A/N: Hey guys! Happy Sunday! :D

Fun-packed chapter ahead. This one's even a bit longer than the past ones have been. :D Thanks for your continued support!

As expected, Kunsel was waiting for me in the briefing room. Though it had been a while since I had played Crisis Core, I did vaguely remember this. In the center of the room was a large V-shaped table, lined with chairs. A computer monitor was in front of each chair, and in front of the V was a large screen; I suspected whatever was projected on that screen showed up on each individual monitor as well.

The SOLDIER was sitting at the bottom of the V, which was probably where the Director typically sat. The room was deserted; all of the screens were dark.

"You made it," Kunsel said, turning when he heard the door slide open.

"Sorry if I made you wait," I replied.

He shook his head. "Don't worry about it. Here, take a look." He messed with the computer in front of him for a second, and the screen lit up.

I leaned over his shoulder to observe. He seemed to be on some sort of company program, because the red Shinra insignia was clearly displayed in the top left corner of the screen. There were a bunch of dates and times on the left side of the screen, while the right side seemed to have places and descriptions. Some kind of itinerary or something?

"This is your schedule for this week," Kunsel explained. "Normally it's not like this, but newly-minted Thirds go through a sort of probationary period. You're gonna be pretty busy, especially since you're not familiar with military customs and courtesies."

"What, like salutes and stuff?"

He grinned. "That's right. Wait till you see it—there's a whole book of rules you have to study. Most of us learned all of that as cadets in the infantry. It's one of the first things you're taught."

"Fun." I grimaced, rubbing the back of my neck. That just sounded awful. I was probably gonna forget stuff and make an idiot out of myself, too.

We spent the next ten minutes or so going over the schedule just to make sure I understood everything. It looked like I had a lot of training scheduled...I was going to be beat by the end of the week. At least I had a few materia classes thrown in there, though. There was something I'd actually be interested in learning about.

He also showed me how to log in to the company computers—they had their own network, and every employee was given a specific username and password to access their personal documents. I was issued a company cell phone (though he called it a handset, and I remembered the game using the term PHS) and shown how to set it up. It was possible to read company news and even sign up for missions using a phone, which was pretty neat.

After that I was given a tour of the SOLDIER floor. I was already somewhat familiar with the general layout; it was very similar to its Crisis Core representation, though definitely more extensive. There were several meeting rooms other than the main briefing room I had met him with, offices, the VR training room (I couldn't wait to see what that was like) and a large lounge area.

The western end of the floor was dominated by barracks that were divided by rank—Seconds had just a bit more living space than the Thirds, while those lucky enough to be in First Class pretty much had their own apartments. I guess if you could kick that much ass, you deserved it, anyway.

"I guess the Director was having trouble figuring out where to set you up," Kunsel remarked as we passed the barracks. "There was never really a rule against women joining SOLDIER; it just hadn't been done. Anyway, we don't have designated women's barracks, but there're spare rooms adjacent to the Second Class barracks."

He came to a stop as we entered a new hallway—all of the doors on the left hand side were rooms used by Second Class SOLDIERs. We took a right turn down a new hallway, one that connected the barracks to the lounge. The spare rooms were in this hall.

Kunsel paused at a door marked 26A.

"We've been using these for storage," he explained. "This room should be all cleared out, though. Sorry if it's a little dusty." He gestured to the lock, where there was a small slot for a card key. I realized that my Shinra ID could be used here.

Please don't be a closet, I thought, bracing myself for the worst as I turned the knob.

I breathed a sigh of relief when the door opened to reveal a relatively normal looking room. It was very small, yes—it reminded me of some college dorms I'd seen—but it was tolerable enough. The walls and floor were bare. Against the right wall was a single bed; the mattress lacked any blankets or sheets. Next to the bed was a small dresser with a lamp on it. There was a desk in one corner of the room as well. A door in the top left corner of the room led to a tiny bathroom, complete with a toilet, sink, and a stand-up shower that was about as spacious as a coffin.

...Okay, so it was probably the most claustrophobic room I'd ever seen, but I wasn't going to whine. A private bathroom and a bed to sleep in...somewhere to retreat to. Well, it was better than nothing. I had a feeling I was going to be antisocial and hide in here quite a bit.

After that, Kunsel and I parted ways. I reported to a meeting room on the third floor for a grueling three-hour company orientation that had me just about ready to kill myself, after which I returned to the Weyland to get my things and check out.

By that night, I was all moved in, and my real stay at Shinra HQ began.

"That'll do for today, SOLDIERs. Dismissed."

Everyone broke formation, dispersing. Some of them mingled and chatted for a minute with their buddies, while others were eager to leave and get some rest. I had a distinct lack of buddies, so I fell into the latter category.

Before leaving, I hesitated for a second, glancing over at our commanding officer—Lieutenant Angeal Hewley. It had been a bit of a shock to see him on the first day I'd reported for training, though I guess I was bound to encounter the man at one point or another.

Though I hadn't spoken to him personally, he struck me as someone who really had his shit together. As a superior he was very fair; he expected the best from everyone, but his demands were never over-the-top. He somehow managed to be stern and encouraging at the same time. After being so used to a hardass like Kratos, adapting to Angeal's training was simple enough.

Word of my entry into SOLDIER had spread like wildfire. I knew Angeal had noticed the obvious fact that I was the female SOLDIER everyone had been talking about, but he never addressed me directly or spoke to me after training was finished.

Unexpectedly, I found myself reminded of Regal—and this fostered a genuine respect for the man, because Angeal seemed to understand people well enough to protect me. He wasn't speaking to me because that could be construed as special treatment—the entire reason why I was detested as a whole. The first female SOLDIER, hired from outside the company when generally people entered the program via internal promotions...I didn't like it, but I could understand their resentment. The men didn't believe that it was because I was strong, so they were speculating on all sorts of reasons why I had been hired. Their favorite so far seemed to be that I was screwing one of the executives.

Either way, my only friend right now was Kunsel, and I only saw him every now and then. Genesis had been deployed to Wutai, I heard. I had been trying my best to keep up with the news on the war, hoping against hope that he wouldn't desert this time.

Two Thirds walked past me, glancing my way and then snickering. I broke my gaze away from Angeal, shaking my head with irritation. They probably thought I wanted to get in bed with him, too. I kind of wished they could be a little more creative with their insults; I mean, the sexual stuff was starting to get old already.

Not all of the guys insulted me, I found. It was just a few groups, and I found myself learning their names and faces pretty quickly. The rest weren't openly rude to me, but they avoided speaking to me, probably to avoid harassment from the others. This was just among the Thirds—the Seconds pretty much ignored me as a whole. But then again, they mostly ignored all of the Thirds, so that wasn't too bad.

I sheathed Kerberos, turning and heading out of the training area. Thankfully a certain amount of customization was allowed with our gear; since my blade was pretty close to the size and shape of the regulation SOLDIER swords, I was allowed to use it. Of course, if I ever became a First, I could use whatever the hell weapon I wanted. First Class could pretty much neglect all the weapon and armor standards they wanted as long as they kept being badass. Not that I'd ever make First; even if I magically found the strength to pull it off, I'd never want to attract that much attention.

Sighing, I pulled out my phone and checked the schedule. Materia training was next. The room for that was down the hall a ways and to the left—

Suddenly I hit something hard, swearing as I dropped the phone. It clattered to the floor but thankfully didn't break. Frowning, I glanced up to see a very familiar face sneering down at me.

"Maybe you should watch where you're going, babe," he said, shoving his hands in his pockets and standing too close for comfort. I backed off, glaring.

Meet Jace. Jace and his two douchey friends, Brad and Todd, had been my personal nightmares for the past week. They were the star players in this fun little drama; it seemed like they instigated everything, and the others just went along with it.

"Well? Come on, not even going to apologize?"

"What a bitch," Brad snorted.

It was useless trying to talk to these oafs, so I just ignored them and bent down to pick up my phone.

Jace stepped back in an exaggerated hurry. "Whoa, there, hun—I know that works with the Director, but I don't take favors from trashy girls. Sorry to disappoint."

I felt my stomach clench, and forced my face into a blank slate as I snatched the phone and drew up to my full height again. They always went to every length to humiliate me, and it usually worked. My face was going to turn red—whether from anger or embarrassment or both, I didn't know, and it didn't matter. The minute I showed any outward weakness, they were going to close in like a pack of wolves.

So, as usual, I ignored them and walked past. They shouted insults at my back, and I kept walking.

Once I was safely out of their range, I let out a shaky sigh. I was gonna have to think of a way to deal with those guys soon.

Honestly, I didn't care what people thought of me here. I wasn't trying to make friends or fit in; I just wanted to find a way to get out of this mess as soon as possible. If I was stuck in SOLDIER, then I was going to take advantage of it and find a way to use Shinra's resources.

Though I didn't care whether or not I was popular, I couldn't deny that this was becoming an issue. Their harassment just kept getting worse, and it was really making my life difficult. Not only that, if I was a complete outcast in SOLDIER, then I would have a lot of trouble accomplishing what I needed to accomplish. It couldn't hurt to have at least a few connections or acquaintances—it was always important to have ways of gathering information, and if I had no friends to hear rumors and goings-on from, then I would be totally in the dark.

Another sigh. I had no idea how to tackle this problem...in school all the adults always used to say the same bullshit—ignore the bullies, because then they'll leave you alone. I had never really been bullied, but I knew what I had seen, and that whole strategy was complete bullshit. People like that never gave up. They'd just keep pushing and pushing until one day the kid snapped and either killed themselves or walked into the school with a gun.

Obviously I wasn't going to let it come to any extremes. But what was I supposed to do, anyway?

I had arrived at my next destination. Time to push aside those thoughts for later. Hopefully I'd figure out something soon, because I wasn't sure if I could handle another week of this stupidity...

Day ten.

Life at Shinra Headquarters was starting to become routine, which was a little scary. I had completed my probationary period and tomorrow, apparently, was going to be my first real mission. Of course I had done a few simulated missions in the training room (the virtual reality was crazy awesome), but this was going to be the real deal—the start of my SOLDIER work. Kunsel would be accompanying me, so I was actually kind of looking forward to it. It was getting stuffy in here with guys leering at me all the time.

Thankfully, today I was off duty; I was free to do what I wanted to prepare for tomorrow's mission. This morning I had cashed my first paycheck and gone down to Midgar to purchase some necessities, and it had actually been nice. Might as well make the best of a bad situation, right? At least I had money—I had barely even made a dent in my pay from that Zolom disaster mission.

Now it was afternoon and I was a little bored. Wandering the SOLDIER floor wasn't exactly a good idea; I knew Jace's cronies were out on missions today, but Jace himself didn't need backup when he was in the mood to be an asshole. Kunsel was exterminating some monsters in the slums and wouldn't be back for another hour or so, and Genesis was still in Wutai. There was no one to see and nothing to do and I was bored, dammit. And when I was bored, I was bound to start brooding.

Maybe I'd go take a look at the training room. I didn't know how to set up the simulation mechanism myself, but I could always hope that someone would be there that did. A lot of the time there were technicians tinkering with and adjusting the system, and they were always up for having someone around to test it out.

My mind made up, I headed over to the room. Shit, if there was no one in there, I was going to find someone who knew how to operate the controls. I was not going to brood in my room-closet for the rest of the day, that was for sure.

I realized my mistake the second I had walked up to the door to the training room's antechamber, but by then it was too late—the automatic door slid open and the sound gave away my presence, causing the teenager standing at the controls to tense.

It was impossible not to recognize that spiky black hairdo, even from behind. I almost walked out, my heart leaping into my throat, but for better or worse I stood my ground.

Zack stood frozen for a moment. Then he laughed nervously, holding his hands up and glancing over his shoulder. "Uh, Angeal, it's not what you—huh?"

His brilliant blues met mine. And wow—those had to be the first SOLDIER eyes I really liked. Looking at his eyes was like looking at the sky on a cloudless day; they were cheery and bright. For a moment I wondered if Zack's eyes had been blue before the mako treatments, but then I remembered who I was looking at and forced myself to clear my mind.

The guilty look on his face faded, replaced by a hesitant grin. "Oh, uh, sorry. I thought you were someone else." Then he paused, his brow furrowing as he looked me up and down. After a second, his eyes widened with sudden realization, and his face lit up with excitement. "Hold on, are you—you are! You're that recruit! Man, so it's true...a girl SOLDIER!"

He grinned, stepping forward and practically thrusting his hand in my face. "SOLDIER Second Class Zack Fair, at your service!"

I stared at him stupidly for a moment before remembering to shake his hand. "...Nice to meet you."

Zack Fair. I had just shaken a dead man's hand.

Only he wasn't dead, he was right here in the flesh. He was...wow. I just couldn't believe it. That smile...so lively and infectious, just the way I had imagined.

He tilted his head, leaning forward and looking amused. "You've got a name too, right?"

"Brittany Furness," I managed to reply, cracking a small smile through the shock.

"Brittany..." he tried the name out, looking thoughtful. Then his excitement came back, and he bounced eagerly on the balls of his feet. "Hey, we should do a practice mission! I've never met a girl that could fight with a sword like that. I was just trying to figure out how to work this—here, give me a sec..."

He returned to fiddling with the machine for a second, before huffing in frustration. "Angeal always makes it look so easy..."

I remained silent for the moment, just staring at his back. I knew I should probably say something, but I just couldn't trust my voice right now. He was young...still a Second. My guess was seventeen or eighteen. I was older than the heroic Zack Fair? That was hard to fathom. I knew the kid I saw now wasn't the same as the man who died protecting Cloud...at least, not yet. But it was hard not tosee that man when I looked at him.

You're going to die, I thought, feeling sick. Shinra is going to use you and then gun you down when they're finished.

This was horrible. How could I ignore it when he was standing right in front of me? I needed to get out of here. I couldn't let Zack worm his way into my heart, not when he was practically entrenched already.

"Oh! Here we go!" The teen grinned and finally punched in a few commands, and I saw through the observation window that the training room's virtual reality system had been activated.

Zack gestured for me to follow him, grinning all the while. What excuse could I come up with to leave at this point? It was stupid—it wasn't like I could avoid him forever. So I bit my tongue and followed him into the room.

As with most of the simulations, the change was instant—it was almost like stepping outside. One minute I was in Shinra HQ, and the next I was in a downtown area of Midgar.

...Hold on, I knew this place. I could see the Weyland from here—this was near the entertainment district and LOVELESS Avenue. We were in a small plaza with a fountain, not far from the front steps of the Shinra building.

"...Aw, man..." After a minute of looking around, Zack rubbed the back of his neck. "I thought I set it right...there's supposed to be monsters here." He took out his phone and flipped it open, frowning for a second. Then he cheered up a little. "Oh, I think I just messed up on the encounter rate. Let's look around for a sec."

Encounter rate? I almost snorted; it sounded like he was talking about random battles.

We started walking down the steps near the fountain and towards the road the Weyland was on. I glanced around, not seeing anything.

"You're pretty quiet, aren't you?" Zack said after a moment, practically squirming with discomfort at my silence.

Nope, I'm just too busy fighting an inner battle to have a conversation with you, bud. Still, it was hard not to laugh at his expression.

"...I guess," I said, shrugging, not betraying any of my thoughts.

He frowned, but then seemed to perk up a little. "Hey, I know! While we're looking around, why don't you tell me how you got in to SOLDIER? I heard the Turks picked you up. You must be pretty tough if you got their attention, right?"

It was really hard to bring Zack down, that much was obvious. Here I was being a stick in the mud, and he was still bouncing around happily like a hyperactive little kid. I kept fighting to keep myself detached, but it was pretty much impossible not to like him.

Now it was my turn to squirm. I didn't like getting too much attention—I had refrained from even putting on my Exsphere since I had gotten the treatments, since I was afraid of what the results might be. I mean, there was the possibility it'd affect my body in a negative way, but I was more concerned with the impacts on my strength. If I really did become as strong as a First, the Science Department would be after me no matter what deal I had made with Tseng. They'd want to know what made me tick.

"...I'm not that strong," I finally said. "I mean...they were impressed that I killed a strong monster without enhancements, but it really wasn't as big a deal as you think."

He raised his eyebrows, clearly on the edge of his figurative seat. "So you killed a monster, huh? What was it?"

"A Midgar Zolom." I tried to play it off casually, averting my gaze, but my words stopped Zack in his tracks.

"What?" He gaped. "You killed a Zolom? Without mako enhancements? No way!"

"I just got lucky!" I protested, backpedaling. "There was no way I could've killed it normally—it just gave me the opportunity when it tried to swallow me, and I stabbed it through the roof of its mouth. It was a last-ditch..." I trailed off when I saw that my words were having the opposite effect.

Zack's eyes were wide to the point of it being comical. "Wait, hold on. It tried to swallow you? You stabbed it—that's awesome!"

"...It's not..." I attempted feebly, but it was too late. That grin was back.

"Man, I never would've thought...I've got to see you fight now. This'll be great!"

I gave up, sighing, and followed him through the streets of the simulated Midgar. Maybe I'd just be better off keeping my mouth shut; I seemed to be digging myself in deeper with every word I uttered.

A few minutes passed with no results. It was strange seeing Midgar deserted, but that was just part of the simulation. It did at least make it easier to detect any potential enemies. We weren't having much luck right now, though.

"I know there's at least some..." Zack grumbled. "Okay, another minute. If that doesn't work, I'll abort the mission and we can fix the settings. But jeez, I don't think there's even a 'no monsters' setting on the sim..."

I didn't offer a reply, just frowning slightly and looking out over the city. I wasn't surprised, anyway; Zack hadn't seemed to know what he was doing from the get-go. He probably wasn't even supposed to be using this room, from his initial reaction to my arrival.

"So, uh...where're you from?" Damn, he was trying to make conversation again.

"...Mideel," I replied. It was kind of true.

"Mideel, huh..." He looked thoughtful for a second. "That's...to the south, right?"

"That's right."

"Sounds kinda backwater," he offered with a light grin. I shrugged, and his grin fell.

His expression was crushing my heart into a million tiny guilty pieces. Honestly, he fit the puppy role to a T. And right now, he was giving me a kicked-puppy look. He was trying so damn hard just to get me to crack a smile and come out of my shell, and I got the impression that he'd resort to any number of goofy tactics if it came down to it. Why the hell did he have to be so cute? How could I not laugh or grin at that?

"So hey," he perked up again, apparently thinking of something else. "How about your sword? That isn't SOLDIER-issue. Can I see?"

I drew the blade in reply, holding it up in the light. He whistled in appreciation.

"Looks nice. Custom-made, or did you buy it?"

"Not really sure," I replied hesitantly. "My...my father gave it to me."

"Your dad, huh?" Zack looked back over at me, his eyes full of questions that I probably didn't want to answer. As soon as he opened his mouth, though, the ground rumbled and we both froze.

Then we both saw the looming mass coming around the corner of the nearest building.

"You're kidding me, right...?" I said, staring incredulously.

Behemoth really was a fitting name. This thing was huge. This monster was right up there with Malboros and Zoloms as far as difficult battles went, I remembered that much.

"Uh-oh." Thanks for the confidence boost, Zack.

"Did you set it to 'suicide' difficulty?" I asked dryly.

He started to reach into his pocket for his phone, presumably to abort the mission, but then he paused and glanced at the monster one more time. It was bearing down on us and growling rather threateningly.

Zack looked over at me, suddenly wearing a cocky grin. "You know what? I'm a Second, and you took down a Midgar Zolom. This should be a cinch for us!"

Of course. It wouldn't be like Zack to take the easy way out. Somehow, though, I didn't feel quite as dismayed as I should have. The thought of fighting alongside Zack was too tempting—even if it was against one of these beasts. It was just a simulation, right?

I should have been thinking of ways to avoid associating with him any more, and instead I was raring to go. It was too damn easy to get along with this guy. It took meeting Zack for me to realize just how lonely these past few weeks had been. I needed a friend—a real friend. But I couldn't...

"Here it comes!" Zack said, drawing his own blade as the Behemoth let out a deafening roar.

I pushed those thoughts to the back of my mind and turned my focus to the monster, readying Kerberos. It looked like it was too late to do anything but fight, so I'd might as well enjoy the distraction while I could.

Activating Combat Mode, an automated female voice echoed from somewhere in the chamber, giving me a chill.

"Let's go!" the Second called, having way too much fun with this. I gritted my teeth and shot forward, and together we barreled towards the large beast.

Fighting in the simulations was a strange experience. It was obvious that they were made to replicate battle environments as closely as possible, but there were still some constant reminders of the fabricated nature of the system.

For one thing, pain could only be felt to a certain extent, because injuries acquired in the simulation vanished the moment it ended. The only way I could get a real wound right now would be if Zack were to attack me himself.

For another thing, I knew I couldn't die in here—so even though I was running straight at a Behemoth, I felt not an ounce of fear, only anticipation. If only I could be this brave in every battle.

The monster snarled and raised one huge paw, its claws easily a foot long. Zack immediately dodged out of the way and I followed his lead, ducking beneath the beast's forearm. The Second lashed out with his blade, managing to create a shallow gash in the Behemoth's side. Enraged, it leapt at him, and I had to dive to the side to avoid being trampled.

I rolled once and used the momentum to get back on my feet, sliding backwards a bit. This thing was so big; I didn't want to get within range unless I had a solid plan. Zack seemed perfectly comfortable just plunging in, but I saw immediately that he had a natural instinct for this sort of thing—he didn't even have to think about it, he just moved with the flow of battle.

The ground rumbled with the monster's every move. Okay, maybe I felt a little fear...it was hard not to be nervous to some extent when the simulation was so realistic. It was really hard to tell my brain one thing when my senses were picking up something completely different.

A little fear was good. It kept my heart pumping and my mind clear.

Zack was holding off the beast, his sword locked with its horns. He was strong, but not strong enough to bear the full brunt of the thing's weight; at this rate he was going to get his stomach gouged out. Okay, time to back him up.

There. The Behemoth's flank was unguarded, but I'd have to be mindful of its tail.

Readying Kerberos, I ran at the monster and leapt into the air, twisting to the left and slashing into its tough skin. Then I turned in midair, feeling the tingling heat of magic build up in my sword arm. I let it flow down the length of the blade, charging up my newly revised version of Hell Pyre.

Now I swung the sword in a vicious arc, sending a ball of flames directly into the wound I'd just inflicted. At the last minute I pulled my legs in closer to my body as the beast's tail swung past, missing me by inches. The monster was letting out an angry roar.

"Nice one!" Zack called with a thumbs-up, ducking casually under another claw swipe. I saw a flash as he readied his own materia, and the Behemoth was assaulted with a powerful lightning spell.

One thing I had learned was that some of my old techs were impossible to perform without my Exsphere; this world had its own equivalent of mana, but it wasn't manipulated in quite the same way, so I couldn't just go throwing Demon Fangs left and right like I used to. There was mana in my Exsphere, but I had a feeling it was in limited supply—it'd probably shatter like the unicorn horn if I relied on it. Back on Earth I had avoided using techs altogether.

Since I was so used to my fighting style, lately I had been trying to recreate my artes with the resources I had. I was ecstatic to find that Hell Pyre could be easily replicated with some fire materia, and it was even more powerful this way than it had been before. Now I just needed to find a way to do Hunting Beast, and I was set.

I gasped a little, evading a kick from the monster out of reflex. It growled menacingly and turned around, mouth opening wide with the intent of tearing my head off. Zack thrust his sword in the way and the Behemoth's jaws closed on it. Then ensued a crazy tug-of-war which eventually ended up in Zack getting tossed around like a rag doll. To his credit, the crazy bastard held on.

I couldn't watch this. Scowling, I aimed a Fire spell at the creature's eyes; it wasn't extremely powerful, but the light was enough to cause the monster to lose focus. Zack managed to get grounded again and he ripped his blade free, immediately moving in to slash at the Behemoth's throat. It evaded the move and swiped out a paw, catching us both off guard and throwing us hard into the wall of the nearest building. I felt the bricks crack beneath the impact.

My head was spinning a little, but my mind was surprisingly clear despite the attack I'd just been hit with. Zack and I sported a pair of matching claw marks on our fronts; he pushed himself away from the wall, glancing over at me.

"You okay?"

"Fine," I replied, grimacing slightly. I concentrated for a second and then managed to cast a decent Cure spell on the both of us, already glad I had bought that All materia this morning to use with my Restore materia.

"Thanks," he said, and then the rumbling of the ground caught our attention. "Oh, crap!"

The Behemoth was barreling at us full-speed. Buildings on either side of us made it impossible to dodge—we were cornered. It was immediately obvious how this was going to end. Zack lifted his sword in a defensive pose, bracing himself against the wall behind us, and I copied the gesture even though I knew it was useless. I squeezed my eyes shut, anticipating pain.

It never came. Suddenly everything was deathly silent. I hesitantly cracked one eye open, and was shocked to see the monster frozen, its body mere feet away.

Then it shifted slightly, only to be thrown into the nearest building, its body crumpling as it hit the ground. The monster then lay still.

"Wh-What is this...?!"

That was Zack. My head jerked up, and I turned in time to see the cause of the Behemoth's demise—an extremely long, bloodied katana. Masamune. Which meant...

The shadow with the wicked sword.

Bodies everywhere, littering the streets, a world coated with blood.

Murderous green eyes.

Bile rose in the back of my throat as the nightmares came back in full force, and I was confronted with the source of my fears. He stood tall and intimidating, not a single silver hair out of place.

Sephiroth.

"Careless," the man said, sparing a single glance towards the slain monster. "Taking your eyes off the enemy. Overconfidence will destroy you."

My heart was pounding in my ears. I fought to quell the sudden panic I felt at this man's appearance.

Zack just grimaced at the admonishment, lowering his sword slightly and saying nothing. Sephiroth smirked...and lunged forward.

Oh, shit!

The teen gaped, just barely throwing his sword up in time to block the attack. He was pushed backwards, his feet sliding on the pavement. Then he seemed to regain his composure and his eyes narrowed as he pushed back.

"You're not the only hero!"

Sephiroth didn't budge. He extended his arm and threw Zack off easily, lunging forward to attack again. Zack was on the defensive again, just barely keeping up. Masamune's long range made it impossible for him to retaliate and it was obvious the battle was going to be over in a matter of seconds.

Hold on, the way the General was holding his sword—that was preparation for a killing blow! Panic hit me in full force—Zack was going to die, I couldn't let Sephiroth do this, what the hell was going on, oh god—

I ran at Sephiroth, desperate to stop him from following through. I heard him chuckle and then suddenly he was facing me, those green eyes boring into mine. I remembered myself enough to dodge to the side and Masamune missed me by a hair's breadth.

Zack ran at his exposed back; Sephiroth fended him off easily without even looking at him, and then moved forward to attack me once more.

Fighting Sephiroth was like drowning. The blows just kept coming and every time I tried to find an opening, an opportunity to counterattack or at least breathe, he attacked with renewed force. Silver flashed at me from every angle and those eyes were locked on me, giving me the impression that he knew what I was going to do even before I did, and then I was skewered on Masamune and chucked to the side like a sack of potatoes.

"Brittany!" Zack yelled, and then he ran at Sephiroth as well. The silver General lashed out, clashing with the teen's sword with such force that the SOLDIER blade snapped in two and Zack flew backwards. He tumbled to the ground, wincing with pain.

"Fool..." Sephiroth murmured, slowly approaching the fallen Second. He lifted his sword, getting ready to deal the finishing blow.

Just as I opened my mouth to yell, another voice cut in.

"That's enough!"

That was Angeal! The older SOLDIER appeared seemingly out of nowhere, situating himself between Sephiroth and Zack. Surprisingly enough, Sephiroth backed off, lowering his sword without a word.

Scowling slightly, Angeal lifted up his phone and punched in a few commands. The words "MISSION ABORTED" appeared in midair before us, and then Sephiroth and the rest of the world were degenerating into a series of glowing codes and numbers that vanished nearly as quickly as they became visible.

We were back in the training room. The pain from my wound was gone completely. I sat up enough to make sure Zack was okay, and then flopped back down to the floor with a light groan.

Sephiroth had been part of the simulation. This entire thing had paralleled a scene from Crisis Core—why hadn't I seen that coming? But still, thank god. I had been genuinely terrified for a minute there. Those bad dreams were really starting to get to me.

"Angeal..."

A heavy sigh. "Zack, what have I told you about using the training room unsupervised?"

"Uh, don't do it?"

"The simulation can get out of hand if you're not completely familiar with the controls." Angeal scolded.

"But it's all fake, right? What's the problem?" the teen asked.

"This system relies on your mind to achieve realistic results. How everything looks and feels all depends on your own personal perceptions. It's not wise to test the limits of your mind by putting yourself in situations where you're bound to be overwhelmed."

"I...guess I understand." Zack frowned, rubbing the back of his neck. Angeal reached a hand out, helping the teen to his feet. Reluctantly, I stood as well, hoping I wouldn't also be part of the scolding.

The older SOLDIER turned to face me, inclining his head in acknowledgment. "...Brittany, isn't it? You've been in my training regiment for the past week."

"Yes, sir," I replied, straightening.

"She killed a Zolom, Angeal," Zack cut in, grinning excitedly.

"I'm aware," he said, rolling his eyes. Then he offered me a slight smile. "I hope Zack hasn't been giving you too much trouble."

"Not at all," I snorted, finding it impossible not to grin.

Zack's protest died on his lips as he stared at me in surprise, and I realized I was supposed to be acting serious and standoffish to keep him at an arm's length. Ugh...I sucked at this.

"...We were just trying a practice mission," the teen finally said. "Y'know, since I haven't seen her fight or anything yet. We could've completed it! I was just getting warmed up!"

Angeal just shook his head. "Don't start getting overconfident on me. Sephiroth's simulated counterpart might only be at an eighth of his actual strength, but it's still too much for you at this point."

I nearly choked. An eighth?! Then the real Sephiroth...

"Man..." Zack grumbled, put out.

The First looked at me again, sobering. "Well, hang in there, SOLDIER. It won't get any easier from here."

I smiled thinly, nodding. Oh, Angeal, if only you knew.

He began walking to the door, only stopping just before he reached it. "...And Zack."

"Yeah?"

"If you want to be a hero, you need to have dreams...and honor."

With those last few words, he was gone. The door slid shut behind him, leaving us alone in the silent room.

"Huh..." Zack sighed. "What's that supposed to mean...?"

A/N: I know some of you probably remembered Crisis Core and realized Seph was just a simulation...but for the others, I bet some serious bricks were shat. XD Psyyyyche! Don't worry, we'll be meeting him soon. He's just in Wutai right now.

Oh, Zack. You are so much fun to write. Poor OC Brit is having some trouble with the whole "don't get attached to people who will die" thing. Zack can't help how awesome he is! B-)

Next time: First mission. Exsphere. Disaster.