It all started when the Nibelheim reactor blew.

When he was but a child, malfunctioning equipment at his hometown's reactor caused an explosion that rocked the mountainside. Shale, rock, and leaking mako rained down on the town, causing widespread panic. In response, Shinra had sent a small unit to survey the damage and calm the townspeople.

That was how Cloud, the worthless blonde bastard of Nibelheim, set his eyes on his first SOLDIER.

Even when the man left, Cloud couldn't help but watch him leave and consider him long after his footprints had faded under fresh layers of snow and the reactor had been rebuilt. To him, it was a dream. A way out of his useless existence. Nothing mattered to him more than to someday be that person, the man who had slain countless monsters and even the local dragon without so much as batting his cat-like eyes. That was the power and respect he wanted, that was the adoration he knew he would someday gain from everyone, that was who he was going to be.

And more than ever before, that was the day he would curse for all of eternity.

The SOLDIER program was worse than Nibelheim had ever been.

Countless other young men alongside him, apparently, had the same idea. Many teens and older males lined up with their papers and their dreams, all wanting something from the SOLDIER program. And all of them, it seemed, had something poor Strife did not. Whether they were taller, faster, stronger, had better posture, had better heritage, could speak better, were more sly, had friends, had allies, or could even just feel comfortable in shoes that were supposedly their size (something he'd never gotten back home, being too poor), everyone had Cloud beaten at something. And with his admittedly babyish face, they all looked more mature than him too, even the scrawny kid two bunks over who'd faked his papers. He was nobody. Nobody special, nobody important, nobody at all.

Cloud Strife, his name said it all. A boy with his head in the clouds and dreams above everyone else's, but who was doomed to failure and misery before he'd even started. Whatever deity was responsible for his name had one sick sense of humour.

And so did everyone else, it seemed. Cloud Strife, the little boy who came from a town no one had even heard of, was the laughingstock and punching bag of everyone. That's right, everyone. Even the scrawny kid, because at least the scrawny kid was hard to hit.

Today was another of those days that the world was just being a little more cruel to him than usual.

The wages for cadets, no more than an allowance really, had been sent out. He always sent what he could home, because there was no way he could have saved anything here without someone stealing it. The stereotypical kid who got hung upside down and shaken for lunch money? That was him. Literally. But even he wanted to spend a little from time to time, and had fallen into the habit of grabbing treats every once in the while. Yes, candy. The thing that made people laugh even more about him being an overgrown baby. But screw them, candy was all but absent in Nibelheim, and he'd take it where he could.

Unfortunately, since everyone just loved him so much, they'd take it where they could too. Usually from him.

His regular antagonist, he knew, had been watching what he was doing when he left the training grounds and gone out into Midgar to shop. Cloud knew, he just knew, that when he got back the older teen would be waiting for him, and his spoils, to promptly snatch them away.

So this time, he had a plan.

Cadet Strife traveled, not the the market as usual, but to the slums. He knew it was dangerous, and he knew he's be targeted instantly, that's just how much of a nervous wreck he was. But he was counting on that this time.

When a particularly shady gentleman glanced at him from his perch against a light post, Cloud took the opportunity to hail him and ask something.

"U-uh, sir? I... want to know if you can help me find something."

The man's eyebrow raised, but under the large hat and curiously unnecessary sunglasses, that's all he could see. But the thin lips told Cloud enough of how stupid the man must have thought he was. That was okay though, he could take advantage of that.

The man waited for him to speak, so he obliged, "I-I need something that... well, something that looks like candy, but will make you sick. The sicker the better. But I don't know what I can afford, so..."

Cloud trailed off, twitching and twiddling his thumbs nervously. Nonetheless, the man's opinion of him must have changed, as his eyebrow shot up even higher and he looked around.

Thirty minutes later Cloud was headed back to his dorm, the nasty little surprises hidden in his pocket. And true to prediction, said bag of candies was later taken by the bully. After the usual round of 'where did you get these' and 'they were a gift, please don't', 'oh, a gift, but you're not worthy of it so let me take it, and 'please no', of course. Cloud wasn't going to let him get at all suspicious, of course.

That, Cloud had thought, should have been the end of it. A lesson well learned. But unfortunately for him, said bully didn't get sick for the rest of the day, and wouldn't get sick at all.

In fact, the only thing he seemed to come down with was a case of bad attitude, a case which he had apparently had some of his belongings confiscated for.

Cloud grimaced, but kept his head down. He should have known that his meager allowance wouldn't have gotten him anything better than dirt. Probably the guy had just given him real candies and jipped him of his wage.

It wasn't until the usual barrack banter, late that night, that anything else interesting happened that day.

At first, it was nothing unusual. The typical exchange of complaining about instructors, exchanging embarrassing stories about home, and yakking about whose girlfriend's boobs were bigger than whose. Nothing Cloud was really interested in. Then, of course, they got to the horror stories. The stories of rumors about people who'd heard about monsters that were scared of certain people, and so on. A terrifying instructor here, a sadistic drill sergeant there, etcetera etcetera. But then it happened.

"Guys, guys, I heard about this just today... it ain't no joke! It's real!"

"Oh sure it is Joe, your stories are always real," someone snickered, initiating a round of laughter that only barely caught Cloud's attention. But what came next chilled him to the core.

"Oh it's real alright! I heard from a buddy of mine... apparently, some SOLDIER got some goodies from one of the cadets- a cadet! And decided to share it with his buddies. And, and, get this. You know how a whole bunch of the soldiers had to go to the med bay today?"

Everyone nodded or stared.

"Well, it turned out, they all got poisoned! Like, really bad! There was bleeding and vomiting and everything! And when they went to find out where it came from... the cadet that had given the Soldier the candies, when they asked him about it, he didn't know! He'd been given those candies by another cadet who'd apparently gotten them as a gift but didn't want them anymore. So no one knew where they actually came from, only that it was from a cadet! A cadet, one of our own, is trying to kill his fellow cadets!"

The whole room gasped, Cloud included. Such a thing was unspeakable, horrible! And for him especially. Instead of fearing for just his dignity, his possessions, and his general well-being, he now had to fear for his life! Cloud, the gathering point of everyone's hatred and scorn, was a prime target. His life would mean nothing for a murderer. Nothing but an easy kill.

Cloud Strife would keep his eyes open and his paranoia sharp from then on.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

The next great incident in the blonde cadet's life was, fortunately for him something no one had to witness. Or so he thought.

The usual bullying and bothering of the day had taken a turn to the unusual, when instead of getting beaten up as per regular procedure, something else happened (he'd been dragged to the training grounds late at night when he'd only barely gotten into the barracks before curfew, so much for that now). Rope appeared out of nowhere from one of his assailants, and the next thing he knew he was tied up next to the flagpole. Any protest from him, not that he'd bothered complaining (doing so only gave them a rise), was ignored. He barely managed to stifle his yelp, however, when he was suddenly being hoisted to the tune of an off-key and clearly drunken parody of the Shinra anthem. Something about baby chocobos and funny flags. He struggled to no avail as his fellow cadets left him, their skewed laughter and inebriated jeers following them as they eventually disappeared back to the barracks. Cloud tried and tried and tried to break himself free, but the tension on the rope was just a little too much. When it started raining, he started to give up. His fingers were raw and his body was shivering. As the rain got harder and drowned out even the sound of his own thoughts, he felt himself go limp. Time, however long or short, passed in a drizzle of misery and icy temperatures. Soon, he wasn't even shivering anymore.

In the middle of the driving rain, his fingers numb and his brain fogged with cold, Cloud Strife finally snapped.

Nearby, Genesis Rhapsodos, was on a nighttime 'patrol'. Or rather, a personal mission to wake his two friends at the most ungodly hour just for the excuse that they needed to walk and talk, just to piss them off. That was how, at three in the morning, the trio of Shinra's greatest SOLDIERS were walking through the halls adjacent to the training grounds, the only relatively decent sight around the whole Shinra complex.

Whatever they were discussing fell dead on their lips when Angeal looked out a window and choked. A cadet was strung up on the flagpole, limply hung in the rain. A furious expression crossed his face after a moment passed of him trying to figure out what the whole thing meant.

"How dare they! When I find out who is responsible for such dishonourable behaviour I'll-!"

"You'll do nothing until we can recover the boy. Doubtless he'll be suffering hypothermia by now, and may be unconscious judging by his state."

Genesis smirked, "Judging by his state, the poor boy has just met with cold hard reality. My friends, the fates are cruel." The crimson commander stood rapt at attention, staring out at the figure far away, barely visible even with his enhanced senses. "I suppose this is what happens when a man's spirit is broken-"

Genesis's musings were cut short when an ungodly shriek echoed over the landscape. All three soldiers whirled to attention, staring at the figure through the window as it suddenly sprang to life, writhing and yelling angrily at its bonds. It contorted painfully, bending itself beyond limits as it flailed, bit and scratched at the ropes tying it to the pole. Nothing could have surprised the trio more when the bonds suddenly gave way, dropping the unfortunate man to the ground. The figure laid still for a moment before slowly getting up, staring at itself and its former prison warily. Hugging itself in the cold, the figure glanced around as if taken aback by its freedom and its own audacity at escaping. Then, with a sudden jerk, the cadet ran back to the barracks, quickly disappearing out of sight despite a slight limp.

The trio were stunned into silence until, once again, Angeal changed the mood. "We should go after him and see if he's alright."

"No, no. You know as well as I do that the poor boy has probably had enough for one day without being terrified by the three of us suddenly asking for him. Besides, if three of Shinra's greatest soldiers began to get concerned for one cadet's health, it would attract even more unwanted attention to him. The arrow has left the bow of the goddess, quite frankly, this is out of our hands now."

Sephiroth blinked, "We do nothing, and speak nothing of it then?"

"Now I didn't say that," Genesis grinned.

Genesis, of course, was the one who spread the story the most. But his obsession with Loveless, a classic of the theatre arts, had left him with more than enough ability for the dramatic, and even moreso the inclination to embroider the truth.

By the time the rumours had circulated though the ranks, the story had changed entirely.

"He was tied up, they say, tied right up! But even with his helmet on his eyes were glowing with rage! The people that had caught him, those poor brave souls, made the mistake of going to get help! Before anyone could do anything, he was roaring! Shrieking his monstrous hatred to the skies he began tearing apart the chains with his bare teeth! His bare teeth! Everyone ran away with fear, and a good thing they did too, because the guy leaped impossibly high! He jumped from the top of the flagpole after them, without even skipping a beat! The poor guys barely escaped with their lives from the Killer Cadet!"

Cloud shuddered and shuffled further into his bunk. No, he decided, his life was not a very happy one. But at least, he thought, his misfortune wasn't so bad that he had come across the Killer Cadet. No, if he ever had to face that horrible man, he's last less than a second. No one but a trained SOLDIER could probably take on the guy, of that he was certain.

Just another reminder to watch his back.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

By the time the SOLDIER exams were coming up, the stories of the Killer Cadet had spread far and wide. Even the SOLDIERS themselves whispered in fear of the monster's many exploits, from the time he'd tried to flood a bathroom to drown all the occupants (Cloud remembered something similar happening to him once, he'd accidentally knocked a pipe open and been forced to flee when it started gushing-he'd lost his sock somewhere in the rush), to the day where he'd done his best to murder everyone by breaking their necks on an over-waxed floor (Cleaning duty was no stranger to him, even though that one time he'd been so enthused they'd actually let him clean up the SOLDIER floor-damned if he wouldn't do his best to impress them!).

As it was, when the whole cadet squadron was summoned to a field test, Cloud Strife just knew this was when the worst was going to happen. Even though no one really knew what form the SOLDIER exams would take, Cloud had the sinking, gut-wrenching, instinctual feeling he'd never make it through them Something about the whole affair just screamed that he probably wouldn't even make it to them. He'd had more than enough experience in the program to realize that, not only was everyone better then him, there just weren't enough seats in the SOLDIER program to afford him a consolation prize, even as a secretary. Not that he'd want something like that. It was do or die. He couldn't go back to Nibelheim without being a soldier, without being someone. During field training, he'd have to do something so spectacular, so amazing, that no one could ignore him!

He'd get into SOLDIER one way or another, even if it killed him and he only got it as a post-mortem honour.

Although, with his luck, he'd probably be paired with the Killer Cadet and have his miserable body found rotting somewhere.

But, there were better things to focus on. What he would do to get the higher-ups to notice him, for one. Cloud put out his chest and stood up straight, waiting as the teams were organized. It wouldn't be long now. Time passed swiftly for Cloud, so distracted by his mission to stand out, that he was out on the field with a group of other cadets before he could even understand what was really going on.

When he finally did understand his situation, he groaned. It couldn't have been worse. Whatever deity had decided on his name had apparently been allowed to decide his team members too. Every single one of them hated him to some degree, and most of them were incompetent out in the field. It had been because of them that he'd gotten so many punishments for truancy (not his fault he got home after curfew when he was shoved in a locker) and other such black spots on his records. Even if he did pass the exam, his record alone would probably fail him. But it's not like he could be weak and try to defend himself from them or tell his superiors of the abuse. The one time he tried to, nothing had been done, and they'd only punished him more for trying to get help.

As it was, he was seriously fearing for his chances at SOLDIER. He would never give up, no, but...

"Come one, loser! Get up here, you're the meatshield, not me!"

Sure as hell seemed like it might be easier to do so.

Sure enough, his group had encountered a monster. Of course he took most of the damage from the attack, but it hadn't been much, and no one had been hurt past a couple of bruises and scrapes. He'd doubt that the higher-ups would put their valuable cadets in range of any monsters that could seriously hurt them.

And that was when, out of nowhere, the dragon appeared.

Cloud's mind barely registered is as a migratory species as its silhouette came out of the clouds above them, dropping at a rapid rate. He registered screams behind him and turned briefly, just enough time to see his teammates running away, when survival instinct kicked in and he booked it.

Of course, the dragon decided to follow him anyways.

He really hated his life sometimes. Whatever short amount of it was left, anyways.

He must have run for ages when the thing finally gave up, seeing a group of much less aware people farther away. Not that Cloud could see who they were. He had just enough energy left to stop himself crying out in relief when the beast left, and he dropped to his knees to rest.

Bad move.

Another monster had seen him, and decided he looked pretty dang tasty. That seemed to be the general consensus today, Cloud thought despairingly. Nonetheless, he hefted his Shinra issue rifle only to drop it as several spells hit him in the face. The creature had been fast, hitting him with spells designed to disorient him.

Cloud recognized berserk, strangely enough, but when the second hit him, probably confuse, he lost all sense of self.

The poor monster never knew what hit it.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

When Genesis, who was supposed to be supervising the cadets, heard the roar, he swiftly whirled. Sephiroth and Angeal, both with him because he'd insisted he wasn't going to 'babysit the snot-nosed brats alone' (and really, what kind of idiot would leave Genesis alone with recruits anyways?), both followed his lead. No one was prepared when the dragon hit. Only quick thinking and instinct saved their lives.

As it was, Angeal's sword was flung away somewhere when the dragon's claws, aimed at his head, instead snagged his sword and sent it skittering far away. Genesis was forced to duck a spiny tail or risk being cut in two by the sharp spines. Only Sephiroth, it seemed, had enough room to counter properly. Masamune quickly rasped the reptile's scales, causing it to unleash a pained roar as the blade pierced its thick hide. The element of surprise had gained the beast a nice advantage over the three, but once that was lost and the four were on equal ground, the SOLDIERS made quick work of it.

Even so, there had been a close call when, chasing the beast's retreating form, Angeal had nearly launched himself not at the monster, but at a fifteen foot wide ravine, complete with raging river at the bottom. Instead they'd jumped the ravine to administer the finishing blows.

Monster slain, the trio took a quick break, Genesis poking fun at Angeal for his near-miss.

It wasn't until they were ready to head back that the bushes on the other side of the ravine began to move, the soldiers at rapt attention. They relaxed when the figure of a cadet appeared from the foliage, dragging Angeal's sword behind him as if barely able to lift it. Which, considering the weapon, was still a feat.

Genesis chortled at Angeal's mutterings about how, "That's no way to treat my sword." Meanwhile, Sephiroth had stepped to the edge, hailing the cadet.

"Thank you for recovering Angeal's weapon, the dragon has been dealt with and we'll be over shortly to retrieve it."

He turned and was about to motion to the other two follow him when he saw both Angeal and Genesis's eyes widen in shock. He didn't have enough time to question why, however, because the agony of being impaled suddenly ripped through his belly, blood spurting over the ground. He gasped when the weapon was removed, barely staying up. He turned his head just enough to see the cadet's snarling face and the Buster sword in his hands, lifted to deal a killing blow.

Genesis's rapier slashed into his view, leaving a flaming trail across the cadet's front. Angeal's sword dropped to the ground, at the edge of the ravine, while the unbalanced cadet teetered on the edge. With one last, inhuman howl, the cadet fell over and into the raging water below.

Sephiroth barely registered Angeal administrating emergency aid, the shock of the situation clamming up his mind and letting him only focus on the what was perhaps the most inconsequential moment of the whole affair.

A cadet had just jumped a ravine while wielding the Buster sword? An unenhanced, barely out of the training room cadet? How illogical.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

When Cloud regained his senses, he found himself on a riverbank, cold and wet. Two hills sat on either side, their inclines converging on the large stream, one covered in foliage. Trying to get up, however, left him gasping in pain. And inspection of why revealed a nasty, albeit thankfully seared, gash on his chest. He blinked himself back to cohesion, wondering how he'd ended up where he was.

A gurgle sounded from behind him. He turned, just in time for the luminous green eyes of a sahagin to meet his, and its sickly green claws to meet his chest right where the other wound was. Cloud grunted and retreated, swinging his hand at its squishy head to drive it off. He found himself forced to backpedal into the shallow river when it took the high ground, the bank.

Now stuck in the river, his only escape was blocked by a sahagin as thick brush concealed potentially more monsters lining the banks behind him. Cloud reached for something around his belt. Issued to the cadets for their field mission, never to be used unless in dire circumstances that were never supposed to be even possible due to the ease of the mission (look how that had turned out), the grenade was his last hope. It flew true, the sahagin managing no more than a wide-eyed look of shock before it was ended. The blast sent Cloud backwards into the stream, his head clipping a protruding rock. Scrambling upwards he looked around for more threats but, seeing none, fled up the hill.

He set his sights for the rendezvous location, the place all the cadets were supposed to meet up after the mission. As he went he bandaged his torso, still confused over the burn-edged slash on his chest, but more concerned for the new slash marks that had opened up the wound even further. He knew sahagins in the area were occasionally poisonous, but hopefully, even if that one had been, it wouldn't be serious enough to warrant a medic. After his group had separated, a very obvious no-no for barely trained cadets, he didn't want even further bad marks for getting seriously wounded.

To his surprise, he was met part way by a higher ranking officer who looked rather harried, and even more displeased when he saw Cloud, alone, trying to sneak into the makeshift camp.

"Where in blue blazes where you, cadet?!" He roared.

Cloud panicked.

"I-i-it was... it was... it was the Killer Cadet! I saw him! He... he must have been planning something! But when I saw him, he attacked me and threw me into the river to die, and r-ran off!" Cloud stammered out, hoping it would work.

The corporal grimaced, seeming to accept the story, and nodding gravely. "You're lucky to be alive. The story is he is he snuck a dragon out here to mess everyone up and try to kill people. Next thing anyone knew he'd gone and attacked Sephiroth. Sephiroth, of all people, and nearly killed him! If Angeal hadn't had cure and Genesis hadn't gotten him across the chest with his rapier and flung him into the ravine... You're lucky, son, you're real lucky. If Sephiroth barely survived the Killer Cadet, then you're more than lucky to have seen him and lived too."

Cloud went deathly still and pale, gulping. The corporal took this as a normal response to such a situation and left him alone to return to Midgar with his group.

But for the blonde, this was all but normal.

Suddenly, everything had clicked. All of the rumours, all of the tales, everything. The seared sword wound on his chest. He knew exactly who the Killer Cadet was, who had nearly killed Sephiroth, and who, if he was found out, would undoubtedly be faced with the most shameful and humiliating public execution the planet had ever seen for his transgressions.

Suddenly, he didn't want to stick out any more.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

The remainder of the day passed uneventfully for most, and so did the night. Most, however, was not Cloud Strife.

The sahagin had indeed been poisonous, or at the very least toxic. He didn't know if it was septicaemia or a poison or what, he only knew that whatever it was, it wasn't going away. In fact, it was just getting worse. Thank those cruel gods that everyone had been too preoccupied with the new 'Killer Cadet' story to notice one miserable little trooper all bandaged up and shivering wet. But even when he'd gotten home and changed into something that covered his bandages completely (the trooper scarf had concealed the slashes in his shirt, but only barely), the shivering hadn't stopped. It had only gotten worse. In the silence of the uneasy night, he began to tremble violently, breathing raggedly and sweating profusely even though he felt as cold as ice.

He didn't sleep a wink at night, and the next morning, when everyone was suddenly called to the training ground, he just knew. This was going to be it. The end. Bye bye, have a good day, nice knowing you all, not. If he went to the training grounds he probably wouldn't be able to stand still, and considering that they were likely going to be interrogated about who the Killer Cadet really was, all the motion of him shuddering like a scared little rat was going to attract attention and spell his end. But he couldn't not go. His absence would be even more of a giveaway to his identity. Like it or not he'd have to go, and if he got caught, he'd blame it on the sahagin making him sick. With any luck, the burn mark on his chest would be attributed to the amphibious monster as well.

Hah. Luck.

He was so screwed it wasn't even funny.

Nonetheless, Cloud dressed and prepped as best as he could, heading out into the grounds like everyone else. Partway there though, his stomach lurched, and it was all he could do to sneak away unnoticed. When he finally did he ran into an alley between two buildings and lost the dinner and breakfast he'd never eaten.

He stumbled further into the alley, spots in his vision as the world turned violently around its axis while miraculously leaving him behind.

The blonde fell to the ground, lifting his head enough to see his bloody bile nearby, too much spinning to tell the exact distance, before his head flopped to the filthy ground.

He was going to die.

And this time, for real.

The fates were truly cruel, oh so cruel. Here he was, dying, and no one would mourn his passing, or even remember him. Hell, even his accidents were more famous than him. He was going to die, and only those that knew him would even remember the story of the little blonde bastard who'd died a useless, faceless number in the body count of Midgar. The only legacy left behind wasn't even his, it was the legacy of the Killer Cadet. And even then, no one in their right mind would connect the rumours of a bloodthirsty, monstrously powerful menace with a shitty blonde midget who couldn't even survive field training.

But, maybe it wasn't so bad, he thought. Even if he died and no one remembered him, the Killer Cadet would live on in barrack legend, and maybe, just maybe, people would think twice about harming cadets, whether the cadets were underlings or comrades. The Killer Cadet would leave everyone wondering, and maybe some other pathetic cadet like him that came here in future (not that there ever would be a cadet quite as worthless as him, that was impossible) would be spared some form of torture because his tormenter would remember the stories and decide that the last thing he wanted to do was accidentally anger someone who could, for all intensive purposes, become the next killer.

Everything was going black.

He was going to die.

But, if he was going to die, he was going to show the world what he thought of it. With the last of his strength he lifted a hand, his middle finger pointing to the sky.

"Fuck... you... world...!"

And with that his arm went limp and his mind fell to oblivion.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

Zackary Fair, Zack to anyone that didn't want him pouncing on them for 'being too formal', knotted his brows in frustration.

It was nothing compared to the screaming and roaring of the drill sergeant beside him.

"Where in Bahamut's boxers is your pathetic piece of shit teammate! You are all just as responsible as him for all of you being out here on the parade ground! Obviously none of you is capable of being responsible at all! If you little sods of marlboro muck can't find him in less than five minutes then I'm feeding you all to a dragon! You hear me!?"

Apparently they did, because each and every one of them ran for their life to find the missing cadet. Five minutes passed. Then ten. Then twenty. Even the drill sergeant looked confused and worried.

As far as Zack was concerned, it was all the evidence they needed. Truthfully he'd come down here to try and interrogate the cadets on what they'd seen yesterday, but he hadn't expected to get a lead so quickly. To him, the fact that only the one cadet hadn't shown up could not be ignored. It seemed, quite frankly, that their Killer Cadet had tried to run. But the entire complex had been locked up last night, so unless the cadet had fled out in the field, he was undoubtedly in the area. And since all cadets had been accounted for, this one runner was doubtless their culprit.

He heard a shout. Zack ran, following the noise until he arrived at an alley, expecting to see the Killer Cadet in all his monstrous glory.

What he found instead was a victim.

The drill sergeant was already calling for medical, but Zack dodged around him to pick up the prone man. A look at his face, a trail of dried blood leading from his mouth, and Zack's heart lurched. Not quite a man, he still looked like a boy.

A boy who was limp and heavy and bloody.

Zack ran to the infirmary. If he was still alive, somehow, medical wouldn't get to him in time to keep him that way. Not if he didn't help. The black-haired SOLDIER disappeared into the Shinra building, the haunted and terrified faces of the cadets staring after him.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

News spread fast around Shinra.

Everyone had known, for the longest time, that the Killer Cadet was a menace. But the events in the past two days had sent everyone, even the president, into terror. Not only had he outright attacked Sephiroth, but he'd finally tried to seriously murder a cadet. It wasn't a rumour, it wasn't a story, it was a downright reality. The Killer Cadet was loose. He was real. And his name wasn't an exaggeration at all. No one expected the victim to survive. Hojo himself had to be called, and that in itself, from what Hollander had let out, was a bad sign.

One of the gossips spreading the tale knew a little more about the victim, another had wondered about why he hadn't been targeted by the Killer Cadet yet, and from there the rumours spun out of control. No doubt the poor, scared, witless little blonde had been singled out for a long time. Obviously, if the assassination of Sephiroth didn't work, the Killer Cadet had planned to use the defenseless blonde as his coup-de-grace murder all along. His own celebration before joining the soldier program, or perhaps a gift left behind if he didn't.

From there, more information came to light. Apparently the Killer Cadet hadn't been the only one targeting the boy. The Turks, who had been sent to investigate the cadet's on the presidents orders, managed to catch snippets on how pretty much everyone in the program had either bullied him or stayed away from him (he was depressing company at best, and an absolutely antisocial one at worst, although considering his circumstances both were really only self-defense).

But no one knew who the Killer Cadet actually was. Despite all the Turk's digging, all the SOLDIER investigations, and all the other resources at Shinra's disposal, the killer stayed at large. Unknown, unfound.

And that terrified everyone more than anything.

Cloud, of course, was oblivious to it all. He was currently in a coma, or something very similar.

Various doctors would come in and check on him, but after the rush that had happened when he'd first arrived, no one could really do anything. He was still in critical condition, but there wasn't anything that anyone could do to change that. All his wounds had been tended to, and antibiotics were being dripped into him through an IV (turned out it was septicaemia after all). Hooked up to a machine, the room was quiet except for the rhythmic beating of the cadet's endangered heart.

Hojo was curious.

Out of all the doctors in a rush to heal the boy, he seemed to be the only one who'd noticed that one of the wounds on his chest didn't match up entirely with the others. Large slashes, likely from some poisonous monster in the field yesterday, were hiding all but the faintest traces of a seared sword wound that was all too familiar to him.

He knew that signature wound anywhere, from all the times he'd spent on his best specimen after a training match with a certain red-haired, fiery tempered commander. Genesis's sword had marked the boy recently, and it didn't take much imagination to figure out why after yesterday's events.

Hojo sighed. He wondered whether the boy would live, he honestly did. Most would have already died by this point. If he lived, Hojo didn't doubt that he could get the full story of the events, and maybe a little retribution for the near-death of his prized specimen. And perhaps a new specimen to observe, whether it be because of the boy willingly joining the SOLDIER program, or... well, he figured if the boy wanted to disappear after the incident, Hojo would be more than willing to help him. Nothing got between him and his specimens.

But, if the boy followed the usual, boring procedures of dying after a fatal (by all normal accounts) attack, then he was fine with that too. Dead bodies could still be useful. It certainly wouldn't be the first time he had sent a burnt log home instead of a person's ashes.

Whatever the cadet's fate, whatever time told of his fate, Hojo would have his way.

But really, no need to be pessimistic! As he left the room, the slimy scientist made plans on how to get the boy to talk if he awoke. Now Zack, that new puppy tailing behind one of Hollander's works, he was rumoured to be able to get anyone to talk!

Hojo made plans to let the blonde and black-haired men meet, never once thinking about how Zack's protective nature and his entourage of high-ranked SOLDIER friends would foil the scientist's schemes for Cloud for good.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

Beep... beep... beep..

Cloud woke groggily, the sound of an unknown machine waking him from his slumber. After blinking his eyes to refocus, he dumbly stared at his current accommodations. He was quite surprised to be alive, for one (apparently the world took a vehement 'fuck you' as a polite 'please help me'? He couldn't figure that one out). Next he took in the various tubes and wires along his body, tracing one back to the monitor by his bed. Well, that explained the beeping.

Beep... beep... beep...

"Heya Spiky, you're awake!"

The cheerful voice echoed around the room when the door opened, a relaxed-looking SOLDIER strolling into Cloud's little corner of machines and misery. Because now that he was awake, he really did feel miserable. And shitty.

Being poisoned sucked. Also having to inevitably explain himself sucked. Because, really, it would have been so much easier (and a lot less painful, ow my everything) to just die like the good little worthless lump he was.

Did he ever mention how much he hated his life?

"Glad to see you're alive, how're you doing?"

Cloud grunted noncommittally, facing the white sheets currently grasped tightly in his hands. Please go away overly happy person, please?

"You sure? You really took a nasty hit, man everyone thought you were going to die."

Please? Please?! He was being polite!

"That's okay, you just woke up, no worries. Just lemme go get someone and I'll be right back!"

The man ran from the room.

Yup, his life sucked. A lot. Just like the time one kid had tried to vacuum his head off back home. He still blamed that for why his hair seemed to have discovered the secret to ignoring gravity.

Maybe that's why the world hated him. Because he was quite clearly breaking a few of its natural laws just by existing. His hair defied physics, and the fact that he was still alive, after everything that had happened, gave the whole theory of natural selection quite an admirable one-fingered salute.

Said salute seemed to be a common theme these days.

The man returned with a small entourage. A greasy-looking doctor and a man in a suit followed him into the room, as well as two more SOLDIERS and, of all people, Sephiroth himself.

Oh his life sucked. Oh he was going to die. Oh, oh oh... Oh holy shit.

Sephiroth looked at him.

Oh holy big heaping steaming piles of marlboro shit!

Cloud briefly entertained the thought of how fast he could run for his pathetic little life, but then the thought of the various tubes and wires that would probably yank him down to the floor in an altogether comical, but not at all helpful, pile of quivering cadet neatly quashed his escape plans.

So it was that Cloud resolved to say absolutely nothing if he could. Nada. Nope, nothing. They'd have to invent some way of opening his cranium and stealing it out of his brain itself before he'd say a word.

The blonde looked down at the sheets again, ignoring the conversation that had started when he wasn't paying attention.

"I don't entirely understand why we have to be here Hojo," growled the redheaded SOLDIER.

"Because Sephiroth had to come down for a checkup after last night and decided to visit here first? I really don't know, you can leave if you'd like, Genesis."

"As if Angeal and I would leave him alone to your ministrations, professor," was the snapped reply.

"Yo Tseng, this is the guy you were trying to get info on."

"That I can see Zack," replied Tseng. He offered his hand icily to Cloud, "it's good to meet you."

Icy? Cloud could do icy. He nodded calmly, returning the handshake but offering little else except a cold gaze. Info on him? Have fun trying to get anything out of me, he thought.

Tseng, if he was surprised, didn't show it. Instead he backed up, coughing into his fist, "If you're feeling well enough, may we ask some questions?"

Cloud nodded.

"Very well. You were attacked a few days ago, and up until now you've been out of commission, but now that you're awake enough to talk, do you remember anything about your attacker?"

"I was out for a few days?" Cloud asked, surprised.

It was Tseng's turn to nod.

Cloud grimaced, no changing the subject here he guessed, "Well, I'm afraid not. I guess it was the Killer cadet maybe? I didn't see his features."

Tseng absorbed the information, continuing his interrogation, "On the day your attacker was last sighted, when he went after the general, I had heard from a corporal that you'd met him then too. Is this correct?"

"Yes."

Angeal, or who Cloud thought was Angeal through process of elimination, frowned. A few other members of his audience did the same, taken aback by his short responses. As of yet, however, none interfered.

"What happened?"

Cloud took a moment to collect his thoughts. "Same thing I told the corporal. I saw him, he attacked me, threw me into a river. I returned to camp afterwards."

"And where was your unit that you were alone with him?"

Cloud gritted his teeth. "Not with me." He was pretty sure, at this point, if he hadn't been dropped from the cadet program already, he wouldn't last long anyways, not wounded like he was. His life was over, even if he wasn't dead. A little truth about him not being in his group, even though he'd been explicitly told he should not leave under any circumstances, couldn't hurt too much more at this point.

"Why weren't they there?"

Cloud thought fast. How could he answer without revealing too much? "They ran away shortly before. We'd, uh... I think it was a dragon? Migratory species. Chased them off."

"A dragon," Tseng hummed, a dissatisfied air to his timbre. It sounded like a pretty lame excuse to Cloud, too. But it was sorta the truth, right?

"Yeah, a dragon."

"And where did said dragon disappear too?"

Cloud blurted without really thinking, "It went after some other people, I didn't see who."

"Didn't you warn them?"

"Too far away."

"Then why, if they were so far away, did it not go after you, much easier prey?" Tseng inquired, his voice whacking a sledgehammer down on Cloud's heart.

Oh, this wasn't going well. "Ah, well... I... uh, I outran it?"

"You outran a dragon." This time it was Genesis, whose eyebrow was liable to disappear into his hairline if he wasn't careful.

"Uh, yeah..." Cloud managed weakly, "oh! Uh, yeah, it's nothing new for me! There used to be dragon near my hometown, it'd sometimes chase me when I went into the mountains. Thought my hair was gold or something I think..."

"Your hometown? Where is that?" Smiled Zack, his wide grin directed at Cloud.

That smile, that big, trusting grin, was something that should have sent Cloud's brain into full-on paranoia mode. Every time someone had given him that kind of look or that amount of friendliness they were always after something. Usually, to trick him into a sense of ease before beating him up when he least expected it. But something about Zack's smile, no, just Zack, made such a possibility unthinkable and he found himself answering before thinking.

"Nibelheim."

Zack chortled. Cloud grimaced, "What's so funny?"

"Dude, Nibelheim? Sounds so small-town! Kinda like where I was from, Gongaga."

This time it was Cloud's turn to smirk.

"What?"

"Gongaga, seriously? That's so back-water!"

"Ditto Nibelheim!"

The two shared a laugh before Cloud abruptly caught himself. No, he was being interrogated! How could he have left someone get under his guard so easily!?

Tseng coughed again, distracting Zack and simultaneously bringing the group back to the dreaded topic at hand, "After the dragon left, you met the Killer Cadet, correct? And he threw you into the river?"

"Yeah."

Something about the heart monitor seemed off to him at that moment, but he set that worry aside. He'd just recovered from a rather nasty attack after all, there were more important things to focus on. Like the interrogation.

Tseng continued, "Well then, is that where those claw marks on your chest came from?"

If the man expected Cloud to be worried, he wasn't, "No sir. When I tried to get out of the river I was attacked by a sahagin. Shortly afterwards I left, bandaged up my wound and met up with the rest of the cadets."

"And why, if you were wounded by a sahagin, did you not report the injury?"

"I had separated from my group. I didn't think it would be wise to get people even madder at me because I'd gotten myself injured too."

How nice it was to be able to speak the truth, even if there were a few conveniently forgotten parts.

"Foolish, but understandable." Tseng seemed satisfied, finally giving the poor cadet a break. But then Hojo, greasy as he was, asked something Cloud just knew put a hole in his story.

"Is that where the burns came from? The sahagin?"

Cloud spared the man a quick, hateful glance before steeling his face into an emotionless expression. No wonder he looked so evil, he'd probably been waiting for just the right moment to drop that little bombshell. Cloud was quicker than most gave him credit for, however.

"It was the dragon."

Tseng stared at him. "The dragon you said you outran? If you outran it, how did it burn you?"

Cloud chose this moment to clam up. He shrugged, looking down.

Tseng, however, had his own bombshell to drop, and it was a lot bigger than the doctor's, "Throughout this interview your heart rate has been inconsistent, often when you've been answering my questions, and your story seems a little too blank to fill in all the informational holes I've gained from my own investigations. Now, could you tell me why that is?"

Cloud's face, hidden by his bangs, scrunched up in fear. Had he been found out? But, no, he wasn't done yet. He calmly looked up at Tseng, nay, stared at Tseng, daring him to contradict his next statement, "My apologies, sir, I just woke up from being unconscious for several days, I am not feeling well. Perhaps I was too early in answering your questions. May I take a rest, sir? It would seem that there are a few holes in my memory at the moment."

Tseng stayed solemn, his expression unreadable. "Reasonable."

"I do not believe I'm willing to accept that," Sephiroth quipped.

Cloud looked at him. He was so going to die. Shame, the doctors had wasted their time. But, oh well. Just make it quick, please!

The silver general stood, walking closer to the bed Cloud was laid upon and giving him the glare. The oh-so-infamous glare that had men on their knees and children crying and women throwing themselves out windows. The glare that told you how useless and small and pathetic you really were. The glare that was said to have brought the whole of Wutai to its knees. The glare.

Sephiroth's eyes bore into Cloud's, telling him that he was going to end up in so much pain and misery that his soul would scream for a millennium if he didn't end up killing himself first just to save himself the agony, and all because he wasn't giving the almighty Sephiroth what he wanted.

It was the glare that froze volcanoes, turned deserts to tundras, and made every living thing in a mile radius run for it's life even if it didn't know why.

And Cloud glared right back.

Half a minute passed before the moment was broken by a certain exuberant SOLDIER.

"Holy shit, am I actually seeing someone stare down Sephiroth?"

Cloud squeaked, actually squeaked (manly pride down to the negative numbers now, thanks asshole) before staring at Zack, as shocked as he was red from embarrassment.

Genesis's coat, quite frankly, was green with jealousy in comparison.

Zack grinned, "Whoo, didn't know someone could turn that colour."

"W-w-w-what's y-your deal! I-I'm sick, c-c-c-can you leave me alone now!? Please!"

And he'd actually said that. Wonderful. Once again, Zack had gotten past his guard completely and effortlessly.

And then Zack changed, his leisurely smile disappearing to be replaced with a mournful one, directed at Cloud, "Dude... I can tell you're scared. You're trying to avoid getting hurt. No need to hide it... what really happened? Go on. Let it out."

Cloud made the mistake of meeting his eyes. The violet orbs were full of pain and hope and comfort and oh gods what an absolute perfect form of the puppy dog pout. No wonder he got around Cloud's defenses so easily, the damn mutt probably dug right under them. And then promptly graffitied something utterly adorable on said wall just because he could.

Complete asshole.

But Cloud knew a lost fight when he saw it. Against his better thinking, something slipped out.

"W-well... I didn't actually meet the Killer Cadet... at all..."

This got more than a few raised eyebrows.

"The reason I was in the alley was because of the Sahagin's poison... and I d-don't actually know how I got into the river. When the dragon left to bother the other group of people, I really didn't know who they were, I ran into something else. I was too tired and couldn't fight back and it did something like berserk and maybe confuse I don't know but it was pretty confusing b-because the next thing I know I'm waking up in a river and I'm hurt and a sahagin is attacking me and..!"

Cloud took a deep breath, his voice quavering. He was not going to cry, gods damnit! "And I made it back to camp when I threw a grenade at the sahagin, but I didn't want to say anything about it because I'd already be getting in trouble because my group left me behind when the dragon appeared. And that's really bad because I've already got a really bad record because everyone hates me and it's really hard to meet curfew and get to classes on time when I'm shoved into a locker or they've hidden my uniform or I'm tied to a flagpole..."

Without even realizing it, Zack had somehow completely unlocked and opened whatever gate had kept Cloud's emotions in because suddenly everything was just tumbling out and he couldn't stop.

"And I didn't mean to flood the bathroom I just accidentally broke the pipe when someone tied me to it and I didn't know my sock would get stuck in the drain and I didn't mean to hurt anyone with the candy I just wanted that guy to quite stealing my stuff and I didn't know it was that strong! I wouldn't have done anything with it otherwise, maybe just thrown them away! And I only meant to make the floor spotless I didn't realize I'd mixed up the waxes oh my god that was that the day the president was supposed to visit the SOLDIER program's floor and I'm sorry I'm really sorry oh my god I should have just died I'm so pathetic it would have been so much better if I'd never left Nibelheim or I'd just died from the poison or that dragon had eaten me I'm so pathetic oh Hades please just kill me now because I think I'm the Killer Cadet and I didn't mean to do any of it and I heard everyone say that the Killer Cadet was the one who nearly killed you Sephiroth and now I know I'm gonna be executed anyways for trying to assassinate the general even though I never meant to and I don't even know how the hell I possibly could have because I can't remember any of it and... and... and..."

Cloud had to stop. Gasping for air, his face hidden by his bangs. His eyes were reddish and he was doing some sort of bastardized mixture between sniffing and coughing, but he hadn't cried. Good.

Silence pervaded the room.

"You poor bastard." Genesis stated bluntly.

The blonde blew into the tissue that had magically appeared in Zack's hand and been offered. "Yeah. Literally."

"Literally?" Angeal asked.

"Yeah. Asshole ran off while mum was eight months."

Angeal seemed disgusted with the news.

"Mum was heartbroken, but she was okay. She had me, she'd say. I mean, everyone else in the village hated me, especially after what happened to Tifa, but even though ma got sick a lot we were okay. Why am I even telling you any of this. Not like you should care. I'm a goner anyways."

Cloud's gloom pervaded the room, but a small, sardonic smirk had appeared on the cadet's face. "You know what? Whatever. I'm done with this." The gloom disappeared to be replaced with determination as he looked at Zack, then Tseng, then at Sephiroth and everyone else in the room. "I'm sick of being weak. I'm tired of it. So you know what? Just give me my punishment and let's get it over with. If I'm gonna die at least let me do it with some dignity."

"I really don't think it's a matter of you being weak, Spiky," Zack cut in. Cloud looked at him nervously.

"Like, seriously Spiky, think about it for a sec! Would a guy who was weak be able to live through a whole village hating him, even though he was a kid, or be able to outrun a dragon or, get this Spiky, be able to nearly off the great, invincible silver general even though he probably was afflicted with two different status conditions?"

Cloud looked downright embarrassed again, a blush returning to his cheeks.

"I was berserk and confused, I think, that's probably the only reason why..."

"Confuse merely affects the mental capabilities of a target while berserk does much the same thing, although perhaps with a slight increase in ability," the doctor interrupted, sounding intrigued and seemingly talking to himself. No doubt something was going on in his head.

"Precisely what Hojo said," Tseng added, "neither affliction would have been able to do much in the way of increasing your abilities. If anything, confuse made you lose your rational mind and your sense of your allies, it's been documented as having happened before, and berserk would have removed your inhibitions about using your full capabilities to attack. The two combined, built on top of your own apparent abilities, must have let you become that 'Killer Cadet' that everyone has been talking about."

"In other words, Spiky, it didn't do anything but make you unafraid to do what you already could! So you're not weak Spiky, you're actually kind of amazing!"

"No I'm not," Cloud shot back unconsciously. His face was still red, so he hid the shameful thing under the too-thin sheets.

He half wondered why he wasn't burning a hole in the darned thing.

Genesis sighed. "Men cry not for themselves, but for their comrades. Honestly, the only thing you seem to be horrifically weak with is your own self confidence. And that is truly pathetic. It angers me!" Genesis roared, gathering everyone's attention. "It angers me, that the one man capable of taking down Sephiroth right in plain view of everyone is also the one who thinks he's worth so little. Give yourself a little respect, I've been trying for Minerva-damned ages to do just that and you manage it to do it in less than a minute, just by jumping over a measly fifteen foot ravine with the Buster Sword that by no rights you should be able to wield. Honestly! It's insulting, to yourself and to everyone else who has tried to beat him! And let me tell you, that list is longer than Shinra's fat ass!"

He huffed imperiously, receiving a few glares for his insubordinate comments. But really, Cloud though, he was right. Although it's not like he could just change something like that so easily-!

"But what about what happened? Even I can't change that I caused so many accidents, and my record-!"

"Will likely be revised considering the new evidence that has come to light," Sephiroth offered.

Angeal continued where Sephiroth left, "You needn't worry so much. What you're saying is truthful, we have the heart monitor to attest to that, so many of the incidents, while potentially dangerous, are just accidents that could have been avoided had your supervisors been paying more attention to the cadets they were supposed to be monitoring. Didn't you ever tell anyone about the bullying?"

"Once. Nothing happened though. They just went after me harder after that, so I didn't bother anyone again."

Angeal grunted, giving no doubt that he would be personally investigating the matter and reforming the whole dang department if he had to. Those long-winded honour speeches had their uses, after all, even if it was just to run someone off or make them sign a paper just so he would shut up. Angeal wasn't entirely oblivious to what people thought of his speeches, after all.

Mostly because Zack had rather explicitly stated his matter on the opinion, so it's not like he could ignore his student in that regard. But that was a tale for another time.

"Unfortunately, we will have to punish you for the poisoning incident. Purchasing dangerous substances with the intent to harm someone can't be ignored."

Cloud sighed, "Honestly I didn't know what I was getting. I just asked for something that'd make a guy sick, I didn't realize it would be so bad. Maybe I should've just asked for a laxative or something instead..."

Zack broke out into a bout of snickering, sounding very much like a can of soda that had been opened, "No man, I think I'd prefer the poison. Most of us SOLDIERs are pretty used to a little physical abuse, poison or not. But really, there ain't enough bathrooms on the SOLDIER floor. If everyone that had gotten sick had gotten the runs instead we wouldn't have had the room to put 'em all! Oh man Spiky, now that would have been a disaster!"

Angeal looked distinctly uncomfortable at Zack's jest. "I suppose..."

Genesis grinned a Cheshire grin, "Oh Angeal, weren't you one of the ones who'd gotten sick?"

He squirmed, "Well, it would have been rude to refuse something I was being offered..."

Genesis smirked, "Yeah, I remember I was mad that no one had offered me any. Then I heard the rumours and hey! No longer mad! Although it wasn't nearly as bad as the rumours made it out to be. Just a few upset stomachs, mako enhancements do come in handy..."

"It could have been worse though, and that's why it must be taken into consideration," Sephiroth finished.

"Yes sir. I'll accept whatever punishment I deserve, sir," Cloud replied.

"Hmm. I think at worst it could be written off as a prank, albeit somewhat malicious. With your undeserved truancy punishments and so on, however, it may be decided that you've already served your time, so to speak," Tseng said. He turned to Cloud, still as expressionless as ever, "Nonetheless, my investigation here has concluded. You did mention being tired earlier, it would be wise of you to rest."

"Yes sir, thank you." Cloud smiled, ever so slightly. The others in the room took the hint, slowly filing out. Hojo seemed reluctant to leave, glancing back at Cloud, but a stern glare from Sephiroth seemed to remind him that he still had other business to attend to, namely the well-being of the silver haired man.

Cloud sighed once more, leaning back into his bed as silence filled the room. He really was tired, but couldn't help a smile from spreading on his normally stoic lips. All things considered, he had ended up much better off than he'd expected. He wasn't dead, he wasn't going to be punished for being the Killer Cadet, and it didn't seem that anyone hated him. Sephiroth hadn't specifically said that he'd forgiven him, but the general's demeanor certainly didn't suggest enmity.

And even life itself wasn't so bad anymore. He actually had a shot at SOLDIER now, if he could recover in time for the exams. Sleepy, still feeling rough from the poison, and pleasantly surprised at how things had turned out, he laid himself down gently to slumber.

And then immediately shot back up, looking down at his hands.

Genesis had said something about jumping fifteen feet with the Buster Sword. The Buster Sword. He'd seen that thing in fliers, and no way in hell could he ever have lifted something like that. Much less jumped a ravine. But Genesis...

Cloud promptly decided that reality must have quit on him and that statement had been his only clue, so he took the hint and flopped back down to sleep.

Really, fifteen feet with the Buster Sword. A cadet like him? Psh. Yeah right. He was so totally dreaming that up.

Maybe things would make more sense in the morning.

A/N; anyone ever noticed in Crisis Core how far Cloud actually jumps with the Buster sword? For an unenhanced infantryman, it's pretty freakin' far. Also, if anyone's wondering about the candies, who'd tell a guy confiscating your stuff that your stuff was actually stolen, right? As for the waxed floor... there had been a mess-up in the janitorial schedules so it couldn't be traced back to him.

Anyways, that was my first FFVII fanfic and I honestly don't plan to do any more (not that this one was planned either). Go read some FF Crystal Chronicles stuff guys, there's not nearly enough love for that series.