Hey hey

Hey hey! Getting the new chapter up! I have an illustration posted on deviant art. If ya want you can check it out. It's nothing big more like a character design. Here's a link that should help! annubis123./ I plan on posting a lot more stuff eventually. Please be patient with me! Heh…I wanna post some illustrations depicting scenes from the chapters! Please review on both the story and pic and if you have any suggestions for future illustrations, by all means please let me know! I want to have as much fun with this as possible! Let's get chapter six up!

Disclaimer: I don't own final fantasy Vii, Squaresoft does.

Chapter Six

"What happened?" Zack slowly opened his eyes. 'I feel like I've been through a train wreck…' Zack took a long look at his surroundings. He remembered he made his way to Kalm and had a visit with the innkeeper. Nothing looked familiar. He was in an old bed in a small dark room. A few cracks and holes decorated the cement walls around him. It appeared that he was in a cellar or basement of some kind. There was a small TV and couch in the middle of the room. Nothing else was in the space. Zack rolled his head to his left. To his surprise a plump little girl with dirty blonde pigtails was staring at him.

"Uncle! Uncle! He's awake! The man is awake!" The little girl darted towards the door in the corner of the room. Seconds later the loud thumping of a man darting down the stairs was heard. The innkeeper ran to Zack's side.

"Well, well, well! Look at you! You had me worried, that's for sure! I was afraid you'd never wake up!" The innkeeper poured Zack a glass of water that was sitting on the nightstand next to the bed. "Here! Drink this!" He offered the glass to Zack who emptied it instantly.

"Ah…Thanks! How long have I been out?" Zack questioned the man.

"Let's see…it has been about two days. I went upstairs 'cause I heard a ruckus, and I found you passed out on the floor next to the window. You hit your head pretty hard and broke open a gash that you had." The man pointed to area where the tire on Zack's motorcycle had gashed his forehead. "I bandaged you up as best as I could and decided to get you into bed. I had the rooms booked for later so I moved you into the basement, lucky I did too. A few moments later, some men in blue suits showed up. They were asking some strange questions. I figured they were looking for you but I kept quiet. You seemed like a nice kid, I didn't want you to get into any trouble especially with those gentlemen. I know how the Shinra works. Nasty people work there. You mind telling me why they're lookin' for ya?" The man folded his arms. The girl stared at Zack with a look of amazement in her eyes. Zack took in a long breath and began telling his story.

"I, along with a friend, was kidnapped a long time ago…about five years ago and was experimented on by Shinra's top-notch scientist, Hojo. We managed to escape after five years and were ambushed. I was shot and my friend managed to escape. I thought I was done for, guess not. A few days ago, I woke up in a breaker inside the Shinra Corporation. I had been experimented on once again. I managed to escape and have been looking for my friends. I heard that they headed this way, that's why I showed up here. I guess I had a reaction to something and blacked out. I've been doing that a lot lately. Nothing really makes any sense. I'm sorry about all the trouble, but thank you very much for your help. I really am not looking forward to being taken back to the labs." Zack rubbed the bandage on his forehead.

"You heal very well…I bet your wounds are gone by now…" The little girl broke the silence.

"Oh! This is my niece, Karen. She's the one that has been tending to your wounds. Poor little thing's parents were killed in the Sector Seven accident. She was at school while the incident occurred. I took her in and decided to care for her. When I told her about you she agreed to help me out. I decided I'd do anything to keep Shinra from succeeding. Guess I got some revenge for not letting them take you!" The man lifted his cap and scratched his head. "Let's see how the wounds are doing." Karen helped remove the bandages. Everything was completely healed.

"Wow! Not even a scratch!" The little girl stared in wonder. "You're amazing!" Her eyes stared at Zack like he was a cute puppy.

'Oh, boy. This poor girl has a thing for me.' Zack felt himself blush.

"I was sure you'd at least have a scar!" The innkeeper whistled.

'Must be Jenova's cells…' A loud thumping interrupted Zack's thoughts. A muffled voice sounded like an alarm.

"Hey! Doesn't anyone work here!?" A loud voiced called on the upper floor. In a hurry the innkeeper rushed up the stairs. Zack and Karen looked around the room nervously. Murmuring of the conversation upstairs was barely audible. Zack could hear male voices, but couldn't make out any of the words.

"Oh! So you boys must be Shinra soldiers!" The innkeeper said loud enough for Zack to hear in the basement. In a panic, Zack darted from the bed.

"Here!" The little girl ran across the room. She slid open a panel inside the wall. "Through here! It's an emergency exit. They shouldn't see you; it leads to the back of the building!" The girl pushed Zack through the exit.

"Wait! I need my armor and sword!" Zack turned quickly and looked around the room.

"It's under the bed!" The girl pointed in the bed's direction. Footsteps rushing down the stairs and the sound of the innkeeper throwing a fuss were heard.

"Shit!" Zack ran and slid under the bed and grabbed the armor and sword. After sliding through to the other side, he hopped over the mattress and darted for the exit. The girl slammed the panel shut behind him.

"Whew!" she leaned against the wall. The soldiers burst into the basement and began their search.

"I have to get to my bike!" Zack ran towards the front of the building but stopped dead in his tracks. "Damn…they got one guarding the front." Zack watched the guard. The soldier was holding a rifle. He was pacing around the bike, not really paying attention to anything. A smile crossed Zack's face as he slowly crept up from behind. He quickly snatched the man's arm that was holding the gun and lifted it over his head. He snapped the arm backwards, breaking it from the socket. He flipped the soldier over his back and threw him against the wall of the neighboring building. The man cried out in pain. Zack hopped onto his bike and started the motor.

"It's him! There he is!" All the soldiers inside the inn came rushing out. They opened fire on Zack as he sped towards the exit of the town. His plan was ruined when he saw a large group blockading the exit led by none other than Shinra's little pet, Scarlet. Zack slammed on his breaks.

"I don't think so…" Scarlet put her hands on her hips. "So sorry, I am Reno's replacement for today. There's some trouble with AVALANCH. They ruined our plans with Fort Condor and will probably start some more trouble in Junon. Too bad you won't be catching up with them." She walked slowly up to Zack. All the Shinra soldiers surrounded him, their weapons pointed at his head.

'There is no way that they'd kill me…Hojo needs me alive.' Zack looked around at the guns.

"Oh…I know what you're thinking…" Scarlet swayed her hips a little. "Don't think that I won't kill you. Hojo could use your body in any condition. Besides, he already brought you back to life once. Kya hahaha!" She cackled like a witch. Zack began to get nervous.

'So…I was dead…' He felt his heart get very heavy.

"Hold it! Drop all your weapons!" The innkeeper ran out into the street. He had a hold of the Soldier that Zack had attacked. He had the soldier's own gun pointed at his head. All the soldiers slowly backed away from Zack and began to lower their weapons. Scarlet spoke up instantly.

"You think I give a damn about one worthless soldier? This mission is way too important to give up, just to spare the life of one helpless soldier." She looked at the soldiers. "Pick up your weapons! Shoot the innkeeper! We don't need him and we don't need the soldier either. This is the man we need." Scarlet wrapped an arm around Zack. He cringed with disgust. The soldiers pointed their weapons at the innkeeper.

"No!" Zack rushed towards the innkeeper but did not make it in time. One shot brought the man down. Many more fired, hitting their own man. Zack stopped dead in his tracks. He pulled out his sword and swung it once, hitting the man that shot the innkeeper. All the soldiers turned and pointed their guns at Zack. Zack dropped his sword. Three men ran and grabbed Zack, keeping him from moving.

"Uncle!" Karen ran towards the battle. She ran straight to Scarlet and slapped her across the face. "How could you do such a thing! You're an awful witch!" Scarlet backhanded the girl.

"You little bitch…" Scarlet pulled out her gun and pointed it in the face of the little girl.

"Don't you dare…!" Zack, in a rage, pulled the men off of him. He threw one into a pile of soldiers, knocking them down like bowling pins. He elbowed another in the face and kicked the other behind the knees. He grabbed his sword and darted towards his target. "RUN!!" He yelled at the girl as he ran and swung his sword down onto Scarlet's hand, knocking the gun away. Scarlet shrieked with pain.

"All of you stay back!" Zack grabbed Scarlet by the hair and pulled the sword up to her throat. All the men dropped their weapons. Scarlet was holding onto her wrist. She was lucky Zack hadn't cut her hand off.

"Long time no see…Zack…" Scarlet glanced at his face. "You know we can all go in peace. I'll do ya' a favor. What do you say?" Scarlet leaned against Zack's chest and pulled her hand back and touched his thigh. Zack leaned in and whispered in her ear.

"You wish…" Zack pulled away the sword and hit her across the temple with the handle of his sword, knocking her unconscious. He ran and commenced battle with the remaining standing soldiers. He cut left and right, kicked and punched his way through the line. In a matter of seconds, Zack was the only one standing. He searched the bodies and found an immense amount of gil and some cure materia. He walked up to the innkeeper and to his surprise, Karen was by his side.

"Here…take this money. I'm sorry for the trouble." Zack used the cure materia. "Your uncle should be ok. You just take as good care of him as you did for me, ok?" Zack wiped a tear from the girl's plump cheek. She sniffled and hugged Zack. He patted her head. "I'm so sorry…I have to go though. You get some help from the neighbors…He'll be fine." Zack left the girl and got on his motorcycle. Karen waved her tiny hand at Zack.

"Good Bye…" She sniffled and wiped the tears off of her face.

"Bye." Zack waved back and rode out of the town. He thought of his next objective.

'Junon…at least I won't have to go in a big circle. I can just go south and cut through the mountains. I'll be there in no time! I just hope this bike holds up.'

"Come on! Breathe!" Cloud was giving CPR to little Priscilla. She had been caught in a battle between AVALANCHE and a winged monster. The battle took too long and she lost consciousness while she was trapped in the water.

"Ack!" The little girl coughed up the water that had invaded her lungs.

"Oh! Thank goodness!" The lady who knew Priscilla ran up and hugged the girl. "Thank you! Thank you so much!"

"Whew…I was getting nervous…" Aeris sighed with relief.

"Yeah, me too. Poor girl." Tifa put her hands on her hips.

"Please! Won't you come in! Come to my place and rest!" The woman grabbed Priscilla and headed for her house. AVALANCHE could not refuse the offer and headed in the same direction. The lady's cottage was decorated with shelves and cases full of trinkets and dolls. There were photos on ever inch of the wall and crafts lining the coffee table and in tables. Everyone sat around the comfy living room. The woman offered everyone some cookies that she made earlier that day. Everyone happily took up on the offer.

"Oh! My legs hurt! And it's so hot here…" Aeris took off her small jacket, exposing her shoulders. She leaned forward and rubbed her legs. Cloud glanced her way, catching a glimpse of her cleavage as she leaned forward. He turned red in the face and quickly looked away.

"My fists hurt…" Tifa removed her gloves and rubbed her knuckles. She stared at Yuffie. They had encountered the ninja girl when they were in the Fort Condor area. Cloud, for some odd reason, invited her to come along with them on their journey. Tifa did not trust the girl. There was something suspicious about her.

"You have such pretty hair!" Priscilla lightly tugged on the ringlet of hair on the side of Aeris head. She giggled.

"Oh! Thank you!" Aeris smiled at the girl.

"You're very pretty too!" Priscilla smiled at Aeris. She then looked at Tifa. "So are you! I hope I can be as pretty as you ladies when I grow up!" Priscilla continued gabbing with Tifa and Aeris. Cloud watched as the two women turned red in the face.

'Neither of them knows how to handle compliments.' Cloud laughed to himself. "Let's get some rest for a bit. Then we have to move out." Cloud leaned back against the cushion of the couch.

"Whoo hoo! Almost there!" Zack raised his hand in the air. He had sped his way through the mountains, heading past Midgar. He made his way over the top and was a few hundred feet in the air. He followed the trail that would take him to Junon Harbor. A loud roar ruined Zack's excitement. "What was that!?" Zack looked all around. A giant lizard came crashing down from above. Its tail swooped, hitting Zack and his motorcycle, sending him and the bike over the edge of the cliff. The world spun in circles. All Zack could see was sky, mountain, sky, ground, sky, long drop.

'This is it…I'm dead for sure!' Zack closed his eyes, awaiting the six-hundred foot drop. He waited, and waited, and waited even longer.

"What the-?" Zack slowly opened his eyes to find that he was floating in the air. He watched his bike turn into a small dot and burst into a puff of smoke at the bottom of the mountain.

"Ah! What the hell!?" Zack looked around in bewilderment. He began to laugh. "Yeah! Whoo hoo!! Maybe these Jenova cells aren't all that bad! They allow me to fly!" Zack raised his arms in the air and hit something behind his head. "Ow!" He glanced up to find absolutely nothing. He looked from side to side and reached behind his back. A branch had snagged the strap of Zack's jacket, suspending him in the air.

"Awwww!! I can't fly…I'm jes' stuck…great." Zack heard the giant lizard as it growled and shuffled through the trees of the mountain. "Thanks!! Lard ass!!" Zack yelled at the lizard. He had no idea how he was going to get down. A loud snap sounded and Zack flew downward. He quickly grabbed the branch and his jacket. He was not about to let himself share the same fate as his bike.

"Oh man! Oh man!" Zack clenched his teeth. He could not reach the ledge above him and there were no footholds anywhere near him. "Why me?" Zack whined. He waited for minutes, waiting for the branch to give way and break.

"Wark! Wark!" A loud animal sound echoed above Zack's head. He looked up.

"A chocobo!!" Zack smiled and reached for the enlarged bird.

"Wark?" It looked down at Zack and tilted its head in confusion.

"Good chocobo! Come here! Please!?" Zack touched the bird's foot, sending it in a frenzy. It ran away from Zack and out of sight.

"N-No! No! Chocobo!!" Zack began to sob. "Choco-…Wark! Wark!!" Zack helplessly began imitating the golden bird. He was desperate and would try anything. He warked endlessly for minutes…receiving no response.

"Wark? WARK!!" Zack thought for a minute. "Kweh? Kweh kweh?" Zack imitated the female chocobo mating call. 'This better work…'

"Wark! Wark!" The golden chocobo sounded. It appeared over Zack and put its beak in his hair. "Wark?" Zack reached up and grabbed its neck. The chocobo pulled up, rescuing its new mate. He wrapped his arms around the bird and kissed it.

"Oh good birdie! Good golden chocobo! You can help me get to Junon!" Zack pat the sides of the chocobo and hopped on its back. The bird danced in enthusiasm. "Jes' don't get any ideas. I'm not a girl." Zack and the chocobo continued their journey towards Junon Harbor.

"I feel like an idiot." Cloud was dressed in a Soldier uniform preparing for President Rufus' sendoff parade. After the well deserved rest, cloud quickly headed for Junon via the harbor. Thanks to Priscilla's dolphin he was able to get onto the top beam and climb to the Junon airport. He entered the building and was immediately spotted by a Shinra captain. He was ordered to get into uniform and get ready for the parade. Now he was stuck doing tricks for the president.

"How did I get in this situation? I wonder if everyone else is ok." Cloud looked throughout the crowd that had gathered in the streets.

"All right! The parade starts in five minutes! Move out!" All the soldiers began marching. As they neared the beginning of the parade, the sound of cheering and band music heightened in volume.

'I just hope everyone makes it on the boat. We have to stop Sephiroth!' Cloud marched, shouldering his gun.

Zack arrived in Junon within minutes, thanks to the speedy chocobo. At the entrance were a woman and a little girl. Zack approached them quickly.

"Excuse me. Have you seen a group of people here recently? One of the men in the group is named Cloud and has spiky blonde hair?" The girl and the woman stared at each other and then looked at Zack with large smiles on their faces.

"Are you one of their friends?" The little girl asked.

"Yeah. I used to work with Cloud. I really need to get to them quickly!" Zack politely smiled at the girl. The woman spoke up.

"They were here about an hour ago. They went up to the Junon airport! I think they said something about heading towards Costa del Sol. But you better hurry! It sounds like the parade just started! The boat will be leaving very soon!" The woman looked at the little girl.

"You'll need help! The entrance is heavily guarded! Come on! Quickly! My dolphin will carry you to the top beam up there! That's how Cloud got up there." The girl pointed to a beam that connected to the structure holding up the Junon airport. Zack didn't have time to ask questions. He needed to leave immediately. He followed the girl into the water. "From there you can safely get to the airport!" The girl blew her whistle and a dolphin began flying through the water towards Zack.

"Oh! Was there a girl with them?" Zack asked quickly.

"Yeah three of them!" The girl smiled. "One was real pretty! She had the most beautiful hair I'd ever seen! I think her name was…Hold on!" The dolphin hit Zack in the rear.

"WOAH!!" He reached around the dolphin's neck as it flew to the top beam. Zack jumped off the dolphin and landed on the top beam. He glanced at Priscilla and waved. "THANKS!!"

"YOU'RE WELCOME!!" The girl waved back and headed towards the shore.

"WAIT! WHAT WAS THE GIRL'S NAME!?" Zack yelled out to the girl.

"AERIS!!" The girl ran up to Zack's chocobo.

"WHAT ABOUT HIM?" She sat on the bird.

"HE'S NOT MINE! HE'S WILD! YOU CAN HAVE HIM!" Zack turned and climbed up to the airport.

'This place is packed!' Zack weaved his way in and out of the crowd observing the parade. He had to hurry. 'There it is!' Zack ran up to the boat that would be carrying the president to Costa Del Sol. There were two soldiers guarding the entrance. Zack had to think of a plan fast.

"Hey! I think there is a guy over there that is planning on shooting the president! A real crazy man! He's got a rocket launcher and everything! I think he's hiding on top of that building over there!" Zack pointed to the top of a bar that was back by the airport. The soldiers glanced at each other and quickly ran from their position. "So…stupid…" Zack ran on board. He hid in the cargo room behind a group of boxes. Zack didn't want to make any surprise entrances yet. He decided it would be a better idea to look for Aeris when the boat docked in Costa del Sol.

"Yes mother…I will kill them all…" A soft voice came from above the stairway.

"Who is that?" Zack poked his head above the boxes. The sight before his eyes sent him flying back. A flash of black and silver walked by the stairway. "S-Sephiroth!!" Zack felt himself shaking. His senses immediately filled with the sound of loud cries and screeching. Zack flung his head back; he hit the wall behind him and fell to the floor. He convulsed and coughed up blood. His body was reacting to Sephiroth. Everything fell into darkness.

"So, tell me, what does the Great Sephiroth do for fun?" Zack leaned against the table that Sephiroth was sitting at. He took a swig from his beer.

"What? Oh…heh. I don't know. I'm kind of a loner I guess you could say…" Sephiroth smiled.

"A loner!? You!? Sheesh! I thought that you would, at least, be surrounded by women constantly!" Zack laughed to himself.

"What? You're crazy…" Sephiroth looked at Zack. He couldn't keep a straight face. "Well…There was this one time…" Sephiroth chuckled to himself. He raised his beer to his lips.

"And…??" Zack pulled up a chair and leaned in.

"This one girl…she had short black hair. She was a model. Well I ran into her one day because she was doing an ad for Shinra. She was all donned up in this SOLDIER uniform that was altered to show her…how do you say…features." Sephiroth's face turned red. "It was this tiny miniskirt and tank top. She had this armor that barely covered anything. I don't even remember what the ad was for. All I could think of was how damn hot she looked in that outfit!" Sephiroth laughed out loud. He had a hand on his stomach. He shook his head and looked at Zack.

"NO WAY! I can't believe you jes' said that!!" Zack fell out of his chair, laughing. He quickly sat up and raised an eyebrow. "So…did you two…uh…ya' know."

"Are you nuts!? Of course!" Sephiroth and Zack laughed together.

"Oh man…you are one crazy sonofabitch!" Zack's words began to slur. "Hey…if ya' were a food, what would you be?" Zack stared at Sephiroth.

"What kind of question is that!?" Sephiroth thought long and hard about it. "…A cucumber…heh…heh, heh, heh!" He raised an eyebrow at Zack. Zack thought about it and cracked up laughing.

"You are dirty! I've never seen this side of you before!" The two men clinked their beer bottles together. "Cheers!"

"To Shinra!" Sephiroth lifted his bottle.

"To our mission!" Zack raised his even higher.

"To…the women!" Sephiroth downed the last of his drink.

"To the WOMEN!!" Zack joined in.

Zack woke up lying on the cold floor of the boat. Everything was completely silent. There was no sound of alarm, no sound of the men working, nothing. Zack looked around the room and realized that the ship was no longer moving.

"Shit! I missed 'em!" Zack hit his head against the wall.

Ok that's the new chapter. Hope it was entertaining. Remember to review and also check out my darn pic! Ill try to get more posted asap! Thanks for reading!

-annubis