Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Now a Monster ❯ Bad Day ( Chapter 2 )

Now a Monster

Chapter 2: Bad Days

Zack

The lifestream swirled around the Planet, not just in streams, but in pools and eddies. In the north was the largest and most stable pool, sometimes referred to as the Promised Land, though some declared the pool in Mideel to be a better Promised Land, and referred to the Northern Pool as “That Place” while the Northern Pool's populace looked down their noses and called the Southern Pool, “The Puddle.” Some people, mainly those who never traveled much in their mortal lives, preferred the quick flows that twisted through the oceans and brushed against the land which was affectionately called The Great Slide. Others liked surfing the lazy eddies over the Western Desert.

Zack liked Edge and Midgar. Sure, others thought the area was a dump, but he liked the area's stubborn refusal to just roll over and die. It didn't hurt much that there was a certain Ancient girl who liked the area, or that his friend Cloud, the Second (1) lived there, and it was only a bonus that his best friend Seph was napping in the Holy pool in the old church Aeris liked so much.

He was ambling through the streets, invisibly watching the bustle of people hurrying about their lives. Occasionally, he'd spot someone he once knew, either dead or still alive, and grin. The dead would grin and wave. The living would only feel a momentary twinkle of happiness as they kept hurrying on their way. He stopped for a moment at a bar that was owned by Cloud's friend, Tifa. The place was busy with the lunchtime crowd. The well endowed brunet was dashing through the tables balancing a tray in one hand and reading an order ticket in her other. Zack didn't spot Cloud, so he sent a few good feelings Tifa's way and strolled off toward Aeris's church.

Aeris was, as usual, kneeling amongst her flowers encouraging them to grow.

“Hey, Aer.” He came over and looked down at the lilies. “How're the kids?”

“Fine.” She smiled at the blossoms. “Cloud was here yesterday. He weeded them and gave them some fertilizer. They're very happy.”

He never really figured out flowers. He like the things well enough, and Aeris loved them, but he really couldn't figure out why killing one plant to save another was a good thing. That was favoritism…wasn't it? Weren't they supposed to protect all life, even the weeds? Bypassing the philosophical argument, he went over to where his best buddy was floating in the middle of the Holy, sleeping soundly.

“He looks better. Don't you think?” Zack bent over, peering closely at his friend's face. “Not quite so…uhh…Jenovaish.”

“Yes, he looks much better.” Aeris continued to putter about the garden. “I'm sure he's all better now, but he needs his rest.”

“Yeah. Yeah.” Zack put his hands behind his back like a little boy who'd just been told not to touch. “Getting sliced into a few hundred pieces must really take it out of you.”

“Zack.” Aeris's voice seemed pleasant on the surface, but after years of togetherness, he'd learned better. That tone meant, “Shut up, Zack” with hinted threats of, “You get to handle the next quarrel between the Northies and the Southies”, and a lurking, small promise of, “I'll have a headache for a week.”

He sat on the edge of the pool and watched his friend float. Sometimes Sephiroth would wake up and they could chat for a few moments before Seph nodded off again. He'd been hoping today would be a chat day. He'd have gone to talk to Cloud, the First, but that Cloud had zipped off to a new whirlpool over Correl which was the newest carnival ride in the lifestream. He'd considered going off to Wutai and the old lifestream slide that whooshed down Da-chao's face, but that was no fun with no one to whoosh around with. He'd been hoping for months that Seph would completely wake up, and he could get him to go sliding.

“Zack, since I'm here,” Aeris looked over at him, smiling, “I'm just going to hop over to see my mother.”

“Sure.” Zack kicked his foot and sent a ripple through the Holy. “No problem, Aer. I'm going to hang out here for a bit. I want to see Cloud when he gets back.”

“Okay.” She came over, pecked his cheek with a kiss, then left. “See you later, then.”

Zack continued to watch Sephiroth, wondering if Aeris would notice if he woke his friend up. He kicked his feet a bit more, half hoping Seph would notice, but the Holy only gently rocked, Sephiroth kept sleeping, and the flowers kept sleepily bobbing their heads.

It was dull, dull, dull, dull, dull. If anyone had told him the afterlife was so boring, he'd have worked harder at staying alive.

“Hey, Seph. When you finish getting all unJenovaed, ya wanna go bug Cloud? He's fun when he's flustered. He turns colors: red, pink, and sometimes blue, if you really get him good.” Zack gave the water another hopeful kick, but all that happened was Sephiroth's long, silver hair waved lazily in the ripple. “Or how about we find old man Shinra and tell him the Promised Land was under Midgar the whole time?”

Sephiroth didn't flicker an eyelash, so Zack jumped off the edge of the pool and tried floating too. It was nice enough. The Holy was like floating in warm water, but with more support. He'd read someplace, or maybe Sephiroth had read it to him, about salt water pools in the Western Desert that had such a high salt content that your whole body floated on the surface. They must have felt like this.

He considered taking a nap. He really didn't need to sleep anymore, but it was fun to do anyway. Sleeping in the lifestream gave him funky dreams which were always interesting.

“…Man, my life is dull…. Dull, dull, dull, dull…” Zack sighed and closed his eyes.

The Holy rocked him softly. He let himself drift towards sleep. The Holy rocked even harder.

“What the…” Zack frowned and stood up in the pool.

The Holy was now pitching back and forth harder. Sephiroth, with a half focused murmur, woke up just before the Holy bashed him against the pool edge.

“Hey, Seph.” Zack waded towards him as the waves thrashed around more violently. “Hold on to something.”

The taller man blinked around dazedly, “Zack? What?”

A swirl of darkness twisted around the pool edge. Not knowing what it was, Zack hurried the last few steps between him and his friend. He grabbed onto his waist and tried to pull him back into the center of the Holy, away from the gathering dark.

“I don't know. I've never seen that before.” Zack grunted as Sephiroth suddenly lost his balance and tumbled them both into the middle of the pool.

“Something just grabbed me.” Sephiroth looked around, but couldn't find anything. He lurched again as his feet were suddenly yanked out from under him.

Zack hung on. “Seph!”

The general hissed. “It's got me. Damn it. I can't see…”

Then Zack couldn't. All went black as the swirling circle of darkness suddenly rushed inward at them. He felt something try to pull Sephiroth out of his arms, but he held on tight, half hoping he wouldn't break his friend's ribs. There was a feeling of being spun, then a dizzying fall, and a hard thud of a landing.

Zack looked up. He was laying in the middle of Nibelheim's town square. Sephiroth was laying under him, unmoving. The town itself was on fire. Broken buildings were shattered open, bodies lay discarded in the street, and fire leapt hungrily through the town, feasting. Shadowy figures darted through the flickering light, dancing and hunting through the flames. The air was filled with smoke, the smell of blood, and another, muskier scent. It looked like that time, long ago when a Jenova possessed Sephiroth razed through the village, leaving fire and blood in his wake.

“Welcome, Jenova.”

A lady stood in front of where he lay, sprawled across Sephiroth's legs. Sephiroth was limp underneath him and Zack was suddenly aware that he had no weapons. He was even more aware of it when the lady leaned over, a hypodermic needle in her hands. Behind her, a shadow flickered against the light of the fires.

“I've been waiting for you.” She reached down and turned Sephiroth's head to the side, exposing the veins of his throat.

Zack lashed out, striking her hand as it lowered to give his friend the injection. The needle went flying out of her hand and smashed against the pavement. The lady stumbled back, her face twisting into a mask of pure hatred.

“How dare you!” She snarled. “Galian! Galian!”

The shadow behind her moved forward snarling. Zack wasn't sure who, or what Galian was, but he knew a bad situation when he saw it. He had no weapons and by the look of the weapons shop, he had little chance of getting any unless he wanted to take the time to do a body by body search of the dead. He was in the middle of a massacre. He had little idea how he'd gotten there, and he had an unconscious friend laying face down on the ground. Shadows were gathering around them, out of the flames. One looked like it was carrying the body of a man flung over his shoulder, lightening sparking around its form.

Zack didn't stay for introductions. He grabbed Sephiroth, heaved him over his shoulder, and jumped, hoping that he hadn't lost his Soldier strength while lazing about in the lifestream. His feet skidded on the tile roof as he landed, and a howl of anger broke out behind him. He glanced down, noticing a large purplish dog-monster with long red horns leaping after him. The lady was standing in the street screaming orders to the other shadows that gathered around her.

He darted to the next building and ran over the roofline, shifting Sephiroth to lay over both of his shoulders so he could run easier. A nasty buzzing sound grated down his nerves and he leapt forward as part of the building he was running over suddenly gave out. Another monster had joined the first, running parallel to him on the ground with what looked to be a chainsaw in one hand and a mask of some sort over his face.

“Man. Weird purple dogs…Chainsaws… what next?” Zack turned quickly and leapt down to put a building between him and the masked chainsaw thing.

The purple monster was still after him. He gauged the chance of killing the thing without weapons, but decided the likelihood was too low. The thing had claws and teeth. It also didn't look like any monster he'd fought before, which meant it could have magic skills that he wouldn't be prepared to deal with. The thing with the electrical sparks appeared from around a corner and started lumbering quickly after him. Zack was less than happy when he noticed the thing looked like an old corpse with rotting green skin.

Zack raced down an alley and found himself next to the old mansion at the edge of town. Remembering the caves Cloud's friend Tifa had once led them through, Zack bolted for the mountains. Old blasted orchards, crumbling stone walls, and weed grown fields flashed by him as he raced ahead of the nightmares following him.

“Okay…we're doing good.” He could hear the purple dog thing panting and baying behind him. “Doing good. Just a bit farther.”

For a few heady moments, he thanked Hojo for his experiments, as he raced through desiccated fields toward the caves. If he'd been a normal human, that monster would have been on him by now. Behind him, he could hear the crack of lightening and jumped to the side as a bolt slammed down where he'd been. He didn't pause to look. He kept running. The dog thing snarled on his heels. The sound of a chainsaw ratcheted to life and added a low threatening buzz to the air.

As he reached the incline to the first cave, he heard clawed paws scrabble behind him. He swung around and kicked, sending the purple thing back down the slope with a snarl. He dodged in and darted down a tunnel.

Where had that girl led them? Left? Right?

He leapt up landing on a small ledge as the dog thing raced into the cave. It paused, sniffing the air as he crept over to another cave opening and slid in. Thankfully, the scent of mako was heavy in the cavern's air. With any luck, it would confuse the senses of the monster. He heard the chainsaw buzz enter the cave and a few howls and snarls. He padded quickly through and found another opening, leading back outside.

Hadn't Tifa led them up…yeah, that was it, through the cave, up the mountain, past the reactor, and a quick trot to Rocket Town and the joy of weaponry.

The sounds of pursuit died, so he checked Seph, readjusted his weight, and went up.

“See. Doing good.” He jogged along the twisty trail that headed up to the reactor. “We're doing good.”

When he got to the reactor's parameter, he stopped. Up ahead, all three monsters were shuffling around. The dog thing was sniffing the air, whining softly and occasionally pawing at something on the path that led to Rocket Town. The green, sparky monster was mindlessly lumbering back and forth next to it, and the masked freak was standing, idly swinging his chainsaw around in arcs next to the reactor.

Zack backed away and retreated down the trail.

No wonder they hadn't chased him through the caves. He growled to himself. Well, two could play that game. If they all wanted to wait for him there, he could go someplace else. Correl was only a short skip over the mountains, or he could go south into Cosmo Canyon. Either was fine, and perhaps along the way, he'd figure out what was going on.

He patted his friend's leg. “Hey, Seph. Next time I complain that my life is dull, shut me up.”

Tseng

Tseng sometimes wondered why he came into work. Working in Shinra had its own weird, twisted routine that was, if not dull, trying on his nerves. After a morning of desperately trying to compose himself for the day ahead, which involved mass amounts of green tea, meditation, t'ai chi, centering exercises, and a daily morning massage by a talented and overpaid masseuse, he would drive to work (more green tea, soothing music, aroma therapy) in his comfortable car. He would park in his usual spot, say hello to the parking attendant, ask the man about his family, step into the elevator (deep breathing, biofeedback relaxation techniques, humming soft childhood lullabies), and then step out into the pit of hell. Even Rufus wouldn't, even if chased by rabid tonadus, step foot on this floor of the building, and Rufus was less than…well…concerned about his personal safety.

His state of calm centeredness survived the puddle of purple goo that covered half the hall in front of the elevator slowly eating through the carpet. He didn't flinch when he passed by the daily schedule board and found a nude picture of Palmer (2) posted on it. The burn marks on the walls of the employee lounge made him take a few deep calming breaths, but he steadied himself quickly. When he arrived at his office and found his office door missing along with the rest of his furniture, equipment and files, he quivered a moment, but focused on the fact that his bonsai tree was still sitting in peaceful tranquility on the window ledge till he was sure his mental state was once again in equilibrium.

“Uh…. Hey, boss.” Reno was peeking out his door that was to the right of Tseng's. “I had nothing to do with that.” Reno didn't wait for a reaction, he slammed his door shut and Tseng could hear the lock click.

Rude stepped out of his office across the hall and looked stoically at the room. “I already called for maintenance. They'll bring new furniture by noon.” He promptly left the vicinity, striding quickly down the hall, sidling around the puddle of goo, and getting into the elevator.

“Uhmm…you could borrow a chair from me.” Elena, across the hall from Reno, peered out her door worriedly.

Tseng took a few more deep breaths, tried to push aside the picture of him trying to do his work while perched on a single chair with no desk, file cabinets, computer, pens, papers, or even a small post-it. “Thank you, Elena. That's very generous of you. However, I think I will take care of some outside work till my furniture arrives.”

“Uhhhh…Okay, but… well, all maintenance could find was some stuff from the day care program…” Elena looked ready to bolt.

Tseng could feel his muscles tie themselves into knots. “I'll go see what I can do.”

Reno bravely opened his door a crack. “Hey, boss. Rufus wants to talk to you. He's been trying to call you, but you won't answer your phone.”

He had long ago explained to Rufus that the only way he survived being the Turk Leader was his morning of peace. Rufus had graciously accepted his need to calm his nerves and agreed to only call him on his office line in the mornings, unless it was an emergency. This of course was complicated by the fact that his office, except for his bonsai plant, was presently missing, including his phone.

“If you hadn't taken all…” Elena hissed at Reno.

Reno growled, “It wasn't me.”

“Was so.”

“Was not”

“Was!”

“Wasn't!”

“You are such a lying jerk.”

“You are such a whiney bitch.”

“Asshole.”

“Rookie.”

Tseng rubbed his temples and took deeper breaths. What was the most pathetic about the situation was that it happened every day: property damage to the building, photos of nude executives, missing furniture, fouled up requisition for new furniture, juvenile fight in the hall. It was all so sadly predictable.

He stepped into his office, scooped up his bonsai and walked back out, ignoring the continuing fight. He skirted around the purple goo (It was down to the concrete slab beneath the carpet and was eating through that.), walked to the elevator, and after a small wait (deep, soothing breaths, calm, calm) he stepped on and went up to Rufus's office where peace and happiness reigned for all of five seconds after the door opened.

“Why?! Why is this happening to me?” Rufus yelled.

Tseng looked around the presidential suite and tallied up the damage: desk-destroyed by what seemed to be a small explosive and remodeled into something looking like a tent, executive chair- gutted and bent and hanging like a gutted animal from the light fixture, other chairs- broken and used for kindling, small campfire- made by the chairs, some paperwork, and plants- stacked to the side of the campfire for fuel or used to hold marshmallows over the fire, priceless artworks- stapled together to create a small canopy for the tent/desk, and, of course, one irate president. “Are you alright, sir?”

“Alright! Alright!” Rufus was standing next to the remains of his desk, pointing at the fire. “That has all the paperwork for the meeting that's scheduled in…” He looked at his watch, paused to hyperventilate, and ratcheted his voice up a few octaves, “in seventeen minutes!”

Tseng kept quiet, standing still and at attention, still cradling his bonsai, and waiting for Rufus to regain his composure. This too was normal: Rufus's once a week collapse of all outward signs of calm as once again his secretary quit in a colorful manner. His last one, a sweet, pleasant, brunet with a sunny, upbeat personality, had poured kerosene through Rufus's office last week, disabled the fire system, and ran out the door chuckling madly after tossing a match in to create an inferno. Tseng had really hoped that her replacement, a geriatric grandmother of twelve, would fare better.

Tseng concentrated on deep breathing exercises while Rufus screamed obscenities, threatened world destruction, and ripped at his hair. In…out…peace…I am calm…in…out…I breathe in tranquility, I exhale stress…in, tranquility…out, stress….

After fifteen minutes, Rufus smoothed his hair, tossed his head, and walked calmly out of the room. “Call maintenance and get me new furniture.”

Tseng nodded to the empty office and reached for his PHS.

“Maintenance.”

Tseng took a deep breath (in tranquility…out, stress), “The president needs new furniture.”

“…” The pause stretched.

“A desk, computer, executive chair, two occasional chairs, horizontal file cabinet, pictures, and plants.” Tseng listed off, not even bothering to look around to confirm the damage. He had done this every week for the past year.

“Got a problem.” The maintenance man muttered. “We… well…”

In, tranquility… out, stress…I am calm… “Problem?”

“For some reason, the last batch of furniture we ordered… it arrived as pre-school furniture.” The man started babbling. “Honest, we ordered the right things. We have loads of practice. We didn't get it wrong but all the furniture is for three year olds. It's all small and red and blue and yellow and some of it even has…”

“Thank you, I get the picture.” And he did too. The picture involved one of his Turks, a few minutes of distraction, and a bit of hasty erasing and scribbling. “Please go to the nearest office supply store and get the required items.”

“Yes sir, I already sent someone for your office. I'll tell them to pick up the president's furniture too.” The man tried to sound efficient, but Tseng could guess he wasn't pleased to be the one to inform the Turk Leader that the president's furniture (and his own) was going to come from a cheap office supply store instead of the high end warehouse that they usually got things from.

“Reorder the correct furniture and make sure you have spares. Have a cleanup crew in the president's office in five minutes.” Tseng turned his back on the carnage and walked out. “I have another matter to discuss. We need a hazmat crew in the Administrative Research Department. We also need a paint crew in the employee lounge, too.”

“Yes sir, right on it.”

Tseng could practically hear the man salute. He hung up the phone, considered going back to his office and sit on the floor till his cheap furniture arrived, then decided to go to requisitions, get a laptop (His last one hadn't lived through a sudden, unexpected, slightly suspicious fall from the roof of the building.) and head to a café. He'd long ago started keeping backups, and backups of his backups stashed in his car, his home, his bank, the locker at his gym, and on his keychain. He could sit in a café, do most of his work, and be happily co-worker free.

Maybe he should just move his office to CosmoCoffee and forget the new furniture, or even better, he could set up a home office and commute to work only to meet Rufus. He could leave the resulting chaos in Reno's hands, hope the building would survive, and, when it got leveled to the ground, be unscathed enough to offer sympathy. Maybe he should suggest Rufus doing the same thing.

He and his plant were in the elevator on their way down to requisitions when his PHS rang. He considered not answering for a few decadent minutes, but ingrained duty and a sense of masochism made him pull the phone out of his breast pocket and answer it.

“Tseng.”

“Tseng, come to the meeting.” Rufus sounded cool and calm.

Tseng envied him. He envied him even more when he realized he hadn't been at work thirty minutes yet. “I'll be right there.”

He pushed the correct floor and he and his bonsai waited patiently till the elevator went all the way down to the floor he'd been original destined for then all the way back up to the executive suites. He liked the executive level. It was calm. It was peaceful. It had nice views, a comfortable lounge, a washroom that wasn't apt to explode, and thick, plush carpet that didn't get melted every week and get replaced by carpet that was one step above the cheap, plastic indoor-outdoor carpet used for mobile home porches. The executive level rarely, except for Rufus's long battle with his secretaries, had corrosive puddles of goo, burnt walls, missing doors, and vanishing furniture. He once had an office there until the rest of the executives, tired of the normal, destructive, monotony of Tseng's life, petitioned Rufus to send him back down to the Turks' level. After the gas attack, which Reno swore was a mistake, Rufus bowed to the demands and sent him back in disgrace. Tseng supposed having half the executives in the company laid up in the hospital with various breathing difficulties tipped the scale.

He paused for only a moment to put his bonsai in the executive lounge that had real wood furniture instead of old folding furniture that looked like it had been abandoned at a curb, and went to the conference room that the meeting was in. When he arrived, he noticed Rufus was smiling pleasantly at a rather uncomfortable looking Reeve. Cloud Strife was looking lost and sleepy across the table with Barret Wallace sitting with his arms crossed over his chest snoring softly. It rather upset him that he hadn't even been aware that Avalanche was in the building and he hadn't been informed. Rufus had only mentioned a “meeting” and the rest of his spy network was busy disposing of his things, burning walls, acquiring toxic sludge, and bickering in the halls.

He bowed politely, which only Reeve appreciated, and walked around the table to where Rufus was indicating for him to sit.

“We've had some interesting news.” Rufus smiled pleasantly to Reeve, which made Reeve look paranoid and startled. “Nibelheim was destroyed again.”

Tseng wondered if the mansion was still standing. For some reason, nothing seemed to be able to destroy the place, not Sephiroth on a bloody rampage, not Avalanche fighting monsters in it, not even Ronso the Crimson's and Vincent Valentine's combined efforts. He would have suspected that Hojo had done something sick and twisted to the place, but Hojo seemed to have hated that place more than anyone else.

“While there were no survivors, we did get a security photo from the old mako reactor.” Rufus pushed a facedown photo over to him. “It's quite…interesting.”

Tseng flipped the photo over to see a grainy photograph of what looked to be a crude science experiment gone terribly wrong. What had the reports called it? Die..Den…Death…yes, that was it…Death Gigas. One of Vincent Valentine's alternate forms.

Reeve cleared his throat. “We have evidence from the…site… that Death Gigas was one of the ones attacking Nibelheim.”

Valentine attacked Nibelheim? “Any idea of why Valentine would do this?” Tseng put the picture down on the table.

“None.” Reeve looked sad. “We are afraid that he's…”

“Vampy's probably gone nuts.” Barret decided this was the time to wake up and participate in the conversation.

Cloud frowned. “This isn't like Vincent. He wouldn't do this.”

“But he obviously has.” Rufus settled back in his chair. “What we need is to locate him quickly. If he was the one to destroy Nibelheim, he might also be responsible for the attacks on Costa del Sol and Gongaga.”

Reeve nodded. “Yes.” He turned to address Tseng. “WRO doesn't have an…intelligence gathering branch.”

Tseng managed not to snort, roll his eyes, or otherwise give any sign that he knew that was a bad lie. Reeve and his mechanical cat-rats had a network that rivaled his. He smiled politely instead and wondered why Reeve suddenly wanted the Turks, because he'd bet his non-existent pension that the next words would be…

“So that is why we need the Turks to investigate the matter.” Reeve looked earnestly hopeful. “Vincent was once a Turk, maybe you will be able to find him where we could not.”

… his pension was safe.

Reeve nodded to Barret who sulkily lumbered to his feet and went over to a corner and picked up a small file box. The box was unceremoniously dumped onto the table scattering a small collection of books, a cheaply framed photo of Avalanche, a few letters and envelopes, a locked box of ammunition, and a worn deck of cards.

“When Vincent first disappeared a few months ago, we searched his place.” Reeve waved to the pathetic pile of goods. “This was all we found.”

Part of Tseng was shocked and outraged. Vincent Valentine had been a Turk Leader. He'd been one of the greats that young Turks, himself included, had looked up to as a nearly unreachable level of perfection. There had been a plaque, something no other Turk had ever been granted, in the lobby of the old Shinra Tower. The man had helped defeat Sephiroth, battled insane clones and an out of control summon, waged war on Deepground, banished Omega back to the lifestream, and all that he'd gotten out of it was a few dog eared books, some bills, a rusty box of ammo, and a pack of playing cards.

“Where was his apartment?” Tseng kept his voice level and professional.

“Vampy lived in Kalm.” Barret growled, slumping back into his chair to glare at them.

Tseng had forgotten to include his friends in his list of things Vincent had. Yes, Vincent had those, didn't he. Lucky bastard.

“When we didn't find Vincent…well, we collected his things and the landlord rented the place out again.” Reeve pushed a piece of paper across the table. “Here's the address.”

Tseng glanced at it and pocketed it. Add to Vincent's possessions, or former ones, a cheap apartment in one of the slums in Kalm. “Didn't he do work for you?”

“Yes.” Reeve nodded. “He… ran errands, looked into monster sightings, and other odd jobs.”

From Turk Leader to errand boy. Tseng wished he'd tracked Valentine down and offered him a position with the Turks. While he'd have had to live with the mindless, routine insanity of his department, it would have been better than… this.

“Has there been any more sightings of either Valentine or one of his demons?” Tseng picked out the letters taking note of the day they'd been sent.

“A few, but nothing definite.” Reeve picked up the scattered articles and put them back into the box. “We have a few vague reports of Galian at Costa del Sol when it was attacked and maybe Hellmasker, but no one has seen Vincent.”

Rufus sighed, tapping his fingers on the table. “Tseng, put a few men on it. With the attacks on the Western Continent, we need to find him.”

Tseng understood. The wording, the finger taps, the small sigh all communicated a distinct message. Find Valentine before these idiots do. Reel him in, lock him down, and above all keep Avalanche out of it. This is Shinra business.

“Of course, sir.” Tseng bowed taking the box from Reeve. “I'll start immediately.”

Rufus stood, smiling pleasantly, “Now, if that's all, gentlemen, we should adjourn and get to work.”

Reeve stood. “Of course. Please, keep us informed about anything you find about Vincent. We've been worried.”

Cloud and Barret got to their feet, too, Cloud still looking sleepy, and Barret looking irritated. Everyone nodded stifffly to everyone else and Avalanche left. Tseng made a call to Rude to make sure that they left peacefully under surveillance.

“And they…” Rufus hissed, stalking back to his destroyed office. “They…” He gestured to Vincent's box. “They say I'm a heartless bastard.”

Tseng nodded but kept silent.

“Valentine was a Turk, he's part of the company. If I can keep that moron Palmer on staff, I can keep Valentine too, demons or no.” Rufus slammed open his office door, grimaced at the bustling cleanup crew, and continued. “Even my father would have…”

Tseng never had figured that part out. Veld had served Shinra faithfully for over twenty five years and was brushed aside with no thought. A couple of the older Turks, before Sephiroth had given them an abrupt retirement, had served even longer. The late president had treated the entire department like disposable hand wipes, but not Valentine. There had even been a small memorial service in the main lobby on the twenty fifth anniversary of Valentine's death, with the president giving a speech and a small wreath of flowers that was hung over Valentine's plaque. It had been mandatory attendance. Even the science department had been wrenched out of their labs to stand around for the ceremony, though Tseng had thought Hojo should have had the decency to bow out. A man's killer shouldn't go to his memorial service.

“Find him, Tseng. Do what you have to do, but find him.”

Cloud

“Waste of time.” Barret slumped back into the expensive leather of the WRO limo that was taking them back to headquarters. “Should have just hunted for Vampy ourselves.”

“The more people looking for Vincent the better.” Reeve fussed at his briefcase, refusing to make eye contact with his friends. “Like it or not, Shinra still has resources that we don't.”

“Like the Turks.” Cloud murmured.

“True.” Reeve shook his head. “I don't like bringing them into this, but…”

Cloud frowned looking away from his friends. “None of us want to kill Vincent.”

“I'd do it.” Barret growled.

“You don't have the ability.” Reeve looked out the window watching the streets blur by in grays and muted greens. “He'd kill you in minutes.”

“Would not.” Barret puffed out his chest, but his eyes were uncertain. “I stood up to Sephiroth. I can take out a vamp.”

Cloud shook his head. “I'm not sure I could. If he's gone mad, I don't know if I could take him out.”

“Do you think he has Chaos back?” Reeve bit his lip, his eyes still on the street.

Cloud shrugged as the car whooshed to a halt in front of WRO headquarters. A couple of neatly dressed guards stepped forward and opened the door. Cloud, Reeve, and Barret stepped out and walked into the building. The halls were full of bustling people carrying stacks of paper, small boxes, clip boards, briefcases, and occasionally weapons. People grinned happily at them as they passed, giving small respectful nods before hurrying along to their destinations.

“Hey! Hey!” Yuffie raced through the hall and nearly tackled Cloud to the ground. “Nanaki's on the vid-phone and he's got a surprise! Just you wait! You won't believe it.” The little ninja leapt back, nearly dancing in excitement. “Wow! You never said he was so cute!”

“Who?” Cloud rubbed his throat where Yuffie had knocked her head against his windpipe.

“It's a secret.” Yuffie raced away. “Hurry it up!”

Reeve smiled and hurried after her. “Come on, I could use something good.”

Nanaki was on the video screen listening to Yuffie when they came in. He looked mildly amused as he was bombarded with questions.

“What does he eat? Are his eyes really that blue? How tall is he? Are all those muscles real? And hair gel… how much does he use?”

“Nanaki.” Reeve gently pushed Yuffie aside and took a seat in front of the monitor. “How are you? I haven't heard from you for weeks. I was getting worried.”

“I am fine Reeve.” Nanaki's gaze traveled beyond him to look at Barret and Cloud who lurked out of hyperactive ninja range. “It is good to see all of you as well.”

“Tell them!” Yuffie danced around behind Reeve's chair. “Come on, tell!”

“Why don't I show them?” Nanaki stepped back, nodding to someone that out of the camera's range. “I'm sure he'll take this better from you.”

As the black haired figure stepped into view Cloud froze.

“Hey, Spike. How they hanging?” Zack grinned.

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Thanks for the reviews!

In response to questions:

Lucrecia stepping out of the crystal- In FFVII Lucrecia is seen outside of the crystal, then, later Death Penalty and the Chaos Manual are found in that cave. It is safe to assume that Lucrecia left them there since no one else could have.

Avalanche/WRO hunting Vincent- I was less than impressed when I played DOC with Reeve's treatment of Vincent. It was sort of like, “Hi Vincent, go take care of this huge problem and save the world. Sure, I know you have your own problems, but you're such a great guy, so deal with this one too. By the way, I am completely useless, and forget about me giving you any useful weapons or stuff, but I'll sick Yuffie on you, cheer for you at the end, and look mildly appalled when you seem to die. Oh, and yes, Yuffie outranks you in the organization. So suck it up.”

I think that covers the questions I want to answer. You'll just have to wait for the answers to the others.

AN:

(1) I sometimes wonder if Tifa was full of it during the game when she talked Cloud out of the lifestream. Her logic was faulty, not that Cloud was smart enough to figure that out. Therefore, there is a very good possibility that Cloud, the one from the game, is a copy of the real Cloud who defended Tifa in Nibelheim's reactor and got a sword through the chest.

(2)According to Square/Enix Palmer actually survived his run in with the truck and went back to work for Shinra. I'm sure Rufus was thrilled… This also gave me the inspiration for Rufus's determination to get Vincent back. Rufus, to keep Palmer on staff, has to have some loyalty to his employees (I don't think Palmer is bright enough to blackmail Rufus successfully.) and I think he might feel that Vincent, being a former employee and having been hurt under Shinra's previous president's administration, is still part of the “family.” I know that's reading a lot into that one fact, but I'm going with it.