Chapter 3

When Cloud woke up the next morning, all was quiet. He laid back down next to Tifa when he smelled it. Cloud jumped out of the bed and ran downstairs as fast as his feet would carry him. He practically screamed when he saw the cause of the smell.

"I swear" Zack said, beating the flames with a towel. "I've never started a fire with my cooking before."

Cloud quickly moved across the room, and grabbed the pan, threw it in the sink and turned on the water, extinguishing the flames.

"NO! Dude... my eggs." Zack said bummed. Cloud could only stair at his friend in disbelief of how dense he was. It had been so long since he had last seen him, he'd forgotten how he was.

-#-

Miles away in the abandoned city of Midgar, there stood a great tower that was the former headquarters of the Shinra electric company. The driver of the car the drove near it wasn't interested in this building so much as the tiny 2 story science lab near it. The man parked his car near the building and looked into the mirror. He saw the fear in his own brown eyes, he knew that he would be punished for the failure to kill Cloud Strife, the former soldier. The man opened the door, and climbed out of the car. Walking toward the door, the guards didn't even stop him, as he entered the building and immediately came face to face with his commander.

"Well, how did the mission go?" his commander asked.

"Roe, sir, it was a failure, there was an unidentified foe."

"Mr. Black, our lord will not be happy to hear of your failure."

"Yes, I realize this. But what else can we do."

"Leave here, and return to Edge. Finish your job by any means necessary."

"Yes sir, I will do so immediately."

"Another thing, your new partner is already outside in your car."

"Sir?"

"Dismissed."

Jeremiah Black nodded to his commander, then turned, and exited the building, walking back towards his car. How is it that he, the greatest soldier of all time, could get treated like this? He groaned as he identified the person sitting in his passenger seat. "You have to be kidding me," he thought to himself, as he opened the door of his car.

"Get in, get in, get in." The lively teen yipped happily as Jeremiah climbed into the car. "Let's go, let's go, lets go." The kid basically screamed as Jeremiah started the car.

-#-

"So, what are we going to do?" Jerik asked as the group sat around the table talking.

"I'll go after them, I have no doubt they'll be back for you guys." Zack said, finally being serious.

"No, this isn't your fight. It's time for me to pay you back for everything. I will go after them, you just stay here and relax." Cloud said. "I'll be back before you know it.