A/n ~ This is the continued prologue... except that this one introduces a different character. Sorry for the hassle... I just didn't want to make one big chapter... sorry.

PROLOGUE / CHAPTER ONE

A man walked out of the store, carrying a box. He placed it on his motorcycle, uniquely designed for his... unique line of work. He sat down on the site, adjusting his gogles and flicked the blond hair away from his forhead. Revving the motorcycle up, he kicked off and drove away. The dust was picking up as he let out a sigh. From the right he was barely able to see it as something came out of nowhere and just barely missed his head. He stopped the bike immediately, pressing a button on the right hand side of it. Six slots on the bike opened up, revealing handles. Taking hold of two of them, which he named to be Vendetta and Vigilante, he flew off the bike and spun his body, deflecting numerous other bullets. Landing on his feet he spun the blades and got ready to fight, still remaining oblivious to whom it was, but was soon disappointed.

A man with red hair walked up to the man with blond hair. The red haired man was dressed in a black tuxedo with the front unbuttoned revealing a plain white button-down shirt. His red hair was worn in a ponytail backwards, a baton in his hand. Sticking his tongue out, he smiled and rocked his head to the blond man. From behind him another man walked out, this one with far darker skin. He had no hair on his head, his eyes hidden behind a pair of thick sunglasses.

"Reno," the blond man spoke to the man with red hair. Turning to the other man he spoke again, "Rude."

"Heeeeeeeey, Cloud!" Cloud Strife. The so-called defender of Midgar... but both times he'd saved Midgar was from the same threat that he couldn't seem to get rid of. From the last time they encountered, Cloud wiped all memory of him from his mind, hoping he wouldn't come back if he wasn't remembered. "It's been awhile."

"Three days?" Cloud was constantly being followed by these two. More Reno, but Rude tagged along most of the time.

"That's awhile, innit?" Cloud inhaled slowly, held his breath and exhaled quickly. Looking at the two in front of him, he began to walk over to his motorcycle.

"So," Cloud began, "Why attack me?" He was attacked by them every time they revealed themselves to him.

"Simple," answered Rude. "We test to make sure that you are up to the standards of the SOLDIER you once claimed to be."

"Tch..." Cloud sucked his teeth. Only Rufus Shinra had the righto say he was never a real SOLDIER. Only Rufus Shinra, president of ShinRa Company. "What is it this time?"

"He's back." Reno spoke, and for the first time in quite a long time, he was dead serious.

"You're lying." Cloud answered briefly and rudely.

"Prove it." For the second time, Rude contributed to the conversation.

"Tch..." In all honesty, Cloud didn't know what to say. He wasn't sure if they really were lying, and testing to see wouldn't be a smart idea, as if they were telling the truth then it would most likely become too late to do anything about it. "Alright, alright... say I believe you. Is it actually him, or is it another larvae like Kadaj and his gang?"

"Larva, we think." Reno and Rude distinctly remembered Kadaj's gang, though it hadn't taken Kadaj more then two hits to knock both of them out of commission. "At least, he had a giant sword, wears a cape and hair white hair."

"But," Reno interrupted. "There's a catch. He isn't in Midgar... he isn't even on Gaia."

"Then where th-" Cloud spoke, once again interrupted by one of them. This time, though, it was Rude.

"He's in some town known as Fortuna. We're sending you in a ShinRa ship... there's room for one other person in it, so who are you taking?"

Take someone else to an entirely new place? He remembered Omega's original intent was to be a vessel to travel to different worlds... perhaps ShinRa company had finally crafted their own way to do the same? Cid was always good with airships, but they wouldn't work without air; and air didn't exist in space. But take someone with him...? He was a melee fighter, so someone long-ranged would be his best option. As soon as he realized he was going for Long Range, he realized he had to decide on two people-Vincent Valentine and Barret Wallace. After careful thought and consideration, he figured Vincent's Chaos abilities would be more of an asset then Barret's gunnery arm.

"Vincent. Vincent Valentine." He finally spoke after a long and brutal pause.

"Vincent..." Reno spoke. "Alright, call him on your cell phone and tell him to meet You, Rude and I at ShinRa mansion were we have your ride." Cloud did just that. About an hour later they finally arrived, and of course Vincent had beaten them there. They pulled up, Cloud getting out first and rushing in followed by Vincent who was right behind him, barely breathing. Reno and Rude took their time to get inside. Rufus Shinra was in the middle of the room and did not speak, only pointing to the south wing of the house. Vincent and Cloud entered the room, looking for their 'ride.'

It all happened so suddenly... the door slammed shut just as the air vents flew open, releasing the noxious gasses into the room. Vincent grunted on accident, breathing in heavily to allow the gasses to work. Their vision blurred, Cloud and Vincent fell to the floor, both now rendered unconscious.

Cloud didn't know how long it had been, but when he finally opened his shimmering green eyes he looked around to notice two important things. One, Vincent was nowhere to be found, and two he was on the top of a very tall tower. Standing up, he realized the entire First Tsurugi had been assembled and placed in his hand. Using it as a balance to stand, he looked around to find stairs to get down. Just as he was about to approach them, another figure walked up them. He was wearing red.

It wasn't Vincent.