Disclaimer: I do not own FFVII. Final Fantasy 7, the storyline and its characters belong solely to Square-Enix.

Summary: After being betrayed, mutilated and tortured three decades ago, Vincent is found by a mismatched group trying to save the Planet. He joins their ranks to seek vengeance and find redemption. While they journey, will he be able to control the beasts lurking in his mind, or will he add another sin to his already long list?

Warnings: Contains violence, gore, foul language and mature content. As such, this story is rated M.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Chapter 1

Three decades ago.

Pain. Excruciating, unbearable pain. Lying on the ground, he tried to stay awake, tried to focus on anything to keep himself from loosing consciousness, but even with his eyes wide open he could barely see. Somewhere in the background, he could hear the footsteps of the man responsible for his suffering, as he paced the room. He was speaking with someone, but most of the words were drowned out by the buzzing in his ears.

"…just couldn't leave well enough alone, could he…"

"…terrible, terrible waste... "

"…will make a fine specimen, yes…"

All the noise finally stopped as the man stepped out of the room, leaving the wounded man alone with his thoughts and his pain. 'Am I dying?' he wondered, as he struggled to breathe. He could taste blood in his mouth, his blood, gurgling up from his lungs every time he breathed. He moved his hand to his blood covered chest, to the three bullet wounds there, and he knew all was lost. He had failed. He had failed himself. He had failed the unborn child. But must importantly, he had failed her. Finally, the pain lessened as his mind and body started to shut down, his final thought going to his reason for living, the one good thing in his life. 'Lucrecia…'

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

He drifted in darkness for what felt like an eternity, finally at peace with everything for the first time in a very long time. He knew there was something important he should be doing, someone he needed to help, but his memories were lost to him, nothing more than fleeting dreams. He just couldn't bring himself to care anymore.

All was perfect until he felt a faint shock, followed by another, and another, each more intense than the previous, the pain finally pulling him from what he assumed to be death, back to the world of the living. He desperately wanted to go back to that darkness, but instead he woke to a world of pain, the likes of which he has never felt before. It felt as if someone was trying to rip off his left arm, and sure enough when he opened his eyes he found that madman bent over him, working on doing just that. The mad scientist paused in his gruesome task when he realized his test subject was awake and staring at him.

"Ah, so you've finally awakened, Vincent Valentine." The man walked around the table Vincent was strapped to and stopped on the other side, putting away whatever instrument he had been using and picking up a bone-saw, before walking around the table again to return to his work. Vincent cried out as the saw ripped through his flesh and bone. He struggled against his bindings, trying to escape this torture, but the madman simply tightened the bindings and continued cutting through the already mutilated appendage.

"You thought you could simply come here, flirting around with mywife and planting doubts in her mind," the scientist said through clenched teeth, sweat pearling on his forehead from the exerting task of sawing through bone, "talking of morals as if you had any and nearly ruining everything I've worked so hard to accomplish."

With a resounding "crack" and a gush of blood, the arm was finally torn free, bringing the bound man dangerously close to fainting. Not that he would complain if he did, but the darkness never came, much to his disappointment. He breathed heavily, trying to block out the pain but failing miserably. The smell of blood was overwhelming, making his head spin. Vincent could feel something in the back of his mind, some dark and powerful presence trying to break free, triggered by the smell of blood. 'What's happening to me?' Vincent thought, trying to remain calm. His entire body felt raw, and as he looked down toward his right arm, he could see his skin turning black and leathery. A feral growl escaped his throat as the beast inside him fought to gain control of his body. The scientist took notice of what was happening and walked around the table again before returning with a syringe.

"Now, now Valentine," the man of science said as he filled the syringe with an orange liquid, taping the glass a few times to dislodge any bubbles. "We can't have you turning into that demon and destroying my laboratory again, can we?" He stuck the needle into the other man's good arm, just as he was starting to trash around. The serum calmed the demon and Vincent sighed in relief as he felt himself regain control of his body once more, but the relief was soon replaced with outrage and confusion.

"Hojo!" he said in a low, rumbling voice, glaring daggers at the man in question before pressing on. "Killing me was not satisfying enough for you?" Hojo simply continued working on what was left of Vincent's arm, apparently trying to slow the bleeding. "What is this demon you talk of? What have you done to me?" Vincent demanded to know, now fully enraged at being ignored.

Having stopped most of the bleeding, Hojo looked up at the half naked man on the surgical table with a satisfied grin on his face, all the while wiping his hands clean of blood on his white lab coat. He walked over to a desk in the corner of the room and retrieved a laptop before returning to the surgical table. He typed on it for a moment before turning the laptop so it faced Vincent.

A video was playing on the small screen, probably captured by a security camera. The footage showed a room with three large upright tanks, two of them empty and the third one filled with mako. In it, Vincent was shocked to see himself floating limply in the mako, still wearing the bloodied suit he had on the night he was shot. The Vincent in the video remained motionless for a few more seconds before he suddenly opened his eyes. He started shaking violently in the tank as his body morphed, his skin taking on a dark tinge as large bat-like wings erupted from his back, ripping through his shirt and jacket. He clawed at the glass surrounding him, trying to escape, before balling his fists together and shattering the glass with a powerful punch. The demon possessed Vincent then started destroying the laboratory, randomly throwing things around. This continued for about two minutes, until a group of armed men entered the room and proceeded to shoot at him with some tranquilizer darts, bringing him down quickly.

Hojo closed the laptop, setting it down next to the bone-saw he had been using earlier. "The demon is known as Chaos." He had his back to Vincent as he said this. "It's only one of the many improvements you've undergone in the past few months. In fact, I doubt you can even qualify as human any longer. Unfortunately, the creature is rather unstable, as you've already found out." He turned to face Vincent before continuing. "It took me nearly a month to repair the damage you caused after transforming that time. Since then, measures have been taken to prevent this from happening again. Some modifications have been made so you can control the beast, but because it is so powerful, it cannot be contained entirely. That is why I created a serum that could reverse the transformation, in case you were to lose control again. I hadn't had the chance to test it until today; I'm happy to see it works perfectly."

"You're mad," accused Vincent under his breath, amazed at how the man could talk so casually about how he had used him as a guinea pig. "I should have killed you when I had the chance."

Hojo's head snapped back as his sadistic laughter echoed through the vast room. Finally, he walked up next to the other man's head and bent down a little as if to confide a secret to him.

"You truly believe I am the sole person responsible for your new additions, don't you?" asked Hojo, still smiling. He adjusted his glasses before continuing. "If it had been up to me, you would still be dead, rotting away in a ditch somewhere." He straightened himself up again, absentmindedly tucking some stray locks of greasy hair behind is ear. "It was dear Lucrecia who took pity on you. She managed to keep you alive, but in doing so she had to modify you a bit." The look of shock on Vincent's face caused the madman to erupt in laughter once again. "Of course, I did help her out here and there," Hojo added, "that is until she was indisposed. Since then, I've been the only one working on you."

"Lucrecia, why..." Vincent whispered to himself, before realizing something Hojo had just said. "What do you mean, indisposed? What have you done to Lucrecia? Where is she?" He was practically raving now, desperate to know what had become of his lover.

The room was silent for a moment before being filled once again with Hojo's laughter. "After I took care of you, the Jenova project continued on as scheduled. The Jenova cells injected into Lucrecia have produced a perfect specimen, full of promise. Unfortunately they had a devastating effect on my wife's body. Sadly, she died a few days after giving birth to her son, Sephiroth." The scientist looked anything but sad as he informed Vincent of Lucrecia's fate. "But that's all in the past now. She's been dead for two months already."

He laughed again, but Vincent did not hear it. His mind was filled with thoughts of murdering the man next to him, of ripping him apart limb by limb to avenge the woman he had loved. His fury woke the beast inside of him once again, but he did nothing to try and contain it. Struggling to get free, he felt the bindings holding his arm down start to loosen. Hojo could not react in time when Vincent's arm shot out to grab him. He was thrown across the room, knocking over some chairs and a small bookshelf as he landed in a corner.

"Damned beast," mumbled a stunned Hojo as he got painfully back on his feet. One quick glance towards the middle of the room confirmed to him that a very pissed, half transformed Vincent was in the process of freeing himself of the last of his bindings. He rushed to his work desk and produced a small dart gun from the top drawer. He aimed the gun and emptied out the clip just as the last strap snapped and the demonized Vincent pounced off the table towards him, blood red leathery wings unfolded in a menacing matter. To Hojo's relief, the tranquilizer worked quickly and Vincent was out cold before he could ever reach him.

After assessing that Vincent wasn't getting back up, Hojo gathered up the courage to pick up the unconscious man and lay him back on the table, before binding him once more.

"I was hoping to do this with you conscious the whole time," he told Vincent, even if he couldn't hear him, "but I guess I'll just have to keep you under general anesthesia until I'm finished with you." He adjusted his glasses again, before picking up where he had left of on his patient's arm.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Present time.

A small group of people stood in front of the Shinra Mansion near Nibelheim, debating on whether or not they should enter the old, depleted looking building. It was nearly nightfall and a storm was approaching, so they had to decide quickly on what to do.

A large, intimidating looking man with dark skin was leaning against the gate, his back to the building. He was playing with the safety of a gun attached to his right arm and looking rather pissed.

On the wall surrounding the property stood a petite boyish girl with short dark hair and stormy eyes, throwing and catching a shuriken up and down while complaining her head off and trying her best to annoy the large man below her.

Also annoying the man was a robotic cat perched on an overstuffed Mog. It was currently dancing and skipping around the group, waving a megaphone all over the place.

Beside the large man sat a large cat-like creature with bright red fur, the flaming tip of his tail slowly twitching as he watched the group argue with his one good eye.

Two girls stood to the side, whispering to one another. One had long dark brown hair and wine colored eyes, wearing a very skimpy outfit that drew attention to her ample chest. The other had long chestnut curls, stunning green eyes and a modest pink dress.

Facing the group was a man with spiky blond hair and blue eyes, carrying a very big sword on his back. He was staring intently at the building, apparently unaware of the debate going on around him. After a few moments, he shook his head as if to clear it and finally paid attention to what his companions were arguing about.

"Do we have to go in that spooky, old place? I mean come on, there's a perfectly good inn back in town." The girl on the wall was now standing precariously on one foot, all the while still throwing her shuriken. "So what if those freaky guys back in the village said Sephiroth was in here. I don't think we should trust what they say, I mean come on, people who go around all dressed in black mumbling about some "reunion" all day long just have to be short a few screws!" She was about to whine some more when she heard a gruff response coming from below her.

"Will someone shut that goddamn thief up before I shoot her off the fuckin' wall!" shouted the gun-armed man in frustration. He had just about reached his limit for the day.

The "thief" in question jumped off the wall to stand in front of him with both hands on her narrow hips. "Hey! I've got a name you know! It's Yuffie Kisaragi, ninja extraordinaire, got it?" The large man pushed himself away from the gate and was about to reply none too politely when he was cut off.

"Barret! Yuffie! That's enough!"

They both turned around to face their spiky haired leader. "I've already told you why where not staying at the inn, Yuffie. Something doesn't feel right about the village. I saw it burn to the ground five years ago, but now it's as if there never was a fire." He ran his fingers through his hair before continuing. "I don't think Sephiroth is here, but it can't hurt to search the place. Besides, it's getting dark and it's going to rain soon. We might as well spend the night here."

The young ninja sighed dramatically, before sitting down cross legged next to the cat, scratching him between his ears. "I know that Cloud, but still," she looked up at her leader, "What if it's haunted or something?"

"With all her whinin', wouldn't be surprised if she scared all the fuckin' ghosts away," said Barret under his breath.

"Hey, I heard that, you know!" Yuffie stood up with clenched fists, accidentally pulling some of the large cat's hair. "Oops! Sorry Red…" She looked down sheepishly at her four legged comrade.

"It is fine, Yuffie," came Red's reply, his voice as calm as ever but his tail twitching slightly more than usual, showing his irritation.

"We should at the very least take a look inside," said the girl in the pink dress.

"Aeris is right," said the other girl beside her. "Why are we standing out here in the cold arguing instead of going inside where it's warm and dry?" As she said this she walked forward and pushed the gate open. "Well, what are you guys waiting for? Come on!" She then proceeded towards the mansion, reaching the door just as the first rain drops started to fall.

"Ahh! Oh no, rain! Wait for me Tifa!" Fearing a short-circuit, the robotic cat ran towards the Shinra Mansion, nearly running Yuffie over in the process.

"Hey! Watch where you're steering that overgrown stuffed toy, Cait Sith!" yelled Yuffie as she regained her balance. She ran after the Mog and robot, her fear of ghosts momentarily forgotten.

Aeris looked at what was left of the group still standing outside the gate. "Well then, shall we follow?"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Author's note: Please review and let me know what you think of this so far.