CHAPTER 9

The small, old fashioned bar Seventh Heaven was full of silence, a strange phenomenon for such a place. Today, however, a story was being told which could only draw shock, disbelief and the shaking heads from those who listened to it.

"I'm not too sure what happened next," Zack explained after taking a swig of ale. "I remember chasing Sephiroth through the mountains... But he was too far ahead and walked faster than I could bring myself to run. But I knew where he was headed..."

"The reactor," Tifa interrupted. "My father and I had taken refuge there when Sephiroth attacked the town, b-but..." Tifa stopped and shook her head, a tear beginning to form in her eye in memory of those awful events.

"So what happened?" Johnny asked eagerly, practically begging to hear more.

Zack nodded and continued, though now he was situated against the wall so he could face everybody while he told his tale.

Zack put on an extra burst of speed as the reactor came into view from behind the mountain. Not so much because he was that much desperate to confront Sephiroth, but because he heard a scream...

Tifa's scream.

The young SOLDIER wasted no time maneuvering past the makeshift bridge which had cause him a bit of anxiety the first time he was in here. He took long, uncaring steps past the wooden planks and made a daring leap to the ladder, which he slid down instead of climbing. He went to cross the large pipe which connected the entrance to the reactor when he was paused by the horrendous sight.

Tifa was on her knees, ironically wearing the same outfit she had when she first took Zack and Sephiroth here. She was shaking, obviously in shock, which she had good reason to be in. Her father was sprawled on the ground, his joints forced backwards and his head twisted a full 180 degrees. A large sword wound in the shape of an "X" was present from his shoulders to his thighs, with the large Masamune blade sticking up straight through the middle. It was a wonder he was still in one piece. Blood still flowed from his dead body, as if attempting to escape into the glowing Mako pit below.

Tifa started to stir from her shock, and Zack could only bear witness as the obvious facts began to hit her. Anger welt up inside of her as if fueled by pumps and turbines. "D-daddy?" She tried, hoping beyond hope there might be some way that he could consol her with some parting words, but none came. The anger finally overcame the young girl as she began to bow her head, shaking it as well. "Mako Reactors, Shinra, SOLDIER, Sephiroth..." The girl began to tighten and shake her fists, and threw her head in the air. "I HATE THEM ALL!"

With that, she grabbed the Masamune and pulled it out from her father's body. The long blade felt awkward in her hands, but she found that it was surprisingly light enough to carry with one hand. She charged into the pod chamber, completely unaware that Zack was right behind her the whole time.

Zack put on a burst of speed to catch up to Tifa, knowing that she was no match for the legendary warrior. She was already charging up the steps...

Sephiroth was at the top of the stairs, in front of the JENOVA chamber, his arms outspread as if performing some kind of prayer. "Mother, I am here to see you. Please, open this door..." But he found himself cut off.

"How could you do that to Papa and all the townspeople?!" Tifa cried out, not fighting back the tears that streamed down her face. She was charging up the steps, ready to decapitate the long haired general. But without missing a beat, Sephiroth spun and grabbed the handle before the blade could make contact.

The two fought over the sword, jerking it back and forth. Sephiroth used his height to his advantage, and pulled up on the weapon. Tifa was practically yanked off the ground, and instinctively, foolishly, let go of the fabled blade. She managed to take a few steps back and hold her hands over her head as Sephiroth brought the Masamune down upon her. It missed her arms, but cut into her chest. The blade continued unabated down between her breasts and stopped at about her fourth rib, drawing a good amount of blood, though less than one would expect. The force of the initial blow was enough to push Tifa out of the way at it connected, and by the time Sephiroth had finished his swing, Tifa was already airborne.

She came down several steps below Sephiroth, and bounced, breaking a few of her ribs. Once she hit the ground a second time, her head collided with the corner of one of the red metal stairs, drawing more blood and causing her head to bounce back and forth violently as she slid all the way back down to the base of the steps.

Sephiroth looked down at the buxom young girl, who was no longer moving. He admired the fact that she had not screamed in pain the whole time. She would have made a great SOLDIER, or so the General thought. He turned around without further regard for the girl, and without reason, the door had opened. He simply waltzed in.

Zack had run in just as Tifa was hit, and could only bear witness as her life seemed to be snuffed out like a weak flame against a waterfall. Zack glared up in anger at his former idol, who paid him no heed. The younger SOLDIER had sprint up the steps, practically ignoring Tifa. She was too wounded, he could not help her. He was a fighter, not a doctor. He killed people, not saved them.

And killing was just what was on his mind.

Zack entered a large, darkened room. There were large oxygen tanks on either side, and a large pipe leading up to some kind of angel-shaped robot. Sephiroth stood at the base of this large pipe, and started walking up on it. He had held out his arms, and began speaking, apparently to no one in particular.

"Mother," Sephiroth began, a strange empty tone in his voice, "Let's take the planet back together. I've thought of a great idea, let's go to the Promised land!"

"Sephiroth!" Zack yelled out angrily, unsheathing his gigantic Buster Sword. Sephiroth slowly lowered his arms, apparently in annoyance. However, he then began to laugh...

"Ha, ha, ha! They've come again, mother!" he spoke to the thing in front of him. He then started speaking as if to Zack, "With her superior power, knowledge and magic, Mother was destined to be ruler of this planet!" Sephiroth then began to speak as if to no one in particular. "But they... those worthless creatures, " he spat, "are stealing the planet from Mother." He proceeded up the large pipe and up to the mechanical angel, and looked it lovingly in the face, "But now I'm here with you, so don't worry."

Sephiroth held the angel for a moment, but then griped it harder, beginning to shake it. Sparks flew as the machine resisted its destruction, but it was no use. Swaying left and right, Sephiroth loosened the thing and ripped it from its base, causing oil to bleed out its artificial eyes and mouth. One of the "wings" was separated and crashed down onto the ground. The rest was discarded carelessly to the other side. Sephiroth's eyes went wide in anticipation as blue emergency lights filled the room, and the true Jenova was seen held inside a large tank.

Jenova had a rather feminine look, despite the tentacles and external organs which could not easily be identified off-hand. Large veins for pumping thick black blood had shown through the monster's blue skin. It also had what appeared to be wings, and was in a position akin to being tied up. It also had strapped to its head some kind of mechanical helmet. On the front of this helmet, the word "JENOVA" was proudly displayed, along with some illegible copyright information below it.

"DAMMIT SEPHIROTH! What the hell do you think you're doing?" Zack yelled out in anger.

Sephiroth slowly turned around and unsheathed his Masamune.

"What am I doing?! I am the Chosen one, you fool! I have been chosen to be the leader of this planet!" He said with wide, maniacal eyes. He slowly held his sword with both hands, ready to attack, "I have orders to take the planet back from you stupid people for the Cetra..."

"The only 'stupid people' here is you, Sephiroth! Listen to what you're saying! I mean, that ass-ugly thing can't possibly be your mom!" Zack retorted.

Zack scratched his head, unsure what to say next.

"What, what happened?!" Dyne asked.

"I... I'm not sure. Everything else after that is a blur. The next thing I knew, I was lying face-up on top of one of those Pod-thingies, and I hurt all over. I guess I pissed him off too much."

"Zangan had come to get me..." Tifa explained "But he told me I was laid carefully to the side, and that the MP was in the reactor, too.. but he was all but dead."

"Zangan?" Zack asked.

"Yeah," Tifa said with a nod, her short hair bobbing slightly. "By the time he got there, we were all out of commission. He took me out of the reactor, but..."

Zangan looked up into the side, the young girl almost dead in his arms. Several Shinra helicopters were headed his way, and he had no intention of letting the Shinra touch his student. He hid behind the reactor, knowing that he was wasting time here. Tifa needed immediate medical attention, more than his Cure spells could do.

The helicopters touched down, creating large clouds of dust which scattered all over. SOLDIERS piled out of each aircraft, along with an oily haired scientist.

"Hojo, sir..." One of the SOLDIERs came up to the scientist and said, saluting, "What are our orders?"

"Find any survivors and bring them to town for the experiment, and keep a lookout for Sephiroth. His transmitter may have gone dead, but that doesn't mean that he is."

"Yessir," The SOLDIER replied, saluting once more.

After all the SOLDIERs had gone into the reactor, Zangan made a break for it. "It" being one of the helicopters. He quickly piled inside, catching the pilot's attention.

"Hey, who the fuckin' hell are you?!" The blonde haired pilot yelled in surprise, dropping a cigarette out of his mouth. He instinctively drew a gun and pointed it at the intruder. Zangan quickly kicked theweapon out of the younger man's hand, catching it while still holding Tifa.

"Fly. NOW!" Zangan demanded. The pilot gulped, and reluctantly fiddled with the controls until the helicopter raised itself from the ground.

"The pilot took us to Costa Del Sol... At least, that's what Zangan had told me. From there, we kept hitching rides to Midgar... though I was unconscious the whole time. Zangan kept using Cure spells on me until we made it here, to Midgar..."

"Hey, who's telling this story?!" Zack whined.

Tifa gave Zack a sour expression, but nodded her head and apologized.

"S'all right," Zack reassured her. "Anyway.."

"Zack? Hey Zack, you okay man?"

"Mrmm?"

Zack opened his eyes... everything was a bit blurry... and upside down... though a familiar patch of bright blonde spiky hair presented itself.

"Cloud?" Zack said weakly.

"Yeah, it's me. Listen, that maniac Hojo wants you for some experiment, but I'm gonna get you outta here... Can you walk?"

Zack strained his arms and peeled himself off the container, and hopped down. His legs still seemed to work, as he didn't automatically fall onto his face. But he was feeling more pain than he ever had in his entire life.

"Dude... your town... Tifa... I... I couldn't... I'm sorry..."

Cloud remained silent as he supported Zack with his shoulder. He couldn't exactly say it was okay, but he knew that Zack had done his best. The slightly younger SOLDIER carried his friend out of the chamber and into the pipe room, where only Hojo stood.

"Going somewhere?" the scientist snarled.

"Uh, you said to take everyone back to town..." Cloud tried, but to no avail.

"Don't give me that," Hojo said, producing a gun. Before Cloud could react, he took a bullet to the chest. He dropped Zack on accident, and fell to his knees. More shots came, Cloud jerking and contorting with each hit. Blood poured out as Cloud could only look down at himself, mouth agape, as everything went dark...

Everyone was staring at Zack with a less than amused face.

"W, what?" he asked.

"So... Hojo just took a gun out for no reason and shot Cloud?" Tifa asked, raising an eyebrow.

"And there were no other SOLDIERs around?" Dyne questioned, growing a tad suspicious.

"Well I..."

"And is this the uniform he was wearing at the time?" Johnny asked, pointing at the now near-comatose Cloud and his non-bullet ridden outfit. "Or did he manage to change while he was unconscious?"

"Okay, okay, look... I.. I don't remember it all that well, okay?" Zack bluffed, "All I know is that for the next five years, Cloud and me spent most of our time in a bunch of tubes, constantly being experimented on... One day, we managed to escape during feeding time. But Cloud couldn't really move, so it took us a while to make it back here."

"And, why here?" Dyne asked.

"Well, I figured with our brains and skills, we could become mercenaries!" Zack replied, grabbing Cloud by the shoulder and pulling him over to himself playfully.

Cloud simply groaned.

Dyne thought this over, and simply nodded. He stood up and stretched for a moment, and looked to his men. "Well okay. Johnny?"

"Yessir?" The red haired punker responded.

"Take Cloud to Beginner's Inn, and have Dox take a look at him. Biggs, Wedge, take Zack and show him around..." Dyne paused and looked to Zack, "That is... If it's okay with you... You're staying, right?"

"Well, I didn't tell you this story for nuttin..." Zack admitted. "I'm not 100 sure about this... thing going on here. But what the hell, right?" Zack replied with a smile.

Dyne smiled back and nodded. Several people got up and left. Johnny picked up Cloud, who tried walking himself, but to no avail. The two other men Dyne addressed stood up next to Zack and followed him out the door. Dyne sat back down as the rest of the crowd dispersed.

It was then just Dyne and Tifa sitting at the half-table for a few long, silent moments. When they were sure no one else was around, the began their little conference.

"Well?" Dyne started. "What do you think? Does his story check out?"

Tifa thought it over for a minute before answering. "There are a few... discrepancies and exaggerations... but that's Zack for you."

"That last part sounded like he was making it up out of his ass as he went along, " Dyne replied candidly, "Should we be suspicious?" he finished, starting to polish his gun-arm.

"Hmmm," Tifa put her hand to her chin, but then put her hand back on the table. "I don't know. There's all sorts of possibilities. If Shinra was trying to infiltrate us..."

"It wouldn't be the first time..." Dyne concluded. "But by the same token, this would also be way too obvious. I mean, TWO SOLDIERS? Both of whom are old friends of my top lieutenant?"

"There's too many coincidences going on," Tifa said, shaking her head. "Well, like I just said, this could be anything..."

"All ranging from them being legit to them planning to kill us all by tomorrow."

The two AVALANCHE leaders sat in silence, both contemplating every possibility they could think of.

Finally Dyne stood up again. "Well, I say, for now, we trust them... on the surface. I want at least two people watching both of them at all times... but other than that, we treat them like any other members."

"What about tomorrow's plan?" Tifa asked.

"We let them in on it, of course. If Shinra gets wind of it before we do anything, we'll know where the leak came from. If it all goes off without a hitch... it means they're for real or just being careful and biding their time."

Dyne exited the bar without another word, thinking of a thousand different things all going in thousands of different directions all at once. Tifa just sat by herself, contemplating about just one little thing...