I WANT YOU ALL TO REVIEW FOR THIS CHAPTER BECAUSE I THINK IT IS THE BEST ONE I'VE WRITTEN SO FAR. PLEASE TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK!
thank you. anyways review and read. LADIES GET YA TISSUES! you have been warned.
The leader of the Exiled had forced himself into the storm and once he arrived at ground zero of the battle he froze. Rain poured down onto the ground as the black haired young man stood above the fallen body of Lexa.
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Vincent's assertion shocked the entire group and before any more words could have been said Avius and the remaining Exiled began to vanish one by one. Vincent turned towards the storm and noticed that the winds had died away and that now only the rain continued.
"They're going over there, let's follow them" Vincent said as he jumped from building to building to get closer to ground zero of Seriphron's and Lexa's battle. Tifa turned to Cloud who remained shook up from the news. He looked back to Tifa and shook his head.
"Tifa…" Cloud began but the words never continued. Tifa turned back to where Vincent and Red XIII had both left towards and then looked down.
"Cloud, we have to go over there… I know that you're confused but so am I." she reasoned and looked back to him again, "Cloud I know that what was said and what has happened is affecting you but we have to keep going." Tifa said with a smile as Cloud stepped back from her and shook his head again.
"My sons…" Cloud again began but couldn't finish. At this time Rufus and the Turks had arrived after the settling of the storm. Rufus approached Tifa who was thinking of a way to get Cloud back on track.
"Tifa are you okay?" Rufus asked softly as Tifa turned to him and smiled gently. She hugged him briefly and turned back to Cloud who had watched the entire scene. Tifa felt horrible as she watched Cloud's condition worsen.
Barret and Yuffie were also watching Cloud's reactions and decided to intervene. Yuffie stepped up to him and waved a hand in front of his face.
"Cloud, we have to get over there… who knows what's going on. Vincent and Red XIII may need our help… are you just going to forget about them and live in misery?" Yuffie asked as Barret cut in.
"Spiky, you need to get it together… your two brats are running around and like Vince said, things ain't adding up, so get your sorry self together now!" Barret ordered as Cloud raised his head to the two of them.
"I'll try." Cloud stated as the group began to move towards ground zero of the storm.
As they neared the scene Vincent and Red XIII were awaiting them several yards from the rest of the black coated young adults. They were all huddled around a single form which lay motionless on the ground.
Cloud could see a single wing extended from the back of the young man who looked exactly like him.
'My son,' Cloud thought to himself as he looked at the dark blonde next to the one winged male 'both of them are my children… and Tifa's too' Cloud took that moment to look to Tifa who was side by side with Rufus. Cloud turned away before she could catch him watching them again.
"They're morning…" Red XIII said as he could hear soft sobs coming from the group ahead of them. In that same instant the one winged male stood to his feet and growled loudly. He sounded near animalistic and insane.
He turned abruptly as he swatted his own teammates with his large black wing. Cloud pulled out his blade and prepared for a fight as Vincent and the others readied themselves. The black haired, one-winged young man lifted his head slightly to a spot just northeast of Cloud and his group and frowned.
█
The leader of Exiled turned quickly after standing from the body of his best friend and knocked several of his own group out of his way. He saw Cloud and the others preparing to fight and ignored them. He looked up a little and spotted Seriphron's retreating form and growled.
"SERIPHRON!" He shouted as he leapt into the air in vengeance for his fallen angel.
█FLASHBACK
A lone boy sat in the middle of a ruined garden as he played with his small ball. He and his twin brother had been adopted at a very young age and his parents told him that to begin with. They allowed the small boy to go play in a nearby church ruin and thought nothing of it.
This was one of the last places on the planet the Empire of Cloud and Tifa Strife had yet to reach. The two knew the disease ridden, crime infested town existed but cared very little for the dying community.
In this burned down church the small boy would leave home from his twin brother, from his parents and play with his ball. He had no friends and was never liked much by any of the other inhabitants in the town because of one simple thing… he looked just like the tyrant who had taken over the world, or most of it in their case.
Despite the hatred of all of the children in the town and the ridicule of many of the adults, the child found moments to enjoy things such as his small bouncy ball. He loved the ball very much. It was the best present he had got on his fifth birthday only months ago; in fact, it was the only real present he ever received. The young boy tossed his ball into the air and waited to catch it as it fell from the sky. He laughed in amusement as the ball came within his reach but he missed it as it came down. The small bouncy ball hit his shoe and flew off directly out of the confines of the church. The little boy gasped in shock and fear as he realized he had lost his gift. In an effort to reclaim his most precious belonging he ran out of the church looking everywhere for his ball.
Tears fell down his face as he searched the entire front yard of the church for the ball only to find nothing. He continued looking through the grass as tears streamed down his face.
"Look… it's that freak kid!" The small boy looked up through his tears to see who had said that and then spotted a group of five boys who looked twice as old just outside the wooden church fence. The small boy ignored them and continued searching widely through the grass.
One of the boys in the group leaned over to pick something up and then laughed.
"I think he's lookin for this!" He exclaimed to the others as they laughed. The small boy looked up from the ground as he smiled a little to himself and then gulped. He was afraid of people because they were always so mean to him. He never understood why people hated him and not his brother.
The small boy got to his feet slowly and walked even slower towards the older group of boys. He stopped just in front of the much taller boys and began to tremble.
"C-c-can I… can… can I …h-ha… have it… b-b-back?" The little boy stuttered as the older boys laughed and tossed the ball to each other. The little boy watched as they threw his only prized position around in the air. Then one boy caught the ball and grinned.
"Sure!" He smiled as the little boy smiled back to him and reached for the ball slowly. The older boy handed the ball back to the small boy who smiled widely as he hugged the small object to his chest.
"T-t…thank… you." He said shyly as turned to leave.
That was when one of the other boys grabbed him by his shirt and pulled him back. The small bouncy ball flew from the boy's hands due to shock and flew off in an unknown direction.
The little boy fell on his back and began to tear up as he watched the group of boys surround him.
"I-I I-I'm sorry!" The little boy shouted afraid and pleadingly as he cowered below the older boys. They all laughed as some of them began to spit on the little child.
"You shouldn't go around looking like him and be so weak!" One of the boys kicked him in his side causing the little child to scream out in pain. Another leaned down and began punching him near and on his face. The small boy tried to cover himself but the kicks from the other boys caused him to move his hands every so often and leave his face unprotected.
"This is what you get when you look like that bastard, Cloud!" The boy who returned his ball shouted at him as they continued to punch and kick the small boy. They continued on for a few moments and then ceased their actions to look at the boy below them.
He was bleeding from his face and crying hard. He tried to cover up more in case they continued. The little boy was so frightened that he began to wet his pants as the other boys continued to laugh at him.
"Pick him up, we're not through yet!" One of the boys shouted as the little boy was pulled to his feet as two boys held his arms and the other two punched and kicked him.
Several more minutes passed by and finally the older boys were tired from beating the boy and finally left him as they went home. The small boy clutched his sides and his face from the pain and cried more before a soft feminine voice whispered to him
'Just rest… I'll make the pain stop.' The voice said as the little boy fell into unconsciousness
When the little boy woke up a girl who looked around his age stood above him. He covered his face and shielded as much of his body as possible and waited.
'it's okay, she'll be your friend.' The voice once again whispered softly to the little boy.
The little boy continued to wait until he heard soft sobs coming from above him. He moved his hands slowly and looked up at the little girl with long blonde hair and noticed she was crying. She fell to her knees and hugged the little boy in front of her as she cried.
"I'm sorry for what they did to you." She sobbed as she held him. The little boy gasped and sat still.
"W- w- why?" He asked softly in a timid voice. Instantly, the girl pulled away from him to look into his bleeding and tear streaked face.
"They hurt you… and I didn't help you… I promised my mommy before she died that I would protect people like she did." The little girl sobbed as she looked down.
"You would have got hurt too, if you helped me" the little boy said as he tried to stand to his feet as he looked around the darkening area. He sniffed as he realized that his ball was gone for good.
The girl stood up next to him and noticed his saddened face. She smiled to him softly and then her eyes shot open. She began digging into her pockets as the small boy looked at her in uncertainty. She looked back to him with a smile that eased his fears and then she turned back to concentrating on finding something in her pocket.
She grinned widely as she pulled out his small bouncy ball and gave it to him.
"This is yours isn't it?" She asked as she tilted her head to the side causing her long blonde hair to fall to that side. The little boy looked at his ball in his hand and then back to the girl and then to his ball.
"thank you..." he said in a small voice. He put his ball into his pocket quickly and sniffled. The girl and the little boy stood still for a moment before the girl smiled at him and held her hand out.
"My name is Lexa, what's yours?" she asked as the little boy looked at the hand with his mouth open.
"What are… you doing?" The boy whispered in confusion. The girl tilted her head again to the side and smiled.
"I'm making a friend… so that next time those meanies come back I can protect you better," she smiled as she retracted her hand and looked at the little boy, "we can be friends can't we… I would like to be your friend." Lexa smiled as the boy looked down.
"I… I… I never had one before." He said in a small voice.
"Well, I will be your best friend then, forever okay? Like I said I'm Lexa and you are?" She smiled as she extended her hand again. The little boy looked at her and seemed a little unsure.
'she'll be your friend and she'll protect you… don't worry everything's going to be better now.' Again the voice whispered to him. He looked around and then back to the smiling girl who was unaware of the voice completely. The little boy looked at her hand and smiled as he reached for it with his hand.
"I'm Zack." He smiled to his first and best friend.
█END FLASHBACK
Zack followed Seriphron as the others all began to follow the two for the showdown.
"Lexa…" Zack thought aloud as he watched Seriphron arrive at an abandoned Mako Reactor.
Seriphron turned to Zack and narrowed his eyes. Zack landed several yards in front of him and materialized both of his Buster Swords into his hands as Seriphron called upon his double bladed masamune.
"You killed her!" Zack growled as his hatred poured from his words. Seriphron frowned and shook his head in a dismissive manner.
"You killed our world's saviors!" Seriphron shouted.
"I killed two tyrants!" Zack shouted back as Seriphron laughed.
"Only those who revel in chaos would call them that!" Seriphron growled as Zack narrowed his eyes.
"I'll kill you Seriphron and then I'll stop your Utopia from ever happening!" Zack charged ahead as Seriphron vanished.
"I have no time for you… I must find the essence!" Seriphron stated as he sent a barrier of energy at Zack as he took his exit inside of the reactor.
Zack sliced the barrier in half just as his group and Avalanche entered the scene. Zack turned to them momentarily and then followed Seriphron into the reactor.
Cloud gasped as he and the other Avalanche member saw the huge reactor.
"How is this thing even here? I thought we destroyed all of them!" Tifa looked on and shook her head as she watched the one winged young man enter the reactor after Seriphron.
She grabbed her head as memories of a similar event came rushing back to her.
"It's just like before," Tifa said more to herself than to anyone else. Cloud had heard her as Cid and Vincent gave her a look as she continued, "remember Cloud… when you saved me from Sephiroth all those years ago… I had gone in looking for revenge against him for killing my father… and you saved me…" Tifa stated as if in a trance.
"Tifa… what are you talking about?" Vincent asked as Tifa ignored him and faced Cloud.
"Cloud…" Tifa grabbed his attention as he too had been staring at the scene, "save him too Cloud." Tifa's words shocked Cloud and shocked Avius and his group who were within her voice range.
Cloud stared at her for a moment and without a word he rushed into the reactor. Axel was about to follow him but Avius held his shoulder.
"No…" Avius said as he turned to the Avalanche members and then caught Tifa's eye. He seemed shocked for a moment and then broke eye contact quickly.
Tifa had thought the members of Exiled would have tried to stop Cloud, but her 'son', Avius had stopped one of his own from entering and to top it off, he had sent her a look that seemed to convey his trust in her but at the same time held so much doubt.
"Avius…" Tifa let the name slip from her mouth as the young man turned to her shocked that she would even dare to say his name, "Cloud will pull through… I know it." She said with such hope that Avius felt as if he could believer her. He nodded lightly and turned the reactor once again.
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Zack had followed Seriphron up throughout the reactor and once he found him Seriphron grinned to him and laughed.
"I've found the essence… and soon the world shall once again know peace!" Seriphron laughed. Seriphron walked through a metallic door and it shut soundly behind him. Zack frowned as he made his way to the door to cut it down.
█FLASHBACK
It had been nearly ten years since Lexa had met Zack… she had kept her promise of protecting him and becoming his best friend. Avius had taken a liking to his brother's new friend also and growing up the three would play together all the time. The trio also met another young girl and another young boy by the names of Archia and Axel. The two were cousins but acted like brother and sister. The two red heads had met the trio two years after Lexa and Zack's first meeting but didn't play with them so often due to the fact they lived so far away.
On certain days though, Zack and Avius's adoptive parents would visit Axel and Archia's home so the kids could play and talk together.
"Like I said I'm the oldest." Avius grinned as Axel shook his head and frowned.
"I am because my birthday is before yours!" Axel argued.
"No it isn't because I, Zack and you have the same birthday!" Avius stuck his tongue out as Zack and Lexa smiled at each other and laughed between themselves. Zack stopped smiling and looked towards the kitchen where their parents were.
"Hey guys come with me." Zack said as he got up and headed up to Axel's room.
"Since when do you get to lead me to my room?" Axel questioned as Zack shot him a death glare which shut him up. They entered his room and shut the door as Zack sat down on the floor. He sighed and then from under his shirt he pulled out a newspaper.
"So you wanted us to come up here to read a newspaper?" Axel questioned as Zack gave him another hard glare which silenced him instantly.
"No… not any newspaper… it's about that guy who looks like me... Cloud" Zack said as he showed them the front page of the paper. In large black letters the words: THE PERFECT RULER.
"He's the reason we all have to live like this… because we're not allowing ourselves to be controlled by something called the 'Great One', because of this guy so many of the teens our age are dying!" Zack declared with a frown as each of the teens in the room became serious. He looked back at the picture and then turned the page.
"Look everyone right here… I was reading it and this popped up," Zack pointed to an article describing how a rebel group called the Exiled are being imprisoned and killed.
"What does that have to do with anything? I mean what's so great about a bunch of people getting killed… it happens here everyday." Archia sighed as Zack shook his head.
"You guys don't get it… there are others who are actually trying to fight against this oppression. They're tired of having no freedom to do as they please and no freedom to go where they like. They are trying to return freedom to everyone!" Zack said proudly.
"And?" Axel asked as Zack began but Lexa stopped him and spoke instead.
"Axel, these people are trying to destroy the tyranny this… Cloud, guy has. If they can succeed we won't have to live like peasants anymore… right Zack?" Lexa asked with a beaming smile. Zack smiled in agreement.
"Zack are you saying we join them?" Avius asked finally as Zack took a breath and nodded slowly. Avius thought for a moment and sighed as he shook his head.
"Zack, that Cloud guy is like ultra strong and I heard that his wife was able to punch through people. We couldn't stand a chance against someone like that." Axel reasoned as Zack shook his head.
"Listen they have this operation that once you sign up in the service, will make you just as strong as those two if not stronger… we could become superheroes!" Zack said as Axel frowned.
"As much as I hate living like this… I like living better." Axel answered as Zack sighed in defeat. Lexa placed a hand on his shoulder and shook her head.
"Zack don't listen to him. If he won't join with you I will." Lexa said with confidence. Zack nodded to her with a smile and Avius shook his head lightly and spoke.
"If you go Zack, I'm coming too… I mean you're my bro… I can't abandon you." Avius grinned.
"If Avius is in then so am I." Archia stated as she smiled shyly at Avius who shook his head.
"Archia we're going to kill or be killed I doubt that you want any part of that." Avius reminded her and she shook her head.
"If you're going to go and be killed then I want to be by your side… you guys are my friends… without you all I'll be lonely again." Archia whispered as Axel laughed.
"You know I can't be the only one not to go…" Axel said as he crossed his arms in front of him and sighed, "I guess this is goodbye mom and dad, hello suicide." Axel concluded.
"No Axel, we're not going to die, we're going to win… to save our parents from this life. To give them something better." Zack added as he clenched his fists.
3 YEARS LATER-
The five young adolescents had survived the operations and the training and met two other recruits as well.
One was named Cain who was two years older than the rest of the group while the other was Neo the same age as Zack and his friends.
In their three year span of honing their abilities and developing their skills they had disrupted Cloud and Tifa Strife constantly. The seven quickly became close friends and soon became the best of the underground rebellion.
When an additional experiment to enhance their abilities even further came about they all jumped at the chance to grow stronger to stop the two tyrants.
The procedure they would undergo would completely fuse their bodies with Mako energy genetically altered and fuse within their bodies certain Materia. The operation had been a success but shortly after the head scientist and his assistants were slaughtered by Barret and Cid of the Avalanche… Tifa and Cloud's best warriors.
The seven had recovered from surgery a month later and set out to avenge the fallen scientists by defeating each one of the Avalanche members. They all fell quickly one by one, starting with Cid and leading to the last: Yuffie. She was a warlord in Wutai and had killed her own father for his lands many years ago.
Zack, Lexa and Cain set out without the others to assassinate the ninja warlord quietly and efficiently. Once they arrived on Wutai ground Yuffie sent hundreds of soldiers to destroy them but hundreds died. As Lexa, Zack and Cain reached the throne room Yuffie attacked Cain who was prepared and their battle raged on.
After ten or more minutes of fighting, Cain had injured the ninja gravely and she used her smoke screen attack to escape. Cain was caught off guard this time but Zack and Lexa knew that she was dying and even knew where she retreated to.
'Zack, follow her.' Zack's head rose a little as if looking around to actually see the woman who continued to talk to him. Lexa placed a hand on his shoulder and asked if he was okay.
"To the roof" Zack said calmly as he engulfed them in a black dome.
Yuffie had retreated to the roof of the palace and struggled to stop the bleeding. Zack and Lexa watched intently as Yuffie's blood continued to flow as it turned from red to an eerie green and finally back to red. Zack stepped closer to the dying ninja and looked down upon her. She seemed to be smiling and crying at the same time. Zack shook his head and began to leave but the voice returned.
'Wait… not yet.' The voice pleaded as Zack shook his head and continued to leave until Yuffie's voice caught his attention causing him to stop and turn to her.
"Thank you… for freeing me," she whispered loud enough for only him to hear, Zack shook his head and looked at her, "Jenova had me for so long… her essence…" Yuffie coughed as blood continued to pour from her wounds.
"What?" Zack asked as he walked back to her and knelt down.
"Cloud… Tifa… you're… Zack aren't you… look just like him…" Yuffie coughed and Lexa came over too, "Its not them… its Jenova… we're so sorry… please free us." She begged with her last breathe and died.
"Zack… what if…" Lexa began as Zack stood up.
"It's a trick." Zack growled. He had already known he was the son of two tyrants, but he hadn't expected Yuffie's other words. As Zack continued walking away Lexa spoke.
"Zack… promise me that you will do all that you can to set things right." Lexa said as Cain appeared. Zack looked at Lexa confused as she shook her head.
"So Yuffie's dead? Good we need to head out before the cavalry comes." Cain stated as he vanished leaving the two atop of the palace. Lexa closed her eyes and sighed sadly.
"Promise me, Zack that you'll bring true peace back… don't let these deaths be for nothing." Lexa begged again as Zack nodded as he contemplated the words.
█END FLASH BACK
Zack finished slicing through the metallic wall and faced Seriphron's back at the opposite side of the large lab.
"Lexa…I won't let your death be for nothing." Zack repeated the mantra to himself as he flared his wing and flew forward.
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What did you think? Should I keep writing or what?
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