for a few moments by how bright the light was.

When he looked up again, and looked around, he realized Aeris was standing unharmed with her staff held normally, and all the monster parts were gone. The monster itself, as one of the 'parts', had ceased to exist, and so had well over a dozen members of Deepground.

Beside him, Weiss gave an impressed whistle and commented, "For someone classed as a healer, she's certainly a powerful combatant. I'm legitimately impressed with her power." Then he paused as little Nina threw herself onto Aeris, and commented, "And that would be the little girl you were so worried about. She looks a little old to be yours and Aeris' daughter, though."

"What?" Zack blinked in surprise, then grinned and chuckled. "She's Aeris' adopted sister, and mine too, now. That's Nina. Since you obviously know who Aeris is, do I have to worry about you hijacking her?"

"Nope, not my business," Weiss replied, waving him off as he took a look around. "And while she certainly put a dent in the enemy numbers and gave us a reprieve with that high-powered Flare spell, I think we need to use the opportunity for a preemptive strike."

"Wait—that was a Flare spell?" Zack gaped. "I thought only Genesis could do that!"

"That was a Flare spell," Weiss repeated, giving him an amused look. "She's magically powerful. Why couldn't she do that?"

"But why was the monster dead-set on killing her?" Zack suddenly frowned.

"My best guess?" Weiss asked, then shrugged. "That was probably one of the members with Jenova infusions, and Aeris is a Cetra. It's a rather well-known fact that Jenova hates the Cetra."

"Oh," Zack blinked, then turned to scan the battlefield. "Okay, let's get this going again so we can finish cleaning this mess up!" As he jumped back into battle, everyone else in his group followed his lead. While he was still going to try to keep an eye on Aeris, he now knew she'd be okay without him. All he did was pause to give her a wave, which she grinned and returned, despite the battlefield they were standing on.

Incidentally, that was also the first time he noticed all four of their Motos on the battlefield, as well as Odin, who he hadn't seen when he'd noticed Alexander. So, they had strong warriors and strong healers. He was good with that.

FoWD

Genesis and Angeal had gotten the notice from Lady Shinra to return to Midgar due to Deepground attacking in force, so dropped the task they had been trying to do in Kalm to head back. The 'task' had been going nowhere fast, and he had already been suspecting a hoax (who could have produced one elaborate enough for Lazard to believe it?), so he wasn't worried about leaving it be. Getting back to Midgar, though, was going to take a long time unless he flew, so he did, carrying Angeal with him the whole way.

The first thing they found was a mess, so took a quick look around the city. Monsters invading at the Sector 4 Reactor had no checks, so he and Angeal landed to the Sector 4 side and started fighting, which attracted a small group of SOLDIERs. Then, something made Genesis turn—to see black orbs descending on the city from just around the Sectors 5 and 6 border. That was Nero, and he wasn't sure that was being aimed at Deepground members.

"Genesis?" Angeal asked him, and he kept his eyes in that direction.

Until he saw a dome of black light appear. "I have to go. Nero," he said, recalling his wings to his back and taking to the air.

"Take care! Good luck!" Angeal shouted after him.

He wasn't sure either word was appropriate. Especially not when he saw the hole in the edge of the Sector 6 Plate, and a dark form flying away. He also noticed the new airship flying in, but ignored it to chase Nero, hoping he wasn't going to do what Genesis felt he would—start randomly killing people. Then they got to Sector 8, and the red haired SOLDIER Commander only had the time to register the battle below him—a very large group of Deepground members cornered by SOLDIERs and a few Turks on all sides—before Nero was launching void bubbles. And those bubbles weren't being picky about what, or who, they landed on.

He saw holes torn in all the buildings around LOVELESS Theater, including the Theater itself. He saw dozens of Deepground members fall to the void spheres. He saw nearly as many SOLDIERs, and one Turk—a black haired woman—fall to them, too.

He felt first icy cold, then burning rage. His fear of having to kill a child suddenly evaporated as he realized this child literally did not care who he killed, or how many. He had no heart or soul, and the only thing left to do was put him out of his misery.

Once that decision had been made, he recalled the original array network the blond stray had given him during the tournament, and fixed it in his mind as he first flew upward while Nero was distracted with a second volley of void spheres. From well above Nero, he literally dive-bombed him, reaching his hand forward to call forth his energy and the arrays, noting how they appeared around his wrist. His speed picked up as he fell, the arrays blazing brightly and making him look like a comet falling from space.

And then, Nero had no warning as his hand hit the boy's head. Before he, or Jenova, could react, the arrays had already reduced nearly his whole body to pyreflies, from the top down. He was gone so fast that Genesis almost didn't even slow as he plunged towards the ground, the arrays still active and his focus shot with Nero's death. But, he did manage to notice that his void spheres, the ones which hadn't already hit something, had all vanished as soon as Nero began dissipating. After all, his head, and the controlling force of those spheres, had been the first to go.

"Genesis!" someone shouted in alarm, and he suddenly realized he was rapidly approaching the street in front of the Theater.

Blinking, and then blinking a second time, he suddenly realized what would happen if he didn't pull back, so focused on his wings and flight again—which only stopped his fall about a foot above the road. Dropping his feet to the ground put him in a kneeling position as he let the arrays fade from around his wrist, then he slowly rose and took a look around. He'd landed right in the middle of the enemy forces. And by the pyreflies floating around, he'd reduced some of them to Lifestream energy, too. Which was no loss.

So, he grinned, drew his blade, and lit it on fire as he called, "So, who's game to take me on?"

As he'd thought, most of the nearest members of Deepground snarled at him and jumped to attack. They were fools, especially to fight him when he had no restrictions. It didn't surprise him, since most people made the bad habit of underestimating him, but it was also a distraction he was thankful for and willing to throw himself into just then.

So, he fought, and he fought hard, and he kept fighting until there were literally no more attacking members of Deepground for him to fight. By then, he'd worn out his magic and his energy and just felt like shit. Sheathing his sword, he made his way to a clear spot on the curb and sat, propping his arms on his knees and resting his forehead on his linked hands.

He'd killed a child, and he'd felt no remorse as he'd done it.

"Genesis, are you all right?" a familiar voice asked him, but he couldn't immediately place it. Nor did he especially care just then.

"I guess that depends on what you're referring to," he answered blandly, trying not to think.

"So you're not," the voice replied flatly. "So, what all is wrong?"

Sighing, the red haired man briefly listed, "I just killed a child—even if he was insane—and then fought until I had no magic left and no physical energy either. Can I please sleep now?"

A hand touched his elbow, making him slowly raise his head—to see Rufus gazing at him with understanding. "Nero. To that, I don't know what to say. It was a bad situation all around, but if you hadn't done anything, the death toll would have been a lot higher. So, thank you. As to the other, if you have no magic, you won't be much good to help clean up, so you may as well. Maybe see if the Theater has a place intact enough for you to sleep?"

First, Genesis blinked uncomprehendingly, then tipped his head to the side for a moment to assess the suggestion. Finally, he nodded and slowly, shakily rose. As he turned towards the Theater, he suddenly stopped and turned back to Rufus to ask in confusion, "Why are you all the way out here, trying to get Deepground under control?"

"I was shopping when the shit hit the fan," Rufus replied in amusement. "Go rest. I'm fine."

Slowly, the red haired man nodded, decided he didn't care about the details just then, and headed for the Theater doors. Up until then, they had been locked and guarded, but when they saw him approaching, they willingly opened them and let him in. It didn't take long for them to direct him to a place he could rest until further notice.