Note About Genre: I like to incorporate lots of different genres within one story. Therefore, while this story's main themes might be friendship and mystery, you can be sure that there will be humor, drama, and bits of other things scattered throughout this piece of writing as well. Now, I put 'mystery' as the second genre for this story not because this is a 'mystery novel', so to speak, but rather, because the element of mystery will play a big part later on. That being said, there won't be one big mystery like you'd find in a regular mystery book, but there will be various unanswered questions that should nag and bug you throughout the story until it reaches its climax :)

That Third Class SOLDIER

Chapter Two: Mr. Crimson

Written by: Okami of Shinobi Saru Corp

An ocean of crystalline water stretched out before me. Gently the waters kissed the golden blue horizon while a breeze softly caressed the ocean, turning it into a parade of small, rolling waves. Clouds painted the sky with white swirls and the warm shoreline glowed around me in the dimming light.

This was paradise.

Quickly shattering this blessed scene, the world dissolved and shifted to that of a graveyard. The air around me suddenly felt like ice, prickling my skin and causing me to shiver violently. A randomly placed headstone then appeared before me which read, 'Commander Mike, may he rest in peace. Death by angry squad members.'

Shattering the eerie silence that had developed, a mocking laugh came from inside the headstone. I stepped back in shock.

The volume of the laughter increased and a smooth, chanting voice began to murmur, 'Infinite in mystery is the gift of the Goddess…'

The sky turned black, the moon dripped crimson blood, and the surrounding area glowed with a dim and eerie radiance. Straining my ears, I tried to listen to the words being spoken. '…We seek it thus, and take to the sky…'

The wind began to howl, the laughter became an extreme annoyance, and the words became clearer.

'…Ripples form on the water's surface!'

Appearing from the grave, a crimson cloaked figure arose, a small booklet in hand and a large smirk on his face. Loudly the red man proclaimed, 'The wandering soul knows no rest; Loveless Act I!'

I groaned. The figure's glare burned my eyes and his words stung like acid in my ears. Slowly dream began to fade, the vision blurring with reality…

"Gahhh! What in the-!"

My eyes shot open. Quickly I sat up in my bed, and even more quickly did I lie back down. In my haste I had accidentally bumped my head against the bed above me, forcing me to plop back down onto my bunk in pain.

As the throbbing in my head subsided, I could hear Mr. Crimson (the name I finally decided upon giving my new 'Commander') proclaiming the lines of some bizarre, yet strangely familiar poem from outside my bunk room. Apparently this was his form of an early morning wake up call, and to be honest, I wasn't liking it.

I wasn't liking it one, sleep deprived bit.

After rubbing the sleep out of my eyes, I scanned the area around me. Across from me Jun - one of my three roommates - lay on his bed, a pillow covering his face and ears. Meanwhile, Masayoshi (a half-Wutain boy who we all called 'Yoshi' for short) was clutching his sheets while screaming like an insane madman. He obviously, like myself, wasn't too keen on being woken up at 5 AM, especially by the recital of some Gaia forsaken poem.

"We might as well get up," a voice declared, easily cutting through the clamor of Yoshi's shouting, "No sense in making our new Commander mad on the first day."

I turned towards the bunk room door where Quincy – the one who had spoken – was standing. Strangely enough, he was already dressed and looked like he had been awake for a couple of hours.

Now if it had been anyone else I would have questioned the teen's abnormal alertness, but this was Quincy, and Quincy essentially reeked of strange. With purple hair that fell to his waist, a thin, bony face, black eyes, and a slender stature, it was a wonder that ShinRa even let him through their front doors. But then again, ShinRa did have some bizarre employees wondering about their facility from time to time. Perhaps it was just a norm for them: having strange workers with even stranger hair.

Despite my strong desire to fall back asleep, I obediently tossed the covers to the side and slid out of my warm bed. I shivered once my feet touched the icy floor. If I had learned anything during my short time at ShinRa it was that the trainee's living quarters were always kept at ten degrees below zero, especially in the mornings.

After I had adjusted to the change in temperature, I quickly began to pull out my clothes for the day from my duffel bag. Letting out a long sigh, I clutched the sides of my bag as my Commander passed by the door, still shouting the lines of that wretched poem.

"…Ripples form on the water's surface, the wandering soul knows no rest!"

My brow furrowed at the words. That's strange. Wasn't that the same line the figure had recited in my dream? Wait. Had…had that figure been Rhapsodos?

I quickly shrugged off the thought before it could get any weirder. I hadn't even been under Mr. Crimson's command for twenty-four hours and already I was having nightmares about him. Not a good sign.

"Hurry up Gavin. Today is not the day to wait until the last moment to get dressed!" Quincy barked while he and the rest of my roommates walked out of the bunk room.

Not wanting to create any strife, I hurriedly ripped off my clothes and pulled on the standard training gear us trainees were required to wear. Skipping the brushing of my hair and teeth, I ran out into the hallway.

Immediately Mr. Crimson acknowledged my arrival. "You're late."

Whatever. I bit my lip, trying to hold back the irritation swelling up inside of me. I figured that now was probably not the best time to spit back some sarcastic response, even if it was tempting.

"Now," Rhapsodos began, crossing his arms in front of his chest as he proclaimed, "You all might be wondering why I woke you up at such an undesirable hour when your early morning training doesn't start until 6 AM. Am I right?"

Silence.

Rhapsodos rolled his eyes and rubbed his forehead. "When I ask a question I think the polite thing to do is to give me an answer."

Saving us from yet another moment of silence, Quincy replied, not even flinching at Rhapsodos's glare as he spoke, "You are correct, sir. I think that most of us are indeed curious as to what your intentions behind awakening us so early are."

Rhapsodos nodded. "Well, the answer is simple. Every morning while I am Commander we will meet out here in this hallway and you will listen to me read."

No one said a word. As for me, I was too exhausted to speak. For my Commander to have woken me up an hour early just so I could listen to him read was ridiculous! Last I checked, story time was for little kids, not teenage guys - especially when those guy are as impatient and simple-minded as those in my squad.

"You've got to be kidding me!" Daiki, the princess of complaints and stupidity, exclaimed. Apparently he wasn't receiving the same 'you talk and I'll kill you' vibes from Mr. Crimson as I was.

Turning towards the white-haired teen, Rhapsodos raised an eyebrow, cocking his head to the side as he replied, "I'm sorry, what was that you just said Cadet?"

The prima donna didn't miss a beat. Enunciating his words far too clearly, he replied, "I said you've got to be kidding me!"

"You dare question orders from your superior officer?" Mr. Crimson instantly narrowed his eyes and his face took on a harsh expression.

"I, um…"

"If you are deployed to a certain unit and you receive a command from one of your Generals will you question their authority? You know, failing to follow orders is considered a great offense here at SOLIDER."

Rolling his eyes, the teen spat (per usual), "Yeah, but I'm pretty sure that listening to someone read won't be one of my orders once I join SOLDIER!"

Within a heartbeat, Rhapsodos kicked Daiki in the gut and pinned him up against the hallway wall. "If you join SOLDIER. And you can be sure that with an attitude like that you won't be deployed anywhere except cleaning the men's toilets. Is that clear, Cadet?"

"Y-yes, sir!" Daiki stuttered through the spit overflowing from his mouth. He looked like a chunk of ice melting under the heat of the sun as Mr. Crimson glared into his soul.

Releasing the teen, Mr. Crimson scanned the rest of my squad. "Good, now sit down."

Not feeling like getting pinned up against a wall, we all obeyed our Commander's order and sat in a line against the hallway wall. For about an hour we remained there, motionless, listening to our Commander read articles from the ShinRa Daily News. Half-heartedly I listened to Mr. Crimson read what I'm sure was the most boring articles he could have possibly found. Time seemed to drag on, leaving me to fight my own will in order to stay awake. My determination petering out, my eyes closed and I drifted off into a wonderful nap.

That is, until something collided with my chin.

Shock dissipated into pain as my eyes shot open and my mind returned to a state of alertness. Slowly I turned my head, startled to discover that my Commander was intently glaring at me, his face only a few inches from my own.

Not wanting to look Mr. Crimson in the eyes, I took this time to study his features. His face was smooth and his eyes were narrow, making him look a bit feminine. I surmised from the clearness of his skin and the sheen and shine of his reddish-brown hair that he was very particular when it came to keeping up appearances. I could even make out the faint smell of cologne, a seemingly expensive brand from the sharp scent that flooded my senses. Additionally, now that it came to mind, Mr. Crimson also broke protocol and wore a long, crimson jacket (hence the nickname I assigned him) over his standard, blue Second class uniform. It added to his very defiant, haughty aura and the one earring which dangled from his right ear made him seem even more, well, flamboyant.

Rhapsodos frowned at my lack of eye contact, probably ticked off at my obvious lack of respect. Glaring at me, he straightened his back and said, "That concludes our first training session. Now, please recite the important points of what I just read."

To my horror, Mr. Crimson continued to stare at me. It was obvious that he wanted me to re-state all that he had just read, and it was even more obvious that he knew I couldn't do it.

I scowled, which probably looked more like a grimace with my throbbing chin, at Rhapsodos, only to receive a sadistic smile in reply. He wasn't going to let me out of this, and I had no way of escaping.

With as much bravado as I could muster, I replied, "Sir, I cannot do what you asked of me. I…I don't remember much of anything that you said…"

Expecting him to scoff or frown at me, I was surprised when Rhapsodos continued to stare at me, a bored expression plastered onto his face. I shifted uncomfortably on the ground. Did he want me to continue talking? Did he not understand what I just said? Did I say something wrong?

Before I could come to an accurate conclusion, Rhapsodos raised a hand and hit me across the face, popping my jaw back into place. A small scream escaped my lips at the sudden rush of pain as I instinctively reached up to touch my chin to make sure that it was still intact.

"Next time I want you to do something I suggest that you actually try to do as I say or else you will be sent home." Rhapsodos then stood up and glared down at us as he continued, "If I hear any one of you so much as mumble the word 'can't' then I will have you packing before you can say 'my dear Chocobo', got it?"

My squad and I nodded our heads.

Without a word, Rhapsodos then turned and walked down the hallway, motioning us towards one of the many training rooms. Once we reached the area where our official morning session was to be held, Mr. Crimson immediately started us up on 'The Sprints of Suicide'.

"For the first bit of this session, you all will run – without stopping – until I say you can quit. You may begin and enjoy!" Rhapsodos then opened a book and began to read, completely ignoring the many glares that were thrown his way.

Obviously annoyed at our new Commander, Daiki, his facial expression burning with frustration, exclaimed, "Hey! Commander Mike always had us run for ten minutes! You can't just give us such a vague time and expect us to sprint!"

"Oh?" Genesis looked up from his book, eyebrows raised, "You disagree with how I run this exercise? Well then, I suppose I could change things for you..."

Daiki furrowed his brow, surprised at Rhapsodos's response. "Really?"

"Really."

I grimaced – not only because of the severe pain in my chin but also because of the look on Mr. Crimson's face. This change in plans wasn't going to be a good one.

Before any one of us could utter a word of complaint, Rhapsodos took a strange sphere from the inside of his jacket and fingered it fondly. A faint light began to shine from the sphere - a light that turned red, a light that began to burn, and a light that turned to flames.

"Oh shi-!" Someone exclaimed, voicing my thoughts exactly.

We all knew what that sphere was. Materia. And most likely mastered at that.

Smiling an all too happy smile, Mr. Crimson mouthed the word 'Run!'. Immediately my squad and I dispersed, dodging the flames and running for our lives. Somehow, by the grace of Shiva, I managed to not make a fool of myself. Though, tiredness quickly began to seep into my muscles, causing me to stumble over my own two feet a few times. It wasn't long afterwards that I heard the painful sizzling of my right sleeve.

"Oh? Looks like I hit someone," Mr. Crimson drawled, "It seems as if you are the slow one of the group, hm?"

I rolled my eyes at the snide comment, patting down the flames as I resumed my running. I would love to see him try to do this drill. The cur...

Time crawled by, and during each second my ears were constantly alert, waiting for the drill to be called off. It felt like hours passed by until, many minor burns and bruises later, Mr. Crimson spoke. It was the first time I was glad to hear his wretched voice.

"That's enough!"

Panting, sweating, and wheezing for air, my squad and I stopped and encircled Rhapsodos.

"Line up against that wall," Rhapsodos abruptly ordered and then pointed to the back wall of the room. After we all had dragged ourselves to our positions, Mr. Crimson further commanded, "Assume the push-up position and begin."

"Begin what?" Daiki asked, still panting a bit from the previous exercise.

Rhapsodos rolled his eyes. "Begin singing and doing the Macarena."

The white-headed teen stared at our Commander in disbelief. Mr. Crimson's expression didn't even break, and if it wasn't for the absurdity of what Rhapsodos had said, Daiki and the rest of my squad would've probably done exactly as ordered.

"Are you… are you serious?" Lance questioned. From what I could tell, the teen looked stunned. Not a very foreign expression amongst my squad at the moment.

"What do you think?"

Lance glanced at the rest of us before replying, "No?"

Rhapsodos let out a long sigh. Exasperated, he rubbed his forehead. "We apparently have a lot to work on when it comes to communication. But for now, I want to see all of you do some push-ups."

Before I could even lower myself into the first push-up, Yu timidly asked, "H-how many do you want us to do, sir?"

"Hm? I can't hear you Cadet!"

The boy gulped. I could see him gathering up his courage before asking once again, "How many push-ups should we do, sir?"

"As many as you can."

I groaned. I could already feel my arms burning as I re-took the plank position and began my first push-up. But before I could raise myself up, I felt a boot on my back.

"Lower your butt cadet!"

All around me I could hear some of the other members of my group snicker. Trying to block out their soft laughter, I re-positioned myself and intently focused on performing each push-up.

As I worked, I heard Mr. Crimson's footsteps pace in front of us, scanning us for mistakes and sloppy form.

"Lower your body down more! You're not doing a real push-up until your arms are parallel with the ground!"

I heard a thud to my left. Stopping mid push-up, I glanced over to find Yu sprawled out on the ground, his exhausted arms shaking like a leaf in the wind.

Abruptly, Mr. Crimson pulled Yu back up into the plank position by the back of his shirt. "When I said lower your body I didn't mean to plop right down onto the ground!"

Yu hung his head. "I-I'm sorry sir-"

"Don't waste your time apologizing! Just do the drill correctly this time."

Without wasting a moment, Yu began the drill again, his muscles straining as they slowly lowered the boy down towards the ground once more.

I too resumed doing my push-ups, mentally counting each time I came back up to the plank position. If I thought that my arms felt like they were burning before, then they were completely engulfed by flames by the time I reached the twentieth push-up. Not able to hold myself up anymore, I let my arms collapse, my body colliding with the cold floor.

After I managed to catch my breath, I glanced over at the rest of my squad. Aside from one person everyone was finished, the majority of them now sprawled out on the floor and breathing heavily. Though it was hard to hear over my squad's panting, I listened to the remaining member of my squad keep count of how many pushups he had done.

"Forty, forty-one, forty-two…"

I narrowed my eyes in thought as I observed Kyle lower himself to ground with unnatural ease. In the short time I had known him here at ShinRa, things like this seemed to come easily to him. It didn't even look like he had to exert any amount of effort to achieve this success either. It just came naturally to him. His talent (if it could even be called that) was beyond frustrating for some, especially for Daiki who was currently looking on at Kyle with distaste and hatred. Perhaps it wasn't the best response, but it certainly wasn't unnatural. Jealousy is, after all, a very common emotion in the human race.

Thus, no one in my squad cared to associate with Kyle, making him the shunned achiever, doomed to face his time at SOLDIER alone. Couldn't say that I pitied the boy, but I certainly didn't blame him.

Snapping my attention away from the protegé, Mr. Crimson sharply exclaimed, "There's no need to gape like a bunch of stunned Chocobos! Get to work and start on the next drill!"

Rhapsodos then began to explain the next exercise, but I couldn't help but wonder about the sudden annoyance in Mr. Crimson's voice. For a short moment, he had looked upset, as if our fawning over our teammate had angered him. Of course, such a reaction would be considered childish in normal circumstances, not to mention unexpected in comparison to our Commander's initially harsh, sarcastic behavior. It was abnormal, and my curiosity was piqued.

The next few drills our Commander had us perform were like the others, tiring and rather bizarre. For reasons that only Shiva could understand, Mr. Crimson had us doing anything from jump roping to chasing after bouncy balls.

That's right. Bouncy balls.

If it wasn't for the level of intensity of each exercise, any random passerby would've thought that we were a bunch of five-year olds playing at the park.

At the end of the morning session, my squad and I once again gathered around our Crimson Commander. Now that I was still, a wave of nausea hit and I swallowed in order to quell my swashing stomach. To my right, I heard Daiki swear along with the sounds of someone coughing up some water, or whatever so happened to be in their stomach at the time.

Mr. Crimson, on the other hand, didn't even look up from his book. "Thus concludes your morning session. I added an extra fifteen minutes to your usual training time since so many of you decided to sleep during the first exercise, so I suggest that you sprint to the cafeteria if you're wanting any time to digest your food before the next session. Which, I assure you, you're going to want to do."

Cue more sighing, groaning, and swearing. It seemed like my squad was capable of doing little else - the incompetent bunch.

Breaking through the murmur, Lance suddenly spoke up, his voice surprisingly sounding neither annoyed nor arrogant, "Commander, sir, why are we jumping rope and running around like little Choocbos with their heads cut off? I don't necessarily want to question your authority, but I do, however, want to know the purpose behind the drills. I think we all should know at least that much, sir."

I raised an eyebrow, expecting Mr. Crimson to send us off running again. But to my shock, Rhapsodos didn't spout off some sarcastic remark about obeying orders without question or talking back to those in authority. In fact, he looked rather pleased at Lance's boldness. If, that is, Rhapsodos could even be pleased. But, I supposed that the slight softening of his facial expression was close enough.

"What is a SOLDIER?"

The question took Lance off guard. "Um, sir?"

"Don't make me repeat myself, Cadet."

Lance took a moment to think about Rhapsodos's question before replying, "A SOLDIER is a warrior, sir. An elite warrior at that."

"And, what do 'elite warriors' do exactly?" Mr. Crimson glared down at the teen before him, making Lance squirm under the pressure of our Commander's gaze.

"They, um, they fight sir?"

Rhapsodos threw his hands up into the air. "Hopeless! You lot are absolutely hopeless!" Mr. Crimson paused for a moment before resuming his lecture, "A SOLDIER's job is not only to fight but to gather information, to create successful strategies for victory, to have a sharp mind along with an agile and strong body. Have none of you learned any of this?"

My squad and I remained silent.

"Sheesh! I've only been here for a year and those are some of the first things that I learned!"

"Well," Kyle began, the tone of his voice indicating that he did not appreciate being talked down to, "Would you mind elaborating for us then, sir?"

Rhapsodos shook his head in disbelief before taking in a deep breath. "Alright, let's start with this morning's drill. What do you think the purpose behind that exercise was, hm?"

"Other than to torture us you mean?"

Mr. Crimson shot Daiki through the heart with a deadly scowl, silencing everyone's laughter and causing the prima donna to cower back in fear.

There was a quick moment of silence before Yu suddenly said, "Well sir, you, um, you had us listen to you read while we were tired. Um, I am not really sure, but were you trying to test how well we retained information, sir?"

Clapping three times, Rhapsodos exclaimed, "Finally! At least one of you lot possesses a mind!" Mr. Crimson then closed his book and crossed his arms in front of his chest. "Part of that torturous drill was to test how well you all were able to retain and filter information while being in a state of exhaustion. While you are on a mission, you're not always going to be in pristine condition. There will be times when you're sick or, as was this case this morning, very tired. Neither of those conditions is a viable excuse for a poor performance. Even when you're at your worst, there will be times when you will have to fight or when you will have to sit and listen in on an enemy conversation and be able to pick out the correct details to memorize and act off of."

As my Commander paused I couldn't help but feel a bit shocked. I had no idea that Mr. Crimson actually possessed such insight. At first glance he seemed like an arrogant young man who could care less about the development of us trainees, but after this explanation, perhaps my initial analysis was wrong.

Perhaps Mr. Crimson wasn't just some selfish literature freak after all.

Breaking me away from my thoughts, Rhapsodos continued, "As for the running drill, I think the purpose behind that one is rather obvious. I wanted to tire all of you out before proceeded to the other exercises. And, speaking of said other exercises, those were for me to test your agility, speed, endurance, and balance."

Kyle voiced my thoughts exactly. "Chasing after bouncy balls is a test of agility and balance?"

Mr. Crimson grinned, a gesture that sent more than one shiver down my spine. "Are you so simple-minded that you can't see the worth behind chasing after bouncy balls?" Our Commander then outstretched his arms in a theatrical display of arrogance. "To become the dew that quenches the land – to spare the sands, the seas, the skies – I offer thee this silent sacrifice…" Rhapsodos then lowered his arms, paced back and forth before us, opened up his book, and began to read, completely ignoring all of the trainees still encircled around him.

I scoffed. My initial analysis of Mr. Crimson had been spot on after all. Rhapsodos was just an eccentric, sadistic, poetry-loving freak who enjoyed torturing us all. Any thought otherwise was probably placed there by Rhapsodos himself in an attempt to deceive those around him and play tricks with their minds. He seemed so deceptively cruel, and the gleam in glowing eyes as I left the training room just reinforced my assumptions about the Crimson Terror.

Genesis was completely insane.

A/N: Evil Genesis is a lot easier to write than he should be. Perhaps this says something about myself and my current level of sanity... Anyways, sorry for the wait for this chapter. I ended up having to do a lot more editing that I originally thought. The next chapter should come out a lot quicker, that is, if my schedule doesn't blow up on me!

And a huge THANK YOU to my two reviewers and to all those who read/favorite/followed this story! Your support is really appreciated! :)