Author's Note: After this chapter I swear I won't kill anyone else. Heh, I changed my mind a little, so two people I mentioned on the first page might not be exactly dead.

Reno felt the cool, rough wall against his back. A dead sort of wind blew his hair back, making his bangs tickle his face. He lifted his hand to brush them away, and was rewarded with a fresh burst of pain that brought a low moan out of him. Right, that hand was broken. He tried to lift his other one, but received even more pain. That one wasn't supposed to be broken. He forced his eyes open to reveal a crimson stained world. Reno painfully blinked the blood out of his eyes. That was not a good sign.

A bit of silver glinted in the pale sunlight that flooded into the room. It was his electric rod. It was about three yards away. Reno knew this was not going to be pleasant at all, considering the condition of his arms alone and the blinding headache that was already building. He prepared himself mentally for the pain, and apologized to his comfortably numb body parts for the wreckage they were about to feel. With one fluid movement, Reno lunged for the rod, knowing that he'd never have the ability to take the pain of getting to it one step at a time. He cried out in pain as his whole body twisted and seared, and passed out.

The carpet smelled like copper. A flat, metal tinted scent that turned him stomach. His pain afflicted brain took a few moments to realize that he was actually smelling his blood. His left hand was on the rubber handle of his electric rod. He had made it. Reno clenched his teeth and opened up a compartment in it, doing his best to not pass out this time. He probably didn't have time left. He reached in the compartment,touching the cool-almost wet- feel of materia under his fingertips.

"Cure," he muttered softly. Reno heard the click of his bones mending and a clatter as his flesh forced out the hundreds of shards of glass that had buried itself inside him. Reno forced himself to his feet, taking his electric rod with him. He felt very stiff and exhausted, and there were still many nasty cuts and bruises that would be a lot better healed. He didn't dare us Cure again in this state though; not until he gained a bit more energy. Reno looked around the room. The door had miraculously decided to show its ugly brass face again, which Reno found horribly ironic.

The redheaded man staggered down the stairs, taking long breaks where he needed them. He felt totally wasted, and was surprised that he was even alive. He saw his classroom, neatly abandoned. It awaited the next day of students that would never come. Were all his students dead? Were Elena, Rude, and Tseng dead? Was Tifa dead? Was everyone dead? The place certainly gave off the illusion of being alone. The only sound was the dead rattle of the wind.

Once out in the marketplace, Reno headed immediately to the inn. It was very torn up inside. Stools and tables were turned over, and beer glasses were shattered all around. He looked all around behind the bar, under tables, everywhere. A terrible suspense built in him, constraining his chest and twisting his stomach. He didn't feel that good to begin with, and resisted the urge to retch. He knew why. He was afraid to find something. Behind each overturned table could be the corpse of one of his friends, and he didn't want to find them- not that way.

He climbed the inn's stairs and checked each room. They were all empty, even Tifa's room. Reno's back felt extremely uncomfortable, as if something was watching him. He sat down on a bed, trying to calm himself down enough to think.

Reno opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling. He jumped up to his feet, looking around some more.

"I must have fallen asleep..." he said with a sigh. It was a stupid thing to do, but he did feel better after a little rest. It was still light outside, probably about noon. He stiffened as a shuffling sound echoed across the room. He went into the hallway, followed the sound. His sweaty hand gripped the electric rod tightly. He paused at the top of the stairs, for there was one of the heartless. It was just one, and one of the originals but the look of it. None of Ansem's freaks, just your everyday being of darkness.

Yet standing in the same place was a tall girl. Her brown eyes were disturbingly blank, and she gave the most lifeless stare he had ever seen. (And he had seen a lot of people who had the life taken out of them)

"T-tifa..." he whispered with wide eyes. Her image flickered and disappeared. The heartless remained for a few seconds, but then also did the same. Reno felt the sting of tears in his eyes. A large amount of emotions welled up in him all at once. With a strangled cry, he found himself running, blinded by tears and refusal to see. He just needed to get away from there, away from the whole planet. Reno fell to his knees in the dead center of the marketplace, watching his tears blotch the bloodstained pavement.

"I just want to be gone; I don't care how;" he gasped to the stone. The pavement flickered weirdly, just as Tifa had, and became a gaping hole of darkness. He sunk into it, and let his eyes close...

(Switchness)

"Is Cloud alright?" asked Garnet, looking over his limp body. Aeris had propped him up on a chair carefully.

"Yeah, it probably was just a lot of pressure," Aeris said in a tone that was supposed to be carefree. Garnet wasn't fooled, since the brunette hadn't stopped crying since they got on the ship. She didn't blame Aeris, and her eyes weren't exactly dry either, but the woman seemed to feel the need that she should hide the fact she was miserable.

With a sigh Garnet let her eyes scan the small room. The lack of some seemed to jump out at her, like large amounts of missing people in a parade. In Cloud's party, Barret, Tifa, Vincent, and Red. Aeris was busy with Cloud, and Cid was obviously driving the ship. Yuffie seemed weirdly effected by the absence of Vincent to follow around and annoy. She now hovered a few feet away from Squall, as if somehow he could be a replacement.

Squall wasn't being very reassuring to her. He answered in short small answers, even though Quistis assured them this was normal. Selphie and Zell had both died, and whatever happened to Rinoa must have been really horrible; Quistis wouldn't even talk about it. Right now she was still trying to get some progress out of Irvine. Garnet was a little impressed. Somehow the blonde had gotten Irvine to answer, though it was only usually one word answers.

Zidane seemed very badly shaken by this, but was fighting hard to maintain his cool. She couldn't help being a little proud of him for that. It was about the only thing she could hold onto when the whole ship was heavy with despair. Steiner was right behind her, and that was a comfort in itself. But everyone else had died, Eiko, Coral, Freya, and Quina Quen. No one knew what happened to Vivi. Garnet didn't really want to know, since every one of those heartless bore an unmistakable resemblance to their little black mage. The loss of Vivi probably hit her the hardest; he still seemed like kid no matter what they went through.

Garnet turned to Yuna, who was staring at her hands with a weird look. Paine and Rikku (well mostly Rikku) were murmuring soft words to her. Something along the lines of 'it wasn't your fault'. Lulu was in a corner opposite to Squall, staring at her moogle doll thoughtfully. Kimahri had been lost in the fray, but Garnet knew what really troubled her. She herself had seen Tidus and Wakka fighting back to back surrounded by huge horned heartless. Instead of dying cleanly, they had lost their hearts in a way very similar to what Squall had described about Selphie. Auron probably had the most spectacular death. When he received a mortal blow to the chest, he took down about two hundred heartless with him. Garnet could remember him yelling something, though she couldn't understand him. Whatever he said made the entire market square explode into hellish flame, leaving all innocents intact but not a heartless to be seen. Even with that great sacrifice more heartless came to take their brothers' place.

After the way almost everything had fallen, she couldn't belief that anyone was sane. About twenty kids were huddled in the corner with Paine now. For some reason the weirdly red eyed girl had taken a liking to the kids, and soothed them in gentle tones. Even though a rather cynical speech came from her, the children took it to heart and Paine was almost smothered by forty hugging hands. Garnet felt a laugh coming, but it seemed to die in her throat. She imagined it would be a while before anyone would be able to laugh.

"Careful, Paine, those are some dangerous man-eating children there," Zidane chuckled. Garnet rolled her eyes; at least most of them wouldn't be able laugh. Zidane could be such a selfish jerk. If he started hitting on Paine… she shook her head and unclenched her fists… then she would NOT care.

"Cloud, are you alright?" came Aeris's voice. Garnet turned to see Cloud's eyes flicker open. It might have been a trick of the light, but for a moment they had seemed red. Anyway, they were a pretty cerulean now.

Whether Cloud was all right or not they would probably never find out. The ship started to shake and buck around. The children screamed as one and became an even closer knit pack around Paine. Garnet almost fell, but a strong hand saved her and held her close.

"You'll be fine," said Zidane happily. She wanted to smack him and kiss him at the same time.

"There's this disturbance up ahead!" came Cid's voice from the front of the ship. "I think it's some sort of black hole, and we're in for one $#! landin' if there's something on the other side! Hell, I'm not even sure this ship can take the pressure of getting there!"

Garnet mindlessly compromised and hugged Zidane fiercely as they both fell to the floor from the tremors. She heard the breath whoosh out of him as he hit the floor, but he didn't let go. 'That jerk deserves it,' she managed to think, though it was mainly out of habit. With a swift glance around the room, she saw others doing the same to their loved ones. Cloud held onto Aeris, the children to Paine, Kimahri to Rikku and Yuna, and so on. Weirdly enough Yuffie clung onto Squall, and Quistis had to cling onto Irvine to make sure he wouldn't take any brain trauma.

The once princess felt the whole ship contract, including herself. It was one of the weirdest feelings she had ever had, the other being holding onto Zidane right now. God, they were all going to die… Then the sickening sound of tearing metal screeched above the sound of protesting engines. The ship tore into two and at once Garnet felt the biting chill of space. The squeezing of it became almost unbearable, and all she could feel was Zidane's hand. She closed her eyes tight so she wouldn't have to see herself die.

"Aeris! No! Sephiroth, leave her alone!" Cloud cried out. Garnet opened her eyes and ignored the sting. She saw Aeris floating off, looking unconscious, but she didn't see the mighty Sephiroth Cloud had told stories about. Cloud looked pretty hysterical and clawed at the airlessness to get a hold of Aeris with much luck. Then Aeris, Yuffie, and Squall fell out of the tunnel of weird light and disappeared. Maybe… if she could get Zidane and her out of here, they'd find air. Her lungs burned, and she couldn't think that straight. She felt another hand grab hers and saw Steiner. Garnet was momentarily guilty for not thinking of him, he had always protected her after all.

With a mighty throw Steiner sent her- and Zidane- spinning for the outside. She opened her mouth in a soundless scream. He couldn't just save them and let himself die! Steiner waved to her grimly before he zapped out of sight. Even as the multi colored 'black hole' left her vision, so did everything else as she passed out.

End Note: Cid can put two and two together, especially when it comes to machines. After that little episode, you better bet he found out how to make some better ships. (Yes people, the 'black hole' was a warp hole. Since everyone got thrown out of it at random places, they got scattered throughout the worlds.)

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