Mount Nibelheim. 2.15
Grissom vanished instantly as Duane lunged forward. He appeared several metres away, his sword drawn.
“Brother! Stop! This is madness!”
Grissom levitated a small rock and hurtled it toward Duane. It hit him on the side of the head, stunned him.
“The Jenova inside you might be able to be driven out!” he cried. “Stop! Help me cure you while I still can!”
Duane rose from the floor. “No, my brother.” he hissed “It isss... too late.”
There was a blinding flash and Duane disappeared. He apparated beside Grissom and tried to tear at his flesh.
“Joinn meee, Brother!” Duane screeched. “Feeel... the power!”
Grissom cried out and brandished his sword. He sent it slicing throught the air, the blade connecting with Duane’s head and slicing it clean off the body. He crumpled to the floor.
Grissom shook his head sadly and began to walk away. He did not notice the body of Duane stumbling around for it’s head, slotting back in to place with a loud squelch.
A bolt of purple fire hit him on the back. Grissom screamed and fell to the ground. Behind him, he could hear the slow laugh of Duane.
Quickly, Grissom stumbled to his feet. The fire had gouged out a chunk of his armour, but he was otherwise unharmed.
“What is happening?” yelled Grissom. “You were slain!”
“Youu... will have to... to tryyy better than... thatttttt, Brother.” choked Duane. Blood was flowing freely from his mouth and neck.
Bolt magic streamed towards Grissom. He muttered several words under his breath and white fire erupted from the tip of his sword to meet Duane’s lightning.
There was a blinding flash as the two energy’s collided with one another. Grissom gasped under the fury of Duane’s onslaught and fell to his knees.
Duane laughed hysterically as Grissom collapsed under the strain.
“You seeee, brother?” he screamed. “Joinnn me. Join... Jenova!”
Grisom grunted and shook his head. “Never.”
Duane looked at him with an incredulous look on his face, then he snarled viciously.
“Very wellll... brotherrrr.” he said softly. “You will die.”
Duane raised his hands up to the sky as the purple lightning crawled over his body.
“Gallataya Jenova gebrok synthesi death yulorlan.” he recited. “Goddess Jenova, forged in death. Fill me now with unholy life-”
The top of the mountain split as a vortex of magic opened above them. A huge tornado of energy picked up Grissom and flung him head-first in to the worm-hole.
“Soooo, long, brotherrr!” cried Duane.
Grissom groped desperatly for something to hold on, but there was nothing. He fell in to the vortex with a scream, and was gone.
Duane giggled sadistically and listened to the growing Jenova inside of him.
With Grissom gone he was now the most powerful man in the world. He was a God. He could take over the world...
No.
“Who isss that?” Duane spun around quickly.
You will not rule the world. I must feed.
“Whoo are you?”
I am Jenova. Let me feed.
Duane was startled. “Nooo. I am... going to Rocket Town, now. I willllll-”
NO. YOU WILL FEED. I WILL GROW.
“You are not... controlling... meeeee, I am... controlling you!” cried Duane, terrified now. “I willll rule... the world.”
YOU... WILL... NOT!
Duane found himself obeying the Jenova.
“Whattt are you doing?” he screamed. “NOOOOOO!”
I CONTROL YOU. YOU WILL FEED.
There was much suffering and disease at a place Duane had never heard of before. It was a long way away, but he needed to feed.
Duane’s rapidly shrinking intellect allowed him to mutter out a simple word before the Jenova took over his mind.
“Juu...non.”
-
 

Fort Condor, 11.30
“Perhaps we should go down stairs.” said Cloud.
They followed him down towards the Council room, and they took up their seats again.
“Now,” he began. “Are we ready to begin?”
“Yep.” said Reeve. “So you’d better tell us this plan you have simmering.”
“Okay.” Cloud stopped for a second. “You may not like it, but it could work.” He didn’t wait for them to answer back. “Junon is obviously lost to us, now, and we have very short time to get ready. About two months, really. After that, Sephiroth will attack. We take ex-soldiers from the war years ago and train them up. There must be thousands of soldiers employed by Wutai and Shin-Ra. All so, I’ve heard of some retired General called Thomas Hamilton, who lives in Mideel. I want you, Cid, to go get him and convince him to come help us: we need a fully functioning army in under two months. From scratch. This is going to take every rescource we have. Shera, I want you in charge of the Civilian Evacuation: we want everyone who lives near Junon to be evacuated. Send them to Wutai: that’s pretty remote. Reno, Rude, Elena. I have a special job for you, a bit like what you used to do for Shin-Ra. I want you three to find as many ex-SOLDIER   members as you can. Draft them in to a Commando Unit. I want Anthony and Nicholas to stay here and research in to a vaccine for the Cancer-”
Anthony stood up suddenly. “Cloud, with your permission I would like to be put in to the Commando force.”
Cloud smiled at him. “Sorry, Anthony, but this will be an elite squad.”
Anthony hit his fist on to the table. “Nicholas has seen my fighting prowess! I should be in the Unit!”
Cloud looked at Nicholas. “Are you willing to vouch for Anthony?”
He nodded solemnly. “I am.”
“Then, Anthony, you shall be in the unit.”
Anthony nodded and looked relieved. “You have my thanks.”
Cloud continued his speech. “Barrett, Tifa, Yuffie, Reeve. I want you to train the troops here. We will make a stand at this Fort: it’s the only place Sephiroth can hit. Cid, after you pick Genral Hamilton up, I want you to fly reconnaissance missions over Junon: I want to know what Sephiroth is up to.
Well, that’s about it. Any questions?”
Reno raised his hand. Everyone groaned.
“Yes, Reno?” said Cloud in a tired voice.
“Erm, just one question.” He pointed outside. “What the fuck is that?”
-

There was widespread panic as the vortex opened several hundred meters above Fort Condor. Cloud bellowed orders down the wire system, and rushed down to the entrance. Many guards followed him.
“Stay here.” he cried to the party.
Tifa watched with trepidation as Cloud approached the wormhole: it was now over two-hundred metres across and rotated slowly over the land.
Barrett swore. “Somethin’s coming out.” he murmured.
“Where?”
“There.”
“I don’t see anything.”
“Shit, Tifa! Look with yer goddamn eyes!”
And she saw it. A lifeless body, falling, falling...
Thud.
-

Thud.
Something fell to the floor a few metres away. Cloud jumped and gestured to the guards to stay.
“If I don’t come out in ten minutes, come in after me.”
They murmured reply’s and readied their weapons.
“What is it?” one of them asked.
Cloud shook his head. “I don’t know. But judging from the height of it’s fall, it’s something dead.”
He disappeared in to the forest.
It was dark, cold and smelly inside. Cloud grimaced and drew his weapon. Slowly, he slotted in a materia orb.
There was a small crater that smouldered not far from the entrance to the forest. Cloud moved in slowly, and decided to speak.
“Hello?” he said. “Hello, is anyone there?”
He saw a human body on the floor. It wasn’t breathing. Cloud sheathed his weapon and walked over to it. He looked away in disgust when he saw the wounds on the man’s body.
There were several massive burns on the face, ugly blisters lay around the cheek area. The whole body was twisted in some grotesque shape, the back had splintered upon impact.
Cloud studied the body. The man had been a knight, it seemed. He didn’t know knight’s existed anymore.
But evidently they did. Cloud looked above him and saw the vortex had closed. There was a sudden rustle in the bushes and Cloud turned round, sword brandished.
“Who goes there?” he asked.
It was a guard. “You asked us, sir, if we would come in after ten minutes.”
Had it been that long? He hadn’t noticed.
“There is nothing to see. Go back to the Fort. I will stay here a moment longer.”
“Aye.” The men departed.
There was another sound from behind him, and to Cloud’s horror to man stood up.
“Help... me...” he gasped and fell to the floor.
Cloud rushed to help the fallen man. “But you were dead! Who are you?”
“My name... my name is Grissom. Grissom of the Knights of Peace.”
Cloud paused. “Are you in league with Jenova?”
Grissom cried out in pain as he shook his head. “No! Jenova has taken my brother: my flesh and blood... from me. I will... destroy Jenova. But I need... your help... who are you?”
“Cloud. Cloud Strife.”
Grissom looked at him in awe before collapsing. “...Thank the Gods.” he muttered. “I am... saved.”
-

Fort Condor, 2:00
“So who the hell is this guy?” cried Reeve, slamming his fist down angrily on the table.
“From what I gathered he’s some kind of knight.” answered Cloud.
“Yeah,” cut in Cid, “but what are we supposed to do with him?”
“Look after him, of course.”
“Shit, Cloud!” yelled Barrett angrily. “You’ve come up with some crazy stuff in your time, but this is just stupid!”
“Why?”
Nicholas spoke up. “The man could be infested with the Cancer. What other being, apart from a Jenova, could survive a fall of a few hundred metres?”
There was a murmur of agreement among the others.
“Hold it.” said Cloud, rising from the table. “Hold it. The Doc’s have analysed him, and they so there’s no trace of a Jenova inside him, as far as they can tell. What’s more, he has some of the most powerful materia I have ever seen. Even we don’t have such a collection. This materia seems to be healing him, and don’t ask me how. We could use him. We need an ally as powerful as this guy. What do you say?”
Elena nodded. “Speak with him, Cloud. He seemed to respect you from what you have told us. Find out if he is friend or foe.”
“I’ll do my best.”
-

Grissom awoke, and was tired.
He groaned and rubbed his eyes, then sat upright. The events of the past month flooded in to his mind.
“Duane!” he cried, reaching for his sword.
A strong hand gripped his arm like an iron vice. Grissom yelped with pain and fury and looked upwards.
“Who are you?” he murmured.
“I am Cloud.” said a soft voice. “Don’t be afraid. I won’t hurt you.”
He let go of Grissom’s arm and sat down. He looked at the pale man with a look of suspicion.
“Who are you, Grissom?”
There was a slight pause. “I am Grissom, of the Knight-”
“This is not a game, Grissom!” said Cloud angrily. “Who are you, really? What do you want? What have you got? What do you love? What do you hate? I want to know. And I want to know now.”
Grissom was stunned at Cloud’s sudden flash of fury. He hung his head low, answered: “I am nothing.”
“What?”
“I am nothing!” cried Grissom. “I love no one. I want nothing. I have nothing. But...” his eyes glittered as he said this. “I hate... I hate Jenova.”
Cloud regarded Grissom’s words for a moment. “Do you want to be someone, Grissom?” he asked.
“I do.”
“Then put on your armour. Get up, and fight with me. Fight with the Planet!”
“Cloud...”
“I ask you again, Grissom: Do you want to be someone?”
Slowly, slowly, Grissom picked up his armour and put it on.
“Come with me.” said Cloud.
Grissom paused. “No.”
Cloud turned around sharply. “What?”
“I said: no.”
“Why not?”
“I will join you, Cloud.” said Grissom slyly. “But first... first you must fight me. If you win, then I will join you.”
Cloud paused for a moment. “And what if I lose? What should I do then?”
“Pray that I spare your life. Your answer, then?”
Cloud closed his eyes thoughtfully. “To the end, Grissom.”
“Aye. To the end.”
-

Fort Condor area. 4:00
Cloud stood with his sword drawn, the wind blowing gently in his face.
Grissom stood not far away. He was clad in a silver chain of armour, in which was laid row upon row of materia.
“Are you ready, Cloud?” called Grissom. “I will not hold back.”
Cloud smiled. “You will not defeat me. I clashed swords with Sephiroth, you know.”
Grissom laughed coldly. “And that was five years ago. Now you are old and weak. I forsee you will fall easily under my blade. Now, fight!”
Grissom disappeared where he was just as Cloud moved towards him. There was a long second of silence, then Grissom appeared at the side of Cloud and swund his blade.
Cloud swore and swung around. It was his reflexes that saved him. Ultima Weapon clashed with Grissom’s chain-mail as Cloud spun away. The heavy sword dented the armour but did not penetrate to the flesh. Grissom gasped and jumped away.
“Impressive, Cloud. You certainly have speed.”
Cloud snorted at Grissom’s sword. “You will need a better weapon that that to kill me!”
Grissom muttered some words and the blade ignited with white fire. It swirled fiercely around the blade, giving off an eerie light.
“You think you can withstand the power of the mighty sword, Illiac? Come, then: feel it’s bite!”
Grissom vanished again, apparating a few metres in front of him. Cloud lunged, but he missed one vital thing:
Grissom was not holding his sword.
Illiac appeared beside him and drove forward at lightning speed. At the last moment, Cloud twisted out of the way and the firey sword dealt him a glancing blow. It burned through his armour and impaled his left leg. With a cry of pain, Cloud fell to the floor with a crunch of broken bone.
Grissom shook his head. “I am sorry, Cloud. I am sorry.” He picked up Illiac from the ground. “But this is a fight to the death.”
“Yes.” said Cloud softly. “A fight to the death.” He rolled over, and a green materia orb glowed. “Saggitus Ultima.” he chanted. At once, large green sparks flew out of the ground and enveloped the grasslands. Cloud jumped up and kicked his opponent over. There was a shout of fury as Grissom fell to the floor.
“Curses on your family, Cloud!”
Cloud ran.
He made it over a ridge, and gasped the spell for a Magic Barrier when the Ultima spell imploded, taking Grissom with it. The spell splashed against Cloud’s barrier, but did not harm him. When it was over, Cloud stood up and looked for Grissom.
A large boot caught him hard on the back of the head. Cloud yelled, fell to the floor, rolled, came back up again with his sword in his hand. Grissom stood almost naked, Illiac shining in his hand.
“You destroyed my armour.” he snarled. “Now, I shall destroy you.”
Grissom lunged and brought his blade smashing down upon Cloud’s sword. For a brief moment they were both encased in pure energy as the two magical swords radiated heat and light. Grissom broke away and swung up again, Cloud parried his swipe and slashed furily at Grissom’s leg. With a speed even Cloud could not match, Grissom deftly jumped the blade and moved away.
“Do you yield?” he panted.
“Never.” gasped Cloud. He jumped upwards and brought Ultima Weapon smashing down on Grissom’s head.
With a whimper, Grissom crumpled to the ground. Incredibly, the blade had not sliced his head at all: a Barrier was in place to stop the blow. But the force of the sword had been more than enough to knock Grissom out.
Cloud took Illiac from the knight’s limp hand and slapped Grissom on the face a few times.
“Do you yield?” he asked.
Grinning, Grissom touched the huge bump on his head. “I knew you would win, Cloud. You are a Master of Blades.”
“Yeah, whatever. But Grissom?”
“Yes?”
“Heal my leg. I’m about to pass out from the pain.”
-
 

Grasslands, Fort Condor. 9:15
Cid drank the last of the coffee, threw his cigarette on the floor and waved good-bye to Fort Condor.
“See ya in a few weeks!” he yelled over the din of the Highwind’s engines.
He stepped aboard the air-ship, smiling briefly as Grissom illuminated the sky with a neon-flashing Farewell sign.
“Jesus.” he muttered. “That kid’s a walkin’ piece of materia.”
A few minutes later, they were far away from Cloud, Junon, Jenova and Sephiroth. Cid called up the file on Genral Hamilton.

*[Hamilton, Thomas])*: born on the 16th August, 1951. Fought in the Wutai-Junon war several years ago and gained the Shin-Ra Cross medal for excellance in the field of battle. Promoted to General soon afterwards, where he displayed an original and highly effective flair for predicting enemy troop movements and stratagy. Retired soon after the Wutai defeat. His greatest victory was the Battle of Harbour, where he successfully repelled the massive Wutai army from Junon with an smaller army of quickly trained civilians. He was respected even by the great Sephiroth.

Cid groaned and shut off the computer terminal. “This better not take long. I hate Mideel. Nothing ever happens.”
Later on, Cid would laugh bitterly at these words.
-

Mideel. 1:00
Hamilton woke up.
But it was not to the smell of bacon and eggs.
There was an explosion downstairs and the left side of his bedroom collapsed. Hamilton yelled with fright as he tumbled off the bed and down in to the downstairs bath.
“Jean?” he managed to choke out as the dust filled the air. “Jean? Where are you?”
There was a scream in the living room. Hamilton got out of the bath and winced. His ankle was sprained.
“Jean!” he cried. “Jean! I’m coming!”
He limped towards the living room, opened the door.
“Jean?” he ventured.
His wife lay unconciouss on the floor. He approached her cautiously, cried out again.
“Jean? What happened?”
There was a movement from under her dressing-gown. Swiftly, Hamilton gathered up a knife from a drawer and moved back.
“Answer me, goddamit!”
A thin claw slashed out of Jean’s gown, tore a large hole in the fabric.
Out came something that Hamilton had only seen in his nightmares.
It snarled and jumped quickly towards him. He screamed and ran in to the bathroom. Then the light’s went out.
Hamilton held the knife to his breast and opened the window in panic. He jumped out quckly and on to the street.
Something fell on his arm. He whirled about in fright and it fell against the wall, spasming weakly.
Something high up in the air was moving towards him. Hamilton put out his arms and waved madly.
“Hey!” he screamed. “Help!”
The thing swooped down and landed not far from him. A man got out.
He was middle-aged, about 50. From Hamilton’s guess he was a pilot. He wore goggles that were too large for him on his head, and was clad in navy blue and grey. A cigarette hung loosely from one corner of his mouth.
“Do you know where Thomas Hamilton is?” he asked in a gruff voice.
“I’m Hamilton.”
The man looked him over. “Get on board.”
Hamilton glanced at the man. “Who are-”
Several creatures burst through a window and landed between himself and the man. In an instant the man readied his spear and jumped high in to the air. With one quick swipe he slashed all of the monsters in half.
“Are you infected?” he asked casually, wiping his blade.
“What?”
“Shit, man! Are you cut, goddammit?”
“No...”
“Then get on board before I kick your General ass all the way to Fort Condor.”
“I’m not a General anymore.” retorted Hamilton indignantly.
“You are now. Welcome back to the military.”
The man grabbed Hamilton roughly and slung him on board the airship.
“Wait!” cried Hamilton. “Who are you?”
“Cid, nice to meet you.” The hatch was shut and Hamilton was alone.
Outside he could here Cid swearing as materia exploded all over the place.
-

Fort Condor. 1:10
“What the hell?” shouted Cloud as he picked up the mobile. “Are you serious, Cid?”
A pause. Then: “Ok, we’ll be there as quickly as we can.”
Tifa looked up from her troop roster.
“What’s wrong?”
“It’s Mideel. Jenova’s taken it over.” He started off down the hall.
“Where are you going?” she called.
“To find Grissom.”
-

Mideel. 1:18
Cid thrust with his spear and several more creatures fell dead.
“C’mon!” he bellowed. “Is this the best you can do?”
The monsters attacked with renewed force, driving Cid back up againcst the hull of the Highwind. He banged on the door angrily.
“Hamilton! Open the bloody door!”
The hatch stayed shut.
A Jenova baby jumped forward, aiming for Cid’s arm. There was a flash, and the monster fell dead, encased in a block of ice.
To Cid’s horror, several people who had lain on the floor began to get up and walk towards him.
“But I thought the virus worked slowly?” he muttered to himself. “We’ve got less time than we thought.”
The Jenova’s advanced again, trapping Cid off.
“Ok, you bastards!” he yelled. “You asked for it!”
A cloud appeared from high above, and grew to a swirling storm.  The monsters stopped, and gazed at the large dragon coming out from above.
Bahumat.
The energy ball flew from Bahumat’s mouth, killing a hundred or so of the monsters. Then it left. Cid sat down, the concentration required to summon the monster was incredible.
But even the mighty Bahumat could not destroy all the Jenova’s. From the midst of the carnage, the tiny creatures rode up, seemingly larger and more terrifying than ever before.
Cid let them come, fighting the exhaustion that threatened to make him faint. He parried blow after blow from the monsters, all the while hollering for Hamilton to open the door.
But it was no use. Hamilton was stuck inside half a meter of solid steel.
He let the mosters surround him.
“Ha.” he murumured. “I’ll blowmyself up in a minute. Take a few of ‘em with me.”
There was a blinding flash of light, and then everything went black.
-

Grissom teleported with Cloud to Mideel. What was even more amazing was the fact that this massive spell didn’t even seem to make him tired.
Illiac glinted in his hands as the saw the destruction the Jenova hybrids had wrought on Mideel. He cut quickly to his left, and several Jenova fell dead.
“There are thousands of them!” shouted Cloud. “What shall we do?”
“Leave it to me!” answered Grissom. He cast aside his sword and raised his hands.
Cloud could hear him murmuring, but he couldnt make out the words. The ground started to rumble softly, as Grissom spoke louder and louder. The earth was visibly splitting in to massive chunks: the Lifestream was becoming larger and larger.
Suddenly there was and almighty crack and the ground and the sky seemed to split in two. Green strands of light were weaving out of the earth and out of the sky. They were surrounding the shrieking and hissing Jenova, shrouding them in a white light.
“...Lifestream.” whispered Cloud.
The magic reached it’s peak, and there was a clap of thunder that hurt Cloud’s ears. The last thing he remembered was Grissom, his body permeated by a green light, glowing hotter than the sun.
There was a blinding flash of light, then everything went black.
-
Fort Condor. 1:35
Yuffie opened Reeve’s door quietly. She slunk inside, hoping no one saw.
He was sitting on a large, comfortable chair, going over his troop list. Already, people were starting to pour in from all over the world. Shera had done a good job telling people about what had happened.
“Reeve.” she said quietly. “Reeve, we need to talk.”
He looked up and smiled. “Yep. What about?”
“Reeve, I’ve been thinking...” she began.
His smile faltered when he heard the tone of her voice.
“What is it, Yuffie?”
At the last moment, she turned away. “It’s probably nothing.” she stammered.
He stood up and held her hand gently. “Tell me.” he said softly.
“I... I was just wondering.”
“About what?”
“About whether Sephiroth wanted to make any other Jenova babies.”
He frowned. “Why?”
“No reason!” she cried. “I just thought that... Oh, I don’t know!”
He broke off from her angrily. “What do you want me to do, Yuffie? What do you want me to say if you don’t even know what’s wrong yerself?”
“Reeve...”
He turned his back to her. “What? Yuffie, stop keeping me in the dark. I hate this.” He faced her again. “Maybe... maybe this wasn’t a good idea.”
“What? What wasn’t a good idea?” she said, startled.
“What I mean, is... what I mean is us.”
She was silent for a moment. Then the tears came. “You’re breaking up with me?”
There was a silence. “I’m sorry, Yuffie.”
Her lip trembled when she spoke. “I should never have trusted you, Reeve. I thought you...”
“What? You thought I what?”
“I thought you loved me.” she choked through her tears.
He went over to her. “I’m sorry if I gave you any ideas, Yuffie. I really am. But it was just a bit of fun. I thought you thought the same...” He trailed off.
She broke away from him. “You don’t understand. You’ll never understand!” she said angrily, the teaes flowing down her cheeks.
“About what, Yuffie?” he shouted. “About what?”
She closed her eyes in a moment of blind fury. “I’m pregnant, Reeve.”
He gave a half choke, half scream.
“You’re what?”
“You heard me.” she sobbed defiantly. “I’m pregnant.”
She fled the room, sobbing.

To Chapter 6