Cloud sat quietly on the couch of his Costa del Sol Villa. It was a beautiful day in the sunny paradise and the sun was starting to descend under the horizon, giving a silent goodnight to the planet below. Cloud was pondering on thoughts of his past experiences. Like the downfall of the tyrannical Shinra cooperation, his brief trip into space, and of course, the defeat of his malevolent rival, Sephiroth. But all that was in the past now and the planet finally found some peace. Or so it seemed for a while. Cloud began the hear cries and shouts coming from outside; so he got up to see what was happening. When he got outside, all the town's citizens were running about screaming "Meteor! Meteor!" Cloud looked up in the sky and let out a cry of surprise and terror. He didn't know how or why, but Meteor had been summoned again.
Chapter OneCloud's first order of business was to get help. He hurried over to Rocket Town where Tifa, a beautiful martial artist and Cloud's close friend since childhood, and Cid, Rocket Town's foul-mouthed pilot were currently residing. "This can't be happening!" Tifa cried out, pacing back and forth through the Highwind conference room. "We took out Meteor a year ago. How could it be back?" Cloud, Tifa and Cid were sitting in the conference room trying to assess the current predicament. "I think your asking the wrong questions." Started Cloud. "First off, who could have found the black materia? And where would the find enough mako energy in one place to use it?" "More importantly, what kind of #$$ retard would want to use it?" Said Cid in his usual form of language. "We'll have to find that out later." Said Cloud. "What we should worry about is how we're going to get rid of it, because we don't have Holy to back us up this time. I suggest we get the team back together. Barret's back in Midgar helping Cait Sith rebuild the slums; Red XIII went back to Cosmo Canyon, Yuffie's in Bone Village, and Vincent wet back to Nibelheim. I think Vincent could supply the most info on the situation, so lets pick him up first." "Heh, knowing that mood killer, he probably just went back to sleep in that damn coffin." Said Cid somewhat irritated. "Lets go wake his ass up!"
The trio landed at Nibelheim an hour later. "Cid, you stay here and keep an eye on the ship. Tifa, you come with me." Cloud gave his orders quickly and then he and Tifa went into town. Nibelheim was the same as it's always been, a somewhat rundown town with a defective mako reactor in the center of the main street. Before they could take a few steps further, a young boy approached them. "Are you here for his autograph too?" Cloud looked confused. "Whose autograph?" "Don't act like you don't know." The boy said excitedly. "Vincent, the famous monster hunter. He's up at Mt. Nibel right now killing monsters." Cloud and Tifa looked at each other confused. Vincent wasn't a monster hunter, he was a catatonic shell of a man who kept to himself and ever rarely said anything positive. Most of the time, the rest of the team let him have his space just because standing near him gave you an unsettling feeling. Could the hunter really be the same Vincent?
Following the boy's story, Cloud and Tifa set off to the foggy gray peaks of Mt. Nibel. Tifa shuddered upon entering; her past experiences here gave her a bad opinion of the place. Once they made it to the bridge, monsters attacked them. Cloud drew his enormous sword and prepared to attack while Tifa put on her fight gloves. But before the could do anything, they heard gunshots ring out and the monsters lay dead at their feet they looked at the mountain plain behind them and sure enough, There was Vincent. Dressed in all black with his tattered red cape, his face still wrapped in a faded red bandana and his metal fighting gauntlet still on his left arm. His mighty Death Penalty gun pointed straight at the monster coming across the bridge. He jumped down in front of them a held up a shiny green materia. "Comet 2!" Vincent cried out as falling comets bombarded the second wave of monsters. It didn't take long for them to fall. Vincent turned to greet his comrades and a smile crossed his faced. "Hey guys, how's it going?
The three made their way back to town, the monsters kept away. It's as if they knew they'd be killed if they approached. Cloud, overcome by curiosity, finally asked about Vincent's new upbeat disposition. "Hey Vincent, what happened? After we beat Sephiroth, you took off with the master magic materia, and now you kill monsters for a living. What's the deal? Vincent stopped and turned around, a strange look appeared on his face, as if he was waiting for that question. "Well, after all things said and done, you all told me to move on and get over the past. I thought losing Lucrecia was the worst thing that could happen to me, but when Meteor fell, I realized there's so much more to lose. So when I got back to Nibelheim, I thought about it for a long time, I figured out that it was unhealthy to dwell on such a rotten experience. Hojo's dead, my revenge is fulfilled." The mention of Hojo's name brought back the memories. Hojo was a psychopathic scientist who saw most living things as a test subject. He stole Lucrecia from Vincent and conceived the maniacal Sephiroth. But he met his fate at the hands of Cloud. Vincent continued. "Also around that time, monsters found their way into town, so now," Vincent struck a heroic pose, "You're looking at the number one monster hunter of Nibelheim!"
When they made it back to town, Vincent's fans swarmed them. Vincent signed some autographs and led them to his "Home", the Shinra Manor. When they stepped through the door, Cloud and Tifa's mouths dropped open in amazement. What was once a rundown dump of a mansion had been completely refurbished and renovated. The walls were freshly painted white and new carpet had been put down. It looked like it belonged to royalty. "Holy crap Vincent", started Tifa, still in shock, "How'd you make a mansion out of this place?" Vincent grinned and held up his gun and wizard bracelet, aside from his master magic materia, the other fifteen were purple. "These are all gil plus materia. Every time I kill a monster, I get fifteen times the amount of gil. That combined with what the town pays me; I'm rich enough to afford ten of these mansions. I'm living good!" with the small talk out of the way, Vincent got serious. "Alright, down to business, I assume you're here because of the new meteor?" "Yeah", started Cloud, "we thought you could provide some info." Vincent looked confident. "You came to the right guy. Lets go down to the lab.
The basement lab had also been changed. The spiral bridge leading down had been replaced with a lift, and the lab was tidied up. Vincent led the two over to the computer and he brought up a file. "I cant say for sure who summoned Meteor or why, but I think I know how to stop it. Cloud and Tifa were focused on the screen, and the information Vincent found out. "As you know, we don't have the white materia, so we can't summon Holy, but there's something else with the power we need. Last time, the lifestream emerged and created a shield to aid Holy, but upon doing so, Mako built up in large amount in four specific locations. And in turn, it crystallized into four new materia, one green, one purple, one yellow, and one red. First, there's the green one, the growth materia, once cast, the target becomes a giant and there strength skyrockets. Then there's the yellow one, the chemist materia, the user can mix items to make new effects. Then the purple one, the zombie materia, the holder becomes undead. Then the red one, the king bahamut materia, according to legend, King Bahamut is the most powerful force in the universe, and the user can summon him. The materia can be found in Midgar, the Sleeping Forest, Cosmo Canyon, and right here in the Jenova reactor." Cloud studied the screen and came to his decision. "We'll worry about the details later, right now lets get the materia." A smile crossed Vincent's face, "alright, lets get some sleep. Tomorrow, we go to the reactor and find that materia."