Crisis Core-4

" What were you thinking? Stealing a military ship and taking off like that, I should have you arrested for Treason!" Heidegger yelled at Exodus.

Exodus stuck his pinky in his ear and cleaned it out, clearly showing that he wasn't paying attention at all as the general of the Shinra army berated him. He was standing in front of the entire " But you won't, because you can't." Exodus told the man. " Honestly, Heidegger, why you think you or any of those other bastards think you have control over my actions baffles me." Exodus told the man. " What do you think would happen, if I decided to leave Shinra as well? That you and a platoon of your men could take me? Heh, sorry to break it to you, but there's only one man in this whole building that can take me down, and that's my own brother. Now, if you have anything else you want to say, kindly direct it to Lazard. If not, eat me."

Exodus left Heidegger a frivolous mess. Cursing and kicking as the disrespectful SOLDIER stomped away.

As exodus was leaving Heidegger's office, a phone call came to his phone. It was from Lazard.

" What is it, Lazard?" Exodus asked the man.

" Come to my office. Immediately." Lazard spoke.

" Yeah. Yeah." Exodus muttered. He closed the phone and tucked it back into his pocket. " Can't wait to hear what he's got to say to me." He grumbled. He stepped towards the elevator and rode it up to the 49th floor, where the SOLDIERs were usually stationed within the Shinra building. Once there he exited the elevator with a huff of his breath and strode into Lazard's office. 

There he saw that Sephiroth was waiting with his arms crossed. Zack Fair was there as well and sporting a new outfit.

" Well, well, well. Would you like at that?" Exodus exclaimed. He looked Zack up and down with a smile on his face.

" Welcome our newest First-Class SOLDIER, Zack." Lazard said to the man. " But then again, you've already met."

" Yup. Welcome to the club kid, I hope you survive." Exodus told the young man.

" Thanks." Zack responded almost nonchalantly. It seemed as though he didn't even care about the promotion, even though so many chase after it.

" What's the matter? Not feeling the promotion, much? Well, that's fair. You weren't missing much." Exodus joked. 

Lazard pushed his glasses up and then cleared his throat loudly. " Exodus, we have business to attend to."

" Yeah? Like what?" Exodus asked the man.

" Hmmm. You won't like it, but the company has decided to eliminate Genesis and his cohorts. This includes Angeal as well." Lazard explained.

Zack and Exodus were both taken by the news. 

" And you want me to do it?" Zack asked the man.

" No, the Shinra army will handle it." Lazard told the young man.

" What about me?"

" They don't trust you." Lazard explained.

Zack leaned over and placed his hands on Lazard's desk to support himself. He couldn't believe what he was hearing right now. 

" They believe your emotions will hamper your judgement." Lazard stated.

Sephiroth finally stepped away from the wall. " That's why I'm going to." He said.

" Bullshit!" Exodus cursed. " Sephiroth! You can't be serious. You're going to-"

Before Exodus could finish his sentence, the building alarms suddenly went off, signaling an enemy attack. 

" Sephiroth, the president! Exodus Zack you two go to the entrance!" Lazard shouted.

" Right!" The three men responded.

Exodus and Sephiroth both exploded out of Lazard's office, with Zack on their tail. Exodus and Sephiroth both split up. Sephiroth went to the stairwell, while Exodus and Zack continued running towards the entrance to the 49th floor.

" Keep up, kid. Let's see what you can do!" Exodus yelled to Zack. 

" R- Right!" Zack responded. 

Exodus and Zack raced through the halls, eventually stumbling upon one of the many scientists that roamed the building.

" SOLDIER's finally!" The man shouted.

" What is it?" Exodus asked the man.

" That!" He shouted.

Three red drones came spiraling down the corridor.

" The intruder neutralization mechs?" Exodus muttered. 

" The what?" Zack asked.

" Seriously kid?" Exodus asked. " Destroy them, and then catch up with me. I'm going on ahead!" Exodus told the young man. 

Something was wrong, if the buildings security systems were attacking them. That could mean only two things. Either there was a problem with the system, or someone had intentionally hacked the systems. And considering the timing. The second option was the most likely choice. 

Exodus ran towards the drones and jumped over them. Leaving them to Zack ensured that he got to move forward at a faster rate.

" Right, just leave it to me!" Zack yelled.

Exodus nodded and continued running. 

" Could Genesis have done this?" Exodus asked himself. " No... Genesis is smart. But not even can hack Shinra's entire defense grid. Only someone with the knowledge of how they were made and what frequencies they use could do that. That leaves one man... Hollander, that old bastard." 

Exodus rounded another corner and found a young 3rd class SOLDIER lying face down on the ground, in a small pool of blood.

" Hey, kid! Are you alright?!" Exodus asked.

" Sir, behind you?" the injured SOLDIER muttered.

Exodus quickly turned, with his gun drawn and shot the three mechs down before they could lunge at him. He then turned back to the injured SOLDIER and held a soft hand out. Green energy started to dance around his hand, and the SOLDIERs bleeding came to a halt.

The SOLDIER slowly eased himself up to his feet.

" You alright?"

" Yes, thank you sir." 

" Don't mention it. Just make sure you get yourself back to work and expect any of Shinra's weapons to be your enemy. Got it?!"

" Yes sir!"

" Alright, go!" Exodus gave the SOLDIER a small push and then turned back towards the corridor ahead.

however, before he could leave Zack came sprinting down the hall.

" What took you so long?" Exodus asked.

" That scientist, wouldn't shut up!" Zack yelled.

" Well come on, let's go."

Exodus resumed running once Zack caught. 

" What's going on? Why are Shinra weapons attacking us?" Zack asked.

" I have a few ideas, but first let's start by making sure our people get to safety."

" Right!"

Zack and Exodus rounded the hallway and entered into the main foyer for the 49th floor. There they were greeted to a complete massacre.

Mechs and Copies of Genesis slaughtered a large number of second- and third-class SOLDIERs.

" HAaaa! Come and get some ya fuckers!"

" Kunsel!" 

Kunsel looked back as Exodus and Zack sped into the room. " Boss!"

Exodus exploded from his position next to Zack and landed in front of Kunsel with his sword drawn. The two heavy duty mechs opened fire on Exodus, forcing him to block the incoming barrage of bullets with his sword. 

" Kunsel, regroup with Zack and find Sephiroth, I'll handle these guys!" Exodus yelled to the two young men, while charging forward. " GAAAH!" Exodus lunged towards one of the mech and slammed the tip of his sword straight into its chassis, knocking it through the foyer wall. He ran forward, dragging one of the Copies by his face and smashing into the next Mech.

" EXODUS!" Zack yelled as Exodus vanished behind the rubble with the clones and Mechs right on him. 

" Don't worry about him, Zack. Let's go!" Kunsel yelled.

" Right." Zack muttered.

He and Kunsel retreated back to hold the 49th floor, when they ran into Sephiroth.

" Sephiroth!" Zack called out to the man as he approached the front foyer." The attackers are Genesis copies." Zack told the man.

" Hm. There's no doubt. This is Hollander's doing." Sephiroth stated.

" Who's that?" Zack wondered.

" He's a former scientist for Shinra." Kunsel spoke up.

" Right. He stole the copy technology from Shinra, and then vanished." Sephiroth explained.

" Wait. So, Genesis is working with Hollander?" 

" Hm, possibly." 

" Do you know what their plan is?" Zack asked the man.

" Hollander sought to head the science department and lost. He's held a grudge ever since. He most likely wants revenge."

" So petty. And Genesis is supporting this stupid cause?" 

" I don't want to believe it." Sephiroth muttered softly.

" Well, then don't."

" Agreed.

" Hey! I hate to break up the party, but we've got incoming!" Kunsel shouted to the two others.

Sephiroth and Zack both turned their heads towards the main foyer as more copies came running into the room. 

" Zack where is Sam?" Sephiroth asked.

" He took off with a group of mechs and copies earlier. Told us to find you." Zack explained.

" I see. Kunsel stay here and keep things in check. There have been copy sightings in sector 8, that's where we're going." Sephiroth explained. 

" What about the copies?" Zack asked.

Sephiroth turned around and dashed towards the copies and in a single stroke, cut them down. 

Zack couldn't believe how fast Sephiroth was, he hardly saw his sword move the moment he swung it. Even tracking him across the room was hard.

" Wow." Zack muttered.

" Zack, we cannot delay." Sephiroth told the man.

" Right!" Zack ran to catch up with Sephiroth. 

Meanwhile, Kunsel bunkered down and barricaded off the entrance to the 49th floor along with other members of SOLDIER. 

" Alright, I should let Sam know what's going on." Kunsel muttered. He pulled out his phone and dialed Exodus' number. " Boss, you alright?" Kunsel asked.

" I'm fine, I took care of the mechs, but they blew up the floor, I'm down on the twenty-second floor. Did you find Sephiroth?" Exodus asked. 

" Yeah. He mentioned Hollander being behind the attack, as well as Genesis." Kunsel explained.

" I figured."

" He also said there were more copies spotted around the sector 8 area."

" Seriously?!" Exodus asked. He ran to the nearest window and looked out it. There was smoke coming from the city, suggesting that there were indeed threats. " Alright, what else did he say?" Exodus asked as he backed away from the window. 

" He and Zack are heading outside to deal with it, but that's it."

" Alright!" Exodus broke out into a full-on sprint.

" What do you mean alright-"

*Crash!

Kunsel heard a loud explosion on the other side of the phone.

" Boss? Boss, what was that?" Kunsel asked.

" Wohoooooooo!" Exodus shouted to the top of his lungs as he plummeted towards the city streets below.

" Boss?"

The call ended, leaving Kunsel to wonder what had happened.

Meanwhile, Exodus landed square in the middle of sector 8, near the Turks reno and rude who were busy dealing with the mechs and copies attacking their sector.

" Whew! That was a ride!" Exodus yelled. " Reno, Rude, you boys look like you could use a hand."

" Where did you come from?" Rude asked the man.

" Yeah, what the hell?"

Exodus grinned and pointed up to the Shinra building.

" You're one crazy son of a bitch, ya know that?"

" Hm. Looks like you guys could use a hand." Exodus muttered. He grabbed his sword from his back and stepped forward.

" Sorry, slick. Sector 8 is Turk territory." Reno stated.

" Heh, sorry, Reno." Exodus slammed his sword into the ground and revved it. " BUT I'M BAGGING THESE BICTHES!"

Exodus ran past Reno and Rude straight into the crowd of copies flowing towards Shinra.

Bodies of the copies were launched into the air as Exodus ran through them like a wrecking ball. Exodus swung his blade and forth, cutting and slash each of the would-be assassins. " Hm." He revved his blade's engine and the sword caught fire, the next time he swung it, the blade exploded like a bomb.

When the smoke cleared a large dent of the enemy's forces had been cleared away, but still there more remaining.

" Need a hand SOLDIER boy?" Reno asked as he and Rude stepped up.

Exodus held out a hand to the two men, telling them to stop. " No, go evacuate the citizens. This is getting worse and some of these copies are stronger than what they were."

" That ain't about to happen, pal. In case you haven't noticed we-"

" Rude, do me a favor and drag Reno by his scruff." Exodus told the man.

Rude pushed up his glasses and scoffed.

" Yeah right, like Rude would- Hey, wait a minute, ow that hurts! Let me go damnit! HEY!"

Rude had grabbed Reno by his collar and drug him away from Exodus. If you could see his face, you would have noticed the grin he was hiding behind his glasses. 

Exodus couldn't help but laugh a little as Rude dragged Reno into sector 8's city. " Alright, then boys. Let's get this done." Exodus raised his blade and made a mad dash into the crowd of enemies. 

The sound of explosions rocked the city, over and over again. Even as they ran, Reno and Rude could hear the noise coming from where they had left. 

When the smoke cleared away, the street leading into Sector 8 was littered with the corpses of multiple Genesis clones.

" Damn. Where to next?" He wondered. 

* Ring! Ring! Ring!

Exodus heard his phone ringing and picked it up.

" Hello." 

" Sam."

" Sephiroth? Where are you?" Exodus asked.

" Heading to reactor 5. Angeal's been sighted heading there." 

" Hmmm." Exodus sighed. " Alright, I'll meet you there, after I make sure Sector 8 is clear." 

" Be careful. The army is still mobilizing." Sephiroth explained.

" Alright, then we still have time. I'll see you soon." Exodus hung the phone up and put it back in his pocket. " Okay, then reactor 5 it is. Damn it, Angeal..."

................

Exodus swept the streets of sector 8 by rooftop, using the height to get a better view of the city. Once he was certain that the enemy had lost a significant number of its forces, he changed his direction and made a straight line for reactor 5 in Sector 5. 

It took some time, but Sephiroth had already trimmed the number of enemies surrounding the sector 5 reactor, meaning Exodus had a clear path to the reactor. 

" Sephiroth! Zack!" Exodus called out to the two men as they stood along the reactor's walkway. 

The two men noticed his approach and faced him. As Exodus got close, he noticed that there was an animal on the ground, with a surprising face. " What the hell is that?" Exodus asked as he looked at the white monster. " Is that Angeal's face?"

" Yes." Sephiroth spoke. " It would seem Genesis isn't the only one who can be copied."

" Then that means... Angeal is working with Hollander and Genesis. Damn!" Exodus cursed. DAMN IT! " Exodus slammed his hand on the side railing and broke it. 

" Calm yourself, brother." Sephiroth muttered.

" How?! Two of our greatest friends, have turned against us, and now... DAMN IT!" Exodus stomped away for a moment. Pacing back and forth while trying to calm himself. " What do we do now, brother?"

" We continue forward." Sephiroth muttered. " Hollander's laboratory is down this way. It's where we might find a lead on Angeal." Sephiroth explained.

" Yeah, alright. Let's go."

Zack found himself following the footsteps of Sephiroth and Exodus both. And even though this was something he had wanted for a long time; he couldn't find the excitement to muster. 

More of the creatures that had Angeal's face appeared along the way, but they were easily taken out by the combined might of Sephiroth and Exodus.

The two men working together cleared any threat that came their way, cutting them down with one strike. 

What monsters

That's what Zack thought deep within his mind as he followed the two SOLDIERs closely.

Eventually the three SOLDIERs came to a secret door. 

" Are you ready, Zack?" Sephiroth asked.

" Of course."

" Then let's go." Exodus kicked the door in and started walking down the secret stairway. The stairway led to a small secret room hidden within the plate's interior. There, inside, was a single vat filled with the same chemicals that were in the factory hidden back in Banora. 

" This is the same stuff, from Banora." Exodus spoke.

Sephiroth walked up beside him and stared into the tank. " How wretched." He said.

" Wow." Zack muttered. " There's some notes." He picked up the sheets of paper left on the nearby table and started reading. " Project G- Summary. Objective: Implant the cells of an Ancient into a human fetus to imbue said fetus with the ancients abilities. 

" What?" Exodus spoke.

" There's more." Sephiroth stated. He picked up another sheet and continued reading it. " The Ancients Project- It is now an undisputed fact that the life-form excavated from the earth is indeed of the ancient race spoken of in legend. Furthermore, history records that these Ancients channeled the power of this planet to tear the earth asunder. Using the cells of the unearthed ancient, we have begun research on creating and mass producing a race with comparable abilities. The primary objective is to significantly reduce mako excavation costs." Sephiroth flipped to the next page. " Report on the SOLDIER degradation Phenomenon- The heightened abilities of SOLDIER members are maintained by a delicate balance of various genetic factors. A change in this balance could only be caused by a leak of genetic information, but this is not possible under normal circumstances. This Phenomenon is unique only to SOLDIER Type-G." Hearing this brought back memories to Both Sephiroth and Exodus.

" Wait, Sephiroth, that means."

" Yes. That's when it happened." Sephiroth muttered.

" I'm sorry, guys. All of this is making woozy. What are you talking about?" Zack asked the two men.

" It was before Genesis left, we were in the training room and... Genesis got hurt." Exodus explained.

" I know, Sephiroth told me about it." Zack replied.

" He did, did he?"

" Yeah, but... I thought you said Genesis was fine. What happened?" Zack asked Sephiroth.

" Apparently, I was wrong. Shortly afterwards, Genesis went to recover... But he never did." Sephiroth explained. " The three of us went to see him, his physician at the time was none other than Doctor Hollander. He said Genesis needed a blood transfusion. I offered, but... He turned me away, saying the two of us." Sephiroth gestured to Exodus and himself. " Were unable, and instead took blood from Angeal. We were led to believe Genesis was fine afterwards. At the time I wondered why I couldn't do it... And now it seems I know. Because Genesis is a SOLDIER Type-G. Project- G gave birth to the man we know as Genesis."

" Project-G?" Zack asked. 

" Project Genesis." Exodus told the young man. It was pretty obvious with all the notes and research what that meant.

" Contrary to the report, Genesis showed signs of change." Sephiroth spoke.

" It was around that time, that Genesis became more aggressive." Exodus muttered. " Like he was a completely different person."

" You mean, he was Degrading?" Zack asked.

" Not only that." Sephiroth told the young man. 

" Copies?"

Sephiroth walked over to the green vat and stared into it, while Zack watched him. " Abominations." Sephiroth muttered softly.

Zack, Sephiroth, and Exodus stood quietly for a moment, taking time to absorb in all the knowledge they had just learned.

However, just then, Hollander came stalking down the stairs, and the three men all turned and faced him. Exodus and Sephiroth both glared at the man, with blood lust in their eyes. 

" S-Sephiroth? Exodus?" 

" Hollander. I knew I'd find you here." Sephiroth muttered. He and Exodus both took a step towards the man.

" You wanna do something to me, eh?" Hollander asked,

Exodus drew his gun and pointed it at Hollander. " You're damn right. I'm gonna paint the walls with your brains." 

" But then, who will stop Genesis' and Angeal's degradation?" Hollander asked.

This made both Exodus and Sephiroth pause in their tracks. 

" You don't get to use them as your pawns!" Exodus growled at the man. He went to take another step and shortly after, Genesis, the real Genesis, descended upon the three men, with his signature red rapier drawn. He stood in front of Hollander, protecting the man. 

" Genesis." Sephiroth muttered. Genesis raised his blade and pointed it at Exodus and Sephiroth. " You won't take Hollander. 

" Zack! Go!" Sephiroth ordered Zack to chase after Hollander, while Exodus and himself dealt with Genesis.

Genesis was more than willing to let the young man go by. He stepped to the side and Zack ran past him to chase after Hollander.

" There is no hate. Only joy. For you are beloved by the goddess." Genesis spoke.

" Oh, here we go again." Exodus muttered.

" Hero of the dawn. Healer of worlds." 

" Loveless, again. You never change." Sephiroth told the man.

" Three friends go into battle. One is captured. One flies away. And the one that is left becomes a hero."

Sephiroth shook his head. " A common story."

" If we were to enact it, would I be the one to play the hero, or would you?" Genesis asked Sephiroth.

" It's all yours." Sephiroth told the man.

" Indeed. After all, your glory should have been mine." Genesis mewled.

" How petty." 

" In hindsight perhaps." Genesis agreed with Sephiroth. " Now, what I want most is the gift of the goddess."

" And what's that, Genesis?" Exodus asked the man.

" To be free." 

" You seem to be pretty free, right now. What else do you need?" Exodus wondered.

" To be free of the degradation, Samuel. You should know by now. And Hollander is the only one who can help me."

" How is attacking Shinra helping you? What has he done to help you, Genesis. All he's done is make you kill your own family, turn your back on your friends, and ruin the legacy you had. You're so bent on chasing after Sephiroth, that you never stopped to LOOK AT WHAT YOU HAD!"

" Getting angry?"

" Damn right I'm angry! We could have searched for answers together. AGAIN! WE COULD DONE THIS TOGETHER!"

" And how would you have saved me from the monster that I am?"

" I don't know, Genesis. But I know whatever we could have done, is far better than selling your soul to a devil." 

[ The Price of Freedom.]

" Not everything, is so simple... My friend." Genesis muttered softly.

" But it is, Genesis.

Genesis stared at Exodus and Sephiroth, and they in turn stared back. Their bright bluish-green eyes sparkled in the light. Neither Exodus nor Sephiroth wanted to attack Genesis, but Genesis wasn't giving them much of any other choice. 

Suddenly the laboratory trembled.

" What was that?" Exodus asked.

" Brother, go find Zack!" Sephiroth exclaimed.

" I'm not letting you go." Genesis exclaimed.

Sephiroth drew his blade and pushed Genesis back on his heel, giving Exodus the time to slip past the man's guard and ascend the stairs. 

" That came from the plate's interior. That means..." Exodus grabbed the side railing of the plate and started jumping up the sides of the plate. Within moments, Exodus reached the top of the platform, and there he saw the source of the earlier explosion. " Well, well, would you look at that? It's been a while... Old friend." 

Exodus arrived just as Angeal and Professor Gast were getting ready to leave.

Angeal turned around upon hearing the man's voice.

" Sam..."

" Damn, Angeal. I can't believe. I didn't believe. You know. But standing here, it's hard not to feel betrayed."

Angeal was quiet. He clutched the hilt of his buster sword tightly. 

" You're using the sword now? You never did that before." Exodus muttered. " Hey, what happened to Zack, huh? I'm pretty sure Sephiroth and I told him to grab Hollander."

" He fell down that hole." Angeal told the man. He gestured with his head to the giant hole in the plate and Exodus sighed.

" Unbelievable. The kid only had one job. And to think, you trained him. Must have been a pretty shit teacher to let a kid fail a job as simple as grabbing a scientist."

" Yeah."

" Come on, man. Why don't you come with me, and we can try and get you and Genesis fixed up." Exodus told the man. " You, me, Sephiroth, Genesis... Hell, we can even take Zack and Kunsel with us. I'm sure they wouldn't mind helping out." 

Angeal remained quiet this time.

" Seriously, man... You're gonna just ignore me? Okay, then. Let me try something else. A simple question." Exodus muttered. " Genesis once told me, that I was just a footnote in his story. That Sephiroth was who he was after. What about you, Angeal? Is that how you feel too? Were we friends?" Exodus asked the man.

" No." Angeal muttered.

Exodus scoffed and flashed a small grin. " Heh. You know, you're a terrible liar Angeal."

Angeal hung his head and holstered his Buster Sword. He then reached over and grabbed Hollander.

Exodus raised his gun at the man, pointing it right at his chest. " Truthfully, I don't want to hurt you. Genesis? I don't mind punching him in the face, but you Angeal... You were like an older brother to all of us. Me and Sephiroth. We loved you. We still do. It's not too late to come back to us. We can say you were helping us stop Hollander. You and Genesis."

Angeal sighed heavily. " It is too late, my friend." Angeal's white wing came out and he and Hollander took off into the sky. 

Leaving Exodus behind. 

" Damn. Got away again, huh?"

...........