After getting paid for the job she'd just completed, Elena walked out of her client's office into the bright Costa del Sol morning. The previous day, she had gotten a call from Reeve, who told her that Rufus Shinra had killed himself. The shock of this news made it tougher for her to complete her task, and when she heard from Reno a few hours later that Rufus had actually been murdered by two silver-haired men, it only compounded her stress. After the latter call, she took a break at Bar del Sol, then got right back to her mission, part of which required her to infiltrate a private beach party. She was still in the outfit she had worn to the party the previous night—a short, white sleeveless dress, with matching purse and sandals—when she met with her client that next morning, having pulled an all-nighter in order to wrap things up by the deadline.
         Yawning, she walked back to the inn to check out, wondering if she'd be able to catch up on her sleep during the boat ride back to Junon. As she rounded a corner, that's when she saw them: two men of average height, both dressed in black, and with heads of shaggy, slightly spiky grey hair. She immediately ducked back around the corner and wondered what she should do; she knew she couldn't handle them on her own, but didn't want to let them go, either. As she opened her purse to dig out her PHS, she heard footsteps coming her way and froze.
         "Well, well, if it isn't one of the President's people," said one of the silver-haired men, whose hair was parted on the left side of his head. "Should we eliminate her, Xeno?"
         "Of course," said the other, whose otherwise identical hair was parted on the right. He brandished a long scimitar with blades on either end. "Can't have her in our way, can we, Sirpal?"
         Elena, one hand still buried in her purse, began backing away as the two approached. "What do you guys want?" she demanded as her fingers skipped past the PHS and landed on a small grenade she kept handy for times like this. She pulled the pin and began mentally counting down. "Why did you kill the President?"
         "He was both expendable and a threat, as are you," Sirpal replied. "We don't need information we already have."
         Elena lobbed the grenade at the ground and began running in the opposite direction; it exploded a mere second later. Like Kadaj and his friends, these new silver-haired fiends were after something, but what was more worrying to Elena this time around is that Sirpal and Xeno seemed to have a clear goal in mind. She needed to keep them in her sights, but wasn't sure how to go about it. That's when, at the next corner, a bright red convertible came to a screeching halt right before her. However, instead of yelling at her to watch where she was going, the driver shouted, "Get in, quick, before those guys catch up to you!"
         Not bothering to open the door, Elena jumped over the side of the convertible into the passenger's seat. The car roared off. She glanced over at the driver, finding that he was a twentysomething man in a tacky floral print shirt, sandy brown shorts, flip-flops, and sunglasses, His long black hair blew back in the passing breeze as they raced through Costa del Sol's brick-paved streets. As she smoothed out her dress, Elena said, "Thanks for helping me out back there."
         "No problem, babe."
         "Did the WRO send you?" she asked, wondering if her friends back east traced the silver-haired men here.
         "Huh? What're you talking about?"
         "What are you talking about? Aren't you here on a mission?"
         "Me? Nah. I just happened to see a damsel in distress and came to her rescue, that's all." He briefly turned to face her, his head lowered just far enough to reveal bright blue eyes behind his shades, one of which winked at her. "So how 'bout it, beautiful? You gonna thank me for saving ya or what?"
         Elena couldn't believe this. Her rescuer turned out to be some random flirt, and not a particularly subtle one at that. She folded her arms and stared straight ahead of her. "If you could drop me off at the Costa del Sol Inn, maybe we'll talk."
         "Sure, but I'm not much of a talker. I prefer to communicate in other ways, especially if it's with someone as lovely as yourself."
         "For a guy who doesn't like to talk, you're sure doing a lot of it. Just take me to the Inn, please."

         The drive to the Inn was uneventful. Once there, Elena gathered her things then went to the reception desk to check out. As she paid her bill, her PHS rang. The roar of motorcycles could be heard outside as she answered the call. "Hello?"
         "Hey," Reno answered. "Got an update on the silver-haired situation."
         "Same here. I was going to report in to you in a couple minutes before you called. They're here in Costa del Sol."
         "Ah, so you saw them. That's great—I'm gonna need you to track 'em down and try and take them out before they reach Nibelheim. We believe that what they're after's in the Shinra Mansion."
         Elena tried to remain calm; she wasn't sure about taking on such a job alone. "But what about backup?"
         "None of us out east would be able to reach you in time. Reeve was gonna mobilize Cait Sith, but the new moogle being built for him isn't ready yet. I've been having trouble getting in touch with Nanaki, but I did speak to Cid and he's willing to lend a hand. Might get you some more help in the meantime, but for now, you'll have to make do with what's available. At the very least, don't let 'em out of your sight."
         "Got it." Elena ended the call and left the inn. Outside, the red convertible was still parked out in front, and its driver leaned against the hood, talking to a pair of tanned young women wearing bikinis. To Elena, there was something about this driver that she couldn't quite place her finger on, something beneath his flashy, flirtatious exterior. Having made her decision, Elena marched over to the car and dropped her bags in the back seat in such a way that the driver would be sure to hear her. He turned around, and the startled bikini girls walked off.
         "Oh, there you are! What took you so long, gorgeous? And, uhh… why did you put your bags in my car?"
         "I want to hire you as my driver. I'm on a mission and could use someone with your skills."
         The driver chuckled. "Somehow, I knew you couldn't give up on me that easily."
         "Wh-what did you say?"
         "Nothing. Anyway, where do you wanna go?"
         "You remember those two guys I was having trouble with before?"
         "Yeah. They just sped by here not too long ago on these funky-ass bikes."
         Elena gaped at the driver. "What? We have to follow them, now!"
         "Huh? But weren't you trying to get away from them?"
         "Never mind that. We need to go after them!"
         "You mean you need to go after them. I haven't said yes yet, and you haven't told me how much I'll be getting paid."
         "However much you want," Elena replied, hopping into the front passenger seat. "Are you ready?"
         The driver sighed as he walked over to his side of the car. "You're a pushy one, but I don't mind. Buckle up, babe, and hold on tight."
         He put the key into the ignition, twisted it, then slammed on the gas. The convertible roared to life and sped toward the town gates. Costa del Sol would soon be far behind.
         "So what's your name?" the driver asked.
         "I'll tell you mine only if you tell me yours," Elena tersely replied.
         "That ain't fair, sugar. I asked you first."
         "Deal."
         The driver sighed. "All right."
         Elena settled back into her seat and yawned. Even though they still had a ways to go in order to catch up with the silver-haired bikers, who were specks on the horizon by this point, she didn't want to fall asleep while they were on the loose. The driver glanced over at her.
         "Hey, feel free to take a nap if you need one. I don't think we'll be catching up to those guys for awhile."
         "Only if you promise to wake me up if something happens."
         "That shouldn't be a problem. Sleep tight, beautiful."
         "Hmph," she replied, settling deeper into her seat and closing her eyes. She was starting to get sick of the pet names, but even despite that, didn't feel like giving him her real one.

         Elena awoke from her nap some time later, finding that they were now just north of the Gold Saucer. They had made up some of the distance between them and the silver-haired men, but the latter were still far off. She glanced over at the driver. "Can't you make this thing go any faster?"
         "Good afternoon to you too, sunshine," he dryly replied. "Give me a break, sweetie. I've been doin' the best I can, and my baby here has her limits, too."
         "Whatever."
         Just then, the two motorcycles up ahead of them spun off the road. Elena's eyes widened. "What happened?"
         "Damned if I know. Guess you want to check it out, huh."
         "Of course I do."
         The driver stopped the car once they got close to the spot where the bikes had been. There was now one on each side of the road, but their drivers weren't present. Looking around, Elena spotted them locked in combat with an old, muscle-bound man. She squinted at him. "That guy looks familiar."
         Just then, she heard the driver's side door open, then slam shut again. She turned to see her driver standing alongside the car, staring at the fight scene. Strangely, he was now dressed in the uniform of a SOLDIER First Class, and bore a massive Buster sword on his back. Even though she'd never met him prior to this day, it was then that she realized just who this man was.
         "You're—"
         "What're you waiting for, babe? Those guys are your targets, right?"
         "Y-yeah." She got out of the car herself and pulled some spare grenades from her luggage in the back seat. After tucking them into her purse, she said. "I'm ready."
         "All right. Let's lend the old guy a hand."
         Together with Zack, she raced forward into battle.

         The three of them weren't able to kill Sirpal and Xeno, but they did force them to retreat in the direction opposite of Nibelheim. Elena collapsed to the ground, thoroughly exhausted by the battle. Zack and the old warrior Zangan were still standing, though both were panting heavily. Zack had a large gash across his left arm, which he gripped tightly. The skin around his wound gave off a green glow.
         "Thanks for the help, you two," said Zangan, joining Elena in sitting down. He turned to Zack. "I'm surprised to see you here. How long has it been? Seven years?"
         "More or less," Zack replied with a shrug.
         "I apologize for not being able to rescue you from the mako reactor on Mt. Nibel."
         "Don't worry about it; I understand."
         "What has become of you since then?" Zangan asked, staring at Zack's wound.
         Zack sighed. "It's a long story. Maybe I'll tell it to you some other time." He turned to Elena as she came back from the car with a hi-potion. "Hey sweetie, maybe we should continue on to Nibelheim, eh?"
         "It's Elena."
         "Huh?"
         "My name's Elena! Not 'babe', not 'sugar', not 'beautiful', and certainly not 'sweetie'. There, are you happy?"
         He laughed. "Yeah, I am. Pleased to meet you, Elena."
         "You're going to Nibelheim?" asked Zangan.
         "Yeah," Zack replied. "You should come along and help us out."
         "I don't know…"
         As Elena treated Zack's wound, she recalled the time she had first met Zangan. She was with Reno and Rude, en route to Wutai for a vacation, when they ran across the old martial artist in Nibelheim. He had been creeped out by the state of the town, so she couldn't blame him if he didn't want to join them now. Finally, Zangan shook his head. "I can't go back there."
         "No worries," said Zack.
         "I should be off. Please take care of yourselves. Something tells me that those two aren't done with you yet."

         After another hour of driving, they stopped at an out of the way weapons shop to pick up some supplies. This was done at Elena's request, as she was running low on grenades and wanted to get ahold of a baseball bat as well. Unfortunately, although the store had plenty of explosives in stock, they didn't have a single bat, and the owner suggested that she check out a certain weapons store in Gongaga. After paying for her purchases, Elena thanked the owner and stepped outside to see Zack leaning against the car, talking into a PHS.
         "Yeah, I know… Hey, I hear ya, but—Okay… Okay, that's great. Thanks a lot. See you later." He hung up and looked over at Elena. "You all done?"
         "With this place, yes," she replied, getting into the car. "Who were you talking to?"
         "Just an old friend of mine. Needed to ask him for a favor."
         Elena nodded. She had a couple of ideas as to who this "old friend" might be, but didn't say anything. Zack got into the driver's seat. "Let's blow this joint," he said. "Next stop, Nibelheim."
         "Well, not exactly."
         "Huh?"
         "We need to make a quick stop in Gongaga."
         Zack turned to face her. "Why?"
         Taken aback by the serious expression on his face, she replied, "Well, because there might be something available there that I wasn't able to get here."
         Without a word, Zack stepped out of the car and opened the trunk. "What do you need?"
         "A bat, but—"
         "Will this do?" Zack interrupted, holding up a nail bat.
         "…If the nails can be pulled out, I guess it would."
         "All right." He dug around in the truck a bit longer and emerged with a claw hammer. He walked back to the driver's side and gave Elena both items before settling back in his seat. After buckling his seat belt, he started up the car, and soon, they were on their way again.
         Elena worked at the nails as Zack drove, neither of them speaking. Finally, after Elena managed to pry the final nail from the bat, she asked, "Why didn't you want to stop in Gongaga?"
         Zack, his eyes fixed on the road ahead, answered, "That's my hometown. My parents still live there. I haven't seen them since I left home with the goal of joining SOLDIER. I miss them, and they never knew what happened to me in Nibelheim, but it's too late for me to return home."
         "Because you've died?"
         "Blunt, aren't you?" he remarked dryly. "Yeah, that's the main reason. I can't bear to visit them, even though, to the average person, I look as alive as anyone else."
         Elena nodded. Of course, she had never been in Zack's position before, but she could understand his reasons for wanting to avoid Gongaga. "I'm sorry."
         Zack shrugged. "Ain't your fault. If anything, it's Sephiroth and Hojo's. The best I can do is to help end what they've started." His eyes roved up to the rearview mirror. "Hey, check it out. Looks like our friends are back—they must have gold chocobos in their engines or something."
         Elena followed Zack's line of sight to the mirror. Indeed, Sirpal and Xeno had caught up to them. "Figured we'd run into this kind of situation," she muttered as she unbuckled her seat belt. Facing backwards with one foot up on the seat, she took up the nail bat in one hand and a grenade in the other.
         "Hey, what the hell are you doing?" Zack exclaimed.
         "Gonna knock one out of the park, as we used to say," Elena replied, before pulling the grenade's pin out with her teeth and tossing it a little ways into the air. Now gripping the bat with both hands, she swung, connected, and sent the grenade sailing behind them toward her targets. A few seconds later, there was a loud explosion.
         "Hope you're ready for more action, sweetie. Something tells me those two aren't going to take that attack of yours lightly."
         "What's with the pet names again? I thought—"
         Elena's complaint was interrupted by the thunder of several sets of feet. She looked to either side of the car to see black, four-legged beasts materializing from the ground; they fit the description of the monsters Reno and Rude encountered at the Meteor Memorial in Edge during Kadaj, Yazoo, and Loz's reign of terror.
         "Shadow creepers," she heard Zack mutter. Upon glancing at him, she noticed he was gritting his teeth and focused solely upon the road ahead. "Don't suppose you've got enough firepower on ya to beat all of 'em?"
         Elena pulled a plug from a second grenade and, after a few seconds, tossed it into the emerging herd of monsters. Behind the car, the smoke had cleared and the two motorcycles continued following them. Elena tossed and batted out more grenades as they passed Gongaga and headed through the thick woods on the fringe edges of Cosmo Canyon. As they crossed the river via a recently-erected bridge, she heard a solitary howl. Before she could find the source of the howl, her PHS rang. She hastily fished it out of her purse and answered it.
         "Hello?"
         "Hey Elena," Rude answered as dozens of small, flickering flames manifested amongst the trees of the darkened wood. "We got you some backup."
         Suddenly, the forest ended and the convertible was once again thrust out into the bright daylight. Ahead of them was a massive gathering of Kapa'a, with Nanaki at the head. Zack turned the steering wheel furiously while slamming on the breaks; several Kapa'a leaped out of the way as the car swerved and eventually stopped. Elena looked at the Kapa'a, all of whom were now focused on the forest; she followed their line of sight. All was quiet. Then, the shadow creepers burst through.
         Nanaki howled again, in a different tone this time, and the Kapa'a lunged forward into battle, clashing with the creepers. Meanwhile, Nanaki himself gingerly leapt up onto the convertible's hood. "I heard about the situation and am here to help."
         "Thanks. These guys have been riding our tails since Costa del Sol."
         "So I understand. It pains me that we have to fight our own corrupted brothers, but we must do what we can for the sake of the Planet."
         "'Corrupted brothers'? You mean those monsters?"
         Nanaki nodded, then gave Zack an odd look. "And who is your driver, Miss Elena? There's something familiar about him."
         "Sorry, but we've got no time to chat," Zack said. "Just make sure those silver-haired guys don't catch up to us."
         Elena added, "Oh, and thanks for the help!"
         "It was Yuffie who tipped me off. Thank her." Nanaki leaped off of the convertible and ran to join the other Kapa'a in battle before Elena could reply. As Zack backed up the car, Elena wondered what Yuffie's role was in all of this. It was once the car was straightened out that she heard a thud coming from the back seat. She and Zack turned around to see Yuffie sitting there, knees drawn up and a huge shuriken in one hand.
         "Ow…" she said, wincing. "That's the last time I land somewhere butt-first. Now, pedal to the metal! I managed to slash those guys' tires, but that'll delay 'em for only so long. Let's haul ass to Nibelheim, already!"
         "Sure thing, cutie," Zack smirked as he slammed on the gas.
         "'Cutie'?" Yuffie scoffed. "What kind of creep are you?"
         Elena chuckled as she settled back into her seat.

         It turned out that while Reno and Reeve made their unsuccessful attempts to call their Great Continent-residing friends for help, Rude had gotten in touch with Yuffie and told her of the situation. Since she was already in the Ancient Forest, Yuffie made her way to Cosmo Canyon to see Nanaki, whose own PHS was inoperable and awaiting a replacement part. From there, the two came up with a plan to ambush Sirpal and Xeno and assist Elena with her mission.
         It was twilight by the time Nibel Mountains came into view. However, something else met Elena's line of sight which she hadn't expected: a tall pillar of smoke emanating from the general direction of Nibelheim. She turned to Zack. "Do you see that?"
         "Yeah, but it's nothing to worry about. Just part of the plan."
         "Huh? What plan?" Yuffie asked.
         Zack simply grinned and idly dangled one arm over his side of the car. The convertible continued full-speed toward its destination.

         The fire was restricted to the Shinra Mansion and its grounds. Once Zack had stopped the car in the town square, Elena stepped out and walked toward the mansion's gate, not knowing what to make of it all. Sure, she knew that the mansion was the birthplace of the Jenova Project and housed many related documents, but why destroy the whole structure? Then, she saw a figure emerging from the flames. It was Cloud. What was he doing here?
         Cloud dusted off his soot-covered clothes once he stepped past the Shinra Mansion's gate, stopping when he caught sight of Elena, Zack, and Yuffie. "Never thought I'd be in this kind of situation," he said. "Sorry if the fire got a little out of control."
         Zack smiled and crossed his arms. "Nah, it's okay. It's the total opposite of 'the incident', huh."
         "Yeah."
         "Are all the Jenova Project documents destroyed?"
         "If they aren't now, they will be soon."
         As Elena tried to mentally piece Zack's plan together, Yuffie said, "I don't get it. The silver-haired guys are after Jenova cells, right? How would've all the books and stuff in the basement helped them?"
         "At least one of those books contained a partial diagram of Jenova's DNA," Zack replied. "That's dangerous information to have lying around when there's guys like Sirpal and Xeno out there. The Jenova Project as a whole was a threat to the Planet, so I thought it would be best to destroy the entire library."
         "What about the Jenova Project documents in Midgar and Edge?" Elena asked, knowing that Rufus had maintained such an archive, as did Reeve.
         "They'll be taken care of as well."
         Cloud nodded, turned his eyes skyward for a moment, then back to the newcomers. "We should get ready to fight," he said. "They're on their way."
         "You mean the silver-haired twins?" Elena asked. "How do you know that?"
         Cloud pointed to a small burst of smoke in the sky. "That was a signal from Cid, who's up there in the Shera. When Zack called me earlier today, I figured we could use all the help we could get if Sirpal and Xeno ever made it this far." Cloud reached behind him and pulled out his massive, multi-part sword. "With any luck, the Shera's missiles will weaken our enemies just enough so that we can finish them off for good."
         "Well, you kids have fun," Zack said. "Meanwhile, I'll be here checking Cloud's handiwork." He gave a brief wave, then turned and walked toward the smoldering mansion.

*****

         He was surrounded by endless silence and darkness, alone and with no idea of where to go or what to do. Recalling the moment of his death, he yelled up into the dark, hoping someone would hear him, but didn't get any sort of reply. He began walking, finding the sensation of doing so strangely relieving, but due to the darkness, unsure whether his other major injury had corrected itself as well. He wandered for what seemed like ages before finally giving up and sitting down, which was when he realized he was completely naked. So this is what death is like, he thought. Stripped bare of everything, even the world itself. He sighed as he sat and waited—for what, he didn't know—and eventually slipped into a state of unconsciousness.
         After an undetermined amount of time, he suddenly awoke to find himself standing in the first-floor lobby of the old Shinra Building, the familiar feeling of his old clothes settling on his body. Judging by the sparse beams of natural light shining through the front windows, it was morning, but strangely, there were no crowds of people streaming in to work. He closed his right eye, found that his left was working perfectly again, and breathed a sigh. All was right with him, but why was he here, in this lobby, which looked like it had all those years ago: clean, well-lit, and untouched by the likes of Meteor?
         "Hey, Vice-President?"
         Rufus froze upon hearing the voice, which was familiar and foreign at the same time. "No one's called me that in some time," he replied.
         "I haven't known you by any other title—while I was alive, at least."
         "What do you want?"
         "We have to get to the meeting. The others are gonna be pissed if we don't show up in time."
         Rufus turned around to come face to face with a teenage boy with reddish-orange hair, part of which hung limply over one of his eyes, which was blue-green, in color, but bore neither trace of mako contamination nor Jenova's influence. He wore the uniform of an S-Class SOLDIER and carried an Enhance sword across his back. "Kadaj?" whispered Rufus.
         "Yeah—I mean, yes, sir," Kadaj replied, tossing the bangs out of his eyes. "I don't blame you for being shocked, but we really have to get going."
         Rufus nodded and followed Kadaj to the nearest elevator. They didn't say a word to each other during the ascent.

         "Hey Loz. I brought the VP."
         Loz, who had been waiting in front of the conference room, nodded and opened the door. Like Kadaj, Loz was in S-Class SOLDIER regalia; in addition, his hair and eyes were now brown—reverted to their original colors, perhaps? Rufus strolled inside the Peace Preservation conference room, with Kadaj leading the way, introducing the others as he did so. Sitting at opposite sides of the long table were two more S-Class SOLDIERs—a raven-haired Yazoo and a blond Ziv. Rufus took the seat at the head of the table and waited while Kadaj and Loz got themselves settled.
         "Well," Rufus started, "I don't know what's going on, but why have you called me here today?"
         "Welcome to the Lifestream, Mr. Vice-President," said Yazoo in a smooth, easygoing tone that was free of menace. "I take it you know who we were before Sephiroth got ahold of us?"
         "Yes. You were all members of the experimental S-Class SOLDIER unit who died during the Wutai War."
         "I'm not sure if 'died' is the right word for it, sir," said Ziv. "Professor Hojo couldn't stand the thought of his mako-enhanced SOLDIERs being inferior to us, so after we were disbanded, he injected excessive amounts of mako into us, along with a not insubstantial quantity of Jenova cells. Well, except for Veck, of course."
         "Interesting. I never knew that."
         "Supposedly, we went through a heavier mako infusion process than any of the other three classes ever received," Yazoo added. "It's true that we died during the war, but the Lifestream never accepted us."
         "Because of the Jenova cells?" Rufus asked.
         "That's the theory," Loz replied.
         Ziv continued, "When that former MP—Cloud Strife, was it?—destroyed Sephiroth nearly two and a half years ago, Sephiroth's soul scattered, and eventually found each one of us. Since then, he's been using us to try and resurrect himself."
         "So I've seen," said Rufus.
         "Veck and his friends—including yourself and those still alive on the surface—have managed to purge the Jenova from us and free us from Sephiroth's influence, and for that, you have our gratitude. The pair who killed you were just taken care of and will hopefully join us shortly, so that leaves one of us left, our squad leader, Thanatos."
         "Which finally brings us to the topic of today's meeting," said Yazoo.
         Rufus focused on him, expectantly.
         "Mr. Vice-President, due to our weakened states, the Planet doesn't process our thoughts and voices as clearly as it does yours. We saw how you were able to convey the news of your murder to the surface-dwellers, and need you to do it again."
         "And why is that?"
         "We know where the last few Jenova cells are located."