Author's note: Not much to say here, except that this next world will only have one chapter, so, we can move on and remember the important notes here:
The Bold is the Author's Notes.
The Italic is both memories, thoughts and dreams.
The Bold &Italicare the names of the worlds.
The Brackets (-and Bold-) are the BGM(which will never happen, but one can dream, right?).
I do not own anything.
CHAPTER 7: Wasn't expecting that.
World: Neverland.
The next time Zack landed, and that he was awake this time with no strange visions which Genesis states are not dreams, which was more confusing, the young swordsman nearly landed into a small lagoon, but thankfully found his balance. Standing up and rubbing the back of his head, he looked around and found what he seemed to see was an island, with seemingly a rain forest, waterfalls, canyons, palm trees and he could see the ocean up on the small slope in front of him. Not what he had an mind to try and find Genesis and Angeal.
"Huh...Guess I went off course." Zack muttered to himself. He walked a little and looked around again, pausing, and then smiled a little, admitting to himself, "Seems like a nice place, though. I guess it wouldn't hurt to explore around here." shrugging to himself.
Just then he heard a couple of screams, alarming him. Zack looked around and it didn't take him long as seconds later, two boys, one dressed in a seemingly fox costume, and another, slightly chubby and wearing a bear costume, were running away from two large Heartless that looked like...native gorillas?
(~Neverland Schezo-KH: BBS~)
Seeing the Heartless, Zack quickly rushed over as fast as he could and made a jump and crashed into the two large Heartless, pinning them to the ground which was a bit of a struggle. The two boys stopped running and looked back to see him fight the Heartless.
"You kids better go somewhere that's safe! I'll take care of these guys!" Zack told him. While the two boys don't normally listen to grown ups, they nodded and quickly ran to find a place to hide.
Zack in the meantime quickly got off, and just as the Heartless stood up groggily, the Swordsman spared them no time as he drew out his sword and with a dash he sliced the two Heartless in one hit across the bellies, causing the monsters to disappear into the darkness. But before he could catch his breath, five more Heartless appeared, surrounding him, and in forms of Indian tower pillar thingies(No idea what they're called), and moved around ready to attack.
Groaning, he muttered, "You gotta be kidding me!"
One Heartless then weirdly had it's middle head jiggle before it shot out to him like a cannon ball or missle. Zack then used his sword to block it and hit it like a club, causing it to fly back and it hit's original owner, before it bounced back towards him an this time he ducked, and it hit another Heartless, then it hit the other three Heartless over Zack like a pinball game, doing some good amount of damage.
Before long, the heartless were destroyed, and all Zack did this time was, well, it one's middle head and the rest was taken care off. (End Neverland Scherzo)
Standing up and putting his sword away again, Zack awkwardly muttered to himself, "Not what I had in mind," then shrugged, "But it'll do."
He then remembered the two children and looked around, hoping that the kids were alright. Thankfully, Zack saw them approach again, with smiles on their faces.
"Boy that was close!" Slightly, the fox costumed boy said. "You sure taught those monsters a lesson!"
"Uh...thanks for savin' us." Cubby, the bear costumed boy added.
Zack grinned, "No problem. You guys okay?"
"We sure are, thanks to you." Slightly replied, "Now I know that you're not a pirate."
Hearing the word pirate made Zack confused and a bit concerned, and he couldn't help but ask, "There are pirates around here?" maybe this island wasn't as nice as he thought. But what also concerned him is why there are two children in place like this anyway. What kind of world was this?
He then asked, "So, uh, what were you two doing before those monsters attacked you?"
"We were looking for the that shooting star we saw earlier." Slightly answered, "Just like before."
"We kinda hoped it was our friend Ven." Cubby added.
Zack winced, realising that the two kids had seen him coming through the Star Shard, and he muttered, "Shooting Star, huh? Don't see them around during da-" then suddely cuts himself off when he just resgistered what Cubby just said and blurted out, shocked, "Wait a minute! Did you just say Ven? As in, Ventus?"
"Do you know him?" Slightly asked, surprised along with his friend, as the two boys glanced at each other, stunned.
"Yeah, he's a friend of mine." Zack replied, shrugging, not sure in what to say about this. "We met a long time ago, and, I haven't seen him for quite a while." Well, much longer than that. It's been eight years since he met and seen Ventus. The blonde-haired boy a year older than him, yet shorter, but Ven didn't seem to mind. That guy was so much like him in personality. But then, if Ven was here, did that mean...
'Hold on...how did Ven know about other worlds? This is news to me.' He thought to himself.
Just then, before Zack could think farther into this, noticing something above him and the kids, he looked up along with the children, and did a double-take as a boy in green tunic was flying-practically flying-over them before coming into landing next to the two boys. Zack's eyes widened in shock and disbelief.
"Pan!" The two boys cried out happily.
Peter Pan smirked, saying, "Did you find Ven yet?"
"No, but this guy saved us from those monsters that tried to get us." Slightly answered, pointing at the still shocked Zack.
Pan turned to look at the swordsman, and thought, rubbing his chin, muttering, "Well, he doesn't seem like a pirate." before asking, "So, who're you?"
Realising that the kids were waiting for him to answer, Zack replied after returning to reality, "I'm Zack." before stating, "So uh, you can actually...ya'know, fly?"
"Impressive, huh?" Pan grinned.
"I sure wasn't expecting that." Zack admitted with a sheepish laugh. He then asked, "So um, you guys knew Ven, right?"
"So you know you too, huh?" Pan asked, a little surprised himself, "Is he a friend of yours too?"
"Pretty much." Zack nodded, "What was he doing here?"
"Looking for friends." Pan answered, "He helped us out and was friends with those other guys-what were their names again?" then he counted a list of names, "Terra, Grovyle, 'Sailor Moon', and Aqua?"
Hearing those names made Zack's eyes widen again and he softly gasped. He couldn't believe that even Terra, Grovyle, 'Sailor Moon' and Aqua were here too and that Ven even knew them. Did that mean they knew about other worlds too? Or did they come from other worlds themselves and didn't tell anyone? He then muttered, "Wow, talk about a coincidence, because I know those guys too."
"Really? Then, have you seen them lately?"
Zack shook his head, "No. In fact, I didn't even know they came here." before mentally slapping himself for the slip and quickly stated, "Uh, nevermind! Um, I hate to change the subject, but," he then realised that he nearly forgot his own adventure and asked, "Actually, I'm looking for my other friend. His name is Angeal. Have any of you seen a guy in clothes like mine with a huge sword?"
The three younger boys shook their heads, and Zack hung his head low in disappointment, "Right." meaning that the StarShard must've did set him off course, but he tried to be careful with it in where he wanted to go or who to find. Just then, out of nowhere, a small fairy flew in and around Zack, startling him, before she flew over to Pan who looked relieved and baffled.
"Tinker Bell, where have you been?" Pan asked to the fairy. Her response was waving her arms around and pointing into the direction of the forest canyon behind Zack.
"Um, what is she doing?" Zack asked curiously, while finding himself now thinking he was having a really weird dream. Flying boys and fairies? He thought it was all fairytales.
Pan didn't reply to Zack and instead understood what Tink was saying and asked, confused, "What? Some guy with red hair and coat was wandering around supiciously?" and Tink nodded in confirmination.
Realising what Pan just said, and also realising that he was on the right course after all, Zack gapped, "That's Genesis!" causing everyone else to gaze at him, before he continued, "Okay, this guy, I only just met him a while back, but let's just say that he's probably just as bad as pirates. He's the reason why Angeal disappeared."
"As bad as Pirates, huh? Sounds serious." Pan thought, taking in the new information. "And I thought Hook was bad." then, making up his decision, he conitnued, "You're looking for these guys, right?"
"Yeah." Zack answered, getting a bad feeling about this conversation.
Making his mind up, Pan declared, "Well then, let's go after him!" and the two boys, agreeing with their leader, cheered in agreement, much to Zack's shock.
"What? H-hold on!" Zack muttered worriedly, "T-this guy is dangerous and, uh, well, I mean, aren't you guys worried?"
"Aw come on, think this as my thanks for protecting the Lost Boys from those weird monsters." Pan pointed out.
Despite that Zack wanted to tell them that he could handle this, he stopped himself as he realised that these kids reminded him of himself when he was a kid. Nothing can change their minds and he really didn't want to yell at them. Plus, they were probably far from their parents and yet, they seemed happy enough. In the end, he slumped in defeat, and asked, "If you say so."
"Before we go," Pan added, turning to Tink who nodded and the pixie then flew around Zack while covering him in pixie dust a few times until she was finished and flew back to Tink.
Zack, suddenly having a bit of a flash-back of his happiest times, suddenly found himself floating and hovering, and his eyes widened in disbelief, shock and delight. "Whoa! I can fly? But how?"
"Pixie dust, that's how." Pan replied, grinning. "Bet you feel lighter now, don'tcha?"
"Yeah! This is so cool!" Zack replied back happily, feeling like a ten year old again. If given a choice, he'd tell Herc and the others back at home about this, and also Leon and the others, and Zack had a feeling that both Phil and Yuffie would be so jealous.
"That's weird." Pan muttered, a bit puzzled while still grinning, "Normally a grown up wouldn't be like you."
Zack shrugged, understanding what the boy in green meant, and said, "Well, let's just say that not all grown ups really grow up properly."
"Okay, men! Onward to find the guy in red!" Pan concluded, in his leader mode.
After a little while of flying before the pixie dust wore off, Zack, Pan, the Lost Boys and Tinker Bell traversed through what Zack learned was Neverland, the place where children never grow up, which explained the lack of parents, but that wasn't Zack to decide. In the meantime, Neverland, despite the Heartless, was really a cool island.
Finding nothing in the forest, Zack and the kids made their way to Mermaid Lagoon, looking around for any signs of Genesis. So far, still no luck, but the swordsman wasn't about to give up that easily. He also thought back to the people(or Pokemon in Grovyle's case) he met eight years ago, and wondered when they came to this world or how they even knew about other worlds. If he found them, he'd probably have to ask.
(~Laughter and Merriment-KH2~)
"There you are you brats!" a voice called out, startling the group. When they looked around, they found another man with a hook where his left hand was, and from what Zack could see, this guy was a pirate, as the clothes and sword gave more evidence to it. "This time I got you!" the pirate continued.
Pan, as if used to this sort of thing, shrugged and told the pirate, "Sorry, but we're busy looking for someone else. Come back another day."
"You will be facing me TODAY, boy!" The pirate snapped.
Zack also noted the pirate's seemingly childish attitude, and asked Pan, "Who's this guy?" with an quirked eyebrow.
Pan shrugged casually, "Aw, that's just Captain Hook. He's a codfish."
The young swordsman glanced back at Captain Hook, which he figured was a good name, considering the pirate practically had a hook, then as if examing him, shrugged and muttered to the kids, "He doesn't look smart enough to be a pirate if you ask me." which resulted in all three boys and even Tinker Bell to all laugh hysterically at this comment.
Overhearing Zack, Hook's face turned bright red in anger and he yelled out in fury, "That's an insult from you, spiky-haired fool!" before turing to gaze at the ocean where his ship, the Jolly Rogers, was anchored, as the pirate then called out as loudly as he could, "Smee!" before jumping in running off, while Zack and the kids watched him go. (End Laughter and Merriment)
Pan then realised what was about to happen and cringed, "Uh oh. Jolly Rogers at 3'o'Clock!"
"Huh?" Zack asked, but then suddenly, he saw a cannon ball zooming from the ship and heading towards him and the others, and he cried out in alarm, pushing them out of the way, just as the cannon ball hits the wall and explodes. "Run!" he cried out, and all of them ran as quickly as they could while avoiding cannon fire as much as possible, as well as Heartless along the way, which Zack took care off, along with the surprising help of Pan who was a pretty good fighter himself.
After a while, the group made their escape into the gully, and all panted at the close call. Zack sighed, muttering to himself, "And I thought Hades had some serious issues."
"Who's that?" Slightly then spoke up, looking ahead of him. The others looked up, and near the river, was a familiar man, to which Zack's eyes narrowed as he reconised the red coat and orangey-red hair. Genesis.
"That him?" Pan asked, taking in the guy's looks and remembering the description.
Zack nodded, "That's him." Before telling the others to wait where they are, and rushed in to demand more and more answers.
When he approached Genesis, Zack glared hard as his enemy heard him coming and turned to face him and said with a smirk, "I thought you'd be here."
"Where's Angeal?" Zack demanded, ignoring the comment.
"Not here, I'm afraid." Genesis said, then looked behind Zack briefly and smirked, seeing that a certain boy in green was forced to face off Heartless, and while the Lost Boys were worried while hiding, they fell right into the clutches of two Pirates took hold of them and carried them off. He looked back at Zack, stating, "However, it seems you have other things to worry about."
(~Combat-CRISIS CORE Final Fantasy VII~)
Before Zack could ask, Genesis turned and walked off, snapping his fingers as he once again vanishes into the corridor of darkness that opened up. Zack tried to give chase, but several more Heartless appeared, blocking his way. With no other choice, Zack drew out his sword, telling the Heartless, "Scram!"
He jumped backwards as the gorilla Heartless attempted to punch him flat to the ground, only to miss and made small fist craters in the ground, causing Zack to cringe at the sight. He'd have to watch out for these gorilla Heartless this time.
He then thought back to one of his dreams and how his counterpart leaped in the air to slash against a giant Anti-ShinRa monster, and nodded to himself. Zack jumped backwards again, then charged and leapt at the Heartless. He shouted a battle cry as he descended and brought the blade down hard across the Heartless which was instantly destroyed by this attack.
He then charged and blocked more punches, struggled against the pressure of the punches, then Zack broke through another one's defense and slashed at it's chest, causing to disappear while falling backwards. Zack then focused on another one and yelled out, "Take that!" while whacking it with his sword, then side-slashed it, destroying that one as well.
Zack then spun around with his sword, taking out three other Heartless in two hits, then preformed the same attack he first used back in Traverse Town before he met Leon, taking out a slightly larger Heartless which was tougher than the other ones he fought so far since his journey began.
(~End Combat~)
"Zack!" Pan's voice called out, as the boy in general flew over to Zack with Tink by his side.
Noticing the lack of the two children, Zack began to worry and asked, "Where are the others?"
"I can't believe it! Hook managed to kidnap them while I tried to protect them from those monsters and while you were talking to that guy." Pan said, in frustration.
"What!?" Zack exclaimed in shock. That Hook guy kidnapped the lost boys? How did he even manage to do so? It couldn't be the Heartless working for him, unless Genesis managed to pull something off here. A twinge of guilt began to form in his chest, but he forced it down for now. He'd worry about his timing later.
Pan then continued, "Hook says I have to meet him at Skull Rock if I want to save them as our meeting would decide their fate on his ship."
Great, this was a hostage situation, and as far as Zack figured, Pan was definately not on Hook's like list, especially since he ordered his other Pirates to fire cannons at them earlier when they first met the guy. Something had to be done. Zack was worried that the children could be in danger if they didn't go to them, but then again, Hook could signal their demise if they didn't meet him. That's when Zack realised something, and nodded.
"I have an idea." Zack spoke up, telling Pan of his plan, "You go rescue the Lost Boys and I'll handle Hook." as he knew, despite Peter Pan just being a boy, the kid can look after himself. Like Terra, Zack had come to realise that Pan is hero material too.
"Great idea." Pan nodded in agreement, "You be careful."
"You too." Zack added, and with that, the two went off into different directions; Pan to go rescue Slightly and Cubby, and Zack to face Captain Hook.
Inside the cave of Skull Rock, Captain Hook, like what seemed not so long ago, was waiting, and as he waited on the very same rock platform he faced Ventus, he then heard the cannon fire, and, hoping that this time no one would interfre with his plans, said to himself with such relief and chuckled evilly to himself, "Hopefully this time that scurvy brat is finished for good!"
"Better check again, Hook!" Zack's voice yelled out.
Eyes widening, the pirate whips around to see Zack on the shore, and a strong sense of deja vu hits him hard. "Swoggle me eyes!" Hook cried out, "This is not happening!" before turning back to the direction of the ocean and pulled out his telescope, and as if history was repeating itself, he saw a defeated Smee and Peter Pan crowing in victory, with the Lost Boys cheering on happily and the other Pirates knocked out.
"How many times do I have to be defeated!?" Hook screamed in fury, throwing his telescope to the ground, seeing red, and grunted, "Blast that Peter Pan!"
"How about you leave those kids alone?" Zack asked, though he already knew the answer, but it never hurt to ask anyway.
(~The Encounter-KH: BBS~)
Hook turned back to Zack and growled, "I do not take orders from you, boy!" and drew out his sword to fight the younger man. But then, a tick-tocking sound was heard, which caused his mustche to move up and down in rythme of the sound, and his eyes widened in realization, horror and fear. "Oh no! That sound!"
Gazing at the water behind him, Hook cried out in fear, as the Crocodile surfaced, licking his chops and grinning at him, hoping to have a tasty meal. "Not you again!" He exclaimed, nearly screaming, "S-Stay away from me!" turning to run away, only to have Zack blocking his escape as the latter had also jumped and landed onto the single rock platform, his own sword drawn and ready for battle.
"Not a chance!" Zack exclaimed.
Hook was now shaking, glancing back at the Crocodile, but then shook himself out of the fear trance, and turned to face Zack again, pirate vs swordsman, and Hook declared, "I will make you walk the plank!" and charged, attempting to stab Zack. But the latter blocked the attack with his own sword and the two clashed as the swords created sparks at each hit, Zack ducking and side stepping Hook's attempts to slash or stab him, much to the pirate's annoyance.
Zack then managed to body-side slam into Hook who stumbled and nearly fell into the water, jumping away as the Crododile attempted to bite at him. Hook then growled, pouting, "You almost made me fall!" before pulling out boxes with bombs in it, throwing it, saying, "Here's a present for you!"
Jumping out of the way while avoiding to hit the water himself, as Zack knew, if he fell in, then he would be the Crocodile's meal as well, though he had a feeling that the reptile was mainly after Hook, but the young swordsman wasn't taking his chances. He then thought an idea and focused in his inner strength, and from his arm, he blasted a fire spell at Hook who jumped out of the way. Too bad he missed just by an inch, as the fire caught Hook on the butt, setting him briefly on fire.
"Waha! HOT! HOT HOT HOT HOT!" Hook screamed out, running around in circles, leaving a trail of smoke as he went in hysterics.
That's when Zack saw his chance and preformed a new move, stabbing his sword into the ground, and using it as a pole to lift his legs up into the air and preformed a powerful kick at Hook, who, by the force of the kick, was flown off the platform and into the water, while Zack landed back on the ground safely. Hook landed in the water, just as the Crocodile saw his chance and took a bite on Hook's butt.
"WAAAH!" Hook screamed as he resurfaced from the water and actually ran/skiied on the water, screaming as he landed back onto the platform, panting, before standing up and prepared to continue fighting Zack. "Taste me sword!" Hook yelled, and slashed hard at Zack's left arm.
Grunting in pain, Zack then blocked another counter attack, before rolling out of the way, standing up as Hook swinged his sword at him like a little girl's wand, which was really awkward, but still, Zack then summoned his ice magic, which a chunk of ice appeared over Hook's head, which the pirate noticed too late, as it hit him on the head, briefly dazing him, and freezing him a little with what Zack suspected as a splitting headache the pirate would no doubt have later.
Zack knew he was being a bit cruel on Hook, the pirate was a bad guy for chasing and kidnapping children, and the swordsman will not forgive him for that, but at the same time, didn't have the heart to kill him either. Plus, the Crocodile would have to leave eventually, so, he was left with no other choice. Suddenly, feeling the same sensation he felt when learning a new magic move, he then realised what it was, and then held a tight grip on the hilt of his sword, and then spun around three times, which created a mini tornado.
The tornado then freed itself from Zack and whirled around towards Hook who was about to attack again, only to be engulfed by the winds, spun around repeatedly. Once it finished, Hook was about to descend to the ground, but Zack leaped into the air and smacks him off course, changing Hook's landing position into the water with a large splash. (~End the Encounter~)
Once again resurfacing, Hook was quickly made eye contact with his second achenemy who made a jump to eat him. Screaming, Hook quickly and comically swam away, screaming, "Go away! Help me Smee! Smeeeeeeeeee!" with the Crocodile hot on his heels, snapping it's jaws at him.
Knowing that the battle was over, Zack stood up while putting his sword away, while feeling awkward at Hook's defeat, and departure. He couldn't help but mutter, feeling dumbfounded, "Okay..." as he thought this was more weird than when Hades fell into the river of death and had told the dead souls not to touch him and get their 'slimy' souls off him after Hercules saved Meg's soul. He then used the cure spell to heal the wound on his arm, while wondering if Peter Pan and the Lost Boys were alright.
"Zack! Over here!" Pan's voice called out, causing Zack to gaze at the ocean and to his relief, were Pan who was flying, and the Lost Boys who were in a long boat sailing towards shore.
(~A Date with Fate-KH: BBS~)
The group met up on shore, and Zack was ever so glad that things turned out alright.
"You sure taughted Hook a lesson." Cubby said happily.
Zack grinned smiling, placing his hands behind his head, saying, "I don't like anyone bullying anyone else or causing trouble." which also reminded him that he didn't want Genesis to cause trouble not only to himself or Angeal, but to other worlds.
"Thanks for helping out, Zack." Pan said.
"Glad I could help." Zack replied with a nod, then sighed, and continued, "Well, I hate to make this short, but I'd better get going." and seeing the surprised and slightly saddened looks on their faces, he quickly added, "I still have to find Angeal."
Somehow understanding, Pan nodded and told him that Zack is welcomed to return anytime, teasingly adding, "Just don't get too old."
The swordsman chuckled at the joke, and joked back, "Who says I want to be an old geezer?" sharing a laugh with his new friends, and come to realise that friends come from all ages(or species in Phil and Pegasus's cases) and it was really nice. Being here in Neverland taught him that.
But Zack knew, that his journey was far from over and that his next destination was around the corner of worlds. (~End A Date with Fate~)
Meanwhile, back in the ruins of the technology city, Reno had been hunting through the abandoned rooms and offices via Tseng's orders. The redhead didn't make any complaints, but trying to find the clues connected to what he now knew their past, just as their enemies were trying to get across to them for the past six years.
Only problem is, what was the opposite Organization's problems with that and how they even know that? This what bugged Reno the most. As proof, every surviving shards of files(how they survived after 8,000 years, Reno will never know) which are almost exactly the same as the current ones ShinRa had in the documents storage rooms in Edge.
But that didn't solve the mystery on how or why it had him, his co-workers, former co-workers, former director, current President and most of the people he met through out his life are even here to day or why they had two lives.
"What the hell's goin' on?" Reno sighed, his hands in his pockets. "I've turned this place upside down."
He eventually arrived in another office room, pushing the door open, and found two of his fellow Turks, Tseng and Rude, searching through the broken desks, and through the drawers. Like the rest of the building, this room was also filled with years of trees, flowers and fern. So Reno was a bit surprised that the inside of the desks were only musty through out 8,000 years. It felt strange to be standing in a 8,000 year old city that was just like the current city now, not like in those sci-fi futuristic movies he'd seen when he was a kid.
Noticing the absence of his superior and the rookie Turk, Reno spoke up to get his friends' attentions, "Yo. Boss and rookie still out cold?"
Neither men answered the redhaired man at first, until Rude replied without looking at his partner, "The President and Elena are conscious, but still have dizzy spells. They resting inside in the lounge."
Reno acknowlaged the answer with a nod, saying, "Gotcha." before looking around again, then asked, "So, found any clues yet? So far I've seen an old file on Reeve, but that 8,000 year old file says he was Head of the Urban Development rather than the Comissioner of WRO."
"There are files with our names on it; everyone including the former Turks." Rude answered, pulling out file by file, which were very fragile due to years of being untouched.
The youngest man felt rather icky in the stomach and perhaps a little scared at the new information, but he wouldn't let that show. His job taught him to hold in most of his emotions. Instead, he felt a confused expression as he approached a desk that felt strongly familiar to him and decided to look through there.
Reno then asked to Tseng, "So, we have most of our memories back, but what does that mean with our lives right now?" voicing his worries he had since waking up from the strange sleeping dizzy spell three hours earlier. While he had certain memories of his past, Reno also still had memories of his childhood he spent in Edge and growing up into the man he was now.
"I highly doubt our current memories are lies." Tseng began, having sensed more than heard the worry in his second in command. "I have to admit, as a young child, I've repeatedly been having familiarties that has gotten stronger as I grew up, and I could never understand why Veld or Cissnei or either of you were familiar, until now." commenting on his former mentor and former colluage.
"I get your point." Reno sighed in agreement, "When I was kid," he chuckled with a shrug, correcting himself, "In this life I mean, I kept on having dreams of deja vu too." pausing at the desk as he gently ran his fingers on the wooden surface, and while it was covered in fern now, he imagined he could touch it's smooth wooden surface.
The redhead then continued, "And the fact is, we're here now in the future. I still don't get how that's even possible. It's totally crazy to go into the future and then have no memories, while being born as a baby again, then grow up to who we are now and then remember our past. Ya know what I mean?"
The Wutaiian nodded, replying, "I agree. It is strange."
Sighing almost dramatically, Reno grumbled, "What a drag." before asking, "Could others like Cloud and them be around too?"
"Most likely." Tseng nodded, pausing his work and turned to face the younger man, continuing, "I do have a theory on how this was possible. Perhaps all of us were reborn into the future long after our deaths 8,000 years ago."
Chosen to be reborn into the present century, huh? Reno finally figured that made a bit sense, but what also concerned him was that they were many of the chosen to be reborn. "Why us, though?" he asked, before suddenly sensing that he remembered something, and turned to the drawer of the desk and drew it open, finding a single file. He carefully picked it up and gently rested it onto the desk.
"Hmm, maybe-"
"Ah! Forget it." Reno cuts his superior off, then decided with a shrug, "You know what? Maybe this is our chance to redeem ourselves." as he scanned through the file he found, and suddenly found himself smiling.
"Hm? How do you intend to do that?" Tseng asked, curiously. Rude stood up straight, finding himself also curious.
Reno smirked his trademark smirk, saying to his co-workers, "I'll figure out a way. I always do." as he gazed down at the information profile...that had his name on it-his photo and everything, just like his current profile he had back at home right now.
Indeed, they really are the Turks reborn.
(Fragments from Zack's dreams)
(~The Burdened-CRISIS CORE: Final Fantasy VII~)
Fragment 24: "Angeal, the War is over. Everyone's real happy...but...I can't stop thinking about you...Where did you go?" Zack stood alone in the SOLDIER floor, as half a year has passed and the war was finally over. He just turned seventeen, but he couldn't even celebrate his birthday.
Fragment 25: After Zack changed into his new SOLDIER 1st Uniform as he has been promoted, though he wasn't really happy, and that he had another assignment pushed onto him by Sephiroth who had muttered his apologes, and had returned to Lazard's office where Sephiroth and Larzard were still had.
"The President has orders to eliminate Genesis and his cohorts-Angeal included." Lazard told Zack, who was dismayed by this.
"And I'm being sent to eliminate them?" Zack asked, shocked and horrified.
"No. The Army will handle it."
Zack shook his head, then asked, "But what about me?"
"The Company doesn't trust you, because of your connections with Angeal." Lazard answered firmly and camly.
While the young SOLDIER lowered his head, sighing and trying to hold in his anger and sorrow, Sephiroth walked past him, continuing for their superior in a calm but a hint of understanding the youngest SOLDIER's hurt, "They believe your emotions will cause you to misplace your judgement. Which is why I'm going too."
Zack turned to look at the silver-haired General, asking in a tone of half-anger, "You mean to kill them?"
Fragment 26: As the intruders are Genesis copies, Zack had learned that another traitor, Hollander, one of the head Scientests, had gone rouge due to losing the betting position as head scientest to Hojo, and thus had plotted with Genesis to betray the company, which also caused all of the security bots to go all haywire not just in the ShinRa building, but in the rest of Midgar as well.
Zack and Sephiroth both split up upon arriving in Sector 8. Zack found a young woman, about a year younger than him, being cornered by two Genesis copies. He was about to approach her, when a baton is held out to stop him in his tracks. He skid to a stop and turned to face the owner of the baton, or EMR, which is a red-haired young man, a year older than him, Reno, who glared at him.
"Sorry, Slick, but Sector 8 is the jurisdicion of the Turks." Reno spoke in a somewhat deadly tone, giving the SOLDIER a warning glare, as his partner, Rude, approached and stood on the other side of Zack. Tseng was behind the youngest man who looked at all three Turks in dismay.
"You can't be serious!" Zack exclaimed in dismay, before turning to the Wutaiian, half-pleading, "C'mon, Tseng! Do something!"
"Don't be concerned. She can handle herself." Rude spoke in a calm tone.
Zack turned to face back the girl, and, to his surprise and confusion, the girl had a shuriken out, and from what he just saw, the two Genesis copies were on the ground, dead. How can someone like her handle two SOLDIERs that were then turned into clones of a SOLDIER 1st Class? He was speechless at this. "What the...?"
"Reno, Rude. The other areas." Tseng spoke in full authority.
Reno shrugged, while resting his EMR on his left shoulder, answering casually, "No thanks to whoever did this to the security system, Midgar's crawling with a bunch of nasties."
"SOLDIER is suffering major difficulties." Rude added.
"I see." Tseng replied, before gazing sharply at the two younger Turks, ordering them, "Continue aiding Sector 8."
"Yeah yeah, whatever you say, Tseng." Reno waved his superior, before heading up towards the stairs to the next level of town.
"Make sure Reno doesn't hurt himself or gets himself killed." Tseng told Rude, "The elevator incident left the Director shaken."
"Yes sir." The taller Turk replied, before going after his partner.
Zack, having overheard this, looked to watch the two Turks two, wondering what Tseng was talking about an 'elevator incident' that nearly had Reno killed. Instead, he muttered to himself, "So now the Turks are the new important icon or something instead of us?" referring to SOLDIER.
"SOLDIERs had number of problems." the girl stated as she approached Zack.
"Manpower shortage." Zack replied, then did a near double-take as he realised who he was talking to. The girl had redish brown curly hair, with matching eyes, wearing a Turk uniform, with black fingerless gloves, and she looked only sixteen years old. "Wait a minute. You're a Turk too?" he asked.
The girl smiled and nodded, then introduced herself, "My name's Cissnei."
"I'm Zack. Nice to meetcha." Zack replied back, quickly finding Cissnei cute.
"Zack." Tseng firmly interrupted, crossing his arms, "Don't you have an assignment?" which Zack flustered a bit, while Cissnei silently giggled behind her left hand.
The newly promoted SOLDIER shrugged, saying, "Same as your assignment. Do you need help?"
"I appreciate the offer, however-"
"Oh, how generous." Cissnei cuts Tseng off, and begins to walk off, causing the two men to watch her go, while she said, "Well, sir, Zack, I better go." and with a wink, she ran off.
Fragment 27: After Zack saved Cissnei from an advanced Genesis clone that looked exactly like Genesis and that the female Turk made a comment that when she was a little girl, she always had dreams of having wings like an angel after seeing the single black wing on the clone's back, and told Zack that wings present freedom to people who had no freedom, not presenting monsters, which had made Zack feel a bit better, the two departed, which Zack then got a phone call from Sephiroth who was in Mako Reactor 5.
"Once Sector 8 is restored, meet me in Mako Reactor 5." Sephiroth told him.
"Did you find something?" Zack asked, curiously.
"Angeal was sighted." was the reply.
Zack grunted, trying to hold in his anger, "So it's to find and destroy?"
"We still have time before the army is fully mobilized. You and I will find Genesis and Angeal before they do, and-"
"And WHAT!?" Zack yelled at the phone, and on the other end of the phone, Sephiroth winched, holding the phone away from his ear briefly, probably mentally muttering, 'Ow.' before placing the phone back to his ear.
"Talk sense into them and fail to eliminate them." Sephiroth replied, with a smile.
Hearing this, Zack couldn't believe what he was hearing, and he lit up, asking, "Seriously?"
Hearing this made Sephiroth chuckle, "I rarely joke, even at times like this. So yes, I am dead serious."
"Roger that! I'll see you at Reactor 5!" Zack concluded and two hung up, before he rushed to meet with Sephiroth to Mako Reactor 5.
(~End The Burdened~)
World: Mysterious Tower.
(~Magical Mystery-KH: BBS~)
Once again, Zack awoke from another dream, which he strangely began to feel like it was more and more familiar, but he couldn't understand why this was the case if spend his entire life in Olympus Coliseum. This time, he actually managed to wake up and land safely on the ground of patchy grass. When he looked around, to his surprise, he was now on a single floating island in a saw of orangey and blue clouds and stars, with top of mountains seen around him. There were bushes around him, and in front of him, was a very strange tower with a single door and window.
As Zack was about to approach the tower, the doors opened and his eyes widened in surprise and confusion, as a familiar small humanriod mouse rushed out and down the stairs before stopping. He wore red shorts with blue straps, yellow and black shoes, a black top with yellow bottons, and red short sleeves. In the mouse's white-gloved hands, was a familiar star-shaped crystal.
It was a starshard.
Mickey, the mouse's name, held up his Starshard, and just before Zack could even call out his name, Mickey was engulfed by the shard's power and zipped away just like Zack had been doing since leaving Traverse Town, vanishing to who knows where.
"Mickey?" Zack asked, surprised. "What was he doing at a place like this?" before realising that Mickey, and perhaps Jason, who he wasn't here as he figured, knew about other worlds just like Terra, Grovyle, Ven, 'Sailor Moon' and Aqua.
He then gazed at the tower and thought deeply. Maybe there was someone Mickey knew here. So, Zack decided to enter and investigate himself.
After climbing up the stairs which seemed to have taken forever, Zack finally approached the last door after investigating other empty rooms and a library, and opened it to find himself in another room. It was large, with two book shelves with books stacked, including a giant book, a single chair and desk, a cresent moon symbol on the ceiling, star-shaped windows, and another door possibly leading to another room.
Staring out at one of the windows, was a tall man who turned around and noticed Zack's appearence. This man had long gray beard and hair, and he wore a long blue robe with a matching pointy had that had symbols of stars and a cresent moon. The younger man could tell that this older man was strict, and, by judging his clothes, like Merlin, this guy was a sorcerer too.
"Uh, sorry to intrude, sir." Zack began, a bit nervously, "Do you live here?" and when the man didn't reply, Zack then introduced himself, "Um, my name is Zack."
The sorcerer, as if having expected him, nodded, replying at last, "Yes. I've been expecting you, Zack Fair."
"You know me?" Zack asked, surprised that the older man knew his last name when he didn't even say it.
"I am Yen Sid. A sorcerer as you probably already know." Yen Sid, the sorcerer, continued, sitting in his chair, facing the youngest man, before stating, "I sense confusion inside you."
Whoa, sorcerers really do know almost everything, Zack thought. He then shrugged sheepishly, admitting, "I guess I'm pretty much lost. Like, seven of friends of mine, one of them I just saw disappear from here a few minutes ago."
Yen Sid closed his eyes, having expected this, and explained, "You refer to Mickey. He, too, sought guidance here." for he had expected that his former apprentince was friends with this young swordsman, before opening his eyes to face Zack again, and continued, "As you have discovered the secrets of other worlds, you should know about the secrets Mickey and seven others have kept. They are from other worlds, five of them, including Mickey, are chosen wielders of the Keyblade."
"Keyblade?" Zack asked, puzzled, and yet, the name Keyblade sounded quite familiar to him, but he couldn't figure out how or why. He then decided to worry about the Keyblades later, and asked as he realised something else, "So wait, you mean Mickey, Jason, Terra, Grovyle, Aqua, Sailor Moon and Ven knew about this the whole time?"
"How is it you know Jason, Grovyle, 'Sailor Moon', Terra, Aqua and Ventus?" Yen Sid questioned, for he knew he couldn't risk in saying 'Sailor Moon's' real name.
"I met them eight years ago." Zack replied, "They came to my world but I never knew where they came from or about other worlds back then. They didn't mention anything."
"Because the Order must be kept, to prevent the darkness from lurking and spreading." Yen Sid stated firmly.
That, Zack realised, made sense. Which also explained what Leon meant and why Merlin told him not to reveal the knowlage of other worlds. There could've been trouble, and Zack had no doubts that Hades would've probably used that knowlage to his advantage. He then wondered about the other seven friends and asked curiously, "Um, have you seen any of them by any chance? Other than Mickey, I mean."
(~End Magical Mystery~)
Yen Sid was silent for a moment, as memories of the tragic fates of those eight years ago returned to his mind, and he muttered, in a tone of sadness that was slowly forming, "I'm afraid Mickey is the only Keyblade wielder at the moment."
(~Aqua's Theme-KH: BBS~)
At Zack's concerned look, Yen Sid continued, "Sailor Moon, as she once introduced herself, in reality, was really known as Serenity, Queen of the Moon of a world in a universe far beyond our own and yet very close. She has returned to the past of 1,000 years ago whence she came, for she no longer exists. Jason and Grovyle, who come from a future far beyond our time, had also returned to whence they came. As for the others, I'm afraid Terra has disappeared, Ventus sleeps in a comatose state as he lost his heart, and Aqua is trapped in the Realm of Darkness."
Hearing this new information, it took Zack a good two minutes to fully absorb this, and when he did, he gasped in horror. 'Sailor Moon', actually named Serenity, came from the past of 1,000 years ago and is actually already dead? Jason and Grovyle came from the future and neither exist yet? And Terra, his icon, disappeared? Ven lost his heart and is in comatose? Aqua is trapped...in a Realm of Darkness? How was this possible? He lost more friends before losing Angeal and he didn't even realise it for eight years until now!?
"What!? Wait, when did this happen?" Zack demanded.
"I assume that it happened just after you met them, Zack." Yen Sid began, sensing the hurt in the young man's heart, continuing, "An enemy who has wished to create war had already decided their fates, and he himself has vanished. However, I know that he is still out there, and perhaps he is the cause of the many situations, including yours."
Zack shook his head, now more confused as ever. It was already bad enough that Genesis was making things difficult for him, but some other guy had caused so many problems by creating a war and had caused the devastating fates to three of his friends? "I don't understand." he muttered, then told Yen Sid about the dreams he's been having lately about his counterpart in Midgar, how his body changed into that of his dream self's, Angeal in a similiar situation, Genesis from his dreams being a real person that appeared out of nowhere.
Once Zack finished, Yen Sid knew more into Zack's problem than what the young man understood, so the sorcerer told him wisely in similiar words he told Terra and Grovyle eight years ago, "To arrive at the truth, perhaps you should approach things differently-first consider them one and the same problem."
"Huh?" Zack asked.
"It may be that you are connected to your dreams. The other Zack as you called him, may be from you just as you are from him." Yen Sid continued.
Somehow it made sense and yet it didn't make sense. So Zack asked, "You mean...the other Zack and I are the same?"
"I must not make assumptions." Yen Sid shook his head, then gazed into Zack's eyes deeply, and concluded, "Find Genesis, Zack. That is where you should begin."
Feeling like he had had half the answered he'd been looking for, and beind told wisely to continue his quest to get answers from Genesis, Zack nodded in respect to the elder man, "Right. Thank you, sir." and with a bow in respect, Zack turned and walked out the door.
Once again alone to this thoughts, Yen Sid knew what was approaching, and yet, he feared for Zack's fate, for the young man was connected to his apprentince's heart. "Mickey...I fear that your own connections with those you forgotten are in more serious danger." he muttered.
As he exited the tower, Zack pulled out his Starshard and gazed at it, wondering if he and his dreamself really are the same person. Was that what Genesis had been trying to tell him? Then that mean Angeal was in the same position as Zack himself right now. He thought to what Angeal told him eight years ago, and what the Angeal in his dreams said to the Zack in the dreams.
"Zack, embraces your dreams...if you want to be a hero, you need to have dreams...and honor."
"You're little more important than my sword... But just a little."
"Angeal...does Genesis know what's going on?" Zack softly asked. Then, becoming determined, he told himself, "No, I have to find out myself."
Once again using the Starshard, Zack wished to go to the person he needs to be with, and the item once again granted his wish, and like when Mickey left earlier about Zack's arrival, the young man was wisked away towards his next destination, finding himself seemingly closer to his answers, but still rather far from those answers.
He still had a long way to go.
(~End Aqua's Theme~)
A/N: This super long chapter probably makes up for the last short chapter. I'm trying to make the original storyline of Crisis Core as different as I can. In the meantime, please continue your reviews and I'll see you in the next chapter.