It only took five years for you guys to get an update on this story. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that my old audience *probably* thought the story was DEAD. Looks like I used a Life 2 on this bitch because it's coming back from the grave.

I got to say my writing style has changed so much from when I was sixteen. I had to reread some of the older chapters and I have to say, I get why I'd always get told to add more details. Just a little aside, it took me a solid year just to finish the edit and rewrite process. SO, if you are jumping into the story at this point, please reread chapters 1-10 again, I promise you that things are different. In that time the new FF7 remake was announced and the demo has dropped. I have high hopes for the game, and I know some people do too, but I get the sneaky suspicion that the 'game' will be pay per chapter, with each chapter being long, but not $60 long. Anyway, I think what I'm going to do from now on so I don't get burnt out on either story is that I'm going to write one chapter of this, then one chapter for my other story. Alternate back and forth so I don't get writer's block or burnout.

The Ranger

My alarm broke me from my slumber, much as it always had, around five in the morning. As I turned the alarm off, I pulled my phone from its charger to check for any new alerts. No messages from Lazard or Seph or anyone, which meant that I'd have the day to train and acquaint myself with my newfound power. I left the comfort of my bed, and shuffled to the shower. The words I'd heard yesterday night resonated back into my mind when I caught my own gaze, 'His eyes are flecked'. I could see what they meant by that now, my eyes still had hints of the old color I'd been so used to seeing, but now they swam in a sea of sky blue. I ran a hand through my hair, which was now a few inches too long for my taste, and wondered how I could have hit the jackpot landing this job.

I squat down to look under the sink for a pair of electric shears or some sort of razor. When I didn't find one, I sighed and decided that would go onto my list of things to buy. I stood back up, then jumped into the shower. After a few moments of getting cleaned up, I left the mildly warm fluid to dry off. After dressing up in a pair of jeans and a grey T-Shirt, I left my room and moved to the living room. Zack wasn't awake yet, so I went to cook some breakfast. As I scrambled up some eggs, Zack comes out of his room with a strange look on his face.

"Hey dude, what's up?" I ask the quizzically expressed energy bunny.

"I got a text from Sephiroth of all people. He wants to see me in Lazard's office," Zack stated, but then got a look at me for the first time. A creepy grin broke across his face. "When did you get those?" Zack asked.

"I picked them up last night, like 'em?" I asked a question with a question.

Zack shakes his head, and for the first time gave me a serious answer, "I'm not your mother."

I chuckled, then plated the food. "Eat before you leave?" I asked him, extending out the plate.

He rolls his eyes, then says, "Normally I would, but I shouldn't keep the 'Silver General' waiting." He left without another word.

I sat down and scarfed down some of my food. It's weird though, I'm eating, but not out of hunger. I could also feel that it wasn't being wasted either though. I guess this is one of the side effects of the enhancements. After I cleaned the few dishes I made, I made a mental note of all I had to do today. I needed to pick up some new Third Class outfits, clean my blade up, go to a barber, maybe get some training in, probably work on Cloud as well.

I left the room, and moved to the stairs. I retraced my steps from when I first got here, and before I knew it, I was standing outside of the Quartermasters shop. As the doors slid open, I saw Reno and a tall bald man standing next to him.

"Fancy meeting you here, yo. This was that alien guy I was telling you about, Rude," Reno said. It was the first time that I'd seen Reno up close, and the dude was definitely a different take. The guy only stood around five foot six or seven inches, and didn't weigh too much. He had a pair of goggles on his head, just under his spikey red hair, and his eyes are hazel. He wore the black suit pretty well, but his shirt had the top two buttons undone and his jacket wasn't buttoned either. He held an electric cattle prod in his hands, resting in on his right shoulder.

The man to his right simply did a little grunt, but said nothing. Rude was a polar opposite in almost every way. He was clearly over six-foot-tall, bald, and wore a pair of black shades. The glass was shined up to be almost reflective. This guy wore his suit buttoned up, shined shoes and all, but what really made this guy stand apart was that he didn't look to have a weapon. He wore a pair of black gloves with tiny studs across the knuckles.

As I stepped to the side, I said, "Not an alien." The two walked past, but Reno didn't retort. Instead he threw a two finer salute. I entered the room and found the old quartermaster sitting in a chair on the other side of the counter, looking at a television.

"I thought the Turk's armory was '8 floors down'," I mocked, as I entered the room.

The man grunted a bit, then stood up. As I looked at the old man, I realized that his eyes were much like mine. I guess I didn't catch that the first time around. "Sometimes they come in with weird requests. That red head doesn't do guns, unlike you." The old man explained. He was eyeing me, then asked, "Where's yer blade? It treating you well?"

"That blade is quickly becoming a third arm. Just came down to get my third-class outfit and some polish for the blade," I answered.

With a nod, and some grumbling, he went into the back of the supply room. As he scrounged around for a bit, I turned to the TV. I hadn't really watched much since I wound up here, but I could tell that we were watching the news. I paled a bit when I realized that there was a camera crew outside the playground Zack and I were at last night.

"Two witnesses report that the men who attacked the muggers last night were enhanced. They joined a fight with an unknown person reported to be protecting a woman who was being mugged last night. The four assailants were rushed to the hospital, and are in stable condition. They are to be released into police custody later tonight. Join us at eleven for further coverage on the story as it unfolds…" The female reported. She looked rather cute, but I'm guessing that was just TV makeup improving her looks.

The old man came back with three pairs of shirts, three pairs of pants, a new set of pauldron that had III stamped into them, a new helmet, a new set of suspenders that had a magnet on the shoulders, and the polish I asked for. He sat back down without saying another word, just droning out into the TV. I went to the stair well, and went back down to the apartment. Once I got there, I heard the elevator ding. I turned, hoping to see Cloud, but to my dismay it was just a neighbor. I entered the apartment, and threw the new third class outfits into my drawer, only to find that they were already in there along with a note.

'Figured you would make it, so I picked some up for you already, Zack' the note read. I tossed it to the wastebasket, then tucked some of the newer ones in with the others. I left one out, and put the thing on. I looked into the full body mirror, and admired the new look. The helmet was much the same as before, but the shirt was a better material. The blue felt better on my skin and tucked into my belt pretty well, the suspenders held a set of magnets on my shoulders to mount the pauldron, the pants remained the same, as did the steel-toed boots. I picked the blade up from my desk and did a pose with it. The rounded center of the barrel with two blades on either side looked so bad ass in this outfit.

I pulled out my phone and saw one new message from Cloud. Last night I must have slipped the kid my number. He wanted to let me know that he would have free time until four, when he went on patrol. I sent him a message telling him to come to the room and we'd start his training. After a few moments, a knock came across the door. I moved over to the door, and pulled my helmet off. I opened it, and saw Cloud's jaw drop to the floor.

"Badass right?" I asked. All the kid could do was nod dumbfounded. "Okay, follow me," I said.

We moved to the stairs, and climbed up a couple floors to the Soldier Training floor. The floor was huge. There were four hallways, each that was reserved for a different class. The smallest rooms were for newbies to thirds and to top it off they didn't have Simulation training. The second-class Soldiers had access to two rooms that were much larger, and had simulators. When I am with Zack, I can use those, but we never got around to doing any sim training because it's a bit more intense than just fighting Zack. The last room was reserved for Firsts, and was very large. I'd never been in there, and neither has Zack, despite being trained by Angeal. There was a gym down the last hall, but I figured we'd go there if there were no other options.

We went down the hall for Thirds, seeing as Zack wasn't with us, and saw that there was a Third Class standing at the first one.

"Hey, I wouldn't go in there if I were you. There's an experiment going on," The guard said.

I crossed my arms, then asked, "Is there another one unoccupied?"

"Maybe," he shrugged.

Out of the four that were here, none were free. I sighed, then said, "Well, the gym is probably a better place to start anyway."

We moved back down the halls until we reached the gym. It was a fairly decent sized gym, but only because it took some of the space that the second class's rooms would have taken normally. This gym was for anybody in Soldier, as well as for any guests in training to become Soldier. That's my rule, and I'm sticking to it.

"Okay, Cloud. We're going to do some basic stretches before we warm up," I said. With each stretch, I could feel my muscles move in ways that I hadn't felt before. After around ten minutes of that, I moved Cloud over to an open area.

"I'm going to gauge where you are with some basic exercises. I'm not going to really start to drill you until I know what we're dealing with. At any point after an exercise, if you need water, go get water. There's a fountain over in that corner, by the bathroom. Here's the deal though kid, if I tell you to do something, you do it. There's no time to hesitate, and there's no time to ask questions," I said, in a very calm but controlled manner.

That's how this morning went too. I started him on pushups, then sit ups, a mile run, jumping jacks, and lastly squats. I expected a bit more than he was able to perform, much to my disappointment. He did twenty pushups, but then half as much sit ups. His mile was just under ten minutes, and his squats weren't in proper form. He was a bit sweaty when we finished that first half hour. I sent him to get water after that first bit, then we did it again, and again, and again. Up until around eleven, when the kid was covered in sweat, panting like a banshee, and ready to give out.

"Okay, we're done with all that for today," I said to the dying child that collapsed to the floor before me.

"Did… I… do… okay…?" Cloud asked in between breaths.

Maybe I pushed him a bit hard, maybe his previous instructors didn't push him hard enough. I figured he'd be in a bit better shape than this, so I said, "You're a bit behind where I'd have thought you'd be, but we can change that."

Cloud tried to push himself up, but lacked the energy. "Did… you… do… this… when… you… trained?" He asks.

I laugh a bit at that. "Look kid, I'm going to level with you, that wasn't anything. I remember when I first joined the Ra… Program…" I said, stopping myself from saying Ranger School. "It didn't matter what you did, nothing would ever be perfect. The instructors would scrutinize how we made our beds, how we dressed, how we moved. Any failure would be an opportunity to learn, usually with working out being the motivating factor. Our exercises would be long, and difficult," I finished.

When Cloud finally got to his feet, I helped him walk over to the water fountain. He was covered in sweat, and I knew that he'd need a gallon of water to cover what he'd lost in sweat today. As he drank, I said, "You're younger than I was when I went through basic. Younger than I was when I joined the program. If you stick with this training, and don't fuck up, then I guarantee you will make it to soldier."

He finally was able to stand, albeit shakily, on his own. We left the floor, taking the elevator this time, and made our way to the fourth floor, where the big cafeteria was. I normally made my own food, and Cloud usually would eat in the infantry mess hall, but today was different. We were going to eat whatever cheap food was there to eat, and he was going to enjoy it.

I got us three plates of food, one for me and two for him. He was definitely under-weight, so I planned on bringing him up to normal. I got him two pork chops, mashed potatoes, and green beans on both plates, while I got myself one pork chop and green beans. As he ate, I probed him for information.

"Where you from kid?" I asked him, while watching him start to eat.

"Nibelheim," he answered in between a big bite. I had absolutely no idea of where that was, and it wasn't the first time I realized that my geographical knowledge would become a problem. As I pondered this, he asked, "Where are you from?"

"I'm originally from Fl… Midel," I answered, remembering my cover story. 'Buy a map of Midgar, and the world…' I mentally added to my list of things to do today. "We narrowed down why you're tying so hard to get in Soldier, so what's her name?" I prodded, forking my green beans.

Cloud sighed, then looked into his mashed potatoes. He looked deep in thought, and for a moment very wistful. As he went to speak, my phone rang. I pulled it out and saw Zack's number.

"Sorry Cloud, I gotta take this," I interrupted. I pushed talk, then said, "Hello."

"Hey, Abe. I got some news," Zack's voice came through the speaker in a melancholy tone.

"Okay, hit me with it," I replied, giving the same energy back.

"I've made First," He answered.

"That's good news!" I said, excitedly. I felt a sense of pride for him. He made a massive milestone that few would every hope to get to.

"Is it though? I've always wanted to make it to this point, but I always thought I'd have Angeal with me," Zack moped.

"I see. I got news of my own though. I started Cloud's training today," I said into the speaker, hoping to get Zack's spirits up.

"Really? Wish I was there to see my star pupil train the little chocobo," Zack said with a bit of enthusiasm.

"I put him through the ringer. I'm feeding him right now. Chocobo's eat pork chops, right?" I asked jokingly. He shot me a big glare. I'm convinced that he was mentally flipping me the bird.

"Oh, My GAIA, THAT'S POISONOUS TO THEM ABE!" Zack screamed into his receiver. Cloud overheard what Zack said, which made he look down and sigh.

"Okay, we've made him mad enough for one day," I said to Zack, mouthing 'I'm sorry', to Cloud.

"Alright. Anyway, I've got a mission later on tonight. All hush, hush, so I won't be home tonight," Zack said.

"I won't wait up then, goodbye Zack," I said.

"Later," Zack replied, ending the call. Short and sweet, and thankfully under a minute long. Some people can really drag a call on for thirty minutes to an hour…

I looked back up to Cloud, and said, "Sorry about that, where were we?"

"Nothing," Cloud replied, still looking down at his food.

"I'm sorry for teasing you Cloud. I think your hair is actually awesome. I keep my hair cut down, but you do you," I reassured, but I don't think he believed a word of it.

"It's not that. I don't really know how to describe her. It's only been six months since I've seen her, so I guess she hasn't changed much, but… It's complicated," Cloud answered.

I felt better that Cloud wasn't pissed, so I pushed, "Well, I'm guessing she was a childhood friend?" He shook his head. "Okay, school mate then?" I asked. Cloud shook his head once more. "She knows who you are, right?" I asked carefully.

"She was my neighbor," Cloud answered.

I nodded, then asked again, "Okay, but she knows who you are, right?" I was a little fearful that Cloud was actually a creep.

"Yeah. I talked with her every now and then. She was the only person in my village who actually liked me. Beyond my mother I mean," Cloud said, adding that last bit pretty quickly.

At least he isn't a creeper, but still his village hated him. "Surely you had friends growing up?" I asked him, feeling a little sorry for the little guy.

Unfortunately, silence was the answer I got. In fact, we finished our food in uncomfortable silence. That really explained a lot about where this kid was at, socially speaking. When we finished our food, Cloud put our trays up and returned.

"Okay, Cloud. Text me before you come over to train. If I'm not here, you will have to do what we did today on your own. When I add exercises to it, they will become a part of the routine. We're done for today, so go get some rest. If your superiors ask where you've been, tell them to contact me," I stated, almost like I was giving an order.

Cloud nodded, gave me a salute, then went on his way. I got up from my spot, and decided to go for a run in the stair well. I climbed around twenty floors in about ten minutes, which was pretty good considering it would have taken me a lot longer before I was enhanced. I got to the Soldier floor, and went into the rec-room. I found Counsel sitting by a light reading a book. I left him be for the time being, and went to find Lazard. I knocked on his office door, and heard nothing on the other side.

Guess I'll go to the gym again and do some serious training of my own… I went to leave when I saw another office door slide open. Out walked Sephiroth, blade on his hip as if he were going into battle.

"Mission?" I asked the tall, silver haired man.

"Yes, I'm a bit busy, so I have no time to talk," Sephiroth answered curtly, before walking past me. Out came Zack as well.

'This should be interesting…' I thought to myself.

"Permission to come along?" I asked Sephiroth.

He turned to look at me, almost as if he were in thought for a moment, then turned away. "What do you think, Zack? Do we 'need' the back up?" He asked Zack.

"The more the merrier," Zack stated, not catching on to what Sephiroth emphasized.

He sighed, flipped his phone open and sent a message out. A minute later, Seph got one back and turned to me. "Looks like you're in. We'll debrief you along the way," The Silver General said, showing next to no emotion to me.

End of Chapter.

Okay, so this chapter was meant to also have the next bit with Zack and Sephiroth going to Reactor 5, but I wanted to ease back into the story. Show of hands, who thought this story was ever going to come back? Also, I didn't save ANY of the original story, mostly because it was a bit too light. Most of the details are still there, but with some added beef to the bones. I'm a little scared to upload this, mostly because I feel like it'd be a betrayal to those who read my other story Nightshade. If you're here because of that story, then don't fret because I'm getting to you guys next.

Also, for anyone else excited about this Friday, hope you enjoy your Doom Eternal / Animal Crossing experience. Hopefully you guys are all safe and Corona free.

Uploaded March 18th, 2020