After looking through Strength Within to try and override my Writer's Block for Heritage, I noticed something, Strength Within is a marysue, which would explain why it hasn't been getting views. Nobody wants to read about a heroine that wins all her battles without a scratch, right? Right. And so, using the original as a guide, I set to work on rewriting Strength Within. Hopefully this newer version will be a hell of a lot better than the original. I'm going to try and fit more detail where there was hardly none.

Chapter 1

Looking over her shoulder, Kit noticed the eight men that had followed her from Mideel. A gloved fist twisted the throttle. The bike roared but did not increase its speed. It was at its limit and could go no faster.

'Shit. When I can, I need to upgrade her systems for more speed 'cause there's no way in hell I'm gonna outrun these bastards.' She growled to herself, ice blue cat eyes orienting to the front. She swerved around cars, with the gangsters closing in. Spotting a clear stretch ahead, she triggered the autopilot and drawing her twin barreled pistols, Gemini, she leaned back against the seat until her back caressed the leather. Her arms stretched out in front of her and she opened fire. Two of the eight went down, the bikes crashed into another, taking him out. Sitting up, she dropped pistols in the holsters on her thighs and took control of the bike. The attack confused her pursuers and it allowed her to put some more distance between them. But all too soon, they were closing in again. She heard a single gunshot and was amused that they dared to fire at her. Her amusement was short lived as the single shot scored its desired mark of her rear tire. The bike halted in its tracks and threw her. Flipping free, she landed neatly on her feet facing the remaining five who had been part of the larger force that had been after her in Mideel. They stopped their bikes surrounding her as she dimly heard her own crash into the wall behind her. She faced off with them, unafraid. Since birth, she had never known fear and like now, she was more than willing to fight to the end. She knew the reason they were after her. It was because of Lucifer, the demon she was tied to. Since birth, Luci was her best friend, her guardian, and her older brother.

"You're surrounded with nowhere to run. You can't out run us now so hand it over." The leader growled, inching his bike closer to her.

She bared her feline fangs and snarled. "Over my dead body!" She challenged. Five guns were leveled at her.

"You sure about that?" The leader mused.

"The one that hits me, gets to take it from me." She smirked. All five guns opened fire and quick as lightening, she had her staff out and blocking every shot. Five sets of eyes popped in surprise. She leaned on her staff. "Care to try again?" Guns were reloaded and fired again. She repeated her performance. Four sets of jaws dropped and the leader looked furious. Her feline ears flicked and her keen hearing registered a single silenced shot as her eyes spotted one of the men on her right fall from his bike. The leader turned his attention to this new threat. She looked as well to see a white male standing there with a sniper rifle on his shoulder. He had a head of red hair and the greenest eyes she'd ever seen. Red markings under his eyes caught her attention. He wore a pair of black pants with a matching black jacket. A white shirt was untucked and black shoes were on his feet. A cigarette dangled from smiling lips. He jumped down from where he had been standing and Kit could estimate his height, which was two inches taller than her. She had to admit, the guy was kinda cute.

"Pretty good shot, doncha think?" He grinned.

"This was my fight." Kit growled in reply.

"No harm in evening the odds, is there?" He replied with a smirk.

"No." Kit answered with a shake of her head. "You just stand back and let me have fun." Crouching, she leapt at the leader. He raised his gun and fired. She sidestepped, the bullets flying past her, and aimed for him. Her claws sliced the gun in half. With a yelp, he dropped it. She worked her way around the group, disabling weapons as she went.

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Reno watched the woman fight and fought to contain a whistle. Damn, this woman was something else. His green eyes were locked on her figure, dressed in all black: black leather jacket that showed a black tank top underneath, black jeans, black combat boots. Even her long hair was black. The only pieces of jewelry on her was a pair of ruby stud earrings and a gold collar around her neck with strange etchings on it. Her eyes were an odd color, a very light blue. But that wasn't the only thing that stood out about her. She had feline features: black ears, black tail, silver claws, gleaming white fangs, and cat eyes. All in all, Reno had to admit, she was a beauty. He tapped the communicator at his ear.

"Yo Rude, you watching this?"

"Unfortunately." His partner quipped. He was across the area, watching.

"You gotta admit, she can kick some ass." Reno smirked.

"I won't deny it, the woman is a fighter." Rude replied. "Just keep focused."

Reno had to suppress a laugh. His partner knew him like a book. It was true, his mind had gone elsewhere concerning the raven haired beauty. Now wasn't the time to indulge in such things. Taking a draw on his cigarette, he regained focus on the objective: keeping an eye on her. A few months ago, Yuffie had relayed a message from Cid saying to keep an eye on Kit when she made it there. Tsung had them, along with Elena, keep an eye on the routes into Midgar, looking for a woman matching Kit's description. By what Yuffie had told Tsung, she would make a perfect candidate for the Turks. They had noticed her fly in a few minutes ago on her bike and managed to keep up with the tail end of her pursuers.

"Her bike's something, huh?" Reno mused.

"Indeed. I wonder if she built it herself?" Rude answered. Reno could hear the appreciation in his voice.

"Her bike would make Cloud jealous, no?" Reno chuckled and he heard Rude chuckle in reply.

"Fenrir is fast." Rude agreed.

"And I bet you hers is faster." Reno replied.

"How much are you willing to let go of this time?" Rude asked.

"Ten spot here and now." Reno answered without a moment's thought.

"That confident, are you?" Rude mused.

"Yup. We've seen Cloud's bike in action, I'm willing to bet hers is better." Reno told him as their target finished with the gang and stepped back. "Looks like she's done. Shall we join her?"

"Let's see what she does first." Rude answered.

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Finished, Kit stepped back and regarded the remains. Bodies lay next to heavily damaged bikes. Her pulse raced with adrenaline. She felt satisfied, somehow. These had been the last ones, hanging on until the end. She made sure they went quickly. Hopefully, for a while, she'd be safe.

'You know that's not the case. More will be sent after you.' Came the voice of Lucifer in the recesses of her mind.

She sighed. 'I know, Luci. I can always hope anyway.' Out of the corner of her eye, she looked over at the redhead, really examining him. Green eyes calmly watched her and she found that unnerving. Her tail flicked with her aggitation. 'What do you think he wants?'

She felt the demon looking him over. 'Not sure, but I don't think it has anything to do with me. You might want to ask.'

'For some reason, he intrigues me.' Kit remarked.

'Just keep on your guard.' Lucifer reminded her.

'Always, Luc, always.' She answered as she turned toward him. "Is there a reason why you're here?"

"We were told to keep an eye out for you." The redhead answered. Her ears flicked and she spun to face a dark skinned man landing neatly on his feet a distance from her. He was dressed the same way as the redhead except his shirt was tucked in and he wore sunglasses.

Kit lit a cigarette as she kept her vision on both of them. "Really. By who?"

"You might know him. Cid Highwind." The redhead answered.

Her eyes shot to his. "Cid?" The surprise was evident in her voice. "How do you know Cid?"

"AVALANCHE and the Turks go back a ways." He replied with a smile. "Since you know Cid, you might also know Yuffie Kirasagi. After you ran into trouble in Rocket Town, she came here and alerted us to keep an eye out for you and told us why. She told our leader how you fought and he thinks you'll do well as a Turk."

Kit fully faced him with her ears tuned to the other. "Why should I join you? I've done well enough on my own."

"For one thing, it will scare off anyone brave enough to come after you again. Turks are a force to be reckoned with when one of our own is threatened." He told her.

"I'm not afraid of them." Kit answered simply.

"Due to what Yuffie told us, they've been after you for years. You could use a long needed break."

"Did she tell you everything about me?"

"Get her drunk on saki and she'll tell you anything." He answered with a smile.

Kit shook her head, chuckling. "True, she will." It was true, the little ninja was prone to a loose tongue when she got drunk enough. Kit had the delightful amusement of finding that out. Oh, the things she told that night! For fun one night, her, Yuffie, Cid, Shera, and Kit's brother Sora had played a drinking game. Kit collapsed in laughter every time she remembered the things Yuffie said. "How much do you actually know about me?"

"Only what she knew. You're a little like Vincent Valentine, in possession of a demon. It's what those guys were after."

"I don't know Vincent but it is true. Lucifer is his name." She lifted a hand to her collar and it glowed. A black shadow appeared next to her and gradually took on the form of a tall male human with black bat wings and full claws instead of hands. A black reptilian tail emerged. Eyes glowed red and fangs peaked over his bottom lip. "Gentlemen, meet Lucifer, my guardian, best friend, and older brother." The demon swept out his wings and bowed.

"Greetings gentlemen. I am Lucifer, Kit's guardian." His voice was deep and held a slight growl.

"Kit huh?" The redhead mused as Lucifer disappeared in a burst of shadows.

"That's my name. Kittiana Mitchells." Kit replied.

He nodded. "I'm Reno and my partner is Rude." He answered. "Now with the introductions out of the way, our offer."

"Give me time to think."

He nodded. "You got a place to crash?"

She shook her head. "I just got into town a few minutes ago and I've been on the run, never staying long in one place. Just long enough to grab a meal and refuel then I'm moving again." Kit told him.

"I know a place you can crash for the night. Let me make a quick call." Reno told her, digging a cell phone out of his jacket and dialing a number. Kit turned her attention to the other. Reno said his name was Rude.

"So, you're Rude." No answer. "Strong, silent type, arn't ya?" Still no answer. "Your partner does enough talking for the both of you, don't he?" That time, he smiled, agreeing with her. "That's what I thought." Her ears flicked as she heard the sound of a phone snapping shut and turned to him.

"It's set. AVALANCHE's Tifa Lockheart says you can crash at Seventh Heaven tonight. Cloud's out on delivery and Denzel's visiting Marlene in Corel."

Kit smiled. "Thank you." She walked over to her bike and righted it, checking out the rear tire. It looked whole, as it should. The tires had been expensive as hell but they had paid for themselves within a few days' time, leading her over ragged terrain without damaging the tires. A special chemical within the tires allowed them to close up the hole after taking a shot like they had. "Lead the way, if you will."

And so, the rewritten version of Strength Within commences, let me know what you think!