Paine of Spira…I always leave cliff hangers…don't ask me why.

CTHKSI, if u like them evil, wait til you read the next couple of chapters.

Yuffie Kisaragi2, I owe you one! I didn't know how to spell the ninja's name! I thought it was Kirasagi! Can I get a cid and Vincent plushie instead of a chocobo?

U know, try as I might, I can't make Vincent evil…nor for some reason, can I make Reeve evil. I have no idea why I can't.

Ok, now it's gonna get dark…

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Most of the students were blissfully unaware when the attack came. Most were still sleeping cosily in their beds, dreaming pleasantly of things to come. Not one among them knew of the horrors that were to ensure that warm and pleasant day.

Even if one had known, it would have been to little to late. Very few would survive that day, those few would forever wish they hadn't. Any chance of survival would be non existent, not one of them knew that they had been betrayed by one of their own.

Yuffie Kisaragi walked boldly down the main entrance way, her weapon held tightly in her hands. Her dark eyes narrowing in anticipation as she readied herself for battle.

Did she feel bad about allowing monsters access to the place that had been her home for years? Did she care that all those she cared about would die? Die painfully and horribly?

She pushed those feelings down into her stomach, telling herself the age old lie that had been formed. They had to do this, it was for the good of the planet. After they…slaughtered Garden, Esthar was next on the list.

For that, she did feel sorry, she actually liked Laguna Loire. He reminded her a little of who they used to be. So bright and eager to help everyone. Wanted nothing more than to help others.

Cloud Strife followed meters behind her, the Ultima Weapon sheathed behind his back. His blue eyes devoid of any human emotion. His eyes chilling any soul that looked even briefly at them.

A small, almost faint smile crossed his lips as he spoke. Yuffie closed her eyes and offered her god's a small prayer for those they were going to kill.

"Leave none alive. I want the six who defeated the sorceress brought to me unharmed," Cloud ordered, "I will deal with them myself."

No discernable comments could be heard from the riotous shouts from behind him. Battle cries of all known languages filled the air as the monster army went about it's work.

Reeve Sith remained outside of the Garden, his dark eyes filling with tears and his throat filling with bile. He had seen the slaughter of people before, even been apart of it but never had he participated in the slaughter of a whole school of children.

It had been to his surprise that Cloud had allowed him to remain outside, did the mad young warlord…Reeve shook his head, the word, warlord now seemed to fit the description of the sword wielding blonde.

Cloud had turned into a mad warlord. Cid was right. Cloud had became like Sephiroth.

He threw up on the green grass, unable to contain his disgust at what they were doing.

"S'up with you cat man?" Barret towered above the small Reeve, "Coughin' up a hairball?"

Reeve shook his head, unwilling to answer. He closed his eyes and took deep breaths, wishing that he couldn't hear the screams of surprised children.

"No…but…don't you feel sick doin' this?" Reeve uttered.

Barret raised an eyebrow, "We gotta do this for the planet man. You know that."

Rinoa awoke to the sounds of screams. Her heart thundering in her chest as she scrambled off her bed. Angelo backed madly at the door, alerting her owner to the madness outside of her bedroom.

"What is it girl?" the young sorceress whispered, "What's wrong?"

Slowly, she opened the door. Hoping that this was all a really bad joke or a really good fire drill. Something flashed by her, making her fall backwards.

Her eyes widened as she peeked out again. What the hell was going on? Why were there people screaming?

Someone crashed against her door, falling inwards and onto her. Rinoa screamed in shock as something wet brushed against her cheek.

She froze as she lay still on the carpeted floor, the person on top of her wasn't moving to get off. Neither was the poor soul breathing. She could hear Angelo bark madly against the shapes moving past her door.

"Angelo, shhh," she whispered, "Please!"

Her loyal companion whined and gave her a short bark, the dog's small stump of a tail waggling.

"Angelo…if you don't shut up, they'll hear us," Rinoa closed her eyes and willed her heart to stop thundering.

Her dark eyes caught sight of a shock of blonde hair, it stuck wildly in all directions. It defied the laws of any hairstylists.

What scared her most about the wild haired blonde, was the fact that he carried a huge sword. Much larger than she had ever seen before. Squall's gun blade, his Lionheart, his most powerful weapon, looked like a butter knife compared to the warrior's.

She closed her eyes as the blonde looked into the room. She could feel the blood drip onto her face from the dead girl laying on top of her. It chilled her to her stomach and she wanted nothing more than to run crying into Squall's arms.

But she couldn't do that, her lover had been taken from the infirmary about a day ago and the entire Garden was in a case of panic. Quistis had also been taken by, what the security guards claimed, by the same 'vampire' that had taken Squall. Xu, head of security was also missing.

Angelo barked at the blonde as he walked confidently into the room, she growled and bared her teeth.

"Nice doggy," he laughed.

Angelo barked and snarled her response. She wasn't going to let this person near her mistress without a fight. She edged nearer, still growling her anger at the intruder.

Once again, the blonde intruder laughed at the attempts of protection. Rinoa heard a small mutter come from him and Angelo's barks stopped in the form of a sharp yelp…

Balamb, Dicht Residence…

Cid span round in the small kitchen, surprised when he felt a small vibration from his bracelet. Bahamut Zero shook on it's small chain.

That meant only one thing to him, the mighty Dragon's brethren were nearby. Bahamut Neo and Bahamut had been summoned.

Someone pounded fiercely on the wooden front door, yelling for Zell. The door rattled as the pounding increased. Cid listened for footsteps from upstairs but he didn't hear any.

He walked over to the door and carefully opened it. A young girl panted on the doorstep, her face red with exertion.

She looked taken back as she stared Cid in the face, "Who are…you?"

"A mate of Ma Dicht," he answered truthfully, "The hell were you bangin on the door for? Ya could wake the dead."

"Is Zell home?" she sqeezed herself under the older blonde and into the house, "I have to talk to him."

"He's slee…" he stopped when the teen in question slowly made his way down the stairs.

Zell rubbed his eyes, trying to figure out what the heck was going on and who had been pounding on his front door.

"What's going on?" he yawned, "Alicia?"

"Zell, my dad was on his way back from the beach this morning, you know, picking up the really rare shells that he can find there," the small girl rabbled on, suddenly more interested in telling the martial artist more about the shells than the real reason she was here for.

Cid shook his head, a smile graced his features as he looked at the child fondly. Had his daughter been like that? What did Quistis know about her old man?

"Allie, why were ya knocking on my door?" Zell polity asked, "It's like really early."

The little girl looked up at Zell, her dark eyes tracing the dark thick lines of his tattoo. She frowned, recalling the reason her daddy had sent her.

"Daddy says that the Garden was fighting and that he saw a big army near the beach last night when he went to take our dog for a walk," the little girl stated, "He said to mommy that it was a reaaaaallly big army too."

Zell tensed on the spot, his mind went on to overtime, the Garden? His Garden fighting? No way…no way! They were on their way to pick him up! Not getting involved in fights!

"Yer old man git a look at what types o' uniforms they wearin'?" Cid asked.

The little girl looked at him blanky, not understanding what the old and forgotten hero had said.

He sighed, "Sorry…did your dad see what the army was wearing? What kind of clothes did they wear?"

"He didn't say but, he said that the man leading them had really freaky hair," the girl proudly remembered.

Zell watched as Cid bolted out of the Dicht residence like his heels were on fire. Zell followed after him, wondering what the hell had spooked the older man.

"Cid! Hey Cid! Wait the hell up will ya?" he crashed into him, "The…"

Cid grabbed Zell's chin and forced his face to look onto the distance. The young teen saw his second home in flames. Black smoke billowed from the main tower.

"What…what the…" Zell almost fell to his knees as he took in the scene.

"I think we should go to your Garden," Cid softly said.