Part 3-Chapter Twenty

After about twenty minutes of walking, Zack came upon a person sitting against a wall, seeming to be asleep. Zack knew instantly who it was. He rushed over to Cloud, with Aeris. Aeris wasn't totally blind, she could tell Cloud was there and that he was asleep. "Why is Cloud out here?" Aeris asked Zack and she tried to shake him to wake him up.

Zack shrugged, "I dunno, maybe he fell off the train too." He bent down to be sure Cloud wasn't hurt seriously and found that Cloud seemed to be just fine. Aeris was still shaking him, trying to get him to wake up when Kadaj and Yazoo came up.

Cloud groaned, rolling his head over to his other shoulder, opening his eyes slightly. "Are you alright?" Zack asked at once. Cloud opened his Mako green eyes all the way and looked at Zack. Cloud's eyes widened in horror.

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When Cloud saw Zack, terror spread through his whole body. At first he didn't move or speak, but then his mind seemed to realize how much danger his friends were in. He pushed himself to his feet and jumped past Zack, running a few feet ahead of them. "Stay away, Zack, Aeris-you're in danger with me around!" Cloud warned them.

"But you have no weapon," Zack pointed out.

Cloud shook his head, "That's what you think." Cloud reached behind him and to everyone's surprise, drew out the buster sword. How they had missed it, they didn't know. Zack reached behind him and only felt one sword. "But how did you…?" Zack asked, staring at Cloud.

"I swiped it. Hanging around a materia thief taught me a few tricks," Cloud explained and then turned away from them and broke into a run. No one moved at first, but then Zack and Aeris ran after Cloud.

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Squall found everyone and told them where they were going. They were going to take the second train that ran to Esthar and visit Dr. Odine first and then borrow and aircraft to get to Centra. As they entered the station in Balamb, Squall got aboard the train followed by Barret, Red, Tifa, Yuffie, Irvine, Selphie, and Rinoa. The train started and it zoomed through the underground tunnel.

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Kadaj was the first one to hear the roar of a train as they followed his Big Brother. "Hey guys! A train is coming! Let's try to hop aboard!" he yelled as the small dot of light came into view. Yazoo caught up to Kadaj and nodded but Zack and Aeris gave no reply as they neared Cloud. Kadaj watched as Zack was able to get just behind Cloud and grab his arm, jerking him back.

Cloud was stopped and Zack stumbled backwards with Aeris, but they had at least caught Cloud now. "You're not leaving us Cloud." Zack told Cloud with a determined tone. Kadaj watched as Cloud looked over at Zack and then looked away, "You don't understand, do you? Sephiroth plans to use me to kill off my friends and allies."

"Well you can just forget about that, Cloud. We won't let him do that, and besides, we all want out of this tunnel so lets get on the oncoming train and leave." Aeris said gently.

"And how do you plan to do that?" Cloud asked, looking up at them. Kadaj watched as Zack looked back at the nearing train before responding quickly, "Well, if you guys hadn't kill Loz, we could have used him, but since you did, Kadaj-Rufus said you had materia. Do you have a Slow materia?"

Kadaj blinked and then nodded. He didn't want to give up his materia, but he believed he'd do just about anything to get out of the dark, damp tunnel. He took out the Slow materia and handed it to Zack, who gave it to Aeris. "You're better with materia than all of us, use that on the train."

Aeris nodded and waited for a few moments until the train was very close and then she used the materia. The train slowed, but it was still going a pretty good speed. As it past, Zack ran forward, grabbing hold of Aeris, he grabbed the handle and opened the door. He hung on, helping Aeris in first and then he climbed in. Kadaj and Yazoo came next, but Cloud just stood there for a second. Then he ran, catching up with the twenty-miles and hours going train and jumped aboard.

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Sephiroth grinned as he road on the other train. He had lost his puppets, but Cloud was with all of his friends now. This was going to be a great day for him…

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Cloud looked up to see Tifa, Yuffie, Red, and Barret staring at him. Tifa rushed forward and helped Cloud to his feet. He stood up, but went over to a seat and sat down, not speaking to anyone. He didn't look up at anyone either. Tifa sat down beside him and asked, "Why were you all down there?"

Cloud knew she had been looking at him when she had asked that and was expecting an answer from him, but Cloud refused to speak. Tifa asked again, but no offered an answer. Kadaj would have answered, but Zack kicked him in the side, signaling that he should remain silent. "Why won't you tell me, Cloud?" Tifa asked.

Tifa tried to look Cloud in the face, but Cloud turned away. He knew what she would think when she saw him with green eyes like Sephiroth, Kadaj, Loz, and Yazoo. She would think that he was just like them, nothing more than a remnant, and at the moment, that was what Cloud felt like, a remnant. He was already putting everyone in danger by just being around them. He didn't know why he was even in the train with them.

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Vincent had found a way off of the small continent, and was now walking on the outskirts of a city. His blood-red eyes glared at the ground. His blood was boiling with fury and anger. Several times Chaos had suggested that they go in the city and just kill anyone that dared look at him funny. Vincent had rejected it every time because he knew Chaos only wanted to do what he did best-cause chaos.

After a moment, Vincent sighed and turned away from the city, keeping his gun out, he headed for the forest. The temptation was rising and his barrier against the demons was going to shatter very soon and then…

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Sephiroth knew the time was coming as he jumped off the train and landed gracefully onto the dirt ground below. Cloud was on a different train and Sephiroth wanted to be there when he killed all of his friends. Sephiroth knew that Tifa was there with Strife along with the rest of AVALANCHE, excluding Cid.

He walked up the railroad tracks, laughing to himself as he strode on towards the train that would be passing by soon. His Mako green eyes glowed as bright as a cat's as he stopped and waited, cracking his knuckles. He flexed his fingers, eager to watch blood be shed.

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Cloud felt Tifa rest her hand on his hand she asked again. He drew back, as if he had been stung, and stood up, walking over to the other side of the train. "Stay away from me, Tifa," he warned with a dark tone. It was then that he looked up to meet Tifa's surprised brown gaze.

It was as he had expected. Tifa's eyes widened at the color of Cloud's eyes and she gasped loudly, making everyone turn to look at her and then Cloud. Every AVALANCHE member saw Cloud's eyes and, as if on cue, they asked at the same time, "Why are your eyes green?"

"I-" Cloud began, but quite suddenly, he inhaled deeply, gasping for air. Pain seared through his whole body as he dropped to his knees, and nearly fell to the ground, but he caught himself. Cloud stayed there, gasping for air as Sephiroth's image filled his vision before it blurred. Cloud shut his eyes tightly, sitting down. Tifa rushed forward, but Cloud drew back, gasping, he sputtered, "Tifa…get away!" Cloud could feel Sephiroth taking over his mind and body.

"Cloud!" Aeris gasped, but she did not move, knowing what was coming.

Zack, however, advanced on Cloud and Tifa and grabbed Tifa, pulling her away from Cloud gently. Then he moved past Tifa and stood in front of the kneeling Cloud, looking down at him before bending over and quickly snatching the buster sword. "Give that back!" Cloud snarled as Zack drew back swiftly. His head lifted and his eyes glowed a fierce green as he glared at Zack.

"Wha' the hell is wrong with Spike?" Barret demanded, standing up and facing Zack.

"Yes, Zack, what is wrong with Cloud?" Red asked, keeping an eye on Cloud who was slowly rising to his feet.

"Um…Cloud?" Yuffie asked, staring with wide eyes at her friend. She blinked, not liking the look in his eyes. His eyes showed nothing. Just a vast green of Mako, they were empty and blank. It was so creepy.

"No time to explain!" Zack replied to everyone's questions, staring at Cloud, gripping his buster sword tightly. Kadaj and Yazoo were staring at their brother.

"Big Brother, I warned you about that!" Kadaj told Cloud, walking up to him and waving a hand in front of his face.

"Um…Kadaj, I don't think you should do that," Yazoo said, his voice shaky.

Kadaj looked over at Yazoo replied, "Why? Big Brother wouldn't hurt his brother would he?" To answer Kadaj's question, Cloud's hand flew out and gripped Kadaj's. In a flash, Cloud flipped Kadaj on his back. "Ow…"

"I take that as I yes he would," Yazoo replied, taking a step back from Cloud. "Calm down Cloud! You don't have to hurt me! I only shot you in the face, nothing more! Don't kill me Brother!" Yazoo squealed, hiding himself behind Zack.

Suddenly the door was wrenched open on the train again and a very familiar face steppe din. There was a wicked grin on Sephiroth's face as he faced everyone and spoke, "Why, isn't this a crowd?"

Meanwhile, Cloud was fighting against Sephiroth's control, but he was losing very badly. He could feel himself going numb, he could feel his body beginning to move without having any control. Cloud could hear Sephiroth's maniacal laughter ringing through his ears as he turned to face Zack, Aeris, and Kadaj. "Give me back my buster sword, Zack."

Zack held up Cloud's buster sword in a defensive position, his Mako blue eyes narrowing. "Cloud! Snap out of it!" Zack yelled.

"B-Brother? Are you going to hurt me too?" Kadaj whimpered from behind Zack, his green eyes wide with terror as he looked from Sephiroth to Cloud.

"I could make him kill you too, but no, Kadaj, he won't-unless you slip up again." Sephiroth spoke, looking at Kadaj, his Mako green eyes narrowed. He spoke up again, "Give him your sword, Kadaj."

"But-but! It's mine!" Kadaj whined, but he squealed in fright as Sephiroth continued to glare at him, unsheathing the Masamune. Kadaj quickly removed his double-bladed sword from its sheath and tossed it to Cloud, who caught it.

Cloud swung it, getting the hang of its light weight and then he advanced on Tifa, Barret, Red, Squall, Yuffie, Irvine, Zack, and Aeris. Yazoo joined Cloud, taking his gun out. Sephiroth didn't speak up as an evil grin flashed across his face. He knew that Cloud's friends didn't want to harm him, but if he could let Cloud kill or injure one of them, they would be forced to. And then they might kill Strife! Yay!

"Cloud! Stop it!" Tifa demanded, looking at Cloud with a terrified pain in her eyes as Cloud advanced on them, his Mako green eyes glowing a dark hue and a twisted, evil grin was on his face. He looked crazy to everyone standing there as he approached them, swinging the blade.

The double-bladed sword nearly caught Red XIII on the nose as he drew back, shaking his head. Zack stepped forward before Cloud could get any closer and swung the buster sword, hoping to throw Kadaj's sword out of Cloud's hands, but it was no use. Cloud was powerful, and even though the buster sword weighed a ton, Kadaj's blade did not break. Cloud swung the blade at Zack, but Zack parried it. Everyone knew Zack wasn't going to go on the offensive of Cloud unless it got out of hand. Meanwhile, Aeris had turned to Kadaj, who was slowly creeping over to Sephiroth. His back was to her and she raised her staff. A glare on her face, she hit him in the back of the head just where his neck and head connects. Kadaj seemed to freeze and then he dropped onto the steel floor, unconscious. Aeris glared down at him, not bothering to look at Sephiroth as she reached down and grabbed one of Kadaj's materia. Suddenly there was a silver blade against her throat. Aeris froze instantly, fear spreading through her body as Sephiroth held the Masamune to her throat.

Squall, who was watching without a word, suddenly drew out his Gunblade and stepped towards Sephiroth, a look of hate a fury on his face. Sephiroth glanced up at Squall, eyeing the Gunblade, but he did not speak, but rather, he merely smirked and pressed the blade closer to Aeris's throat as she dropped the materia. It rolled across the floor and bounced against the metal wall and rolling over to where Rinoa stood, staring in silence. Angelo was growling at Yazoo, who was backed up against the wall, pointing his gun at Angelo. Rinoa, ever so slowly, bent down to grab the materia, but Yazoo suddenly spoke up, raising the gun to Rinoa's head. "Drop it," Rinoa dropped it at once, frozen just like Aeris.

"Why you!" Squall suddenly growled, spinning around and holding up his Gunblade and pointed it at Yazoo. No one would dare point a gun at Rinoa and get way with it. He was still her protector no matter what. Irvine held up his shotgun, pointing it at Yazoo's heart, while Zell held up his fists. Quistis, who had come along, grabbed her whip and faced Yazoo. Outnumbered, Yazoo was forced to take his gun away from Rinoa's head. Regardless, Squall fired the gun and shot the gun right out of Yazoo's hand. Rinoa instantly grabbed the materia and ran over to Squall.

The red summon materia reacted at once as Rinoa clutched it. She hadn't expected it to, but out of nowhere, a large fiery demon dog appeared. The demon dog roared with fury and murder as a large fireball appeared in his hand. Everyone except Rinoa's targets were drug into the safe dimension as Ifrit swung the ball of fire down upon Sephiroth, Kadaj, Yazoo, and Cloud. When Ifrit vanished, everyone reappeared. Rinoa was staring down at the with shock and surprise. Aeris had been able to escape from Sephiroth and was now standing beside Barret and Red XIII.

"How did that happen?" Rinoa asked, her eyes wide as she handed Aeris the summon materia. She had never heard of being able to summon a Guardian Force using one of those before; she had always believed that when you used a GF, it was implanted in your mind and whenever you used it, it ate away at your memory. She hadn't used a GF in so long, it was hard to even remember when she had used one.

"You can use materia?" Aeris asked, moving towards Rinoa, but she kept an eye on Cloud and Zack. Zack, who had turned to look back at Aeris to be sure she was safe, suddenly flinched in pain as Cloud slashed him across the shoulder. He backed off a few feet, but he could go no further without endangering the others.

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Rinoa faced Aeris and nodded, "I guess…so…" She hadn't expected Ifrit to appear as Aeris took the materia, but the dog demon did not come forth. Rinoa glanced over at Sephiroth, who seemed unmoved by Ifrit's appearance. Yazoo and Kadaj were hurt, that was apparent. Cloud seemed injured too.

Cloud swung Kadaj's sword again. Though Zack was a first class SOLDIER, Cloud was quicker with the lighter sword. Kadaj's katana tore into Zack's side, leaving a deep, bloody gash. Zack heard Aeris scream out and dared glance her way just as Sephiroth held out the Masamune, preventing her from moving.

Zack barely had time to move as Cloud lashed out again, this time catching Zack across the chest and stomach. He flinched in pain, and he suddenly realized that if he didn't switch to using offensive, Cloud would kill him. Zack sighed heavily through all of the pain in his body as he raised the buster sword, he spoke, "I'm sorry Cloud," and then he brought the buster sword down, hitting Cloud with the Omnislash.

Cloud was thrown against the wall, blood splattering from the wound that the Omnislash had caused. Zack watched as Cloud slid down the wall, his eyes closing; he slumped onto the floor. Now Zack spun around and faced Sephiroth, who was clapping slowly, "Nice, I didn't think you'd ever hurt him!"

"Sephiroth!" Zack snarled, rushing forward, but quick as lightning, Sephiroth flung open the train door and leapt out just as Zack reached him.

Meanwhile Aeris had rushed over towards Cloud and dropped down beside him, worry flashing in her emerald green eyes. "Cloud! Cloud! Kadaj! Give me a Cure 5 materia right now!"

Kadaj, who had just recovered from when Aeris had smacked him with her staff, hurriedly found a Cure 5 materia and threw it at Aeris, now afraid of the seemingly-innocent Cetra girl. Aeris caught it, but Rinoa came forward and spoke, "Don't, you keep that. Let me heal him."

"But-" Aeris protested, looking at Rinoa with confusion.

Without waiting for an actual reply from Aeris, Rinoa stepped in front of Cloud and dropped down on her knees. She muttered, very quietly, holding her hands over Cloud's wound, "Curaga…"

Green specks sprung up from the ground, surrounding Rinoa and when they covered Cloud, a circle of green light appearing under Cloud. Rinoa had her eyes shut as she concentrated on curing Cloud. When she felt the magic fading from her, Rinoa opened her eyes and stood up. The wound was gone, but the blood remained and Cloud did not awaken.

Rinoa had turned to Zack and asked, "Do you need me to heal you too?"

Zack shook his head, dropping Cloud's buster sword and sat down on one of the seats, closing his eyes. His whole body hurt and in truth, Zack did need to be healed, but he was determined to ignore it. His body was half numb anyway, but Zack hadn't been counting on how much blood he was losing. When he opened his eyes again, the room was spinning.

Zack wasn't aware of falling asleep. He wasn't aware of anything around him. His vision flashed and he found himself standing in the Forgotten City, looking past the water and staring into the glowing white bushes and trees.

Zack's eyes snapped open. He as still in the train on the seat. The only thing different was that he was covered in bandages. Zack blinked and looked around and spotted Selphie holding a roll of medical tape, chatting with Squall. Aeris was still beside Cloud, who was still unconscious; Rinoa was sitting beside Squall, leaning on him, asleep. Irvine and Yuffie were sitting beside one another, looking from Squall to Selphie. Yazoo and Kadaj…well they weren't exactly very comfortable-no, they were tied up and neither had their weapons. Kadaj's was few feet away from Cloud, while Yazoo's was in Squall's hand.

Zack wondered why Selphie looked a little ticked, but he didn't listen in on their conversation because he could guess by the way she was pointing at Yazoo's gun. And it wasn't really hard not to hear them. Tifa, meanwhile, was also beside Cloud, while Red was laying on the floor, his tail twitching with annoyance at Squall and Selphie's bickering. Barret, Zack noticed, was asleep.

"You are not going to give Yazoo his gun back, Squall!" Selphie suddenly yelled. Zack turned to look at Squall and Selphie. Squall held up a finger, signaling that Selphie should be a little quieter and pointed down at Rinoa.

"I never said I was Selphie! So shut up before you wake up Rinoa!" Squall hissed, tossing the gun away. Zack watched as it flew through the air and…flew out a window-busting it of course. "Opps…" Squall muttered as glass covered the floor. Red stood up at once as it covered his pelt and shook himself. Mistake.

Small shards of glass flew everywhere, and Zack tried to shield himself with his arms. Everyone else copied him as the glass bounced off of everything. "Red!" Barret suddenly snarled, waking up at once when he felt glass falling from out of no where and saw the wolf hybrid shaking himself. "Why you thrownin' glass at everyone?"

Red looked up at Barret and gave him a wolfish grin as he replied, "Sorry-but you shouldn't be mad at me, Squall is the one who broke the window!"

"What? Why you Squall! I oughta-" Barret roared, but was interrupted by Zell, who was holding up his hand and was moving his fingers up and down, making a little mocking sound as he spoke, "Blah, blah, blah! Shut up already!"

Zack sighed, shaking his head as he looked up at ceiling. How long had they been on this train? Not long, that was for sure. Well not as long as they could have been…at least they were out of the underground tunnel. "Can someone untie us?" Kadaj asked, waving his hands up and down from where he was tied up, glaring at everyone. As soon as he spoke up, Aeris grabbed her staff. Kadaj noticed it and yelled, "Oh please have mercy on me!" Aeris hit him over the head, snapping, "Shut up, Kadaj! You'll wake up Rinoa!"

But it was a little late for that because Rinoa had already sat up and was looking at Kadaj and Aeris with confusion. Zack sighed, these people were loud! Oh well…it was a crowd train-maybe they should kick Kadaj and Yazoo-along with Barret-into a different section of the train. That would be nice…so Zack suggested it.