Chapter 5: Here There Be Dragons

"Duck!" Cloud dived out of the way as bullets came flying at his head. He grunted in pain as he rolled down the hill, the cadet uniform barely padding the blows from the ground. He hopped up as soon as he hit, rearranging his helmet as he fired his own weapon. His head was ringing from the sound as gunfire echoed throughout the Wutai valley. He had come on a mission with Genesis who had brought a handful of cadets with him to put down part of the resistance that had attacked them that night in Midgar.

It had been pretty quiet when they had arrived near the town, but it had all been a rouse. They ambushed them 50 feet from the entrance, shooting Cadet Matthews through the eye not four feet from where Cloud was standing. It had only been blood shed since. Fear and adrenaline coursed through his spine as bullets sprayed from his gun, passing through a Wutai soldier slashing down at him. The sword came down regardless, and Cloud screamed as the blade tore through his shoulder pad, just stopping as it began to cut through the flesh.

He spun the gun around, smashing the butt of it into the soldier's face who was bleeding bullets. "I'm sorry…" he managed as the corpse fell and his blood leaked all over the ground. He hadn't yet gotten used to killing. He didn't think he ever would.

"Stop apologizing to the corpses," Genesis yelled, and Cloud grunted as he was grabbed from behind. "Move your ass! We have to get to cover!"

Cloud did as he was told, running behind Genesis as he kept his head down. The SOLDIER led them down towards an old farmhouse, grabbing him and dragging him towards a shed as he kicked the door open. They both dived inside as they dodged gun fire. His heart was hammering in his chest as he moved towards the window, staying out of the way of the fire as he smashed it open and stuck out the viewpoint of his gun for cover.

"How did they know we were coming?" he yelled back towards the SOLDIER who was currently digging through his bag.

"Have you ever known Shinra to come into anywhere and be subtle?" Genesis questioned, grabbing out a red materia and slotting it into his bangle.

Blue eyes widened at the sight of it, having never seen that kind of materia in real life. "Is that a Summon?" he questioned, almost breathless.

"Like I said," Genesis murmured. "Shinra has never been known to be subtle." The auburn haired SOLDIER pointed at him. "Stay here, and take cover when it comes."

"When what comes?" Cloud asked almost breathlessly, diving back as bullets sprayed through the window.

"I daresay you'll know when you see it," Genesis replied, grinning as he threw open the door and began to chant. Cloud could do little else besides stare up at the sky as the clouds turned red, and all air began to taste like sulfur. He heard screams light up the sky as he moved in front of the window to watch as a giant red dragon appeared from the ether and swept death through the sky.

His knees became weak as fire burned across the farmhouse, searing flesh and bone as it murdered indiscriminately as Genesis commanded. He watched in both horror and fascination as Shinra troopers joined the fray as they screamed along with the rest as their bones turned to ash.

The great beast set the world into flames, and then returned back into the burning sky as the only thing left standing in its wake was the SOLDIER, almost inhumanely beautiful amongst the cinders. The pain in Cloud's arm was a distant memory as he put together what had happened here, running out the door into the ruined earth as he pulled off his helmet.

"Genesis, what did you do!?" he yelled at the SOLDIER, eyes glued on the melted face plate of Andrew's helmet. He did his best not to focus in on the burnt out eyeballs that were currently oozing into the earth.

Genesis glanced back at him, his eyes almost glowing orange as fire burned behind him. "What does it look like, little trooper?" he asked, amusement in his tone, and Cloud couldn't conceive how he could be amused after he had just slaughtered hundreds. The air stunk of cooked flesh, 10 of the bodies at least from their own. Cloud understood. Genesis had to do what he had, or they would have all been dead, but he didn't even try to help the others.

"You didn't even warn them," he accused, disgust thick on his tone.

Genesis glanced around to the corpses, scoffing before glancing back. "There wasn't time."

"You warned me!" Cloud bit back, motioning around to the carnage. "You could have saved any of them instead! You are a SOLDIER...you can save anyone!"

A cold laughter filled the air as Genesis had the gall to laugh at him. "Where do you get off lecturing me after I saved your scrawny ass?" he questioned. "Especially when you know exactly why I chose you."

Cloud knitted his eyebrows, not understanding the insinuation as his fists clenched over his anger. "Why, because Zack's my friend?" he asked. "Because Sephiroth is…"

Genesis lips stretched thin into a leer. "Sephiroth's what? Huh? I dare you to finish that sentence, little trooper."

He couldn't, because he didn't know the answer. He hadn't talked to Zack in weeks, and it wasn't for lack of trying, and Sephiroth had been away to the Northern Continent since the day after they had done...whatever they had done. Sephiroth had left without giving him any answers about who he was...what he was. It was cruel.

"He's helping me," Cloud finally answered with, not knowing a better way to describe the tests Sephiroth had promised him he would run. "What does it matter?" he questioned, still horrified with what was around him. "They were your men, and you should have protected them."

Genesis rolled his eyes. "They were expendable."

"And what am I then?" Cloud bit right back as the SOLDIER stared at him in disgust.

"Less expendable," he motioned incredulously. "This is the least amount of gratitude I've ever received after saving somebody's life!" he glowered. "You should be kissing my goddamn boots, not looking at me like I'm the devil." He pointed towards Cloud. "I have orders to keep you alive, dumbass. Now shut your mouth, and let's go find what we were sent out here for."

Cloud didn't move, crossing his arms as he glared at Genesis, trying not to let the absolute shock and revulsion he was feeling cover his face. "What do you mean you have orders to keep me alive?" he asked, jaw hard as he fought down the nausea as bile began to ooze out of the cooked flesh at his feet. "From who? For fuck's sake, why?"

Genesis grabbed the bridge of his nose, as if he were trying to prevent a headache from coming on. The SOLDIER had just murdered a hundred people, and it was apparently his questions that was causing him strife. "I don't have to answer any of your questions, and as a matter of fact, I can't. It's above your clearance."

Ice water poured down his spine even amongst the smouldering flames. Above his clearance...that didn't mean Sephiroth or Zack. Someone else then. Greasy hair...thick frames watching him on a train...white light of a laboratory. He cringed as pain went through his head, and he grabbed at it. The memory was gone as he shook off his confusion.

"Why did we come here?" Cloud questioned the SOLDIER. "I thought it was in retaliation to what had happened in Midgar."

Genesis laughed at that, shrugging. "I mean, you're not wrong. We are retaliating, but did you ever ask yourself why those Wutai bastards chose that exact moment to sneak into the city?"

Blond eyebrows knitted as Cloud tried to figure out why the SOLDIER was looking at him in such amusement. "Are you implying they weren't just there to attack?"

"Give the cadet a prize!" Genesis mocked. "No, Cloud, they were not just there to attack. There is an asset within the city worth the death of those soldiers." Genesis motioned around. "Worth the death of these as well. The only difference here is that they foolishly thought they had the upper hand."

Cloud blinked a few times as he stared at him, mouth opening and closing as he thought about what he was implying. "Me?"

"Why little trooper, you're awfully full of yourself," Genesis mocked.

"I just thought," Cloud started, cheeks heating in absolute embarrassment, even amongst the carnage. "You just made it seem…" He stopped talking, feeling flustered as he stared at the ground.

"Relax," The SOLDIER crooned, walking over and turning his bangle to reveal a green light. "I'll heal your shoulder, and then we can go get our prize."

Cloud sighed as his flesh knitted back together, feeling guilt as he looked around at all the bodies who could have been healed in his stead. "It was amazing," he managed. "Horrific, but amazing." He looked up into Genesis' amber eyes. "I've never seen a dragon before."

"Neo Bahumut can create quite the show," Genesis agreed.

"It shouldn't be the way it is," Cloud managed, sadness washing over him. "How can you control such a beast?"

"Shinra controls him," Genesis corrected, amusement weighing down his tone.

"He's not a slave!" Cloud snapped. "He's a god. It's wrong to imprison him and make him slaughter!"

"You'd rather the blood be on your own hands?" The SOLDIER questioned.

"Do you not think it's on yours just because you have something else do your bidding?" Disgust filled his tone as he shook his head at Genesis. "Everything that happened here today is wrong, but it would have been just as horrific if they had slaughtered us in surprise. Don't you feel that? Do you not feel the consequences of murder anymore?"

"You're very self-righteous," Genesis said hollowly. "You're a slave too, you know. Just like that dragon."

"I could leave if I wanted to," Cloud argued right back, anger filling him at being referred to in such a way.

"No…" Genesis easily. "You couldn't." He began to walk back towards the shed they had been hiding in. "Come on. I'm not supposed to leave you out on your own."

Cloud didn't argue this time, and he didn't ask anymore questions he knew he wouldn't get the answers to. Instead, he just followed Genesis back to the shed, knowing that they had never come out here for retaliation. They had come for whatever was in that building. He had been bait. He didn't know why, couldn't even begin to comprehend the hints Genesis was trying to drop about what had happened down in the slums, but he could guess what it was about. Sephiroth had called him an Omega. A creature just like the Alpha cells that had been forced into the SOLDIERs. Were they after him because of that? How did they even know about that? It had just started with a stomach ache a month ago, and somehow it had led to all this.

He sighed in relief as they momentarily got away from the roaring blaze as he looked around the shed. "What's so special about this place?" he questioned, eyes glancing upwards as he took in the various hanging tools used for farming. "Just looks like a bunch of crap."

"That's because you've been trained to never look beyond what's right in front of you," Genesis admonished, leaning down as he began to shuffle the dirt away with his gloves. Some sort of cellar was revealed as the dirt was cleared, and Genesis lifted up the latch to a bunker.

Turning on his flashlight, Cloud came to stand over by Genesis as he pointed the light down the dark stairwell. "Well this doesn't look ominous or anything," he mocked, causing Genesis to snicker.

"Yeah well...hope you're not afraid of the dark," Genesis pushed on his back. "You go first. If it's an ambush you're definitely the most expendable."

Blue eyes shot back a glare, but followed orders as he began to make his way down the stairwell. The smell of antiseptic filled his nose as he got to the switch at the bottom, flipping it on and staring with wide eyes at the laboratory revealed.

"Ah," Genesis remarked. "Well you must just feel at home," he mocked, walking around the exam tables, eyes roaming over the restraints. "Very at home."

"Meaning what?" Cloud growled right back, annoyed with the insinuations. "What do you think you know about me?"

"Nothing for you to concern your pretty blond spikes over." Genesis pulled out his phone, dialing a number as Cloud let his fingers wander over the restraints. "Hey man, things went a little sideways. We need to meet and lay low."

Cloud felt cold as he glanced over the lab manuals. They were describing experiments. Some kind of procedure.

"Breeding?" he asked out loud, eyes wide as he saw diagrams to create some kind of womb. Only the genitalia was male. "What the hell?"

"Me and Cadet Strife," Genesis said, laughing at whatever was said on the other line. "I've been taking good care of him," Cloud couldn't take his eyes off the pages, flipping through page after page of failures, horrified as he read of the deaths. "I am!" Genesis laughed more. "Don't you trust me?" Cloud glanced back towards Genesis, knitting his eyebrows as he talked about him. "Yeah, we'll be there soon. Just have to grab the package."

"Genesis," Cloud breathed out once the phone had shut. "What were they doing down here?" He swallowed, stopping as he saw a familiar word. "Omega..."

Fear gripped him as he spun around to see Genesis watching him curiously. "Why did you bring me here?"

"You're bait," the SOLDIER answered easily. "You saw how they all piled into one place to get you."

"Why me?" Cloud bit out, horror swirling his stomach.

"Because you're not a failure," Genesis motioned to the books. "Are you?" He stepped closer, and Cloud backed up as he realized how dangerous it was to be down here with someone who could murder 100 people in an instant.

"Are you trying to say that I was an experiment?" the bile curdled in his stomach as every horrific image in that book filled him.

"I'm not sure," Genesis answered honestly. "Hojo didn't specify where you came from. Just that I was supposed to play the game with him."

"Hojo?" Cloud questioned, knowing exactly who that was. "The scientist knows about me?"

Genesis laughed. "I daresay he's quite aware of you, yes," he shrugged. "Don't worry though. I hate that slimy bastard. I just wanted to see how far down this rabbit hole goes." He put a hand to his chest. "If you haven't noticed, I'm a SOLDIER too. I have the same affliction as Sephiroth and Zack. If there's a cure...I want to find it."

"Cure?" he asked stupidly, being blindsided by the information. "You mean for what happened to Zack?" What he had caused to happen to Zack.

"Something like that," Genesis mused. He made his way over to the fridge in the corner, pulling out a stack of tubes. "Here they are."

Cloud followed him over to the fridge, reading the label on the tube. He swallowed around the pit in his throat as he read omega all over the samples. "What are they?"

Amber eyes glanced over at him. "Well you see a few weeks ago some Wutai soldiers broke into Midgar and managed to get some samples from a live host." Cloud's eyes narrowed in disbelief. They hadn't touched him. How had they gotten samples? "Oh, they can be very subtle," Genesis assured him, obviously reading the look on his face. "They just needed a bit to try to grow from."

"Why?" Cloud questioned quietly, shock pulsating through his body and leaving him numb. "Why would they?"

The SOLDIER shot him a skeptical look. "Control," he answered, shoving the tubes into his bag. "We're in a war, Cloud. Controlling SOLDIERs would be everything." he pointed to the research. "Grab that too. They'll be reinforcements coming any time." Genesis motioned him up the stairs, turning his bangle to reveal a green materia, before setting fire to the entire lab.

Cloud watched it burn, flames engulfing the stairwell as he was yanked back and away. A thousand questions were burning through his mind as he felt violated from just having been there. He felt like everyone was lying to him. That he was part of something he wanted to escape from.

"Who was on the phone?" he asked hollowly, feeling Genesis' eyes on him.

"Zack," the SOLDIER answered easily. "He's stationed a few towns down. We're going to go hide out with him, and then catch a ride back to Midgar."

He snapped out of his reverie at the name, eyes widening in need to see his friend. To be able to talk to him about all of this. "Zack," he repeated in longing, clutching the research tighter to his chest as a soft whine seemed to leave his throat. "He wants to see me?"

Genesis laughed at that. "Well I don't really think he has a choice, but sure, we'll go with that...of course he wants to see you."

Need coursed through him then, gasping at the pain in his stomach as he watched Genesis grab at his nose and whirl around.

"Fucking hell," Genesis managed, bending over slightly, before righting himself. "To become the dew that quenches the land. To spare the sands, the seas, the skies. I offer thee this silent sacrifice," Genesis quoted to himself, as if it would help him to be more calm. "I don't know how they could stand to be around you."

"Screw you!" Cloud snapped, self conscious, as he held the materials tighter.

"Calm down, it was a compliment...I think." Genesis managed, motioning towards the exit. "Now come on. Let's go find Zack."

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