Author's Notes: To me, this goes kind of slow. It drags on, and it's kind of boring. But I'm hard on myself, so who knows?

Warnings: Swearing, battle scenes, blood, and more swearing. Sorry, no real romance yet. Try the next chapter. (:

The Burning Puzzle
"Electric Battles"
By: Locked

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"You may have to fight a battle more than once to win it."
Margaret Thatcher

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A clap of thunder came loudly from an opened window, the cool air blowing icy raindrops into the room. Cloud jumped from his sleeping position, his teeth chattering as his hairs stood on end. "Shit," he hissed, throwing himself off of the couch to fight the wind in order to close the window.

Lightning lit up the whole dark apartment, casting shadows all around. It looked like something out of a horror flick, and for this the blond was not thankful.

He had previously had one of his best friends threatened just to get him to befriend some heartless bastard with a grudge against him for nothing. He had been scolded like a child who had failed a math test. To top it off, he had just had one of the most strange dreams he could ever recall having. Add in the fact that he was now freezing because of his stupidity, and he was not a happy camper.

When the wrestle with the wind was over, and the window was successfully shut, he walked back over to the couch and collapsed on it. "Why me?" he asked the empty apartment, clutching his hands into tight fists, "Why is it always me?" His eyes burned with tears that threatened, his mind racing for a hopeful attempt at escape. "Haven't I been through enough already?" His head dropped, his balled fists shoving themselves into his eyes. In all of his self pity, he barely realized that he was still speaking in a soft whisper, "Nothing's been done for me in return. I've done so much, and I haven't gotten anything from it."

He unclenched his fists, allowing them to rise and grasp his hair painfully. His eyes were forced shut, agonizing tears spilling from his eyelashes as his lips rose to bare his teeth. "I can't stand this!" he growled, jumping to his feet and hunching over, his hands tugging at his hair. Fulfilling his breakdown, a loud, pained yell rose from his throat and hung in the air while the fierce tears continued to stain his cheeks.

The confusion he felt was like no other, torn between his only choices. He could do as he was told and be the good minion he was supposed to be and seal Leon to Hades, or he could rebel and get himself, as well as Aerith, killed. Neither were good choices, and quite frankly, he would rather just kill himself to ease everyone's pain. Common sense stopped him from thinking on that for more than a minute, seeing as that would be just as ignorant as going through the first two choices. With suicide ruled out, he was at a complete loss.

With all of the strength he possessed, he kicked the leg of his coffee table and sent it flying at the wall, where it cracked clear down the center. His rapid breathing began to decrease, and the salty tears ceased all together. "This isn't fair," he told himself gently, shakily walking over to inspect the damage done to the table, "at all." He calmly traced his finger over the jagged wood, pricking himself on a sharp edge. His hand then recoiled, his eyes narrowing at a small drop of blood that hit the floor. The crimson sunk into the red carpeting, disappearing from his sight.

Sharply, he turned on his heel and grabbed the hilt of his Buster Sword, lifting the massive blade with ease. After he carefully eyed the weapon, he took a deep intake of air and exited his apartment building and into the rain. The water ran down his face, and he just closed his eyes to enjoy the feeling. It clung to his hair, pressing the gold onto the sides of his face as the gel washed away.

He stayed in front of the looming building for several minutes before the forth roar of thunder made him move. His eyes slid opened, and he purposefully walked along the cobblestone street. It was at that moment an unearthly shriek took his attention, and what looked to be an ice spell fizzed out around the corner. His curiosity got the best of him, and he lifted the sword into attacking position and began to head over to where he imagined a fight to be. Sure enough, once he turned the corner, he saw nothing but gleaming yellow eyes focused on him.

Cloud braced himself, taking a few steps back in attempt to count all of the creatures leering at him. There were at least fifty, he deducted, holding his breath as a few decided to rush at him. His eyes narrowed in focus, his blade raised to take a mighty swing at the heartless which sent them tumbling in the air. They recovered and began to close in on him again, but Cloud kept an even face and struck again.

"You really are stupid," an icy voice said with a tint of amusement, the clang of another weapon ringing through the air. The hundred yellow eyes shifted towards the other as a few of the black creatures disappeared in smoke.

Cloud glared at Leon as he cleared himself a path to the blond, striking down a few more heartless. "You don't even know me," he hissed as he took another swing.

"Clueless," was all the brunet said as he stepped away from the crowd of heartless, pulling the trigger on his gunblade to launch a fireball into the center of the sea of black, despite the pouring rain. It exploded on impact, and ten where gone with shrieks.

The blond stared at Leon, clenching his teeth tightly in annoyance. Had he done that to show off? He doubted that the other ever showed off, but it struck a chord at any rate. It made him feel as though he had to outdo what had just been done, and yet he seriously doubted he could do anything better than that. Well, he countered, let's see what I can do.

Cloud stood tall, spinning the Buster Sword in his hands and positioning his feet shoulder width apart. The heartless came towards him, and he waited until they were directly in front of him before he launched himself forward. He put all of his weight into his run, and he managed to catch a whole row of the creatures on his blade. With the last of the adrenaline that built up, he spun with both hands grasping the hilt, destroying any heartless near him.

The last of the creatures melted into the street and left, leaving no evidence that they had ever been there behind. They had retreated, though, they would be back - they always came back.

Cloud panted, the heavy blade of his sword landing into the street as he rested on it. "You put to much effort into that. If they come back, you're dead." His cerulean eyes whipped over to Leon, who did not face him but spoke nonetheless.

"That's nice to know. Thanks."

The brunet shrugged and twirled the gunblade half-mindedly. Obviously, he was not very social, and Cloud doubted that he cared whether or not he did end up dead. That would certainly make his task harder.

Another clap of thunder sounded, and a flash of lightning threatened the building across the street. "Damned rain," the blond breathed out, pushing himself off of his sword to cross his arms over his chest, "Has to come and wake me up."

Leon shot him a look, shaking his head with an unreadable expression. He then turned and began to walk away, brushing a few strands of his wet hair out of his eyes.

"What's your malfunction?" Cloud hissed at him, glaring at his retreating form.

"You talk too much," came the cold answer.

"Least I don't have a stick up my ass."

The brunet stopped walking, turning around to glare pure ice at Cloud. The blond visibly shivered at the look, countering with a blazing glare of his own. Their eyes remained locked in another glaring battle which neither refused to lose, that was, until a bellowing came from behind Leon.

The blond raised his eyes, his expression hardening into a poker face. "What's the biggest heartless you've ever come in contact with?"

Stormy eyes glittered with aggravation as the brunet turned around to see what Cloud had been staring so intently at. Standing about two stories tall with glowing yellow eyes, dagger-like claws, and a canine tail, was another shadow monster. Leon had to frown at it before the empty expression drew up on his features and he took a battle stance.

The heartless slammed its hand in front of them, digging its claws into the wet street as lightning streaked by its head. Another bellow escaped it as it swatted at the two men. They launched in opposite directions, avoiding begin hit as they began to formulate separate plans. Both knew that if they were to defeat it, they would have to be working together, so Cloud took the initiative to yell over at Leon, "I know we didn't get off on the right foot, but we're going to have to pull this off together! Cover that side and look for a weakness!"

The brunet snorted, but he complied without any arguments. He struck at the creatures foot, causing it to shoot a bubble of water at him. It knocked him off his feet and caused him to bang into the street, his gunblade landing beside him. With a short moan, he got back onto his feet and rushed at it again, risking a glance at Cloud.

His eyes narrowed in anger as he saw the blond not doing anything, instead just watching the scene play out. He did not allow his strong emotion to be seen as he looked at him, but once his focus was back on his opponent, it was quite apparent that he was furious. Who was Cloud to slack off like he was? He was quite able to fight, and yet he did nothing at all.

While his thoughts were elsewhere, he forgot the main rule of battle: Always keep your mind on the battlefield. With a small gasp of pain, he was sent back onto the street by a swipe of the creature's tail. Before he could react, its hand was locked around him, claws slowly beginning to dig in at his sides.

Cloud watched in agony, biting at his bottom lip. He had been analyzing the creature, and he had managed to take in that its element was water, it was heavily armored, and did not seem to have a weak point. "Damn it," he hissed as he raised his blade and went to aid Leon. Lightning flashed before he got there, and he began to run faster, an idea striking him. "Thank you, rain!"

The blond to a leap, striking the creature's arm as hard as he could. It shrieked in agony and withdrew from the hold it had on Leon, shooting bubbles of water at Cloud as he continued to move. "Stay where you are," he called to the brunet, "you'll get hit if you move!"

Leon gave him a puzzled look but said nothing, pushing himself off of the ground to tend to his wounds while the ex-soldier kept the heartless' attention. His head snapped to attention when he heard the distinct crackling of electricity, his eyes narrowing sharply as Cloud raised his blade. The heartless let out a growl, taking a few small steps back in fear of the energy that sparked from the tip of the sword.

"You're going to kill yourself!" the brunet yelled, catching the attention of the heartless. A long claw shot through Leon's leg, crimson beginning to mix with the rain.

He yelled out in pain, closing his eyes tightly collapsing onto the ground as his leg gave up on him. He dropped his weapon and lowered his gaze to the moist ground, biting back any other signs of pain. Leon refused to show how much pain he was in, afraid that he would be seen as weak. Other's opinions on him really mattered, though he would never tell anyone his deep fear of rejection.

"Better me than you!" Cloud yelled back, thrusting up his sword in one smooth motion to shoot lightning bolts into the sky, catching a natural one with his own. It then came back down, connecting with the metal blade and burning the blond's fingers. All he could do was wince as he quickly tossed the sword at the heartless, catching it in the chest and sending bolts of electricity all over.

As fast as he could, he went over to Leon and fell beside him, wrapping an arm protectively around him as he forced him to turn into the street. They hid themselves as best as they could while the lightning paralyzed the heartless, the unearthly yells of pain reaching their ears. It grew increasingly louder until it stopped all together, the clattering of metal hitting the ground echoing through the district.

When he was sure it was safe, he sat up and released Leon, turning around to look at where the shadow had once been. All that was left was his sword and static, which mingled in the water and crackled into the air. "That shouldn't have been so hard," he sighed, rubbing his pained hands as his body jolted from the electricity which had been introduced to it. His eyes fell to Leon, who he noticed was staring blankly into the grey sky as the rain hit him. His eyes strayed down to his leg which sat in a pool of blood, a noticeable wound cut through his leather pants. "Shit! Why didn't you say something?"

The brunet glared at him, his face paler than it should have been. His skin was icy to the touch, though inwardly, he felt as though he had been set on fire. His vision was blurry, movement weak, not to mention to undeniable pain he was experiencing.

"Cure," Cloud whispered as he put his hand over the wound, a green glow emitting from his palms. The skin repaired itself, leaving nothing but a scar in its place. "We need to get you home." He received no response, so he sighed heavily and stood up, reaching down to grab hold of Leon's arm. The brunet pulled back, determined to get up on his own. "And you were calling me stupid?"

"Fuck off," he growled back at him, managing to sit up, though he did not get any farther than that.

"I'm not playing this game with you." Cloud grasped his arm tightly and yanked him up, forcing him to lean on him for support, "If you walk on that thing, you're going to find yourself face first on the stone."

"I don't need your help." He attempted to pull away again, though he was weak from blood loss. Leon found the blond to be not only stubborn and stupid, but quite strong as well. He would bet his money that it was because he was drained that he was so weak. Cloud could not have honestly been stronger than he was; it made no sense.

"Whatever," he answered, dragging the brunet down the street towards the Buster Sword. It was still sparking with electricity, and this aggravated Cloud. "Now what?" he asked himself, staring at it, dumbfounded.

Leon tuned the blond out, his constant talking beginning to bite at his nerves. It was not even the talking so much, but the fact that he talked to himself was driving him mad. Crazy, he concluded, locking his eyes on a wall in an attempt to forget his agony.

"Forget it," the blond told himself, beginning to walk again. He was very attached the sword, but he was certain that nothing would be touching it any time soon. He would just have to get it right after the rain stopped. While he was brooding, it dawned on him that he had not a clue as to where they were going. "Where do you live?" he asked, turning his head to look at the man he was supporting.

"None of your business."

"Then we're going to my place," he concluded, turning down the appropriate road towards the looming apartment building. When he received no complaints in return, he decided that yes, that was where they would go.

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Author's Notes: I can't believe I'm still writing this. Oh boy.

Anyway, my dear reviewers get their responses.

PyroFirePower - I'll do whatever I want, girl. You must deal with it. Muaha. Ha. ;D Thanks.

schu - Yeah, you know. You know, that part with the evil clown that attacks the toaster. That part inspired chapter four. x) But thank you.

Yersi Fanel - Thank you. (: I hope you keep thinking that.

Shayla Patrice - Yay, thanks. ;3

Keep reviewing. I will completely quit this fic without reviews.

Also: I've noticed that I have some loyal fans who have yet to review this story. I'm glad you like it enough to have it under your favorites, but could you do me a favor and not leave me in the dust here? I didn't even realize more than six people actually read this. I was pleasantly surprised.