A/N: Hey guys. Sorry this took a few days to put up but I've been thinking about it a lot. This fic will finish in about 4 or 5, maybe even 6, chapters but there will be a sequel. Read it if you want but I don't think it will be as good as this. I'm surprised really…I've had almost 100 reviews for my first fic. YEAH!! Anyway…oh yeah now I remember. If you wanna check out my ideas for later fics check my profile. It's got a new look and more fics. Okay, hope you enjoy.

Summary – Squall, Rinoa, Barret, Cid, Zell and Tifa entered the mutant's hideout. They were forced into two battles against dangerous monsters but came through without to much injury. Now for the third fight, against someone they didn't expect.

Chapter 26 – Once A Friend, Now An Enemy

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"Cloud!?" Tifa shouted.

Something was wrong. This wasn't the Cloud she knew. Cloud wouldn't attack them, even if he wanted to. He wouldn't work for Sephiroth. And he certainly wouldn't have bright green eyes.

She thought back to the dream she had had. When he had been covered in blood, his eyes were normal. But when he had gotten back up, they had changed. Was it because of Sephiroth's control over him? It had never been so noticeable when Sephiroth had made him hand over the Black Materia. She had only realised when he had started talking weird.

"You guys don't look happy to see me." Cloud said with a laugh.

His voice scared Squall. Because the last time he had heard it, the situation had made everything worse. Cloud had the same double voice like he did in Squall's dream. Something was wrong.

"Cloud…what are you doing here?" Rinoa asked in surprise.

"Am I not allowed to greet my friends?" he answered, with an evil smile.

Tifa got furious. She wouldn't let this happen to Cloud. Last time, it had nearly gotten the planet destroyed.

"Sephiroth! Stop it! Let him go!" she screamed. Everyone including Cloud looked at her in surprise.

Squall realised something. The double voice, the eyes, Sephiroth, his clone, Cloud blaming himself for Aeris' death, Cloud's secret. It was all coming together.

Squall turned to Cloud. "You've taken control of him, haven't you?" he asked Sephiroth angrily.

Sephiroth laughed. "You've finally realised that Cloud is my clone. He was the one who gave me the Black Materia. He was the one who nearly killed that pathetic Cetra. He's the one who led you here. Remember?"

"The rider on the Neo Bahamut." Squall whispered

"Yes. You fell for our trap. But we expected you to come alone. So we could destroy both of you in peace."

"Both of us?"

"Do you really think I would come back…and not have my rival pay for destroying me? Do you think Ultimecia will let you stay alive?"

"Ultimecia!?" Squall asked, wide eyed.

"Yes. I'm not able to take control of Cloud with my own powers. Not anymore. I needed help. That help is Ultimecia."

Squall could feel rage, boiling inside of him. The situation was bad. If he didn't kill Cloud, he wouldn't be able to get to Sephiroth and Ultimecia. But if he did kill Cloud…Tifa would never forgive him. It was Cloud's child…would Tifa maybe kill herself? He wanted to yell out but that wouldn't help.

"This is becoming boring." Cloud blurted out. He took his Ultima Weapon off his back and held it in one hand. "If you're not going to put up a fight…I might as well kill you now." he finished as he ran forward.

Squall barely had time to draw his Lionheart. He blocked the slash to his head and leapt away from him. Zell ran forward and aimed a punch at Cloud's head, but missed. Cloud retaliated with an elbow to his stomach and hit his head with the handle of his sword. Zell fell to the floor, unconscious. Cid yelled in anger and ran forward. He jabbed his spear at Cloud, just as Squall swung at his head.

Squall knew Cloud would get hit by one of their attacks. But he gasped in horror as Cloud grabbed Cid's spear just above the blade and blocked Squall's attack. He pulled the spear towards him, bringing Cid with it. He let go and jabbed Cid's face, breaking his nose and knocking him unconscious. As he fell, Cloud swept Squall off his feet, causing him to land hard on the floor. Squall felt dizzy since he had hit the floor head first. He saw Cloud raise his sword to finish him off but he stopped. He turned round and brought his sword up to his chest.

Squall heard the ring of bullets hitting his sword, courtesy of Barret's gun arm. Cloud glared at him and held out his hand. Barret was then surrounded by a huge rock. He was stuck inside until it shattered. Barret fell to the floor, frozen solid. Cloud smirked but it didn't last long. He was struck by lightning and he staggered. Rinoa then began rapidly firing spells at him. He was hit by ice, fire, lightning, water and wind. He fell to the floor, with nothing but a few scratches and bruises.

Squall grabbed his Lionheart and started to get up. Cloud leapt up and raised his hand once again. Rinoa was engulfed by a large ball of flames. She screamed in pain as the heat built up. Squall's anger rose and he charged at Cloud, tackling him to the floor. The spell wore off but Rinoa collapsed. She wasn't dead but she was weak. Tifa ran over to her and took out an X-Potion.

Cloud knocked Squall off him and grabbed his sword. He saw Tifa kneeling next to Rinoa. He raised his hand and Tifa started to feel woozy. She dropped the potion and it shattered, while she fell to the floor, sleeping. Cloud looked at his hand in surprise. Sephiroth had wanted to use another 'Flare' spell but he had used 'Sleepel' instead. What had happened?

Squall stood up and ran over to Cloud, gunblade raised. Cloud turned round but didn't have time to raise his sword. He tried to dodge the attack but didn't totally succeed. He felt a sharp pain and looked at his arm, noticing a small cut. Cloud attacked Squall but he was ready.

The two attacked and blocked each other. The only person he had ever been this evenly matched with was Seifer. Squall was quickly beginning to tire while Cloud just kept on attacking furiously. Squall began to speed up his attacks and use more strength like he had done in their first fight. Only this time he wasn't going down so easily.

Squall attacked Cloud, getting past his guard and Cloud tried to dodge. But he staggered and earned a slash at his rib.

'Since when had he become so clumsy?' Squall thought. Cloud was more focused than this and he easily could have dodged that attack.

'What's going on!?' Sephiroth yelled in Cloud's head. 'His body is becoming hard to control!'

Cloud swung at Squall, catching him off-guard. The slash struck him in the rib, cutting deep into his skin. He yelled as two others struck his left thigh and chest. Cloud kicked him in the stomach, knocking him to the floor.

Meanwhile, Tifa had just woken up. She heard Squall yell and fall to the floor. She looked over to see Cloud towering over him.

"You're pathetic Leonhart. Just like Strife." he said. He raised his hand and electricity filled his palm. Squall tried to sit up, only to be electrocuted.

Squall yelped and squirmed in pain. It was worse than a normal lightning spell. Much worse. His body felt like it was on fire, and the sting ran through his body. Cloud stopped and smiled. Squall lay down, panting and smoke came from his body. His clothes had been singed in some places.

"You see…I could kill you easily.  Even without my powers Cloud could kill you. That's why you're fighting, to prove that you're the strongest. But you're weak…and you don't want to admit it."

"Fuck you."

"What!" Cloud said angrily. Squall sat up and looked straight into his eyes.

"I said, fuck you!"

Big mistake. Squall felt another surge of electricity run through him, this time it was a lot stronger. He yelled even louder than before and he felt like his insides were melting.

Cloud finally stopped, several moments later. He looked down at Squall and smirked.

"Time to put you out of your misery." he said. He raised his sword and aimed it for Squall chest. Squall shut his eyes. There was nothing he could do. He was too weak to even lift his Gunblade.

Cloud stuck down and Squall waited for the pain to rush through his chest. Instead he only got a huge surprise when Cloud's blade pierced into the ground, inches from hi head. He looked back up at Cloud and saw him clutching his head in agony.

"What's going on!? What's happening!?" Cloud yelled. His eyes were tight shut, trying to stop his head from exploding. When he opened them, Squall noticed that their original bright blue colour was back.

Squall smiled and relief filled him.

Cloud was back in control.

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A/N: Whew that took a while to write. Sorry for not putting in Bahamut ZERO if anyone wanted me to. Oh and did you catch the 'Flare' and 'Break' spells I put in :) Next chapter will be up soon I promise. Later.

Shout-outs –

Fr33k S+Yl3 23 – Yeah I'm a fast updated and I hope you enjoyed this chapter. And I'm looking forward to your fic. Ta for giving me a dedication or something…I can't remember.

KuramaHasPrettyEyes – So you enjoy fighting scenes. Well I hope you enjoyed this chapter at least. And that 'too depressed to go to bed' thing was kinda weird. LOL

Yuleen75 – Hey…I don't hate you. Why would you think that?

Ric Leonhart – I'm glad you like this. I wasn't sure that anyone would like this when I started the fic but I'm happy, happy. And sorry that I didn't have Bahamut ZERO in this chapter but he just didn't fit in anywhere. We'll be getting a Lionheart though.

Jessica Holmes – Hey Jessie. Sorry but I like cliff-hangers, I can't help it. And I just gave you another one…how terrible am I eh? :) And don't worry…if you thought that it was Cloud…you weren't the only one that guessed. And don't rush your update. Actually…it was a good idea to update your other fic. Good move. And thanks for putting me on your favs list. Makes me soooo happy :D