Holy geez it's been over a month. I've been really bust as of late, and some personal things have come up, but I've started writing again. I'll put the next chapter up in a few minutes. Oh, and the parts in italics are flashbacks.

(This is total a page break.)

A cold Nibelheim day…Very little wind, and just the right temperature for a romantic walk. SOLDIER would arrive soon, and take the hotel and a few houses for lodging. They had to investigate the reactor, and giving up your house for a few days isn't too bad, is it?

The children were playing outside. Nobody knew the name of the game, but when you're a child, that doesn't matter. What matters is the game itself. Whether you're playing or not. As the boy of no more than ten looked outside at his friends, he sighed. He wanted so badly to be out there.

"F-salts…" he muttered. Then, he saw white and felt a hard pain as a book was hurled across the room at his head.

"Riou!" his mother screamed. "Get back to studying!"

Riou rubbed his head, holding back tears. He reopened his "Advanced Quantum Physics" text book and looked at the complex equations, ignoring the knock at the door.

"The Bohr Model of Photon energy," he muttered, "h times f is equal to-"

"E to the power of u minus E to the first power." a strange voice said. Riou looked up and saw General Sephiroth smiling at him.

"Hi there," his companion, a man he would later know as Zack, said, "We're from Shinra, and we're gonna need this house for a little while, okay?"

Riou grinned and nodded as Sephiroth turned to a young man who had just taken off his helmet, revealing spiky blond hair.

"You said you had family here." Sephiroth said to him. "Go ahead and…"

(Part Two)

The rest of the words drowned out as Riou turned to Zack, an incredulous look on his face.

"Dude, this ain't my life," he said. "I grew up in Icicle, and darn sure never knew quantum physics."

Zack shook his head.

"You grew up right there in Nibelheim, Riou, and you knew physics quite well, but constant head trauma made you forget it all…and your phone number, and your mother's name and-"

"Shut up."

(Part three)

Tifa walked out of her house and smiled proudly.

"Okay, I'll be your guide up the mountain!" she beamed. Her father ran out of the house hurriedly with his camera.

"General Sephiroth! Maybe I could…"

Riou sat on top of the water tower nearby, sniffling.

"She said she'd hang out with me today…"

(Part Four)

"Wow…" Zack said, "You were a really whiny kid."

"I was not!" Riou whined.

(Part Five)

Riou sat on his knees a few days later, looking into the basement window of the Shinra mansion. The General was reading something, but Riou couldn't tell what. Sephiroth punched the wall. It cracked, and a large spider crawled out of the hole.

"Why…" he muttered, and the yelled "Why wasn't I told?"

(Part Six)

"Do you remember now?" Zack asked.'

"Kinda…" Riou said distractedly from behind him.

"Good." Zack turned around to see Riou watching a TV, Invader Zim showing, that had manifested itself. "Hey, what the-?" Zack punched him in the head.

"Back to your life!"

(Part Seven)

A villager crashed into the wall of his house and slid down. As soon as he hit the ground, a small red line appeared on his chest, then exploded, blood flying everywhere. However, he had been dead before he even touched the wall.

The city of Nibelheim was on fire, and currently almost everyone there was either dead or dying. Only a select few were still alive, including Tifa and her father, Zack and Cloud, Riou's mother, and Riou.

Sephiroth had cracked in a big way, and the city, no, the species that had lied to him would pay.

Riou's mother held her son behind her back, staring Sephiroth in the eyes. Sephiroth was raising his sword and grinning.

"You're a monster." she cried. Sephiroth brought his sword down, and she was cut in two. Riou screamed in horror as his mother fell in halves in front of him. He dropped to his knees and began crying as Sephiroth laughed.

"Riou…" his mother choked, her mouth filling with blood. Her last words followed: "I'm sorry…"

"Mommy? Sorry for what? Mommy? Mommy!" Riou wailed, barely noticing that Sephiroth was raising his sword again.

"You needn't cry, child." Sephiroth grinned. "You'll join her soon."

Riou looked up, seeing that Sephiroth was standing, right arm holding the head of someone he had killed like a trophy, left holding the Masamune, legs apart. Just before he brought down his giant sword, Riou took his chance, and, seeing blurrily because of his tears and the fire, brought his foot up, hitting his target.

Sephiroth grunted and fell to his knees briefly as Riou ran behind him, toward the reactor. Sephiroth sliced the air behind him without turning around, hoping to kill the kid anyway, but all he managed to do was leave a cut across the small of his back that would leave a permanent scar.

The General stood, and began walking towards the wall of flame that separated him and his last few targets. However, a couple of survivors stood in his way. He would kill them just as Zack emerged from the mansion, and his famous fire scene would follow.

(Part Eight)

The group had managed to get to the Gold Saucer within two hours, Riou still completely dead to the world. They had reserved two rooms (at an insanely inflated price) at the Ghost Hotel by all throwing in a generous amount of money. Vincent, Cloud and Rasputin had opted to take a room with Riou to look after him while everyone else looked for news as to what was going on. Cloud was sitting in a chair, Rasputin was changing the rag on his friends head (whose mask was pulled down to reveal a horribly scared forehead), and Vincent was staring out the window at the large horde that had gathered around the building.

"There are easily a hundred thousand of the…what have we decided to call these things?"

Cloud and Rasputin shrugged.

"What we need to concern ourselves with," Rasputin said as he put the new, cold and wet, rag on Riou's head, "is where the things came from."

"I'd bet my life that Sephiroth is somehow responsible." Cloud said. Vincent shook his head.

"If they are his followers, why did Rasputin find him killing them?"

"Maybe he can't control them." was Cloud's response.

"Followers…" Riou murmured in his sleep. "Sacrificed…souls…Sister…mako…"

The three conscious men in the room each raised one eyebrow..

(Part Nine)

Zack came out of the white door first, followed by Riou. Riou was a little shaken by the sight of his mother's death, but the memories were flying back at him. They walked silently for a few minutes, then came to a clearing in the doors. In the clearing were only two doors; one black, the other gray. Zack opened the black door and beckoned Riou to go in.

"Alright…" he said, "this is it."

(Part Ten)

Riou ran as fast as he could away from the smoldering village of Nibelheim, ignoring the sign he passes for a moment. After running a few yards, he turns and picks the sign out of the ground. It reads "Caution: Nibelheim Reactor is off limits. Authorized Personnel Only." Riou shrugged and looked back to see Sephiroth following him.

"Eep!" Riou eep'd, and chucked the sign at the man in black. Without watching to see if it hit the target, Riou turned and ran.

As Riou saw the reactor come in to view, he grinned and sped up. Surely this reactor would be a safe haven, with no real threat to human life, right? After all, what could a super villain possibly want at a crummy old mako reactor?

His mother.

Riou sat at the entrance of a separate room, panting but grinning. He had escaped the inescapable. And for that, he was proud. He glanced over and saw Tifa's father huddled in the corner. Riou grinned and waved.

"Hey Mr. Lockheart!" he said. "Good to see you're safe."

Mister Lockheart looked over at him, shaking violently.

"None of us are safe. Sephiroth will kill us all."

Riou looked at him and shook his head. The fire had driven him insane. Poor man…

Riou stood up and looked in the room he was in front of. There were pods in rows, and separating the room into two halves was a staircase. Riou walked up a little to see what the sign at the top of the stairs said.

"Jenova." Riou read aloud. "Weird…"

The boy shrugged and walked into the room. It was dark, with an eerie green glow. Riou looked around while walking and saw an iron maiden-like thing. It looked sort of like an angel, only it had a black and white mask. Riou stared, wide-eyed at it.

"Mother…" he said, walking toward it. "I've come to free you, mother…"

Riou reached out to the metallic maiden. He was going to rip it off. He had to. He had to free-

Riou shook his head violently, staring at the metallic false angel. That thing was evil, and he knew it. Without really knowing why, he took the mask from the statue. It revealed an expressionless woman's face which was much creepier than his (although he didn't know it) soon permanent accessory. Riou shuddered and stuffed the mask in the pocket of his hoody.

Riou walked out of the odd room, past the creepy pods, and into the boiler-like room he had ran into Tifa's father in. He found Mr. Lockheart standing against the wall, eyes closed, arms folded.

"Hey, you alright?" Riou said, putting his arm on the man's shoulder.

Mr. Lockheart dropped to his knees, then to the floor. He lay sprawled out, and began bleeding profusely. Riou shrieked in horror. Then he heard laughter. He looked up and saw Sephiroth, the Masamune dripping with Mr. Lockheart's blood. Riou backed up against the wall as the Dark Wing jumped in front of him. Sephiroth raised his blade and held it in front of Riou's neck.

"Now, boy, I'll kill you."

Sephiroth shot forward, but Riou had already moved onto a pipe and had ran up the stairs.

"Damn…" Sephiroth muttered. "He's fast."

Sephiroth's eyes widened as he felt a cold he had never experienced before, and turned around, hearing Jenova call to him. Sephiroth walked into the room, and climbed the stairs. The boy could wait.

Mother was waiting.

(Part Eleven)

Riou stepped out of the door. The Lifestream and the endless field of doors, as well as Zack himself, were all beginning to fade away. Said Doorkeeper ran a hand through his hair and clapped the unusually silent young man.

"You're about to wake up." Zack said. Riou nodded, having guessed this already; he felt his scars returning slowly, and he felt his mask materializing, though it wasn't visible.

"I hope you're not too hurt about finding the truth out this way." Zack said sympathetically. Riou grinned.

"Nah. I've never really liked what I thought was my childhood…" he said. "Too many inconsistencies, y'know?"

Zack nodded, now completely transparent.

"Most of the people whose cases are like these are the same way." He was now no more than a shadow. "Cloud's just too stupid to notice things like that." Zack was now a floating pair of eyes.

"Le gasp!" Riou cried, pointing and suddenly adopting a French accent. "It iz ze Crimson Ki-"

"No. More. Stephen. King." Zack said. "Ever."

Riou's mask returned to his face and he felt himself lifting.

"Do you understand why I've shown you this, Riou?"

Riou nodded.

"Because-"

(Part Twelve)

Riou shot up just as Vincent, Cloud and Rasputin were about to leave the room and join the others outside.

"-I needed to know!" Riou belted out. The other three turned around as he waved and shouted "Hey guys!"

"Riou!" Rasputin yelled.

"What'd I miss?"

The sound of a gunshot was his answer. Everyone turned toward the door, and Vincent looked back at the masked youth.

"Looks like you woke up just in time."

(Part Thirteen)

Luna stood amidst a ring of creatures, her gun held to her shoulder. Moments earlier, Tifa had snuck to a provisions room to find goods. She thought it was worth a shot, yet now it didn't seem too dandy of an idea. Yes. I said dandy.

"Tifa! You owe me your firstborn!"

At this point, the three men, who had heard this from through the door, turned to Cloud, who went red at the face.

"….What!?"

(Part Fourteen)

Luna fired a shot of her giant gun, causing a small explosion. A dent was created in the horde, but not enough to get to a secure room. Tifa held out a materia.

"Gravity!"

A dark hole appeared in the center of the horde, and many of them were flung to the walls. A few exploded on impact on the wall. A gap was created, and Luna had created a path with her gun. Tifa grabbed the younger girl's arm.

"Hurry!"

Tifa dragged Luna through, narrowly avoiding the lunges made by the dead men and women. Panting and sweating, they ran into the center of the closing clear space. They were surrounded.

"Luna…" Tifa said. "Sorry isn't going to cut it, is it?"

Luna grinned.

"Nope…not this time."

A creature lunged, and Tifa roundhouse kicked its head off.

"Well, that wasn't so bad." she said. "Maybe we-"

"The rest will attack in a group."

"Oh. Well, thanks for that, Luna."

Luna growled as the rest jumped.

"Goodbye, Teef."

A woman was three inches away from Luna's face, mouth open, eyes glazed.

"Goodbye, Luna."

The zombie hit the ground, its skull crushed, blood leaking out in a green puddle. Riou kneeled, warhammer stuck in the ground. Rasputin and Vincent were shooting madly, and Cloud was spinning his sword in a wide arc. Riou looked up, and despite his mask, everyone knew he was grinning.

"Sorry, ladies, but no one puts their mouth on Luna but me."

Raz, without a hesitation in his shots, hit Riou with his pistol, knocking him back into a few of the zombies, causing them to be knocked into the range of Vincent.

He happily took them out as well.

"You really think we'd let them all kill you?" Cloud asked

Rasputin grinned as he shot another man.

"I'm hurt you'd think that." he said.

"We must get them into the room, quickly." Vincent said. Cloud nodded and grabbed Tifa with his free arm.

"Be quick!" he screamed, and they ran toward the door, sword in front of them.

They tore through the crowd, creatures coming apart as they ran, until they reached the door. Then, they stopped. Cloud pried the door open, shoved Tifa inside, then ducked in himself. The door slammed shut. From across the room, Rasputin cursed.

"Riou, the door's jamming itself!" A gunshot. "Grab Luna and go! Vincent and I'll be fine!"

Riou nodded and went to grab Luna. The girl shrieked and slapped him.

"Not on your life, freak!" she cried. Vincent appeared behind her, grabbed her around the waist, and jumped toward the door. Riou stood, shocked.

"Not even in a life-or-death situation. This is ridiculous."

He swung his warhammer and killed another zombie, then bolted to the door.

"C'mon Raz, hurry!" he shouted. Rasputin shot until he was out of ammo, then ran to the door with everyone else.

Vincent was trying as hard as he could to pry open the door, but, as it always is in a situation like this, the door was stuck. Luna was shooting at the oncoming zombies, and Riou was swinging his warhammer like a madman. Rasputin jumped over several of the remaining people to rejoin the group.

"Vincent." Rasputin said, reloading. "Hurry up."

Vincent ignored him and pulled again. It didn't budge.

Riou replaced his warhammer with his wakizashis, no longer simply swinging but fighting like he was trained. Luna was out of ammo for her great cannon-like gun That left Rasputin and Riou to fight, and Vincent to try the door.

"Riou!" Vincent grunted, pulling the door again. "Help me!"

Four more shots, and four more people went down. They wouldn't be able to keep this up.

Riou sheathed his swords and ran to Vincent and, after positioning himself so that he could get a grip, began pulling. The door budged maybe an inch. One mako blue eye of Cloud's could be seen.

"Guys!" he yelled. "Come on, hurry!"

Rasputin and Luna were against a wall, both out of ammunition, and the horde was moving in. Riou and Vincent pulled from the outside as Tifa and Cloud pulled from the inside. The door moved slowly, and soon there was just enough room for a man to get in.

"Hurry!" Riou shouted. "Luna, go!"

She didn't have to be told twice. She threw her gun into the opening, then she herself side-stepped into the room quickly, panting. Next to go was Riou, who tripped and hit his face on the wall. The zombies were close enough to smell now.

Rasputin pushed Riou into the room while calling him an idiot. Vincent let go of the door and did a one-handed cartwheel into the room, firing three shots before the door slammed shut.

So there they were, Cloud, Tifa, Vincent, Luna, Riou and Rasputin, panting like crazy, sweating, and alive. They were all in the room less than a minute when Cid and Red were on the monitor.

"Yer alive!" Cid screamed, elated, as Red wore a grin like none he ever had before. "Damn, I thought you were all goners!"

"Where are you two, anyway?" Cloud panted, starring at the screen.

"We're in the maintenance room." Red replied. "Cid decided to call his crew in Rocket Town, and this is the only working phone."

"And?" Rasputin asked.

"Most of 'em are dead or livin' dead." Cid said. "But three of my most able-bodied men're alive and well. Rufus and the Turks are gone for a while, and I don't know where, so I suggest you guys try an' split."

"We're surrounded, Cid." Vincent put in. Cid nodded.

"Yer gunna have to stock up and go quick. I gotta go now. Se ya'll later."

With that, the transmission ended. The group sat, exhausted, for a few minutes. Then, Luna broke the silence.

"There's zombie juice on my gun…" she whined. Rasputin scoffed.

"Must you be such a woman?" he asked, meaning to lighten the air around them. It was catastrophic. Luna pointed her gun at him.

"Hey, at least I killed some." she growled. "And what have you two done?"

Before Rasputin could defend himself, Riou stood up and poked Luna in the sternum.

"Listen missy," he said angrily, "I've done a heck of a lot more you, toting around a gun and preaching about a cure that doesn't even exist!"

Luna recoiled as if slapped, her eyes wide, but Rasputin wasn't one to let things go.

"We both just saved your sorry ass a minute ago," he said. "and I've already fought Sephiroth twice! Don't get on that train of thought, Luna, because it's out of fuckin' steam!"

Rasputin drew his gun. Cloud and Vincent went to stop him, but both stopped in their tracks as he pointed at the vent. The silver-haired man shot the corners of it, and the grate fell off. Rasputin jumped into it and stormed off. The vents were large enough to for him to walk with the slightest bend of the neck. Riou ran after him.

After a minute of stunned silence, Luna slammed down her gun and began crying. Tifa walked over to her, but the younger girl pushed her away. Tifa sighed and touched the back of her head. When she pulled her fingers back, she saw blood.

"Hey," Cloud said, "let's get that checked out."

(Part Fifteen)

Sephiroth stood in the desert prison of former-Corel, pacing and growling, amidst an field of dead bodies. He had a look of sheer hatred and slight puzzlement on his face.

"Why…" he growled. "Why would he save me? Damn you, Valentine, why?"

He looked over and saw a figure walking toward him, horribly burnt and incredibly skinny. The man bleared at him and spoke deliriously.

"B…" Dyne chocked. "Barret?"

Sephiroth grabbed him around the throat and threw the new stranger into an open solitary confinement chamber. Dyne hit the wall with a 'thunk' and the door closed, leaving him in darkness. Sephiroth began walking away.