I seriously meant to work on my other stories….. This came out instead…..

Again, can you imagine if I owned any of these series?

Cataclasm

"Sephiroth stop!"

His brother did not respond to the command at all as Riku hoped. Feline eyes gazed at him, blazing confusion and madness. The rest of his expression was blank.

Riku knew he was not reaching him.

"Riku, get away from him!" Cloud hollered for the third time since he, Zack and Leon had arrived on scene. …And just like both of the previous times, Riku did not seem to hear him. He would have run over and moved Riku himself if it were not for the two other men holding him back.

"We have to let him try, Cloud." Zack spoke through gritted teeth. "If anyone is going to stop this, it's going to be Riku."

"Come on, Brother," Riku took a cautious step forward, trying to ignore the heat of the flames consuming the building beside him. It was one of the many still abandoned structures but Sephiroth would soon run out of those. "You don't want to do this."

Sephiroth had fixed his attention on the next vacant house. "Why do you seek to stop me? Humans betrayed us. It was humans that made us what we are and now they will know our wrath."

He threw out his arm and the roof burst into flame.

"Shit!" Leon was on his phone again. "Well, figure out something, Cid! He's got two more buildings before he reaches people's houses. …If Riku doesn't stop him by the next, we'll stop him."

"He's not going to." Cloud stated firmly. He tightly gripped the handle of his sword. "Jenova isn't making him do this."

"What?" Zack turned to him sharply.

Blue eyes were staring intently at the two silver-haired males in the distance. The light of the fires reflected off their hair and there was something tragically beautiful about it. "Sephiroth is doing this."

The former general was stalking toward his next intended target. "You should be helping me, Riku. These lesser beings need to learn who has the power."

"No, Seph. You know better than this." Riku tried to sound confident but he could not keep the pleading tone from his voice. "All any of these people have done is help you. The ones that hurt you; that hurt me, they're gone now, Seph."

The older man's steps faltered. Riku held his breath, praying he had finally broken through. He knew Sephiroth was not completely gone. He had not harmed anyone yet and he seemed to simply be lashing out for whatever reason.

He could worry about what triggered this later. Right now, all he could do was stop the man.

Sephiroth glanced at him a moment. The confusion faded for a mere instant then returned full force. Fury rose up within his eyes and his body whirled on Riku. "You lie. The humans continue to harm us, continue to fear us. I have tried to play their game and now I am done with it. They refuse to see me as anything but a monster and so I shall now show them what I truly am."

Riku forced himself to stand his ground. "If this is what you are, then what am I, Brother?"

A wicked grin twisted Sephiroth's face. "You are the same as I. You deny it but you know the truth. You continue to pretend to be human when you know you are anything but."

"You're right, Seph. We aren't normal. We both have the life blood of a planet and cells of a renegade angel within us." Certain aqua eyes met squarely with insane spring green. "…But that doesn't mean we aren't still human."

Again, something changed in Sephiroth's eyes.

"I know your pain, Seph. I know what's running through your head because I've felt it too." The younger one looked away. "There have been moments when I simply wanted to surrender myself to the darkness and make everyone experience all of the pain I do."

He looked back up. "Then I remember that I do have people who care about me, who love me. You have that too."

Sephiroth lifted his head and gazed in the direction of Cloud, Zack and Leon. All three were clearly prepared to fight him at any second. Cloud was actually struggling against Zack's hold. "I do not. They simply want to control me."

Riku took hold of his brother's arm. "They want you to control yourself. You conquered Mother, Seph, now you have to do the same with yourself. Zack, Cloud and I, even Leon, all love you."

"They want to destroy me. They fear me."

"You fear yourself."

Sephiroth gave Riku a sharp look. The teen sighed. "They don't understand but I do."

Those slotted eyes again narrowed.

"It's hard, Seph, it's always going to be and we just have to live with who and what we are." Riku pressed on, hoping that his brother was listening. "You're the one who taught me to accept myself, Brother. Don't become a hypocrite."

Impossibly long silver hair fanned out as Sephiroth turned. His shoulder wing was agitatedly twitching as he strode over to the last house he had set ablaze. He stared into the flames intently. "What if this is all I am?"

"Then we wouldn't love you."

Riku waited with baited breath for any indication that he had reached Sephiroth. His own future rested on what his brother's next action was. The teen truly believed that if one of them failed to contain the monster they were both burdened with, the other would soon follow. They needed each other.

Sephiroth raised his hand.

He remained in that position for several endless moments, expression hidden by the long bangs that had fallen across his face. Angling his head toward the sky, the hand dropped and he turned away. His attention fixed itself on the row of burning building before him.

He suddenly dropped to his knees. "I…"

Riku exhaled in relief and motioned to the others. Zack released Cloud and the two of them ran for Riku, who had gone to kneel at his brother's side. Leon was issuing orders into his phone to get the fires contained and extinguished. Other people began appearing.

Zack fell in on Sephiroth's other side. "Come on, Seph. Let's get you out of here."

The winged man said nothing, staring at the stone road beneath him. Zack hesitated when he noticed the silent tears streaming down Sephiroth's sharp cheeks. He glanced at Riku and saw he was struggling not cry.

The raven-haired man looked behind him at Cloud who was glaring at Sephiroth's back. He clearly wanted nothing more than to kill the man right then and there. The blond flicked his blue eyes at Riku and then Zack.

Cloud's voice was a mere whisper. "Get him away from me now."

Neither Riku nor Zack said anything. They climbed to their feet, balancing Sephiroth between them and began walking. Cloud watched after them for a second before going to help Leon.

Riku and Zack took Sephiroth to the river outside of town. They settled him on the bank near a boulder and Riku sat before him. Zack stood closely to the side. Sephiroth was still crying.

Riku stared at him, aqua eyes shining more brightly than Zack had ever seen. The teen reached out both hands and placed them on his brother's knees. Several minutes passed.

Zack had not felt his helpless, this useless, since Nibelheim. In many ways, this had been way too much like that horrible night and it truly terrified him. He took some comfort in the fact that it seemed Sephiroth had gone out of his way to not hurt anyone this time.

He also knew that this was not the end of this. Something was going to have to be done about Sephiroth's actions. There was no way any of them could allow what happened to slide. The people of Radiant Garden needed to know they were safe.

Riku looked up at the starry sky. Thin wisps of smoke drifted by, occasionally blocking those pinpricks of light and Riku felt his heart break A few of the tears he had been fighting against broke free and worked their way down his cheeks and neck.

Sephiroth still had not spoken.

The younger son of Jenova turned his face toward Zack, flicking it so that his eyes could be clearly seen. He did not try to hide his anguish or his conviction. It was clear by the tears that began forming in the older man's own eyes that he knew what was coming.

"We can't stay here."

Zack only nodded.