Hey guys! I've finally got a chance to update!1 Yay! I'm putting up Chapter five also-I'm on Chapter Ten, but I can't give that to you guys yet! Srry!

FINAL FANTASY VII-VIII

Chapter Four

Yuffie was listening in on the guy with the red cape, brown-haired guy with a dull expression on his face, and Cloud's conversation. She noticed that two other people had come up and heard them shout at the brown-haired guy whose name was Squall. "Who the hell is Seifer?" Yuffie asked herself under her breath as she stood at the end of the hallway. It was a good thing Cloud wasn't very good at spotting things, but the crimsoned-eyed guy might. Just as Yuffie was about to take a step closer, she noticed a red cat…or was it a dog?

Yuffie gulped, this dog…or cat might have rabies! She backed away as she heard Squall reply, "No…" This guy didn't speak much, did he?

She disappeared around the corner…only to bump into a black-haired woman that had a troubled look on her face. She was wearing blue and there was another black-haired woman behind her. "Yuffie!" A familiar voice filled Yuffie's ears and she gulped as she realized who the other woman was. It was Tifa!

"Um…hi Tifa…long time no see?" Yuffie asked, hoping that Tifa still hadn't realized that she had stolen a couple of her materia a few weeks ago.

"Alright, Yuffie, where's my materia!" Tifa snapped. Yuffie's heart sank. Uh-oh…and the worst thing was…was that Yuffie had left Tifa's materia, but she only smiled and said rather uncharacteristically, "Oh, ya know me, Tifa. Well I gotta be goin'!"

&&&

Squall could care less if Seifer was missing. What was it to him? He hated Seifer. And Seifer hated him, so he felt rather unusually happy knowing that Seifer was no where to be seen. He still remembered the incident when they had to go into battle and Seifer had disobeyed orders. Squall, Zell, and Seifer had completed their mission, yes, but they were not to disobey orders like that again. Then, later on, he had become a SeeD at last, that was when he had met Rinoa, who had, at one time, been Seifer's girlfriend.

He then pushed past Raijin and Fujin, Seifer's lackeys. He had helped Cloud find Marlene, and now everything was settled. Except for the fact that now that Squall thought about it, maybe these people did come from some place else. This Vincent guy, he looked so haunting and terrifying, and getting drunk could not turn your eyes a blood red color. Was he demon possessed?

Squall shook his head, why should he care about these people? He'd never cared for anyone else before, maybe he was just feeling sorry for everyone. But then there came the girl. She was not drunk and she seemed to know them. He was so confused. "Argh…" he groaned to himself, maybe these people weren't drunk at all and maybe this Sephiroth guy, maybe he was real. Who knew? But Cloud had never mentioned Vincent, so what about him? Vincent wasn't crazy, there was no way he could be crazy…but his metal arm sent shivers down Squall's spine. Maybe he was just going crazy and this was all a dream…Okay, scratch that, remember Squall? You're supposed to be playing along with them!

Squall noticed that everyone except Raijin and Fujin. Cloud and Vincent were speaking quietly, while Marlene was looking anxiously around for Tifa.

&&&

Cloud could feel the pain in his head steadily growing, but he tried to push it out of his consciousness as he spoke with Vincent. Vincent looked expressionless and obvious to Cloud's pain, but Cloud knew that Vincent saw it, Vincent saw and sensed many things, and maybe that had to do with the fact that Vincent wasn't entirely human, but he wasn't inhuman at the same time…he was in-between.

"Where were you when you were still back in the Edge?" Vincent asked him quietly, maybe there was some link as to why everyone was where they were. He needed answers, Vincent didn't like to be so confused all the time.

"I really don't remember. My mind wants to say Aeris's church, but that can't be right. Because another part of me says that I was at the Seventh Heaven…and then…that I was in the ruins of Midgar…I just…don't know." Cloud responded hesitantly. His voice was quiet and unsure, dripping with utter confusion.

Vincent didn't know what to say, so he remained silent. Until, finally, the picture of a boy flashed into his mind, "What happened to Denzel, is he here too?"

"Denzel?" Cloud looked at Vincent at the name. Vincent saw the surprise in Cloud's features as he said, "I don't know where he is! The last time I saw him, he was with Marlene." Vincent nodded solemnly, another person was missing now…That meant he would have to 'assist' them in searching for any other missing person, but he would not join them. Vincent would rather be left on his own, he didn't want the help of others.

Cloud sighed and turned to look up at Marlene, he called out, "Marlene, was Denzel with you?"

Marlene turned her head, looking at Cloud. Her face suddenly went blank as she shook her head. Then, slowly, her features changed to worry as she realized no one knew where Denzel was. "Is he okay, Cloud?" Marlene asked.

Just as Cloud was about to respond to her question, Tifa and Rinoa appeared. Tifa had a certain ninja by the neck collar, dragging her along. Tifa looked surprised to see Vincent with them, but her face lit up at the sight of Marlene. She released the struggling Yuffie and wrapped her arms around Marlene. "They found you!"

Cloud stood nearby, glancing at Vincent who was looking at Yuffie with a stern eye. He knew very well that this ninja loved to steal others materia, and if you weren't careful, you'd lose yours in an instant. Cloud wondered when Tifa had bumped into Yuffie, but shrugged it off as he looked at Rinoa and then Squall.

Just as he was about to suggest they go look for Barret and Selphie, Cloud felt a wave of pain surge through his whole body. He flinched at the pain, a frown showing on his face. He tried to hide the pain that he was in by turning to look away from everyone, waiting for it to pass. It didn't though, and when Tifa told them that they should find the others, Cloud nearly stumbled as he moved. The energy was slowly being sapped from his body and the pain grew with every step he took.

He shut his eyes for an instant, and when he opened them, he felt the burning gaze of Vincent on him. Cloud couldn't help but look at his friend and saw that Vincent was looking at him, his crimson eyes emotionless. Cloud blinked, and looked away, his eyes beginning to water from the pain in his head. Vincent suddenly asked, "What's wrong, Cloud?"

"Headache," Cloud responded, surprised at how weak his voice was. He hadn't thought he had lost that much energy just from a headache…

Vincent only nodded and turned away, but every once and a while, he would glance at Cloud through he corner of his eyes. Tifa was the next to notice Cloud's occasional flinches from the pain in his head and she knew instantly what was up. "Do you need more medicine?" Tifa asked.

Cloud shook his head, but in truth, he really did need some. He didn't want his friends to worry, they already had enough on their hands. And at the moment, it was rather hard to find Barret and Selphie.

&&&

Squall led them down to the gates, looking around there. Since he knew what Barret looked like, he helped them, but stayed silent a lot. It was rather dull, really, just looking through the many people for two people in particular.

&&&

It was Vincent who spotted Barret and Selphie first. He didn't know Selphie, so he only pointed out Barret. Barret was walking around a could of hundred yards off, looking around. When they spotted Barret, everyone ran up to him in a rush, knowing that Barret would be glad to see Marlene.

"Marlene!" Barret said, looking down at the girl. "So, I see you found her. Where were ya Marlene? You were supposed to stick with Tifa!"

Marlene blinked and smiled at Barret weakly before responding, "We got separated. But Vincent found me!"

Barret looked up and saw Vincent standing there. Vincent was looking at Barret, but he said nothing, "Oh uh, thanks Vincent." Vincent still didn't say anything, instead, he just nodded.

&&&

Meanwhile Sephiroth was in Balamb, watching as people scurried away from him. He was thinking maybe he could let this place go up in flames like he had Nimbelheim. That would be fun, and it would defiantly cause some trouble. Just as he was about to draw his sword, someone shot a gun. Sephiroth knew the bullet was coming at him and he dodged it. Spinning around, he faced a man with a rifle. The man glared at Sephiroth, "Who the hell do you think you are? You can't just come here killing the innocent!"

Sephiroth smirked, "This whole town is guilty! I will kill anyone I want to!"

With that, Sephiroth rushed the man and stabbed him with the Masamune, and cut him in the chest before taking the sword out. The gunman's eyes were wide as he stared at the blood that poured from the wound before dropping down onto the concrete, dead. Sephiroth the turned away and continued with his onslaught of the town.

The population of the place wasn't very big, and that disappointed Sephiroth. He wanted to kill many people. He had long since realized that he wasn't on the Planet anymore, so he could just take his anger out on these people. He wondered if Cloud was around here anywhere, if he was, Sephiroth would just love to stab his blade through him, that would be fun! But Sephiroth didn't sense Cloud nearby, but he could feel Cloud was somewhere close, but not in the town. There had to be another place somewhere around here…

Sephiroth cut down three more people before someone shouted, "Call in the SeeDs! This guy's to powerful!" Sephiroth quickly slew the man and then turned to look at a woman standing there, looking at him with horror.

She turned away from him and ran into a nearby house, dragging her son along with her. She slammed and locked the door. As if that could stop Sephiroth! He quickly took out a manipulating materia that could disguise himself so that it would be easier to get around.

&&&

Suddenly a voice boomed through the Garden, "All SeeDs are to go to Balamb! It is under attack! Repeat: All SeeDs are to go to Balamb! It is under attack!"

Squall looked at the people around him, and decided against leaving them here. They might cause trouble, because deep within Squall's mind, he still believed them to all be drunk, or brainwashed. That was an option. "Alright, come on guys, you can help us out." Squall said, interrupting Barret.

Everyone turned to look at Squall and it was Cloud who spoke up, "With what? We don't know what this Balamb place is, nor are we 'SeeDs'!" Cloud raised two fingers up on both hands and moved them up and down.

Squall rolled his eyes, "Just shut up and come on!"

Squall ran out the gates, everyone else following him, but Barret told Marlene to stay there and go over to the cafeteria and wait for him. Marlene, who had already been through there looking for Tifa, nodded and ran off.

Once they were outside the Garden, Squall drew his Gunblade and led the group down a dirt road. "Watch out for monsters, this place is packed full of them!" he warned.

&&&

"I can tell…" Tifa muttered, she had spotted eyes looking at her through the trees and sped up. She liked to fight monsters, but right now, she was worried for Cloud. He kept flinching with every step he took and his movements were unsteady. Maybe he needed to have stayed at the Garden with Marlene. Tifa mentally slapped herself, there was no way she could force Cloud to stay somewhere, he'd only follow them!

It would take a miracle to get Cloud to stay in once place! She sighed and kept close to Cloud. Then, Tifa remembered. She reached into one of her pocket and took out a bottle. "Oh yeah, I forgot about these, here." Tifa handed Cloud the bottle of aspirin.

"Yuffie, give us some materia, we know you have some on you." Barret growled at the ninja. Yuffie blinked and said, "Um uh…." Barret glared at her. "Oh alright!" Yuffie gave in and handed Barret a thunder materia. She gave Cloud a fire one, Tifa and blizzard one, and Red a cure one. "There, but that's all your getting of my materia!" she snapped.

Cloud removed the buster sword from its sheath and placed the materia into it and sheathed it once more. Everyone else put theirs into their weapons, while Squall, Rinoa, and Selphie looked at them in confusion. "What were those?" Rinoa asked.

Just as Tifa was about to answer, they heard shouts from behind them, "Hey Squall! Wait up!" Everyone turned to see two people running after them.

&&&

Squall sighed, here comes Zell and Ivrine, nice. He thought to himself, then he shrugged. They were his friends, and they were also SeeDs. They both caught up to them. It was Zell who spoke, "Hey! Why didn't you wait up on us!"

"Because Balamb is under attack, and as you see, I have a pretty big party with me right now." Squall responded and continued walking towards Balamb.

Ivrine had gone over to Tifa and was walking beside her. He didn't do anything or say anything only because Vincent and Cloud were watching him. Ivrine had taken one glance at Vincent and declared him the creepiest guy he knew.

&&&

Cloud could see the town up ahead. He could also see smoke coming from it and tensed. Squall and the others had picked up speed and were now running down the trail towards Balamb. Cloud picked up speed also, but he had quickly swallowed some of the aspirins that Tifa had given him. Where she had gotten them, Cloud didn't know, nor did it matter.

As they reached the town, Squall had completely forgotten about the materia, Cloud noticed. And just moments after he thought about it, they reached the town and found many dead people. Cloud blinked, realizing that who ever was attacking the town was using a sword. Every dead person looked the same, either cut in half, or stabbed and cut.

Everyone split up, weapons drawn. Cloud went straight, and then coming to a house. The door was broken down. Zell, who had been following Cloud, suddenly yelled, "Ma!" This was Zell's mother's house!

Cloud and Zell rushed inside, only to find that many things were untouched, but a few things had been turned over. They came to another doorway that had no door on it. Cloud went inside and saw that it was empty. "Is anybody here?" Cloud called through the house.

Zell looked around the room and then spotted another door. Funny, he had never seen it before. It was steel door that had no damage what so ever on it. He reached for the door handle and tried to open it, only to find it locked. "Ma? Are you in there?" Zell yelled.

Cloud turned to face Zell's direction. The door opened slightly and a woman poked her head out. "Is it safe to come out yet?" she asked, quietly, looking around the room.

"Yeah, I think so. Cloud, go check my room, see if anyone's up there." Zell ordered.

Cloud nodded, figuring the only place Zell's room could be was upstairs where they hadn't been yet. He rushed up the steps, and found the door open, and not knocked down, but the room was empty. He noticed that the window was broken, but it was not big enough for someone to fit through. It was as if someone had thrown something through it.

He hurried back down stairs and left Zell with his parents, and went outside and continued looking. He soon came upon a dock and found a boy cowering in the corner, his hands covered with blood. Cloud went over to him, "What happened here? Are you alright?"

The boy nodded, "I-I think so. Where's my mother? Have you seen her?"

Cloud blinked, he didn't know the boy, nor did he know the boy's mother. He couldn't answer 'yes' like he wanted to. "No, I'm sorry, I haven't."

The boy's eyes were full of tears as he clutched his hands. "M-My hands they h-hurt. H-He cut them…"

Cloud blinked again, his Mako eyes looking down at the boy's hands. "Who cut them?" he asked, feeling pity towards the boy.

The boy looked up and opened his mouth to answer, but he never formed words. Cloud was confused at first, but then he noticed the boy was looking over his shoulder in horror. Cloud spun around only to come face to face with a familiar face…a very familiar face.