The screams from the crowd disoriented Cloud as he stepped on the center stage in the plaza. The sky had become a bloody orange as the sun sank in it's rotation, the clouds a dark shade of violet. It looked like a period painting hung in a museum somewhere. In the confusion of the noise around him, the blonde lost himself in the swirl of colors.

"Good to see you…Cloud," a menacing baritone smoothed over the commotion and suddenly all was silent, the audience at bay. The words had swept through the blonde with a ruthless force, shattering the protective shield he'd built up to keep himself distant. His wandering mind had been ripped from the sky and hammered into the ground. When Cloud turned to the man who'd spoken, he couldn't speak.

Sephiroth.

Before he could even blink the man had sent him flying with a solid push in the chest. He hit the edge of the stage, his back colliding with a thick piece of pipe railing. There had been a few cries from enthralled spectators as they moved away from where he'd fallen. Everyone had come to see the last and best act of the day. And also, Cloud realized…his brutal death.

He grasped to return to his feet as the towering man began to advance on him. The buster sword Cloud carried clinked awkwardly against the ground. The admin group had provided the weapon, since at this stage of the game, realistic props were required. The only problem was that Cloud had little to no actual experience with hand-to-hand combat or fencing of any type.

"Your geostigma is gone."

Cloud shivered as Sephiroth's cat-like irises pierced straight through him.

"That's too bad," the man continued.

"Sephiroth," the blonde willed his voice to be strong, trying not to focus on Masamune held aloft in his opponent's hand. What the hell? How could they actually be doing this? Would he really be swung at with that thing?

"What do you want?" Cloud yelled.

This only made matters worse, like a shark smelling blood in the water.

Sephiroth's face was placid, "the last thoughts of geostigmas dead. Those remnants will join the lifestream and girdle the planet. Choking it. Corroding it."

He smiled menacingly while he spoke and Cloud felt sick.

"What I want…Cloud…is to sail the darkness of the cosmos with this planet as my vessel."

Loud music hit the speakers at this line; a cue for the battle to begin. Sephiroth raised his free arm into the air, curving it as if he were gripping an invisible shoulder.

"Just as my mother did long ago."

Cloud gritted his teeth as the man's fingertips stretched out to the sky and the stage lights dimmed. Anticipation ran through his body like lighting; his muscles jumped and spasmed.

"Then one day," Sephiroth continued, "We'll find the new planet and on it's soil, we'll create a shinning future."

"What about this planet?" the soldier had lifted his buster-sword. He was starting to loose his grip on reality. What was the monster before him? He had stopped noticing the pain that holding his heavy weapon in the air induced.

"Well," Sephiroth's words seemed sensuous as they swept from his lips and caressed every person standing in the plaza. "That's up to you, Cloud."

He brought down his hand in a sharp slice and leapt at the blonde, closing the distance between them. Cloud's first instinct was to run but he ignored it and met Sephiroth. The crowd roared as the cling of metal and swords rung out.

The younger of the two men had to adapt quickly. Sephiroth was relentless in his raining of blows to his opponent. Cloud did his best to block Masamune from beheading him. His gasps and groans were amplified through the speakers, drowning him in their noise. He hated how weak he sounded. Sephiroth swung his sword out and Cloud was flung back into the side wall. A loud creak came when he collided. When he opened his eyes to find his suddenly missing assailant, he was caught by surprise and thrown back into the brick.

Son of a bitch! That hurt.

Spehiroth was running at him now. How long were they going to go on like this? How could he ever really beat this man like it was supposed to be? He gritted his teeth and ran headlong into his enemy's territory.

Cloud swung his buster back at Sephoroth like a madman, trying to disorient him. Quickly, he jumped away just out of man's reach…only to be followed. He had to keep moving he realized, it was the only way to avoid his opponent. Maybe he could wear him out like this.

Sephiroth kept advancing though; he was strong and fast. Masamune cut through the distance as if guided by fate. It cut Cloud's path off endlessly forcing him to defend and loose his momentum. The General was always there, right behind him. Quite frankly, it pissed the shit out of Cloud. He stopped suddenly and threw himself and the buster at Sephiroth, wanting nothing more than to rip of his head and arms.

"Ohhh," the silver-haired man whispered when their blades met again, "where did you find this strength?"

Cloud knew the words were real and meant to mock him.

"I'm not about to tell you!"

For the first time, Cloud put all his strength into shoving Sephiroth back…and it worked. The man flew across the stage and the soldier took his advantage, running at him while he was caught off guard. Sephiroth was better though, he'd moved again. He attacked Cloud with a renewed vigilance. Before the younger could re-double his attacks, huge pieces of the stage and walls were flying at him. How Sephiroth had sent them his way he had no idea, but security guards were pushing the crowd further away from their bout for safety. What about him?

He did his best to keep the General back, blocking and countering every attack solely on instinct. He even threw a few of the massive pieces that had smashed him back at his opponent. When he thought he was dead for sure, Sephiroth moved back mysteriously.

"I've thought of a wonderful present for you," he said .

The man had sent him another chunk of pipe and concrete. Maybe this is a retreat, Cloud thought, I've got to stay on him. He followed Sephiroth only to be dealt harsher blows than before.

"Shall I give you despair?" The man's quiet smile was wicked as he effortlessly flung Cloud away again, like a paper doll.

The blonde gasped as his back was crushed by impact with the harsh floor again; he was barely able to regain his footing. Sephiroth had gained higher ground somehow. Someone must have been controlling all the flying chunks of building from behind stage, but it was still scary as fuck.

"On your knees," the General barked, "I want you to beg for forgiveness." He raised his chin and Cloud knew what was coming.

As Sephiroth spread his arms out, the whole ceiling it seem fell towards the blonde. Almost nothing could be heard over the noise of the ruble crashing down. The silver-haired man had moved quickly and not a single thing touched him. Cloud, however, was left to push his way though the debris. He was smashed by piece after piece of the ceiling. The pain became a blinding white, but he fought his was back to Sephiroth.

He had split his buster apart into two and went on a frenzy against his opponent.

Feel my pain!

Sephiroth was grinning now, as if he truly enjoyed the fight.

Both men were jumping and swinging as if they had lost all sense of gravity. They swirled in wild attempts to avoid each other and it was as if they were performing some ancient, violent dance. Sephiroth's speed had picked up and Cloud was forced to follow: block after block. If he let up for one moment, he'd be hacked into a million little pieces…and he knew Cid wasn't competent enough to complete anything more than a medium-level puzzle.

In the cover of more falling ruble, Cloud jumped away. He'd intended to gain a new advantage in his hiding spot, but found himself suddenly too weak to lift his buster. He groaned in pain. He slowly brought himself back up only to find Sephiroth flying towards him. Cloud hit the ground in a roll and came up to avoid another swing from Masamune. He blocked Sephiroth one last time before the man broke though his defense and pushed him down. It couldn't happen this way though.

Cloud raised himself again only to be ripped apart in Sephiroth's next round of blows. He blocked when he could, but was soon flipped upside down in the air and flying backwards again. When he hit the wall this time, Cloud knew it would be the last.

He didn't believe the sharp pain when it tore though his right shoulder. He felt the muscle being pulled though and his bones creak under the pressure and the shimmering sword that pierced him. But he didn't believe it…the warm blood that spilled out and turned red. He could only gasp as Sephiroth peered down at him.

"Tell me what you cherish most," the man's voice rang out as Cloud slowly tired to bring his good arm over to where Masamune was embedded, "give me the pleasure of taking it away."

An unbelievable flow of energy coursed through the soldier's body giving him the strength to rip his General's blade from him.

He surprised the man as he jumped away and swung at him. They stared at each other silent for a moment.

"I pity you," Cloud's voice was strong and final, "You just don't get it at all."

"Hm," Sephiroth snorted as he turned Masamune upwards and ran towards Cloud. He dived in the air and continued advancing on Cloud. The younger kept up with him though, his strength suddenly renewed.

"There's not a thing I don't cherish!"

The blonde swung his buster over his head; Sephiroth laughed as if the idea was preposterous. Cloud kept his ground though. His buster didn't split into seven suspended pieces like it was supposed to, but while Sephiroth was disoriented he swung at the man seven times in all directions running a circle around him. The last blow was the strongest, finally knocking the man down. In his face was something like shock.

"Stay where you belong," Cloud said as he stood back. There was nothing but silence as he paused for the next line, "in my memories."

Sephiroth was standing now, but completely still. Anger, hate, and malice seethed from the man. Cloud had never felt something so strong directed at him. He didn't even have the heart to notice the dark wing that had appeared and spread out behind the man's shoulder.

"I will…," Sephiroth spat out, "never…be a memory."

The wing covered the General and the stage went dark.

"Holy shit!" Some tech's voice whispered to Cloud as he pulled the blonde away, "How did…what the fuck…you two fuckers…that was AWESOME!"

Cloud could hardly laugh as he was swarmed by a huge crowd in the staging area. There were so many faces and hands, but nobody he recognized. Where were his friends? The edges of his vision dimmed and suddenly he was falling towards the ground.

After a three hour wait in a Tokyo emergency room at their own expense, Cloud's friends were ready to kill.

Tifa's fists clentched as she helped the blonde into a cab, followed by Cid and Yuffie. His shoulder had been patched up and wrapped by the doctor, but he was still out of it from his fairly recent fainting spell. All that time on stage had caused him to loose far too much blood.

"I'm going to rip out his entrails," Yuffie growled, " then his eyes ..then I'm going to feed them to that bastard…then I'll-"

"I can't believe they let the fight continue." Cid cut in and placed his palm to Cloud's forehead, "We'll sue those douche-bags. Then I'm going to beat the livin' shit out of that fuck and his little entourage. First him, then Rufus." The pilot's face had grown dark.

"Don't worry, sweetheart," Tifa whispered against Cloud's cheek; she kissed his chin, "We'll find him."

The three friends were bloodthirsty for revenge against ShinRa.

Ha wow! That was a long one !

My present to you since I lied about that whole…update within the week thing…sorry

Thanks for reading though guys! Clockwork Phoenix and DarkBombayAngel + Magure = LOVE

You two never fail to leave a comment *tear* Thanks.

Draco Malfoy x Harry Potter = best user name ever.

~Owari then