Small particles of mako float about in an almost peculiar decadence around the outside of Clouds body.  A network of interweaving strands trace the blade of the Buster sword giving it a mako green glow, similar to the eyes of a Soldier.  Cloud held the sword at his waist, positioning himself for another devastating attack while Sephiroth flipped the Massamune several times in a criss - cross formation.  A moments pause and then the void erupts again as this battle continues, neither side gaining an inch on the other, until Cloud makes a rather unexpected move.  The buster sword runs smoothly through Sephiroths mid-torso, blood spews forth from the wound as the clone of a once great Soldier takes his last breaths.  His eyes transfixed as his mind reels back through the events of the past few moments and Cloud blankly guestures as beams washed over his body. The lifestream engulfs and merges with Sephiroths essence leaving Cloud confused and alone, or so he thinks.  Unbenownst to the spikey haired hero,this battle is far from over.
 
 

Tifa grips on to Clouds waist tightly as they both dangle above the Lifestream.  Just a moment earlier Cloud was able to move fast enough to prevent the both of them from falling in as the ground broke apart beneath their feet.  Holding on to the edge of the crater face with all his strength Cloud wonders over what has just transpired.  He is posotive that he saw Sephiroth dissapear into the great beyond, but he can still feel his presence, closer than ever before.

"I think I'm begining to understand."

"What?" Tifa asked.

Writing off his feelings as simple paranoia Cloud pushed it as far out of his mind as he could.  "An answer from the planet... the promised land.  I think I can meet her... there."  Using only a minor fraction of the strength he had left he pulled them both up to the ledge.  Tightening her arms around his waist Tifa nustled her head to his side.

"Yeah, let's go meet her."

Safely on the ledge Tifa took his hand in hers and looked up to his worn and bloody face.  "What happened? I got so scared when I called to you and you just stood there looking back up at me.  I was worried that you were just going to letyourself fall."

"Sephiroth... he's dead... again."

Taking a torn piece of her shirt, she wiped his face.  "Its over and now meteor can be stopped.  We won."  In mid grin, she stopped.  Something about Cloud was out of place, far more out of place than when he first joined the crew back at the bar in Sector 7.  "Somethings wrong, what is it?"

"Nothing, im fine."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah.  Hey, where is everyone?"

"Heeeey!"  They both jumped and looked farther up the crater.  Barret was waving to them with an abnormaly large grin on his lips and the rest of the crew sat around him.  "You're alive!"

"I'm glad you're all safe!"  Tifa called back to him.  "Shall we be going?"  She turned around to face Cloud and leaned to her left, resting her hand on her hip.

"Yeah."  He took her into his arms and began climbing up the ridges in the crater wall.  After a few moments they reached the ledge where the rest of the crew waited and smiled, Tifa herself smiled and let out a sigh of relief.

"Hey guys!" Cloud called out to them as he placed Tifa securely on the ground.

"Bout damn time.  But... now what're we going to do?"  Barret called back as he slowly raised himself from the ground.  Red XIII agreed as he rose to his feet as well.  "Holy should be moving soon.  And that means this place will..."  His voice trailed off for his companions all knew what he was getting at.  Cid lit up another cigarrette and Vincent sat clicking his mettalic claws.  Cait Sith, feeling a little left out, hopped down from a higher ledge and landed behind Cloud.  Scratching his ear he stared down into the lifestream.  "Which means that we all have to get out of here as fast as possible!"

Taking a deep drag from his cigarrette Cid stared up at the mouth of the crater.  "Oh, lady luck don't fail me now..."

Clouds mako green eyes glowed brightly from under his golden spikes.  "Well... " he growled taking Tifa tightly by the wrist.  "You all could just die."  She stared back at him in utter disbelief as he quickly drew his Buster sword and inserted it straight through Caits plush body, scattering chunks of circuits and metal in all directions.  Glaring back behind him he spun Tifa around then yanked her closely to his body.  Bringing his mouth closely to her ear he whispered something to her.  "He's waiting for you."

Clenched to Clouds arm she stared down into the pool feeling an unsurpassable amount of dread and fear welling up deep inside.  "This can't be happening!"  She thought as he tossed her off the ledge and into the Lifestream.

"What the hell!?"  Barret and Red simultaneously moved into battle position.  A second later Cid, Vincent and Yuffie quickly followed.  Not knowing what to make of Clouds actions they all froze in complete confusion.

"Cloud..."  Vincent began but was quickly interrupted by Red XIII.  "This is not Cloud!  It must be the ancient playing another trick..."

"Take'em guys!"  Barret yelled as he tried to attack Cloud from afar.  Only to his and the rest of the groups dismay, none of them could move an inch from where they initailly arose.  Their bodies failed to respond no matter how hard they tried.

Floating high in the air Cloud began to laugh meniacally.  "You fools... you actually thought you could stop me!?"  Spinning around he outstreched his arms, the Knights of the Round summon glowed brightly from within his palm.  "You all have brought me the means to obtain more power than I ever thought possible!  Now my goals will be fully realized."

Barret growled and screamed at the top of his lungs.  "You think you have won... but NOTHING can stop the AVALANCHE!

Floating down to where Barret stood motionless he landed on the ground and began to pace back and forth.  "Oh, yes.  Just like the time before this.  And the time before this... and so on and so forth."  Cloud stared hard down at him, his eyes glowing even more brightly.  "After all the fighting and struggle, I still stand.  How can any of you view our past encounters as any form of accomplishment,  you lead yourself to believe that you had any hope of defeating me?  Bringing his face only inches from Barrets he gave him a slight wink.  "Your mission was doomed from the very begining!  All your pain, suffering and loss have been all for nothing!"

"Damn you!"  Barret jumped but his invisible restraints held him firmly in place. "I will make you regret those words!"

"How amus..."  Before he could complete his scentence the crater began to shake violently.  "Now gentlemen, it begins."  Stoping he glanced skyward in time to see the nose of the Highwind barreling down apon him, but he still had no time to react.  The nose of the airship struck his body and sent him hurtling into the lifestream.

Quickly finding that their mobility had been restored, they ran as fast as they could to the deck of theHighwind and jumped aboard.  The all raced for the entry hatch but stopped when Cid turned and pointed back to the ledge.  "Someone get him on board!"

Vincent nodded and flipped back over the rail.  Running up to his friend he grabbed him by the shoulder. "Barret, you can not die here.  They need you."

"But Tifa... And what Cloud said..."

"Nevermind all that!  You have done all that could be done!  And no matter what, will save her my friend.  But, now is the time to go!"

Barret hesetantly agreed and they both took off running towards the ship.  Cid hopped over several unconscious crewmates and grabbed the controls.  Flipping a few switches and pulling a few levers he attempted to restart the main engines.  Slamming his fists against the control pannel he spun around and leapt to another console across the room.

"What is it?  Why isn't the ship mo~ving!?"  Yuffie whined from a corner on the farside.

Red XIII tried to reassure her. "It'll be alright,  Cid will get us out of here."

"That's it kiddies."  Cid called as he lit up another cigarrette.  "This is it."  They all stared out the front windows as a strange, green glow eminated from below the ship.

"It's happening."  Barret and Vincent both realized at the same time as they were suddenly engulfed.  The planet was making it's last stand against the threat of Meteor.  Rumbling with a massive amout of force the northern crater erupted with a massive explosion of energy as the Lifestream shot from the mout and spread itself across they sky.  Breaking apart from the sheer force of the crater the Highwind was thrown tumbling through the air and  dissapeared on the distant horizon.
 

********
 

Darkness in all directions, darkness all consuming.  Cloud finds himself in a vast void of nothing but darkness extending into the far reaches of eternity.  There is no sight and no sound, except calm, steady footsteps echoing from somewhere off in the distance.

"Hello?"  Cloud yelled hesetantly.

"Hi."

"Who's there?"

"Noone in particular."

Cloud scratched the top of his head in complete befuddlement.  "What do you mean?"  A pool of green energy appeared beneath Clouds feet.  Its gell like substance rippled back and forth in small waves and its radiance was so strong that he had to cover his eyes to keep from being blinded.  He could feel its energy surging through his entire being.  It was undescribeable.  "Where am I?"

"Nowhere."

"It's the Lifestream..."

"What is the Lifestream?"

Lowering his arm and squinting his eyes he struggled to see into the pool.  "What kind of question is that!?"  A perfect vissage of Sephiroth appears before him.  Unnable to believe his eyes Cloud stumbled backwards, barely catching himself at the last instant.  Not know what to make of this he reached for his sword but,  grabed nothing but air.  "Sephiroth!  Isn't it about time you gave up?  Are you going to make me kick your ass again and again until you finally learn?!"

"Sephiroth no longer exists.  You should know that."

Cloud paused to think back.  "Yes, I killed the original a long time ago."

The vissage pulls a small orb from one hand and grips it in the other.  "Indeed."

Cloud eyes the small orb very carefully tracing it along it's smooth, round surface, then recognizing it's pealy white color.  It hit him all at once, the painful memory of a friend long gone and the hate for his oldest foe.  "That's..."

"The white materia."

"Wait... how did you? Is she?"

"Aeris, Sephiroth, the Ancients, Jenova... what are they?"

"You should know that answer far better than I do."

"Yes, but you are the one who needs to understand."  Sephiroth extends his hand and makes a guesture for Cloud to follow.  "Seize this opportunity, I can give you more than you could possibly imagine!"

"I don't think so.  I've been playing your games for far too long.  Let us end this now !"

"No, I will show you ultimate power and understanding."  Sephiroth grabs Cloud by both shoulders and pulls him down into the pool.  "There are worlds apon worlds waiting for you, my friend.  Let's not keep them much longer."   Cloud struggled to break free, but he quickly found that it was no use.  He has no choice but to go where Sephiroth had chosen to take him.
 

All was dark for several moments.  In the midsts of the nothingness Cloud saw nothing and heard nothing, except a faint tune.  It sounded so familiar, almost like something he recognized from his childhood but as quickly as it had begun, it was gone.   A bright flash stirred him from his state of euphora and he found himself standing in the hall of the basement of the Shinra Mansion where he found himself sourrounded by hundreds of thick, unmarked books.  Extending his finger he ran it along the many spines of the books filled of untold information.  He caught himself when his finger cut straight through them like they weren't even there.  Catching a faint glint of movement from the circular room at the end of the corridor he moved closer to attempt to verify what he saw.  A tall man with long, white hair.

"Sephiroth?"

"This is where you begin your journey."

"Why did you bring me here?"

"All you need to get started, lies here."

Cloud once again glanced around the room at the towers of books.  "But I can't touch them."

"You will."  The voiced echoed through the hall and Clouds ears.  A tan colored book from the top shelf fell to clouds feet and poped open to somewhere in the middle.  "Read."

Cloud motioned to bend down to pick up the book, but stopped short when it picked itself up off the ground and gently floated into his hands.  Making a quick glance back down the corridor, then back at the book.  There were several entries hand written on both side of the pages, they appeared to be a record of one of Shinras' science expiraments.

Day 63

Specemin B has been having some difficulty in sustaining the Mako fusion, it is suggested that re-calibration of the geene sequencers will allow the cells to  regain stability.  I have high expectations for this project as always, soon I will prove myself to those big whigs up at head office.   My dreams are finally becoming a reality.
 

Day 72

We were wrong about the re-calibration.  Specemin B has become completely unstable and very volitiale.  We have no choice but to terminate Specemin B and redirect our efforts towards the other five.  Perhaps we can begin to see more luck with them.
 

Day 112

After everything we could have possibly done, the other Specemin did not survive.  Our attempts at successfully cloning more than one Pre-Ancient have completely failed. She is all we have left... Specemin A.
 

Day 210

Today was a glorious day, Specemin A has been born.  All our efforts towards saving her were a success.  This day makes up for all our other failed attempts.  She weighs 10 pounds, she has blonde hair, and some of the most beautiful blue -  green eyes i have ever seen and a small circular tatoo on the inside of her left arm. We still have no clue how it got there. This is a  proud day for humanity.  With the birth of this child, all our questions will be answered.
 

Year 4

Eve has reached four years as of today.  So far everything has been fine, except for today.  She threw and extrodinarily large "fit" when she did not recieve a particular doll for her birthday.  My other associates tried to explain to her as best they could that they could not find one, anywhere.  But, she would hear no part of it.  She stormed off to her room where i soon found her writing strange enscriptions on her bedroom wall.  When i asked her what they were, she just shrugged and said they were images she had in her head.  I made copies and our computers are currently trying to decipher the code.
 

Year 6

Our computers have been successful in decrypting 30% of Eves' code, but the message is still completely uncomprehensible.  Lately Eve has been talking in a very strange language in her sleep.  She has also been having very strange nightmares having something to do with the end of the world.  We are all baffled by this, but from the begining we knew.  Getting involved in this progect, we knew that we were destined to see some strange things.
 

Year 6 : Month 7

Things have become steadilly worse.  Something strange has happened to Eve, she now speaks her native language fluently, and she keeps fortelling the end of our time.  She approached me today and asked me why i sighned on for this project, and that if i valued my life i would leave.   I think one of the crew has affected her some way.  Im not sure, but i am almost certain.  Eve will no longer allow  anyone to call her by the name we have given her.  She has declared herself... "The Pre-Ancient."  I fear this  expirament has become far beyond our control.  We should have left those cells dormant.  Why, did i sighn on for this?
 

Year 7

Oh, god... what have we released apon this earth.  Today, the code was deciphered.  Apon reading it, everything erupted into caos.  Eve killed all the others, the only reason she did not kill me was because i ran away.  But soon, soon she will find me.  I've set the auto - detonation for this  facility.  Hopefully we are far enough underground so as the buildings up above will not be affected.  I just hope...pray...that this will work...
If eve is not stopped, there will be nothing to save this planet from her fury.
 

Cloud turned the next page and all those after were blank.  Another book dropped to the floor further down the hall.  This one was blue and had some gold lettering across the top.  Cloud hastily made his way over, not knowing what he was about to stumble apon .  He finally reached the books resting place and took it into his hands.   The words "Photo Album" were centered across the middle of the cover.  Pulling the cover open he was rushed with a barrage of memories.  Memories of all the associates working on a deeply concealed project and memories of a mysterious faction of scientists who studied a variety of anomolies of their universe.  Memories of thousands of citizens caught in a battle they couldn't possibly understand and in the midst of all the madness, a single name could be heard. "Midgar."