Chapter 4

Cat Scratch the Surface

The spikey headed blonde with the giant sword and sparkling eyes sat with his legs propped up on a table inside of the Costa Del Sol he purchased a few years back. Acrossed from him sat Reeve or "Cait Sith". With Shinra gone his supply of armored, forture telling, battle dolls was running thin. He was just taking it easy now. The door to the home opened and in came Barret completely soaking wet.

"Why the HELL are we havin' dis mettin' in the hottest place on the planet?!" he screamed in Cloud's face. Cloud handed him a paper fan. Barret through it up in the air burnt it to a crisp by casting fire on it.

"So you managed to figure out materia that much now?" Cloud said laughing in his chair. Barret never could figure materia. The fact that he had gotten this far was pretty good for him...but Cloud mastered it when he was 5. Barret's a grown man.

"That's enough you two." Tifa said walking in with a Bikini top on and a towel around her waist. Numerous hoots and hollers could be heard from the street she just exited. "One seond...." She went back outside shutting the door behind her. Trash cans banging and groans of pain were all that could be heard. She walked back in dusting off her hands. Everyone just stared at her. She was a hand to hand combat specialist and loved to show her strength.

"Uhh....Tifa?" Barret said staring at her.

"What's up?" She said smiling.

"Down...." he said pointing. Tifa looked down to see her top missing and her breasts exposed to the world. her face turned red as she ran back outside to get her top and was again met with hoots and hollers. Even louder sounds of trash cans banging, windows breaking, dogs barking, and men groaning could be heard. Cloud peaked outside to see at least 50 guys on the ground.

"Get inside Tifa."


"Yeah I thought someone set off sleeping gas when I saw all of them on the ground outside. Control yourself Tifa!" Yuffie laughed pointing at Tifa.

"So Junon harbor is gone off the face of the earth? Nowhere to be found? Disappeared into thin air? How the #! is that possible?" Cid screamed over everybody.

"A new power we've yet to encounter yet." Vincent answered from the other side of the room. Everyone was now quiet. Especially Cid since he was sleeping.

"Have any other strange things happened recently? Maybe we could link something to this." Red XIII asked looking around at everyone with his one eye the other being a scar. Red XIII was the last of his tribe as a sort of tiger hybrid with tatoos covering his orange hide and a tail tipped with a flame. Seriously his tail is on fire at all times.It has a certain energy to it that keeps it from burning any else though....he can't even explain it so don't worry about it.

"Not that I know of. All I know is that Shinra has been trying to rebuild itself but troops keep abandoning their duties and keep letting people in to secure areas for money." Reeve explained. "So who knows. Maybe they're behind this after all." The door then opened and a man walked in.

"The hotel is down the street." Cloud said pointing to the right. he get's barged in on a lot if he doesn't lock his door. All the buildings in the area look the same.

"No this is where I was suppose to come. You are Cloud Strife are you not?" The old man asked.

"Yes. Is there a problem? If it's about the rent I don't pay rent. I own this house." Cloud said pointing to the door.

"You get a lot of scam artists here don't you? No No I'm here to talk about the recent disappearance of Junon harbor. Do you mind if I smoke?" The man asked. Cloud shrugged his shoulders and leaned back into his chair some more.

"So what do you know that we don't old man?" Cloud asked. Everyone else just watched the two of them.

"Baywood's the name. What do I know huh? Well for starters you are not alone. Rather, this planet is not alone." Cloud looked at Baywood as if he were a crackpot.

"What the hell are you-/So you mean there's more then one planet out there. We already know that. Meteor destroyed all of those planets though." Barret was interrupted by Vincent. Barret just scratched his head and sat back.

"Meteor destroyed uninhabited planets for thousands of years. It must be summonded in order for it to hit a certain planet since the universe is so vast, the chances of it running in to your planet are non-existent. A man named Sephiroth summonded meteor onto this planet three years ago. A girl named Aeris summoned Holy, it's exact opposite, to counter it. They both fought but in the end meteor was repelled. Meteor destroyed another planet that WAS inhabited two years ago. 50 of the population escaped on ships to outerspace."

"Woah Woah Woah! Are you from that planet?!" Cloud asked shocked.

"Yes I am. I am one of the three leaders of the planet. We all escaped and after much arguing I decided to use our forces to hunt and destroy meteor. The other two had been overcome with hate for worlds that were left untouched by meteor and have gone off to wreak havoc and conquer those worlds. There a 4 worlds in this galaxy of yours and three of them are in total chaos. You are indeed lucky that we got here first."

"You got here first? So you were the ones that made Junon disappear?" Red XIII asked.

"Yes, we turned that gun into a ship hoping to modify it and make it capable of destroying meteor. I sent my troops on that ship and stayed behind to tell the civilians of this planet what we were doing. Junon was taken over by the other two leader's forces and is now being used to attack the other worlds." he explained further wiping the sweat off of his forehead.

"So you want us to help get Junon back and help stop the other two leaders? Right?" Cloud said standing up and stretching out his arms and back.

"It's not that simple. The people on the other worlds will try to destroy Junon. We have to get there as soon as possible."

"I question the true motives of these other leaders." Vincent added.

"Yeah I don't beleive the whole wraking chaos thing. What are they really after?" Reeve asked the old man.

"Honestly I don't know. What I do know is that we can still stop them. I've researched all of you and know that you all are extremely powerful. I ask you all to please help me rid the universe of Meteor." Everyone smiled and nodded to Cloud except for Reeve.

"I'm gonna have to sit out of this one Cloud. I'm gonna make sure nothing happens here." Reeve explained.

"Your loss." Cloud smiled. Reeve left first and the the others followed. when they went outside they couldn't see Reeve anywhere. He was stealthy like that.


"Wow! This ship is so high tech!" Cid yelled.

"He stays awake for things that interest him." Tifa explained to Baywood.

"I see that." He said as he watched Cid jump into the pilot's chair. "So you want to fly this ship, Cid? "

"Hell Yeah! The controls are so simple on this thing a child could use it! But with so much power I could do anything with this ship!" Cid began firing up the engines and clicking all kinds of buttons and switches. Everyone hoped he knew what he was doing.

"So how long will i take for us to get to the planet?!" Cid asked.

"We should be there by morning." Baywood answered.

"An all-nighter eh? I Love It!" Cid yelled. The ship rose up above Costa del Sol frightening the beach goers and scaring them into the surrounding buildings.

"Is that good?" baywood asked looking out the window.

"Bah! They've seen worse!" Barret answered.

"Ok. Let's leave Cid alone and go into the living quarters of this ship." he said as he waved them all over to follow him out of the cock pit. As they entered the living quarters they realised how much room there was in this not so large ship. A kitchen, beds, showers, and a weight room all combined into one room.


After eating and getting settled in Cloud began talking to Baywood while the others were watching Barret show off with the weights. Red XIII walked over to the weight Barret was curling seconds ago and grabbed it with his mouth. He then snapped his head back and threw the weight into the air making it hit the ceiling and fall back to the ground and crack the floor. Red then asked if he did it right.

"How strong are the enemies we'll be facing?" Cloud asked Baywood.

"Well some are really push overs for you guys. But the strong ones will not waste any time in finding you all. There sole job is to eliminate the strongest threats and will probably meet us as soon as we exit this ship. Be prepared for a bloodbath."Baywood then layed down on his bed. "I'm going to take a short nap before we arrive. We should be there in a few hours. I suggest you do the same."

"I'm fine." Cloud said as he left Baywood to rest and grabbed one of the bottles of rum out of the kitchen.


"Alright get your asses movin'! We're landing dammit!" Cid yelled over the intercom. Everybody began scrambling grabbing their weapons. The ship began shaking violently as they hit the ground. The door opened up and they all poured out. As they looked at their surroundings they were surrounded by the flames of a destroyed Alexandria castle lighting the night sky around them.

"A destroyed castle? Did we travel into the past or something?" Cloud asked Baywood.

"No. This is just the way this world is. They don't have materia like you guys do either." He said getting shocked faces in response.

"Did you come to finish them off? You sick bastards? Huh? Say something! Say your last words becuase I'm gonna rip out all of your hearts to see if they really are black!" Zidane shouted swinging his butterfly sword above his head with tears streaming down his face. He charged at them slashing down onto Cloud who was in the front. As their blades met both stared into each others eyes. Cloud say the hate in Zidane's eyes for that brief second.

"Back Off!" Cloud shouted as he kicked Zidane in the stomach. Zidane fell backwards but jumped into the air slashing and just missing Cloud's head. He landed behind him and slashed upward cutting his back just barely. Red XIII pounced onto him with a blade in his mouth pushed right against Zidane's throat.

"Move another inch and you die. Got it?" Red said. He was a very cold fighter despite his big heart. Suddenly Blank and Marcus appaeared trying to Slash down onto Red XIII but Barret unleashed a his machine gun on them. they tried to deflect the bullets but both caught at least a few to the torso. They both fell down in agony.

"Don't you move either big guy." Baku said as he held his sword to Barret's throat from behind. Barret sneered in frustration. He pointed his Gun arm at Blank and Marcus. "What did I just say!" he said as he grabbed a dagger out of his pocket and stabbed Barret in his right shoulder, the one with the gun. "Now you wont move that arm anyway. GWAHAHAHAHA!" he said. Barret screamed out in pain while trying not to move. "You don't mess with Tantalus! Aint that right boys!"

"Shut up Baku! I'm in a bad way here!" Zidane shouted as Red XIII still had a blade to his throat.

"Can we call it even now?" Amarant said as he landed in front of Zidane with Yuffie and Tifa on his shoulders. "These two were planning to sneak around and get behind you Baku. I took care of them." He dropped them both. they were out cold.

"I thought you were training Amarant?" Zidane laughed. Red XIII growled in wiping the smile clean off his face. Bang.

"HA! Didn't see you there. I'm getting rusty at this." Amarant said as he barely deflected Vincents bullet with his claws. He had hid himself behind the ship without anyone else noticing. Vincent approached Amarant with his gun pointed right at him. Amarant dropped down and dove forward slashing at Vincent trying to escape the gun's range. Vincent jumped into air dodging the attack and firing at Amarant many times. He seemed to have missed everytime. Amarant jumped into the air and slashed Vincents chest open before he grabbed onto him and slammed into into the ground below.

"Chaos." Vincent said as his body raised itself into the air and began transforming into a huge winged demon looking creature.

"Haste!" Amarant shouted as he felt his body's speed pick up tremendously. He sprinted right and planted his foot juking back left and spinned with his arms extended trying to slash the demon in half. Vincent dodged faster then in his previous form and cut downward onto Amarants back spraying blood everywhere. As he fell Amarant landed on the ground and jumped back up with his arms extended straight up and smashed both of his claws into Vincents chest. tehy both fell to the ground. Vincent changed back into his normal form and wasn't moving. Amarant tried to reach his feet but fell back down and didn't budge.

"The sides are even now. I'll let go of you if you tell him to let go of Barret." Red XIIII proposed to Zidane. Zidane nodded and then signaled to Baku to let him go. He withdrew his sword as Red XIII got off of Zidane.

"Son of a bitch!" Barret screamed at baku as he pointed his gun at him. Baku's eyes widened like a deer in headlights.

"Stop Barret!" Red XIII shouted as he tackled Barret to the ground. "They were willing to compromise. They may not even be the enemy!"

"Enemy? You guys would dare call us the enemy?" Zidane laughed. "Your the ones who did all this!" He said as he pointed to all the wreckage. Stone walls smashed into nothing. Fires everywhere. Dead soldiers. "You killed all my friends. My family!"

"No we didn't ya damn lunatic!" Barret screamed. "We just got here!"

"Oh Yeah Right!" Zidane screamed.

"Fighting among yourselves in a time like this. Shouldn't you be worried about what WE'RE going to do next?" A man said as Zidane turned around and was met with a punch that knocked him good 20 feet back. Zidane jumped to his feet instantly.

"Who the hell are you?! Are you the one behind all this?"

"Behind all of this? No. But I am behind the extermination of this planet." The man said. "Yes this planet must be cleaned of all life. Boss's orders you know. My name is Synth and none of your names matter becuase none of you will scratch me. I am a mix of synthesized metals and unbreakable."

"Man SHUT UP!" Barret shouted as he unleashed a barrage of bullets at Synth. They all bounced off of his body not even leaving the slightest mark. "What the"

"You are surprised? Didn't you all beat my inferior subordinate earlier?" Synth said in confusion.

"That.....was me." Amarant coughed shpwing he was still awake. "I.....beat him." Synth looked upon him in disgust.

"One man beat him? He really was useless." A blur shot by Zidane's face as he say a black figure appear and punch Synth in the chest. His arm cracked from the fist to his shoulder and shattered off of his body. "I'm glad you stopped by. I wanted to personally make sure you were exterminated along with this planet." Synth said laughing to himself.

"I....I just wanted you to know....you're a tool just like me. Nothing will change that." he said. Synth punched him in the chest leaving a huge dent that made the opposite part on his back stick out.

"I'm a tool. That is true. The differance between you and me is that I am a useful tool. You can be tossed away with the rest of this garbage....or planet as you all would call it." Synth said looking over at Zidane and the others for the last part. Synth raised is hand and chopped it down splitting the man's head in two. He fell backwords dead befroe he hit the ground.

"You killed you're own man? Are you really that heartless?" Baku asked as he stepped forward. "You got no right beign a leader. Leaders don't kill their own men. They pick them uo when they fail and tell them to do better next time."

"A good leader? I'm no leader. He and all of my soldiers are but mere tools of mine that I use to complete my mission. And I'm just a tool of one above me." Synth explained as he stepped forward and stomped on the back of the man he just killed's head smashing it into the ground.

"You. You just aint right!" Baku screamed at Synth. Baku jumped forward with his huge sword and slashed down onto him. His sword met the left side of Synth's neck and cracked all the way up. The top half of the sword fell off. Baku dropped his sword in shock as fear took over his face. Synth walked forward and palmed Baku's head. He crushed Baku's head and let go. The body of the leader of Tantalus dropped to the ground dead.

"BAKU!" Zidane screamed. He ran over to his body and looked at him. He watched the blood pour out of his cruched head and create a puddle on the rubble of Alexandria castle. Rage overcoming Zidane he stood up and screamed. A strange light glowed off of Zidane's body as he entered the trance state.

"Man screw this mother f------!" Barret yelled. Baret powered up his gun and fired a giant blast out of it at Synth. It hit him directly and a huge explosion covered the area. Smoke made visibilty lower drastically until it began to clear up. When it finally cleared enough they all saw Synth standing in the exact same spot unharmed by the attack. Synth appeared in front of Barret almost instantly and smacked in down to the ground. Barret was out.

"I had to even up these odds first. Give me your best shot." He said staring at Zidane. Zidane jumped into the air in a blur and began spinning so fast that his after image looked to be not moving at all. As he dropped even faster he struck his blade down onto Synth. The butterfly sword had penetrated his left shoulder by less than a few centimeters. But indeed it had penetrated. "WHAT!?" He screamed in shcok as his eyes widened. He grabbed Zidane by his tail and slammed him down to the ground. Zidane was out.

"Only you left now huh?" He said holding his shoulder and looking at it with a confused face.

"Hmph. You've never felt pain before have you? I'll make sure you get a good dose of it." Red XIII laughed. "My tribe lives on inside of me. I'll show you our true power. When a man of my tribe passes puberty a new power is born inside of him. I will show you this!"

"You are nothing but a beast. Talk all you want. I shall end your life and send your tribe into extinction!" He aid cackling like a mad man. The pain had warped his mind even more then it was before.

"I will make my father proud! I WILL UNLEASH IT!" Red XIII screamed. The flame on his tail turned black and then his fur changed as well. He charged at Synth full speed and slashed his claw dwon his chest slicing him and leaving scratch marks like a house cat would. Nothing serious but a huge step from what the others had done. Synth back up and stared down at his chest.

"You....you scratched....me? Enough!" Synth screamed. Off in the distance Red XIII saw thousands of soldiers marchin toward their location. "Looks like they finally caught up ha ha ha!"

"Every last one of you will die on this day....I will feast on your souls and crush your ambitions!" Red XIII screamed as his eyes turned blood red. He jumped up and howled into the sky.


Author's Notes: Took me long enough for an update didn't it? Sorry to all my loyal fans cricket noises. Wow....anyway this is only part one of this battle. So yes, the next chapter will be a continuation of THIS part of the story. I wont switch over yet. Couldn't leave you hanging like this could I?