Chapter 2 – Then We Wait, Now We Fight

"I'm going to die?" she asked in shock. Vincent slowly lowered his head, hoping not to look her in the eyes, "The Red Mako that was injected into you was still unstable, apparently as it neutralizes the regular Mako already in our system, it becomes more and more acidic, eventually eating through you alive." he said, only confirming Yuffie's fear. "Man that sucks." James said, hanging his head, "I liked teasing her." Tiffa quickly stomped on his foot with her Mako Shifted kicking boots, "ENG!" he grunted. "You're not helping!" she growled through her teeth. "Cloud…" Yuffie whispered, "Where are you when I need you?" and allowed a single tear to travel down her cheek. Vincent began thinking as hard as he could, and something clicked, "I did hear that they don't know what will happen if it comes in contact with untainted normal Mako!" Tiffa lifted her head the highest, "So a Mako Pool might just be our only cure!" she said excitedly. "Sweet, now we just need to find one close by." James called out and pumped his fist into the air. "That aint all that easy kid, those things are guarded tighter than a rubber band ball." Barret announced. "Only from the ground." Cid said and removed himself from the wall, "If you yaywho's trust me enough, I'll show you a secret I've been keeping from everyone except my wife Shera!" "We trust you with our lives Cid." Cait Sith said to the captain, "What's the secret?" Red XIII asked, finishing the sentence. At first Cid was skeptical, but he eventually leaned in forward, "I can change my fishing boat into an airship." he whispered. Yuffie was the only one to gawk, the others looked like he was crazy, "Like Cloud can change that rickety old Harley into an armored motorcycle from Hell!" she whispered in awe. Everyone turned to her, in both confusion and concern. "When I got grabbed off of the street by MH7 and their crazy van, Cloud grabbed an impounded Harley Davidson and it kind of changed into this…well motorcycle from Hell is the only way I can describe it." she told everyone. "Kid is a treat every time I hear of him." Cid said in admiration, "Well who's comin, and who's stayin behind like a chicken?" he suddenly asked the entire group.

Cloud slowly regained consciousness, and all he could hear was yelling, from a man he knew nothing of. He also heard crying, the crying of the girl he only slightly remembered saving him. The girl that pulled him from the Mako Pool, the Sothern Belle named Aerith. 'I'm sorry' she would say all the while crying, pleading for him to stop hurting her. Instead of remorse, Cloud heard another slap, or a punch to somewhere on her body. "I'm going out for another pack of beer, and when I get home I'd better see a better dinner on that table!" the unknown man shouted and the door slammed shut. All he could hear was her crying as she came closer to where he was being held. When the door opened, he tried desperately to move his head over to look at her, but all he could move was his eyes. When she finally did come into view, he could see the bruises all over her face and the cuts that traveled up her arms. Even as they healed right in front of him as she whispered to herself. She turned to him, after she was done, and smiled, "So you were awake for that?" she asked, knowing full well that he probably wouldn't respond. "He was completely drunk again, it seems to be getting worse." she said as she bowed her head. Cloud let his eyes blink in a response, it was all he could do. "You seem to be getting better with time. Let's just hope my deadbeat boyfriend doesn't find you before you get better completely. Maybe you can help me get away from him." she said and got up sadly to try her hand at making a better dinner for him. Cloud didn't want to, but his eyes slid closed and he once again slipped into unconsciousness.

"This thing is huge!" Yuffie said as she stumbled into the cock pit of a very real airship. The white exterior was coated in metal, with an elongated shape and sharp nose. The propellers on the top of the wings spun in reverse of each other keeping the machine in the air. On the bridge, Cid stood there at the controls, a large ship wheel surrounded by gauges and buttons. "And you made this from a small commercial fishing vessel?" Cait Sith asked in wonder. "Yup, all part of the Cid Casts Mako Infusion Package." the Captain said in his Mako Shifted state. The cigarette that hung out of his lips was quickly snatched by a woman with glasses and long brown hair. "Shera!" he complained. "It's for your own health Cid, you never know when they'll really hit you." she said to him, and substituted the cigarette with a large toothpick. "Damnit woman!" he cursed, and she shot him a very disapproving look. "She thinks she's a scientist or something." he explained to a very confused Red XIII. "Doctor, Cid! I AM a Doctor." she corrected him. "Yah, for animals!" he retorted without getting mad. Red XII and Cait Sith instantly hid behind Barret's massive legs. "That reminds me, you got to give those two their shots." Cid said as he nodded towards the cub and cat. "Yipes!" the fox cub called out, and took off as deep into the Airship as possible to hide. "Traitor!" Cait Sith called out and chased after him. Shera just smiled and walked off to find them before they became impossible to find. "Go get em, Shera!" Cid called after her with a smile. Yuffie suddenly fell to her knees seemingly for no reason. "Yuffie, are you alright?" Tiffa asked as she ran to the fallen girl. "Just a little dizzy is all." Yuffie told her and attempted to stand, wobbling on her knees. "It's the Red Mako isn't it?" Tiffa asked in a worried voice. Vincent was the one to answer her, "Yah it is." Yuffie was forced to simply give the caped man a glare, and not even her best one. Suddenly a bright flash and loud boom came from below them, and the Airship shook violently. "What was that?" Yuffie asked. "We're being shot at, genius!" Cid called back to her. Suddenly another blast was head, and the shot sailed right in front of the cockpit. "It's probably that man I heard taking orders from Alexander. They're trying to kill Yuffie before the Red Mako does." Vincent told them, right before one of the shots hit the side of the ship putting a hole in the cockpit. "DAMMIT, YOU BASTARDS ARE GOING TO PAY FOR ANY DAMAGE DONE TO MY BOAT!" Cid shouted, and almost missed it when Yuffie once again lost her balance, tumbling out of the new hole in the ship. Tiffa tried to catch her, but missed. "YUFFIE!" she called out to the screaming girl. When Vincent dove out of the ship, and sped towards her, Yuffie panicked even more, he didn't have a parachute. 'Cloud where are you?' she asked in her mind.

Alexander was pleased with the display of cannon fire, and his binoculars allowed him to get a close up of the people he was trying to eliminate. His smile was even bigger when he saw the girl fall from the ship, but it disappeared completely when he saw the person fallowing, trying to save her, "Vincent?" he called out, and pushed a button on a receiver box on his desk. "Get me those archives, the ones I had on the Mako Infused people we were after." A female voice followed his demands, "Yes sir." Alexander turned back around and placed his binoculars back to his eyes, "Don't you die on me, especially if you are the real Vincent." he whispered.

Vincent caught up with her fall, and grabbed her flailing hand, before spinning her around and throwing her, to the top of a building nearby. He quickly curled into his cape and right before hitting the ground, uncurled to reveal a large furry Purple beast, with horns about as long as Yuffie's arm. The impact the new Vincent had with the ground, created a crater in the concrete almost ten feet wide and a foot deep. The beast roared loudly as if he were howling at the moon. When the sirens of the Mako Hunters sounded in his ears, he turned to where they were coming from, and ran off to escape. Yuffie ran down the fire escape as quickly as she could, trying to keep from sight, but her shoes clanged across the metal grate as she ran. The moment she reached the last of the platforms, a straggling Hunter rounded the corner and looked up at the noise. "HEY!" he shouted and aimed his rifle at her. The bullet struck solid brick as Yuffie jumped over the railing and landed on the ground with a roll. She quickly got to her feet and ran as fast as she could trying to get away from her. The hunter followed as cautiously as he could, but simply refused to call for back up. "If I take you down myself then I can finally move up from this grunt position." he whispered to himself, addressing Yuffie. 'Why is this happening?' Yuffie thought to herself. As she ran, more bullets flew by her, narrowly missing her head and arms. She ran for almost thirty minutes, ducking into empty alleyways and tipping over trashcans to slow her pursuer down. In one particular alley, the Hunter knelt down to get a stable position and lined up his sight, "I got you now girly!" he whispered and pulled the trigger. The gun he had clicked, but never fired. "Damn!" he cursed, and threw his rifle to the ground, before pulling out a pistol from his belt and resuming his chase. Turning the corner, Yuffie found herself in an abandoned part of the city, and for good reason, the ground had collapsed around most of the buildings revealing a block sized Mako Pool. Out of fear, Yuffie ran to hide inside one of the closer buildings, before the Hunter arrived. "Alright girl, where are you?" he asked, more to himself. Yuffie tried to sneak up the stairs, but about half way, she was forced to stifle a cough. Her condition was getting worse, and she knew it. "Aha!" he called out and headed towards the stairs. Yuffie took off up the stairs, quietly, by removing her shoes and stepping on her toes trying to quicken her pace without alerting her pursuer. She followed the stairs all the way to the top, about five stories up or more, and exited on the roof. She put her shoes back on and ran all the way to the edge of the building, and found the next building was almost two building widths away because of the collapsed ground. "Now what missy?" she heard from behind her. Before she could turn around, she heard the pistol in the man's hand go off, and felt an intense pain radiate in her back, around where her kidney was. Placing her hand on the spot the pain started from, she found it warm and wet. Looking at her hand, she saw blood, and lots of it. "that was for making me waist my rifle ammunition, those bullets are expensive. They take it right out of my paycheck." he told her and squeezed the trigger again. This time the shot hit her in the Shoulder, and she looked to see that her Arm guard had vanished completely. "I guess they were right, I do need to work on my aim!" he said to her and smiled, this time making sure he was aiming at her heart. Yuffie let herself fall forward before the gun was shot, and fell into the Mako Pool, as the bullet sailed over her. The Hunter then walked to the edge of the pool and looked down, "Hello?"he called out, and his answer was a bright flash of green light, before the Mako Poll itself started to churn and spin. The whirlpool originating from the very spot Yuffie sank. "What in the?" he called out as the Mako level lowered right in front of his eyes, "Is she absorbing it?" he asked himself.

Vincent, stil in his beast form, ran through town, swerving back and forth as the group of Hunters followed him. Powering his arms to propel him forward, and landing with his feet to launch forward again. making him faster than anything he had ever been before. When he saw the airship that Cid called the Highwind, come into sight, he pushed even harder, causing his beastly body to move even faster. He suddenly jumped up to a nearby roof, and hooped fro roof top to roof top, making his way to the safety of the ship. Flexing his powerful legs, he launched himself as far as he could, and used his massive clawed hand to grip the railing of the deck, and haul himself over. As everyone came out to meet him, he curled into a giant ball, and let his fur melt back into his cape as his body shrank back to his original size. "What was that?" Tiffa asked. "Galion Beast. One of my many transformations." he answered, and collapsed down to the deck in a heap of red fabric and black leather. "You must be exhausted, Barret, take him to his quarters to rest." Shera ordered, and Barret just about had a fit, "What, hey I'm a foot ball player, not a F#$% Nurse!"

The Mako Pool was almost half gone, "Only a few minutes and she absorbed all of that?" he asked, and watched as a splash from the center of the spiral revealed Yuffie. She moved so quickly that he barely had time to turn around with a shocked expression before she touched down on the roof. When he did see her, she had completely changed, she now wore a black head band with almost two foot tails, and a dark colored vest over top a black sleeveless shirt with a Hawaiian floral print. Her shorts were now black as well, and the long black leather boots came up to her knees. She still had her platinum grey eyes and her shoulder length black hair. She also wore what looked to be black knee guards and a black fabric forearm cover on her left arm. In her right hand, she held a giant shurikan, but a much different one than normal. This shurikan was red and had five large points. The circle that surrounded it near the blade points was just as sharp and deadly looking. The five handles on the inside, made for a wonderful five point star look. "What the hell is that?" the Hunter asked. When Yuffie looked at it, she too was amazed, Then she steeled her gaze, and the Hunter noticed that all of her gunshot wounds were gone. "That's not possible." he said as he panicked. "Don't fall!" was all she said and jumped to a far away building, clearing the Mako Pool easily, starting her search for her husband again.

Cid landed the Highwind down inside the dock he had made for it. The dock was just that, a winter docking house with a roof that opened up so he could just fly it out. Closing the roof of his dock he allowed everyone to exit the ship before he returned it to normal. "Damn!" he cursed as he looked at the hole in the side. At the moment, he was happy that it was out of the water. "You ass holes know how much this is going to cost to fix?" he shouted. "Hey no problem, I'll just pay for it and everything will be just fine!" James offered, "In exchange you take me to the best adventure spots." he added, and Tiffa clobbered him in the back of the head. "OW!" he called out, "You're brutal!" "And you're just stupid." she retorted. "I liked Yuffie's comebacks better, she actually had class!" he mumbled, "And they hurt a lot less." "Darn right, that might have actually knocked some commonsense into you!" they heard Yuffie shout from the entrance. Everyone turned around to see the new Yuffie. "What happened to you?" Cait Sith asked. "The Red Mako, after it has been stabilized by real Mako, can actually be used to make weapons." she announced as she flashed her brand new Shurikan to the others. "How did you know that?" Tiffa asked. "I just did it," she tried to explain, "I'm going to call this thing, the Conformer!" "And Cloud?" Vincent asked, only to have Yuffie slump her shoulders, "Still nothing." she sighed, "But I'm not giving up, he's out there somewhere, and I'm going to bring him home to me."

To be continued…