Author's Note – It's been awhile since I updated. This is a crucial chapter that sets the stage for some serious angst and I must warn you there will be two character deaths. You'll have to read it to find out who it is. No flames, please. You'll also notice Cloud isn't so funny in the next couple chapters because of what's happening.

Chapter 22 – It's Suicide

I didn't have time to dwell on how Zack could possibly be alive…or why he was suddenly trying to kill me. After I tripped and ducked the swing of his buster sword, I rolled several feet away and got up. Pulling both Apocalypse and Organics from the harness at my back, I turned to face Zack.

He took a couple steps and stopped, his buster sword held ready for attack. "Nice weapons, kid. I bet your fighting skills have improved since SOLDIER."

I blinked in confusion. If this was Zack and he had come back from the Lifestream, then he would have known about all my trials and tribulations throughout the last few years. He would have known what I was capable of. "You're supposed to be dead, Zack," I stated in a matter-of-fact way. "Couldn't handle the pressure in the Lifestream?"

It's not me, Cloud. This guy's a fake.

The voice spoke to me in my head, the way it normally did. It was Zack's usual upbeat tone. But the voice couldn't hold a lengthy conversation and I had a million questions. So if this person in front of me wasn't Zack, then who was he?

I glanced toward Tseng and Elena, who were both impossibly frozen in half raised positions near the dead Shinra guards. Zack must have used a Vagyrisk Claw to petrify them. If I had any Soft potion on me I would have used it to unpetrify the two Turks.

Zack relaxed his stance and began to circle. "What're you doing working for Shinra?"

I kept my distance, circling in the opposite direction, holding my weapons ready.

"After what they did to us, Cloud?" he seethed. "How could you even breathe the same air as them?"

"I'm not working for Shinra. Besides, it's not like that anymore." Again, if this was Zack from the Lifestream, then he would have known things were not the same as they were when Rufus's father was in charge. "President Shinra is dead and Rufus is trying to make things right. But you should already know that, Zack."

"I get the impression you don't trust me. I'm deeply hurt, Cloud."

Cloud, I told you, that guy isn't me.

"I know! Will you shut up for a minute?" I told the voice in my head.

"Fine," said the fake Zack. "We don't have to talk at all. Besides, I'm here to fight."

"You're working for him, aren't you?"

We continued circling and I got a chance to really look at him.

"Him?" Zack smiled that dazzling smile that used to make all the girls swoon.

The first thought that came to me was that this guy was a clone. A growth-accelerated clone. He looked like Zack, talked like him, moved like him…even acted like him. Could a clone be so exact? Looks and speech…yes. But not mannerisms. This clone had obviously seen videos of Zack and learned all of his mannerisms. As for how he could have known what Zack and I had gone through, well…he could have seen Professor Hojo's reports. Floyd Dalton would have had access. Then I noticed a small black patch on the side of his neck. It looked like the ones they used in SOLDIER to govern discipline. "You know who I'm talking about."

"Oh, you must mean General Dalton."

From the corner of my eye I saw Tseng and Elena slowly regaining movement. The Vagyrisk Claw effects were wearing off. I needed to keep Zack distracted so they could get away and warn the others. "General Dalton? When did he get a promotion?"

Zack shrugged. "I didn't ask."

"For him to be a general, then he must still be in SOLDIER. And last time I checked, SOLDIER reported to Shinra." I made a tiny move with my head, trying to get the attention of the Turks.

"It's a new branch and Dalton's in charge of it."

I lunged at Zack just as Tseng and Elena made a quick escape.

Zack blocked my double-handed attack and tossed a Vagyrisk Claw in their direction. The spell missed the Turks and hit the wall. He did a backward flip, landing several feet away from me. "Very clever."

I didn't know what other items he had stashed away, but I did notice the materia on his weapon. Yellow and green…Command and Magic. Even though I didn't see any red Summon materia, it didn't mean he wasn't carrying one in his pocket. I had my handy dandy Ifrit, but I wouldn't use it in such a public place where innocent bystanders could get caught in the Hellfire.

Just then there were screams coming from inside the theatre. And a second later a stampede of people charged out of the three theatre doorways. Shadow Creepers were coming out of the walls and the floors. I saw Cid twirling his harpoon to spear one and it disintegrated. Vincent took several careful shots at Shadow Creepers trying to drag people away.

A woman and a small boy were trapped in a corner, a Shadow Creeper ready to pounce on them. Reno charged forward and twirled his baton, smashing the creature on the side of the head. It evaporated into dust. The woman gave him a grateful look before grabbing her child and running off.

Amidst the panicked crowd was Rufus, quickly being escorted out by Rude, Tseng and Elena.

I tried to keep my eyes on Zack, but at the same time watched the crowd emptying out of the theatre. Barret was shooting his gun arm at any approaching Shadow Creepers, his other arm holding Tifa. I turned my head for only a second, to make sure Tifa was safe.

Zack attacked, swinging his buster sword. I blocked him with both of my swords. He raised a knee and slammed it into my ribs. I let out a grunt and using the clashing swords for leverage, I spun myself out of the way, landing a few feet away. There wasn't time to breathe. Zack jumped up and came down on me. I held both swords up against his buster and fell to my knees from the impact.

When Zack moved, I dragged Organics away and swung it low. Zack jumped up before I could slice his ankles. I pulled myself up and received a kick in the chest, sending me flying backward.

I skidded to a stop several feet away and got up as he rushed forward. We clashed swords, back and forth…blow after blow. From the corner of my eye, I watched Barret grab Tifa by the waist and drag her away before she could run toward me. He followed the others out of the area.

Zack swung and clipped my arm. I spun and caught him in the hip with Apocalypse. He yelled out in pain and threw something.

In the next instant, I was surrounded by yellow smoke. It smelled like sulfur and got into my nose. I fell forward on my hands and knees and coughed violently. It would have been the perfect time for him to cut me down. But when I looked around, Zack was gone. I coughed again and lurched the contents of my stomach. So much for the great breakfast Aeris made us.

As the smoke dissipated, I pulled myself up and wiped my mouth with the back of my hand. I glanced around and was grateful to see no people had been killed by the Shadow Creepers. The only bodies I saw were the three Shinra guards that had been killed earlier. Judging by the slashes on them, Zack had been the one who dealt the killing blows.

I looked at my left arm. Blood was dripping from a four inch cut. It was nothing. I had worse. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and called Barret.

"Yeah, Spike," he replied after the first ring.

"Is Tifa safe?" I asked as I walked toward the transportation tubes.

"She's with me right now. We're headed for the airstrip."

"Where's Rufus?"

"Right behind me."

"I'm on my way." I shut my phone and put it back in my pocket as I jumped into the tube leading to the tram station.

When I was thrown out of the tube, I met a wall of people. Everyone was panicking and trying to pile into the tram.

Dio, with several of his goons surrounding him, was trying to restore order. "Please, everyone. There's no need to leave the Gold Saucer. Everything is under control. Go back and enjoy what you were doing.

I couldn't see over the heads of the crowd, so I climbed up on a planter. Yuffie and Tifa were walking together, following behind Rufus, Reno and Rude. Behind the girls was Cid, Barret and Vincent. Tseng and Elena reached one of the choppers first. I glanced around for Shinra uniforms. Where were the guards? And were the undercover guards among the crowd trying to get out in the air tram?

The sound of a helicopter reached my ears above the chaos all around me. It hovered near the edge of a platform. Someone on a mechanical wheelchair was moving toward the helicopter. Just then the Zack clone jumped out and an explosion followed.

I instinctly hit the ground. People screamed and were running around in a panic. I quickly got back on my feet and back on the planter to assess the damage. It was one of the Shinra helicopters that exploded and was still burning. A bomb had gone off. Tseng and Elena had been inside. There was no way they could have survived.

As the smoke cleared, I saw the others. Everyone was on the ground, scattered haphazardly from the blast. No one was moving. Dear Gods, please…don't let them be dead.

The Zack clone jumped down from the higher platform and was making his way toward the others.

I hopped off the planter and began pushing my way through the crowd. Hands were grabbing at me, people screaming in my face. I focused on my path, pushing people out of the way. Through the gaps, I saw the Zack clone reach Rufus, who was lying on the ground. He bent down and took the box from Shinra's hands.

Zack was about to walk away when something caught his eye.

I followed his gaze. Tifa was moving. She rolled on her hands and knees and started to get up. "No!" I yelled and shoved people out of the way, knocking them down, maybe hurting them. But I didn't care. I needed to get to Tifa before Zack did.

Zack saw me coming and he bolted toward Tifa. He grabbed her around the waist. She fought him, kicking and clawing. Zack slammed his elbow into her face and knocked her out cold.

I was seeing red. I was going to kill him! But just as I managed to get out of the panicked crowd, the helicopter reappeared, picking up Zack and his burden. It was gone in a flash, leaving me standing there, watching it disappear into the night.

Cid's airship had survived the nearby blast. We were all inside the main cockpit, each of us lost in our own thoughts and nursing whatever injuries were received from the explosion.

Yuffie had a bruise on the side of her face and insisted on bandaging my arm. I tolerated it, only because I was glad she was still alive.

I glanced toward a corner. Rude was leaning against the wall while Reno was pacing like a caged animal. They lost two of their partners. I had no love for any of the Turks. Over the last couple of years, I lost count of the number of times we tried to kill each other. And now I felt bad that Tseng and Elena were gone.

Vincent stood brooding near the glass floor ahead. I could never tell what the ex-Turk was thinking.

Cid was silent for once as he flew the airship, but he always had a cigarette in his mouth and a halo of smoke surrounded him.

Standing just to his left was Barret, his face frozen in a scowl, his gun arm aimed at the floor. Every once in awhile the big guy would look in my direction, like he was afraid I'd pounce on him for not protecting my girlfriend. I was just glad to see him alive. Besides, it wasn't his fault. If the Shinra helicopter hadn't exploded, Barret would have made sure Zack never got anywhere near Tifa.

When Yuffie finished bandaging my arm, I gave her a half smile. "Thanks, Yuffs." She walked away and I slid down the wall to sit on the floor. I looked up just as Rufus was walking in my direction. His usually impeccably white suit had black char marks from the explosion and a corner of it had actually burned away.

He crouched beside me and waited for me to look up at him. "The Jenova tissue wasn't real."

"Well that's a comforting thought. What happens to Tifa when Dalton finds out?"

"It may take him awhile to discover it."

I looked away, my head spinning with disturbing images of what they could be doing to Tifa. I couldn't bear the thought of anything happening to her. "He was a fake."

"I know. Zack Fair is dead, which means the one you were fighting is a clone."

I met Shinra's eyes. "How did they do it? It's not possible unless they had…" I trailed off as I realized I knew the answer to my own question. "SOLDIER blood samples."

"Dalton worked closely with Hojo."

"So they could clone whoever they want. They could clone Sephiroth. They could clone me!"

"I don't think Dalton is in the market to produce clones."

"I saw him. Just before the helicopter exploded. He was in a wheelchair."

"A wheelchair? Are you sure it was Dalton?"

"His face matched the one in the picture you showed us. It was him."

"That explains the Zack clone."

I frowned. "Whatta you mean?"

"Dalton obviously can't fight any of his own battles."

"There was a patch on the side of his neck, like the kind they used in the SOLDIER academy."

"A Capitulation Patch?"

"Yeah, that's it."

Shinra rubbed his chin. "Interesting. Makes me wonder if Dalton has complete control of his clone."

"What're we gonna do about Tifa? The longer we sit on our asses, the more that fucking bastard could do to her."

Shinra pulled out his cellphone and made a call. "Yes, do you have a location?...Got it." He put his phone away with a smile. His sister had been kidnapped by dangerous people. What the hell could he have to smile about?

"What's going on?" I asked.

"Tracking device. I finally know the location of their hideout."

"Tracking device?" I got a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. Would he have done it hoping she'd be kidnapped so he could find out where Dalton was holed up? "Don't tell me you purposely set Tifa up with a tracking device."

He gave me an amused frown. "Of course not. The tracking device is inside the fake Jenova tissue."

"This was all part of your plan, wasn't it?" I asked through clenched teeth. I wanted to take a swing at him, knock his stupid ass out of the airship.

"Cloud, listen to me. I had no idea it was going to come down like this. Do you really think I wanted anyone to get hurt? Or Tifa to be taken?"

I was still fuming. "How was it supposed to go down?"

"When the Jenova tissue was placed in Dio's museum, I hoped Dalton would make his move then."

"I think he wants to see you dead…regardless whether he has a piece of Jenova or not."

"I agree wholeheartedly." He stood up and turned around. "Captain Highwind."

"What the hell do you want?" Cid replied sourly without raising his voice like he normally did.

"Are you familiar with the islands northeast of here…between Round Island and Goblin Island?"

"I know every landmark on this planet. What's your fuckin' point?"

"Set a course, Captain. That's our destination."

I got up and followed Shinra to a computer terminal.

He sat down and was on his phone again. "Do you have the schematics yet?" He logged into the Shinra Corp site, having to enter a special code every few seconds as he accessed different places. "Almost there…Okay, I'm in."

The three dimensional skeletal image of a compound appeared on the screen.

As Shinra hung up his phone, the others, except Cid, all gathered behind him, looking over his shoulders at the computer screen.

"What is this, Shinra?" barked Barret.

"This is Floyd Dalton's lair." Rufus pointed as he spoke. "Perimeter fence, probably electrified and motion sensored. Four floors above ground, six below. Judging by the size of these rooms on sublevels three and four, maybe prison cells. Could be where he keeps his experiments."

"And probably where he's keeping Tifa," added Vincent.

"How'd you get these schematics anyway?" asked Yuffie. "What've you got floor plans of every building in the world?"

"Not exactly," replied Shinra. "Let's just say I have a spy in the sky that can take the appropriate images I need to determine the schematics of a particular compound."

Yuffie looked confused.

"Satellite," I told her.

Barret raised his gun arm. "I say we bust through the fence with a truck and start blowin' the goddamned shits all away."

"A ground assault is too obvious," said Rude. "They'll know we're coming."

Rufus turned around in his chair. "Rude is right. An air assault would be the best method and we need to hit them hard and fast."

I grabbed Yuffie by the wrist and dragged her away with me.

"Hey, what's the big idea?!"

I led her to a metal box where I knew she kept her materia. "Hook me up, Yuffs."

She stared at me with her mouth open. "You want my materia?"

"I'll replace whatever I lose. I promise."

Yuffie crouched down in front of the box and punched in a code on the lock. After opening the lid, she looked up at me.

I crouched down beside her and starting sifting through the magic balls. Fire, Lightning, Comet, Deathblow, Poison, Ice, Earth, Shield. I took them all and armed them in my wrist guards and on my weapon. In my pocket was the Ifrit Summon I had yet to use. Maybe today would be the day.

Cid put the ship on Autopilot after setting the coordinates and walked over to the others. "If we get too close, they'll know we're coming."

"We'll remain at cruising altitude," suggested Rufus. "Let them think we're a cargo plane."

"Oh yeah?" snorted Cid. "And how do you think we're gonna infiltrate without parachutes?"

I walked over. "I can do it."

All eyes turned to me like I had just told them the world was flat.

"That's twenty thousand feet," said Reno. "You'll be flat as a pancake when you hit the ground."

Cid held up his hands and looked at everyone. "Any of you dumbasses have Jenova cells in you?"

I raised my hand, knowing no one else would be raising theirs.

"Yeah, that's one. Then the rest of you shuddup!"

The panel near the steering column beeped.

I glanced toward our crazy pilot who was snoring away in a nearby seat and got up to stretch my legs.

Rude walked over to Cid and gave him a shake. "Come on Highwind, wake up. Your ship's calling you."

Cid mumbled something under his breath.

"Let's go. Rise and shine."

The pilot sat up, a grumpy look on his face. "I can rise and I can shine, but not at the same time, assface." He turned toward me, giving me a nod to get ready.

I started walking toward the door leading to the outer walkway.

"This is suicide, Spike," snarled Barret.

How many times had I heard that before?

Rufus followed me outside as I walked to the reiling.

The airship was moving fast and the wind whipped my hair and clothes around.

"Go back inside, Rufus, before you get blown overboard."

"Wallace is right. This is suicide, Cloud."

"I'm going alone. Don't try to talk me out of it."

"I know you don't want to risk the lives of your friends, but this job is too big for just one person."

I looked up at him and he gave a noticeable flinch. It was the same reaction I got from anyone who looked at my eyes in the darkness, especially when I was steaming on the inside. I imagined they were glowing eerily. "I'm getting Tifa out of there. No one's going to stand in my way."

Rufus gave a nod. "Okay, Cloud." He backed away.

I turned to look over the reiling, seeing the landmass below. With my weapons strapped firmly to the harness at my back, I placed a hand on the reiling and hurdled myself over the side.

I know I said Cloud isn't going to fly in my story. It's not exactly flying, as much as it is falling. You'll see.

Please review. Thanks!