Disclaimer: See previous chapters.

Chap. 7

The group came back to the Shinra (Vincent's) Mansion. With them was an unconscious Zack, who had passed out after whispering Cloud's name. Zack was lying down on the couch while the others watched. Cloud sat across from him, watching intently. Barret folded his arms

"So what are we going to do with him?"

Cloud's gaze didn't waver, "What do you mean?"

"He's dangerous. Shouldn't we tie him up or something?"

"No."

Barret insisted, "We can't risk him going crazy and attacking again."

Cloud stood up, "No. We're not going to tie him up."

"But..."

"Zack is fine now. I was able to reach him."

Red XIII changed the subject, "Speaking of which, why did that rock decide to fall at that specific time."

"I...didn't notice." Tifa commented.

Vincent shifted his eye to the side and pointed his gun up into a dark corner of the mansion. Everyone looked at him in surprise as he cocked the trigger when a voice came out...

"Alright, alright. Don't shoot!"

A figure dropped out of the shadows. A lithe feminine form stood before them.

"Yuffie? What are you doing here?"

The ninja girl dusted herself off, "Well, I was getting bored at home so I came to visit. I saw where you were going and I followed."

"You could have just come up to us."

Yuffie put her hands on her hips, "What kind of person do you think I am? I am a ninja, you know. I can't just walk up to you and say hi."

"So you were watching us the whole time?"

"Yeah, well. I saw, but couldn't really hear anything." She looked over to the coach, "So, who is he?"

Tifa responded, "His name is Zack. He's an old friend of Cloud."

Yuffie scratched her head, "He sure doesn't look it."

Cloud glared, but said nothing so Red XIII decided to talk. "I wonder. What was he doing there to begin with? If Jenova was guarding him, then it must be for a reason."

Tifa agreed, "Yeah. What would Jenova want with him? And why is she back to begin with?"

Vincent spoke quietly, "Jenova is supposedly a disease. One that is hard to cure."

Cid scratched his head, "So what do we do?"

"Ughhhhh."

The moan came from behind them and every turned sharply to see Zack rising up, rubbing his head. Barret raised his gun-arm and armed it, just in case. Cloud stood beside him.

"Zack."

Zack opened his now Mako-green eyes.

"Cloud? Is that really you? Whoa!"

It was then that he noticed Barret pointing his weapon at him. Zack raised his arms.

"What's going on Cloud?"

Cloud strode forward, "Do you....really remember who you are?"

Zack glared slightly, "I remember the fact that I'll kick your butt all over the place if you don't get that guy to stop pointing that gun at me."

Cloud nodded and smiled, "It's you alright." Barret lowered his gun-arm and Zack sat back down. It was then that he glanced at his arm and saw...

"What the hell?"

His arm was mutated and he traced it up to his shoulder, neck and his...

"Mirror."

Cloud looked down, but pointed to the side mirror on the wall. Zack stood up and walked up in front of it. His eyes widened and he backed away in shock. Cloud wanted to walk up to him, but hesitated. Zack regained his composure and turned to Cloud.

"Start talking."

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Elsewhere...

"The subject has been released prematurely."

"It doesn't matter. We have what we needed from him. They will come here now."

"Foolish humans. So easily predictable. And what about 'him'?"

"He will revive soon. When he does, the world will once again fear us."

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Who is he? What is the fearsome being that is going to be revived? If you don't know, then you should not read this anymore.