The Black Ninja

The sequal to my first story, and I have to say, I actually quite liked it. This story sees the entrance of my friends Geg, Arthur and most of all Yuno Imzadi into the story, all three of whom are fans of Ace.

Chapter 1 - Reilly

*Prologue* It had been three months since Ace Strife sacrificed his life in an attempt to defeat his mortal enemy. During those three months AVALANCHE often drifted the world in the hopes of finding the young worrier or even his enemy Sephiroth. Sadly, there attempts were pointless - Ace never appeared. One day a huge Earthquake cracked the northern content. Out of it drifted Ace’s shirt and jeans, covered in rips and holes. AVALANCHE went to the scene and for the first time appeared in the pubic eye. After being interviewed by reporters AVALANCHE’s story was posted through out the world. They achieved world fame when all they attempted to do was see if a friend still lived. Upon hearing about the recent events, Yuffie Kisaragi, a one time AVALANCHE member and friend of Ace approached the group, rejoining them. *End Prologue*

On the northern crater, twenty four hours after the earthquake stood AVALANCHE. Cloud Strife was talking on his PHS with Tifa Lockheart slowly walking towards him. Barret Wallace, Red XIII, Reeve, Cid Highwind and Vincent Valentine were examining the crater and the clothes.

"Right… We’ll meet you here."

"Who was that Cloud?"

"Yuffie."

Upon hearing that name, Barret turned around.

"Not her! Please!"

"She wants to talk to us. She wants to know more about Ace."

"She ain’t the only one."

"Fascinating…"

"What do you mean Red?"

Cloud began walking towards Red XIII as he examined the items of clothing.

"It appears that Ace turned his whole body into energy. The only damage the clothes received were from his battle with Sephiroth. I am more interested in learning how he learnt this."

"Red, wouldn’t some one else have inherited the power by now?"

"No Tifa. The power does not go to the next person within seconds. It takes time. The new Chosen One may receive his or her power in a few days, weeks maybe even months."

"But is there any need for the powers? Sephiroth is dead."

"There is still a new Dark One out there. Someone will inherit the dark powers some time soon."

Cloud walked over and picked up Ace’s clothes. The group then stood there for a few hours until Yuffie arrived.

Since Shinra crumbled, Midgar had slowly begun to change. Not long after Meteor was destroyed, some of the old buildings were turned into homes and schools. In sector five stood a ware house now turned into a collage. A group of four students began walking towards the door, two boys and two girls. One of the males had brownish blond hair and dark green eyes. He was wearing a white shirt and blue jeans. Over the top of the shirt he wore a black jacket with white stripes. He was continually trying to chat up one f the two girls he was walking with.

"Give it up Geg! I see you as a friend, not a potential boyfriend."

"Awww."

The other boy turned to laugh at him. He had black hair with brown eyes. He was wearing a black T-shirt and jeans.

"Better luck next time Geg!"

"Shut up Arthur. So, which dorm are we in?"

"All I know is that I’m your room mate Geg, and Janine and Felicia are in the room opposite." The

Janine was the girl Geg tried to chat up. She had short blonde hair, a blue top and jeans. Felicia had long black hair and was dressed in a similar way. As the group walked towards the main doors, another teenager tripped and feel head first into a wall, knocking him unconscious. He lay there for a good ten minutes. The boy had shirt blonde hair, a white shirt and red trousers. On the ground next to him lay a pair of glasses. The glass in the right frame had cracked. When he awoke, Geg, Arthur Janine and Felicia helped him to his feet.

"Are you alright?"

Janine picked up the boys glasses and handed them to him.

"Yeah, thanks… uh.."

"Janine. That guy over there is Geg, next to him is Felicia and finally Arthur. What’s your name?"

"Reilly."

Reilly’s eyes were a dark brown colour. Janine and Geg helped him to his feet, then began walking with him.

"Do you need to see a nurse about hitting your head?"

"Uh, no thanks Geg. I should be OK."

"Do you have a dorm?"

"No. it was in my room mate’s name, but he suddenly left and for some reason they won’t give it to me."

"You can share our dorm if you want, right Geg?"

Geg just stood there in silence, not saying a word.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

"OK. Thanks. I just need to go off for a minute to get a new set of glasses."

Reilly ran off down the hall, turned a corner and was out of sight towards the reception.

"I don’t know about you Felicia, but I think he was kinda cute."

Again, Geg just stood there in silence.

"What’s wrong Geg? Jealous?"

"…..No!"

"So, your telling me that Tameto used to call himself Ace Strife?"

"Tameto?"

"That was the name he had when he lived in Wutai."

"…."

Barret turned to Cid and spoke in a quite voice:

"I can now see why he called himself Ace!"

"So what happened to Tameto?"

Cloud began to tell Yuffie the end of Ace’s story and AVALANCHE’s recent the adventure.

"I should really tell my father about this. He would be pleased to hear that Tameto turned into a powerful warrior."

"OK. Cid."

"Yeah Cloud?"

"Take Yuffie back to Wutai."

"…… OK."

It had been a few hours since Reilly split off to get a new pair of glasses. He made his way to Geg’s dorm, asking a few people for directions. Reilly was carrying two heavy looking suitcases, even though he had a slightly skinny build. He eventually came up to a door with 357b on it. He knocked.

"Hello?"

"Just a second."

Geg opened the door, allowing Reilly in. Arthur, Janine and Felicia were all in the dorm, sitting on a large yet tatty coach. Reilly walked in with his suitcases and placed them on the floor, and rested himself against the kitchen table. The dorm was pretty basic. It was designed for three students. It had three rooms, two of which had beds. The third contained a small kitchen, two chairs and couch, which pulled out into a bed.

"So Reilly, tell us a bit about yourself."

"Well, I was raised in Rocket Town. My dad used to work for Cid Highwind on the rocket project. He made enough gil to send me to collage. What about you guys?"

"I knew Arthur since I was in kindergarden. We met Janine and Felicia in High school, and stayed friend since."

"Oh right. Do you all live locally?"

"Sort of. Arthur and I come from Kalm. There was no High School in Kalm, so we both had to walk to Midgar every day to go to school. Say, you a Martial Artist?"

"I like watching it, but I don’t train."

"I used to train."

"You did Arthur?"

"Yeah. But I last trained when I was a child. I forgot what I trained in."

"Any way, there’s this Martial Arts tournament in a few weeks. We all have tickets, and two extra."

"Why do you have extra one’s Geg?"

"Two of our friends almost came to Collage but changed their mind last minute."

"Oh."

"You can come if you want Reilly."

"Thanks Janine. I think I will."

It had been a while since the pod had been open at Hojo’s secret laboratory. Rufus returned once again to see if there was anything for Hojo to report.

"Hojo. Have you heard from it yet?"

"I’m afraid not Rufus. That is the problem with a human clone. They can be hard to keep track of."

"Has it received any of the powers yet?"

"The Dark One’s."

"Excellent. If you hear any more, let me know."

Like many times before, Rufus climbed the stairs leading out of the laboratory.

"Yes father, Tameto became a great warrior."

"What happened to him?"

"He sacrificed his life to stop a man of pure evil."

"Just like Tameto. It is a shame he is dead. I would like to have met him."

"I hear he still used the Katana Blade and Nuncukas you gave him right up to death."

"I have a feeling that Tameto is still with us. I can feel a great amount of energy from somewhere on this planet. I want you to help your team mates find him. If he is returned to us, he can help us steal more materia."

"At once father."

Yuffie left the tower of the five Gods and returned to the Highwind.

"Yo, Reilly. The Tournament is in a few hours. Are you up yet?"

Arthur was standing there, knocked on Reilly’s door. Both he and Geg were ready to head off to the Tournament.

"Hello? Are you OK in there?"

"I… think…. I’m sick."

"Oh. Do you think you can make the tournament?"

"I doubt it."

"Damn. I guess we’ll have to go. Come on Geg."

The two left the dorm, walked across the hall and picked up their friends. They then drove off to the Tournament.

At the tournament, they showed their tickets.

"By the way, we have tickets for our friends, but they couldn’t make it. Can we have out money back for them?"

"Sure, at half the price."

"Oh…"

Geg handed over the extra tickets while his friends went to find their seats. Within about half an hour, the Tournament started.

"Are you all ready to watch some Martial Arts?"

Chapter 2 - Enter the Black Ninja

*Prologue* The Chosen One legend is well known in the pubic. A person given super-human powers who uses them to protect the planet and all the life on it. However, the true potential of the power is rarely known. Ace Strife, the last Chosen One was able to learn the true potential and trained to reach it. The Chosen One power is split into four levels. While Mages only use the first level, fighters train in hopes of reaching the fourth level. Only one ever has. The first level is the one known by everyone. There are no changes to the person’s looks. At level two, their hair spikes up and turns white. The stronger they become, the spikier it becomes. At level three the hair stays white and grows in length down to the base of the person’s spine. This stage uses a lot of the person’s energy so chosen Ones often use the false third level, which has them look like there normal selves, and have half the power of someone at the third level. The fourth level is unknown. There are no documents talking about it.

Take from the "The notes of the Chosen One", written by AVALANCHE member Nanaki during the days he monitored Ace Strife’s training.
*End Prologue*

At the tournament, they showed their tickets.
"By the way, we have tickets for our friends, but they couldn’t make it. Can we have out money back for them?"
"Sure, at half the price."
"Oh…"
Geg handed over the tickets then, with his friends went to find their seats. Within about half an hour, the Tournament started.
"Are you all ready to watch some Martial Arts?"
The crowd cheered when they heard these words.
"OK then, lets bring out former champion, Yuno Imzadi!"
A nineteen year old boy walked onto the stage. He had black hair and brown eyes. He was wearing a black and white Tae Kwon Do suit and a black karate belt.
"Hello loyal fans. I hope you all enjoy your day."
Before anyone had a chance to talk to him Yuno walked off the stage. Yuno had been training in martial arts since a young age. He walked to his quarters and sat down. He had recently heard of Ace Strife’s death.
"I remember the day we fought Tameto. You were just ten years old but showed great potential. I was twelve and big headed. I thought you wouldn’t beat me, but you did. Then you and Yuffie left to attack Shinra. I was pleased that you didn’t return at first. It allowed Lord Godo to train me. But as I trained I learned more about you and how you trained. I am now a changed man thanks to the way you trained. But you are now dead."
Yuno sat there, deep in thought, remaining silent.

Meanwhile, Geg, Arthur, Janine and Felicia sat in their seats waiting for the tournament to start. Unfortunately they were not good seats. They were still able to see the tournament quite well but were a high up above the ring. Geg turned to Felicia who was sitting two seats away from him.
"Hey, don’t lean on my Geg!"
"Sorry Arthur. Anyway, don’t you think it’s a shame Reilly was unable to turn up?"
"Yeah." She paused for a few seconds before replying. "He seems like a nice guy. If he came we might be able to find out more about him."
Janine just starred into the sky while the rest talked. She then turned around and spoke.
"What do you think Reilly came down with?"
Geg thought for a few seconds then spoke.
"There was this person in one of our classes, can’t remember which though who went down with a bad cold a few days ago. Maybe Reilly caught it from her. She was coughing in his direction."
They sat there, talking while the tournament was being prepared.

Meanwhile in the waiting room, each candidate sat, waiting to find out when they will start. Most of them were wearing Karate Gi’s, apart from one person who was dressed in a black Ninja uniform. All that could be seen was his brown eyes looking out through a small slit on his mask. One of the fighters walked over to him.
"Why are you wearing that?"
The Ninja turned to him and replied.
"Why not?"
The Ninja look like he was in his late teens. After replying, he turned away again.
"Hey! I haven’t finished talking to you kid!"
"Leave the boy alone!"
"Sorry Yuno….."
The fighter talking to the Ninja backed away slowly from Yuno and the Ninja.
"I apologise for him. In the last tournament he reached the finals and lost to me. He became big head just because he was able to fight in the finals."
"Martial Artists shouldn’t be like that."
"Agreed. I hope to see you in the tournament…. Uh, what is your name?"
"My name is no one’s business. But here I call myself the Black Ninja."
"Understood."
Yuno walked away from the Ninja. As he did so, he slightly turned his head over his right shoulder and looked at him. Quietly under his breath he spoke.
"Where have I seen him before?"

About an hour later the tournament had begun. There were a total of fifty candidates entering this tournament. If Yuno able to beat one opponent, he would progress straight to the finals. His was the first match, against the man who spoke the to the Ninja. Before the fight started, the announcer explained the rules.
"You win a match if you are able to knock out your enemy for ten seconds, knock them out of the ring or if your opponent surrendered. Remember that attacks to the eyes and grin are forbidden. Let the tournament begin."
Not long into his match, Yuno was able to easily beat his opponent. The crowd cheered when he emerged victorious. Soon, the other battles took place, though none were as spectacular as Yuno’s until after the first hour when the Black Ninja entered the ring. His opponent was a tall white man with blond hair. Like the others he wore a Karate Gi with a black belt around it. The announcer started the match. Neither the Ninja or his opponent moved. They just stood there staring each other down. After the first few minutes the crowd began to talk.

"Hey Geg, what’s going on?"
"You should know Arthur! You used to do Martial Arts!"
"That was when I was just a kid Geg."
"Well, I guess they are staring each other down. Damn! I missed the first move trying to explain it to you!"

While Geg was talking to Arthur the man attacked the Ninja. With a flying kick aimed at his head, the Ninja just stood there, not moving an inch. At the last minute, he side stepped just as his opponent skimmed past his head.
"You seem like a good fighter boy. I have a feeling this will be a good match."
The Ninja just stood there, not replying. The man went to attack the Ninja again, but this time his move was blocked. The Ninja then grabbed his opponent’s fist and twisted his arm, kicked him in the chest and threw him onto the floor. The announcer began his count down as the Ninja stood there watching his opponents ever move. After the announcer reached ten, the man was carried off and the Black Ninja was declared winner.

"Some fight wasn’t it Geg?"
"How would I know Janine? I missed the first move talking to Arthur!"
"Ha ha haa, poor Geg." Janine turned to look at the Ninja again. "But you know something, I have a feeling that I know that Ninja from somewhere."

The Black Ninja walked out of the ring, and entered the Fighter’s Waiting room. He walked into a quite room, pulled down the curtain, closed the door then took his mask off and rested. He rubbed his face for a few minutes then putt his mask back on. His mask was damp with sweat. It was a warm day and black was not the best thing to wear on a day like this. While the fight didn’t cause him to become to warm, it still made him sweat slightly. That combined with the warm weather and his black costume cuased him to sweat a lot of water. In the room was a small water dispenser. He stood up and walked towards it, poored himself a drink and returned to his seat. When he finished his drink he rung his mask, placed it back on and walked out the room. Another candidate stood by the door.
"Have you finished with that room?"
"Yes."
"OK, thanks. By the way, nice fight you had. The man you beat was one of the best fighters I know. You must be something to beat him."
"Thanks for the compliment."
The Ninja walked towards the entrance of the waiting room. From there was able to look out over the crowd. He looked up, squinted and faintly made out the shape of Geg.
"I forgot that they would be here! Looks like I’ll have to make it back as quickly as I can when I have finished."

The other matches were over in a few hours. The Black Ninja had made it through to the finals against Yuno Imzadi. During the ten minute break before the fight, Yuno turned to him.
"I am glad I am fighting you. You seem like a worthwhile opponent. Tell me, have we met before?"
"Not that I know of."
"OK, fair enough."

"And now, let us bring out Yuno Imzadi and the Black Ninja for the final battle!"
Yuno and Ninja entered the ring, and waited for the match to begin. A few seconds after they were both ready the match started. Yuno made the first move, punching the Ninja in the face. The punch landed on his cheek. The Ninja stepped back slightly from this attack, then stood there. Yuno went to punch him again, but was this time blocked. The Ninja held Yuno’s arm with this right hand then countered the attack with a punch to the ribs with his left. He the attempted a back hand strike which involved swinging his hand at the side of Yuno’s face. Yuno moved his head at the last second then kicked the Ninja, forcing him to lose his grip on Yuno’s arm. Yuno then ran forward and unleashed a fury of attacks at the Ninja, mainly composing of punches. The Ninja was being pushed back towards the edge of the ring, but at the last second punched Yuno. He went to punch him again, but Yuno dodged his attack, grabbed the punching hand and swung the Ninja out of the ring. The Ninja struck his head on the wall outside, and feel unconscious.
"Yuno wins! Now, lets carry the Ninja off to the rest area. Say fans, should we take his mask off?"
The crowd cheered when they heard this. The announcer had the Ninja brought back onto the, and moved towards him.
"Stop right there!"
"What is it Yuno?"
"This boy wares a mask for a reason. We should not betray his wished by taking it off. I will carry him to the rest area myself."
Yuno picked up the Ninja and carried him off.

As he was being carried away unconscious, he heard an old man speak to him. He entered his mind, much like Ace did to battle Jenova and spoke with the old man.
"Greetings Ninja"
"Who are you?"
"At the moment this does not matter. But I must speak with you now. You are different to other people you know."
The two spoke. When the conversation had finished the Ninja woke up and saw Yuno.
"I suggest you leave soon. The tournament ended and people are leaving."
"Oh my God! I have to go. I am sorry!"
"I understand. Perhaps I will see you again."
"Perhaps."

The Ninja ran out the back door and along the rooftops. The tournament was being held in Midgar, and the Ninja ran in the direction of the Collage. He entered through a window into Geg, Arthur and Reilly’s dorm. There he removed his mask again, to revealed that all along Reilly was the Black Ninja. He quickly changed, returned to his room and jumped back into bed. He then put his head over a bucket and put his fingers down his through, forcing him to be sick into the bucket. Not long afterwards, Geg and the rest returned.
"You OK still Reilly?"
"I…. think….. I’m a little better."
"Do you want me to come in Reilly?"
"I think I can actually stand Geg. Give me a few minutes to come out."
While still in bed, Reilly reached for his costume and hid it under the mattress. He then walked out the door. Janine rushed over to him, and placed her hand on his forehead.
"He’s sweating like crazy, and it’s cold. Yet his forehead is hot."
"Anything we can do Reilly?"
"I just need to rest Geg."

A few days later, Reilly finished facing his illness. Meanwhile a teenage boy washed onto the shores of Mideel. A news team rushed over, and made a special report the second they found him.
"I am standing in the ruined village of Mideel to bring you this shocking news. Earlier yesterday, a teenage boy washed onto the shore. He appears to have no memory of who he is, but he looks just like the boy AVALANCHE described as Ace Strife."

Chapter 3 - The Return of Ace

As soon as they heard the news, AVALANCHE rushed to the Highwind and headed for Mideel. After the tournament, Yuno Imzadi had returned to Wutai to train. When he heard that Ace was alive, he contacted AVALANCHE, knowing they would go to find the young fighter. He asked them to let him go with them, so he could once again see the fighter. AVALANCHE started at Rocket Town, where Cid kept the Highwind and took a detour to pick Yuno from Wutai. From there they flew to Mideel to meet Ace. During the first part of the flight, Yuno spent his time talking to Cloud, asking him questions about Ace and his battle with Sephiroth.

"How long have you known Tameto?"

"Ever since the day Meteor entered Earth’s atmosphere Yuno. What about you?"

"Tameto and I once fought when he was only ten. He beat me in combat and took my place as disciple of Lord Godo. It wasn’t ‘till he was captured by Shinra that I learnt of his way and views of life."

"I see."

Cloud turned to Red, rubbed his hand on his chin then spoke.

"I’ve been wondering Red. You said Ace sacrificed himself to defeat Sephiroth, yet he’s now been found alive almost four months after the battle. How has he been revived, and why has it taken him so long to be revived?"

"I’m afraid I have no idea. I have only read the texts about the Chosen One, and they have never gone into the Chosen One in great detail. I once heard that the Chosen One possessed the ability to heal and revive him or herself, but it was usually the Mages."

"Mages?"

"Magic users. Ace is more of a fighter, which is rare among Chosen Ones."

"Excuse me, Mr Red. Would these Chosen One powers affect Tameto’s fighting skills?"

"Yes Yuno. The power of the Chosen One would increase Ace’s speed, strength and agility. He also poses the ability to turn his dormant energy into a fiery attack, use his dormant energy to fly and turn his dormant energy into any kind of short range weapon. More powerful incarnations of the Chosen One have learnt to separate their Chosen One powers from there body, allowing them to have fair fights."

"Does Tameto posses this skill?"

"No. Ace never learnt it. It is said that only those who master the power of the Chosen One can perform this."
"How would Tameto go about mastering his power?"

"There are legends of a fourth level of the Chosen One. There are no documents that say what it looks like or if it even exists. If the fourth level does not exist, then Ace would just need to train harder in the third level to master it."

Red spent the rest of the journey to Mideel explaining the Chosen One to Yuno. Meanwhile, down a dark alley in Midgar.

"All right nerd, put your hands up and give us your money, unless you wanna bleed."

"H…. H… Here…."

Down a dark alleyway, a tall, dark well built man, holding a knife was threatening a smaller person. Then from the shadows, a person dressed in black appeared behind him.

"Why are you picking on the weak?"

"Huh? Who’s there?"

"Me - The Black Ninja."

"Oh Sh…"

Reilly had used his Black Ninja alias to fight petty crime in Midgar at night, as long as it didn’t affect his studying. He walked up to the mugger, kicked the knife out of his hand and threw him against a wall, knocking him unconscious. He dragged the mugger out of the alleyway, with the victim behind him. As soon as the public saw the Ninja dragging the unconscious body, some of them called the police. The Ninja throw the body into the centre, then ran off back to collage. He had heard about Ace’s revival. Smelling something bad, he decided to use his up coming holiday to find out about Ace’s sudden return. Because of the way the collage time table was written, on certain days Reilly had a free space where Geg and Arthur had a lecture. Reilly occasionally used these times to fight crime. As always, he opened the window to his bedroom, crept in and pulled off his mask. Suddenly, he heard the door open and voices came in from the main room.

"So Arthur, have any work to do from class?"

"No, but I know you do. You can use this cancelled lesson as a chance to catch up Geg."

Hearing the voices through the closed door, Reilly jumped back into bed and hid his mask under his pillows.

"Arthur. You head for the library. I’ll pick up my notes and meet you there."

"OK Geg."

Geg began walking towards Reilly’s door, and reached to open it.

"What am I doing? The notes are on the table."
He walked over, picked them up then left the dorm.

"That was close."

Reilly quickly changed, then hid his costume under his regular clothes.

"After I’ve found out about Ace, I’m gonna have to stop being the Black Ninja. It’s starting to interfere with my collage work."

Reilly picked up his class notes, then decided to join Geg and Arthur in the library.

"Ace. Ace. Do you recognise me? It’s me Cloud."

"Cloud?"

About an hour ago, AVALANCHE landed at Mideel and entered the house where Ace was being kept. One of the people looking after him walked over to Cloud.

"I’m sorry Mr Cloud. Young Ace has no memory of who he was. He has no idea about his fighting skills or the powers he posses. He has even started to think of me and my wife as his parents."

"Oh."

Cloud turned to AVALANCHE, and began discussing what they should do with him.

"I feel we should take him with us, and help him remember who he once was."

"That’s easier said then done Cloud."

"Why do you say that Barret?"

"That guy over there said Ace started to see the couple as his parents. I’m not sure if Ace will come willingly."

"Damn. Well, we should at least try."

Cloud walked away from the group and turned to Ace.

"Ace, we want you to come with us. We want to help you."

"No. I don’t want to leave."

"Please Ace. It’s for your own good."

"No."

Cloud stood up, scratched his head then shrugged.

"I don’t know what to do with him."

"Let me try Cloud. Ace."
"Yes dad?"

"Ace, I’m not your real father. I’m sorry I had to tell you that, but it’s true. You belong with AVALANCHE. You’re a member of their team, and they want to help you become the man you once were. Please Ace, go with them."

Ace sat there in silence for a while as he thought about this.

"If you say it’s the right thing I should do, I’ll go."

"Hey Reilly, did you hear on the news that Ace Strife is alive."

"Well, yeah Geg! They did bloody news specials about the kid."

"They say he’s the Chosen One. To think the legend of the Chosen One lives."

"You’re forgetting one thing Arthur. Ace hasn’t used his powers yet has he Reilly?"

"Well, they say he has amnesia. He can’t remember a thing."

Ace washing up on the shore of Mideel had been one of the biggest news topics of the year. Most people didn’t understand why, or didn’t care but there was a few who did.

"Anyway, I gotta get on with my work. I need to have it in next week."

"Nerd."

"What did you call me Geg?"
"You are such a nerd Reilly!"

"Hey Reilly, what time does our next class start?"

"God Arthur, it’s twelve thirty."
"And what time is it?"

"Oh sh…. Class starts in a few minutes!"

The three of them scrambled to collect their notes and run off.

During the whole flight back to Nibelheim, Ace spent his whole time alone. He didn’t want to be disturbed, and just sat trying to remember his past. However, he remembered nothing. AVALANCHE and Yuno spent their time in the cockpit.

"How can he not remember a thing? It doesn’t make any sense."

"I may be intelligent and have a vast knowledge of the Chosen One Cloud, but even I have no idea why he can’t remember anything."

"We can’t really help him either. When we first met Ace, he told us he had no memory of his birth parents, his birth name. We don’t really know much about his training at Wutai or with Shinra. Yuno and Yuffie can help him with his past in Wutai but otherwise we can’t really help him."

When Vincent finished his comment, everyone just stood in silence. After landing in Nibelheim AVALANCHE tried to help Ace recover his memories. Because they knew nothing of his past, AVALANCHE were unable to really help the boy. Yuno was only able to stay with AVALANCHE for the first week, but then went to return to Wutai. He didn’t return for another three weeks. Even then, AVALANCHE hadn’t made much progress. Ace had recovered basically nothing of his past before he meet AVALANCHE, had vague memories of his fighting skills. His Chosen One powers didn’t develop either. Red assumed that the next Chosen One had been chosen and received Ace’s old powers.

Meanwhile, the Midgar collage had closed for a three week holiday. The students all left to enjoy themselves. Janine’s father owned one of the biggest hotels in Midgar, and would allow Janine and her friends to stay there for half the price.

"So what do you think?"

"Sure, I’ll take it up."

"Might as well."

"Should be nice."

"OK, what about you Reilly?"

"I’m sorry, but my parents had already made plans. He wanted to go some place special with me and my mom. I’m sorry."

"No, it’s OK. Your family comes first. You have a nice time Reilly."

"Thanks. I hope you guys do to."

Reilly walked his separate way from the group, down a dark alleyway. He was able to leave all his clothes at collage so had no suitcases to carry.

"God, do I hate lying to them, but I have a strange feeling about Ace Strife. I want to look into this more."

Reilly changed into his costume, put his clothes in a bag and strapped it to his back. He then used the fire escape on one of the buildings to reach the roof, and began jumping along. He had heard rumours of a secret underground, laboratory which, according to his sources were involved in a cloning project. Reilly wasn’t sure of its exact location, and spend the next few days looking for it. When Reilly fell unconscious during the martial arts tournament, he learnt he had no parents. He didn’t tell his friends this though.

"Hey guys, I think we’re starting to get somewhere."

"What is it Cloud?"
"Tifa, I think Ace is starting to remember more of his past."
"Really? Hey everyone, Ace is starting to remember more."

Yuno had returned from Wutai for a few days to help Ace. Like the rest of the group, he came running to Ace. Cloud had been helping Ace in Tifa’s kitchen, just like they had been for the past few days. AVALANCHE used Tifa’s house because it was the only place they knew they could use.

"Ace, tell us more about yourself?"
"I am Ace Strife. That isn’t my real name. I took it from Shinra’s name for my training - project Ace, and documents I found about Cloud at Shinra. I was once trained by Shinra and Wutai, but am now a member of AVALANCHE."

When he finished speaking, he smiled for a few seconds, but then began blinking repeatedly, then shook his head. When he stopped, he look at Cloud and punched him in the face.

"HEY? What was that for?"

The look in Ace’s eye’s had changed. They had gone from the innocent look that was in them a few seconds ago to the look of someone evil and insane. He then began laughing like a mad man.

"I must revive Shinra."

He ran towards the door, clasped his hands together and charged an energy blast. However, these was different. The energy wasn’t white, but black.

"It…. it can’t be. Ace is the new Dark One. I never heard of a Chosen One becoming a Dark One. He’s putting a lot of energy into that attack. Quickly, someone hit him!"

Yuno ran towards Ace, and at the last second before Ace fired his attack, punched him in the jaw. Barret then grabbed him and threw him out of the door, which had been opened by Cloud. They then watched as a black aura covered Ace as he charged up the energy to fly off.

While all this was happening Reilly had managed to break into the laboratory to find both Hojo and Rufus dead. He looked around the room, and found some notes on a table as well as a video diary. He examined the notes by the pod, then walked over to the videos. He picked up the one marked "Ace vs Sephiroth". He watched it, and learnt that Hojo had managed to take a cell sample from Ace once when he was sleeping. When Ace left Shinra, Hojo began making clones from the cell samples. He learnt everything there was to know by watching each video, then ran off out of the open door. From what he read and saw, he learnt that the clone had been released from the pod during the battle, and absorbed the powers of the Dark One. This was written in both the latest set of notes and mentioned in the last video, marked the day before Ace washed up at Mideel. Another video was being filmed the day Ace washed ashore. In it, Reilly saw Ace mercilessly kill Hojo and Rufus. The Dark One powers had turned the clone insane. He also learnt that the clone had been programmed to revive Shinra. Reilly ran out of the laboratory, out into the day light. He looked out towards the Gold Saucer, then ran towards Costa Del Sol. He knew what he had to do - go to Midgar, and fight Ace.

Chapter 4 - The New Shinra

A woman was walking down a dark alleyway in Midgar. Her appearance was hard to see because of the lack of light, but from what could be told, she had long hair and a jacket. Strapped to her back was a good sized axe. After she turned a corner, she began to look around with a suspicious look on her face, as she knocked on a door. The door opened, and a guard allowed her in. Just before the door was closed, the guard stuck his head out to make sure no one was watching. He then bring his head back in, closed the door and guided the woman to a room. The woman was wearing a normal sized black denim jacket. She wore a T-shirt and jeans, both of which were a dark blue colour. Her axe was painted red except for the blade, which left un-painted. Her hair was long and red, and her eyes were a light blue. She looked like she was in her late teens, roughly seventeen years old. As soon as the woman entered a room, the guard left her and closed the door. In front of the woman was a desk and a chair with it’s back to her.

"So, you finally arrived Theora?"

"Yes Mr. Don."

"Excellent. As soon as Scythe arrives, we can carry out our operation."

The chair turned around to reveal a twenty year old man. He was dressed in a black suit from head to toe. Both his eyes and hair was a light brown colour. On both hands he wore silver plated knuckle dusters. He looked like a crime lord. He looked at Theora from his chair and spoke.

"We have waited a long time to be able to strike at him, for what he did to us two years ago."

"Yes Mr Don. He said he loved me, only to cast me aside when he heard I was a thief."

"We shall teach him not to mess with us, not to mess with Storm."

The guard poked his head through the door and spoke.

"Sir, Scythe has just entered the building."

"Excellent. Send him in."

A tall man was sent into the room. He was dressed in a long cloak which covered his entire body. On his back was strapped a folded up scythe. He looked like he was in his late twenties, early thirties. His hair was short and black, and his eyes were a dark brown. He looked like the strong, silent type. He spoke

"It has been a while Mr Don. I knew your father well."

"Oh course you did Scythe. You were his best bodyguard. Now, let us plan what were going to do with Project Ace, or as he now calls himself Ace Strife."

A fight was going on outside North Corel, a fight between the Black Ninja and black, winged monsters known as Soul Sucker. There were three of these monsters fighting Reilly, with two corpses lying next to him. Some of the people from the town had come out to watch the fight, but kept their distance from the Ninja and the monsters. Parts of Reilly’s mask had been destroyed around the top of his head. His blond hair was sticking out from the gaps. In his hands he held a short Katana blade, and was slicing up one of the monsters with it. He rammed the sword into the monster’s gut, killing it. Before he could remove his sword, the other two monsters attacked him, throwing him off balance. Reilly jumped backwards, landed on his hands and kicked one of the monsters in the jaw with both his feet. He then flipped himself away from the monsters to land back on his feet. One of the monsters vanished before his eyes, and appeared behind him. It crabbed both of his arms and held him. The other monster ran towards Reilly, and began to pound the boy, causing more damage to his mask. Suddenly, a white flash dazzled the monsters and the town people. When the light cleared, the Highwind was coming close to landing and Reilly was glowing. Part of the left side of Reilly’s mask had been destroyed revealing part of his hair, part of the area around his left eye and part of his cheek. Reilly stood there, glowing with a white aura before the monsters. He then clapped his hands together and blasted one of the monsters, destroying it. The second monster lunged itself at him, taking off his mask when it hit him, Reilly quickly turned his face away from the crowd and continued to fight the monster. Reilly knew one of the people from collage lives in North Corel, and he didn’t want to be recognised. AVALANCHE had been forced to land the Highwind on the opposite side of the desert prison surrounding the Gold Saucer and had begun to run towards the battle field. As soon as they landed, Yuno recognised the Black Ninja from the tournament, but stopped when he saw the Ninja blasting his enemies. When Red XIII caught up with him, Yuno turned to him.

"Tell me, is a Chosen One capable of blasting its enemy like that?"

"Oh yes."

"Then the Ninja must be the new Chosen One. I once fought with him, and I believe his fighting skills and new power shall help us beat Dark Tameto."

Reilly blasted the other monster, killing it. Since Reilly had left the laboratory, he had purchased a bag and a sword. He then returned to the laboratory to collect some of Hojo’s notes. He planned to meet up with AVALANCHE, and use the notes to get them to help him beat Ace’s clone. The previous night, he had another one of those dreams. In it, the old man revealed himself to be the first Chosen One. During the dream, he told Reilly he was the new Chosen One, and gave him the power to reach the second level of the Chosen One power. Reilly had hoped to use the second level of the Chosen One to disguise himself if ever he lost his mask in battle, but he knew it was too late. He picked up his mask and pulled it back over his face, causing more damage to the worn away material. He picked up his bag, and used his enhanced abilities to run towards the Highwind. AVALANCHE watched him board the vehicle and decided to join Reilly.

Much of Shinra Headquarters had been destroyed when Meteor struck it. So, when Ace clamed the building as his own and appointed himself as the new leader of Shinra, he used the highest floor as his office. No one knew quite well what floor he was on, as most of the floor numbers had been destroyed. Ace sat at a desk, pressed a button and summoned in a Shira Soldier. Ace still had that dark, insane look in his eyes. As soon as the Soldier entered the room, Ace spoke to him.

"Have you found him yet?"

"No Sir. We still haven’t found Reno."

Ace lowered his eyebrows.

"I don’t take failure easily."

He raised his left hand and aimed it at the Soldier. Dark energy started to appear at his palm. The Soldier began to beg for mercy, but Ace didn’t listen, and blasted the Soldier, killing him. Ace then started to laugh like a mad man for a few minutes, before ordering his Soldiers to pick up the pace of finding Reno, or else die.

Aboard the Highwind, Reilly sat at the desk in the Operations Room, He had passed around all the notes he took from Hojo’s secret laboratory. He also used the screen to play some of the video diaries, including the one where Ace killed the clones of Hojo and Rufus in the laboratory. When it had finished, AVALANCHE sat in silence. Reilly was still wearing his Ninja costume, but he had removed his now ruined mask. Cloud turned to Reilly and spoke.

"So you’re telling us Mr…."

"Reilly"

"Reilly, that Ace is a clone."

"Yep."

"Hmm. Are you the new Chosen One?"

"Yes."

Red XIII hadn’t been sitting in any of the chairs, as he couldn’t fit into any. He turned to Reilly and spoke.

"Do you have a Spirit Guide?"

"Not really. I have had these visits by this old guy while I’m sleeping. In my latest one, he told me I was the new Chosen One and gave me the powers of a second level Chosen One."

"I never really asked Ace if he had one. A Chosen One is often guided by a Spirit Guide. I never asked Ace if he had one. It’s quite strange that you don’t have one."

"Does any of you know how I can get a new mask?"

Cloud looked at Tifa, then at Reilly.

"I think Tifa has some old material at her home. It’ll be a slight detour, but if you want you’re identity protected it’s our best option, as long as the rest of you don’t mind?"

AVALANCHE didn’t seem to mind the detour, and the Highwind turned around to return to Nibelheim. It didn’t take long for the Highwind to reach Nibelheim. As soon as it did, Cloud, Yuno and Tifa rushed off the Highwind towards Tifa’s home. Reilly took to the sky and entered the building in a flash. While Tifa went to look for some material, Yuno began to tell Reilly and Cloud about a weapon of his.

"It’s called Alator. It’s like a spear, except the handle is much shorter and another blade is opposite the first."

Reilly scratched his chin for a few seconds, then turned to Yuno.

"I think I know what you mean. What kind of weapon is it?"

"It’s light, but strong. It was made by Lord Godo’s top weapon smith. It has been decorated well and none of the decoration has come off during battle."

"Have you used it much in battle?"

"Yes."

"And it’s kept so well? Amazing."

"I was hoping, when we’ve finished here we can go to Wutai to collect it."

Cloud sat for a few minutes, got up, and walked towards a cabinet.

"If you’re gona fight Ace Reilly, I suggest you use this."

Cloud pulled out a wrapped sword, and passed it to Reilly. Reilly un wrapped it to reveal Masamune.

"It was once Sephiroth’s sword. Ace has Melmusa, a smaller, slightly weaker version. If you can wield it, you’ll stand a good chance against Ace."

Reilly decided not to swing it, because he didn’t want to damage anything. He strapped the sword to his back. A few minutes later, Tifa returned with two pieces of red cloth.

"I hope this is ok Reilly, it’s all I had."

"I don’t really mind. Black goes with anything. I like the colour of this red."

"It’s scarlet."

There were two pieces of the material. Reilly tied one piece to the top of his head and the other, larger piece over his mouth and nose. He then tied the backs together as best he could to help keep the mask together. They re-boarded the Highwind, and flew to Wutai to pick up Alator. As soon as Yuno boarded the Highwind, they headed towards Midgar. During the flight, Reilly walked off to sleep. As he slept, he was visited again by the Chosen One.

"Chosen One, I come before you to tell you one more thing."

Meanwhile, Storm had managed to break into the Shinra Headquarters, and learned Ace was on the top floor. They had killed quite a few Soldiers as they journeyed towards Ace’s office. It didn’t take them long to reach Ace. When they reached Ace’s office, Scythe rammed the door down then drew his scythe. Don cracked his knuckles, and Theora drew her axe. Ace was sitting with his back to the group.

"How may I help you?"

Ace turned around and got up. He was wearing a Turk’s uniform. Melmusa was placed on the desk. Ace walked in front of his desk and stood, looking at the group.

"Storm isn’t it? You must forgive me. Turning insane caused me to lose some of my memory."

He then started to laugh like the insane person he was. Don looked at the others with a confused expression on his face then turned to Ace.

"We have come to avenge everything you did to use in the past!"
"Awww. Did I hurt you?"

A big grin grew on Ace’s face, then he began to laugh again.

"Shut up and fight me."

"Ok."

Don entered a strong, well balanced fighting stance. Ace just stood there. Don ran towards Ace, jumped into the air and stretched out one of his legs to kick Ace. At the last second, Ace raised his left arm up to his face, and blocked the kick. Just before Don fell to the ground, Ace punched him in the gut, winding him. Ace then began to kick Don as he lies on the floor. Scythe ran towards Ace and raised his weapon. The blade struck Ace on the neck and shattered. Ace turned around to face Scythe, then blasted him. The force threw him into a wall, nearly breaking it. Theora just stood there, watching Ace kick Don. Ace, then called in a few Soldiers.
"Have you found Reno yet?"

"Yes sir. He’s hiding in a hotel."

"Hmmm. Have every one in the hotel brought to me now."

"Yes sir. What about these people here?"

"Leave them. I haven’t finished with them."

"Yes sir."

Geg just sat in one of the hotel rooms. They hadn’t done much since they got there. They mainly thought of Reilly, disappointed he couldn’t join them. Geg got up and walked over to a wall, then leaned on it.

"I know we don’t know him well, but it just doesn’t feel right with out him."

"Who Arthur? He shouldn’t be off too long."

"Not Arthur Janine, Reilly."

"Sorry. It’s so boring here, I had to crack a joke."

"Well it wasn’t good."

They then heard a banging on the door. Geg opened the door to reveal Arthur.

"Hey guys, we should think about going like now! A bunch of Shinra Soldiers have busted into the hotel and are demanding Reno, or else everyone will be taken."

"How the hell we goan get out Arthur?"

"Why don’t we use the window Geg?"

Just then, a group of five Shinra Soldiers broke into the room, and dragged everyone away to Shinra Headquarters.

Ace held Don up by the hair.

"I don’t know who you are, or what you want, but nobody breaks into Shinra Headquarters and gets away with it."

Ace raised his free hand, and began to charge some energy. He put his hand right onto Don’s chest.

"Good bye!"

Just as he was about to blast Don, Ace was hit by a white blast. Ace shook his head, got up and turned to see AVALANCHE. Reilly had blown a hole in the wall, and was carrying in each member one by one. By the time Ace entered Ace’s office, every member of AVALANCHE and Yuno had been carried in. Ace whipped his mouth, then turned to Reilly.

"Who the hell are you?"

"I am the Black Ninja."

"Listen kid, the Black Ninja is dressed in black. He doesn’t have a scarlet mask!"

"Shut up!"

"Make me."

Reilly powered up and lunged himself at Ace, getting ready to punch him.

Chapter 5 - The Fight

Reilly powered up and lunged himself at Ace, getting ready to punch him. At the last second, Ace ducked and kicked Reilly in the gut. Reilly staggered back, regained his footing and went to do an elbow drop on Ace. Ace laughed at Reilly, then jumped up into the air, and performed a spinning kick. The kick hit Reilly in the jaw, spinning him in the air. He hit himself on a wall, and collapsed unconscious.

"Is that all? I expected you to put up more of a fight. Oh well, I’ll blast you."

Ace paused for a second, and began to power up. His hair turned black and stood up on end. Black lightning started to flash around him, as his hair began to grow backwards. Within a few seconds, his hair was as long as his spine. Everyone in the room stood in shock, unsure of what to make of what just happened. Red was the first one to speak.

"He has just powered himself up to Dark One level three. Unless Re… I mean the Black Ninja can match that, there is no hope."

Just then, a group of five guards brought in Geg, Arthur, Janine, and Felicia. One of them turned to Ace, and was preparing to speak. But as soon as he saw Ace he began to stutter.

"S.. S.. Sir, we brought four of the people from the hotel, if you wish to interrogate them about Reno’s whereabouts."

"Not right now. I’ll just destroy them."

Just then Reilly woke up, saw Ace aim his hand at Geg and began to charge up. Reilly’s hair turned white and stuck up on end, ripping the top of his mask. He then ran towards his friends, and with every step his hair grew longer. When he reached Geg, his hair was at the same length as Ace’s. At that very second, Ace’s attack hit Reilly. The attack destroyed the back of Reilly’s mask, revealing his face to his friends.

"Oh crap!"

"Reilly! You were the Black Ninja?! Why didn’t you tell us."

"Look, I know you’re pissed off about this, but it isn’t the time. I have to defeat Ace. AVALANCHE, please take everyone away from here while I fight Ace. I don’t want Ace to use anyone as a hostage."

"OK Reilly. Good luck."

"Thanks Cloud. I’m gona need it."

Ace stood there with his arms folded, and his right eyebrow raised.

"Excuse me, but were fighting here. Can we please finish it."

Reilly turned around to face Ace, cracking his knuckles as he did so.

"OK."

"Well, with you’re longer hair, you may put up a decent fight."

Ace put his hand on his desk, and drew Melmusa. His eyebrows lowered into an evil fashion. Reilly put his hand on the hilt of Masamune, which was strapped to his back, and drew it. As the sword came out of the scabbard, light reflected off the blade. He then held the hilt with both hands, and held it next to his right cheek, with the tip of the blade pointing towards Ace. Ace stood there, grinning at Reilly.

"Are you going to make the first move, or am I?"

Reilly, confused at Ace’s last comment looked at Ace.

"What?"

As he stood there confused, he lowered his sword. Ace quickly lunged himself at Reilly, the tip pointing towards his target. Ace was within seconds of stabbing Reilly through the heart. At the last second, Reilly jumped up into the air, and spin kicked Ace in the face.

"Now were even."

Ace just looked at Reilly, then yelled as he swung the blade upwards. Reilly jumped backwards, narrowly avoiding the blade. He then stayed in mid air, and performed a one-handed blast at Ace. As the blast threw Ace backwards, Reilly fired another two. The blasts made Ace slide back towards the wall. As he began to get up, Reilly released a huge energy blast.

"Oh… shit!"

The attack threw Ace out of the tower, creating a big hole. Reilly placed Masamune in it’s scabbard, and flew after Ace. Ace had dropped Melmusa after he was hit by Reilly’s first attack. As soon as Ace realised what happened, he flew up to met Reilly. The two began to fight in mid air, throwing punches and kicks at each other. Some of the attacks hit, while others were blocked or missed.

As the two fought outside, AVALANCHE and Yuno were running down the floors, killing any Shinra SOLDIER that got in their way, and releasing people taken hostage. When Reilly first met AVALANCHE and Yuno, he explained that he was an expert in martial arts. The first time he joined the collage, he heard that martial arts was really popular there, yet he wanted people to like him because of the person that he is, not the skill he possesses. As AVALANCHE escorted Reilly’s friends away, Cloud repeated to them what he heard from Reilly. After hearing this, Arthur turned to Geg, and spoke.

"So that’s why he faked the illness, and never told us about his skills."

"Do you feel as betrayed as I do about Reilly?"

Arthur scratched his head, then replied.

"Why do you say that?"

"Well, he lied to us about him being sick so he could enter the tournament."

"And?"

"Arthur, he lied to us."

"Geg, Reilly’s a martial arts expert. Martial arts are rated highly in the collage. I recognised at least ten people from one of our classes at the tournament. If Reilly told everyone his skills and told us he planned to enter the tournament, everyone in the collage would have known. Everyone would want to know Reilly just because of his skill, not because of the person he is."

Barret, then turned to Geg and Arthur

"Will you two just shut up!"

To keep Reilly’s friends safe, AVALANCHE decided to surround them as they ran away. Tifa was in the group behind. After hearing Barret’s comments, she made eye contact with him, and frowned.

"This is there friend there talking about, trying to decide what to make about a sudden occurrence. Why are you yelling at them?"

"Because it’s annoying me. They can do it another time."
Under he breath, Tifa uttered.

"There may never be "another time"."

The group ran in silent down a few more flight of stairs. After a while, they decided to stop and take a rest. AVALANCHE walked away slightly from Reilly’s friends, to let them discuss the issue in private. However, they just stood there in silence. Arthur was the first one to break the silence.

"Reilly wanted to make friends because of the person he…."

Janine smirked, then placed her had on Arthur’s shoulder, making him stop talking.

"Arthur, I think we get the picture."

Felicia just rolled her eyes and away from them. Arthur followed, leaving Geg and Janine alone. They stood there in silence for a few minutes. Geg was the first to speak.

"So, do you want to catch a movie sometime?"

"Not really Geg. To tell you the truth, I love Reilly."
"WHAT! Let me guess, it’s because of his powers."

"No. It’s because of the person he is. He’s the opposite of you, and I like that in him. And I can understand why he kept the secret from us. I hope I haven’t hurt you."

"Na, it’s OK. I’ll just go and chat up Felicia."

Sadly for Geg, Felicia also turned him down. After this break, AVALANCHE continued to run.

They didn’t get far before Cid paused and turned towards one of the windows. Out side, Ace and Reilly still fighting.

"Holy shit! They’re really kicking the crap out of each other!"

Tifa paused, and looked out of the window. She saw Ace as he pulled his right hand back, and noticed some black energy appear in his palm.

"I suggest we move, Ace is about to blast Reilly, and I have a feeling it’ll smash through the window!"

Reilly saw AVALANCHE and everyone else running away from the window. He turned to Ace, and punched him in the jaw. Ace’s hand was knocked down and the blast was fired down. Reilly fired one of his own. It met up with Ace’s and destroyed the dark energy blast. The two then locked eyes and continued to punch and kick each other.

Cloud walked back towards the window, and looked out.

"Bloody hell! It looks like an episode of DragonBall Z out there!"

Tifa rushed towards him, grabbed one of his arms, and dragged Cloud away.

"I don’t think it’s safe for any of us to be near the window with those two fighting like that."

"Right."

The two then ran off to join up with everyone else. Meanwhile, Ace and Reilly were still throwing punches and kicks at each other. Reilly swung his fist down onto Ace’s head, throwing him down. Reilly began to fall after him. When Ace was within line of the floor below, Reilly hit him with an energy blast, throwing Ace through the glass. As AVALANCHE, Storm and Reilly’s friends reach the bottom of the stairs they were walking down, they saw Ace slide across the floor towards them. Cloud gestured at everyone to take a few steps back from Ace, while Reilly slowly flew in through the hole, and landed in front of Cloud and the others. Clasping his hands together in front of his face like he was praying, Reilly charged up some energy, then throw his hands to his sides with his palms facing towards Cloud and the rest. A flat line of energy came out. It filled up the nearest doorway, blocking Cloud and everyone else off from the fight. Ace stood up, shook his head and looked at Reilly. He then ran towards him, and tried to punch him, but Reilly evaded his attack and kicked Ace in the stomach. Reilly stepped back next to the wall of energy. Cloud moved closer towards it and spoke.

"Reilly, do you want us to move down a level?"

"No. You should be safe behind this wall of energy, or at least for the moment."

"OK, if you feel that’s the right thing."

Reilly then turned around to face Ace. Ace was standing there with his arms folded, and had a rather cocky look on his face.

"Have you finished?"

Reilly just looked at him. He then jumped into the air, turned his body with his right side facing towards Ace and kicked him with his right foot into Ace’s stomach. The force threw him back.

"It seems like you’re growing weak Ace."

"As are you. Lets end this fight NOW!"

The look in Ace’s face could best be described as evil. It was really the way his eyebrows were lowered over his eyes. Ace placed both his hands below his chin. He kept a space between both hands, and in that space a small, dark energy ball grew. He then placed the base of his palms together, and pulled his hands towards his body. Reilly mimicked him, placing his hands in the same position and performing the same movements. Behind the wall of white energy, Red walked over and spoke to Cloud.

"I once read that the Chosen One and Dark one share only a few moves. There is, however, a basic, yet powerful move that both posses."

Ace then thrust his hands forward, with his right hand facing up and his left facing down. The bases of the palm were still together. As soon as his arms were pushed forward enough, he fired the blast first. Reilly quickly countered by firing his. Reilly’s attack was smaller than Ace’s, and as soon as the two attacks met, Ace’s attack began to push Reilly’s back. Reilly shouted, raising his kai. His attack suddenly grew in size, rivalling Ace’s. Yet Reilly’s attack barely pushed Ace’s back between the two of them.

"Is that the best you can do?"

Ace grinned, then shouted. His attack grew in size, and began to push Reilly’s back. However, instead of raising his attacks’ power, Reilly hesitated. From behind the wall, Cloud began to coach Reilly.

"Come on, why aren’t you raising you’re attack’s power?"

"I… I…. I can’t."

"Why not?"

"Well, I have a lot of dormant energy…"
"Then use it!"

"Are you sure?"

"Yes! I have your friends behind here. Do you want them to die Reilly?"

"No!"

Reilly’s voice had a strong sense of firmness in it. He slowly began to power up, raising the strength of the attack. However, to everyone’s shock, the more Reilly raised his power, the more his skin turned white. Ace raised his right eyebrow as he looked at Ace.

"What the hell is he doing?"

Ace pulled back slightly with his attack. Reilly used this opportunity to over power Ace’s attack. Reilly’s blast collided with Ace’s, throwing the clone back. Reilly looked at his body, and spoke.

"I guess there’s no point keeping this then."

Reilly crossed his arms in front of his face, and began to increase his strength. As he did so, his skin turned pure white, then began to crack.

Chapter 6 - The Fight

Part One - The Secret Revealed

Ace pulled back slightly with his attack. Reilly used this opportunity to over power Ace’s attack. Reilly’s blast collided with Ace’s, throwing the clone back. Reilly looked at his body, and spoke.

"I guess there’s no point keeping this then."

Reilly crossed his arms in front of his face, and began to increase his strength. As he did so, his skin turned pure white, then began to crack. Ace staggered to his feet, and took one look at Reilly.

"What the hell is he doing?"

And with that, Reilly exploded. The force turned the room pure white, preventing anyone from seeing anything. The barrier Reilly put up to protect everyone blocked all the energy, but no one could see a thing. The explosion threw Ace into a wall, causing a huge dent in it. He pushed himself out, stood up, shook his head and looked at Reilly. His eyes widened in fear, as he staggered back.

"His….. His….. His energy level is rising! What ever he’s doing, it’s making him stronger! WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON!"

"I am revealing my true form to you, clone!"

Everyone noticed that when Reilly spoke, his voice seemed deeper than usual. It seemed as deep as Ace’s which is deeper than Reilly’s. The white light in the room began to fade, but there was still some smoke surrounding Reilly preventing anyone from seeing him. Suddenly he threw himself forward towards Ace, and punched him in the face. Just as the punch made contact, the smoke cleared. AVALANCHE and Reilly’s friends took one look at Reilly and stood there, shocked at what they saw. Reilly was identical to the Ace clone, apart from the clothes he wore. His hair turned short and brown, his eyes were now green and his build was bigger than before. Cloud blinked a few times then spoke.

"What the hell is going on?"

Reilly turned towards everyone, and spoke.

"I am the real Ace Strife, the one who died in the battle with Sephiroth."

"WHAT!"

Everyone was taken aback by what Reilly said.

"I’m afraid I can’t explain how I was revived now. I need to destroy this clone first."

He lowered his eyebrows, and turned to the Ace Clone. The Clone was quite taken aback by what Ace had just said. Suddenly, Ace placed his hands together and fired a blast at the ceiling. He made a huge hole that stretched up a couple of floors. He flew up, and picked up Melmusa and it’s scabbard. He then attached Melmusa and Masamune to his belt and flew back down. Everyone had been slightly confused as to what just happened, so the Clone didn’t try to attack any of Ace’s friends. He didn’t dare to, fearing Ace’s new strength.

"Now I feel complete, with my trusty Melmusa at one side, and Masamune at the other."

He then turned to the clone and began to walk towards it. It stumbled backwards, then fell onto his back. He looked up at Ace with fear in his eyes as he scuttled back towards the wall. Ace just looked at him. The once cheerful, friendly look of Ace Strife was no where to be found.

"What were you trying to do to me Clone? Portraying me as a merciless killer without a care in the world. As Reilly, I learnt that AVALANCHE portrayed me as a hero, who sacrificed his life to save everyone, even you. I then learn that Ace Strife, the man who takes over Shinra is feared and hated by the public. This is how you repay me?

"Oh boo bloody hoo! Like I care! If you’re so mad at me, fight me!"

"All right then, I will."

Ace backed away from the clone, allowing it to stand up. As the clone stood up, Ace took a fighting stance. When he was ready, the clone mimicked him. The clone jumped into the air, and attempted to kick Ace in the head. Ace grabbed his leg, pulled him down towards him and punched the clone in the gut. He then threw the clone into the wall.

Behind the energy barrier, everyone watched as Ace fought brutally against the clone. Yuno turned to Cloud, and spoke.

"Is he always this brutal? I was told Tameto was kind, friendly man."

"All I can say is that he’s really annoyed with the image the clone gave him, and it could be an after effect of having to live in the duplicate’s shadow for so long."

Yuno nodded his head, and turned back to watch the fight. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that Storm had run away. Storm watched Reilly reveal he was Ace, but fled as soon as the fight between the two Aces began. Yuno just shrugged and turned to the fight.

The two Aces had been exchanging punches and kicks. At one point, they went to punch each other at the same time, causing their fists to bang together. They just stood there with their eyes locked on each other. At the last second, Ace pulled away and kicked the clone, sending it sliding across the floor. The clone stumbled to his feet, to find Ace charging up an energy attack. Ace blasted the clone with a weak energy blast, forcing the clone against the wall. As the clone tried to push it off, the wall gave way under it. The blast forced the clone out of the building, where Ace followed. He then began to punch the clone, as it fell back down to earth. The clone had been knocked out cold by Ace’s attacks without him knowing. Ace clenched both his hands together and slammed them down on the clone. He continued to pound the body as he fell towards the ground, faster and faster. He didn’t seem to care about it, only fighting. At the last second, he looked up to see he was close to the ground, close to impact. He managed to recoil back into the air, but watched as the half dazed body of the clone smashed into the ground, making a huge dent. Hovering in the air, Ace raised his hands above his head, charged some energy and fired five energy blasts at the clone. The clone struggled to pull itself out of the crater it made. It looked up to see the on coming attacks. In a matter of seconds, he swung his arm up, creating a black shield. The attacks stuck the shield and just seemed to vanish. The clone then flew up to Ace, and attacked him. Shocked by what he just saw, Ace seemed unable to block the on coming attacks. The clone sniggered as he watched his attacks strike Ace.

"Not so tough now, are ya?"

"What?"

Ace shook his head, raised his right hand and grabbed an on coming punch. He then began to squeeze the clone’s hand. He watched as the expression on the clone’s face changed from a cocky smile to pain. Ace threw the clone down towards the ground, and raised his hands above his head. The clone landed on the ground, just below his original crater. He made a small dent in the ground upon impact. Local people walked over to the fight and looked on as two Ace Strife fought, one dressed like the manager of Shinra and one dressed in a ragged version of the Black Ninja costume. Suddenly, Ace flew down towards the clone and sliced him with the holy sword Excalibur. The clone coughed up blood as he slowly died.

"You’ve beaten me. You’ve beaten two of the Dark Lord’s minions. Now the Dark Lord shall rise again and kick your sorry ass Ace Strife!"

And with that, the clone died.

Ace returned to the Shinra building. He flew in through the window to the clone’s office. He explored the room, and found a pair of black jeans, a black shirt and a long black jacket. He changed into this, rolling up the Black Ninja costume and placing it under his arm. He strapped the two swords to his belt, with Melmusa on his left hip and Masamune on his right. Just as he turned to leave the office, he noticed his Katana blade and nunchuks. He grinned and picked them. He then walked down the stairs to meet up with AVALANCHE. When he reached the floor AVALANCHE were on, he noticed Cloud, Yuno and Barret were shoulder barging the wall of energy. He sat and watched, biting his lip to prevent himself from laughing.

After a few minutes, Cloud stepped back and whiped the sweat off his brow. Suddenly, the wall began to dissolve, and it flew over their heads. They turned around and saw Ace returning the energy wall to him. Cloud looked at Ace and spoke.

"How long have you been sitting there?"

"A good ten minutes."

"Why didn’t you dissolve the wall earlier?"

"How do you know I’m not the clone?"

Cloud stood there speechless

Ace rolled his eyes in mild amusement. "Well, if I was you’d all be dead now. Come on people, it’s time to leave. You guys go up to the Clone’s office. I’ll go and contact the Highwind."

Ace began to walk towards the hole he made in the wall during his battle. Just as he walked past the group, Yuno spoke to him.
"What about the Tameto Clone?"

Ace turned to face Yuno

"Tameto…. I haven’t heard that name in ages. Completely forgot about it."

He grinned.

"As for the clone, well clones are no match for the original."

Ace faced the wall again and walked through the hole. As the others turned to walk up the stairs, Geg spoke.

"Uh… Hi, I’m Geg, one of Reilly’s friends. The clone’s office is quite high up. How’s Ace gona get us onto the Highwind? Why don’t we just walk down the stairs?"

"Ace will carry everyone one at a time onto the Highwind. The only other option is to leave Midgar. Having him carry us to the ship is easier."

"Uh, ok. Thanks… uh…"

"Tifa."

"OK."

It didn’t take long for Ace to carry everyone aboard. They went to the Operations Room, where Ace began his story.

"As you guys are well aware of, each person is destined to die at a certain time in his life. I wasn’t destined to die in the battle with Sephiroth. The Guardians of the Earth, the ones who gave me my power were quite surprised by my actions, and just as they were about to revive me, the clone appeared. There was once a man named Reilly, who was born and grew up in Rocket Town. He then went on to become the fourth great Chosen One. There have been four great Chosen Ones, but I don’t have the time to explain it right now. Anyway, the Guardians of the Earth revived me and used their powers to place a shell around my body. This shell changed my appearance to match that of Reilly. I was then given Reilly’s memories, and made to believe I was the real Reilly."

He paused for a bit, and turned to make eye contact with his friends.

"I never knew I was the real Ace until a few days ago, when the first great Chosen One came to me in a third dream. He told me I was Ace and gave me back every memory I had when I was Ace. And that’s all I know. I don’t really know anything else about this."

AVALANCHE and Ace’s friends just sat in the Highwind, talking to each other, as the Highwind flew off into the sun set. In the spirit world, two beings watched over the planet. They were currently focusing on the Highwind. One of them spoke to the other.

"You’re plan to revive Ace worked Aeris."

"He isn’t meant to die yet."

The other person walked out of the shadows. He looked like a man in his early twenties, and had short, blond hair and brown eyes. However, on his back were two angel wings, and his clothes were all white. He wore long robe, which covered most of his body.

"And reviving him in your image, Reilly, was also a good idea."

"Yes. That clone prevented us from reviving him as the person he really is. But he needs to be alive. He doesn’t know what’s in store for him yet."

Part Two - Death of the Ninja

Not long after Ace explained his revival to the group, Ace and his friends returned to collage. While Ace trained with Red XIII before the battle with Sephiroth, he learned how to change his image using his powers. He learned how to create a shell of energy with any appearance he wants. However, upon learning this ability, the First Great Chosen One visited him in a dream and ordered him not to use it or tell anyone about it. He used this ability to continue studying as Reilly, rather than reveal his true form. He continued to study and spend more time with his friends. He rarely used his Black Ninja costume, despite the fact Janine made him a new mask. Reilly said he didn’t feel the Black Ninja was needed. A few weeks after the holiday, the group decided to spend some time in Midgar, for no particular reason, they just felt like doing something.

"So anyway, I told this guy I had no idea how to fix his computer. I just know how to use them."
"Geg."

"Yeah Arthur?"

"Please shut up! I’ve heard this story from you loads of times."

"Well, yeah. But the others haven’t."
"It’s OK Geg. I think I understand."
"You sure A…. Reilly? I can continue."

"Really, I’m sure."

"Uh.. oh, OK. So, what are we doing here?"
"it was you’re idea Geg!"

"Gee, no need to bite my head off Janine!"

Meanwhile, from the bases of Shinra HQ in Midgar, a tall, unknown monster has broken loose from its cage. It stood a good fifty storeys. It ran around on four legs, trying to break out of the building. It had dark brown fur and a long tail. Its head was like that of a wolf on a long neck. It kept ramming into the wall until it broke free. The being was caged below Shinra HQ at the centre of Midgar. Slowly, the monster began to dig up into the sunlight. When it reached the surface, it began to head for Wall Market.

As the group walked along, Geg turned to the others.

"I have an idea. Lets go to Wall Market."

Reilly looked at the others, and shrugged.

"Best idea so far, might as well…… AHHHHH!!"

Reilly fell to the floor, screaming in pain, and holding his hands on his head. He looked like he was having a fit. Arthur grabbed him by the shoulders, and shook him.
"Reilly, what’s wrong."

Reilly just rolled around on the floor, kicking thin air. After a few minutes, he got up. When he spoke, his voice was low like Ace’s.

"I sense a tremendous amount of evil energy. It’s killing people. I must go and destroy it!"

"As Ace Strife?"

"No Janine. I will go as the Black Ninja."

He paused, and his voice returned to Reilly’s pitch.

"He hasn’t appeared for a while."

"Take care Reilly."

He heard Janine’s whisper as he began to fly off. He grinned and turned to her.

"Don't worry, I will."

He flew off into a dark alleyway, and pulled his shirt off. Despite the fact he never used his costume, Reilly always kept the Black Ninja costume on under his street clothes. Just as he was about to put his mask on, he heard voices.

"Down here bud. I could have sworn I saw someone come down here."

Two youths ran down the alleyway. They reached the end and stopped.

" What the - ! I could have sworn I saw someone come down here. Oh well."

They turned around and ran off. Reilly leaned over the top of the building and watched them run off. He then slid down his mask and hopped from building top to building top.

At Wall Market, the monster had already killed and eaten three people. Everyone was running around screaming. The monster leant down and picked up a child with its mouth. It then threw the tad up into the air, about to eat it when a black flash flew by, saving the child. Reilly had entered Wall market. He placed the child on the floor, then jumped up towards the monster’s head and punched it. He landed, and jumped up, kicking it in the face. As he ricocheted off a wall, he flipped onto its back and performed an elbow drop. The monster grabbed Reilly in its teeth and threw him behind a building. A few minutes passed, but nothing happened. Then, suddenly, the Black Ninja attacked the monster behind its head, and bounced off in front of its face. Geg and the rest turned up to watch as the monster fired an icicle into Reilly’s gut. The force threw him back into the wall AVALANCHE used to enter Shinra HQ when Aeris was captured. Everyone watched as Reilly slowly turned to ice and died.
"NNNNNOOOOOOO!!!!!! Reilly’s dead."

Janine fell onto her knees, crying into her hands. Geg patted her on the shoulder. The crowd gasped as they watched the Ninja die. Suddenly, a ball of white energy hit the monster from behind the head. Geg nudged Janine.

"Look, it’s Ace. He’s OK."

Ace Strife hovered in the air. The wind was blowing his jacket back like a cloak. Arthur scratched his head.

"Then how could the Black Ninja die?"

Geg just shrugged.

The monster struck Ace with one of its front paws. The attack threw him into the Ninja’s frozen body. Geg watched as Ace secretly absorbed white energy into his hand from the shattered Ninja.

"That’s how he did it. He must have made one of his shells, you know, like the one which lets him be Reilly and gave it the Black Ninja’s costume."
"How do you know that Geg?"
"Simple Arthur. I just saw him absorb some white energy. But it was very discreet."

Ace flew towards the monster, pounding it. His last punch threw the monster’s head back, exposing its neck. Ace flew a few feet back, then held his hands together like he was holding a sword.

"Holy sword Excaliber, I summon your. Come to me and help me destroy the darkness that I am fighting!"

Excaliber materialised in his hands. Just before the monster turned its head to face Ace, Ace threw Excaliber, cutting the monster’s head off, killing it. Before anyone could say anything, he flew off. However what they didn’t see was him fly out of their sight and transform himself into Reilly. He then ran up to be with his friends.

Two Months later.

"All right Martial Arts fans, here’s this tournament’s finals. Yuno Imzadi, the champion from the last one held a few months ago is up against a young fighter named Reilly. Now, let this match begin!"

"Are you ready Tameto?"

"Please Yuno, call me Reilly!"
"As you wish… Reilly."

Yuno lunged himself at Reilly, attacking him with a barrage of punches and kicks. Reilly dodged most of the attacks, then countered Yuno’s attack with a punch to the guts. In the audience, Cloud, Tifa, Geg, Arthur and Janine watched the two fight. Janine was leaning over the railings, hypnotised by Reilly’s movements. Geg and Arthur sat next to her, cheering Reilly on. Behind them sat Cloud and Tifa, holding each other’s hand. They had been dating each other for roughly a month and had begun to enter a serious relationship.

In the arena, Reilly was attacking Yuno with everything he had, but he still held back.

"Come on Ta… Reilly, show me everything you can do!"
"If I do that’ll I’ll expose my real powers. You wouldn’t stand a chance!"

Reilly lunged forward, but Yuno dodged the attack, kicking him out of the ring.

"I have beaten him a second time. And yet, it still doesn’t feel as fulfilling as beating Tameto."

Epilogue: Prophesy

Three years had passed. Ace’s friends, Yuno, Cloud and Tifa were celebrating Ace’s 20^th birthday. The phone rang and Ace picked it up.

"Hello?"

"Ace, I’m glad I caught you. I have something I need to tell you."
"Oh, hey Red. Good to hear from ya."

"We don’t have the time Ace. There’s something important I need to tell you."

"All right, shoot."

"Your powers will be needed again. Soon, the Dark Lord will rise."

"Who?"
"The Dark Lord. The ultimate Dark One. He has risen four times before, each time fighting one of the great Chosen Ones. To fight the Dark Lord, you need to beat two Dark Ones. He will rise when all the planets, moons and the sun aligns. That’s in thirty days!"

"Dark Lord. I think I remember that clone mentioning him, but I thought he was just droning off some insane garbage. This Dark Lord. Shouldn’t be too hard."
"Problem is, he’s mastered a Dark version of each of the levels. He is the equivalent of Chosen One level 4. And you’re powers are no match for him."
"What?!"
"You haven’t learn the full potential of you’re powers. To do that, you must find and train with the spirits of each of the four great Chosen Ones. You only have thirty days though! You must hurry or apocalypse will come!"

The End.

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