Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I do not own the Final Fantasy Saga, or the Kingdom Hearts Saga

A/N: Just a reminder that while Cloud and some the others may flirt, this is not a slash/yaoi story. The sequel might be but this won't.

Reviews are much loved! 3

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Tseng and the Sargent had fallen way behind by the time Cloud and Zack reached the top of the building. It was a fight in itself reaching that point thanks to all the damn clones. Cloud tried not to be too worried about them. He tried to clear out as many of the Genesis copies as he could and Tseng was more than capable of taking care of himself. Besides, their absence could be useful to him. If he needed to really fight, the less witnesses the better.

It was certainly fun watching Zack try to sneak in here. Zack apparently never received any form of stealth training. An oversight in Soldier training no doubt and one he would have to convince Vincent to fix later. He couldn't remember if Zack was like this before or if it was something he would grow out of with time. Every time he blew their attempt to sneak past led to Cloud having to cut someone down.

Cloud really enjoyed the look of Zack's awe and uncovered sword lust every time he pulled out his Fusion Sword. He did try to keep the preening down to a minimum, but he was very proud of his sword and loved it when someone else loved her too. Fortunately, he hasn't needed to split her, he wasn't ready to spill all her secrets yet.

Cloud was also careful not to overdo it. If he remembered it correctly, Zack really flourished when he was taking care of or protecting someone as opposed to someone taking care of him. It was extremely easy to create situations where Zack had to come rushing in to save his butt. His ego had a harder time taking the hits than his flesh did and seeing the confidence grow in Zack was worth every one.

When the latest gate opened Zack immediately darted forward into the center of the room while Cloud lingered back to observe his surroundings. Like the rest of this place the great factory-like room was a dark and rusted out open space. The flooring was grated and warped; he could see the bottom floors of the building through the many holes and the rails were covered in rust and wet, slimy grime. Cloud felt he could shatter them with one strike without mako. As it is, a harsh word would probably level the entire building. The entire unpleasant atmosphere was made complete with the stench of the dank metallic-moldy smell that Cloud had only experienced once before, on the sunken plane Gelnika, in the middle of the ocean floor.

It became immediately clear they had found one of their targets as right in front of them Genesis was pushing Hollander toward the platform edge with the point of his flashy red sword. Not that Cloud could judge in that department, although his was still better.

"You'll never be cured of your degradation if you kill me!" Hollander shouted desperately as Genesis pushed him further with the point of his blade.

"The Jenova cells…"

Zack rushed in with his sword drawn and snapped Genesis' blade away before the Red First could kill him. Cloud stalked the shadows watching Zack struggle against Genesis' strength. This was still Zack's mission and he would only step in when his friend needed him.

"You'll never find them without me! Not even Hojo knows where they are!"

Surprisingly Genesis seemed to believe Hollander's lies. Cloud honestly thought he was smarter than that. Maybe it was something he picked up with age? If it was, he didn't gather a lot of it. Zack was still touching swords with Genesis, using his body to guard Hollander.

Cloud stifled the urge to kill the scientist right then and there. The very fact that he knew about Jenova, even if he didn't know where she was, made him instantly a threat. Just as he could switch scientists if he needed to, so could Jenova. Killing him now would give her one less puppet to use. Unfortunately, Zack was determined to protect him and Cloud wasn't willing to go against the other man. Not now and not ever if he could help it.

"Then I shall willingly accept my fate!" Genesis acted out with all the fatalistic drama he could muster "But I shall take the world with me!"

While Zack was struggling with Genesis, Hollander tried to make his escape. Cloud swiftly interrupted Hollander's flight and with a sharp controlled hit, knocked him out. He may not allow himself to kill the other man but he wasn't willing to let him go free either. With Hollander temporarily out of the way Cloud was able to focus on the more important matter at hand.

Genesis and Zack were trading blows although to Cloud's eye it looked more like a wolf playing with a fox. Both were predators but there really isn't a question on which would win in a serious fight. Genesis wasn't going for the kill. He was toying with him. Although degradation was clearly slowing Genesis down, Zack was still no match for him.

Cloud couldn't deny that Zack had the skills though. He may not have the strength of a born Soldier but his sword and footwork made up for a lot of the difference. Cloud almost overreacted when Genesis managed to disarm Zack by flipping his sword in to the air but Zack simply spun tightly around to catch it in time to parry Genesis' next attack. Cloud contented himself with providing magical support for the time being, casting cures and shielding as he needed it.

In the meantime, Cloud slowly drew his Fusion Sword out of her harness and separated Sidewinder from the main body. If ever there was a situation to split her this would be it. He waited for the two Firsts to break apart. He got his opening not long after.

Genesis appeared to be tired of playing. With a powerful side-swing Genesis forced Zack to back-flip away. Cloud moved rapidly between them faster than the human eye could follow. The main body of hisFusion Sword blocked Genesis' blade and with Sidewinder he stopped Zack in his tracks. Genesis stared at him as if he were a ghost. He couldn't see Zack's expression but if it was anything like Genesis' he didn't think he wanted to.

"Huh?" Zack started confused by his sudden interference.

"Zack" Cloud said and turned slightly towards his old/new friend without taking his eyes off his target "Angeal should be around here somewhere. Why don't you bring him here, and we can tell him the good news? I need to have a chat with Genesis here."

Genesis was still testing his strength with his sword but it was so negligible he barely felt it. He ignored the ire Genesis was showing as he realized he couldn't shift Cloud's blade.

"Right, I can do that." Zack called from behind him then took off. There was some tension in his voice that Cloud didn't like. Unfortunately, there was nothing he could do about it right now. He still had to deal with Genesis.

Cloud casually shoved Genesis back then relinked his sword. Genesis stumbled more than he thought he would. He hadn't pushed that hard. He deliberately held Fusion Sword down and to the side. He needed Genesis to talk, not fight.

"Hero of the dawn, Healer of worlds, all that awaits you is a somber morrow."

Huh?

'Genesis and his thrice damned quotes' Cloud thought to himself. That one was always obsessed with that stupid play. Cloud had forgotten that little quirk about him. Clearly it wasn't something that he grew into overtime.

"I'm no one's hero. That will be someone else's job. I'm simply the delivery man and I have a package for you." Cloud pulled out the canister.

Genesis stared curiously at the metal canister in his hand. He reached out to it briefly before pulling himself back.

"My friend, your desire is the bringer of life, the gift of the goddess."

More Hel damned quotes.

Cloud casually flipped the canister in his hand, watching Genesis tense with each rotation. Perhaps he was being a little cruel, but no one ever said he couldn't be petty at times.

"Close actually a gift from the planet. By way of Hojo's labs."

"Hojo" Genesis sneered "Is it poison?"

"No" Cloud tossed the canister to Genesis who caught it with his free hand. "It's the cure to a disease called geostigma that has been…retrofitted to stop and reverse most of the effects of degradation."

"Geostigma? I've never heard of it."

"You wouldn't have." Cloud didn't try to hide the bleakness that crept into his voice. He wanted Genesis to acknowledge that hell even if this version never experiences it. They were only ever able to come to an understanding after geostigma became too big a problem to handle. His Goddess apparently sent him to help find a solution.

Needless to say, it wasn't successful.

Genesis shot Cloud an odd look then looked down thoughtfully at the canister. He seemed to have forgotten his sword so strong was his focus on his long awaited cure. Cloud sympathized with him, it was near impossible to trust anything that came out of Hojo's labs especially since Hojo show no willingness to help when Genesis broke into his labs earlier. Cloud didn't understand why they couldn't just have administered the cure there when he had both degrading Firsts in one place, but Aerith said Modeoheim had to happen so who was he to argue.

"You said 'most of the effects' would be repaired. What did you mean by that?" Genesis asked suspiciously.

"Small cosmetic stuff may never recover. The only major issue is that you would probably keep your wing." Cloud answered offhandedly.

With a dramatic flair, Genesis threw out his left arm and unleashed his black wing. Broken feathers filled the air as they scattered everywhere. Clearly he didn't bother with wing maintenance. None of the three born Firsts seemed to care about grooming their wings. Such a pity as they were beautiful in comparison to his own.

"So not even Hojo's serum can remove this monstrosity."

Cloud smirked viciously and released his own wing. He knew that, unlike the three born First's, his looked truly demonic. Instead of black or white feathers, his was black leather and scales, similar to a dragon's in many ways. The main joint and fingertips were covered with sharp wicked spines that could rip flesh to shreds when struck by them. The webbing was torn and frayed along the edges from numerous harsh battles that never healed properly. The damage didn't slow him down though he could fly and fight with it as easily as without. There wasn't any softness in the monstrosity as there could be no softness in him. Soft Weapons bent and broke and as Hojo said, he was made too well.

He watched with cold amusement as Genesis' eyes widened as he took several steps back. Cloud arched the wing higher and allowed the spines to click together menacingly. He knew exactly what he looked like with his wing out and Genesis' reaction didn't surprise him at all. The revamped Soldier First's black armor with his wing arching out, his spines standing out similar to evil barbed feathers was a frightening image to face.

Believe it or not but Tifa was the one who redesigned his armor when his wing decided to pop out. Talk about surprises when that happened. Cloud freaked out over more than anyone else. Denzel demanded to be the first person he took flying…after he learned how to control it.

"It didn't remove mine, and I can only assume it won't for yours." Cloud retracted his wing and waited for Genesis to come back around. He might have over done it a bit.

Genesis stared for several long seconds at the empty space where his wing was. He too withdrew his wing, this time with far less fanfare. He eventually turned his attention back to the canister without letting Cloud out of his sight. He was scared of him now and Cloud was grateful that Zack wasn't here to see him like that.

"What does Hojo want in return for such a gift?" Genesis asked. He sounded far more somber than he did at the beginning. Good, hopefully it meant he was taking this seriously.

"Two things" Cloud told him "Stop attacking innocent people and stop making copies."

Genesis blinked in disbelief.

"That's it?"

"Yes. At this point that's all Hojo cares about. I know the Turks and Lazard want you to return, and Sephiroth could probably use his friends back. As for myself, as long as you stop causing trouble, I don't give a damn what you do."

Genesis sneered when Cloud mentioned Sephiroth. He knew there was a strong rivalry that Genesis had nurtured long after Sephiroth had died but Cloud was always led to believe that it was a friendly one. Maybe he was wrong on that front. If he was he might have just stabbed himself in the foot.

"How is the 'Hero of Wutai'?" Genesis snarled.

"He seemed lonely. Probably feeling abandoned by now that you and Angeal both ran off without him."

Zack's memories always had him looking lonely.

"The perfect Soldier would never abandon his position to leave with us."

"You'd be surprised. He's not as perfect as he would have everyone seem."

Cloud was starting to lose his patience. Even talking about Sephiroth was putting him on edge. He didn't tolerate anyone disrespecting Sephiroth. It was weird of him, he knew. Sephiroth was his enemy for many years and destroyed him far more than anyone else could even dream of but he was such a huge piece of Cloud's makeup that drove him to defend the man. Sephiroth always brought out the best of him no matter what he did to Cloud in the process.

Also and more importantly Zack wasn't back yet. It shouldn't have taken this long to find Angeal and bring him back. Cloud was worried that his friend was getting into trouble. This was the place where he was forced to kill his mentor. He thought the knowledge of a cure would be enough to sway Angeal from suiciding but possibly not. If that was the case, then he didn't have much time left to delay.

Genesis huffed disparagingly "I doubt the Great First Soldier Sephiroth could even feel anything as mundane as loneliness."

With that, Cloud was officially done. He didn't have time for this. Genesis wasn't listening and Zack needed him now. He could take the cure or chuck it, Cloud knew he would find a way to survive.

Cloud sheathed his sword onto his back "You have your fate in your hand. Do what you will with it. Either way, I have to find Zack." He turned and started walking away.

"You would leave me so easily for that puppy?" Genesis taunted.

"Don't be jealous dear" Cloud called out mockingly as he left the area "You're more than welcome to join us." Cloud was too far away to hear Genesis' response.

…..

Cloud rushed through the corridors as quickly as he could, trying to find where Zack went. It took him far longer than he wanted to spend tracking through warren like building. At the last dead end Cloud gave up and opened his senses to the call. Every Soldier Hojo worked on had two ties that connected them together. One was Jenova, the other was Sephiroth. Cloud hated using it but he could locate every Soldier out there through the Reunion call. It took but a moment to pin down exactly where Zack was.

Cloud heard the clashing of swords as he finally made his way down the right corridor. He wondered what had happened to have set this off. Zack would have told Angeal about the cure and Angeal should have come back with him. It was supposed to be that simple. Cloud couldn't quite understand it. Genesis from before had always lamented Angeal as the 'sensible' one of the trio. That Angeal was the voice of reason that preached honor and pride as a Soldier. He could hear Zack crying out with panic in his voice. Cloud started running. He hoped he made it on time to reverse this new damage. Just before Cloud reached the doorway, all sounds of the fight stopped.