Warnings: Some graphic imagery, some swearing. Separation anxiety on my part...

Chapter 55: Push Your Head Toward the Air

"You realize you're going to be helplessly in love with me forever more now, right?" Zack said. Yazoo blinked his sleepy blue cat's eyes at him. "Bound to worship me for all eternity," the First stated in bouncy good humour. The clone pushed up from where he was draped over his chest.

"You mean you'll be worshipping me," he corrected. "Like you do Sephiroth."

Zack grinned teeth bright through the drying blood, which was starting to itch and feel really gross, "Never happen; totally different situation." One silver eyebrow arched high and, godsdamn, if the sprite didn't look like a younger version of the person he was based on. "Okay, maybe in ten years or so, when you grow into your potential, you might be able to turn me on with a cough, but you're not there yet."

Yazoo raised himself up on one elbow and his eyelids drooped covering his expression. "You're right," he purred. Long, delicate looking fingers trailed a path over his chest, touching bare skin, moving from bullet hole to bullet hole. "You are irresistible."

"Uhh..."

Zack squirmed but Yazoo leaned over farther so that his breath stroked over Zack's face and they were pressed from breast bone to thigh. "Sex after battle is incredible. I'm sure it will be even better with you..." And then his hand was below Zack's belt and fucking stroking.

The big First jack-knifed into a seated position. "Oh-kay, that's enough of that." He carefully removed the clone's wandering digits. Yazoo smirked up at him from his position on the floor. He looked lazy and predatory and reminded Zack of Cloud's Niisan.

"Yazoo, are you using sexual activity to intimidate my Second-in-Command?"

Zack's excited greeting was muffled by the pale hand Yazoo had placed over his mouth. "He started it first."

Cloud was already digging through his pack, bringing out the potions and elixirs. "Here, Zack, drink this."

"I'm sure he did," Sephiroth responded calmly enough though his eyes searched the SOLDIER for any remaining damage. There was nothing that he could see, at least nothing he could assist with. "However, if you were hoping for intercourse right away, you will be disappointed." He ignored Zack's protesting squawk to exchange greetings with Tseng.

"Why will I be disappointed," Yazoo asked laying back but keeping a hand on the First's arm. "Is he a tease?"

"No, I'm not," Zack spluttered a protest.

"Eat this." Cloud handed over an MRE filled with a lukewarm food like substance, "to rebuild your cells." After a quick look at the silver-haired youth, he handed the second one to Yazoo who didn't bother sitting up to eat, just opened a corner and sipped delicately at the lukewarm goo.

"He won't do anything until he has Aerith's permission," Sephiroth explained to his clone, "She'll probably have to meet you first."

"That's not—"

"And, from what I understand, she'll want pictures."

"Ah," Yazoo said in understanding. He ran fingers through Zack's black—and somewhat sticky—hair. "Pussy whipped."

"Hey!"

Sephiroth raised an eyebrow. "Well trained," he corrected though his eyes glinted in humour. His friend had scared him and this was a mild way to get some revenge.

"Here, this is the last one," Cloud said, holding out another food pack to the SOLDIER. "After that we need to find the cafeteria. They do have a cafeteria here, right?" He looked up at Tseng as if expecting him to know. Tseng said nothing.

"If she approves we can work out a schedule. Her bed, our bed—"

"Then one big bed all together?" Yazoo's smile was feral anticipation.

"Right, well, that was fun..." Zack stood up with a flourish. "Glad you're all enjoying yourselves. Thank you for the food, Cloud," he handed the empty bags to his friend. "Now I think I'll go down and check on Vincent and Tifa; see if they've managed to find Weiss and stop him, since that is what we're here for, not for making silly little jokes at each others' expense."

"Cloud," the General said softly.

"Yes, Sir," the Corporal put everything back in his bag and moved to stand beside the First.

Zack frowned, "I don't need a babysitter."

"It's either Cloud or Yazoo, your pick." There was no give in the General's voice: Zack would not be venturing out of sight by himself.

With a huff of breath, the First gave in. He jerked his head at Cloud to indicate which direction they were heading and then off they went.

Sephiroth waited until they were out of earshot. "How bad?" He crouched over the supine clone. He placed one hand over the young man's thundering heart and willed it to slow.

"Nearly dead," Tseng answered. "He was starting to dissolve when Yazoo... stepped in."

"Though I thank you, Yazoo, it was foolish to go so deep," Sephiroth said even as he dug through his own pack. "You should have drunk a potion immediately."

Yazoo gazed at him out of shuttered eyes but remained silent so, once again, it was the Turk who spoke. "We have none left. Nero was an excellent fighter and his weapons were surprisingly effective."

"I could feel you responding," Yazoo finally said, "I knew you'd come."

"Hmm," Sephiroth steadied his clone as Yazoo drank the elixir down. "And you didn't tell him that you were damaged by the healing, why?" Now Yazoo blushed and looked away. "Yazoo," the General insisted.

"Because he would have felt guilty but it was my choice, just as it was his to take on the whole DGS army so that Tseng and I could finish Nero." Yazoo took a deep breath as the Jenova cells inside him relaxed and went back to sleep; hibernating until the next time one of her progeny needed them. "Besides, I've never done that before; didn't even know it was possible until you did it with Zack on the ice. How was I supposed to know what it would do to my system?"

"Hmm," Sephiroth said again. "Actually, it felt somewhat different than normal. Perhaps because I was feeling the call rather than initiating it or perhaps because Jenova's main mass is destroyed."

"Jenova is dead?" Tseng asked.

The General looked up at the Turk. He had some trust that Rufus wouldn't turn into his father but not a lot. Still, there was little chance that Neo-Shinra would ever be able to recover any of the alien creature. "Her body, along with Professor Hojo's, exploded and disintegrated completely. We were in a void that I'm not sure I could find again even if I had the inclination."

"Which you don't," Tseng finished for him. Sephiroth nodded his head. "Personally, I think it is a very good thing for humans and the planet that she is unrecoverable. She... didn't belong here."

Yazoo snorted so Sephiroth didn't have to. "Are you stable now, Yazoo?" he asked instead. The clone nodded and managed to stand up without wobbling too bad. "The first time I called someone, I was twelve and it was an accident," the General said conversationally. "The poor boy was inside a tube and she nearly beat through the container trying to get to me. And I..." his voice trailed off and his gaze fell to the floor, fell into memory. A sad half smile appeared, "What they did to make us settle down... Let's just say, I learned control very quickly."

"I'll work on it." Yazoo promised quietly.

"Excellent." The General turned away, searching the room, keeping his face hidden from them. "Now, I believe Cloud was correct. We will need sustenance and in quantity. Did you happen to see a terminal anywhere?" Yazoo pointed to one near the side door, lights flashing and message scrolling so that it was unmistakable. "Excellent," he said again and moved rapidly to the computer. If either of his companions thought it resembled a retreat they both had the intelligence—and kindness—not to mention it.

"It was a very brave thing that you did, Yazoo," Tseng said and the clone felt the glow of pride—he'd earned his place in the group. The Turk's next words wiped that feeling clean. "It was also foolish. Did you even try to think of the hazards involved?"

Yazoo looked at him with large shuttered eyes, unwilling to concede anything to the dark-eyed man.

Tseng looked placidly back. "Turks are trained to assess changing probabilities during high stress situation so that, even when we make foolish choices, we can be assured that it was the least foolish choice available to us."

One delicately sculpted eyebrow went up. "Interesting technique," he said, his voice loaded with sarcasm.

"It is a fluid, tight-knit group that Rufus Shinra is deliberately keeping small so that authority cannot be falsified and responsibility cannot be dodged."

Yazoo looked at the Turk in astonishment. He tipped his head so his hair would swing out of the way and he could see Tseng's face fully... although that helped nothing. "Tseng," he asked hesitantly, "are you trying to recruit me?"

"Oh my gods. Oh gods."

*That's it, my warrior, surrender to me.*

"We're fifty meters up in the air. I'm not aroused, I'm terrified."

Oh.

That certainly wasn't the effect they had been trying for...

Zack stalked down the stairs, his footsteps quick and mostly silent. Moving his body noiselessly was a habit long ingrained in the SOLDIER First Class—too bad he never could get his mouth into the same habit. "You heard what they said, about us sharing... me. Don't you have something to say about that?" He was babbling and he knew it but for some reason the teasing between Seph and Yazoo had left him feeling unsettled. "As if Aerith would give permission for something like that. I mean, come on!"

Cloud was letting the stream of words float by him without really noting any of it. "You know what this reminds me of?" he said in the middle of more nervous chatter. "This reminds me of going into the basement of the Shinra Mansion. You know, before...at the start of all this. Except then you kept on talking about how you were going to get me into SOLDIER training."

Zack flashed him a grin, looking at him in his dinged up uniform with the lion's head decorations and its straps. "Looks like you don't need my help anymore, Spike."

"Considering the amount of mako and shit gurgling around in my blood," Cloud answered with a grunt of agreement. "I bet I got more than you now."

"Dream on."

"I can be a SOLDIER First and a Half, just so that everyone knows who's superior."

Zack's bark of laughter filled the large stairwell. "What is it with you guys? First Seph and now you, cracking jokes and making funnies. Was it something in the air?"

Cloud blinked at him, "Hojo's dead. Like really dead."

"Yeah," Zack grinned happily, "I got that from the 'exploded into mist' part of your description." He nodded, "That is such fucking great news, I can hardly find words." He turned around to continue down the stairs—how fucking deep did they go anyway?—when it finally hit him.

"Shit, I need to sit for a second," he said and did, dropping onto the step beneath him as his knees gave way.

"Zack!" Cloud scurried down the steps to crouch in front of him. "What happened? Is it more damage from the bullets or the mako?" His eyes were bright with concern.

"Nah," Zack waved those away. "It just hit me, that's all." Cloud glanced around the area, looking for dangers he'd missed. "Hojo's really dead."

Cloud frowned, "I told you that."

"Yeah, I know but..." the First took a shuddery breath, "all of a sudden it seems, I dunno, real. He's dead and he'll never be able to recapture us and do... anything to us...ever again."

"No, no he won't." Cloud touched him just a light hand on his arm but it was warm and comforting. "He's gone and we're safe. We're safe, Zack."

He was losing it. He knew he was losing it because his chest was tight and his eyes hurt and "Fucking Hells..." and he was gone, sobbing and bawling like a little baby. It wasn't graceful or romantic, no 'single tear rolling dramatically down his cheek'. This was a snot running, lung clogging, eye swelling breakdown of epic proportions. And he didn't care.

Cloud didn't care either; it wasn't like they hadn't been here before.

He held his friend, rubbed his back, rocked him gently and sang a soft lullaby that his mother used to sing. He was crying too: tears of relief, tears of 'oh my gods, how did we survive it?' joy. Mostly they were tears for his friend who was both hurting and not, but who was finally overwhelmed by everything. He let his wings come out and he wrapped his friend up in them too and then he just sat there and let the emotions run down. He figured they had the time. If Vincent and Tifa had failed to stop Weiss then the compound should've been coming down around their ears but it wasn't, so they were probably okay too. For now, Cloud had decided, this was more important.

Tseng ignored Yazoo's question. He glanced down at the floor where still-wet DGS blood was dripping from the clone's long coat onto a floor still coated with it, in a steady plip-plip that was fast becoming annoying. "Perhaps we should move somewhere at little less…graphic." Yazoo held out his hand, inviting Tseng to lead the way.

There was a smirk on his lips and a cool distance in his eyes. He swung his hair so it fell seductively over one side of his face so it would hide his expression even more. He knew this was the mask he'd worn in the lab in front of Hojo and the rest. He'd also worn a variation of it in front of Kadaj and Loz but he hadn't realized it until Zack and Cloud and Tifa and the rest. In front of them, he'd worn no mask. He didn't want to go back to it.

"No matter the incarnation, I don't find the idea of becoming Shin-Ra's property again, very appealing."

"You wouldn't be property, Yazoo," Tseng stated.

"I don't want to be a weapon," Yazoo said, "Assassin, torturer, spy, attack dog: none of those sound attractive either."

"I assure you, those tactics are no longer part of our everyday repertoire. Rufus Shinra is very serious about not falling back into his father's leadership model." Yazoo snorted. Tseng's dark eyes remained mild. "You can confirm this with Sephiroth and Tifa."

"Still, aside from a life of following your orders rather than Hojo's, what are you offering me?" The clone swayed seductively. One long pale finger trailed over the sleeve of his uniform. "I have to tell you, you're not my type."

"I'll make a note of it," the Turk's voice was mostly impassive but Yazoo could detect the trace of humour.

He backed away and just looked at the Turk, waiting for him to explain the offer.

"What we have to trade for your loyalty is a controlled introduction to freedom and independence. For part of your day, you will work in a structured environment, of the kind you've been raised in and are familiar with, although much more fluid and dynamic thanks to... certain elements. The rest of the day you can spend as you please, out in public or in an apartment of your own—the location of which you can choose yourself."

Yazoo laughed, he couldn't help it. "You're actually serious." Tseng just looked at him with his dark, hidden, eyes. "I didn't think you even liked me."

"I didn't," Tseng confirmed, "but that was when I only knew what you were, not who. Most of Hojo's experiments are, to put it mildly, unstable. However, you have proven to be smart, well trained, quick thinking, efficient and effective. You are also loyal to those who have earned your trust."

Yazoo examined the Wutaian Turk for any hint of joke or trap or-or anything... any clue that his offer was real. There was nothing. There was neither eagerness nor calculation. There was just Tseng standing there, patient and contained, with one small smear of blood on his cheek which only served to enhance how unnaturally tidy he was everywhere else.

It was actually kind of creepy.

Yazoo dipped his head, hiding his face behind his hair once again. "I'll think about it." And probably answer no, he thought.

Tseng said nothing just nodded acceptance of Yazoo's hedging. "Perhaps we should see if the General has found the kitchens." It was an offer of escape, and Yazoo took it.

"Oh my gods. Oh gods."

*Yes, my lover, my mate. It's good that you appreciate us to our full extent. *

She hit them, a love tap. "Shut up with the ego and do that move again." Chaos rolled their hips, tail twisting lightly, and she tightened around them and moaned in helpless pleading.

Now this was the response they were looking for...

Cloud and Zack retreated from the room. "Okay," Zack said, tanned skin unnaturally pale, "I didn't need to see that."

"Yeah," the blond swallowed, "That was..."

"It was something in the Nibelheim water," the First continued, both of them retreating hastily back up the stairs, "It made all of you nuts."

"I didn't do anything," Cloud protested his friend's unfair claim.

"You took on Seph when he was full on crazy," Zack reminded him. "And now look at Tifa!"

Cloud shook his head. "I'd really rather not." They pounded up a couple dozen more stairs before he felt the need to add to his statement. "Not that there's anything wrong with it," he said. "They're both consenting adults." That much had been obvious from what little they'd seen.

"Actually, I think Chaos counts as a multiple of adults," Zack pointed out.

"True, I think," Cloud nods agreement with Zack's assessment. The Chaos who'd been in the room with the small fighter wasn't the Chaos that Zack had encountered before but it reminded both of them of other parts of Vincent they'd seen. It... he...it, had had Galian's wings and tail. And the way it had oozed extra arms to hold her in place... that had been pure Hellmasker. Cloud had nearly run in to rescue Tifa. His instincts had screamed at him that she was in danger. It was Zack who'd held him back, who'd recognized the sounds she was making as pleasure-pain sounds not just pain.

Zack snorted. "Smallest orgy I ever saw," he said.

Cloud lost it in a fit of giggles. "Hope I never see it again," he commented.

Then Zack was laughing too because, Odin's holy balls, that was the weirdest and most disturbing sex the SOLDIER had ever seen—and he'd witnessed a lot of depraved things under the plate—and she'd consented. "Mayor's daughter," he gasped out.

"Village princess," Cloud returned.

"That cowboy outfit?"

They held themselves and each other as the laughter robbed them of breath and strength... and intelligence. And if they cried, at least this time they were tears of mirth and hope, not pain.

They finally managed to settle down enough to return to the room where they'd left the others. When Yazoo darted forward, concerned that Tifa and Vincent weren't with them, Cloud, blushing red as a berry, let Zack respond. "They're just, ah..." he rubbed a hand through blood-wet hair. "They're kinda occupied right now."

Yazoo's eyebrows went up. "They're having sex? Tifa and Vincent are having sex on the battlefield?"

"Well, it's not exactly Vincent," Cloud murmured but of course the genetically superior clone heard him.

Long lids blinked over stunned eyes before Yazoo recovered his composure. "Did you take pictures for your girlfriend, Commander?" he teased and was rewarded by Cloud's choke of laughter.

"Are we back to that?" Zack slapped a hand over his face.

Yazoo wasn't finished: "I told you that post-battle adrenaline makes for great sex." He stepped in closer, and licked his lips. "We could test out my theory and Cloud could take the pictures."

Zack frowned at him. "Okay, get ready to have your backside tanned." He handed his sword over to Cloud.

"You'll try," Yazoo jumped back laughing. He laughed until Zack smacked him on the ass with enough force to make him jerk. He stood, dumbstruck, until the SOLDIER lifted his hand for another blow.

"I like this game better," Zack said with a smirk.

With a squeal worthy of the kid he'd never been, Yazoo took off running. With a whoop, Zack gave chase. It didn't take long for the two altered warriors to be jumping off walls, bouncing off ceilings, and making enough noise for a platoon.

Cloud made his quiet way over to where Sephiroth and Tseng were standing. He nodded at the dark-eyed Turk before coming to rest next to the General, not quite touching but near enough that they could feel each other's heat. "Vincent and Ms. Lockhart aren't with you?" The General wasn't actually asking the question so much as requesting more information.

"They were... busy," Cloud responded and knew he was blushing again. "They'll be up when they're done."

Tseng hmm'ed and the General's eyebrow went up. "We can assume that they took care of Weiss then."

"I'll wear out your adrenaline, you little nympho," Zack yelled from across the room. Yazoo's husky laugh was the only reply.

"I, uh, didn't see any sign of anyone else so, yeah, probably a safe assumption."

"If you managed to look elsewhere," Tseng said softly. Sephiroth changed his chuckle into a cough but Cloud's cheeks still went from pink to red.

Behind them the door opened with a quiet shushing noise. Instantly, the three turned to face the possible new threat. Tseng had his pistol aimed and Cloud had first Tsurugi at the ready. A moment later the General waved their weapons down. "Lazard," he said in recognition. "You got my message."

"Lazard?" Tseng asked, "Director Deusericus?"

It didn't look like the pictures of Lazard Deusericus that Cloud remembered from the news when the guy disappeared. In fact, he looked like Zack's old mentor: Angeal, except not really. Angeal was dark, this guy was white.

"Thank you for sending for me so promptly, General. I didn't actually expect it." The not-Angeal said, voice soft and completely not that of a trained soldier.

"Your source within DGS," Tseng said with a tone of enlightenment. "Deuce."

Sephiroth's answer was short; just 'yes'. It was Lazard who expanded on it. "It didn't take me long to realize that I'd left one bed of corruption just to end up in another. Except I had no position to protect me in the new one."

"Your appearance," the Turk murmured.

"Hollander used my body, my cells, in an attempt to balance Genesis' mutation with Angeal's more stable version. However," he waved a hand over his form, "as you can see, Angeal's cells were dominant as usual. And I became… just another failed experiment." Lazard's smile was sad and wry but without the bitterness he'd shown before his abrupt departure. "I remind myself that I was one of the lucky ones."

Tseng opened his mouth, perhaps to ask more questions, but before he could say anything Zack was running up to them. "Ang… Angeal?" His little wings fluttered, fingers clutching and tapping. "Angeal?" He stepped forward but Cloud caught him, hand on arm and shook his head.

"Commander… Zack," Sephiroth corrected himself, "You remember Lazard Deusericus, former Director of the SOLDIER program." It wasn't a question.

Zack's eyes, huge and bright in his pale face, stared at his friend before shifting to the mutated former executive and then back again. "But…"

Yazoo moved to stand beside the First, eyes narrowed at the person who'd upset the dark-haired SOLDIER. When he got a good look at the newcomer his eyes widened in surprise and his mouth spoke without him. "It's just Lazy Boy."

"Lazy Boy?" Zack repeated, still dazed.

"Hollander's pet project," the clone explained, "He just hangs around, doing nothing. Not even worth experimenting on, according to the Professor."

"And, whatever ego I had left, just got kicked to the dirt," Lazard smiled sadly. "However, being so... unremarkable made it easier to move around the facility unnoticed, unwatched. If someone like Hojo doesn't consider a project worth bothering about, then nobody bothers. Ignoring the cues can lead to rather painful—even terminal—consequences."

"So Angeal's not…" Zack's voice was broken and small. Now Cloud was standing beside him as well as the young clone. They didn't touch but the support was palpable.

"I'm sorry, Zackary; Commander Hewley isn't here, just his face." The altered former-Director turned his attention back to Sephiroth. "We have other concerns, General."

"What is it?" Cloud felt his General's attention snap in tight. After that, it only took micro-moments for Zack to put his personal distress aside to focus on whatever news Lazard brought.

"Without the leaders to keep their followers and, um, other creatures, under control, this facility is… imploding, I suppose. Many of the Jenova-based experiments are committing mass suicide so they're not a concern, but the DGS forces… Weiss was practically a god to them. They wish to avenge his death." He pushed small square glasses up his nose and Cloud realized that he hadn't even noticed them before. "They're killing anyone and anything they come across. In return, Hojo's staff are trying to use the experiments as protection except the creatures are uncontrollable..."

"You're saying it's a riot out there," Zack simplified. He was already looking at his Buster, checking it for nicks or chips.

"Yes, I suppose I am."

"We're going to have to fight our way out?" Yazoo said as he reloaded Velvet Nightmare.

"Uh, probably?"

"Have they tapped into the security systems?" Sephiroth asked, "Is there a self-destruct sequence?"

"Um, no, not yet, and I believe so."

Tseng went over to the computer control panel and tried to find out what kind of security the facility had, if a breach had been registered, and if the self-destruct sequence had been activated. His fingers moved in a blur over the keyboard and, finally, there was a little scratch of worry between the Wutaian's brows.

"We should consolidate our supplies," Cloud suggested, "We went through a lot of stuff." Yazoo nodded and zipped over to the packs and brought them back to the group.

"How much time do we have before the riot reaches us?" Zack asked.

"I don't know," Lazard answered patiently. "It's not like they've got a schedule… or even a plan."

"What plan? What's going on now?" It was Tifa, entering the cavernous room with Vincent—back in Vincent's shape—stalking along beside her.

"Inmate riot and possible self-destruct between us and the outside world," Zack quipped in response.

"You mean this isn't finished yet?"

"Not unless you want to live out your days in this room," Tseng responded. "The self-destruct feature hasn't been activated but I can't block access to it."

"Can you inject a virus into it, have it eat the program?" Cloud asked from his crouch on the floor. He wasn't sure where he learned about computer viruses… probably something he'd read when he was younger.

"I'll accept that as a compliment," Tseng said calmly, "however I am not Elena and my programming skills are not that versatile. At this point, all we can do is hope that none of the residents dig too deeply into the system and trip the countdown."

"Not a chance I'm willing to take." Sephiroth's green cat eyes were just as calm but they seemed fiercer, harder. "Are the packs ready?"

"I was really hoping for a shower," Zack said, pulling his blood-tacky shirt away from his blood-sticky skin.

"I second the shower," Tifa murmured and Cloud blushed as the memory of his friend as he'd last seen her—naked, panting and covered in sweat and other fluids—filled his mind.

He buried his face in the backpacks. "We just have to add anything Tifa and Vincent have..."

It didn't take long. He handed the last two MREs to Zack because the First's eyes were still burning with mako power. The nutrient bars he passed out to everyone, except Vincent who waved him away with a murmur about not requiring sustenance. Cloud had never been involved in a riot before. Of course, he'd done crowd control under the plate—all of Shin-Ra's security forces had done that at one time or another—but he wasn't nervous. They were a well-armed, well-trained lethal team. There wasn't much an unorganized rabble would be able to do.

He hoped.

They put Lazard in the centre as, despite his face, he wasn't a soldier. He wasn't even a hobbyist and barely knew how to hold a gun. Tseng and Vincent were beside him since they were both trained in body-guarding, and Sephiroth took point as he'd memorized a map of the facility during his brief exploration into the system. The rest spread around the core and they walked out of the body-filled room… into silence.

"Huh," Zack huffed. "I was expecting something a little more dramatic."

"I'll take the quiet," Tifa responded.

They avoided the elevators, loath to give control over their movement to a system under attack but the stairs were broad and too open. Zack and Cloud, with their smaller wing spans, took to the air to make sure it was clear. They could hear the sounds of battle occurring in the areas beyond the stairs but they didn't investigate; what was happening out there wasn't their concern this time. Instead they climbed, and climbed and climbed, steadily and cautiously but not slowly.

Cloud kept an eye on Zack, worried because his eyes were still glowing, softer but still… He wondered just how damaged his friend had been, how much of his mako Zack had already burned through and if—when—he'd start noticing muscle deterioration. Nothing he could do until they reached someplace with food, lots and lots of food except hope that they'd done all their fighting. If it was peaceful then the SOLDIER could begin to rebuild his mako levels.

For the most part they encountered nothing dangerous, a couple dead bodies just starting to fade, and then a small group of DGS jumped through the swinging doors. The soldiers weren't facing towards them. In fact it was obvious that they were involved in a running retreat against a stronger foe, shooting their weapons down the hallway. However, once they noticed Cloud and Zack it didn't take them long to swing their guns around to fire on the two swordsmen.

Cloud was already blocking the shots, protecting Zack as best he could, when the real danger burst through the doors trampling the DGS troops or picking them up and tossing them casually through the wall. It roared and the stairwell filled with sound.

"Shiva's fucking tits," Zack gasped, "I haven't seen one of those guys since Wutai." Cloud didn't care where his friend had seen the massive creature, all he cared about was that it was in their way and seemed just a likely to attack them as it had the DGS soldiers, but Zack wasn't finished talking. "If these guys are like those Vajradhara in Fort Tamblin, then swords won't hurt them. Magic only."

Cloud nodded, sheathed Tsurugi and focussed on his materia. He forced the flame out and sent it over to the ogre-looking creature. He was rewarded by a howl and a bash from a fist the size of a small steam shovel that sent him flying into the wall. He turned and managed to absorb most of the impact with only a grunt and a twinge.

"Godsdamnedshitfuck," Zack muttered curses in a continuous stream. A huge hammer flew at the SOLDIER and Zack wobbled up and over the weapon's arc.

"Watch it, Zack!" Cloud called out, throwing more fire at the huge fighter... thing.

"Me watch it? I'm not the one who got smacked into a wall." Except, in the next moment, he was. "I know who these things remind me of," the First said after he'd given his head a shake.

"Those things in Wutai, you said."

"Yeah, but no, that's not who I'm thinking of. It was that big guy back at camp. The DGS warrior dude who transformed," Zack spoke like Cloud had been there.

Cloud rolled his eyes and moved out of the way of Zack's Blizzaga—which was a cool materia but not very accurate. "I was stuck in the tent," the blond reminded his friend.

"Oh right. Well, if you'da seen him, you would know that there are a lotta similarities between that guy and this thing."

"Not helpful, Zack," Cloud commented and tossed out another Fira. All it seemed to do was annoy the overly-large fighter

It was just as well Yazoo arrived at the landing in a near-silent blur because they were getting their asses pummelled. The young gunman took in the battle with one comprehensive glance: the fact that the two swordsmen weren't using their blades, the dead soldiers with their guns... He was casting Bolt almost before his body had stopped vibrating from the sudden stop.

"Nice of you to join us," Zack quipped but Cloud could see that his timing was just a bit off, his coordination lagging just by a moment. It was a very good thing that they had back-up, no matter how long it had taken Yazoo to arrive.

"Scientists with monsters trying to escape troops with guns," the clone explained shortly throwing more lightning at the Vajradhara.

Between the three of them it didn't take long to have the huge creature down. Its hammer fell down the stairwell taking out whole flights as the dropped down into the depths. They heard screams and Cloud flew back in a panic but Sephiroth, Tifa and the others were unhurt. Lazard was slowing them down. He'd been a bureaucrat, a politician and a manager. The closest he'd come to exercising had been when he got off the elevator a floor early and took the stairs. The former-Director was gasping and looking pale... or actually paler.

And they weren't even close to the surface yet.