A/N: Hey guys. Thanks everyone for your reviews, and those that did, read them bottom of the page to see if you got a shout-out. Also, I'm not telling anyone who was in Cloud's dream. I want it to be a surprise, though it might not be. Any other questions review them or email me.

Summary – All hell broke loose as strange creatures attacked Kalm. Cloud and Tifa were the first to start the retaliation, wanting to save their home. Clouds headaches had an effect on his fighting and he was seriously injured. After being knocked unconscious, he has a strange dream and makes a shocking discovery.

Chapter 16 – Things Start To Heat Up

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Tifa walked down the streets of Kalm. She was looking in every direction, taking in the damage the monsters had caused. Her eyes stung from holding back tears. Lots of the houses were blackened from the fires. Corpses still littered the ground and streams of blood ran down the drains. It was a horrifying scene. Tifa held back the urge to puke, and continued down the street until she reached the Seventh Heaven.

The bar hadn't been damaged or burned, so she considered herself lucky. She stared at the bar for a while. She didn't know why she did it. But she broke her eye contact when she heard someone shout on her.

"Tifa!" Rinoa shouted. Along side her was Selphie. They both looked pleased about something. "We've been looking everywhere for you."

"What's up?" Tifa asked.

"It's Cloud." Selphie squealed happily, "He's come round."

At that, they all dashed into the Sentinel, Tifa in the lead.

* * * * *

Cloud stood by the window with a pensive look on his face. He knew that he should be in bed resting. His ribs and face were still aching. There were three very clear, red cuts near his eyes and they never stopped stinging. He looked outside at Kalm.

Everything was getting back to normal, though half the town had been killed. Cloud nearly being one of them. This was too much of a coincidence. He had been away to Rocket Town, suddenly, the town is attacked. He, of course, rushed back. Not wanting his home to be burnt down. He didn't want to go through that again. Then he had that strange dream when he was unconscious. It was as if 'they' had made the mutants attack Kalm, to lure him back here. Another thing was strange. It seemed like the only reason he was injured was because he lost control of his body. He had tried to duck, but he didn't. And his headache had been another problem. They were getting worse. Sometimes he just wanted to scream because of the pain. He knew that 'they' were to blame.

He was pulled out of his train of thought by someone coming into the room. He turned around and saw Tifa walk up to him, with Rinoa and Selphie behind her.

"Cloud!" Selphie said seriously. "You should be in bed resting. You're hurt!"

"I'm fine. And I've just proved it." he said back. Tifa put her arms around his neck and hugged him. He wrapped his arms around her waist and held her close.

"I'm glad you're okay." she said quietly, "I thought I was going to lose you."

"I was worried about you." he said back, quietly, "I didn't know what happened to you after I blacked out."

Tifa pulled away. Rinoa decided to make Tifa embarrassed.

"It's really thanks to Tifa you're alive." she told Cloud, "She killed the Mako Mutant that you had trouble with. Sliced its head right off and came to look after you."

It had worked. Tifa looked straight down at the floor as her face turned bright red.

"Looks like I owe you know." Cloud said to Tifa. She laughed slightly and looked up as her blush disappeared.

Selphie turned to Cloud.

"Let me heal the rest of you. You don't want to walk about all day like that."

Cloud nodded and he then felt a tingling sensation on his face and at his ribs. Soon the cuts disappeared and his face was back to normal. If any of his injures left scars, they were impossible to see.

"Thanks Selph."

She nodded to say 'you're welcome.' They all exited the room and headed to the bridge.

* * * * *

Squall lazed on a bench inside the Sentinel, cleaning his Lionheart. He had spent hours getting the blood stains from yesterday off. They had had to fight off all the Mako-Mutants, and Quistis and Yuffie had summoned their Leviathan's to put out all the fires. The mutants had been the scariest looking things Squall had ever seen. He shivered at the thought of them, and he secretly hoped they wouldn't bother them again.

He heard footsteps behind him but didn't turn round. He continued to clean his blade while Cloud walked past him and up to the bridge. Squall was surprised to see Cloud up again so quickly, he had taken quite a beating yesterday. As they walked by Squall, he realised Rinoa wasn't with them. He soon found out where she was though. He felt her arms go around his neck and she planted a kiss on his cheek.

"C'mon Squall. We're taking off soon so we need to go to the bridge."

"Okay. Let's go.

So they walked hand in hand up to the bridge.

* * * * *

Cid and Selphie sat at the pilots seats as everyone else sat behind him. They all buckled their seatbelts, and waited for take off.

Selphie was at the controls, she was shaking slightly. It was the first time anyone had seen her nervous before flying a ship. Her happy-go-lucky attitude always got her excited for flying the Ragnarok.

"A'richt Selph?" Cid asked, "C'mon, ya ken how ta dae this. Just tak yer time."

"Okay." she said back nervously. The engines started and Selphie brought the stick down. Slowly the ship started to rise and Cid started speeding the ship up. The Sentinel started slowly driving forward as Selphie raised the altitude. Soon the ship floated above the town and sped off. Selphie let out a sigh of relief.

"Weel done Selph." Cid complimented her, "Yer no bad for a beginner with this 'ere ship."

"Thanks Cid." she said back with a shaky voice. Everyone unbuckled their seatbelts and went off to do their own thing. Irvine went up to Selphie, hugged her and kissed her on the forehead. Cid let her take over the plane's controls and she flew the ship to Cosmo Canyon.

* * * * *

Cloud sat on the railing of the deck, his sword leaning against the wall. He had decided to bring his Ragnarok and Ultima Weapon with him. The Ragnarok was the lighter sword of the two, but the Ultima Weapon had a lot more power to give. He currently had his Ragnarok with him.

He had his left leg hanging over the edge, his right leg bent up to his chest. He rubbed his forehead with his hand. He had another headache. His headaches had started to get more frequent. He had had at least one every week before Squall and the others had arrived. Now he had them everyday. He hadn't told anyone of course. He wasn't going to bother them with his moaning.

He heard a familiar sound of footsteps behind him. He didn't turn round. He didn't need to. He knew who it was; it was like a sixth sense.

"Hey Cloud." said Tifa's soft voice. She walked up to him and put a hand on his shoulder. "You okay?"

Cloud was confused as to why she asked that, then he realised he was still rubbing his forehead.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine."

Tifa smiled. Cloud never liked lying to Tifa, but he did it only to make her feel better. He smiled back and looked out to the horizon. He could see the sun rising. The sky was mixed with red and orange light. It was very pretty.

"Beautiful isn't it?" Tifa asked him."

'Not as beautiful as you,' Cloud thought. He certainly wasn't going to tell her that. So he replied in the usual way. "It sure is."

Tifa continued to stare at the sun while Cloud looked to the east. Something caught his eye. It looked like a dark cloud but it couldn't be. Not on a day like this. He strained his eyes to look at them. As they came closer, they looked like birds, but larger. Cloud felt a strange energy from them, which got stronger the closer they got.

"Tif, hand me a pair of binoculars."

"Why?" she asked.

"Just do it." he snapped. Tifa looked hurt but handed him a pair anyway. Cloud stood on the railed, leaned against the wall and placed the binoculars over his eyes.

What he saw paralyzed him with shock. They were Mako-Mutants, but of a different kind. These ones had large black wings to become airborne. They were in a large group of about 50 and they were heading for the Sentinel.

Cloud jumped off the railing and ran down to the bridge. Tifa looked at him in confusion as he ran away and she picked up the binoculars. She looked towards the clump of mutants. When she pulled the binoculars away, the entire colour was drained from her face. She dropped the binoculars and ran after Cloud.

* * * * *

Squall was sorting his materia and talking to Rinoa, when he heard a loud thud at the stairs. He turned around quick enough to see Cloud stand up. He looked as if he had hurt his leg; obviously he had jumped down the stairs and landed harder than he had wanted to. He stood up and, with a slight limp, darted to the bridge. Squall, curious as to why he was in such a hurry, followed him.

"Guys!" he heard Cloud shout. "I think we're in trouble."

"What's up Spike?" Barret asked, while he sat on the floor playing with Marlene and Angelo.

"There are Mako-Mutants heading this way."

"But why would we be in danger?" Zell asked. "We're in the sky."

"Because, they're in the sky too Zell. These are a different king of mutant. They're aerial."

Almost everyone in the room gasped. Vincent stepped forward.

"What do you propose we do?" he asked Cloud.

"Why you asking me?" Cloud asked back.

"Well you're the leader ain't you?" Barret exclaimed.

Cloud sighed. Squall remembered that he had been leader of AVALANCHE before. The others were used to looking up to him.

Cloud ran his hand through his hair, thinking.

"Cid, are the guns on the ship operational." Only three of them are working. The others still need to be fixed."

"Damn." Cloud muttered. "Okay, this is what we'll do."

Everyone gathered round, apart from Cid and Selphie, who were piloting the ship.

"We'll have everyone attack them from the deck. We'll have a better advantage in a large group."

"Oh and how are we supposed to do that?" Yuffie asked. She had been standing by a window all afternoon, spewing her guts out. All of AVALANCHE knew of her motion sickness. "Will we spread out her wings and fly?" she added sarcastically.

"No Yuffie. Our summons and GF's will. Everyone who has a long-range weapon will stay on the deck. The rest of us will on our Bahamuts or other airborne summons we can use."

"RIGHT!" everyone chorused and they ran to the deck.

'I hope Cloud knows what he's doing.' Squall thought.

* * * * *

Soon, the area around the Sentinel was filled with screeches, gunfire and cries. Yuffie, Rinoa, Barret, Irvine, Cait Sith and Red XIII stayed on the deck and attacked mutants that came near the ship. Rinoa, Cait Sith and Red XIII, being good magic users, were casting random devastating spells. Vincent had transformed into Chaos and was attacking the mutants at point black range, using his sharp claws to rip their skin and wings off. Tifa and Squall was flying on their Bahamuts, attacking with magic and the Bahamuts blasting the mutants with their Mega Flares. Zell's Quezacotl was shocking them with electricity, while Quistis' and Reeve's Phoenix were burning them with their fire. Cloud's Neo Bahamut was blasting away with its Giga Flare, taking out at least two in one go. But they never seemed to stop coming. The mutants were attacking randomly, hitting anyone that came within there range.

But that suddenly changed. In an instant, they two dozen that were there, spilt into two groups and went for Squall and Cloud.

'What the hell!?' Squall's mind screamed, as his Bahamut flew as fast as it can away from the mutants. But it didn't work very well. The mutants eventually caught up, only to taste steel as Squall swiped them with his Gunblade. Several of them flew a distance behind Bahamut. They gathered fire in their mouths and shot it towards Squall. He turned around in time to see six fireballs hit his back, chest and head. The fireballs exploded when the made contact with him, and he quickly fell unconscious. His limp body slipped off Bahamut and he plummeted towards the sea.

"SQUALL!" Rinoa screamed as he hit the water. Zell flew down and dived into the water, his Quezacotl waiting for him. He grabbed Squall and pulled him to the surface. He lifted Squall onto his GF and climbed on himself. He quickly checked Squall's pulse. He felt one, but it was very faint. His Quezacotl flew back up to the deck. Zell jumped off and pulled Squall down onto the deck floor. Rinoa instantly ran up to him, to check if he was alright.

Cloud was having even worse of a time. The group that had attacked Squall changed their direction and headed for Cloud. Soon, almost every mutant was attacking him and his Neo Bahamut. Several of them he swiped at with his Ragnarok and they died instantly. But he was soon covered with scratches, cuts and bruises. More and more blood was being shed each time one of them dug their claws into his skin. He felt his energy pour out of him along with his blood. His friends were blasting the mutants and were certainly helping, though each time the attacked; Cloud felt the aftershocks of their attacks, each time draining more energy from him. Neo Bahamut dived and headed towards land. The mutants that followed send lightning sparks at him. He felt a surge of electricity running through him, instantly paralyzing and knocking him out. He too fell off his summon, and he fell almost 30 feet, landing on the hard ground.

"CLOUD!" Tifa yelled, and she flew down to him. She didn't wait for her Bahamut to land before she jumped off and rushed to Cloud. She kneeled beside him and looked up at the mutants. Each of them flew back to where they had come from. Everyone stared in surprise at the mutants sudden retreat. No one understood why they were leaving. They all had one question in their head.

'What's going on?'

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A/N: Rubbish, eh? Well, I've been thinking about this one for a while and this was my best attempt at writing it. Also, I got both Squall and Cloud injured, so I don't show favouritism. R & R please.

Shout outs –

Mako-Magic – Good question. The Apocalypse is a sword that Cloud can find in a Sub-Quest in the game. You can find it near the exit of the Ancient Forest near Cosmo Canyon. I used it because it has Triple AP growth and because he had strong materia with him. And I just felt like changing the sword :D Hope that's answered your question. And again, good work with your update. (If you'd like me to send you a pic of any of Cloud's sword, contact me. I have over 100 FF7 pics ;D)

rikku-or-riku – Thanks for the review. I may have romance between other characters, but there are no couples that I like, beside Cid/Shera. I will try though.

cloudude55 – Thanks again and no I can't tell you whether it's him (and her) or not. Sorry, but I don't give away many secrets for my fic. ;) Again, good luck with yours.

Zyte – Sorry, I ain't answering that. It might be and it might not be him. You'll need to wait and see.

just_an_inquiry – First things first. I am not a Final Fantasy VIII hater. I love the game; I've played it more times than I have with FF7. And second, I'm not making Cloud out as some kind of God. I'm sorry if it seems like that but it's not true. And if you hadn't noticed, this fic is mostly centered around Squall and his views. So it's not in any way a total FF7 fic, it's a crossover, okay? And…the fic is set in the past, remember?

Squall is always surprised by Clouds abilities because Cloud can do things he can, or better, without junctions. And if you recall, Cloud got injured seriously in the Battle Square in a previous chapter. I'm not making him invincible; on the contrary, he's just as vulnerable as Squall. And I'll agree with you saying that Lionheart is stronger than OmniSlash, but you have to have very high strength stats to hit for 9999 HP. With Cloud, you only have to have high HP to do serious damage. And Cloud can defeat the enemies in his time easier than others because he's knows their weaknesses and such. And because of the Mako in his body.

Also, Cloud was only able to be controlled because his personality was spilt and his mind was broken. And he didn't end up crying every time. He was only upset because Sephiroth almost made him kill Aeris, and he made Cloud give him the Black Materia.

And Rinoa. Yes, she's a sorceress. Yes, she can probably kill everyone with one blast but she wouldn't do that. She doesn't like seeing people get hurt. Also, she has no reason to attack anyone.

And back to Squall. Towards the end of the game, he began to change. He trusted people more. Because Cloud can do impressive things without junctions, Squall doesn't trust him much. He sees him as a threat to his friends.

One tip, okay? To me, you're obviously a Final fantasy VII hater. So don't moan at me for liking FF7 better, and don't say that I hate FF8 okay? If your going to flame everyone who does a FF7/8 crossover just because the prefer FF7. Don't read them. It's as simple as that. I'm not saying this for me, but if you do read others, tell them the good things in the fic. Don't like my fic…flame me all you want. I ain't changing my ideas, okay?

mistasparkle123() – Thanks for your review. I may not have other couples, but I will consider it if I do a sequel. I just don't think there are any good couples.

Brutal2003 – Glad you like it. And thanks for reviewing.