Chapter 1

In a place far away, a place known only in legends and myths exists a city called Midgar. Now this city isn't anything close to ordinary. It consists of two layers. It has a bottom layer called the slums. It isn't exactly the best place to be. It's polluted in the air and you hardly ever see the sun down there. The buildings are old and worn down if not falling apart or destroyed. The slums are divided into 7 sectors. Above the slums, held in place, is the top layer. This is made up of rich people, brand new buildings, plenty of sunlight, basically paradise compared to the slums. This is where our story begins. In Sector 4 slums something mysterious was happening unknown to everyone around it. Basically this was happening in secret.

et.

A teenage girl lives there with her parents, age 16 now. She had a great life according to her but only because she hadn't seen the surface. All she'd ever known was the slums. At age 16 she was still energetic, always had to be doing something or she would drive someone bonkers. She had two best friends. Cloud, a 16 year old boy who she'd known since she was 5, and Tifa, a 16 year old girl who she'd known since she was 7. Her name is Meshka or least that is what everyone called her. Her actions were a bit of a mystery to everyone. As a little kid she was never afraid of anything or anyone except one particular group of people. This group was called SOLDIER and they worked for a company named Shinra. They were from the surface and every once in a while they came down to recruit people. Either that or they took someone away and never returned them. That was what scared her the most as a kid but now she wasn't afraid of them either.

Everyday she played with Cloud and Tifa in the junk yard because it was the only place with enough room and enough interesting things to use for their games. Most of the time they pretended that they were leading a rebellion against Shinra and it's army. Most of the time they won the battle but that's they way they thought. They seemed sure of themselves enough to beat Shinra. Unfortunately if any adult heard what they were doing they would say that they were being fools to believe that a rebellion could win. All the adults seemed afraid of them. Most called Meshka a fool for being so bold against Shinra but she didn't care, it's the way she was.

One afternoon she witnessed something that she would never forget. She had been running down the street past a family's house, one that she knew very well. She got along with them fairly well. She was with Cloud and Tifa at the time because they were going home after playing their war game again. She sort of felt odd like something was going to happen so she slowed down and told the others to go on ahead of her. Cloud and Tifa left, of course they ran on ahead like she wanted them to thinking it was no big deal. After a little while she heard screams from the house. At first she didn't know why but then shortly after the scream she saw it.

Two men in suits were walking out dragging a boy with them. The boy was yelling and hollering like it would help. The father was coming at them with a shot gun telling them to let the boy go while the mother was crying. The boy's name was Gladius, odd name but then again most were. The men said that Gladius was special and needed to be taken somewhere on the surface. She didn't like that much and on the spot decided that she would help. She marched up to the closest man and literally slapped him.

"Don't you dare tear apart another family like this!" and turned on the other man now helping the one she slapped off the ground.

All around she heard everyone's murmur of surprise at such a bold move. To tell the truth she didn't understand why they were so surprised. The father had lowered his gun from the shock of having a girl do that. The two men looked her over for a minute and then grabbed Gladius again, big mistake on their part. She hated being ignored much less thought as a weakling.

"Don't you dare touch him unless you want to get hit again only this time it will be a nice kick!"

That got their attention, thinking that she was being a fool and didn't know what she was doing. "Don't talk to us like that, we are from Shinra so you best not mess with us little girl."

She wanted to teach them a lesson so bad. She knew exactly who they were and where they were from and that is what pissed her off.

"I know well where you came from and who you are, that's what ticks me off! You just come down here taking people to your pleasure not caring about what it does to the family and people around them! You are jerks and stupid! I hate Shinra, instead of taking people from here why don't you take them from where you are at!"

She was literally yelling at them now. Trying to get the point across that they don't have a right to do what they were doing. She was aware of practically everyone who was nearby had stopped to see what would happen. She wasn't afraid of these men and was showing it. Understanding now came to the two men as they glanced at each other.

"Obviously you have not been taught to respect others little girl but that can get fixed."

That is when they got their stick thingies out. Batons is what she thought they were called but she preferred to call them metal pipes. She was looking to the fight knowing that it had come to that.

"I ain't afraid of you guys! If i was afraid then i wouldn't be doing this now would I? You don't deserve my respect and until you do you ain't getting it!"

She was smiling as she said that. "If only my parents were here to watch me now" was what came to mind. They would be proud of her. She thought back to when she told the others to go on ahead. She was glad she had done it because if she hadn't they would be trying to stop her. She started to laugh and the two men were again surprised to see that.

"What's so dang funny little girl? You finally realize how much of a fool you're being?"

She stopped and stared at them with this stare that sent shivers down the surrounding people's spine. She had this ice cold glare on her face with a smile as the only hint of some other emotion. It wasn't a happy smile either, it was a mischievous smile like she had a plan and was laughing at it.

"No. I just realized how much fun it will be to kick your sorry butts to the ground. I can't even begin to imagine how hurt you'll feel not to mention that by what i hear you will get a huge lecture from your boss when you show up empty handed and beaten."

That pissed them off big time. She was so confident in herself and she looked it too. To them though she came across and arrogant and obnoxious not to mention annoying. They were going to be late big time.

"Alright then, if you're so big and mighty then prove it to us. Prove that you can beat us."

"Fine."

She charged them and boy was she fast. The men didn't even see it coming until she was practically right on them. They barely had enough time to dodge. She hit the step railing and it bent. She was strong too they noticed. She stood straight and looked behind here because that was where they had gotten to. She charged again and they avoided the punch. As one dodged they other swung out and hit her on the head sending her to the ground. She immediately pushed herself off the ground and punched the guy that hit her. It was an amazing fight going on and people were cheering for her.

"You are bold to start a fight. We didn't think you could do well though. You're stronger and fast compared to some."

"Well thank you but I don't need you're compliments. I still hate men like you."

The fighting continued. She quickly gained the upper hand and started beating them pretty good. They were hitting the walls to the house and being hit across the street. One of them was lucky enough to block and hit back sending her flying against the house wall. She hit pretty hard too. The men had finally gotten a good hit in. Gladius ran to her to see if she was okay. She said she was but when she got up she wasn't as steady as she had been.

"Now that one hurt. Good job man you actually managed to do some damage to me. I'm gonna have one heck of a headache for the next couple of days."

She pushed Gladius to the side saying that if he didn't back up he would get mixed up in the fight. As soon as he did the men came charging and she sent them flying backwards onto their butts. It was an even match up to now. The men looked at each other and started to grin. She didn't understand but then she lost her balance and her vision blurred for a few seconds.

"Shit, what the heck just happened to me?"

"That little girl was the effect of the damage you took. You hit the wall a bit hard so it will effect your fighting skill. You sure you want to keep fighting us?'

"You bet losers. This is nothing yet. I'll be fine and I'll win too."

"You are pretty confident of yourself. Hope it don't get you killed."

They went at it some more. The father who was watching suddenly lifted his shotgun and aimed it at one of the men. People in the street that had weapons were started to say they would join. This annoyed her a lot. Go figure they would get the courage only if someone else was involved.

"All you people shut up and don't get involved I started it and I'll finish it got it!"

Of course they shut up and stared watching. Just as she blocked them they backed up. I should mention now that the metal pipes weren't the only weapons they had. They also had pistols with them.

"Everyone shut up and don't interfere or you'll get hurt. We're gonna teach this girl what it means to mess with Shinra."

Gladius being the weird boy he is decided that if Mistic could stand up to them then so could he. He stood up on the stairs next to his family.

"You coward, hiding behind a gun against an unarmed girl! You shouldn't be in Shinra if that is what you call fighting!"

They turned on him and aimed their guns at him. They were smiling too which scared him. Understanding came to Mistic in a flash. They really were going to shoot him and just like that she got up and as the guns went off and she got in the way of them hitting their target. It hurt real bad too! Who knew a gun could hurt so much. She fell to the ground not having the strength to stay standing. The mother screamed, the father yelled and charged at the men, and Gladius fell next her.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know they would shoot me for calling them cowards. Please let me help you get somewhere safe."

It was a bit shocking to hear but he was crying too. He really was sorry she had gotten involved and thought it was his fault.

"You dummy, don't be sorry for me. There is nothing to be sorry about so stop your crying and help your father, he needs it."

He followed directions and stood up, stopped crying, and charged at the men with all his strength. You could hear anger as he screamed. For some reason all boys and men screamed when they charged somebody in a fight. I guess it was the way they worked around here. She was hurting everywhere, mostly because of the gunshots she just got to protect Gladius. The pain was so bad that she couldn't concentrate on anything else. Then all went black.

Now this is the part where you think she dies and my story ends but do you remember the part where i said something mysterious was happening without anyone knowing it. Well this is where everyone finds out about it. This mysterious event happens when Mistic is severely injured. Now taking that she was shot twice when protecting Gladius she fit the requirements. It's where she becomes a totally different person. She changes in a way that know ordinary person can. The only hint that would give it away is what changes. Her hair changes to black and red streaks while her eyes change to a red and black swirl. If it weren't for that you would think she was no different.

As her world grew black she went into what she thought a dream. There she saw an image of herself only with the changed hair and eyes. She didn't know it was her and she grew curious to find out. Then even that faded away from her and she fell into complete blackness. She couldn't feel, hear or sense anything.

As Gladius got to his father's side they saw the men stop suddenly and they had a shocked expression on their faces. Both men didn't understand what they heck made them stop but as they looked they noticed that the two men who had hurt Mistic were looking behind them in total disbelief. Not understanding still what could have startled them they turned around and there on the stairs they saw her getting up or at least they thought it was her.

Meshka having changed felt better. She wasn't hurting or anything. She could here that everything and everyone had stopped what they were doing. As she finished standing up she opened her eyes and saw everyone staring at her.

"Anyone who wishes to stay unharmed needs to move away from the two Shinra men and stay out of the way. I do not want to harm anyone but them."

Immediately following directions Gladius and his father moved back to where the mother was standing in total shock. Meshka walked down the stairs and into the street where the Shinra men were standing.

"I guess this is where the fun part starts huh? I hope you're ready because you caused this."

The stunned looks didn't make sense but she didn't care. They had hurt her really bad and now they had to pay for what they did. She was angry beyond anything that she felt and she now knew she had the power to stop them though she didn't know where it came from. With that she punched one guy and kicked the other one sending them flying down the street. They stood back up only to get hit again. Realizing that no matter how hard they tried they couldn't win they ran to their car and started it up. They had run away but not before they said something first.

"This isn't over you hear little girl. We'll be back and next time we won't lose to you."

"Come back whenever you want, I'll be waiting for you. Tell your boss what happened too since you're running like cowards why don't you."

Satisfied that she had won the fight she became unconscious. As she started falling to the ground the people around her cheered in joy. She had won and they were safe not to mention that she had kept Gladius from their hands. She was filled with joy as she went to sleep. Gladius and his mother helped her into the house to rest and heal from the gunshots. As they did that her hair turned back to it's normal blonde color and her eyes went back to green. They were relieved that she was okay.

Here is a nifty thing to her mysterious characteristic. Even though it's still her in that state she won't remember a thing about what happened. It will be as if all she did was black out. It's weird but that is the way it works for now. I'll tell you one thing though that will happen in the story. That little fact will change, something will happen where she will no longer remember just blacking out but she will remember what happened when it kicks in.

The next morning she wakes up in a nice cozy bed with covers keeping her warm. She didn't recognize where she was at and at first she thought that the Shinra man had taken her. She only stayed awake for about an hour before falling back to sleep. She was exhausted and she still hurt. Downstairs, Gladius called her friend Cloud.

"Hey Cloud, do you know how to get a hold of Meshka's parents? I need to tell them that she is alright. I'm sure they are worried about her."

Cloud was a bit surprised to hear from Gladius. They didn't really hang out much. It was even more surprising that he knew anything about Mistic but it was okay. As long as she was safe he was happy.

"Yeah I can get a hold of them if you want. Where is she anyways so that they can go get her? I'm sure they will be happy to hear that she is okay after not coming home yesterday."

Gladius was afraid that if he said she was at his place things would go wrong. So instead of that he had to come up with a plan to avoid causing anymore issues for her.

"Well, how about i just meet them somewhere and bring her with me. It would probably be better that way anyways. I don't want to cause any problems for her. Just give me the number and I'll call them or if they don't have a phone then I'll just take her home."

"Okay, I'll give you their number but i don't get why you won't tell me where she is at so i can pass it to her parents. Oh well, i guess things are complicated like that. Have fun talking to them and tell them i said hi okay."

"Thanks dude, you don't know how much i appreciate this. I'll call them right away."

As always he was relieved that all went as planned. He hated having to hide that she was at his place but he didn't think it was a good idea when Mistic was such good friends with Cloud and Tifa. Anything to avoid problems between friends is good. Of course he wasn't afraid of telling her parents. He could explain everything that happened to them without causes some sort of issue. He didn't understand what happened after she got hurt but he didn't think it was too important at the moment. All that was important now was calling her parents and making sure that she was still okay upstairs.

At about the time that he hung up with her parents she woke up and came downstairs. She was still a bit unbalanced and she looked like she was in pain.

"What are you doing awake. You shouldn't be up walking around you need to get back to bed and rest. You took some major injuries in that fight."

Mistic finally understood where she was. She was so happy that she had won, stayed alive, and kept Shinra from taking Gladius. What she didn't understand is how she managed it. She didn't remember ever actually winning the fight. Either way though, she couldn't stay in bed anymore. It would drive her crazy.

"I'm fine really, i just needed a little bit of rest is all. I'm glad you're okay, i don't remember anything that happened after you went to help your dad. What exactly did happen? Those guys pulled a dirty trick."

He was shocked that she didn't remember anything. He couldn't understand why that was, of all the things to forget she had to forget the most important part of the fight. He looked at her like she was crazy and she gave him a look that was confused.

"How can you not remember. You got up and beat the crap out of the two guys. They went running for their pathetic lives. You were scarey too, the look you had was amazing. That alone made most of us stop in our tracks. When you told us that we should move to the side so we don't get hurt everyone immediately moved. I've never seen anyone have that effect on people before."

She was still confused but at least someone knew what happened. Obviously she had done something out of pure instinct maybe even rage. She wanted to go home so that her parents knew she was okay but first she had to get back into her clothes. Apparently someone had come up with something for her to wear.

"Do you happen to know where my clothes are, i need to go home so my parents don't worry about me too much."