A/N: Hey guys, I'm back from Uni and I brought a new chapter with me. I hope you like it.

Summary – Tifa isn't missing Cloud as much as she thought she would, and she knows why. Costa del Sol is attacked by Mako-Mutants and our beloved Cloud is attacked again. But he is beaten and is carried away by the mutants. Is he okay? How will the group take the news?

Chapter 22 - Captured

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The atmosphere was tense, in the Sentinel. The news of Costa del Sol being attacked had shaken them all up quite a bit. Everyone was nervous. The Mako-Mutants had started hunting again. And their strongest fighter was gone. How would they cope if they were attacked? No one was safe from them.

They were all worried that Costa del Sol may have been destroyed, and the citizens slaughtered. They were also concerned about a certain blonde spiky-haired friend.

As the airship rose over the Midgar Mountains, a huge cloud of grey from filled the sky. Flames rose from the town but the buildings were still standing. Everyone let out a small sigh of relief. They weren't too late.

Selphie and Cid sped up the ship and it darted to the town.

* * * * *

As Tifa stepped off the Sentinel, the stench of the smoke washed over her. She covered her mouth and nose, and looked around. There were lots of injured civilians on the ground. A few dead mutants lay on the ground. Tifa wondered who had killed them. She turned round to face the bar and saw several people trying to extinguish the flames. Tifa scanned the area again.

There were no mutants around. This made Tifa uneasy. They had received the warning only 5 minutes ago. Why would the mutants leave so suddenly?

Squall's orders brought her back to her senses.

"Quistis, call Leviathan. Have it use its Tidal Wave to put out the fires." She nodded and started her summoning. "You guys," he said, referring to Zell, Selphie and Irvine, "use your water magic to help."

As they ran off he turned to Rinoa.

"Rin, you can come with me. We're going to go round and help anyone we can with curative magic." She nodded and Squall turned to AVALANCHE.

Red XIII answered his question before he asked it.

"We'll help your friends."

"But you guys don't have water magic." Squall pointed out.

"That is true. But we can use a combination of Fire and Ice to put out the fires."

"Alright but we need to find out what happened as well."

"I'll take care of that." Tifa volunteered.

"Me too." Yuffie shouted.

"Okay. Go round, find, Cure and question anyone you can. Let's go." And with that they ran off.

* * * * *

Tifa and Yuffie ran through the streets, helping and questioning anyone they saw. No one knew much about why the mutants had attacked. They didn't even know what they were.

They eventually came to an elderly man whose leg was bleeding badly.

"Hang on sir. We'll fix this up for you." Yuffie told him, focusing her materia.

Thanks lass. But I wouldna be here if it weren't for that young lad who fought awa' some o' the monsters."

"Someone fought them?" Tifa asked in surprise.

"Oh aye lassie. He wis a very strong laddie, 'bout yer age ah'd say."

"Could you tell us what happened?"

"Aye sure. Ah'd love ta tell you young'uns."

"Yuff, could you get the others." Tifa asked her, but she was already gone. Tifa shrugged.

"You're sad." the old man blurted out.

Tifa turned round sharply. Why would he say that?

"You're upset." he told her simply. He had lost his accent and talked seriously. "You're missing someone. Someone close to you. Someone very dear."

Tifa hesitated. How did he know? Was it that obvious? She decided to tell him.

"Yes, I am sad. He was my boy…best friend," she quickly changed. She didn't feel like sharing her feeling with a stranger, "I miss him a lot."

The man remained silent. A few minutes later, they both heard a large group of people walking towards them. Yuffie ran up to Tifa.

"Got them. The fires are all out and everyone is fine." she told them happily.

"Weel that's braw news." the old man said his accent back to normal. "I'll tell ye whit happened shall ah?"

They all nodded and sat or kneeled down. The man took a deep breath and started.

"Weel, it was a braw sunny day, as always. A'body was mindin' their ain business and enjoyin' the day. Then a blast blew up an empty store hoose. The place wis up in flame straight awa'. Then a bunch o' mansters came runnin' doon the street. They wir breakin' in hooses and knockin' folk oot the way. I came oot ta see whit was goin' on. There wis a young lad in the villa above me, that came oot tae. Then he ran back in. Ah heard his door bein' broken doon and saw him jump aff the balcony. He didna land well but ah wisna surprised. His sword was a michty big ane."

Tifa quietly gasped, but she wasn't the only one. Most of AVALANCHE had worried looks on their face.

The man continued.

"The mansters attacked him but he beat them. I wis michty impressed. But he got blasted fae a big bunch o' the bird-mansters. He didna look weel efter that. Hardly able tae defend himsel', poor wee ane. They kept blastin' at him. A few missed like, but…he couldna keep it up. He fell tae the ground lookin' a richt mess. But he didna get up efter. They swooped doon, picked him up and flew off. Poor wee thing. I'd be surprised if he wis alive."

Tifa stood up and walked away. But she was close enough to here Squall ask the question, she didn't want an answer to.

"What…what did he…look like?" he asked slowly. He only asked this after he was sure Tifa wasn't listening. But she was.

The man took a deep breath before answering. He knew the reaction wouldn't be good.

"He wis small. 'Bout five and a half fit. He wore a SOLDIER uniform. He had spiky, blonde hair and bright blue eyes. He looked like a member o' that group that saved the planet."

There was a flood of tears coming out Tifa's eyes as he finished. She couldn't take this. Now he was gone for good. He was probably dead. She ran away from the group.

Squall looked round as he heard Tifa run away. She had been listening.

"Oh no." he whispered, his face in his hands.

The rest of them had grim looks on their faces. This news had hit them hard. Cloud's bravery had gotten him captured, probably killed. And he had done it for them.

"Come on." Cid said sadly. "Let's git back to the Sentinel and wait fer Tifa. She needs some time." They all nodded and followed him as he walked away.

"Hey, young lad." The man said to get Squall's attention.

Squall turned round and watched the man as he stood up and walked over.

"Keep an eye on the sad lass. She may be hidin' somethin'. You may want to know what it is." he finished as he walked away.

Squall stood in surprise and curiosity. Why would the man tell him something like that? He shrugged and walked to the Sentinel. He felt sorry for Tifa. She had just started to cheer up. She may never be happy again.

* * * * *

In a building far north, near Icicle Inn, a group of Mako-Mutants gathered together. Two of the mutants came forward, with Cloud hanging limply from their shoulders. They tossed him into a cell and locked the door.

Cloud slowly stirred. He looked around but he didn't recognise where he was. He remembered being in Costa del Sol, being blasted then falling unconscious. He was in a lot of pain, as none of his wounds had been healed. He slowly stood up, wincing in pain. He leaned against the wall for support and looked out the cell door window.

The corridor outside was dark. He also noticed that it was very cold. His breathe came out as steam and his body was shivering.

He was about to sit down, when his head was filled with a loud ringing noise. His head developed a big migraine and he clutched his head in pain. He felt his mind being penetrated and he heard a voice.

'We have you now Cloud. Don't even fight it. You're weak. Just like you used to be.'

'NO!!' he shouted mentally. 'I won't let you take control of me! I won't!'

'It is pointless Cloud.' the voice said again. It was him. The same person that was in his dream. The person he never wanted to see again. 'You're mine!'

Cloud screamed aloud in pain, as he felt him take over. His mind was broken and his body was no longer under his control. He collapsed onto the floor once again.

He had lost.

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A/N: Hope you liked it. Chapter 23 up very, very soon. What happened to Cloud? What will AVALANCHE and SeeD do? Will Tifa tell Squall her secret? Will I do my shout-outs? Yes I will. Find out the others soon.

Shout-outs -

Yuleen75 – Thanks for reviewing and I'm glad you like it.

Mahabaraba – It was a pleasure to read your fic and review it. It's very good. But update soon okay?

edenblack18 – Hope you didn't have to wait too long. And I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Peace out!

Jessica Holmes – Grrrr. You guessed. Man…I didn't want you to find out. LOL. That's okay, it was hard to try and not give it away but…oh well. And sorry but it wasn't a holiday. I still had to do work. A tiny bit of course. Hee Hee. And good luck with your update, I can't wait.