A/N: Now with Zen out of the picture, the events of Crisis Core will begin to unfold in this fic. Hope you're ready for the ride!
Chapter 25
A month passes with not a single mission scheduled for both Zack and Kunsel. Zack didn't think much of it, as he knew Angeal did request time off for the both of them to help them get over Zen's death. But he couldn't help wondering when he'll be back in action again. He never really got around to asking Angeal how much time off he requested for them, even after their most recent training mission.
It was evening by the time Zack and Angeal came out of the training room. Angeal said that he had to go take care of something, so Zack was left to himself in the lounge doing squats in the meantime. It wasn't long before Kunsel walks in to catch his friend in the act.
"You seemed pretty worked up," notes Kunsel with a smile. It gave him peace of mind to know that Zack was back to his old self, more or less. "Should I assume training with Angeal went on as usual?"
"If by 'usual' you mean nothing good, then yeah," responds Zack dejectedly as he continues his squats.
Kunsel shrugs. "Better than terribly bad, at least."
Zack smiles at the sound of that. It was just the kind of thing that Zen would say to make things better. Even if she wasn't around anymore, what pieces of her persona that's rubbed off on the two of them is enough to keep her alive in their hearts.
"Looks like we're the only ones not getting missions since everyone's gone," says Zack, changing the subject. "I know Angeal requested for us to have some time off, but I think six weeks is kind of overkill."
"You haven't heard?" Kunsel looks to his friend curiously. "There's been a mass desertion from SOLDIER."
Zack stops in his squats and slowly stands up in disbelief.
"What?" he exclaims, looking to his fellow Second Class operative.
"From what I heard, a First Class disappeared and some Second and Third Classes went missing as well," explains Kunsel, crossing his arms in contemplation. "Just happened. Don't know how many exactly, but it's enough for the company to take it pretty seriously."
Is that why Angeal suddenly ended our training earlier? wonders Zack.
As if on cue, the First Class operative in question appears. Kunsel stands at attention as Zack looks on calmly.
"We've got work to do," Angeal says to Zack. "Let's go."
"It's about time I get a real mission to do," Zack responds gladly, pumping his fist. Despite the smile on his face, his thoughts still remained on the recent desertion.
Once he and Angeal both walk off towards the briefing room, Kunsel flips open his cell phone to do some searching.
Could this have anything to do with Zen's death? he thought as he navigates with the phone's buttons. If the missing First Class is him…
With some sophisticated finagling, he finally comes across the information he was looking for. Satisfied but not completely happy about the intel, he flips his phone closed and heads over to the briefing room to meet up with Zack.
Inside the briefing room, Zack was finally introduced to the executive manager of SOLDIER himself, Director Lazard. The blonde-haired man notes his happiness to finally meet the one and only Zack Fair and shakes the young man's hand to affirm the introduction. With that, they get down to business as to why Zack and Angeal have been called in.
"A while ago we lost contact with First Class Genesis, who was on a mission in Wutai," begins Lazard. "Soon after, we lost contact with several Second and Third Classes who were with him." He turns to Zack. "Do you know anything about this?"
"Not at all," responds Zack. "I never really got to know him all that much." He pauses. "Zen on the other hand…"
"…Yes, she did end up on quite a few missions with him," affirms Lazard. "But that is neither here nor there as she is unable to contribute to this discussion." He shoots a glance at Zack and notices that the young man was looking slightly despondent. "In any case, we need to end this war once and for all."
He brings up a map of the Wutai area in question.
"Since much of SOLDIER is busy at the moment, we're sending you and Angeal in to destroy Fort Tamblin," continues Lazard. "I'll be coming with you to monitor your progress."
Zack looks at the blonde man questionably until Angeal speaks up.
"I've nominated you for First Class status," proclaims Angeal nonchalantly.
At first, Zack couldn't believe what he had just heard, looking on his mentor with a blank stare on his face. Then once the concept sank in, Zack couldn't help but light up in utter elation.
"Seriously?" he exclaims. He runs over to hug the First Class operative. "Angeal! You are the be—!"
"Don't embarrass me," snaps Angeal, roughly pushing the young man away from him.
"Uh, right!" shouts Zack, composing himself and standing at attention.
"Once your preparations are done, we'll head out," affirms Angeal, turning to Zack.
As Zack, Angeal, and Director Lazard prepare themselves for the new mission to Wutai, the blonde executive manager of SOLDIER strikes up a short conversation with the budding SOLDER operative.
"So Zack, what is your dream?" wonders Lazard. "To be a First Class, I presume?"
"Nope!" Zack responds confidently. "I want to be a hero."
"Is that so?" says Lazard, adjusting his glasses. "A sad dream, but a good dream nonetheless."
"Excuse me?" exclaims Zack, looking a little surprised.
"I hope I didn't offend you with my comments towards your departed friend," says Lazard, changing the tide of the discussion. "I'm sorry for your loss. I hope this will not impact your performance on this mission in any way."
"Thank you, Director, but you really don't need to worry," assures Zack, his expression deadpan. "I will not fail in this mission. You have my word."
As he heads out the door, he stops and turns to look back at the executive manager.
"For your information, I haven't lost anything," adds Zack. "It's as the old saying goes: a person is only truly dead if he or she is completely forgotten."
With that, he disappears through the door, leaving Lazard to smile at his determination.
Hours later, Zack found himself in the land of Wutai once again. With Angeal by his side, the two SOLDIER operatives make their way to the Wutanese fortress of Tamblin. Having been on missions with Angeal plenty of times ever since he joined SOLDIER, Zack thought nothing much of it as he walks along.
Suddenly, they come to a hillside overlooking Fort Tamblin. Here they are to wait until they're given the signal to strike. In the meantime, Zack tries to strike up yet another conversation with his mentor.
"I've never seen you use your sword," notes Zack as he crouches down with Angeal. "Isn't it kind of a waste to have a sword and not use it?"
"If I use it, it'll get dirty, rusty, and worn down," responds Angeal. "Then it'll be even more of a waste."
"Are you serious?" wonders Zack, cocking his head at his mentor.
"I'm not rich enough to buy another one," banters Angeal. "We poor people got to make everything last, you know."
"Are you trying to be funny?" says Zack.
Suddenly, there was a huge explosion in the distance, causing the two of them to stand up.
"That's our cue," says Angeal. "Move out!"
More than ready for a fight, Zack leaps into action and blazes through the entrance of the fortress, cleaving through every enemy Wutanese with ease. It took some time for him to navigate the maze-like corridors of the fort riddled with secret doors. No doubt intentionally built for the very purpose of confusing enemy intruders. Like him.
About an hour later, Zack finally makes it to the heart of the fortress. He felt a little uneasy not seeing a soul in sight, as he was supposed to meet up with Angeal around here after the First Class had finished setting up explosives.
Suddenly, a voice cries out in the night, causing Zack to scan the area to look for its source. It wasn't long before a little girl with short black hair appears before him, all ramped up and ready to fight.
"Uh," exclaims Zack, scratching the back of his head. "Hi?"
"Begone Shin-Ra SOLDIER!" proclaims the little girl. "I am Wutai's mightiest warrior! Your reign of terror ends here!"
"Hey, kid," responds Zack. "You should go home. It's dangerous around here."
"You're the one who should be going home!" the little girl points an accusing finger at the SOLDIER operative. "You're in enemy territory!"
She proceeds to attack Zack, her meek hits doing little to nothing to him.
"Take that!" she shouts as she fought. "And that! And THAT!"
Feeling that he had enough of the kid's tricks, Zack decides to feign defeat.
"…Oh no. You've got me," he says jokingly as he pretends to fall.
"Ha! That'll teach you!" says the little girl proudly. "I will protect Wutai's peace with my strength, just like my idol!"
With that, she disappears as quickly as she had appeared. Zack watches as the girl runs off and smiles to himself.
"Protect Wutai's peace, huh? Heh, sounds like someone I know," he says aloud, remembering Zen. "Well, time to get back to work."
With no more enemy resistance to meet him, Zack heads into the dojo only to be greeted with two very large anti-SOLDIER monsters. Roaring loudly, the Vajradhara Wu and the Vajradhara Tai grasp their weapons tightly as they prepare to attack. With sword drawn, Zack confidently dashes headfirst into the midst of the two monsters.
The Vajradhara Wu swings its axe at Zack, who expertly deflects it with his sword. He turns to narrowly dodge the swordmace of the Vajradhara Tai that came soon after. Ending up behind the Vajradhara Tai, he lands a hit on the creature's back and follows it up with a few blasts of Fire. Suddenly, the two monsters sync up their attacks and deliver a terrible blow on Zack from their Twin Tomahawk attack. The SOLDIER operative quickly put some distance between him and the monster to gulp down a bottle of Potion before proceeding to finish them off with a couple of rounds of Chain Slash.
Dusting himself off for a job well done, Zack withdraws his sword and flips open his phone to contact Angeal.
"Second Class Zack here. No problems encountered," he reports confidently.
"Good work," responds Angeal. "I'm almost done here. We'll meet up in 5 minutes."
"Roger that," confirms Zack, hanging up his phone. He interlocks his fingers together and stretches his arms out. "Well, I'd better hurry and meet up with Angeal."
He begins running for the door when a giant shadow engulfs the arena of the dojo. He barely dodge-rolls out of the way of a Vajradhara Rakshasa, a big brute with a nasty ball-and-chain flail to go with it.
"I don't have time for this!" shouts Zack, grabbing the handle of his sword.
In the blink of an eye, the Vajradhara Rakshasa was swinging its flail around rapidly. Zack rolls out of the way of the heavy geometric weight as it came crashing down on the ground. Before he could finish drawing his sword, the beast backhands him right into a column. The impact hit the back of Zack's head so hard that he was unable to stand up straight. Holding up his sword defensively, he struggles to put some distance between him and the monster as it came stomping towards him.
Is this the end for me? he thought as the Vajradhara Rakshasa raises its weapon. Is… is this how Zen felt when she saw her time was coming?
Just then, the monster stops in its tracks and falls back onto the ground. Behind it, Zack could discern the form of Angeal. As his vision sharpens, he saw that his mentor was actually wielding Buster Sword, which surprises him.
"Lending my strength to you again?" chuckles Angeal. "If this keeps up, I'm going to start charging interest." He turns to survey the area to make sure there were no more enemies to worry about. "Is there something in your eye?"
"Heh, no," Zack manages a smirk as he wipes a tear before it fell. He tries to change the subject. "I thought you don't like using your sword."
"You're a little more important than my sword," replies Angeal, withdrawing Buster Sword. He turns to Zack and smiles. "Just a little."
He holds out a hand, which Zack reluctantly grabs with his own.
"Thanks, Angeal," he says.
On the way back to their encampment, Zack and Angeal meet up with Director Lazard, who has very good news about Zack's prospects in SOLDIER. As he spoke to the two SOLDIER operatives, the three of them were suddenly ambushed by a group of attackers that look eerily similar to SOLDIER members.
"Zack, escort the Director back to camp!" orders Angeal, taking out a SOLDIER-issued sword in place of his Buster Sword. "I'll distract them so you can escape!"
"Roger!" affirms Zack, motioning to Lazard to follow him.
Once they were gone, Angeal makes quick work of the attackers, blocking and counterattacking until they all lay defeated at his feet. Making note of their appearance, as he was troubled by the fact they looked similar to SOLDIER operatives, Angeal begins to head towards the encampment to join up with Zack when he hears a familiar voice ring through the air.
"As expected, they are nothing compared to the might of a true SOLDIER operative."
He turns around to see none other than Genesis standing over the attackers' bodies.
"Genesis," exclaims Angeal, his eyes narrowed.
The ginger-haired First Class takes a step towards his friend.
"You look like you want to tell me something," says Genesis with a haughty smile. "Well then, don't leave me in the dark. Out with it."
"…Why?" asks Angeal.
"Why?" repeats Genesis incredulously. "Is that all you wanted to ask me?"
"You've changed, Genesis," says Angeal. "Ever since that day in the training room—No…Ever since that Second Class disappeared…"
"You mean the one who was blessed with the gift of the goddess?" articulates Genesis. "She was lucky, that one. She died a hero, like any warrior would want."
"What happened that day?" asks Angeal, tightening his fists. Part of him wanted to know for Zack's sake, but another side wanted him to know for his own sake. "Tell me."
The two of them suddenly hear rapid footsteps coming from the direction of the camp. Angeal didn't need to investigate to know it was Zack coming back to aid him.
"If you really want to know," begins Genesis, holding out his hand. "Come with me… old friend."
"Angeal!" Zack yells out as he ran. "Angeal!"
He stumbles upon the attackers and sees that Angeal had been able to take care of them without his help. Looking down, he couldn't help but stare at what the attackers were wearing.
"What the?" Zack exclaims, stunned. "These guys don't look like Wutai soldiers…"
He looks around to find his mentor only to be greeted with a giant flash that engulfs the entire area. Blinking his eyes open, he found himself in a volcanic realm with a horned beast standing before him.
"A summon?" he gasps, taking out his sword. "Who summoned it?"
In all the years he's been with Shin-Ra, Zack had only encountered one summon beast and it was the Wutanese that summoned it during one mission. At least Leviathan was refreshing to fight, so to speak. Ifrit, on the other hand, isn't so pleasant.
Zack rolls out of the way as the flaming summon launches a flaming punch at him. He looks through his slotted armlet to find only a Cure Materia and a Lightening Materia.
"I should've grabbed an Ice Materia when I had the chance," Zack notes nervously.
Ifrit quickly rushes towards Zack, furious flames following right behind him. Zack cries out in pain as he was knocked down and burned all at once.
"Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow!" he whines as the fire licked his skin.
Before Ifrit could make a second rush at him, Zack does a kip-up and activates his Cure Materia as he ran. He suddenly makes a sharp turn just as Ifrit rushes past him and strikes the summon with one hit of his Lightening Materia. He then dashes forward and unleashes Chain Slash on the creature, causing it to fall in defeat.
With the monster down, Zack sets about looking for Angeal once again. He didn't hear Ifrit slowly getting up behind him and before he knew what happened, the summon creature shoots a fireball straight at him. Zack closes his eyes and prepares for the painful burning to come. When he didn't feel anything, he opens his eyes to see the back of a silver-haired man armed with a ridiculously long katana.
In the blink of an eye, the man proceeds to cleave through Ifrit, causing the summon creature to explode into a ball of fire and fade away. Zack could only look on as he watched the man fight, stunned by the speed and precision of it all.
"Whoa," was all he could say.
Without a word, Sephiroth proceeds to uncover the helmet off of one of the attackers, revealing the face of none other than First Class Genesis.
"Genesis!" exclaims Zack. Sephiroth uncovers another attacker to show the exact same thing. "What the? TWO Genesises?"
"Genesis clones," clarifies the First Class operative.
"Clones?" reiterates Zack, backing away a little. He was feeling a little creeped out. "Human clones?"
Sephiroth turns to look at him. "Where's Angeal?"
"Uh, he was here earlier," answers Zack, looking around. "He was fighting these guys and told me to get the director to safety."
Sephiroth turns back to the clones, his Mako eyes narrowed. "Did he leave with him?"
Zack's eyes snap back to Sephiroth. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Angeal has betrayed us and left," affirms the silver-haired man, standing up.
"You're wrong!" yells Zack angrily, causing Sephiroth to turn to him. "You're wrong! Angeal wouldn't leave! He wouldn't betray me!"
"What makes you so sure?" asks Sephiroth incredulously.
"Even if he did leave," begins Zack, fearlessly approaching the First Class and looking the man straight in the eye. "That doesn't mean he betrayed us."
A/N: O hai thar, Sephee-roth! :D
Much of the later chapters concerning Kunsel will be heavily based on his emails to Zack during the game. So if you want hints of what's to come, power up your copy of Crisis Core and check out his emails. :)
And yes, Kunsel totally jail-broke his phone in Chapter 12. XD Sneaky, sneaky!