A/N: welcome to the next installment of "Blood Feud"... the fourth prologue? Sheesh, how many more prologues am I gonna do? Um, two, actually. Or maybe three. I've explained before, but it's before the beginning of FFVII, so I count it as a prologue.

Anyway, thanks for the previous reviews! Hope you guys all like the continuation. And, as always, I don't own any of the characters in this fic. Or this would now be canon...

"A Quicksilver? Are you sure?" Sephiroth asked in muted tones. The group was now walking in a column with the two infantrymen, Cloud and Greg, on point; Tifa, their guide, following just behind; and the two SOLDIER members at the rear. Sephiroth had been questioning Zack over his encounter with the unknown gunman at the rope bridge, while Tifa had been able to find them another, albeit longer route to the reactor. However, if the suspicions of both Zack and Sephiroth were correct, they would arrive long after the gunman had reached the reactor.

"I don't know! Seph, if acing the firearms recognition test was mandatory for joining SOLDIER, I wouldn't have even made Third-Class! It's the only subject I flunked!" Zack said. "Hell, until you named it, I didn't even remember the guns used by the Turks were called Quicksilvers!"

"Somehow, I'm not surprised," Sephiroth smiled. "But, to be honest, firearms aren't my forte, either." His demeanour turned dourer. "If our suspicions regarding his destination are correct, then we need to hurry. Especially if your suppositions that he's possibly had Turk training has been enhanced, or worse, both are correct. Either theory would worry me, but the idea that both are right... and if he is heading for the reactor..." Sephiroth shook his head.

"You think that's bad? You haven't heard the worst of it: I think he was holding back as much as I was," Zack sighed.

"You held back?" Sephiroth asked.

Vincent moved so swiftly through the reactor that his pace would have left after-images in most people's eyes. He swung onto ladders, only to let go and drop the last few feet, clanging as he landed on the metal walkways. Finally, he reached the centre of the reactor - the very heart of darkness itself. As long as the specimen hadn't been removed from this site, anyway. Vincent stalked slowly to the door and pushed it open.

The pods were new.

Vincent entered the door, his eyes only on the writing at the very back of the room, scrawled above the only other door to this room: JENOVA. He took this as a good indicator that the abomination was still here. He paused in mid-stride and, out of morbid curiosity, checked the nearest pod. A thrill of revulsion shot through him at the sight that greeted him.

"There but for the grace of a god go I," Vincent muttered, a small spark of pity flaring inside him for the poor unfortunates who had met this fate. It actually made what he had planned an act of mercy. He chuckled darkly to himself as he realised he was about to do the work of a Turk.

"All evidence of company misconduct...must be erased," he said, quietly addressing the rows of imprisoned experiments. "...I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

"Oh, but... this is beautiful!" Tifa gasped in delight at the spectacle ahead of them.

Sephiroth's eyes flicked wearily to it and then away again. "A mako fountain," he said, in a tone which suggested he'd seen too many for them to still hold any true wonder for him. "I might explain how they form on the way back, if you wish. And if we have time, which I must stress we do not have now."

"But..." Tifa looked disappointed.

"No," Sephiroth said.

"Ah, the General's right, Tifa," Zack said. "We're still not sure what that weird guy I fought earlier was up to, but he seemed to be heading towards the reactor, which could be bad for Nibelheim."

Tifa frowned and tilted her head to one side. "This... weird guy... What did he look like?"

Zack shrugged. "Long black hair, red eyes, clothes colour-coordinated to match," he said.

In response, Tifa swung her head sharply to one side to hide the apprehension in her eyes. "...No..." she murmured, before falling silent. The only one of the group to hear her shared her sentiments. Cloud still remembered that night, too.

Vincent could feel something crawling up his spine - the uncanny feeling that he was being watched. He cast a glare at the unseeing eyes of the metallic facsimile of Jenova covering the tank it was held in.

"Quit staring at me," he muttered, feeling ridiculous as he did so. He reached into his pouch and placed one of the packages over the figurehead's face. It was a vast improvement.

Getting into a fight with that SOLDIER had been foolish on so many levels... Chief amongst them, however, was how delicate the packages were. If the SOLDIER had landed a clean hit on him, the results could have been...

Vincent shook his head to clear the image of a blossoming fire from his mind. Grabbing hold of a heavy duty cable, he swung himself around to the side of the tank and attached another block of plastic explosive to the glass. He allowed himself a smile as he realised all he had to do was attached one more block to the other side of the tank to ensure Jenova's complete destruction, and then he would be fin -

Vincent paused and turned his head to one side. There was someone - or something - in the reactor with him. He slowly edged back to the walkway. Once his feet were on solid ground, he drew his Quicksilver and softly crept towards the door.

"Just so you're aware," a voice Vincent didn't recognise said. "I already know you're there, so any further attempts at subterfuge are pointless." Vincent had frozen on the spot the moment the man had started talking, and listened intently. All of his instincts as a former Turk - plus those of his... other selves - were telling him the man wasn't bluffing.

"Why are you so intent on destroying evidence pertaining to Project S?" the man asked. The question took Vincent by surprise. It implied the person knew that the Jenova Project had been comprised of two competing arms, which complicated the situation significantly.

"Oh, I believe I see," the man continued. "You're one of the Turks, aren't you?"

Deciding that inaction would only exasperate matters, Vincent made a decision and stepped into clear view. "I have little interest in evidence regarding the Jenova Project. My aim is to destroy Jenova itself," he said. "In answer to you last question... I am formerly of the Turks."

The man standing before him was a sight to behold. Once auburn hair was turning prematurely ash grey. His clothes looked to have had more wear and tear than their owner had lived, despite seeming to have been custom tailored to him. Most tellingly of all, however, was the SOLDIER emblem around his waist.

The SOLDIER chuckled. "I wasn't aware they allowed Turks to retire, any more than we SOLDIER are allowed to," he said. "However, I am an ex-SOLDIER, so I guess that you, too, are a renegade." He bowed stiffly, as if his back was no longer as supple as it used to be. "Genesis Rhapsados, seeker of the Gift of the Goddess."

"Vincent Valentine... lovelorn," Vincent replied with a slight inclination of his head. He had once read LOVELESS, and the phrase Genesis used was familiar to him. "...So, you're in the late stages of cellular degeneration? Then I take it you must be part of Hollander and Gillian's program, Project G." Vincent shook his head. "Looks like Hojo was right about the risks in Hollander's methods."

Genesis had looked at Vincent the moment the former Turk had mentioned cellular degeneration, and his eyes had narrowed, betraying more suspicion with each passing word. "I beg your pardon?" he said, before understanding dawned behind his eyes. "Of course. Valentine. The Turk from Project S who was reported M.I.A. Still so young after all these - " Genesis paused and considered something. "Did you just say Hojo predicted cellular degeneration before Hollander began Project G?"

Vincent suddenly had the vague feeling he may have said too much for once. "...Something like that," he said. "It was one of many reasons why Hojo told Hollander and the President that Project G was doomed from the outset."

Genesis was nodding, but he didn't seem to be truly listening. "I see... then, perhaps the professor was too hasty in telling me he couldn't help me. Perhaps Hojo would be more worth my while than Sephiroth," he said.

Vincent decided this had gone far enough and calmly levelled his gun at Genesis. However, it was at this point that a wing cracked into existence over Genesis' left shoulder. Vincent recoiled in shock. Even considering his own genetic modifications, this seemed... exceptional.

The single wing beat at the air, sending its owner upwards through the reactor. "Thank you for your advice, Mr. Valentine," Genesis called down. "Perhaps we shall meet again."

Vincent narrowed his eyes at the retreating SOLDIER. That had been a waste of time, one that Vincent felt he would pay for in more ways than one...

Zack and Sephiroth had overtaken the rest of their group to take point in the final approach to the reactor. Shingle sprayed everywhere as they sprinted the last few yards, the unenhanced humans behind them gasping for breath as they tried to match the pace.

Zack couldn't see anything out of the ordinary at first, and gladly put his worries down to paranoia. Sephiroth strangled that hope however, by skidding to a halt and drawing the Masamune in a single flawless movement.

"The sunlight glinted off your gauntlet," Sephiroth said as Zack hefted the Buster Sword. "What little there is of it."

"I wasn't trying to hide," the gunman replied, detaching himself from the shadows of the doorway. When he glanced at Zack, the SOLDIER felt he looked disappointed in him.

"You're actively disrupting the duties of SOLDIER," Sephiroth said. "We're taking you in."

The gunman shifted his gaze to his wristwatch. Zack saw his jaw shift as teeth clenched. "DOWN!" the gunman said, before throwing himself face first into the ground. The others stared at him for a few heartbeats, bemused.

Then Sephiroth flew into action. The first Zack knew was hearing the General scream "DOWN!" at Tifa and the guys. He then realised that Sephiroth had sent him sprawling into the dirt. As he opened his mouth to complain, there was the dull thud of a vacuum forming around a newly formed flame.

The force of the explosion threw Sephiroth from his feet, the General landing badly. Zack could dimly hear Cloud screaming something underneath the explosion and realised it was the word "Tifa". Debris rained down around their ears, some pieces burning like meteorites.

Zack started to rise, shaking his head to lose the ringing in his ears. A quick glance was enough to reassure him Cloud and the others were fine - both infantrymen had lost their helmets during the explosion and Greg was dazedly crawling towards his, while Cloud was crouched protectively over Tifa. The guide seemed to be in disbelief at her friend's sudden appearance.

Zack scuttled over to Sephiroth. The SOLDIER general was unconscious and blood flowed from a head-wound, but his pulse was strong and his breathing was normal. Zack wasn't sufficiently medically qualified to guess about concussion. Thankfully, he could hear Greg calling for backup.

A shadow fell over Zack. "Do you remember... what I said earlier? About names?" the gunman asked. Zack heard a ripping noise.

Zack nodded. "About them being for graves and messages?"

"Right." A scrap of a red cloak fell at his feet. Zack picked it up and carefully wrapped it around Sephiroth's head-wound. "This is a message," the gunman continued. "For the ShinRa, especially Professor Hojo. Tell them, it's signed Vincent Valentine." There was a scuffle and Zack looked up.

Vincent had disappeared, only the wide-eyed looks of the others down the trail telling Zack he hadn't literally vanished. Zack shook his head - the only time he'd seen people move with speed like that was in training exercises with other SOLDIERs, when he was in Wutai and when he had fought against the Genesis copies.

Zack shook his head. "Next time, Valentine," he promised.