Chaotic Damnation

ByRia LaPlante

"Neblihiem"

Onlookers stared at the strangely dressed woman storming down the cobbled streets. She seemed determined and focused on her obvious target. Her feet were leading her into only one direction, Shinra Mansion. Shrugging off the brisk breeze she stared up at the dark fortress. "Vincent Valentine, you better hope and pray that you aren't here..." She whispered with venom.

The door creaked with protest as she gave it a powerful thrust. To her disgust she could hear the audible escape of stagnit air. The dust swirled amongst the snow and fell to the ground creating a thin layer of mud on the floor. Once, what seemed so long ago, this place would have given her the creeps and had tip-toed around in hopes of not awakening any ghouls or goblins. She had been such an ignorant child. No, she did not tip-toe timidly anymore; she stomped. She dared them to come and annoy her. Her boots slamming into the floorboards making them crack beneath her feet. "WAKEY WAKEY TIME YOU ASSHOLE!" She screamed daringly as she entered the forbidden hallway.

As she strode down the hall she kicked every piece of debris she could find. With a sick pleasure she kicked a large human skull into the stone wall and watched it shatter. The door to the catacombs was open. He was most definitely there. "You stupid fuck..." She said and shook her head.

The coffin was in front of her she could still smell his distinct scent of faded lavender. With less effort than was right for somebody of her size he threw the heavy coffin lid to the floor and viciously assaulted the pale man within it's trappings. His eyes opened and she stared at her with fuzzy confusion in his eyes.

She leaned up against the side of the coffin and gingerly leaned in non-chalant. "You know, half way down the stairs I made a bet to myself. I said to myself, ' Come on, he couldn't possibly be that stupid. He's not an idiot so he wouldn't crawl back into a box and waste away for another couple of decades.' Then I said, 'bet you he would.'" She said matter-of-factly. Then in an instant her entire face changed to one of hatred and promising violence. With a mighty shove she sent the coffin reeling across the room where it crashed into another coffin. "I hate losing." she said coldly and swiftly turned around and exited the room without another word.

Meanwhile, the man untangled himself from the wreckage of his former resting place. For once in his life, he was confused. Who was it who whipped through here and demolished any peace he may have found with such effortless ease. Confusion quickly melted in to hot anger as he reached down to his side drawing his weapon and ran out of the room after her.

The villagers began to pull their children out of the streets as they saw the strange woman come back down the hill. Something was seriously amiss. Terror struck them as they saw a tall man in a red cloak charge after her. Immediately she turned and stepped out of the way. He fell onto the snow and drew his legs under him with incredible speed and stood up. He threw a punch only to have it blocked. Time after time he tried to attack only to find that he had struck air. She was fast. Impossibly fast. She started to circle him and he held up his gun. "Go ahead, try. You aren't going to hit me. " She whispered in his ear.

"Who are you?" He asked "Forgot me so soon? Aw, Vincent, you wounded me!" She said as he lunged at him once again knocking him into the snow. He looked up at the barrel of his own gun.

"Pathetic. I thought you would be the one who could help me... Once again I find myself sorely mistaken. I believed that you would have figured something out. Anything... Instead all you did was run back to the darkness; Run back to your oblivion." Her face slowly changed from malice to disappointment and then to a pained anguish in the matter of a second. "Pathetic." She whispered.

With a 'plop' she tossed the gun into the snow next to him. "Who are you?" He asked again.

"I think the question you should be asking is... 'who was I'?" She sighed. "The answer to that is someone that I will never be again."

He watched her turn and walk away again. She had a tendency for that. Suddenly she collapsed in the snow and started to scream. Vincent got up and ran over to her body. Scooping her light form into his arms he ran her to the Inn across the street. A tired looking man behind the counter looked panicked as Vincent stormed in. "I need a room." He said demandingly.

The man swiftly lead him down the hall and opened a random door. "That's fifty a night per person." he said a calmly as he could be. Obviously he had never been barked about before. "It will be dealt with in the morning. Leave us." He barked. Immediately the door slammed shut. Vincent set her on the bed.

"Thanks." She whispered softly. "But, I still hate you."

"Why? Who are you? How do I even know you?" He asked. "My name used to be Yuffie." She said softly.

It dawned on him. Yuffie? She had changed. Why was she so angry at him? "You're skills, they've improved."

He said. At this she let out a bitter laugh. "Oh yes, yes they have. You could say they're killer."

"Why are you here now?" He asked.

"Well during the five years you encased your self in our own self-loathing I was running investigation for Neo-Shinra. Reeve heard about some suspicious activity and sent me to check it out. To make a long story short, I got captured. I was held at that camp for two weeks. It was during that time that they used me to further their research." She said sitting up and taking off her coat. Underneath she wore only a black tank top. He could see clearly the scars that criss-crossed themselves down her arms. He stopped staring at the marks and looked into her eyes. As their eyes met she smiled sadistically. "If you think that's bad you don't want to know why they did this."

"What did they do to you?" He asked not just about her body but about her mind as well. She had morphed into such a hateful, bitter being that he didn't recognize her at all. "First, they tried implants in my muscles, making them stronger and faster. Then they altered my brain chemistry so that my senses where sharper. Finally they injected me with Serum 157 A.K.A Project "Damnation." She said with a wry grin. "You would know about Serum 122. They liked to call it..."

"Chaos." He whispered. "Exactly. I'm the new and improved freak of nature. Dr. Niko DeVinte has developed a new serum that would have been his dear mentor's idea of a wet dream." She said with a bitter expression. "I'm sorry."

"Like you fucking care. You wouldn't even understand." She snapped and him an fell into a calm state. "I was rescued by the TURKs. They returned me to a hospital an Wutai where I recuperated. "

"I thank them for getting me out of there, I really do. However, they were a little overzealous in disturbing justice. They killed the lead researchers and burned the compound to ashes before I was even cognitive. I only have what few files that Alena had snagged from the outside of the room that they were keeping me in to tell me what they had done." She sighed. "I tried to go on. I didn't tell anybody what had happened to me. I didn't think it mattered. " She said softly.

"What happened?" He asked being drawn into her story.

"It didn't last a week. Rumor got out about how Lord Godo's daughter had changed. She moved so strangely, and her eyes had changed." She took a deep breath and looked out of the window onto the street. "Soon, I was too upset to go outside anymore. Every time I did, parents would pull their kids inside and I could hear them whisper about demons and possession. Finally, the day came when my own father requested that I leave... And never come back." She stared out the window for what seemed to be forever.

"I know that you won't believe me but, I'm really sorry for what has happened to you. I know how much you loved Wutai." He said gently. "It's the past. I was young. Like all teen-age loves, this one ended in heartbreak. Big deal." She said cynically.

"Why did you think I could even help you?" He asked.

"Because, Vincent, I would of thought that you'd found anything to at lease ease the suffering." She stated. "... I was wrong."

He watched as she spent a couple of hours just staring out of that window at nothingness. Obviously she had changed. The Yuffie of long ago could never have stood still long enough to look at anything for even a few minutes. "Go to bed. Tomorrow, we start searching." He said and pulled his side of the covers up.

"Searching for what?" She asked blankly.

"Anything." He said as he turned out the light.

Okay, I hope that you enjoyed this segment of C&D Drop me a line at Tah-Tah!