Chapter 10

The smell of burning apples did fill the area with a pleasant aroma, but it began to raise questions with me. I was being dragged by Zack, but I lifted my arm up and grabbed him.

"I can walk," I said, wriggling from his grip. I got up to my feet and saw the whole world on fire once more. It was enough to make the whole jog back to the chopper sour.

Sitting on the chopper going back to Midgar would normally feel like a great relief. Normally, but not quite this time. What Genesis said before knocking me out really messed with me. I guess that Zack was messed with too because of his silence. Well, nothing to do but twiddle our thumbs and wait to get out of the metal death box.

"What did Genesis mean when he talked to you?" Tsung asked, cutting the silence. I couldn't hold it against the Turk, but I didn't know if I could trust him with that just yet.

I shrugged and said, "Not sure."

Tsung snorted and said, "Just more secrets that surround you then, huh?"

My eyes met Tsung's and I could tell that something major was amiss. How could he say something like that? Does he know about where I come from? If so then how?

"What are you talking about?" I voiced my thoughts in that one question.

Zack sighed, then said, "Genesis spilled the beans on you. Told Tsung everything, before leaving in a laugh. Tsung didn't believe it at first, but then Angeal confirmed the story."

Tsung, who was sitting across from me didn't look me in the eye now. I sighed, then said, "If I would have told you where I was from, would you have believed me? Obviously not. But shit, I'm on some alien world, where it is apparently normal for people to be superhuman, and do incredibly impossible shit like swing a seven-foot-long Katana!"

Both Tsung and Zack kept their mouths shut from that moment until the rest of the flight, but Reno said, "Yo, you an alien?"

Zack and I laughed at that, but I didn't answer. I didn't know what I was, where I was in the world, or who I would become now that I was here. All I knew was that I have a job to do, and I'm going to do it!

When we arrived at the HQ, Zack and I went one way, and Tsung went the other. I didn't blame him for not trusting me, in fact the only three people who knew right off the bat were Seph, Veld, and Zack. I guess I only trust names I can shorten to four letters? Zack and I made it back to the apartment in one piece, but he dropped to the floor in tears. I went to pat him on the back, but I realized that Angeal's blade was on it.

"When you're ready, talk to me," I said to him.

I grabbed a beer from the fridge and looked at the clock on the stove. It was just past eight p.m. I went to the type writer and began my report. I already knew that it would be necessary to give my account to Lazard first thing in the morning. As I started to type, Zack had gotten up and went to the guest bathroom. I heard the shower going, so I had some time to type everything out. I debated whether to put in what I knew about Genesis. I decided that Lazard couldn't be shortened to four letters, so I left that tidbit out. By the time I had just about got to the end, Zack was out and began to drink.

We drank together for a few moments, and eventually Zack calmed down a little bit. He wasn't falling apart anymore, instead he was beginning to relax. "What happened back there earlier?" I inquired.

"I met Angeal's mom. Real nice woman to be honest. She was the only one left in town, I think. Anyways, I found Angeal and he talked about being a monster. Then he started to talk about you. He said that you are just like Genesis. Make a pact with me that you won't betray me. Ever!" Zack said with more energy than before.

I smiled and raised my right arm, "I promise that I'll never betray the living energizer bunny."

That went over Zacks head sadly, but the questions were now done with. Zack was now watching television while I was swigging a beer. My report was done, all I had to do was turn it in. That was when I got a text from somebody. I pulled out my phone and read a strange message from an unknown number.

'Don't ask how I got this number, but Cloud is in trouble. Get to the sector 5 playground.'

I lifted myself up and went to get my blade, but stopped myself. I shouldn't rely too heavily on the blade, so instead I'll use the revolver. As I left my room, I turned to see Zack was standing up and watching me with a small grin on his face.

"Going to have fun without me? I'm hurt, I feel so betrayed!" Zack said, attempting to stab me for the second time today.

"Good to know that your back to normal. I have to go to sector five's playground. Remember Cloud? He's apparently got himself into a bit of trouble," I said.

"We have to go now then!" Zack yelled, grabbing me wrist and dragging me out of the apartment. I'm pretty sure that he was going to pull my arm off if I didn't break from his grip.

"Zack, I don't think that…" I started, but was soon pushed into the elevator at the end of the hall. It was clear that Zack wasn't taking no for an answer tonight, so I pressed the lobby. The elevator slowly went down to the bottom of the building, but I couldn't help but laugh. I pulled out my phone to see it was only 8:30PM. "Who the hell gets into trouble around 9PM?" I asked Zack. He shrugged as the doors slid open.

As I pocketed my phone, Zack said, "If he wasn't in trouble, he wouldn't have texted you."

We sprinted down the stairs, through the reception area, and all the way down to the train station. It wasn't too far away, but the wind that was on our faces felt sharp. I didn't realize that we literally could run faster after the injections. Once we were at the station, we got a ticket and were on our way down to the slums once more.

"It wasn't even him that sent the text. I don't even know who sent the text," I started as I settled down on a bench.

"Doesn't matter dude, we gotta protect our little chocobro!" Zack said.

It took an hour to make it down to sector seven, and that it would leave again in an hour from now. Zack and I sprinted down the steps of the old train graveyard, and turned right. We ran until we reached a four way split, then turned left. Two guards were at the gates, but didn't ask any questions as two Soldiers blasted past them on their way to the play ground. I saw Cloud talking with four dudes, each talking mad shit to the other. As I made my way up to them, I noticed a dude come from behind the corner.

"Glad you could make it Abraham. I see you brought Soldier second class Zachary Fair," a very familiar voice that belonged to Magnum said.

"So, what has Cloud gotten himself into?" I asked.

"Cloud was on his way back from a patrol when he heard them start to say some shit to the girl over there. I think it's going to be a fight," Magnum said.

I walked over to see four guys start to gang up on Cloud. I could see a girl watching in the distance all mortified.

"Zack, make sure she's alright. I'll help cloud," I said loud enough for the four guys to hear.

"Hey, go fuck yourself man. This is between me and the little chocobo!" The rude man yelled. He wore a blue tracksuit and a black cap.

"Uh dude, his eyes are flaked," one of his friends said who was wearing a gold chain around his neck and the same type of track suit.

"Just stay out of this!" The guy in the back said, he was wearing black shades.

"Okay, those are both good options, but I have a better one. I fight three of you while Cloud takes care of your loud ass," I offered.

Before I got an answer, one of the taller guys ran towards me. He sent a wild heymaker towards me, which I ducked under. While there I bashed my right elbow into his gut. He doubled over but I brought my knee up and cracked his head against it. He was out like a broken light, I saw the second man who wears a gold chain squared up to me. I backed up so I could keep my eyes on both of the black hat scum bag and Mr. Gold chain.

Gold chain threw a few left jabs my way, which I blocked with my forearms. As the black hat started to walk in, I grabbed Gold chain's arm and pulled him into a haymaker of my own. He easily dodged those easily. Black hatter walked up and tried to punch my face, so I moved back to avoid the hit. He ran forward and gave a wild punch, which I met with a punch of my own. When our fists collided, I heard his bones pop and break. The tall guy got back up at some point, and punched me in the back of the head.

He pushed me forward into the black hatter, but I don't fall over. "I thought you Soldiers always fought with swords! You must be nothing but a little pencil pushing bitch!"

I pulled my revolver from its holster and spun around. The barrel was a few inches from his face, which stopped him dead in his tracks. I gestured towards Magnum, who pistol whipped the dude in the back of the head, and turned to watch Cloud. Cloud was dodging a lot of attacks from the rude bastard with the shades. At some point Gold chain got back up and pulled a knife. I felt a stab at the back of my vest, but luckily it didn't puncture it. I spun around and hit the dude as hard as I could in the face. He collapsed onto the ground, I put one knee on his shoulder, my next to his head, and punched him two more times. Blood was running down his face and covering the ground.

I got off the guy, then I turned to Cloud and said, "Remember, his balls are an opening for you to exploit!"

As I said this, he went to block his crotch. Cloud slammed his fist into the rude guy's face, shattering his shades. Not strong enough to knock him out, but his ears were likely ringing. Cloud looked like he was winning, but caught a wild left hook to the jaw. He fell back a little, that's when Zack stepped in and put shades into a bear hold. He was a few inches into the air, then came crashing to the ground.

"Your friends are down. By the way, its my turn," Zack said, as he let the guy go. He tried to tackle Zack, but Zack wrapped his arm around the poor guys neck. After about two minutes, the dude wasn't even fighting any more. He was out like another broken light, so Zack let go.

Zack walked back to the girl, and started to apologize to her about how these men were behaving. They talked for a good little bit, while I checked up on Cloud. His eye was turning black and blue, but he'd live.

"Come on Cloud. Let's go back to the upper plate," I said to the kid. He nodded, but didn't say anything. I turned to my new Turk buddy next. "Thanks for the invite magnum. Let's do this again some time," I said to magnum.

I walked over to Zack and overheard him asking for her number. She smiled at him, but declined the offer. Zack shrugged and said, "How about I give you mine? That way if you're ever in trouble I can come running." She rolled her eyes at that.

"Wow, Zack. Already forgot about our little guy huh?" I asked him, an arm around Cloud.

"I'm so sorry. Here, let me…" She said, trailing off. A light green glow appeared out of her hands, and when it dissipated the bruise Cloud had was gone.

"Thanks," Cloud said, feeling a lot better.

Zack handed her a piece of paper, and said, "My name's Zack by the by."

As she walked away, giving us a wave as she left, I noticed my little Turk bud was starting to tail her. I filed that under ask later, but had more important things to do. With that we were all going to the train. It was about to leave the station when we got on. As the train lurched forward, I asked Cloud about what that was.

"They've been following me around while I was patrolling a couple days ago. We can't carry weapons while out of uniform, so when I saw them try to mug her, I stepped in," Cloud said lowly, then he asked, "How did you guys know to come?"

"You did really well kid! You're like a firecracker, when you go off it's a loud bang!" Zack excitedly said.

Cloud looked confused. So I said, "Ignore him. He thinks he's clever. But still he is right, you explode in a big flash, then you're out. Anyway, Magnum texted me. He was the Turk who was tailing that girl. Oh, tomorrow come by the apartment, we're going to start your training."

Cloud nodded. When we got to the HQ, Cloud went his own way to the barracks. Zack went up to the apartment, while I went cloths shopping. I was getting tired of only ever wearing Soldier Outfits. I have a couple grand in my wallet, so I fished it out and at the end of the trip I had two sets of gym clothing, and two sets of comfy pants and a few shirts. It cost me around a grand for everything. I still can't understand the currency at all. Food's cheap but clothing is kind of expensive.

When I made it back up to my room, I put my stuff away and settled down for the night.

End of Chapter

Published 20th of June 2015

Edited March 16, 2020…

Last one to be edited too! THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR READING UP TO THIS POINT!