Hello everybody. It's me, been a while. I know it's been a long time, but life has been a real drag lately. I have barely any time to continue my works and I'm always wanting to start a new story before finishing them and that is pretty bad. But anyways, I just wanted to work on an experiment and write a story where Zack survives from the Shin-Ra attack. The introduction is mixed with a little bit of Crisis Core ending and also from the secret video in Final Fantasy 7. I don't know if anyone did this or not, but I just wanted to try and see it and read people's reviews. Well enough chatter, here is the prologue for Final Fantasy VII: Alternative. Enjoy!

PROLOGUE (Revised 6/24/2011)

'Argh…where…where am I,' thought the man.

The man slowly opened his eyes only to see him inside some kind of machine filled with a water-like liquid with a unique green color. He was somehow able to breathe in it without drowning inside of the machine, but right now he felt weak and could barely utter a word. He turned to the left and he saw another man with blonde spiky hair in the same tube as he was in, but noticed he was unconscious. He tried to remember what happened, but everything was a blur. Then it struck him in the back of the head.

Zack Fair rushed towards the top of Mt. Nibel towards the mako reactor while the village below him, Nibelheim, was burning away. He couldn't believe what he had just witnessed. Sephiroth had gone completely mad, killing the town folks and left complete destruction. There was one place Zack knew where he found find him and that would be mako reactor where it was keeping Jenova inside. There was a lot of confusion in his mind, things that didn't make any sense to him, but right now wasn't the time to think about those kinds of things. Right now he had to find Sephiroth and stop him.

As Zack raced inside the building structure, he noticed a woman in front him, kneeling down at a man's body with a long sword next to him with a bloody mark on the tip of the blade. She was crying, holding the man's head against her. Zack knew that woman; it was Tifa, their tour guide when they first arrived in Nibelheim while on a mission to investigate the Mt. Nibel Mako Reactor.

"Tifa," said Zack softly as he slowly walked towards the girl.

"Papa…He killed him. Sephiroth killed him and many of the town's folk," mumbled Tifa.

Zack remained silent and before he could say another word, Tifa's voice changed, from sobering voice to a voice filled with anger and hatred. She gently laid her father back down and picked up the sword, tightly clutching it. She eyed at Zack with burning hatred.

"Sephiroth. Shinra. SOLIDER. You. I hate it. I hate all of it," yelled Tifa.

She turned her back towards Zack and went to chase after Sephiroth. Zack tried to yell after Tifa to stop, but it seemed she couldn't hear or that she was ignoring him. Zack bit his lips and hurried after Tifa, trying to stop her knowing that she didn't stand a chance and Sephiroth will kill her.

Sephiroth was at the top of the stairs, trying to gain access to a door that read JENOVA. He smiled and placed his hands against the door, whispering to it, as if he was trying to talk to it.

"Mother," Sephiroth whispered, "I'm here. Please open the door. I want to see you. Please let me in."

As he tried to find some way to get through the door, Tifa appeared at the lower steps of the room with the sword held tightly in her hand. She took one step on stairs, glaring at Sephiroth with his back turned against her. Sephiroth seemed to know her presence and turned around facing her down below, his eyes filled with emptiness and coldness, no longer the man he was once before.

"How could you," yelled Tifa towards Sephiroth at the top, "How could you do that to my papa and the rest of the town folks?"

Sephiroth gave a cold glare towards Tifa, not in the mood for anything. As Tifa ran towards Sephiroth, he stood in his ground and waited for her. Tifa held the sword high in the air and as she was ready to strike, Sephiroth just lifted up his hand and grabbed her hand before she could try and cut him down. Tifa tried to break free, but it seemed it was pointless as Sephiroth wasn't even having a hard time holding both of her hands with one of his. He managed to break the sword out of her hand and as Tifa stared horrified at him, Sephiroth brought down his sword and slashed her down at her chest. Tifa couldn't utter a scream, still staring at Sephiroth, and fell on the stairs sliding down. Zack just came in and yelled out her name as he saw her lying at the foot of the stairs. As he ran towards her, the door behind Sephiroth suddenly opened, showing a small smile running across his face as he slowly walked inside the room. Zack kneeled down and tried to help Tifa out, but she managed to turn her back against him and stared crying again.

"Leave me alone," cried Tifa weakly, "Just leave me alone."

"Tifa…I'm so sorry," whispered Zack.

As Zack got up and slowly went up the stairs. Just as he was half-way up to the door Sephiroth just went through, he turned his head around as he heard Tifa whispering to herself, saying something like "Where are you? You promised you would come and save me whenever I was in trouble". Zack was wondering who she was talking about, but realized it would be pointless to ask her. As he turned his head back to the front, his eyes filled with anger, and raised his hand, clutching the gigantic sword's handle that rested on his back. He pulled it out and ran into the room where Sephiroth went inside and then everything went black.

'I remember the fight with Sephiroth and losing to him,' thought Zack. He looked back up towards Cloud, 'Cloud. You did it. You beat Sephiroth.'

Just then, Zack heard a door open and saw a man with a lab coat holding a tray of food. As he set the tray down, he went up to the tube Cloud was in and pressed a few buttons on a keypad. The water that Cloud was in dissolved away and Cloud sank to the bottom of the tank still unconscious. Zack quickly closed his eyes pretending he was still unconscious and heard the man walking up to him, pressing the keypad on his tube. As the water dissolved away and hearing the tube's door slide open, Zack quickly opened his eyes. The man in the lab coat jumped and froze in place as Zack lunged at him, knocking him out with one punch.

"Sorry about that," mumbled Zack.

Zack saw his sword resting against a wall nearby his tube and went to retrieve it. Once he placed his Buster Sword on his back, he went towards Cloud and lifted him up, putting his arm around his neck as he held him around the waist for support and slowly walked out of the room.

"Yo! Old guy! We at Midgar yet?" yelled Zack from the back of the truck.

"Shaddap! You're lucky I even gave you a ride!" yelled the old man.

Zack sighed and stared at Cloud with a smile, "What are you doing once we reach Midgar?" Cloud remained silent and Zack continued, "Well…I know what I'm gonna do. No wait, never mind. No I don't. Yep…gotta change my plans! Hmm…no matter what I do, I need some money first…" He clapped his hands together and spoke loudly in excitement and smiled at Cloud, "Hey! Wanna start a business? Though problem is, what would we do?" He got up and knocked at the window to get the driver's attention, "Hey pops, do you know business that I'll be able to do?"

"What are you saying," asked the old man, "You're still young ain't ya? You need to try out everything! You gotta pay your dues while you're still young. Go out and look for what you really want."

"'Everything' he says," groaned Zack to himself, "Not much of a help…HEY! THAT'S RIGHT!" He quickly got up and started performing squats, which was probably kind of dangerous to do since they were on a rocky road and he could bounce off since the truck is moving, but right now he was in too much of a good mood to care, "I have a lot of knowledge and skills that other people don't have right? All right, I've made up my mind! I'll open up a business that does everything! I'm gonna become a mercenary! Yeah! Thanks pops!"

The old man started coughing on his air, completely caught off guard by Zack's response, "Hey…didn't you even hear a world I said?"

"Listen, I'm gonna become a mercenary and that's that," laughed Zack, "Boring stuff, dangerous things…I'm going to do everything depending upon the reward. I'm gonna be rich!"

The old man was groaning loudly in annoyance, not believing what he was hearing. Zack paid no attention to him and sat back down, sitting next to Cloud and smiled at him, "So, Cloud. What are YOU gonna do?" Cloud just continued sitting there, lost in his own mind and remained silent, staring blankly into nothing. Zack waved his hand at him and laughed, "Haha, I'm just kidding! I wouldn't do a thing like that and just abandon you. We're friends, right? Mercenaries, Cloud. That's what you and me are gonna be. We're going to open a business that does everything, together. Do you understand, Cloud?"

Zack got back up and rested his arms on the roof of the truck, staring into the horizon in front of him. Just a little further more and they'll reach Midgar. He wondered how Aerith was doing and how she would react when she sees him. And then, he heard a shot…

A lone helicopter was flying over the desert. Two men in suits were piloting it and eyeing down at the ground looking for something. The red haired man, known as Reno kept scanning the horizon, but sighed and looked his bald partner Rude, wondering he had any luck. Rude shook his head and went back to staring into the wasteland and Reno sighed again.

"They can't be serious," groaned Reno, "There is no way we are going to find two needles in a haystack this size."

"There is no mission that is impossible for the-," said Rude looking back at Reno, but before he could finish his sentence, Reno cut him off knowing what he was going to say.

"For the Turks. Yeah, yeah," sighed Reno.

Rude just stared at him and went back looking at the front, "Also, Tseng apparently has something to give him."

"Who the target," asked Reno in disbelief.

Rude just nodded and Reno starred at him, not believing what he was hearing, "So were couriers now? Delivering packages to fugitives huh?"

Rude remained silent and Reno went back to looking down at the ground as there was no point in arguing about it. Just then they got a signal and turned pressed onto their earphones to hear a woman's voice.

"Reno. Rude. What's the status," asked the woman through the earphones.

"We got nothing," sighed Reno.

"You, Cissnei," asked Rude.

"Likewise," replied Cissnei, "I'm heading to point 235. You two take point 120."

"Roger," replied Rude as he moved the control stick for the helicopter to change its course.

"Alright, let's get going," said Reno helping out with the controls.

The old man quickly drove away when Zack told him to drop him and Cloud off and to get away as fast as he could. Shinra had caught up with them and it seems there weren't letting him get away this time. Zack quickly sat Cloud down and placed him inside a small opening in a huge rock, hoping no one would find him. He kneeled down and smiled weakly at Cloud, giving out a small chuckle and playfully rubbing his head. He got back up and slowly walked away, his back facing Cloud. He didn't even notice his hand reaching for him…

Hundreds of Shinra grunts aimed their rifles at Zack, forcing him to a complete stop. Zack examined the area and shook his head, rubbing his forehead, wishing this could be avoided.

"Oh oh boy," sighed Zack with a light smile on his face, "The price of freedom…sure is steep."

Zack removed his Buster Sword and held it high above him. He brought it down closer to him and rested his head at the flat side of the sword. He spoke softly to himself and remembered what Angeal had always told him.

"Embrace your dreams and…whatever happens…protect your honor." He swung the sword and switched to his usual battle position, gripping tightly onto the handle and charged at them, "I AM EX-SOLDIER 1st CLASS, ZACK FAIR! COME AND GET ME!"

Zack quickly retreated to pick up Cloud from his safe spot, hoping he was alright. He spotted him, still where he was and untouched. Zack gave a weak sigh of relief knowing he was fine and rushed up to him.

"I'm getting you out of here," mumbled Zack.

Three grunts slowly crept behind Zack, but Zack was too weak to notice them and was focusing all of his attention towards Cloud. Cloud tried to utter a word, but no sounds could come out of his mouth. One of the grunts raised his rifle up and aimed it behind Zack, ready to fire. Cloud slowly lifted up his hand, trying to point a finger at him to warn Zack. The ex-SOLDIER noticed this and as he looked behind him, he heard a rifle going off...

As the train went to a complete stop on the mako reactor 1 station, a man came out from the first cart. A Shinra grunt ran up towards him and was punched by the him, knocking him out cold. As the second grunt saw this and went to chase after the intruder, a female came out of the second cart and kicked him, knocking him out as well. Soon a fat man and tall dark-skinned man with a gun-arm came out of the third cart and gave out a whistle. A man with blonde hair holding a sword attached to his back jumped down and looked at the gun-arm man for any info.

"C'mon newcomer. Follow me," said the gun-armed man as he ran towards the entrance towards the mako reactor.

The blonde haired man looked up and looked behind him to see another man with long spiky black hair walking towards him. He smiled and placed his arm around him and looked at their destination in front of them.

"Our first mission," said the black haired man smiling, "Nervous Cloud?"

"A little. You? This is what you wanted to be Zack," smiled Cloud.

"Nah. Excited. With this job we are going to rich Cloud," laughed Zack, "Race you!"

As Zack dashed off to meet with the others, Cloud followed close behind him as they head towards the mako reactor. Zack was hoping to start his own mercenary business, but when he heard about a group called the AVALANCHE, an eco-terrorist group opposing the actions of the Shinra Company and trying to save the world, he decided to give them a try and see what they do, besides, they were paying him and Cloud and large amount of gil so it couldn't be all that bad. After all what Shinra has put them both in, wouldn't hurt to give them a little payback.

END OF PROLOGUE

End of introduction. Good, bad, both, let me know. Depending on what everyone else thinks I might work on it, but of course I should also complete my stories before continuing a new one, but I'll figure that out some other time. All reviews are welcome.