Chapter 10 : This isn't time for bedtime stories Strife - Reno
Aeris opened her eyes and lazily looked around the room, the sun was shining in through the window and outside the Gold Saucers theme could barely be heard in the distance.
Although Cid would be arriving soon she couldn't find the effort to get up. She smiled knowing where Cloud was this time, still asleep his warm breath brushed over the back of her neck. 'I could stay here forever.'
Cloud slowly opened his eyes and saw Aeris in front of him. Her back was pressed up against his chest and his arm was wrapped around her waist. He leaned closer and gently kissed the back of her neck.
Aeris giggled and turned round. "Sleep well?"
"Best nights sleep I've had in ages. What time is it?"
Aeris leaned over him and looked at the clock.
"Umm... 10:32."
"Figures." Cloud rubbed his eyes. "I guess Cid will be here soon."
Aeris smiled and rested her head on Cloud's chest. "We really should get up."
Cloud put his arm around her. "Your right we should."
"Then lets go."
"Yep right now."
"Were getting up."
"Ready to go."
The two looked at each other and sighed.
"Another 10 minutes."
"Yeah, then we get up." Aeris agreed.
"Latest 15."
"Latest."
They looked at each other again and laughed.
"You think it can wait till tomorrow?"
_______________________________
"Hahaha."
Tysall couldn't contain his happiness, since his meeting with Zack he had formed a new plan.
'So Strife thinks he knows what's going to happen, the Soldier army which will attack Neo Midgar, the weapon which will destroy his planet. He thinks he can stop it, well... let him.'
He turned away from the window and sat down at his desk.
'I am tired of fighting these Cetra planet by planet. It's time to take them all out.'
Tysall opened the laptop on his desk and began to open up a group of files, strange formulas began to appear across the screen.
'Once a Cetra dies their Lifestream returns to the planet, then they are reborn as someone or something else, once their task is completed that Lifestream returns to the Promised Land. So no matter how many times I kill them here, they don't actually die.'
More complicated formulas came up on the screen.
'I've built a device which can destroy the very Lifestream of the planet but, it must first have an incredible power source which is where the materia comes in, but even then it is only one planets worth of Lifestream, its only one small blow to them. So what can I do to deal a critical blow.'
The laptop struggled to keep up with how fast Tysall was working.
'Simple.'
He pressed a final key on the keyboard and the program started up.
'The Promised Land is the door, and that girl is the key. If this goes to plan, Strife 'will' be the one who ends this war, just not the way he intends.'
He heard a hard knock at the door.
'While they think they are saving their planet from my Soldier army, they will actually be opening the door for me to destroy their whole existence.'
Tysall smiled and stood up. 'And here's the first pawn ready to be placed.'
____________________________
Zack walked around the corner hoping that this was the right one. So far he had managed to get lost three times, every corridor in the huge office building looked exactly the same.
'This place is starting to bug me.'
He reached the end of the corridor where a set of double doors was located. At the side of the doors was a golden plaque.
'Tysall eh? Guess this is the place.'
He knocked on the door a waited.
'Why am I here? I don't trust this guy. This whole thing just feels creepy.'
After waiting a few moments the door clicked and opened. On the other side Tysall greeted him.
"Well, I'm glad you showed up." He smiled and fully opened the door. "Please come in."
"Thanks." Zack nodded and walked inside.
Tysall closed the door and walked around to his desk.
"Well I'm sure your just full of questions, but let me begin." He motioned for Zack to take the seat opposite the desk but Zack stayed standing where he was. "Has Mr. Strife informed you of your task here?"
"No not yet."
"I see, no problem. Well at this point we are at a critical point in a war between the Cetra and the kind you have called Jenova. And now we have decided to start the final assault against them."
"And this involves me how?"
"You are one of the few that we can trust to help with this war, not many are willing to participate with such a task, or even believe that such a thing was happening."
"Ok, so tell me what's your part in all this."
"Better yet." Tysall stood up and pushed a button on his desk. "I'll show you."
The doors to the office opened and short, black haired man walked through. "Yes sir?"
"Steven's take this gentleman down to the laboratory."
"T-the laboratory? Err yes sir." Steven's held the door open and gestured for Zack to go through.
'Laboratory?' Zack didn't like labs at all, not since the Nibelheim mission. "What's there?"
"It will be much easier to explain once there. Please, just follow Steven's and I shall arrive shortly."
Zack nodded and followed Tysall's assistant outside. 'This better be good.'
Tysall picked up the phone and dialed out.
"Yes this is Tysall, I have another task for you to perform, this one however will require the darker points of your skills... Not a problem, you can name your price... I'm sure that by now you have heard about Miss Gainsborough."
He pressed another button on the laptop and a printer started up.
"Good, come to my office in Gongaga, talk to my assistant Steven's he will give you a small container with a chemical in it... Yes, yes don't worry. Once you have it you are then to bring the substance into contact with Miss Gainsborough, this means actual physical contact with her skin... Oh and one last thing, this is strictly confidential understood? Good, do not let me down."
Tysall grinned and pushed yet another button on his desk.
"Yes sir?" A crackling voice came over the intercom.
"I'm going to be leaving for an unknown amount of time, I want you too make sure that preparations for the satellite are ready for my return."
"T-the satellite? But the dead line is not for weeks, also the pilot hasn't even agreed to build the ships required for crew launch."
"Forget about Highwind, the satellite will be launched on minimal crew, I want it done now."
"Yes sir."
"Also, I'm going to be leaving a set of ingredients on my desk. Make sure this is sent to the Chemical Lab and created. Is that understood?"
"Yes sir, I'm sending someone right now."
Tysall then released the button and headed out the door. 'I've waited long enough, it's time to end this.'
_________________________
"So what do you think?"
Reno took another sip of the drink. "Hmm not bad, the last one was better though."
So far for the past few hours, Tifa had been taking advantage of Reno's alcoholic nature. Using his 'small' stash of drinks he kept in the Turk's office.
"Hmm let's see..."
She picked up to bottles and studied them for a moment. After making up her mind she poured one into the mixer.
"This should liven it up."
Reno grinned as she shook the mixer.
"You know I could get use to this."
"What? You're personal bar tender?" Tifa smiled and poured the contents into a glass. "I'm sure you would."
Reno took a sip and gave her the thumbs up. "Perfect."
Tifa smiled and wrote the ingredients down. "That's three new drinks and it's only lunch time."
"Lunch?" Reno glanced at his watch. "Great, after all this hard work I could use a bite to eat."
Tifa put the bottles back in the fridge. As she stood up she noticed the view outside the window, from here she could see the entire bay of Junon.
Since Shin-Ra was no longer in control of Junon, the citizens had decided to rebuild its beauty. The beaches had been cleaned up and the machines that pumped the toxins into the ocean had been dismantled. The airport that had cast a permanent shadow over the small town below had been dismantled and then re-built on the other side. This time though it was much bigger, capable of holding the newer commercial planes that were still under construction.
"Not a bad view is it." Reno picked his jacket up.
"It's beautiful."
"You know maybe later we..." Reno was interrupted as his cell phone started to ring. "(Sigh) one sec."
Tifa nodded as Reno walked out the door and answered the phone.
"This is Reno... You again? Well I should tell you that those skills cost more... Really? Well what do you want? You mean Aeris Gainborough... Yeah I hear that she's around these days..."
"Chemical? It's safe right, there's no danger to me right? Direct contact, I get it... Alright I understand... you've got a deal."
The phone clicked and the line went dead. Reno continued to stare at the phone for a few moments, after the thoughts in his mind slowed down he walked back into the office.
Tifa was sat on the desk, still looking out the window. "Anything good?"
Reno put the phone back in his pocket. "I think I just found out something."
"Huh? Found what?"
"Look there's something that I should tell you."
She swiveled round on the desk to face him. "What have you done this time?"
Reno threw his jacket over one of the chairs. "Remember back in the Gold Saucer when I told you about having to repay you guys for helping Elena."
"Uh huh..."
"Well that wasn't entirely true. A few minutes before it happened I met a new client, he asked me to follow you guys around and tell him what was going on."
"You mean you were spying on us?"
Reno could see by the look on her face and her white knuckles that Tifa wasn't happy with his new truth. "Well yes, but I was only suppose to until we found Strife, after that I stayed because... well you know."
She nodded. "So why are you telling me now?"
"Well that call was from him. He seems to believe that Aeris is alive."
"Him too? I though it was just Dio. Well maybe it is true, I mean Cid hasn't called back yet."
"Hmm well, there's something he wants me to pick up from his office in Gongaga. Some sort of chemical, he wants me to get her to touch it."
"Chemical? What does it do?"
"I don't know but, I'm guessing its not some new sun tan lotion."
"So what did you say?"
"I said I'll do it?"
"What!?" Tifa jumped up and pinned Reno to the ground. "How could you?" She shouted.
"Hey I ack.. only said it to ack... get him to trust me."
Tifa loosened her grip on his neck. "You mean your not going to do it."
He grabbed her arms and pried them of his neck as gasped for breath. " Hah hah would hah I have told you if I was really going to do it?"
"Good point." She stood up and sat back down on the desk.
"You gonna help me up?"
"Nope. Finish what you were saying."
Reno crawled to his feet. "I'm starting to wonder how Strife copes with you. Look, the guy that asked me to do this is call Tysall, I'm sure you've heard of him."
Tifa's eyes lit up. "Yeah that's the guy that wants to meet Cid. He was bragging about it days ago..."
"Well I think he can cancel his appointment."
"So he wants you to put this stuff on Aeris who is suppose to be alive and well."
"I think our friend Mr. Tysall may have something to do with what's been happening."
"No kidding, well I'll call everyone and tell them to get back here. Hopefully Cid will be back soon with Cloud and well I guess..."
"...Aeris."
_________________________
Cloud and Aeris were sat on a bench just to the side of the landing bay. Surprisingly this was the most quite spot in the entire Gold Saucer, the occasional supply chopper that came in was little inconvenience.
Over the desert they could see the Highwind make its appearance, slowly it grew in size as it came closer and within a few minutes Cid was landing it on the bay. The sand that had been blown scattered as the powerful jet entered, in the main window they could see Cid carefully setting the jet down.
"This will be your first time on the Highwind won't it?"
Aeris watched in awe as the Highwind landed. "Yeah... what's it like?"
"It's cool, not many guys have their own jet you know."
"You trying to show off?"
Cloud smiled and put his arm around her. "A little."
A few moments later the landing bay opened and Cid walked out.
"You two ready to go?"
"Yep." Aeris stood up and continued to stare at the jet.
"Not bad is she?" Cid noticed Aeris's attention to his ship. "No body builds em like me." He crossed his arms and looked smug.
Aeris smiled and cocked her head. "You two are just a bunch off show offs aren't you?"
"Dam straight, now lets get moving."
Cloud stood up and walked onto the landing bay ramp. "Any word from the others?"
Cid waited for Aeris to step on board before hitting a switch, the ramp began to rise up until it met the lower hull.
"Yeah Tifa called just before I got here, said she and Reno have some important news."
"Tifa and Reno?" Cloud raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah, those two seem to be spending a lot of time together lately. You know I think they might be getting quite close."
Aeris smiled. "Aww that's so sweet."
"Yeah yeah, its all lovey lovey here."
Aeris and Cloud then followed Cid up to the bridge, Cloud took his usual spot at the front of the ship and Cid took the controls. Aeris stood looking around for a moment and then walked up near Cloud.
"H-how fast does this ship go?"
"Hmm? You scared of flying?"
"Not really, but the last time I went on a plane it ended up in the ocean, remember?"
"Oh yeah, the Tiny Bronco. Heh don't worry, this things built like a rock." Cid started up the engine and the jet began to shake.
Cloud couldn't help but smirk as one of the side panels from the navigation computer shook off and dropped to the floor. Cid cursed under his breath and kicked it to the side.
"So where we going?" Cloud asked.
"Junon, were all stopping at the Turk's headquarters thanks to Reno." Cid scratched his head. "Huh, never thought I'd say that."
Aeris hoped up and sat on the railings. "And when we get there your going to explain everything right Cloud?"
"Yeah, like where the hell you been for the past few days?"
"Yeah don't worry," Cloud turned to the window and scratched his head. "Still a few things I need to figure out myself."
________________________
"So the earthquakes haven't stopped?"
Reeve shook his head. "No, they don't seem to be as bad as before but they are constantly going on. Its strange there's just no reason for them."
Barret turned to Vincent and Yuffie.
"What about you guys?"
"Nothing." Replied Vincent.
"Yup, nobody's seen anyone who looks like Sephiroth, or any more of the really cool materia." Yuffie jumped on the table and opened a bag with her current stash of materia.
At that point Tifa and Reno walked through the door.
"Ah I see the whole Scooby gangs back." Reno walked over to his desk and through his jacket over the chair. "Find anything?"
"Shut it." Barret grunted.
"My we're happy today."
"Children behave." Tifa walked between the two and sat down next to Yuffie. "Has Cid arrived back yet?"
"He's due any minute." Red was looking out the window, he was tired from studying the claw he and Rude found earlier.
A few moments passed by in silence.
"So... do you think it's true?" Yuffie looked around the room at all the blank faces.
"We'll have to wait and see." Replied Red.
At that point the door clicked and was pushed open. Cid marched through smiling.
"Didn't keep ya waiting did we?"
Tifa ran up to him. "Is everything ok? How's Cloud?"
"Heh his fine, they're..." He looked behind and saw no one was there. "Just behind me?"
Tifa looked over his shoulder and saw no one. "You feeling ok Cid?"
"I'm telling you they were right behind me."
Meanwhile in the corridor.
"What are you worried about?"
"I don't know. It's just..." Aeris couldn't think how to finish the sentence.
"Don't tell me your shy." Cloud smirked. "I never thought I'd see the day."
Her face went a little more red. "Your going to make this difficult aren't you?"
Cloud pointed to himself . "Who me?"
"Don't tell me you've lost Strife again." Reno laughed.
Tifa punched him on the arm. "You know you could be a little more supportive."
"Who could?" Cloud asked as he stood at the door.
Tifa and the other attention turn to straight Cloud as soon as he spoke.
"There see, I didn't loose him."
"Cloud where the hell have you been?" Barret asked.
"Well... I've been around." Cloud stepped forwards and behind him a shy looking Aeris entered the room holding his hand. Everyone's mouth dropped as she walked in, nobody could think of what to say, even Reno was lost for words.
Aeris smiled and waved. "Umm, Hi."
_______________________________
"Where are we going?" Asked Zack impatiently.
This was the third elevator he had been taken into while in the same building. By now he was quite sure he was underground.
"To the laboratory." Replied Steven's.
"Sounds fun." He yawned.
The lift slowed to a halt and the doors opened. Before him a seemingly endless room opened up, the place was filled row after row with some strange egg shaped containers.
Zack stared for a moment, shocked by the mere sight. He stepped out and walked up to one of them.
"I know these."
Steven's chuckled and shook his head.
"I highly doubt that, this lab is one of the most secret places on the planet."
"No, I've seen these before."
He looked through the small window.
"... Nibelheim."
"You have a good memory." Tysall entered from a second elevator.
Zack spun round furious. "What are these doing here?"
"Isn't it obvious?" Tysall walked up to one of the containers. "Were building an army."
"But were these created the same way as Sephiroth?"
"Yes, but not as powerful. The requirements for such a project were too far out of our reach."
"The that means these have Jenova cells in them."
"No, that was the ingredient we couldn't use. But it doesn't matter, they will no longer be needed."
Zack raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean they won't be needed."
Tysall turned round and smiled. "Don't worry, you will understand soon."
His arm shot out and grabbed Zack by the neck. Effortlessly he lifted the ex-Soldier up, Zack struggled to free him self from Tysall's grip but it was useless.
"Steven's go to the Chemical Lab, they should have something to give you."
"Yes sir." He bowed and left the room.
Zack kicked Tysall in the chest as hard as he could but it seemed to have no effect.
"Stop struggling, this won't take long."
He raised his other hand up to Zack's chest, the arm rippled and changed into its original shape. A slender hand took form, Zack recognized it as the same he saw long ago. 'Jenova, oh f^£k this is bad.'
"Figured it out yet?"
The voice felt like it was splitting his mind in two, the pain was unbearable. Jenova move her hand closer to his chest, the sharp claw pierced his skin.
"Now this may hurt a bit."
_______________________________
"So where do we begin?" Cloud leaned against Rude's desk.
After everyone calmed down from seeing Aeris, Cloud decided it would be best to catch up on everything that had happened. Everyone sat around the office and waited for Cloud to start.
Cid was sat in Elena's chair with his feet up on the table. "How about from the Gold Saucer? Remember when you ran off and left us hanging."
"Well that's the strangest part. I left because when everyone started to panic I saw Aeris."
"Me?" Aeris pointed to herself. "But I wasn't there."
"Well I chased her, you err, Aeris 2 all the way to Costa del Sol port."
"Right, I saw you on the ship on the way to Junon the next day." Cid added.
"Yeah well on the way there I had this dream."
Reno sighed. "This isn't time for bed time stories Strife."
Tifa leaned round. "Do I have to hurt you?"
He leaned forwards and grinned. "Think you could?"
"Ahem!" Reeve interrupted. "I think we have bigger this to discuss than this."
Cloud sighed and continued. "It had me and Tifa in it, we were been chased by Soldiers into an elevator. When the doors opened a shot was fired and the dream ended."
"So, people have nightmares what so special about that?" Asked Reno.
"It wasn't the only time, I had more of them as I carried on, up until I reached Junon. Once there I saw Aeris 2 again and I chased her to the reactor."
"That's right we saw her, then you ran after her and we couldn't keep up."
Cloud nodded. "Well from there I found Aeris 2 in a room we didn't see the first time we visited the reactor."
"That room was built recently, there's no record of it in the Shin-Ra file." Confirmed Rude.
"Well inside the Aeris impersonator changed into Sephiroth, although his strength was even greater than before."
"I'll say." Cid lifted up the sleeve of his shirt revealing the scars left behind from the Ultima spells.
"Then he dropped me into the Lifestream pool."
"And that's when I found you, right?"
Cloud turned to Aeris and nodded.
"Yeah, after spending sometime there with Aeris I met the first Cetra who gave me a small job."
"How small?" Asked Tifa.
Cloud shrugged. "Put simply... save our entire race from destruction."
Reno nearly spat his drink out. "Oh good I thought it would be something small." He rolled his eyes.
"Yeah well, I made a deal with him and accepted. He told me that the Aeris/Sephiroth character I had been chasing was actually Jenova."
"Jenova?" Repeated Barret. "You mean that things still alive?"
"Yeah say Tif, after I was thrown in the Lifestream something came back up right?"
"Uhh yeah, some weird green blob but how did you know?"
"Then it's happening, the first showed me what would happen, the rest of the dreams that I was having. And let's just say. it doesn't end well."
"And this is where we come in, right."
Cloud nodded. "Yeah, we have to kill Jenova once and for all. In a few weeks from now an army will attack and overthrow Neo Midgar, at that point we try to help and..."
"Get ourselves killed right?" Cid took another cigarette out of his headband but Shera soon confiscated it.
"So what are we to do?" Shera questioned.
"I think we should try to find this army, Jenova was using Soldier troops so I'm guessing they must be created somewhere."
Red sat up and looked at Cloud. "So we should find this place before the Soldiers are completed."
"Exactly. After I made the deal me, Aeris and Zack were sent back here."
"Zack?" Barret searched his memory. "That's the guy you thought you were before right?"
"Yeah, well then me and Aeris headed for the Gold Saucer and Zack wanted to visit Gongaga." Cloud scratched his head shrugged. "And that's about it."
Reno put his feet up on the table. "Great, who's next."
"Have you been able to remove that materia yet?" Asked Red.
Tifa shook her head. "No, we just can't touch it."
Cloud turned to face her. "Your talking about the one near the pool right?"
She nodded.
"Umm can I see it?" Asked Aeris.
Tifa shrugged. "Sure, but I'm not sure why, its just materia."
"Since we arrived in Junon I've felt something strange, if this materia is as powerful as you say it might be it."
"Okay then, we can go now." Tifa stood up and opened the door, after Aeris went through she turned back to the group. "And Reno, I think you have something to tell everyone."
"Fine," He sighed and stood up. "I'm Reno... and I'm an alcoholic."
"Duh." Cid cocked his head.
"Reno!" Tifa yelled already halfway down the corridor.
"Fine, fine." He sat back down and took some papers out of the desk draw. "(Sigh) Right, back at the Gold Saucer I took a job to follow you guys round. The guys name was Tysall."
"Hey I know him." Cid suddenly took interest again.
"Me too." Cloud thought back to the ship. "I met him on my way to Junon."
"Why did this person want you to follow us?" Asked Red, ignoring the fact that Reno had been spying on them.
"Beats me, but earlier today I got another call from him, this time it was a more... unpleasant job."
"Such as." Cloud glared at him.
"There's some chemical he wants me to pick up from his office, after I collect it I'm suppose to get it on to Aeris somehow."
Cloud clenched his fists. "I take it you said no, right?"
"Reno held his hands up and shook his head. "Don't worry I'm not going to do it, I'm not that stupid."
Yuffie leaned over to Cid and whispered. "Coulda fooled me." Cid grinned and nodded.
"So you think that this Tysall might have something to do with all this." Vincent spoke up.
Reno leaned over and handed him one of the papers. "Yeah, this is the address of the office in Gongaga, it's a start at least."
"Well we have to go there anyway to pick up Zack, I suggest we get set up and head over there tomorrow." Cloud pushed off of the wall and headed towards the door. "I'm gonna go check on the Tifa and Aeris."
"Wait." Reno jumped out of his chair and followed Cloud. "I'll go to."
"...?" Cloud remembered when Cid said about Reno and Tifa. "Fine, lets go."
After they had gone Cid sat up and looked around the room. "So what the &%£ we suppose to do?"
Reeve rummaged round in his pocket, after a few second he pulled out a pack of cards. "Anyone one know how to play?"
Yuffie's eyes lit up. "Hmm time for some easy money."
Meanwhile.
On the way to the reactor both had been quite, when they reached the second lift Cloud decided to break the silence.
"So Cid tells me that you and Tifa have been getting close."
Reno glanced at him. "Yeah, so."
Cloud crossed his arms. "Just asking."
Reno laughed and shook his head. "Is this going to be the 'If you dare hurt her I'll kill you speech.'"
"Kinda."
"Don't worry Spike," The lift stopped and they both walked out. "Seriously, I think she could do more damage to me than you could."
Cloud smiled. "Sounds about right."
Reno lead the way to the submarine bay and opened the doors.
"So you know, and then he, oh." Tifa suddenly stopped talking, the two glanced over at Cloud and Reno and then turned back and giggled to each other.
"Oh no." Cloud stared.
Reno shook his head. "They've been talking about us."
"This is bad."
"Are you two coming over here or what?" Aeris couldn't hide the smile on her face.
Cloud and Reno quietly made their way over.
"So guys have you finished up there?" Asked Tifa
Cloud walked up to the materia. "Yeah, we're leaving in the morning for Gongaga. Oh yeah," He turned round to Aeris. "Do you know someone called Tysall."
"Tysall? Umm nope, never heard of him. Why?"
"We think he wants you out of the picture." Explained Reno. "Although, how did he know that you were back? We only found out a few hours ago."
"Maybe he more to do with this than we thought." Added Tifa.
"Uh huh," Aeris was more curious about the materia than anything else though, she couldn't help but reach out to touch it.
"Hey wait!" Tifa leapt forwards to stop her but it was to late, she reached out and took hold of the materia.
Aeris leaned back with the materia in hand and stared blankly at her. "Hmm? What's wrong."
"....?"
Tifa blinked a few times. "You can hold it." She leaned over and held out her finger, as soon as it touched the orb it shot a burst of energy at her. "Yeeouch!"
"That's strange." Aeris examined the materia that seemed so peaceful in her hands.
Cloud stared at it. "Can you tell what type of materia it is."
"No... Its, strange. It feels like, its so powerful, this makes the white or black materia feel like basic stuff."
"That powerful eh?" Reno grinned. "Can you cast it."
Aeris closed her eyes and concentrated. The orb glowed a bright green for a few seconds and then faded back to normal.
Aeris dropped to her knees out of breath. "Hah hah, It's so... its too much, I'm too tired to cast."
Cloud kneeled down and helped her to her feet. "It must be really powerful if you can't even cast it once."
"I'm sorry, I'll try again once I rest up."
"Don't worry, come on we should go. I don't like it down here anyway." Cloud lead the way back to the elevator.
A little behind Aeris, Tifa and Reno followed.
"So Reno..." Tifa gave him an evil grin. "I hear you actually tried to ask Aeris out once." The two girls laughed.
Reno put is hand over his face. "Oh god no."
"Had something to do with flowers and a song."
"Shut up."
"Aww come on, don't I get a song too?"
Reno cursed under his breath. "Maybe I 'should' take Tysall up on that job."
____________________
"Ahh!" Zack shot up.
Around him a few people were staring.
"Huh? What's going on?"
"Hey pal." Someone kneeled down and put his hand on Zack's shoulder. "Are you ok?"
Zack glanced around, he was outside on the streets somewhere. Behind him was the Global Corp building.
"What's going on? Who are you?"
The stranger stood up.
"Are you on drugs?"
"What? Of course not." Zack jumped to his feet. "Ugh my head." As soon as he stood up he felt dizzy and sick.
"Uh huh, you know you people need help." The guy shook his head and walked away.
"Dumb ass." Zack staggered forwards until his face met the floor. 'Y'know I think I'll just stay down here for awhile.'
After the dizziness left him he rolled over and looked up at the sky, the sun was looking down on him. 'Afternoon? But it was morning when I got here.'
He sat up puzzled and noticed that his shirt was ripped. 'Huh?'
Opening his shirt Zack saw the thick scar that was now left on his chest.
'Now how the hell did that happen?'
_________________________
Later that night everyone had decided to visit the bar in Junon.
Yuffie, Reeve and Barret were sat at the bar playing cards in the middle of the bar, and to Yuffie's surprise even when she cheated Reeve still won. So far she owed him 6000 gil and 3 HP plus materias.
Vincent was sat near the fire in the corner, he was staring endlessly into the flames saying nothing. Red was laid down next to the fire asleep, after giving up thinking about the claw he decided to get some rest and prepare for tomorrow.
Tifa had fallen asleep on Reno shoulder, who didn't seem mind at all. After convincing her that he only wrote that song when he was drunk and out of his mind she finally gave in.
Cid and Shera were sat at the bar deciding over names for the baby, so far Cid had still been stuck on Cid Junior or Sydney.
Finally Aeris and Cloud had been sat at one of the table playing every game that they could think of just to avoid falling asleep.
"Ok I last one."
Aeris looked around the table.
"Okay then," She looked him in the eyes and smiled. "An arm wrestle."
"...? You want to arm wrestle me?"
"Yep, the winner buys the next drinks."
Cloud laughed and shook his head. "I guess it's you choice." He held his arm out.
Aeris counted down and they started. Cloud was quite happy to let her push his arm down a bit but they both new that Cloud was stronger.
"Come on you know you can't win."
"You think so?"
Cloud pushed down on her arm a bit more and Aeris struggled to hold him back.
"Come on give up, you can't wmph.." Aeris leaned forward and kiss him passionately, for a few moments he forgot everything around him.
"I win." She sat down and smiled sweetly.
"Huh?" Cloud looked down and saw that her arm had pushed his onto the table. "He-hey wait a sec, you cheated."
"Oh really? Well you weren't complaining a few seconds ago."
Cloud face went red. "Heh..."
Aeris smiled again and held up her empty glass. "Coke please."
Cloud cursed under his breath and walked over to the bar.
"Wow you really are that dumb." Laughed Cid.
"Like you wouldn't have fallen for it."
"Well, I guess if your gonna lose then that's not a bad way to do it."
Cloud smiled and ordered the drinks. "I guess not."
"So do you think that this Tysall guys behind any of this?"
"I have my suspicions."
"You gonna share."
He grabbed the drinks and turned around. "Tysall is Jenova."
Cid thought about it for a moment after Cloud left. "Huh, figures. I finally get a decent job and it turns out the guys actually an alien chick."
After a while Rude entered the bar and walked over to Reno. He leaned over and whispered something, Reno nodded and woke Tifa up.
"Hey."
"What?" Asked Cloud.
Aeris pointed behind him towards Reno.
"Hey, what's up?"
Reno walked over with Rude and Tifa behind. "Those quakes we've been having, well it seems we just found out why they were happening."
__________________________
Note: Well I guess now that FF7:Advent Children is announced it makes these fictions a little more pointless. But then again on the bright side I guess it will give us some new stuff to write these fics about. Thanks for those who reviewed, I think something went wrong with one review though since I have about 10 copies of it.
Aeris opened her eyes and lazily looked around the room, the sun was shining in through the window and outside the Gold Saucers theme could barely be heard in the distance.
Although Cid would be arriving soon she couldn't find the effort to get up. She smiled knowing where Cloud was this time, still asleep his warm breath brushed over the back of her neck. 'I could stay here forever.'
Cloud slowly opened his eyes and saw Aeris in front of him. Her back was pressed up against his chest and his arm was wrapped around her waist. He leaned closer and gently kissed the back of her neck.
Aeris giggled and turned round. "Sleep well?"
"Best nights sleep I've had in ages. What time is it?"
Aeris leaned over him and looked at the clock.
"Umm... 10:32."
"Figures." Cloud rubbed his eyes. "I guess Cid will be here soon."
Aeris smiled and rested her head on Cloud's chest. "We really should get up."
Cloud put his arm around her. "Your right we should."
"Then lets go."
"Yep right now."
"Were getting up."
"Ready to go."
The two looked at each other and sighed.
"Another 10 minutes."
"Yeah, then we get up." Aeris agreed.
"Latest 15."
"Latest."
They looked at each other again and laughed.
"You think it can wait till tomorrow?"
_______________________________
"Hahaha."
Tysall couldn't contain his happiness, since his meeting with Zack he had formed a new plan.
'So Strife thinks he knows what's going to happen, the Soldier army which will attack Neo Midgar, the weapon which will destroy his planet. He thinks he can stop it, well... let him.'
He turned away from the window and sat down at his desk.
'I am tired of fighting these Cetra planet by planet. It's time to take them all out.'
Tysall opened the laptop on his desk and began to open up a group of files, strange formulas began to appear across the screen.
'Once a Cetra dies their Lifestream returns to the planet, then they are reborn as someone or something else, once their task is completed that Lifestream returns to the Promised Land. So no matter how many times I kill them here, they don't actually die.'
More complicated formulas came up on the screen.
'I've built a device which can destroy the very Lifestream of the planet but, it must first have an incredible power source which is where the materia comes in, but even then it is only one planets worth of Lifestream, its only one small blow to them. So what can I do to deal a critical blow.'
The laptop struggled to keep up with how fast Tysall was working.
'Simple.'
He pressed a final key on the keyboard and the program started up.
'The Promised Land is the door, and that girl is the key. If this goes to plan, Strife 'will' be the one who ends this war, just not the way he intends.'
He heard a hard knock at the door.
'While they think they are saving their planet from my Soldier army, they will actually be opening the door for me to destroy their whole existence.'
Tysall smiled and stood up. 'And here's the first pawn ready to be placed.'
____________________________
Zack walked around the corner hoping that this was the right one. So far he had managed to get lost three times, every corridor in the huge office building looked exactly the same.
'This place is starting to bug me.'
He reached the end of the corridor where a set of double doors was located. At the side of the doors was a golden plaque.
'Tysall eh? Guess this is the place.'
He knocked on the door a waited.
'Why am I here? I don't trust this guy. This whole thing just feels creepy.'
After waiting a few moments the door clicked and opened. On the other side Tysall greeted him.
"Well, I'm glad you showed up." He smiled and fully opened the door. "Please come in."
"Thanks." Zack nodded and walked inside.
Tysall closed the door and walked around to his desk.
"Well I'm sure your just full of questions, but let me begin." He motioned for Zack to take the seat opposite the desk but Zack stayed standing where he was. "Has Mr. Strife informed you of your task here?"
"No not yet."
"I see, no problem. Well at this point we are at a critical point in a war between the Cetra and the kind you have called Jenova. And now we have decided to start the final assault against them."
"And this involves me how?"
"You are one of the few that we can trust to help with this war, not many are willing to participate with such a task, or even believe that such a thing was happening."
"Ok, so tell me what's your part in all this."
"Better yet." Tysall stood up and pushed a button on his desk. "I'll show you."
The doors to the office opened and short, black haired man walked through. "Yes sir?"
"Steven's take this gentleman down to the laboratory."
"T-the laboratory? Err yes sir." Steven's held the door open and gestured for Zack to go through.
'Laboratory?' Zack didn't like labs at all, not since the Nibelheim mission. "What's there?"
"It will be much easier to explain once there. Please, just follow Steven's and I shall arrive shortly."
Zack nodded and followed Tysall's assistant outside. 'This better be good.'
Tysall picked up the phone and dialed out.
"Yes this is Tysall, I have another task for you to perform, this one however will require the darker points of your skills... Not a problem, you can name your price... I'm sure that by now you have heard about Miss Gainsborough."
He pressed another button on the laptop and a printer started up.
"Good, come to my office in Gongaga, talk to my assistant Steven's he will give you a small container with a chemical in it... Yes, yes don't worry. Once you have it you are then to bring the substance into contact with Miss Gainsborough, this means actual physical contact with her skin... Oh and one last thing, this is strictly confidential understood? Good, do not let me down."
Tysall grinned and pushed yet another button on his desk.
"Yes sir?" A crackling voice came over the intercom.
"I'm going to be leaving for an unknown amount of time, I want you too make sure that preparations for the satellite are ready for my return."
"T-the satellite? But the dead line is not for weeks, also the pilot hasn't even agreed to build the ships required for crew launch."
"Forget about Highwind, the satellite will be launched on minimal crew, I want it done now."
"Yes sir."
"Also, I'm going to be leaving a set of ingredients on my desk. Make sure this is sent to the Chemical Lab and created. Is that understood?"
"Yes sir, I'm sending someone right now."
Tysall then released the button and headed out the door. 'I've waited long enough, it's time to end this.'
_________________________
"So what do you think?"
Reno took another sip of the drink. "Hmm not bad, the last one was better though."
So far for the past few hours, Tifa had been taking advantage of Reno's alcoholic nature. Using his 'small' stash of drinks he kept in the Turk's office.
"Hmm let's see..."
She picked up to bottles and studied them for a moment. After making up her mind she poured one into the mixer.
"This should liven it up."
Reno grinned as she shook the mixer.
"You know I could get use to this."
"What? You're personal bar tender?" Tifa smiled and poured the contents into a glass. "I'm sure you would."
Reno took a sip and gave her the thumbs up. "Perfect."
Tifa smiled and wrote the ingredients down. "That's three new drinks and it's only lunch time."
"Lunch?" Reno glanced at his watch. "Great, after all this hard work I could use a bite to eat."
Tifa put the bottles back in the fridge. As she stood up she noticed the view outside the window, from here she could see the entire bay of Junon.
Since Shin-Ra was no longer in control of Junon, the citizens had decided to rebuild its beauty. The beaches had been cleaned up and the machines that pumped the toxins into the ocean had been dismantled. The airport that had cast a permanent shadow over the small town below had been dismantled and then re-built on the other side. This time though it was much bigger, capable of holding the newer commercial planes that were still under construction.
"Not a bad view is it." Reno picked his jacket up.
"It's beautiful."
"You know maybe later we..." Reno was interrupted as his cell phone started to ring. "(Sigh) one sec."
Tifa nodded as Reno walked out the door and answered the phone.
"This is Reno... You again? Well I should tell you that those skills cost more... Really? Well what do you want? You mean Aeris Gainborough... Yeah I hear that she's around these days..."
"Chemical? It's safe right, there's no danger to me right? Direct contact, I get it... Alright I understand... you've got a deal."
The phone clicked and the line went dead. Reno continued to stare at the phone for a few moments, after the thoughts in his mind slowed down he walked back into the office.
Tifa was sat on the desk, still looking out the window. "Anything good?"
Reno put the phone back in his pocket. "I think I just found out something."
"Huh? Found what?"
"Look there's something that I should tell you."
She swiveled round on the desk to face him. "What have you done this time?"
Reno threw his jacket over one of the chairs. "Remember back in the Gold Saucer when I told you about having to repay you guys for helping Elena."
"Uh huh..."
"Well that wasn't entirely true. A few minutes before it happened I met a new client, he asked me to follow you guys around and tell him what was going on."
"You mean you were spying on us?"
Reno could see by the look on her face and her white knuckles that Tifa wasn't happy with his new truth. "Well yes, but I was only suppose to until we found Strife, after that I stayed because... well you know."
She nodded. "So why are you telling me now?"
"Well that call was from him. He seems to believe that Aeris is alive."
"Him too? I though it was just Dio. Well maybe it is true, I mean Cid hasn't called back yet."
"Hmm well, there's something he wants me to pick up from his office in Gongaga. Some sort of chemical, he wants me to get her to touch it."
"Chemical? What does it do?"
"I don't know but, I'm guessing its not some new sun tan lotion."
"So what did you say?"
"I said I'll do it?"
"What!?" Tifa jumped up and pinned Reno to the ground. "How could you?" She shouted.
"Hey I ack.. only said it to ack... get him to trust me."
Tifa loosened her grip on his neck. "You mean your not going to do it."
He grabbed her arms and pried them of his neck as gasped for breath. " Hah hah would hah I have told you if I was really going to do it?"
"Good point." She stood up and sat back down on the desk.
"You gonna help me up?"
"Nope. Finish what you were saying."
Reno crawled to his feet. "I'm starting to wonder how Strife copes with you. Look, the guy that asked me to do this is call Tysall, I'm sure you've heard of him."
Tifa's eyes lit up. "Yeah that's the guy that wants to meet Cid. He was bragging about it days ago..."
"Well I think he can cancel his appointment."
"So he wants you to put this stuff on Aeris who is suppose to be alive and well."
"I think our friend Mr. Tysall may have something to do with what's been happening."
"No kidding, well I'll call everyone and tell them to get back here. Hopefully Cid will be back soon with Cloud and well I guess..."
"...Aeris."
_________________________
Cloud and Aeris were sat on a bench just to the side of the landing bay. Surprisingly this was the most quite spot in the entire Gold Saucer, the occasional supply chopper that came in was little inconvenience.
Over the desert they could see the Highwind make its appearance, slowly it grew in size as it came closer and within a few minutes Cid was landing it on the bay. The sand that had been blown scattered as the powerful jet entered, in the main window they could see Cid carefully setting the jet down.
"This will be your first time on the Highwind won't it?"
Aeris watched in awe as the Highwind landed. "Yeah... what's it like?"
"It's cool, not many guys have their own jet you know."
"You trying to show off?"
Cloud smiled and put his arm around her. "A little."
A few moments later the landing bay opened and Cid walked out.
"You two ready to go?"
"Yep." Aeris stood up and continued to stare at the jet.
"Not bad is she?" Cid noticed Aeris's attention to his ship. "No body builds em like me." He crossed his arms and looked smug.
Aeris smiled and cocked her head. "You two are just a bunch off show offs aren't you?"
"Dam straight, now lets get moving."
Cloud stood up and walked onto the landing bay ramp. "Any word from the others?"
Cid waited for Aeris to step on board before hitting a switch, the ramp began to rise up until it met the lower hull.
"Yeah Tifa called just before I got here, said she and Reno have some important news."
"Tifa and Reno?" Cloud raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah, those two seem to be spending a lot of time together lately. You know I think they might be getting quite close."
Aeris smiled. "Aww that's so sweet."
"Yeah yeah, its all lovey lovey here."
Aeris and Cloud then followed Cid up to the bridge, Cloud took his usual spot at the front of the ship and Cid took the controls. Aeris stood looking around for a moment and then walked up near Cloud.
"H-how fast does this ship go?"
"Hmm? You scared of flying?"
"Not really, but the last time I went on a plane it ended up in the ocean, remember?"
"Oh yeah, the Tiny Bronco. Heh don't worry, this things built like a rock." Cid started up the engine and the jet began to shake.
Cloud couldn't help but smirk as one of the side panels from the navigation computer shook off and dropped to the floor. Cid cursed under his breath and kicked it to the side.
"So where we going?" Cloud asked.
"Junon, were all stopping at the Turk's headquarters thanks to Reno." Cid scratched his head. "Huh, never thought I'd say that."
Aeris hoped up and sat on the railings. "And when we get there your going to explain everything right Cloud?"
"Yeah, like where the hell you been for the past few days?"
"Yeah don't worry," Cloud turned to the window and scratched his head. "Still a few things I need to figure out myself."
________________________
"So the earthquakes haven't stopped?"
Reeve shook his head. "No, they don't seem to be as bad as before but they are constantly going on. Its strange there's just no reason for them."
Barret turned to Vincent and Yuffie.
"What about you guys?"
"Nothing." Replied Vincent.
"Yup, nobody's seen anyone who looks like Sephiroth, or any more of the really cool materia." Yuffie jumped on the table and opened a bag with her current stash of materia.
At that point Tifa and Reno walked through the door.
"Ah I see the whole Scooby gangs back." Reno walked over to his desk and through his jacket over the chair. "Find anything?"
"Shut it." Barret grunted.
"My we're happy today."
"Children behave." Tifa walked between the two and sat down next to Yuffie. "Has Cid arrived back yet?"
"He's due any minute." Red was looking out the window, he was tired from studying the claw he and Rude found earlier.
A few moments passed by in silence.
"So... do you think it's true?" Yuffie looked around the room at all the blank faces.
"We'll have to wait and see." Replied Red.
At that point the door clicked and was pushed open. Cid marched through smiling.
"Didn't keep ya waiting did we?"
Tifa ran up to him. "Is everything ok? How's Cloud?"
"Heh his fine, they're..." He looked behind and saw no one was there. "Just behind me?"
Tifa looked over his shoulder and saw no one. "You feeling ok Cid?"
"I'm telling you they were right behind me."
Meanwhile in the corridor.
"What are you worried about?"
"I don't know. It's just..." Aeris couldn't think how to finish the sentence.
"Don't tell me your shy." Cloud smirked. "I never thought I'd see the day."
Her face went a little more red. "Your going to make this difficult aren't you?"
Cloud pointed to himself . "Who me?"
"Don't tell me you've lost Strife again." Reno laughed.
Tifa punched him on the arm. "You know you could be a little more supportive."
"Who could?" Cloud asked as he stood at the door.
Tifa and the other attention turn to straight Cloud as soon as he spoke.
"There see, I didn't loose him."
"Cloud where the hell have you been?" Barret asked.
"Well... I've been around." Cloud stepped forwards and behind him a shy looking Aeris entered the room holding his hand. Everyone's mouth dropped as she walked in, nobody could think of what to say, even Reno was lost for words.
Aeris smiled and waved. "Umm, Hi."
_______________________________
"Where are we going?" Asked Zack impatiently.
This was the third elevator he had been taken into while in the same building. By now he was quite sure he was underground.
"To the laboratory." Replied Steven's.
"Sounds fun." He yawned.
The lift slowed to a halt and the doors opened. Before him a seemingly endless room opened up, the place was filled row after row with some strange egg shaped containers.
Zack stared for a moment, shocked by the mere sight. He stepped out and walked up to one of them.
"I know these."
Steven's chuckled and shook his head.
"I highly doubt that, this lab is one of the most secret places on the planet."
"No, I've seen these before."
He looked through the small window.
"... Nibelheim."
"You have a good memory." Tysall entered from a second elevator.
Zack spun round furious. "What are these doing here?"
"Isn't it obvious?" Tysall walked up to one of the containers. "Were building an army."
"But were these created the same way as Sephiroth?"
"Yes, but not as powerful. The requirements for such a project were too far out of our reach."
"The that means these have Jenova cells in them."
"No, that was the ingredient we couldn't use. But it doesn't matter, they will no longer be needed."
Zack raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean they won't be needed."
Tysall turned round and smiled. "Don't worry, you will understand soon."
His arm shot out and grabbed Zack by the neck. Effortlessly he lifted the ex-Soldier up, Zack struggled to free him self from Tysall's grip but it was useless.
"Steven's go to the Chemical Lab, they should have something to give you."
"Yes sir." He bowed and left the room.
Zack kicked Tysall in the chest as hard as he could but it seemed to have no effect.
"Stop struggling, this won't take long."
He raised his other hand up to Zack's chest, the arm rippled and changed into its original shape. A slender hand took form, Zack recognized it as the same he saw long ago. 'Jenova, oh f^£k this is bad.'
"Figured it out yet?"
The voice felt like it was splitting his mind in two, the pain was unbearable. Jenova move her hand closer to his chest, the sharp claw pierced his skin.
"Now this may hurt a bit."
_______________________________
"So where do we begin?" Cloud leaned against Rude's desk.
After everyone calmed down from seeing Aeris, Cloud decided it would be best to catch up on everything that had happened. Everyone sat around the office and waited for Cloud to start.
Cid was sat in Elena's chair with his feet up on the table. "How about from the Gold Saucer? Remember when you ran off and left us hanging."
"Well that's the strangest part. I left because when everyone started to panic I saw Aeris."
"Me?" Aeris pointed to herself. "But I wasn't there."
"Well I chased her, you err, Aeris 2 all the way to Costa del Sol port."
"Right, I saw you on the ship on the way to Junon the next day." Cid added.
"Yeah well on the way there I had this dream."
Reno sighed. "This isn't time for bed time stories Strife."
Tifa leaned round. "Do I have to hurt you?"
He leaned forwards and grinned. "Think you could?"
"Ahem!" Reeve interrupted. "I think we have bigger this to discuss than this."
Cloud sighed and continued. "It had me and Tifa in it, we were been chased by Soldiers into an elevator. When the doors opened a shot was fired and the dream ended."
"So, people have nightmares what so special about that?" Asked Reno.
"It wasn't the only time, I had more of them as I carried on, up until I reached Junon. Once there I saw Aeris 2 again and I chased her to the reactor."
"That's right we saw her, then you ran after her and we couldn't keep up."
Cloud nodded. "Well from there I found Aeris 2 in a room we didn't see the first time we visited the reactor."
"That room was built recently, there's no record of it in the Shin-Ra file." Confirmed Rude.
"Well inside the Aeris impersonator changed into Sephiroth, although his strength was even greater than before."
"I'll say." Cid lifted up the sleeve of his shirt revealing the scars left behind from the Ultima spells.
"Then he dropped me into the Lifestream pool."
"And that's when I found you, right?"
Cloud turned to Aeris and nodded.
"Yeah, after spending sometime there with Aeris I met the first Cetra who gave me a small job."
"How small?" Asked Tifa.
Cloud shrugged. "Put simply... save our entire race from destruction."
Reno nearly spat his drink out. "Oh good I thought it would be something small." He rolled his eyes.
"Yeah well, I made a deal with him and accepted. He told me that the Aeris/Sephiroth character I had been chasing was actually Jenova."
"Jenova?" Repeated Barret. "You mean that things still alive?"
"Yeah say Tif, after I was thrown in the Lifestream something came back up right?"
"Uhh yeah, some weird green blob but how did you know?"
"Then it's happening, the first showed me what would happen, the rest of the dreams that I was having. And let's just say. it doesn't end well."
"And this is where we come in, right."
Cloud nodded. "Yeah, we have to kill Jenova once and for all. In a few weeks from now an army will attack and overthrow Neo Midgar, at that point we try to help and..."
"Get ourselves killed right?" Cid took another cigarette out of his headband but Shera soon confiscated it.
"So what are we to do?" Shera questioned.
"I think we should try to find this army, Jenova was using Soldier troops so I'm guessing they must be created somewhere."
Red sat up and looked at Cloud. "So we should find this place before the Soldiers are completed."
"Exactly. After I made the deal me, Aeris and Zack were sent back here."
"Zack?" Barret searched his memory. "That's the guy you thought you were before right?"
"Yeah, well then me and Aeris headed for the Gold Saucer and Zack wanted to visit Gongaga." Cloud scratched his head shrugged. "And that's about it."
Reno put his feet up on the table. "Great, who's next."
"Have you been able to remove that materia yet?" Asked Red.
Tifa shook her head. "No, we just can't touch it."
Cloud turned to face her. "Your talking about the one near the pool right?"
She nodded.
"Umm can I see it?" Asked Aeris.
Tifa shrugged. "Sure, but I'm not sure why, its just materia."
"Since we arrived in Junon I've felt something strange, if this materia is as powerful as you say it might be it."
"Okay then, we can go now." Tifa stood up and opened the door, after Aeris went through she turned back to the group. "And Reno, I think you have something to tell everyone."
"Fine," He sighed and stood up. "I'm Reno... and I'm an alcoholic."
"Duh." Cid cocked his head.
"Reno!" Tifa yelled already halfway down the corridor.
"Fine, fine." He sat back down and took some papers out of the desk draw. "(Sigh) Right, back at the Gold Saucer I took a job to follow you guys round. The guys name was Tysall."
"Hey I know him." Cid suddenly took interest again.
"Me too." Cloud thought back to the ship. "I met him on my way to Junon."
"Why did this person want you to follow us?" Asked Red, ignoring the fact that Reno had been spying on them.
"Beats me, but earlier today I got another call from him, this time it was a more... unpleasant job."
"Such as." Cloud glared at him.
"There's some chemical he wants me to pick up from his office, after I collect it I'm suppose to get it on to Aeris somehow."
Cloud clenched his fists. "I take it you said no, right?"
"Reno held his hands up and shook his head. "Don't worry I'm not going to do it, I'm not that stupid."
Yuffie leaned over to Cid and whispered. "Coulda fooled me." Cid grinned and nodded.
"So you think that this Tysall might have something to do with all this." Vincent spoke up.
Reno leaned over and handed him one of the papers. "Yeah, this is the address of the office in Gongaga, it's a start at least."
"Well we have to go there anyway to pick up Zack, I suggest we get set up and head over there tomorrow." Cloud pushed off of the wall and headed towards the door. "I'm gonna go check on the Tifa and Aeris."
"Wait." Reno jumped out of his chair and followed Cloud. "I'll go to."
"...?" Cloud remembered when Cid said about Reno and Tifa. "Fine, lets go."
After they had gone Cid sat up and looked around the room. "So what the &%£ we suppose to do?"
Reeve rummaged round in his pocket, after a few second he pulled out a pack of cards. "Anyone one know how to play?"
Yuffie's eyes lit up. "Hmm time for some easy money."
Meanwhile.
On the way to the reactor both had been quite, when they reached the second lift Cloud decided to break the silence.
"So Cid tells me that you and Tifa have been getting close."
Reno glanced at him. "Yeah, so."
Cloud crossed his arms. "Just asking."
Reno laughed and shook his head. "Is this going to be the 'If you dare hurt her I'll kill you speech.'"
"Kinda."
"Don't worry Spike," The lift stopped and they both walked out. "Seriously, I think she could do more damage to me than you could."
Cloud smiled. "Sounds about right."
Reno lead the way to the submarine bay and opened the doors.
"So you know, and then he, oh." Tifa suddenly stopped talking, the two glanced over at Cloud and Reno and then turned back and giggled to each other.
"Oh no." Cloud stared.
Reno shook his head. "They've been talking about us."
"This is bad."
"Are you two coming over here or what?" Aeris couldn't hide the smile on her face.
Cloud and Reno quietly made their way over.
"So guys have you finished up there?" Asked Tifa
Cloud walked up to the materia. "Yeah, we're leaving in the morning for Gongaga. Oh yeah," He turned round to Aeris. "Do you know someone called Tysall."
"Tysall? Umm nope, never heard of him. Why?"
"We think he wants you out of the picture." Explained Reno. "Although, how did he know that you were back? We only found out a few hours ago."
"Maybe he more to do with this than we thought." Added Tifa.
"Uh huh," Aeris was more curious about the materia than anything else though, she couldn't help but reach out to touch it.
"Hey wait!" Tifa leapt forwards to stop her but it was to late, she reached out and took hold of the materia.
Aeris leaned back with the materia in hand and stared blankly at her. "Hmm? What's wrong."
"....?"
Tifa blinked a few times. "You can hold it." She leaned over and held out her finger, as soon as it touched the orb it shot a burst of energy at her. "Yeeouch!"
"That's strange." Aeris examined the materia that seemed so peaceful in her hands.
Cloud stared at it. "Can you tell what type of materia it is."
"No... Its, strange. It feels like, its so powerful, this makes the white or black materia feel like basic stuff."
"That powerful eh?" Reno grinned. "Can you cast it."
Aeris closed her eyes and concentrated. The orb glowed a bright green for a few seconds and then faded back to normal.
Aeris dropped to her knees out of breath. "Hah hah, It's so... its too much, I'm too tired to cast."
Cloud kneeled down and helped her to her feet. "It must be really powerful if you can't even cast it once."
"I'm sorry, I'll try again once I rest up."
"Don't worry, come on we should go. I don't like it down here anyway." Cloud lead the way back to the elevator.
A little behind Aeris, Tifa and Reno followed.
"So Reno..." Tifa gave him an evil grin. "I hear you actually tried to ask Aeris out once." The two girls laughed.
Reno put is hand over his face. "Oh god no."
"Had something to do with flowers and a song."
"Shut up."
"Aww come on, don't I get a song too?"
Reno cursed under his breath. "Maybe I 'should' take Tysall up on that job."
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"Ahh!" Zack shot up.
Around him a few people were staring.
"Huh? What's going on?"
"Hey pal." Someone kneeled down and put his hand on Zack's shoulder. "Are you ok?"
Zack glanced around, he was outside on the streets somewhere. Behind him was the Global Corp building.
"What's going on? Who are you?"
The stranger stood up.
"Are you on drugs?"
"What? Of course not." Zack jumped to his feet. "Ugh my head." As soon as he stood up he felt dizzy and sick.
"Uh huh, you know you people need help." The guy shook his head and walked away.
"Dumb ass." Zack staggered forwards until his face met the floor. 'Y'know I think I'll just stay down here for awhile.'
After the dizziness left him he rolled over and looked up at the sky, the sun was looking down on him. 'Afternoon? But it was morning when I got here.'
He sat up puzzled and noticed that his shirt was ripped. 'Huh?'
Opening his shirt Zack saw the thick scar that was now left on his chest.
'Now how the hell did that happen?'
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Later that night everyone had decided to visit the bar in Junon.
Yuffie, Reeve and Barret were sat at the bar playing cards in the middle of the bar, and to Yuffie's surprise even when she cheated Reeve still won. So far she owed him 6000 gil and 3 HP plus materias.
Vincent was sat near the fire in the corner, he was staring endlessly into the flames saying nothing. Red was laid down next to the fire asleep, after giving up thinking about the claw he decided to get some rest and prepare for tomorrow.
Tifa had fallen asleep on Reno shoulder, who didn't seem mind at all. After convincing her that he only wrote that song when he was drunk and out of his mind she finally gave in.
Cid and Shera were sat at the bar deciding over names for the baby, so far Cid had still been stuck on Cid Junior or Sydney.
Finally Aeris and Cloud had been sat at one of the table playing every game that they could think of just to avoid falling asleep.
"Ok I last one."
Aeris looked around the table.
"Okay then," She looked him in the eyes and smiled. "An arm wrestle."
"...? You want to arm wrestle me?"
"Yep, the winner buys the next drinks."
Cloud laughed and shook his head. "I guess it's you choice." He held his arm out.
Aeris counted down and they started. Cloud was quite happy to let her push his arm down a bit but they both new that Cloud was stronger.
"Come on you know you can't win."
"You think so?"
Cloud pushed down on her arm a bit more and Aeris struggled to hold him back.
"Come on give up, you can't wmph.." Aeris leaned forward and kiss him passionately, for a few moments he forgot everything around him.
"I win." She sat down and smiled sweetly.
"Huh?" Cloud looked down and saw that her arm had pushed his onto the table. "He-hey wait a sec, you cheated."
"Oh really? Well you weren't complaining a few seconds ago."
Cloud face went red. "Heh..."
Aeris smiled again and held up her empty glass. "Coke please."
Cloud cursed under his breath and walked over to the bar.
"Wow you really are that dumb." Laughed Cid.
"Like you wouldn't have fallen for it."
"Well, I guess if your gonna lose then that's not a bad way to do it."
Cloud smiled and ordered the drinks. "I guess not."
"So do you think that this Tysall guys behind any of this?"
"I have my suspicions."
"You gonna share."
He grabbed the drinks and turned around. "Tysall is Jenova."
Cid thought about it for a moment after Cloud left. "Huh, figures. I finally get a decent job and it turns out the guys actually an alien chick."
After a while Rude entered the bar and walked over to Reno. He leaned over and whispered something, Reno nodded and woke Tifa up.
"Hey."
"What?" Asked Cloud.
Aeris pointed behind him towards Reno.
"Hey, what's up?"
Reno walked over with Rude and Tifa behind. "Those quakes we've been having, well it seems we just found out why they were happening."
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Note: Well I guess now that FF7:Advent Children is announced it makes these fictions a little more pointless. But then again on the bright side I guess it will give us some new stuff to write these fics about. Thanks for those who reviewed, I think something went wrong with one review though since I have about 10 copies of it.