Author's Note: I do not own Final Fantasy or anything affiliated with it. The rights to it belong solely to their respective owners.

Ch.9 Monsters

The instant Bahamut glared down at us I drew Potentia, ready to fight and defeat this summon as well. Zack was a little more hesitant, but eventually did the same. Bahamut roared before flying at us, claws extended. It swung at me and I ducked, rolling forward and coming to fight while also drawing one of my guns. I fired a trio of shots and they bounced off of the beast's hardened scales, although the force of the hits did cause it to growl in pain. Zack cast Fira and hit the summon with a ball of fire, but it only inflicted half the damage. He tried the same thing Thunder and Blizzard, but Bahamut appeared resistant to those too. I frowned. Okay, offensive magic was out. I cast Barrier and created a small dome of light around us that would help to block physical attacks, and charged.

Bahamut snarled and used Lightning Bolt, firing just that at me. I dodged and the bolt hit the ground, exploding and leaving a smoking dent in the ground. Zack ran up and jumped, slashing Bahamut on his left arm. He bared his fangs and used that are to hit Zack in mid-air, sending him flying. Zack flipped over in midair and landed on his feet, skidding back a few feet. I could see his body glowed as a Limit Break occurred, and Zack said "Okay, take this!" From overhead a mirage of a helicopter appeared, the mirage firing several very real missiles at the summon. Bahamut roared in pain from the Air Strike, and flew over to one of the smaller floating rocks. Now out of our reach, the dragon cast Laser Orbs and sent a volley of energy spheres at us.

I aimed my gun and fired at three, causing them to explode in mid-air. Zack cast Thunder and blasted another one, while the remaining two slammed against our Barriers. I gritted my teeth and focused on forcing the spells to hold. It worked, even though I could feel my strength depleting as a result. Bahamut flew back in range of attack and I fired, aiming for the same spots I had fired at before. These bullets were deflected as well, but the gunfire gave Zack the opening he needed. He charged and slashed at Bahamut, giving it a long cut along its right leg. The beast snarled and swung at him, his claws hitting the Barrier. I tried to keep it alive but the Bahamut's physical strength was just too great. Cracks appeared in the barrier and spread, spider-webbing faster as Bahamut pushed.

The Barrier spell shattered with the sound of breaking glass, and Zack jumped back to avoid being torn to ribbons. The dragon pursued him and I put my sword away, drawing my other gun. I aimed for its wings and fired, tearing through the flesh and causing Bahamut to stop. It howled in pain and turned to me, casting both Lightning Bolt and Laser Orbs. My eyes widened but then I could feel a Limit Break coming forth, and I smiled. I put away my guns and drew my sword, springing forward. "Octaslash!" I called. I dodged the Lightning Bolt and swung eight times with fluid ease, cutting through the Laser Orbs and hitting Bahamut with the final cut. The blow hit it in the chest and Bahamut glared. Now I had pissed it off.

Bahamut roared before flying upwards, going up... up... and up until it was almost beyond sight. I could see trails of blue energy begin to gather in its damaged wings. That energy flowed into its mouth, which it opened wide. Finally that energy exploded in a blast that enveloped the summon, and it drew in that energy as well into a single orb of light. Once the charging of the attack was complete Bahamut fired it back down at us, unleashing Megaflare. My eyes widened and I called "Zack, take cover!" I cast MBarrier and held my sword over my head. There was no way to dodge the Megaflare. It hit the ground and exploded, hitting me and Zack with wave after wave of power. I tried to hold my ground but was sent flying. I landed on my back and the back of my head slammed against the ground.

Black spots danced in front of my vision, and I groaned at the headache quickly forming. Zack was able to hold his ground by stabbing his sword into the dirt, and once the Megaflare was finally over he cast Cure on me. My body glowed with healing light before the headache faded, and I was able to stand. Bahamut had flown back down and cast Lightning Bolt at the both of us, and I just barely rolled to the side. Zack cast Thunder and the two spells met in midair, pushing before Zack cast another Thunder and overpower Bahamut's spell. The dragon grunted in surprise, and then pain when the two spells hit it in the center of the chest. I put away my guns and drew my sword, saying "Zack! Let's finish this!" He nodded and we both charged. Holding our blades high.

Bahamut used Laser Orbs and sent another volley of sphere at us, but we cut through them and the MBarrier deflected what ones we missed. We came close and both jumped. I swung Potentia and gave Bahamut a long cut from stem to sternum, while Zack leaped even higher and came down, stabbing the summon on the neck. It roared and clawed at him, but Zack let go of his sword and dropped back to the ground. It tried to snarl at him, but when it did the sound came our gurgled and blood leaked from the sides of its mouth. The beast was rapidly losing blood, and fell forward onto the ground. It looked at us and tried to cast one more Lightning Bolt when I stabbed Potentia between its eyes, and they rolled up into its head. Bahamut went limp and its head fell to the ground, dead.

I pulled my sword out and Zack did the same, both of us wiping the blades of blood. Bahamut;s body faded and left behind a pair of summon materia, which we pocketed. That made two summon monsters we controlled now. The landscape around us turned white before fading back to that of Banora, with Genesis standing before us. I glared at him, and Zack said "Summons aren't meant to be used like this! What happened to dreams and honor?" I nodded in agreement. Genesis turned away and back walking, and I called "Hey! Don't you turn away from us!" I took a step forward, but then he spread his right arm, from beneath his coat a black wing burst forth. I froze, my eyes widening as I muttered "Whoa..." "We are... monsters. We have neither dreams nor honor," Genesis declared, before jumping into the air.

He flapped his wing and rose above the village, flying away. Zack stared into the sky where he had been. "SOLDIER... doesn't mean monster," he said resolutely. I nodded, but wasn't so sure. I knew that Shinra created SOLDIER by giving exposing them to raw mako, the planet's lifeblood. Such a thing shouldn't ever be tampered with, and if SOLDIERs were made by forcing them to come into contact with such a mysterious force... I shook my head. What was happening now was different. Mako didn't make a person sprout wings. Just then we heard the sound of a helicopter, and looked up to see one above us. Tseng was on it and dropped down a ladder, which the two of us used to climb on. Once Zack and I were strapped in the chopper flew away, while I heard the sound of approaching airplanes.

I frowned. I hated propaganda and smear jobs, and that's exactly what this air strike was- eliminating evidence. I had been too focused on saving Angeal's mother to think about it before, but now that we were no longer fighting I had time to question it. I knew that I had no choice when I became Turk operative, but still. How could this be right? I watched as the entire village and every Banora White tree burned to the ground, a single dumbapples being burnt to a crisp. "Angeal..." I heard Zack say next to me. I felt the same- why had Angeal done what he did? So many question and thoughts were flying around my brain, and none of them would abide. As the helicopter flew away I closed my eyes, hoping that at least the oblivion of sleep would help clear my thoughts.

After our mission in Banora, Zack and I's lives returned to normal. Or at least, as normal as they had been after Angeal left. During that time the final stages of the war on Wutai occurred, and the war ended with Shinra, predictably, winning it all. Wutai was open for mako excavation, and there was no one to stop them. I had heard though that after all their efforts Shinra wasn't going to build any reactors there after all, and the place was simply going to become a tourist attraction. When I first heard that I had been furious- all of those lives had been lost, and for what? Nothing, that's what. Nothing new was reported on Angeal, and with each passing day my hope began to fade. Angeal had gone so far as to kill his own family. What had happened to the man I had respected, and maybe even admired somewhat?

Could he even be saved? Whenever I asked Zack that question he would always reply that it was possible, but I wasn't so sure. Not only was my hope starting to die, but in its wakes I began having the strangest of dreams. One in particular, which I had just the night after Banora, stood out among the rest.

I saw myself, Zack, and some guy that was dressed as a 1st but with spiky blonde hair. I looked closer, and gasped when I saw who it was. It was Cloud, one of the few friends I had made when I lived in Nibelheim. But from what I had heard, he never made it to 1st Class. Why was he dressed like that now? Either way, he was lying on the ground some distance away, while Zack and I stood back to back, swords raised. We were standing near the edge of what looked like a cliff, while from every other angle there were Shinra army troops as far as the eye could see. My dream self smirked, saying "Think you can handle this many?" Zack snickered. "Well, it might get tough if any more show up," he joked. My dream self rolled his eyes. "Well, then lets take care of them before they do," he said. My dream self nodded, and they both charged as the army troops opened fire.

I couldn't decide what the dream was about, but it had been so real. What if it wasn't just a dream? I used to think that visions and stuff like that were crazy, but once I learned that I could cast magic without materia the paradigm glass has shifted. But why would Zack and I, loyal employees of Shinra, be hunted down by them? And why was Cloud with us? More and more questions kept appearing everyday, none of which I had the answers to. One day I had just gotten back from, and I received a call from Lazard. I was hoping that it would be about Angeal and I could finally get some answers, but the next eight words he said sucked that hope right out of me. "Jace, Professor Hojo is in the training room," he said.

I froze stiff and my expression hardened. Of the few people I hated, Hojo was without doubt one of them. "Yes? And what of it?" I said, not caring to get rid of the venom in my voice. "The Professor is conducting a series of experiments to create a powerful virtual reality monster, one that not even SOLDIER operatives could defeat. And he has personally asked for you to be the one that fights his monster subjects," the SOLDIER Director explained. I said nothing, and after a second he added "Jace, let me make this one thing very clear. You are, under no circumstance, to bring physical harm to the Professor. Is that understood?" I still said nothing, and he repeated "Is that understood?" "...Perfectly," I replied, hanging up before the Director could give me any other assignments I detested.

With great reluctance I walked towards the training room, knocking. The door slid open I walked in. The control area of the training room was filled with scientists in white lab coats, and standing next to the pane of glass that led to the virtual reality area was the man himself. "Hojo," I said. The mad scientist turned to me, smiling. "Ah, Jace Salutare. A pleasant surprise," he said. I curled my hands into fists but held myself back- just the sound of his voice set my blood to boil. "Cut the crap, by four-eyed piece of shit. You wanted me to fight some monsters, right?" I asked. He nodded, scribbling on his clipboard, before pointing to the door with his pen. "Indeed. Not only do I intend to create the most powerful virtual monsters Shinra could offer, but this will also give me a chance to observe your progress on maturing your... 'abilities'," he said, smirking.

I glared at Hojo before slowly turning and walking past the door, entering the training area. I pulled Potentia from its heath and waited. Slowly the room turned white as the digital landscape was uploaded, and the room took on the appearance of a street from the middle of Midgar. In front of me was what looked like a Behemoth, but I could see from the way it moved that it was smarter, could move faster, and was most likely going to be a lot tougher. I looked to my left, knowing that Hojo could see me. I pointed at the Behemoth and mouthed a single word. "You," I said. Then I turned back to the virtual beast, and raised my sword. It roared at me, and we both charged.

Banora has over, and now we get to have a little taste of just how much Jace hates Hojo. But why is that? That question will be answered next chapter!

Please review! If you flame me Liam Neeson will look for you, he will find you, and he will kill you. (I'm just kidding... or am I?)