**Minor edits have been made since the first posting. Nothing major. Just a heads up to other writers, the PM system doesn't seem to be sending email notifications. Enjoy the chapter!**

Chapter 34-It All Falls Apart

Cloud and the rest of the party carefully slid down a scree of stones, entering the slowly descending inner curve of the crater. "This ancient crater…" he murmured, torn between horror and awe. Even ages later, it was obvious a monumental impact created the miles wide wound.

"This must be where Jenova landed all those centuries ago," Aerith continued, nodding her head sadly. She shivered despite the warmer air, even so long after the initial impact, the Planet's pain throbbed around her.

"If Sephiroth's plans come to reality, the next crater won't be this small," Tifa said grimly. "Is there enough mako there to use the Black Materia?" she asked the Cetra.

"More than enough," Aerith replied weakly. "Let's hurry."

Rocks skittered and fell around them as they scrambled down the rocky slope in the northern lights and mako-lit night. In the half-darkness, Cid almost stepped on the first of the fallen black-cloaked figures. "B-back to Seph-" they moaned before vanishing.

"The hell!?" he yelped, staggering backwards. Zack caught his shoulder before he fell. "Bad enough the one in the dragon cave, but how the hell did these half-dead folks make it all the way here faster than we did?"

Cloud shrugged but didn't reply, rubbing slowly at a strange pulling sensation beneath his sternum.

They crossed over a misty moat filled with black, crystal spires angled towards the center of the crater. It was as if the planet itself had tried to keep whatever struck it from leaving… but was sadly unsuccessful. Past the misty spires, the ground was broken into uneven ridges of stones and deep cracks in the planet. More than once they passed dead or dying cloaked figures along the path.

Yuffie yelped and turned her head away sharply the first time one of them toppled into the shattered abyss below. She sniffled and didn't even comment when Cloud handed Barret the Neo Bahamut materia he found. Maybe before she'd learned that these pitiful creatures were innocent civilians that fell prey to Hojo's cruelty she would have shrugged their deaths off, but she couldn't now. Tifa and Cloud recognized some of the clones back in Nibelheim and ever since, a small, sinister part of her brain whispered, "A lot of civilians went missing from Wutai during the war…" Shaking her head sharply, she focused her attention on the path before her, and if she mouthed a prayer of peace for the fallen clones the few party members that could hear her made no comments.

The path into the crater was twisted and sometimes they had to scramble over rough terrain and leap over seemingly bottomless crevices. Barret hated the jumps, he was in relatively good shape but jumping wasn't his forte. He didn't know which cracks were worse, the dark, seemingly bottomless ones, or the ones with violently twisting torrents of mako running through them.

After ascending another stone rise and jumping over a few more cracks in the ground Cloud froze, head cocked to the side. Over the rushing wind and eruptions of mako, he heard a faint mechanical noise. Swiveling his head to try and pinpoint it, he finally looked up, eyes widening when a large airship passed overhead. "That's-" he started.

"That's my ship!" Cid shrieked, slamming the butt of his spear on the ground and then pointing his free hand at the airship. Veins bulged in his forehead and his cheeks flushed crimson with rage. "Rufus Shinra, give me my Highwind back!" he bellowed, finger following the ship until it disappeared around the curve of the column of wind. He whirled to Cloud and demanded, "We gotta hurry Cloud, I want my ship back!"

Cloud grimaced and demurred, "If we get a chance after finishing things with Sephiroth we'll see what we can do."

The pilot's face twisted in half fury, half pain. For a few brief seconds, he rocked on the balls of his feet, body angled towards the ship's direction but not quite taking the step. Finally, he nodded sharply and growled, "We better get goin' then."

He followed Cloud's lead with his jaw clenched and a stomp to his step. He understood their priorities, but abandoning his baby… it hurt.

The stones around them fell away until only a narrow bridge of land went further into the crater. Unfortunately, they soon encountered their first wall of mako. Normally, mako flowed like a liquid, yet with a mixture of violent winds and the planet's own attempts to protect itself, aerated mako spun in a misty green barrier dozens of feet tall. The outer edge of the tornado sliced right across the path, blasting two black cloaked figures away with cries of surprise and moans for Sephiroth before their degrading bodies vanished into the lifestream.

As he stooped to get the items left behind, Zack murmured, "I can't decide if they die so easily because of whatever is gripping their minds or if they came here so quickly they didn't even try to take care of themselves."

The furrow on Cloud's brow briefly deepened but he didn't answer. Instead he turned his attention to passing the obstacle ahead. After a few moments of observation, Cait Sith murmured, "There's a pattern to it!"

Tifa tilted her head and then nodded quickly. "He's right, there's a brief time when the wind and mako are not as strong. We'll have to time it carefully," she warned.

"Try not to breathe in when you go through," Zack warned, his brows lowered. "While you won't drown, breathing mako doesn't feel pleasant." Cloud shivered and silently nodded in agreement.

Aerith looked a little sick at the prospect and at the reminder that they'd breathed a much higher concentration than the mist ahead.

When there was a gap in the rushing wind, they dashed across the stone bridge and deeper inside the whirlwind maze. Their destination, while easy to see from the vantage of the crater's edge, was impossible to see through the swirling winds and mist. The stony path inclined above them, the switchbacks littered with more black cloaked figures, half a dozen staggered and jumped off the edge of the trail as though wandering blind. Yuffie whimpered again and Red XIII pressed close to her legs, butting his head into her hand. She smiled shakily down at him and gratefully curled her fingers in his thick fur.

Once past the first wall of wind, the reprieve from enemy attacks ended. Violet-skinned Gigas giants, gray Grenades (the meaner cousin of the Bombs near Corel), and oddly enough, ceremonial sculptures with blue flames on the top attacked them. By now, they'd seen so many of the black cloaked figures die that none of them felt enough humor to joke about the strange enemies.

At the top of the rise they faced a stronger wall of wind. A thick band of aerated mako twisted through the wind. Cloud grimaced and warned, "Whatever you do, don't let that hit you."

None of them dared call him out on the obvious statement. In singles and pairs, they dashed through the wall of wind. Past the turbulent obstacle, the path narrowed further and up ahead, Sephiroth stood before two black cloaked figures that actually made it through the crater's trials to reach him. It almost seemed like they were blocking his way. He carelessly whipped out his blade and sliced through the pair. The force of the blow sent them careening off the edges of the path into the stone spires below.

"This is the end Sephiroth!" Yuffie cried, horrified at the man's heartless slaughter.

Without turning to face her, Sephiroth tilted his head and mused, "You're right, this is the end of this body's usefulness." Instead of flying away as usual, he vanished.

Acrid purple smoke hissed from cracks in the path and Cloud clenched a fist over his heart, the heavy pulse starting to pound in his ears like in the temple of the Ancients. His vision turned slightly pink around the edges. 'Our purpose is to deliver the Black Materia to our master,' a sibilant voice hissed in Cloud's mind and the tug from behind his sternum jerked again.

"Our…?" Cloud whispered but Barret's exclamation, "He vanished!" stopped the words in his mouth.

Cloud forced his hand away from his chest though his heart throbbed painfully. Time seemed to freeze. His eyes tracked over the party in flashes as if his vision caught everything in a strobe light timed to the beat of his pounding heart.

(flash) Yuffie crouched to bury her face in Red's neck.

(flash) Aerith and Tifa peered over the edges of the path, mouths open to report negative results.

(flash) Zack gazed where Sephiroth vanished, a trickle of sweat running between his creased brows.

(flash) Vincent and Barret scanned the skies, guns ready and Cid crouched keeping an eye on their rear.

His perception of time returned to normal when the hissing voice skittered in his ears, 'The duty of those who carry Jenova's cells… is to bring the Black Materia to our master.'

"Master…?" Cloud dully repeated in a half-whisper, not noticing Zack's head whipping to face him the crease of worry between his brows deepening.

'Of course…' the voice trailed off then returned, 'Sephiroth. Heh heh heh….'

Cloud's eyes widened and he whirled around and looked up, the others following his actions instinctively. Sephiroth hovered in the air above them, but he looked different. His hair and flesh darkened and wavered, almost like a wax doll melting in extreme heat. Masamune didn't gleam with a brilliant edge, but was dark and dull like a long, carved stick.

Sephiroth shot towards them lashing out with the darkened blade. Those he struck fell, but weren't cut, just knocked aside. "Cloud," Zack gasped, clutching his bruised stomach, "That's not Masamune, and-"

Whatever Zack intended to say was interrupted by Sephiroth expanding into Jenova DEATH. Much like the Sephiroth clone it burst from, Jenova DEATH seemed darker than its previous iterations. Even over the ozone and earthy scent of the crater, a sickly sweet smell of rot emitted from the tall creature. With every flail of its tentacle limb, bits and pieces of its rotting flesh oozed noxious fluids and large chunks fell off. As if in deference to its degraded condition, the monster attacked with magic rather than using its size for physical attacks.

Tifa made the mistake of punching it once. While the blow caused a considerable amount of damage, her fist sunk into the rotting flesh and she was splashed with Jenova DEATH's rotting bodily fluids. "Oh gross," Tifa gagged, bouncing backward several steps and shaking the the yellow-black liquid from her hand with a nauseous expression.

"Ugh, that's just nasty!" Yuffie moaned when the scent hit her.

Jenova retaliated with its Red Light attack. A crimson jewel on its head flashed and a searing wave of fire radiated from the creature, engulfing the whole party. "Ach, my stuffing!" Cait Sith yelped, patting out a few smoking portions of his mog.

The reek of singed hair fought the stench of Jenova Death's rotting body for dominance. "Damn it I can't handle this!" Cid bellowed, launching forward and striking Jenova when his counter attack materia activated. Once the counter attack finished, he bared his teeth in a fierce grin and focused his mana on the summon Cloud gave him on the ice fields.

As normal for a summon, the party was transported sideways into some other-space where they could witness the attack unscathed.

The ground in front of Jenova DEATH fell away and a massive being emerged from below. The best it could be described was a massive robot shaped like a city. It slammed its tower arms into the abyss on either side of the narrow path. Towers and spires decorated the broad shoulders of the creature. It tilted its head down to look at Jenova and then several rainbow beams from its eyes sliced through Jenova and the ground below, leaving a smoldering rune behind. Alexander vanished and the party returned to normal space. Save for the still molten lines in the ground and massive chunks of flesh carved from their foe, no other sign of the summon's presence remained.

"Damn man, every time I think I've seen the most over the top summon, somethin's gotta show it up," Barret muttered, launching Magic Breath at the flailing monster, finally finishing it off. A Reflect ring pinged down on the pile of gil the creature left behind, along with the Black Materia.

"Jenova's cells…" Cloud breathed, eyes widening with a sudden realization. "That's what this Reunion thing is about! And that…"

"Wasn't Sephiroth," Zack continued grimly. "I've both fought alongside Sephiroth and I've fought against him, that wasn't him."

"That wasn't Sephiroth?" Tifa echoed shrilly, looking between the two men. "But… then who have we been following all this time?"

"I've got my suspicions but… I think the only way I'll get my answers is to press on," Cloud replied, shaking his head.

"But then where is Sephiroth…" Aerith murmured, her voice confused.

"Here," Cloud and Zack said at the same time and then gaped at the other. Cloud shook off his confusion and pointed deeper into the swirling wind and mako. "Sephiroth is further ahead."

Cloud's eyes flashed blue and then a hint of green swirled momentarily in them before he shook his head. "There's something around him… a miasma that's harsh and cruel. It's poisoning the wound here."

Aerith tilted her head to the side as if listening and then hissed, "He's right. I can feel it too. It's like a sliver of a weapon or claw left behind in an injury. If the planet's ever going to heal from this wound, Sephiroth needs to be defeated or removed."

Cloud crouched and picked up the items and the Black Materia. "We've got the Black Materia back but…"

"But Sephiroth wants it," Yuffie finished, giving the oily colored orb a sickened look. "Never thought I'd see a materia I didn't want," she muttered.

"Yuffie's right," Vincent agreed, picking up the conversation. "Sephiroth wants this so it only makes sense to take it farther away."

"Or at least not take it closer," Tifa agreed. "Why don't you pick someone to leave it with along with some others for back up?"

Cloud looked down at the materia in his fist and then back up to the party members. Yuffie shook her head violently and avoided his eyes. Cait Sith murmured, "I've had enough of the thing myself."

Cloud nodded and then walked up to Zack, extending the Black Materia. "You take it Zack," he said. "I'm counting on you to hold onto this and not give it to anyone."

Zack's eyes widened and he paled slightly, looking at the item in his palm before closing his fist over it and nodding. Cloud distributed healing items to everyone and split the party. Zack, Aerith, Cait Sith, Yuffie and Red XIII stayed behind to guard the Black Materia while Cloud and the others went on ahead.

With a smaller group, it was harder to fight the monsters. Cloud changed tactics with the loss of Zack and Aerith's more developed Enemy Skill materias. The third wall of wind added lightning strikes to the singed stone path. Cid and Barret cursed viciously when their turn to leap through the treacherous barrier came. "I'm too old for this," Barret huffed, mopping a mixture of sweat and mako droplets off his brow once he finally reached the other side.

Unfortunately, once the last of their group made it beyond the lightning wind, everything went white. "What's going on?" Tifa cried reaching blindly for Cloud.

"Careful," Cloud called to the group. "We don't really know what Sephiroth is capable of."

The white light cleared and the scenery instantly changed to a scene that flickered and haunted Cloud with its half-remembered fragments. Unlike the fabricated town they'd found a few weeks ago, this one rang true to his memories, including the intact poster welcoming Sephiroth.

"Where the hell are we?" Cid yelped looking around the unfamiliar landscape.

Tifa shuddered and whispered, "Cloud, is this…?"

"It looks like Nibelheim when Zack and I arrived with Sephiroth... before he went crazy," Cloud confirmed.

Cid and Vincent only heard snippets of the tragic tale from their other traveling companions, so they looked around with obvious interest.

"Think we're just high on mako fumes?" Barret asked, sniffing the air suspiciously.

"No," Cloud shook his head. "Sephiroth is doing this. It is some kind of illusion, but as long as we remember it is an illusion we know to be on our guard."

Vincent nodded at the wisdom of Cloud's reasoning and continued his silent assessment of the area. "I'm curious about how Sephiroth managed this," he mused, attempting to tap one metal claw on the truck at the town entrance, only for his fingers to pass through.

"Bugenhagen back in Cosmo Canyon said the Lifestream is made up of the souls and memories of the departed," Cloud answered, peering through the misty blurriness outside of the town for the fateful arrival of Sephiroth's party. "Since we're at a place with so much mako… or Lifestream, it is possible he used that to summon the memories of that time."

Cloud gave a self-deprecating laugh, "Who knows, maybe some of the memories I lost to the mako are swimming around in here."

Sephiroth stalked into the town, much as he did five years before, flanked by two troopers and Zack.

"Dayum," Cid breathed studying Zack's shoulder-length, spiky hair. "Look at that mess. How'd he go from that to what he's got now?"

A strange expression crossed Cloud's face and a faint memory of Hojo's nasally drawl, "That's the fifth time this month you've had to maintain that tank's filter. Give specimen Z a shearing." He shook the memory away and focused back on the present just as the rest of the Shinra party arrived at the town entrance.

Vincent watched the group with interest. Studying the strides and postures of the troopers he hummed and pointed at one of them and asked, "That one was you, correct?"

When Cloud nodded, Cid looked from the slight trooper to the other blond and whistled, "You may not have gotten much taller, but you sure bulked up!"

The tips of Cloud's ears pinked and he huffed, "I was only sixteen."

Among the ghostly group, Sephiroth frowned, not getting the reaction he anticipated. "Why is Sephiroth showing us this?" Cloud wondered. Sephiroth in the image cackled and the group vanished.

The scenery changed and they were now viewing the town from the roof of Tifa's house. Nibelheim was burning. Cloud, Tifa, and Barret flinched. "This is just like what happened to Corel," Barret whispered in a pained voice.

"I admit that my memory of this… isn't the best," Cloud told the others, "but I remember the heat and my…" his eyes flickered to his burning house. A singed trooper sprawled on his back outside the house, an arm thrown over his face while he sobbed.

"I don't want to watch this," Tifa whimpered, realizing the shattered young trooper must be the young Cloud after he found his slain mother. "Why is he showing us this?" she choked, burying her face in Cloud's chest.

"Psychological warfare," Vincent mused. "He's trying to demoralize us. It seems to be working." He shook his head.

"Only for a bit though," Tifa sniffled, her voice strengthening with every word, "Because I'm starting to get angry at him for making us relive this."

Cloud nodded and said, "This was one set of memories I didn't mind being incomplete."

In the distance, Zack emerged from the Shinra Mansion to take in the scene of fiery horror. He gaped at the town, expression tight before the vision flickered again. Their perspective shifted and they stood in the engulfed town square. "I don't know what you're trying to accomplish by showing us this," Cloud shouted, "but cut it out. Just say what you mean!"

The scene flickered and Sephiroth appeared, his expression full of mocking pity. "It appears your brain is so pathetic that you need things spelled out for you. You see, it isn't how you remembered. You weren't the SOLDIER first on the trip to Nibelheim." His eyes blazed mockingly waiting for Cloud's denial.

"Yeah, I know," Cloud huffed, rolling his eyes.

Sephiroth drew back, shaking his head. "No, you think you were the SOLDIER who was in this town," the silver haired man insisted, trying to drag the conversation back to his original point. "When in reality, you're a mere puppet. A failed clone formed in Hojo's labs. Oh how he must burn to realize his failed experiment, one not even deemed worthy of a number made it this far where so many others failed!"

"Any of you guys understand what he's goin' on about?" Cid asked in a painfully loud attempt at a stage whisper.

Cloud raised an eyebrow and then shook his head. "You think I'm one of those sad beings in black cloaks?" He shook his head, "Talking in circles isn't going to convince me and I don't know where you got the crazy idea I thought I was the SOLDIER First in Nibelheim. I know perfectly well that it was Zack."

"You're a created being, what you think you know or remember is insignificant," Sephiroth snarled, "I'm merely attempting to bring you back to your true self, the one who gave me the Black Materia that day…"

Cloud scowled at the reminder of his lapse at the Temple of the Ancients while Sephiroth laughed, "Who would have thought that a failed experiment would prove so useful? Hojo would be mortified if he knew, considering his disdain for failed experiments…"

Vincent snarled at the mention of his nemesis. But his eyes only flickered momentarily on Cloud before locking back on Sephiroth. He drank in the man's movements, vocal patterns, and bone structure, cataloging and categorizing the man's every move. He'd made no hint that he heard Yuffie, Tifa, and Aerith theorizing about Sephiroth's paternity back in the mansion's basement... but he had. Their previous encounters with the man had been too brief for Vincent to draw his own observations and while Sephiroth tried and failed to make Cloud question his memories the former Turk analyzed and drew his own conclusions.

"Hmmm," Vincent murmured, attracting Tifa's attention. "If this truly is Sephiroth, I suspect your theories about his genetics are correct."

Tifa blinked, thrown off for a second, then her eyes widened when she realized what Vincent was talking about. She looked between the two men, comparing their build and features, nodding slowly. "Yeah, I can see it in the chin and ears," she agreed.

Vincent reached up and stroked the tip of his faintly pointed ears, "An unusual trait in the Valentine line. It breeds true in males."

Distracted from Sephiroth's confusing attempts to catch Cloud in a verbal trap by the more interesting conversation, Barret, Cid, and Cloud couldn't help but compare Vincent and Sephiroth's before murmuring in agreement. Unnoticed, Sephiroth frowned and reached up to stroke the tips of his ears. "Heh, guess that's one way to get revenge on Hojo," Barret laughed, "Sephiroth ain't even his son!"

Confused and frustrated at their diminishing attention, Sephiroth appeared right in their midst. Tifa yelped and jumped closer to Cloud. Scowling, he hissed, "Cease your idle chatter. My puppet will bring me the Black Materia, one way or another." Then he vanished, leaving the bewildered quintet back on the rough stone path of the crater.

"You know, for an end of the world scenario, this is kind of boring," Yuffie muttered to Aerith nearly an hour after Cloud and the others continued ahead. The two young women perched on a raised ridge in the stone pathway, their legs extended before them on the green splattered stone.

The Cetra laughed weakly but nodded. "It is kind of nice to have a moment to rest, even though the situation is hardly cause for relaxing." Her green eyes watched Zack's pacing figure, a crease of worry on her brow.

"Aye lass, tis a heavy burden for the poor lad," Cait Sith agreed.

Red huffed from his position as make-shift back rest for the ladies, "I suppose it is inappropriate of me to be more concerned with the logistics of our descent from the cliffs?"

Cait Sith drooped and then shuddered in horror. "I hadna' thought of that. T'was hard enough to get up these cliffs with my awkward shape."

Aerith grimaced and patted the mog's shoulder. "I'm sure Cloud will think of something," she assured him. Distracted by the less immense problem, they lapsed into another silence.

All too eager to focus on something else, Zack took a brief moment to ponder the dilemma as well, but his mood swiftly devolved back to the heavy responsibility in his pouch. Despite the layers between the Black Materia and Zack's skin, he seemed to feel it thrumming, calling out to be used. Shuddering minutely, he spun on his heel to continue his pacing circuit. Two steps into his return trip, a blinding pain shot through his head and everything went dark.

After the disorientation from the strange visions of Nibelheim dissipated, Cloud shivered and murmured for the group to press on. When they finally emerged from the narrow pathways to the center of the crater, the distinct form of two Shinra choppers and another hulking shape loomed against the castle-like blue walls at the center. Peering through the hazy light, Cloud mused, "Is that…?"

"My ship!" Cid cried, immediately recognizing the hulking form.

Cloud hummed thoughtfully and mused, "You know, it doesn't look like it is very well guarded…"

"Hot damn, I like where this is goin'!" Cid crowed, dancing in place, his eyes gleaming.

Barret snorted in amusement but before he could make the comment, Cloud's eyes widened and he whirled around, facing the way they came and tilted his head, as if listening intently. "Cloud, what's wrong?" Tifa asked, carefully resting one gloved hand on his shoulder, taking pains not to startle the tense man.

He narrowed his eyes, the light of mako and their inner glow turning them a dazzling aquamarine. "Something's wrong back with the group," he finally said after shaking his head as if to clear it.

"Well shucks," Cid huffed and turned his back on the Highwind. "Much as I wanna get my ship back, makin' sure the Black Materia is safe is more important. Let's go."

The trip back to the narrow stretch of ground where they'd fought the most recent piece of Jenova seemed to take ages, anxiety over the fate of their friends and ultimately the world forcing each second wasted fighting monsters to feel like a horrific eternity. By the time they finally reached their companions, they were slowly stirring from whatever force knocked them unconscious. Once everyone's initial pained groans passed, the same question was on all their minds but frantically voiced by Aerith, "Where's Zack?!" She staggered to her feet and whipped her head side to side. She shuddered, and reluctantly peered over the edge of the path to the abyss below.

"He's not down there," Cloud reassured her, pulling her carefully from the edge. He guided her to Vincent and murmured, "Keep an eye on her please."

The former Turk dipped his chin in a subtle nod and then asked, "Where is he?"

The blond frowned, his brow furrowed. After the increasingly familiar pause, Cloud slowly answered, "I don't know how, but he somehow passed us and he's at the center of the crater. But he feels…"

"What's going on?" Aerith cried, wringing her hands around the shaft of her Lorekeeper.

"He feels strange," Cloud continued, not seeming to hear her outburst. "Almost like-" He cut short on a gasp of breath and hissed a quiet curse.

"What's wrong?" Tifa asked as gently as she could manage despite her worry.

Cloud clutched fistfuls of his hair and tugged on them with a cry of frustration, "How could I have been so stupid?!"

"Mind sharin' with the class?" Barret growled, slapping the younger man's hands away from pulling his hair from the roots.

Cloud let his hands fall to his sides. His face seemed pale despite the ambient light and his shoulders slumped before he turned back, his face pinched with self-loathing. "Remember back at the temple when I gave Sephiroth the Black Materia?" he asked wearily.

"Aye laddie, but none of us blame ya' we know ye' wouldna' done that normally," Cait Sith soothed.

Red XIII chimed in, "Indeed, it was obvious you were under the influence of the cursed virus Hojo inflicted you with. None of us bear you any ill will over that."

Cloud shook his head, seeming to fight himself in order to explain. "But that's just it! Sephiroth controlled me with the Jenova cells Hojo put in me." Speaking slowly but carefully he finished, "He gave Zack those cells too."

"Well sheee-it," Cid cursed with a hefty dose of his home accent shining through. Caught in her own horrified shock, Aerith didn't send soapy water towards him. "Whada' we gotta do?" he asked Cloud, "We can't just sit here and let the world end."

Cloud shook his head and straightened his shoulders, "You're right. Here's what we'll do: I'll take Tifa and Barret to go after Zack. The rest of you will capture the Highwind so we can make a quick escape."

The pilot whooped in excitement, "All right! Let's do this, we've got a ship to steal back!"

"But-!" Aerith protested, weakly trying to shrug off Vincent's hands on her shoulders.

Cloud cupped her cheeks so she'd look at him rather than the vague distance where he said Zack was. "Aerith, I will do all in my power to get him back to you, but he needs you safe. He would hate himself if he were forced to attack you like Sephiroth tried with me, so I'm sending you with Vincent to keep that from happening."

Tears shimmered in her green eyes and overflowed to splash on his gloves. She desperately wanted to persuade him to let her follow, but he was right. The last thing she wanted to see was Zack filled with self-loathing. "Okay," she whispered. She stepped away from Cloud and closer to Vincent.

The passage from their temporary resting place to where the Highwind was left passed in grim silence. Cloud nodded at the infiltration group and with Tifa and Barret behind him, they sprinted towards the epicenter of the crater. It wasn't until they skirted around a few more mako obstructions and traveled down a deep, blue materia lined corridor that Barret asked, "Shouldn't we have taken more people with us?"

"It would certainly have helped us travel faster," Tifa admitted, silently chafing over the monsters they fought along the way.

"I agree," Cloud conceded, "But I have a feeling we'll have to make a quick exit and most of that group can't climb ropes or ladders quickly. Aerith is too shocked to think straight, Cid is needed as a pilot, Yuffie is there to pick any needed locks…" He trailed off, allowing the others to follow his thought process.

Tifa nodded slowly and carefully crept around a corner, shivering at the strange dark shapes only partially visible within the massive materia walls. "That makes sense, but what about Vincent?"

In response, Cloud pointed to the end of the blue-walled canyon. Next to Rufus and Scarlet slouched the white-coated form of Professor Hojo. "While he's been nothing but professional so far, I wasn't sure how Vincent would react with Hojo nearby, the same with the presence of Rufus for Yuffie," Cloud admitted in a hushed voice as they peered down at the corporate trio of Rufus, Hojo, and Scarlet.

The acoustics of the high-ceilinged chamber sent Hojo's words back to the concealed trio in fits and spurts of audibility. A small corner of Cloud's mind noted the the scientist's words about Weapon and the reunion theory, but his eyes flickered around, trying to focus on finding either Zack or Sephiroth. Both seemed to elude his awakened senses and his focus continually shifted to the massive lump of materia cradled in the coral-red branches across the ceiling of the chamber.

Twin gasps from Barret and Tifa diverted his attention back down to the floor of the chamber. Zack crouched in the center of the shocked Shinra group. Cloud shuddered at Zack's jerky movements. His normally vivid violet eyes now glazed and unseeing, rolled to the cackling scientist.

"And thus the Reunion theory is proved," Hojo gloated, rubbing his hands together. "No matter how many pieces Jenova is carved into, the drive to reunite will always exist. So… which one are you?" He pushed his glasses further up the bridge of his nose and peered down at Zack's hand.

"No number…" Zack moaned, rising from his crouch and clutching at his temples.

Hojo's grin collapsed to a scowl. "No number? You mean the only successful one was a failure?" He huffed and turned his back on the trembling man. "How disappointing."

Zack shook his head slowly and with a wordless cry, rose into the air, hovering a moment above the group before shooting among the root-like branches of the ceiling like some puppeteer's marionette.

"Damn that's creepy," Barret muttered, then he frowned at Cloud. "Spike, what's goin' on? You okay man?"

Cloud tightened his fist in the fabric over his heart and shook his head jerkily. A faint sheen of sweat beaded on his brow and he moaned, "I don't know anymore… Were we following Sephiroth to save the world, for revenge, or because this Reunion thing dragged us along?"

"Cloud, don't doubt yourself," Tifa murmured, lacing her fingers with those of his free hand. "Whether that drive was in the background or not I couldn't tell you, but I do know the reasons we started on this journey still stand."

"Yeah man," Barret agreed gruffly, "don't let the crazy scientist distract you from what we're doin'."

Cloud shuddered and his gaze sharpened. "You're right. We need to focus on keeping the Black Materia from Sephiroth and getting Zack back," Cloud agreed, slipping his hand from his chest to dig for something in his pouch.

He freed his left hand from Tifa's, raising it to cup her cheek instead. "I'm sorry," he whispered. She only had time for her eyes to widen before he flicked a handful of rainbow colored dream sand into her face. Her eyes briefly widened before she succumbed to the sleep status.

He caught her limp figure and handed her to the gaping Barret. "Keep her safe, I'm going after Zack."

"Damn man, you better not die 'fore Tifa gets a chance to kick your skinny white ass for this," Barret grumbled, shifting her in his arms and sprinting for the Highwind.

Once they were out of sight, Cloud peered up at the tangle of coral branches and huffed in quiet frustration before looking down at his body and muttering, "I don't suppose I can fly too?" He bounced experimentally on his toes and then shook his head. "Of course that would be too easy. Old school it is. Too bad I still don't have that grappling hook."

He scanned the ceiling of the chamber, hunting the irregularities in the glass-like blue crystal walls for the most likely route up. Once he settled on a path he jammed his fingers and the toes of his boots in the cracks and crevices in the wall, climbing as quickly yet quietly as he could manage. Clinging precariously by the tips of his boots with his right hand wedged in a crack in the wall, the blond nearly fell when the sound of Rufus' PHS ringing was shortly followed by a bellow of rage.

"They've taken the Highwind!" he snarled and rushed down the materia lined corridor, a shocked Scarlett and Hojo scrambling behind him. Relieved of the fear he'd be heard and get one of Rufus' shotgun shells to the back, Cloud redoubled his speed. While he wasn't up to Yuffie's pace, he still ascended quickly. Just as his fingers brushed one of the root-like branches 50 feet above the chamber floor, he felt a surge of vicious triumph from the alien portion of him that reacted to Sephiroth's presence.

Securing his grasp he looked up through the branches, his eyes widening with horror. Though the lower half of the materia shard was clouded with impurities, in the clear upper half he could see Sephiroth's naked torso. Zack jerkily extended his right hand. The Black Materia pulsed a light-sucking purple between his fingers before he thrust it into Sephiroth's crystalline coffin. The clear surface rippled like thick honey but swiftly solidified when Zack withdrew his empty hand.

'At last!' the alien voice crowed, black-violet light blazing from the materia. A subsonic hum vibrated from the crystal, increasing in intensity until Zack flinched and revived from his boneless docility. He swung his head around, violet eyes blinking rapidly. Though Cloud couldn't see his expression, when the man noticed Sephiroth and the Black Materia, his entire body flinched and his wordless cry of denial carried even over the rumbling that reverberated through the materia enshrouded chamber.

Arcs of lightning wreathed Sephiroth's crystal and its shaking jarred it loose to fall farther down in the cradle of twisted limbs. Zack fell to his hands and knees, head drooping. "Zack!" Cloud shouted over the rumbling and the crystalline chiming of cracks forming in the mako walls. Small streams of water fell through the branches, the splashing adding to the echoing cacophony.

"Zack!" Cloud cried again and his friend slowly turned and met his eyes. The usually vibrant purple was dim with self-loathing and despair. "Come on!" the blond cried, reaching one hand out to the despondent figure. Zack's shoulders rose and fell in an inaudible sigh and he turned, slowly extending his right arm.

The chamber's ceiling emitted one last squealing groan and collapsed, an explosive rush of mako tainted water roaring to fill the void.

Barret growled darkly at Rude's back while Reno gleefully prodded his back with his electromag rod. Thankfully it wasn't activated this time. "Stupid Spike, thinkin' I could get to the ship 'gainst all these monsters while carryin' Teef," he growled under his breath

Tifa stalked quietly at his side, still a little drowsy from Cloud's dose of dream sand. Despite the faint twitch of irritation at what Cloud pulled, she jerked to look back over her shoulder every few steps. "Ya' ain't gonna see anythin'" Reno huffed, rolling his eyes, "So jes' stop turnin' around."

The two Turks guided them to the pair of helicopters left on a flat portion of the crater's floor. A scowling Rufus followed by the slouching Hojo and the pouting Scarlet joined them under the blades of the choppers.

Rufus flipped a lock of hair out of his face and scowled at them and drawled, "Your companions abandoned you did they? Or is there more to your presence here? Someone else perhaps?" He hummed with a smirk, looking around for Cloud's distinctive blond locks.

Tifa raised her shoulders, bristling to snap some reply, but she froze when the rotors of the choppers creaked and started vibrating. Barret followed her gaze and his jaw dropped, the blades starting to creak in a slow quarter rotation.

Rufus' eyes narrowed and then widened when the trembling grew to the point they wobbled unevenly on their feet. Loud cracks sounded over the roaring of waves of mako and a shower of materia shards fell from the walls of crystalline structure behind them.

"Prep for emergency lift-off!" Reno bellowed to the pilot of the other chopper. He grabbed Tifa's elbow and dragged her to the closer vehicle. "Don't fight me on this Teef or you're gonna end up left behind."

The Turks and Shinra personnel scrambled across the increasingly unstable ground and into the two helicopters. Swearing up a blue-streak, Reno struggled to take off on the precariously tilting and sinking slab of stone.

Uncaring of their current predicament, Tifa bit her lower lip and stared at the crystalline structure where they'd left Cloud and Zack. When they finally managed to rise, the chopper swung wildly under the buffeting of the suddenly wild wind currents. In one dizzying spin, she saw the materia edifice sink as if collapsing. On the next more stable turn, it exploded. Five hulking figures several stories tall emerged from the crater. An electrifyingly bright cocktail of mako and water ran in thick rivulets down the armored forms of the massive creatures.

"Oh Hell no!" Reno cried, wrenching the control stick and cranking the throttle to back away from the enormous foes.

"Cloud… Zack…" Tifa hoarsely whispered, peering hopelessly at the collapsing, flooded crater. The supersonic wake of one of the Weapons tossed the chopper like a leaf with the turbulence of its passage. Under the sudden buffeting, Tifa's head sharply collided with the window and she succumbed to unconsciousness.

Author's end notes: Heh surprised? (evil grin) I actually planned for Zack to give Sephiroth the Black Materia ever since I had ideas for continuing things. :D

This section was so hard to get down though, because Cloud isn't suffering from all the disillusionment he was in the actual game. He never thought he was Zack and thus he never had the pathetic scene whining to Hojo about getting a number.

I've always wondered how Tifa and Barret ended up in Shinra's hands. I initially was going to play off the game's cutscene and have them fall off the Highwind but… Ouch? That's a long, nasty fall so…

Hope you enjoyed it, please review and let me know, I love reading theories and speculation. :D