After another couple of minutes of wandering around, they found a settlement with houses and another strange shape behind them.

"What is that?" Genesis asked.

Angeal glanced up at the little map in the corner. "It's… about in the area where they're making camp to build the rocket. There was already a small, nameless settlement there that ShinRa bought for it, so maybe it's that?"

"Perhaps," the red-head said.

"That does kind of look like a very small rocket," Angeal said.

"Before we move on," Sephiroth cut in and the other two looked over at him, "how long has Angeal been playing."

"Since before you went to bed," Genesis said.

The Silver General raised one eyebrow. "Perhaps it is time you go to sleep then."

Angeal frowned. "I'm fine."

"You're upset and emotionally compromised, just as I was. You may use my room. There are spare blankets at the bottom. Genesis may take a turn as well, if he feels he needs to after you."

The brunet opened his mouth to protest, but Genesis spoke one word.

"Angeal."

The largest SOLDIER there blinked at his friend, then seemed to deflate. "You're right." Then he turned to Sephiroth. "Thank you. I'll set an alarm for two hours from now."

Sephiroth nodded.

"Besides, the puppy's fine," Genesis said. "Now go. You can text him in the morning when he'll be awake to answer you."

Angeal took out his phs, looked down at it and frowned. "My phs died. I must have forgotten to charge it."

Well, it was out of their normal schedule, so some things would have likely flown under the radar.

"I have a charger in there as well," Sephiroth said. "And it is almost one. We'll wake you up at three or when something you need to hear happens."

The brunet sighed, rubbed a hand through his hair and nodded again. "Right. Thank you again."

"Do not mention it," Sephiroth said nonchalantly then watched as Angeal trudged into his room. Once the door closed, he turned to Genesis.

"Is he that worried about his student?"

The red-head, who had picked up the controller frowned. "What the game has implied has a rather nasty connotation. Especially with ShinRa involved. We are already worried about the secrets it has spilled and things it knows that no one should…"

True. But… this couldn't actually be telling the future. Could it? That really was just ridiculous.

Still…

"We will have to do some more research tomorrow," Sephiroth said softly. He didn't want to see Angeal or Genesis disappear… or whatever fate awaited his friend's student either. Or him. He really didn't want what the game said about him to come true.

"Indeed," the red-head said as he moved Cloud into the settlement.

The screen faded out and into a very rural-looking town as Cloud asked what 'that' was. The screen panned up to…

"It is the Rocket encampment," Genesis said with a nod. "Although, what happened so the rocket tipped like that?"

"I suppose we'll find out," Sephiroth said dryly, arms folded in front of him.

"That doesn't look like a camp," the Commander said slowly.

"No, it doesn't," came the agreement.

They found a weapon's shop where they bought some gold armlets and then an inn where they paid for a room. And slept. And came out without anything changing, including the time of day.

Game insanity.

They spoke with several people, and found out that this was Rocket Town now. So it had become a full-fledged town in this supposed future? Not unthinkable.

One old man explained that the town used to be a base from where they launched rockets.

"That rocket would destroy the town at that distance," Sephiroth pointed out. Genesis just snorted, then agreed to look at the rocket with the old man.

"I wanted another look," he said when he noticed his General's unimpressed stare.

Sephiroth rolled his eyes, but then the man gave them something called a 'Yoshiyuki'. The Snow of Good Luck? Hmm. Apparently that paid off. Genesis just smirked.

Then they found the item's shop and bought a barrier and an exit materia as well as more of the actual items sold there. Going into a couple of other houses (and why were they allowed to do that again), they found one that had a drill arm for Barrett (how many people have gun arms in this game?) and a little, red plane in back called 'the Tiny Bronco'.

Aeris, whom they had in their party, urged Cloud to take it. What?

"She… is not the innocent face she presents," Genesis said with an amused snort.

Sephiroth nodded in agreement.

Then a woman named Shera walked out of the house and asked who they were. While conversing with her, they found out that Rufus was supposed to come and inspect something that day. They decided to look for this 'Captain' that they'd heard so much about from the people around town.

"He'll likely be at the rocket," Sephiroth pointed out.

"Very well," Genesis said as he had Cloud rush off towards said rocket.

A couple of seconds later found them climbing a ladder to the highest point of the Rocket. "It doesn't look like it is leaning from here," Sephiroth pointed out.

"I agree. Definitely a flaw in the game," Genesis said.

Inside the Rocket, they found the Captain – one Cid Highwind.

"I've heard of Cid Highwind. He's definitely in the Space and Aeronautics division, but he isn't the captain," Sephiroth said slowly.

"Yet," Genesis pointed out.

Sephiroth conceded the point with a nod.

"We were able to name him…" The Silver General said thoughtfully as Cloud conversed with the avatar. "Every other person we've met who has done that has joined Cloud on the quest. Do you think he will be coming?"

Genesis frowned. "I don't see why he would."

Cid asked what they wanted and a series of questions popped up. Genesis picked the bottom one first, asking if they could borrow the Tiny Bronco. Cid's friendly demeanor dropped immediately as he told them off in signs and symbols that they couldn't take his most cherished possession. Then he turned around.

Sephiroth and Genesis glanced at each other, but they'd seen this a couple of times. So Cloud spoke to Cid again and the same questions popped up. He asked about Rufus and Cid said the President wanted to restart the space program.

"Restart it? Why was it shut down?" the Commander asked.

When they asked about the rocket, he seemed instantly much happier. He spoke about 'the meaningless war', how ShinRa used to be a weapons manufacturer, how they completed a rocket to go into space and how they chose the self proclaimed 'best pilot in the world' to fly it.

"Modest, isn't he," Genesis said wryly.

Sephiroth didn't say anything.

Apparently because of Shera, the launch didn't go right and ShinRa stopped funding the program.

"I wonder what she did," the red-head said thoughtfully.

Then Cid went on a rant about how all ShinRa cared about was money.

"It must be nice, to be far enough away from ShinRa that you can bad-mouth them multiple times in a single conversation and not fear any repercussions," Genesis' tone had gone from wry to dry.

"He isn't wrong," Sephiroth pointed out.

"That's what would get him killed here."

"True."

Then he spoke about how his last hope was to talk to the president. Somehow, Sephiroth didn't hold high hopes for the man's 'dreams'. Speaking to Cid more only produced the same answers, which probably meant they'd found whatever they needed to find.

"What do we do now?" Genesis asked, sounding a little put out.

"He did mention Shera," Sephiroth said.

The red-head nodded. "Very well, we shall attempt to find her again."

So they went back to what Sephiroth assumed was her house. She found them as soon as they stepped through the door and asked if the Captain had said anything. Cloud said 'no'… although Sephiroth had no idea why.

Then Cid walked in and started swearing at her.

"I don't believe I like this man," Sephiroth said, a little darkly. Especially when she just reacted by saying how she was sorry. Ruining his dream or not, she did not deserve to be treated like that. Then the Captain told them to drink their tea, very rudely, and just walked into the back.

"Wait, do they live together?" Genesis asked.

Sephiroth just frowned.

At least Aeris commented on the bad manners.

Then Shera went on to tell them to not get angry at him and that it was her fault.

This was sounding worse and worse. Even Barrett said he was terrible, although Sephiroth didn't see much of a difference in their mannerisms… except for how Barrett treated those close to him. At least he had that going for him… even if he was an Eco-terrorist.

Then Shera told her side of the story. She claimed something was wrong with one of the oxygen tanks, but Cid told her it was fine. He went to launch, but she was still inside… and said she didn't mind losing her life to fix it.

What?!

"That woman needs to grow a backbone," Genesis said.

"I don't think it is that easy," Sephiroth said, his voice quiet. After all, the idea of standing up to Hojo at all still sent his stomach into knots despite knowing that he could easily defeat the man. He didn't think Cid was like Hojo, but he was cruel, even if he didn't seem to derive pleasure from being so.

Hojo would have gone on with the launch.

Cid didn't. To save a life.

So there was that, at least.

And they found out why the rocket had tipped to one side. They were actually kind of lucky it didn't fall over completely, to be honest.

But that's why she wouldn't ever be upset with what he said to her and she'd live her life for him…

"Somehow, I don't think enabling his bad habits is helping him," Genesis' voice had gone back to dry.

Sephiroth nodded in agreement.

Cid came back in, yelled at everyone and sat at the table just as Palmer came in, asking how Cid had been.

"Doesn't he recognize them?" the Silver General asked, shaking his head at either game insanity or Palmer's pathetic memory. The man was a little notorious for it.

Cid asked Palmer when the program would be up again. He didn't know. Cid called him fat and then many symbols to his face.

"The man has guts to say that to a ShinRa executive," Genesis commented, his expression neutral once more. Palmer asked for tea from Shera, with honey and sugar and lard of all things. What? Just after he'd complained about being called 'fat'.

"Bravery or stupidity," Sephiroth commented. Genesis smirked.

"We should probably avoid talking to him and pressing our luck," the red-head commented, slipping out the door behind Palmer's back. It wasn't difficult. If that was how the man ended up, then he'd somehow become even more incompetent… what a terrifying thought.

He'd been a driven leader once, or so Sephiroth heard and read from his file. He wasn't sure he believed it.

They got outside to see Cid yelling at Rufus Shinra.

"The man has a backbone of steel," Genesis said, sounding impressed.

Rufus had come to demand the Tiny Bronco because they were going after Game Sephiroth, but had apparently gone in the wrong direction.

Which, again, made no sense. He couldn't blame them for wanting the plane, though. And they wouldn't want to wait several hours for a helicopter from Junon, or even longer for the airship from Midgar. Although, they had seen Rufus get off the airship at Junon, so perhaps it would still be there?

And apparently Cid accused Rufus of stealing the airship, and the rocket, and now his plane. No wonder he wasn't happy with ShinRa.

As he continued to shout at Rufus, Shera came out and asked Cloud to go back inside. They did… with no Palmer in sight. Apparently he was going to go steal the Tiny Bronco.

"They sent him to steal a plane they supposedly have the rights to, if Rufus is to be believed?" Genesis asked. "My friend, the fates are cruel! No dreams, no honor remains!"

Sephiroth scoffed softly.

They went out to the plane to confront the man, who finally seemed to recognize them. And he ended up putting up a far harder fight than he had any right to. They got some good armor off of him, though.

Then Barrett claimed he couldn't stop the plane and they took off. With all three of them in it.

Cid would be thrilled.

Hmm. Perhaps he was picking up on the 'sarcasm' Genesis was so fond of, too.

They flew around, hanging onto the plane's wings and…

"Who is flying that plane?!" Genesis almost yelled. Sephiroth cleared his throat and when his friend looked at him, he gestured down the hall towards his bedroom.

The Commander didn't look too happy, but he did slump back against the couch.

Then Cid somehow ran as fast as the plane and jumped on as it flew by. While being shot at.

"Does that man have SOLDIER strength and reflexes?" Genesis asked, disdain dripping from his tone. At least the plane got hit, so that was somewhat believable. Emphasis on the word 'somewhat'.

They were supposed to make an emergency landing. They landed gently on the ocean.

"If all emergency landings were like that, we wouldn't need good ones," Genesis mused.

Sephiroth nodded.

Really, his streak of agreeing with Genesis felt… surreal. They didn't often agree on much of anything.

The group spoke among themselves for a minute, then said they were going to use the plane as a boat.

A boat.

With their propellers half buried in the water.

This game!

Cid said he'd come with them because he'd given up on ShinRa. Well, that ruled out stupidity at least. They also found out that Shera and he weren't married and likely didn't have a romantic relationship. Sephiroth wasn't sure whether that made the two's actions worse or better.

The pilot did call them all numskulls for trying to go up against ShinRa. He wasn't wrong.

Sephiroth still didn't like the man, but he could appreciate his candor at least.

So now they were looking for the Temple of the Ancients.

Wait… "What?" Sephiroth asked, turning to Genesis. "What is the 'Temple of the Ancients'?"

"Oh, did we not tell you that? Apparently it's where your game equivalent wants to go. We found that out earlier."

Sephiroth narrowed his eyes.

"You know now," Genesis defended.

The Silver General rolled his eyes and turned back to the screen.

It didn't take the red-head long to figure out the mechanics of the plane. They also decided to re-equip everyone, especially Cid, who they needed in their party if they wanted to keep everyone at the same levels (except for Cloud… who they couldn't switch out).

Then they began wandering around, looking for this 'Temple of the Ancients'.

"I'd like to know how everyone else is keeping up with them," Genesis mused. "They can change party members at the drop of a hat."

"Game insanity," Sephiroth said.

Genesis snorted.

This… this was nice. Normally he and the Commander had a rather… rocky relationship. Being here and civil like this… he liked it. A good deal.

Friends indeed.

He still decided to keep that thought to himself. No use in provoking him, after all.

Then his smile vanished as he realized where they were headed.

Wutai.

He glanced over at Genesis who shot him a look too. Apparently he'd realized it as well.

This… should be interesting.

xXx

The southern half of Wutai looked barren. Almost as barren as the area around Midgar. After all of the bombing raids, Sephiroth couldn't say he was surprised, but it wasn't something he took pleasure in seeing the after effects of.

As they slowly made their way north ('slow' being a relative term of course, as it would take far longer than a couple of minutes to traverse the whole of Wutai), Yuffie ran up to them, telling them to wait. Then ShinRa infantry attacked and Yuffie said she had nothing to do with 'this one'.

They fought the infantry, and won. Then Yuffie ran off and…

"WHERE IS MY MATERIA?!" Genesis roared.

Sephiroth actually reached over and grabbed him, nodding again towards the bedroom door. If this was what Angeal had had to try and keep Genesis from doing, it was a wonder he'd gotten any sleep at all.

"But my materia!" he hissed.

The Silver General just glared.

Genesis' lips thinned to a line, but he turned back to the game. "If that little rat stole it, she will regret it."

"Genesis," Sephiroth said, voice level and even, "it is a game."

The man did relax a little, but he didn't say anything back… which actually said quite a bit about how much this game had gotten to him. To them.

"Of course she's heading north," Genesis growled. "To the capital."

Part of Sephiroth did not want to see this.

Part of him had to know.

What had happened to Wutai in this supposed future?

Thankfully, not all of their materia was gone… but most of it was, and they didn't have many high-levels left. Still, Genesis equipped what he could and they went after the little thief.

Getting around Wutai was a chore in and of itself. So many things poisoned them (true to life) and razor weed of any kind should never be that strong (was that how it was for other people who weren't SOLDIER? Of course, Cloud was supposedly SOLDIER, but Sephiroth still had his doubts). But thankfully they got to Wutai's capital without running into any more ShinRa troops or any Wutian soldiers.

So the war really was over.

What an odd, if amazing, thought.

What did they do to Wutai to get them to finally surrender?

Did he want to know?

Then the capital came into view. He and Genesis exchanged glances, saved the game, and entered.

xXx

AN: Not the happiest with this chapter, but it is much better thanks to Imagination7413.

I do discuss future ideas, past happenings, thoughts, suggestions and more on my Discord. Also, sometimes some sneak peeks and original stories. discord dot gg /U3yaEnBq6Q (dot to . and no spaces)