Chapter 98

A Familiar Face

The man appeared to be in his upper twenties, and he had a well-built physique. He wore a uniform consisting of black slacks, a short-sleeved black knit shirt interwoven with layers of Kevlar armor, a brown belt with clipped straps wrapping over his shoulders, a pair of wide-radius steel shoulder pauldrons, black zip-up boots, and black gloves. He had black hair that spiked toward the back, with a single bunch that hooked up and hung down in front of the right side of his face. On his left cheek, right next to the corner of his lips, he had a scar, apparently from a knife or sword. His bright blue eyes gleamed with recognition, and Sora guessed that Aqua was the target, since he had never seen the man before in his life.

"Zack?!" Aqua gasped, confirming Sora's suspicions.

The man, Zack, chuckled. "Long time no see, Aqua. You know, when I offered that date, this wasn't exactly what I was expecting," he joked. Realizing that he was still in the middle of a pose, he let go of the long handle of his sword and turned around to face them normally. He gave a friendly wave to his old friend and the unfamiliar faces. "Hey, there. I'm Zack. Zack Fair. Nice to meet you."

Sora grinned and pointed his thumb to his chest. "I'm Sora," he said, introducing himself.

"Mickey Mouse."

"Riku."

"Donald Duck."

"Kairi."

"Goofy."

"Huh. You've found quite the crew since I last saw you," Zack noted. "And it hardly looks like you've even aged a day."

Aqua rolled her eyes. "Don't you know that it's rude to talk about a woman's age?" she teased.

Zack rubbed the back of his neck and chuckled nervously. Aqua looked him up and down, realizing how much he had grown since she had last seen him. She realized that it made sense, since from some perspectives twelve years had passed in the intervening time. She had no idea how much time passed on this world, but considering he appeared to be a couple of years younger than her when they last met, the time span must have been similar.

"So, how have you been?" Zack asked. "Did you get to find your friend?"

Before Aqua could answer, they heard the spatial shimmer as more Heartless appeared around them. The party summoned their weapons, and Zack reached for his sword.

"Drop your weapons! Stay where you are!" one of the troops ordered.

Zack turned around and realized that the troops were still aiming their rifles at the party. He waved his hands in front of himself defensively. "Whoa! Hey! They're on our side!" he explained. However, the troops did not lower their weapons. Zack sighed, giving up on explaining anything to the troops. He turned back to the party. "No good. They're not gonna listen. Follow me." With that, he ran down the street. The party, with Aqua in the lead, followed after him.

They heard the troops run after them. Zack turned at a corner, and the part followed him down that street. After running some more and taking a few more turns, they ran down an alley and ducked into the side door of a warehouse. The building was dark and empty save for a few crates and a plush cat doll. They listened to the sound of footsteps outside and relaxed when they were sure that the troops were passing the warehouse, not noticing their last turn.

Riku shook his head. "What was with those guys?" he asked in an exasperated tone.

Zack shrugged. "Sorry about that. Shinra's been trying to root out this resistance unit hiding within the city," he explained. "But that only explains why the troops are on edge lately. Truth be told, Director Heidegger practically insists that they carry out police brutality."

"Shinra? Is that the people in that tower?" Aqua asked.

Zack nodded. "Yeah. They pretty much run this world with the energy they provide, as well as their military power. Infantrymen, the Turks, my division, SOLDIER…"

Donald quacked in surprise. "You work for them?" he asked.

Zack nodded. "Yeah. I signed on to train and be a hero. It was a while before I started to see their dark side."

"Train and be a hero…?" Aqua repeated. "But weren't you training with Philoctetes and Hercules? What happened with that? What are you doing here?"

Zack let out a laugh. "Well, that is an interesting story," he said. "There I was, standing at the coliseum's plaza gates. Phil was running drills with Herc. I didn't really have any errands to run, so I was just hanging around. Then, the funniest thing happened. I noticed a single black feather falling over my shoulder. I looked up and saw a man with a black wing like an angel's sprouting out of his back. I asked him who he was, and he started spouting poetry that I hadn't heard of then. He pulled out this red sword, and I drew mine, expecting a fight.

"I did the best I could against that guy, but he was really good with a sword, not to mention the fact that he spent part of the time flying out of my reach. The fight spilled out into the streets, so I guess Herc and Phil never realized anything was wrong. I climbed the walls and fought him across the rooftops, but he still had the upper hand. Eventually, I got lucky and parried a strike in pretty much the right spot, knocking him into a wall and sending him off balance and making him fall. I jumped down after him and swung my sword at him, but he threw a dark energy ball at me. After that, everything went black.

"When I could see again, I was lying flat on my back in a field. A few soldiers in purple and blue suits and these eye-obscuring helmets were gathered around me, checking to see if I was alright and probably wondering what they should do about me. Then this guy in a similar uniform, but black, helped me to my feet, and told me I was a few miles outside of a town called Gongaga."

Sora, Riku, Kairi, and Donald burst out laughing at the last word. Zack waited for them to finish before continuing, remembering how much he himself laughed at the backwater name.

"I told them what had happened, and the guy in the black uniform, Angeal, told me that I had just fought a renegade SOLDIER, Genesis, who had deserted Shinra and taken a bunch of 3rd-Class SOLDIERs with him to wage war on Shinra. Angeal and the SOLDIERs brought me back here, to Midgar, to report the incident to their superiors. I guess the director, who, by the way, wasn't Heidegger back then—we got transferred under his command a few years later—I guess he was impressed that I went up against Genesis, and he asked what I wanted to do with myself. I asked if there was any way I could help out. He helped me enlist for SOLDIER, and I went through the physical to see if I was fit, and they put me through the procedure, where they use Mako energy to enhance your physical abilities and basically turn you into a super soldier. And I've been part of their military ever since."

"Wow," Kairi hummed in amazement.

"If only Philoctetes could see you now," Aqua mused. "I'm sure you're a great hero now, Zack."

Zack sighed, a little less confidently now. "I don't really know about that. Like I said, there are shadows in Shinra's halls," he said. "A lot of shady stuff goes on, and I guess in some way I'm a part of it all."

Sora smiled reassuringly. "You'll figure it out," he insisted.

Riku nodded in agreement. "You can be led to do some less-honorable things when you're trying to do what you think is right. But if you follow your heart and look for the light, I'm sure you'll find the hero in you."

"A-hyuck. That's right. You just gotta believe in yourself," Goofy advised. "You'll find that strength."

Zack contemplated their words, then grinned. "Thanks, guys," he said. "So, Aqua, what happened to you after we saw each other last? And what brings you all here, anyway?"

Yada, yada, kupo, kupo.

Zack's eyes widened. "Wow. That's… wow. I'm sorry you had to go through that. How are you holding up now?"

Aqua shrugged. "A little early to say," she answered. "I'm glad to be back out, anyway."

Zack nodded. "Got it. Well, I'm here if you need to talk."

Aqua smiled. "I appreciate that."

"So, Zack, where did you get that sword?" Sora asked.

Zack glanced over his shoulder at the weapon and turned around to show it off better. "This? Why do you ask? Have you seen it before?"

Donald nodded. "Yeah. It looks like— WAK!"

A sudden tremor interrupted him, followed by the sound of gunfire. From outside, they heard a muffled voice saying: "Something's wrong! It's gone haywire! Retreat!"

Everyone looked at each other, eyes wide. "Looks like we'll have to save this conversation for later," Zack said. He turned and ran out the side door, with the rest of the party following.

Half a dozen Shinra troops were running away from a robot that resembled the previous two, save for the red color to the main body and the fact that guns were built into the arms rather than saw blades. There were a few large scratches across the side and the front grate was bent and dented. It turned and walked jerkily and fired its rounds wildly. One of the troops was shot in the back and fell to the ground, groaning in pain.

The gang summoned their weapons, save for Zack, who drew it off of his back, and charged into battle. Goofy focused on making sure that everyone was out of danger while Kairi approached the injured troop and cast Cure on him, then helped him to his feet so he could flee. With the robot firing bullets, everyone in front of it had to move quickly or cast Reflect or Barrier to avoid being hit. Sora remembered the few times he had been shot by cursed pirates wielding muskets in Port Royal, and recalled the immense pain from each hit, and knew that he would only fare worse if he were hit at a very close range, so he did everything in his power to not get shot. Fortunately, the fight was six against one, with most of the party to the sides or behind the robot, so it was almost a non-issue. It was less than two minutes before the robot crashed to pieces. With the enemy demolished, the party ran to a safe distance before the main body exploded.

Zack spun his sword in front of him and put it over his back. Everyone else simply dismissed their weapons. "Man," Zack groaned, "what is with all of these robots going out of control?"

"A more pressing matter would be who your new friends are," a new voice spoke. The party turned to face the direction of the voice, and saw five people approaching them. There were three men and two women. They all wore identical black business suits, although one of them had the shirt unbuttoned and forewent the tie which his associates wore.

"And you are…?" Riku asked.

"We are the Turks," the man in the middle, with dark brown eyes, shoulder-length black hair tied in a ponytail, and a tilak in the center of his forehead, said. "We serve as the investigative unit of the Shinra Company's general affairs. You may call me Tseng."

"Investigative unit? Zack, didn't you say that the Turks were part of their military divisions?" Mickey asked.

"They're basically Shinra's elite secret agents," Zack explained. "Investigation, recon, espionage, the works. But they also pull off black ops missions." He said this with a mildly cynical tone, but as he looked over at the Turks, his eyes did not convey any disdain. In fact, it seemed as though he trusted them, or at least some of them. "They follow the president's orders directly, but you can count on them."

Mickey nodded in understanding and turned back to Tseng. "So, what is it you want?" he asked.

One of Tseng's associates, a young woman with blonde hair and blue-green eyes, glanced over the party, noticing Mickey, Donald and Goofy's bizarre appearance. Sora stared at her curiously, finding something vaguely familiar about her, although he could not place his finger on it.

"The president has requested that you come up to meet him," Tseng said professionally. "We are here to escort you."

Zack leaned over to whisper into Aqua's ear. "By that, he means they won't take no for an answer," he warned. Aqua nodded, guessing as much.

Sora looked at his friends to gauge their opinions, then turned back to Tseng. "Okay, sure. Maybe we'll find something that can help all of us with what we're looking for," he said.

Tseng nodded, and the Turks turned around and beckoned the party to follow. Riku studied each of the Turks, taking note of their weapons. Tseng and the blonde girl each carried a gun holstered in their belts. The lanky man with messy red hair in a ponytail kept a collapsed baton in his left pocket. The burly, dark-skinned bald man appeared to have no weapon of his own, indicating that he fought hand-to-hand. The girl with long red hair had a folded-up Fuuma shuriken wrapped in a sheath and clipped onto her back. They each must have had a unique fighting pattern, and the variance would surely be ideal for different situations.

The Turks led the party down the streets, taking a few different turns, before they came up to the side of the massive building that served as Shinra headquarters. They marched around the building until they came to the front doors, which the redheaded man and the bald man opened for them.

The main lobby was well, lit, and bustling with employees in business suits and infantrymen in familiar uniforms. The floor and walls were the same metallic gray. The back wall behind the reception desk was a blue-green color, with a red diamond symbol with a white katakana, apparently the company's logo, next to the word "Shin-Ra" on the wall. A set of stairs on either side curved and led up to a higher level, lined with a blue rug. Two more sets of stairs just past them, lined with a red rug, led up to another higher landing. Both landings had two elevator doors. Potted plants lined the balcony on the first landing.

The group walked through the lobby and went up the first flight of stairs, passing an employee tending to a cart of energy drinks and ignoring the reception desk. They went straight to one of the elevators, and Tseng pressed the UP button. After a few seconds, the doors opened and they stepped into the elevator, which was a round platform that had a Plexiglas window allowing a passenger to look outside. Tseng held up a keycard and pressed the button for the 70th floor. The elevator closed and began to ascend.

After a moment, Kairi broke the silence. "So, this is your HQ, huh? I take it business is good."

The redheaded girl with the shuriken nodded. "The Shinra Company mines for Mako energy through reactors and converts it into electricity, which it supplies to the people both in Midgar and outside of it," she explained.

"I thought Mako was used to make people into SOLDIERs," Donald argued, curious.

"Mako serves a variety of purposes," the blonde girl clarified. "For instance, it can be condensed into Materia stones, which allow our people to use magic."

The bald man adjusted his sunglasses. "Elena, you might do well to avoid divulging company secrets to outsiders," he calmly scolded.

Elena blinked in surprise and embarrassment. "I—Erm, my mistake, Rude," she said.

"How much did you tell them already, Zack?" the redheaded girl asked.

Zack shrugged. "Not much more than I figured I was allowed to, Cissnei," he replied. "Just how I got here, how I became a member of SOLDIER, and a bit about the military structure of the company. They already got to see some of the weapons, and they already figured out how the city-bound infantrymen enforce the rules." He tinged the last sentence with a slightly sour tone.

"Someone should probably tell them that, even if bullets did work on Heartless, firing rounds in the middle of a crowded street is a no-no," Riku added bitterly.

Cissnei's eyes widened. "Was anyone hurt?" she asked, concerned.

Sora shook his head. "Thankfully, we got everyone out of the way safely," he said.

"So, whatever happened with that Genesis guy?" Goofy asked.

"After several months of fighting him and his allies, he was defeated and slain," Tseng answered.

"It was actually Zack who beat him, though a Second helped," the redheaded man added. "Though, we lost another guy, who I think was trying to help his old friend before it was too late."

Goofy scratched his head in confusion. "Second?" he repeated.

"SOLDIER Second Class," Zack clarified. "There are three levels: First, Second, and Third-Class. You can tell who's in what level by the color of their uniforms. Third is a medium blue; Second is purple; and First—" he tugged at the collar of his shirt to demonstrate "—wear black. Well, except for when they exercise the privilege to wear custom clothes."

"That other SOLDIER you lost…" Aqua began, changing the subject. "Was that Angeal?"

Zack nodded solemnly. "Yeah. Angeal, he… he died. He tried to help Genesis, but the guy wouldn't see reason. He trained me as a SOLDIER, and taught me to follow my dreams and to protect my honor as a SOLDIER. Of course, in a place like this, what sort of honor can I have, especially since this world wasn't even a place I called home?"

"I'm sorry," Aqua said empathetically. She noticed Cissnei betray a similarly sympathetic expression while the other Turks maintained a professional stoicism. "Did you ever figure it out?"

There was a silent moment of uncertainty before Zack finally spoke. "Well, maybe. I had a friend who joined SOLDIER a couple years after me," he said. "He told me about the world he came from and the people who fought to protect it and keep everything bright and hopeful. He was actually the one who—"

Before he could finish, the elevator stopped and the door opened. "I suppose you'll have to save the rest for later," Cissnei said. Zack shrugged, though Sora, Donald and Goofy were only more intrigued by Zack's story.

The group stepped out of the elevator and into what appeared to be a large office encompassing almost the entire floor. There were numerous columns holding the ceiling up. The back wall was lined almost entirely with large Plexiglas windows looking out over the southern end of Midgar. The majority of the room was empty and opened up. Across from the elevator was a large semicircular desk. Behind the desk, in a purple chair, sat a man with pale blond hair wearing a white business suit with a black undershirt.

As the group drew closer, the man smirked. He pushed his chair away from the desk and stood up. "Thank you, gentlemen," he said, addressing the Turks. He then gave a respectful nod to Zack. "Good afternoon, Keyblade wielders." The newcomers blinked in surprise, wondering how he could know about the Keyblades. "I am the president of the Shinra Electric Power Company, Rufus Shinra."

After writing the scene where everyone just wailed on the robot until it was destroyed, I realized that pretty soon I'm going to have to start splitting the team up into groups pretty soon to make fights like that, including one-foe boss fights, less of a mob fest.