Escape Plan Green

by Mystic 777

Disclaimer: If I owned Final Fantasy VII, it would have been a lot sillier...

Zack groaned as the comatose Cloud fell prey to another Touch Me. Zack finished off the frogs and dug around in his bag for a maiden's kiss. The yells of the pursuing infantrymen rang through the jungle, closing in fast.

"Sorry Cloud," the ex-SOLDIER scooped up the frog and dashed swiftly through the underbrush and between the trees. Zack laughed, tracing shortcuts he used as a child. After an hour, Zack slowed, smirking at how easily he lost them.

"I know I have the home-team advantage here," he told the frog in his hands, "but actually, this is kind of convenient..." Zack trailed off, and his eyes widened with a manic glee.

"You lost them AGAIN?" The commander yelled into his radio. "I want that man found! How do you keep losing a man with that hair, carrying a sword that big?" He slammed the headset down and stalked away.

The radio tech shook his head, and ran a hand down his face.

"You got a problem?" Reno drawled with a grin.

"'Is there a problem'?" The man shook his head and checked the headset for damage. "Hell yeah, there's a problem! When those big-wigs sent us after these samples, they neglected to tell us about the Black Ghost!"

"Black Ghost?"

"No other way to describe it..." The man rubbed the back of his neck in frustration. "At first, we thought the blond one had been abandoned somewhere, but sometimes we catch sight of him with the Black Ghost before he vanishes again."

"Some guys call that one 'Mirage' since only one in ten troops has actually seen him." Another tech spoke up, waving his hands in a shrug. "If we surround the Black Ghost, he vanishes too, only to reappear days later and miles away."

"We thought we finally had them cornered at the Midgar cliffs." The first tech shook his head. "Frankly sir, I wish we could capture the Black Ghost, Specimen Z, or whatever you want to call him, and make him teach his escape and evasion techniques!"

Several days later...

Aerith sighed and stroked a flower petal. She hated to cut her flowers, but the expression of wonder on the faces of her customers entirely made up for it. She squeaked when a pair of objects landed at her side with a plopping sound. Aerith stared down at the pair of frogs in her flowerbed. The smaller one shifted nervously, but sluggish, as if it had just awoken. Aerith frowned at the larger frog that practically danced around her; she could have sworn it was smiling at her.

AN: Thanks goes to Circle of Phoenix for beta-work and getting me writing again.

Author's Note 16 Nov 2012: When I started this, it was originally a two-shot humor piece. It somehow developed a plot of sorts... The third chapter on reflects this.