A/N: Hi. Well here's chapter 15. I think I'm about half way through the fic. Okay, okay, okay…the plot will get deeper from now on, and things are starting to heat up.

Note – I don't care what u say but I LOVE the FF7 and 8 music, I have every song as a MIDI. In the last chapter I put Insert 'Lifestream' music. I will be doing things like that from now on, so you know what song goes best with each part, in my opinion anyway.

Summary – The gang are introduced to Red XIII and are invited to a display with Cloud. They learn about the planet and most of their questions were answered. But Squall has several questions that Cloud refuses to answer.

Chapter 15 - Monster Slaughter

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Cloud woke up the next morning, very tired indeed. He had had a splitting headache all night and that had meant that he never got to sleep until the early hours of the morning. He yawned and decided to get up. They'd be leaving soon anyway.

When he went outside he saw everyone was gathered at the Cosmo Candle. He walked down the stairs and Tifa ran to him.

"Are you okay Cloud? You look exhausted." She asked worriedly.

"I am. I had a headache all night so I hardly got any sleep."

Tifa looked at him carefully, still concerned. He hadn't gotten a headache, bad enough to stop him sleeping, since Sephiroth had been alive. She shuddered at the thought of him being back.

"You got up just in time. We're leaving soon and I was just coming to wake you. Do you want some breakfast?"

"Yeah sure." He answered and smiled. Tifa returned the smile and they walked off together.

* * * * *

Cid and Selphie were inside the Sentinel, fixing up the guns and sorting the supplies. Selphie had become a great help and he was considering teaching her how to fly the ship.

He was loading the guns when he heard the radio go off. He rushed to pick it up.

"Cid Highwind here."

"Yes, Captain. We've received a distress call from a town on the Eastern Continent."

"Where?"

The man paused.

"Kalm sir!"

* * * * *

Squall sat at the Cosmo Candle with his friends and the rest of AVALANCHE. They were talking about the display Cloud had shown them. They were all curious as to who the clone was. Squall was listening mostly, as he was taking in Cosmo Canyon, so he would remember the place.

"Cloud!! Tifa!!" he heard someone squeal.

It was Selphie. She ran up to Cloud and Tifa, who had come out of the food shop, and quickly said something to them. She seemed to be panicking. Squall wasn't close enough to hear the conversation but he could see their facial expressions.

Cloud's face quickly changed from a surprised look to a mix of absolute shock and terror. Tifa's face mirrored his. They both ran to the Sentinel while Selphie ran over to the group at the Cosmo Candle.

"Guys, common, we gotta go!!" she squealed.

"Hey Sephy, calm down." Irvine said, "What's the problem?"

Everyone else was watching Selphie now.

"It's Kalm. We just got a distress call. Their under attack."

As soon as she finished the last word of the sentence, everyone was already sprinting to the Sentinel.

They quickly boarded and Cid took off. Squall noticed both Cloud and Tifa were missing.

"Yo Cid, where's Cloud and Tifa?"

"They went ahead. They're getting there on their Bahamuts. They're a wee bit faster than this 'ere ship."

Squall understood why they went ahead. It was their hometown now. Cloud had been desperate to protect it from him, he'd probably even more worried now.

He hoped they could get their on time.

* * * * *

Tifa sat on her Bahamut while it flew to Kalm. She fought back tears. It was just like Nibelhiem. She didn't want her home to be burnt down again, it would be too much to handle.

She looked over at loud on his Neo Bahamut. She saw nothing but anger in his eyes. He had protected Kalm for so long; he wasn't going to let it end like this.

They reached the eastern continent, just south of Kalm. In the distance Tifa could see clouds of smoke billowing off the houses. Several of them were on fire.  As they got closer, she heard the scream of the townspeople. Her sadness was soon replaced by anger.

The Bahamuts landed and Cloud and Tifa climbed off. Tifa noticed Cloud put his hand to his head and shut his eyes, before sprinting towards Kalm. She quickly followed.

Both Cloud and Tifa gasped at the horrific sight. Over a dozen monsters were running round the town. They looked almost human. They had bright red eyes and spikes coming out the back of their heads. Their claws were like daggers, both on their hands and feet. They ran after the civilians and were slaughtering them. Corpses lay on the road and there were large poodles of blood.

Cloud stared at the monsters, not believing what he was seeing. They were the same monsters he had seen at the Nibelhiem reactor when he was 16. He clutched his head again and clenched his teeth in pain. He had yet another splitting headache. He tried to shake it off and ran into the town, Tifa close behind.

Two of the monsters spotted them and let out a cry. The sprung forward. Cloud drew out his Apocalypse sword and attacked. He swiped at the monster but it ducked and slashed at Cloud. He jumped back and slashed again. The creature took a hit at its stomach and green blood gushed out. But it was unaffected.

Tifa was having just as bad a time. The monster was slashing at her with its claws and she tried her best to dodge them. She had already received two slashes on her arm and blood was pouring out. She continually punched the monsters face and tried to break its neck, but no matter what she did, the monster seemed to take no damage at all.

Cloud drove his sword into the creature's stomach and it screamed in pain. Cloud's head started to pound even harder. He almost yelled out in pain but gritted his teeth together to prevent it. The monster swiped at his head and he tried to duck. But his body didn't respond. He couldn't control himself. The monsters clawed scratched his face, leaving three cuts leading diagonally up to his eyes. Its other hand dug its claws into his ribs.

Cloud couldn't help but yell as the dagger like claws dug into his rib-cage. He almost screamed when its other hand did the same on his other side. With his head pounding, his face stinging and with two sets of claws in his ribs; his hands lost their grip on his sword. The monster acted with human intelligence. As if it had been waiting for him to let go, it lifted Cloud of his feet, claws still inside him and launched him at the building wall. It threw him with such force that, even though the building was built with solid concrete, he smashed head first right through it.

The impact almost instantly knocked Cloud unconscious but he quickly felt the blackness take him over, as the creature advanced towards him.

* * * * *

Barret sat in the left pilot seat in the Sentinel as it sped towards Kalm. He was worried about Cloud and Tifa. He knew Cloud was capable to take care of himself, but if Tifa was in danger, he would put his life on the line to protect her. He had this feeling in his gut that Cloud was already in trouble.

"A'richt kids, git ready. This ain't gonna be pretty." Cid shouted. Everyone readied their weapons as they came to the edge of the eastern continent.

They each saw the smoke rising from the town. Barret clenched his only fist.

'Hang on Spike! We're comin'."

* * * * *

Tifa kept dodging the monsters attacks. She knew she couldn't keep this up for much longer before being seriously injured. She had to kill this thing now.

She ducked another attack and hooked the monster, dazing it for just a second. That was all the time she needed. She grabbed the things head and twisted it sharply. There was a sickening crack and it fell lifeless to the floor.

Tifa smiled triumphantly but she looked at Cloud and it disappeared. She saw Cloud clutch his head in pain, then be swiped across the face by the monster, which he had stabbed through the stomach. She saw that the tips of the claws were red with Cloud's blood. It stuck both its claws in his ribs and she heard Cloud yell in pain. She felt tears coming to her eyes. She hated seeing Cloud get hurt. She was also surprised at how Cloud had got in that situation. She didn't have time to think about it. She watched as the monster lifted Cloud off of his feet and hurled him straight through a concrete wall. The monster then removed Cloud's sword from it stomach and left it on the ground. It advanced towards Cloud.

'Get up Cloud!' she mentally screamed to him, 'Please get up, c'mon!'

He didn't rise. Tifa realised that he had been knocked out. She sprinted towards him, picking up his sword on the way. It was very heavy, but Tifa had used it before. She ran up behind the monster and swiftly detached its head from its body. It fell to the ground, blood pouring out of its neck. She dropped Cloud's sword and ran over to him. She was right, he had been knocked unconscious. She ran her hand over the cuts on his handsome face and wiped away the debris and blood. She looked down at his waist. There were holes in his shirt were the claws had punctured his skin. Blood was rapidly coming out of the wounds. Tifa started to panic. She didn't have any materia to heal him with.

She could still see some monsters outside in the street but she was too worried about Cloud to help.

"TIFA!!!" she heard a familiar voice shout. She looked down the street to see the rest of AVALANCHE and the SeeD's race towards her.

Everyone, except Rinoa and Barret, continued down the street to exterminate the monsters. Cid was poking and slashing with his spear. Squall was cutting and slicing with his Lionheart. Zell was snapping bones and breaking teeth with his fists. Quistis was backing him up, with her long-range whip. Red XIII ripped the monsters skin with his teeth and Cait Sith was pounding away with his huge arms and body. Vincent, Reeve and Irvine were staying at the back of the group using their guns to do damage. Yuffie and Selphie also stayed back with their long-range weapons. They were slowly killing each monster sustaining few injuries.

Rinoa kneeled next to Cloud and used her stocked Curaga to heal his wounds. He stayed unconscious but he had stopped bleeding.

'Cloud, please be okay.' Tifa pleaded in her mind. 'I need you here now.'

* * * * *

Insert 'Who Are You?' music

Cloud woke up in a strange area. Everything was black. But somehow he was able to see things. He didn't know where he was but he couldn't see any monsters or buildings or Kalm. The last thing he remembered was hitting his head on the wall, when that monster had thrown him. How did he get here?

He walked around but got nowhere. It was like an endless void of nothingness.

He suddenly heard laughing around him.

"Who's there?!" he shouted into the darkness. He got a dark, evil voice as a reply.

"Poor boy." they said mockingly, "Lost in your own mind."

There was someone else there, as he heard laughter again. But it was different, it was cold and icy. It made the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end.

"Poor Cloud." The second voice said, "The greatest warrior on the planet, not being able to kill a few Mako Mutants."

Cloud felt fear take him over. The second voice…he recognised it. But it was impossible. He was dead. He saw a figure walk out of the darkness. His silver hair shone around him. Someone else came out behind him. She was taller than the other. She had black markings on her face. She had a strange sort of hat on her head. Energy radiated from them both.

"We're after you Cloud." The man said, smirking, "So look after yourself."

Both of the figures walked away, their laughter ringing in the void. Cloud collapsed on the ground.

* * * * *

"Look, he's coming round."

The voice was faint. He couldn't hear it very well, but it was familiar. He wanted to open his eyes but he wanted to sleep too. He slowly opened his eyes to see Selphie and Rinoa were standing over him.

He sat up and looked around. He was no longer in the strange void, but he wasn't in the Kalm streets either.

"You're in the Sentinel's recovery room. Selphie told him, answering his unasked question.

"How long have I been asleep?" he asked curiously.

"Almost a whole day. You had everyone really worried." Rinoa replied

"A day?" he echoed. He had really been out that long?

"Get some rest. We'll go tell the others you're awake." Rinoa told him. As they went out the room, Cloud lay back down and thought about his dream or whatever it was.

He recognised that man. His icy voice, his evil laugh, his hair. He didn't recognise the woman though. He had so many questions. Were they working together? Why were they after him? What would the do to get him? Did they send the Mako Mutants, as they had called them, to attack Kalm?

He had so many questions and no answers. He knew they were all in danger, and he would do anything to protect his friends. Even if he were to sacrifice his own life.

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A/N: Well, the first serious chapter. Few seven pages long. Tell me what you thought of it. K?

Shout outs –

Jessica Holmes – I've kinda wrote this fic for people who have played FF8. That's why I've described AVALANCHE members and not the SeeD's. And I've told them what happened in FF7's story. And sorry that I keep thanking you, but reviewing means a lot to me. :D And I can't help but update quickly, I like writing. Hee hee.

Cludude55 – Hope your fics going well and don't rush it. Try doing first drafts well and improving how you write. It will probably mean less work for me. ;D