Why did Square have to come up with the FFVII characters? They should be MINE!!! sobs into her pillow
Wondering exactly how far gone Vincent is? Read on to find out.
Hope you enjoy
"What's wrong with you? It's us!" Tifa still had one hand on Vincent's shoulder. She reached down to take his hand with her other, but he jerked it out of reach and leant away from her. He gave her a cold stare that was nothing like his usual cold stares. Normally his stares said, "I'm Vincent and I'm serious." This one said, "Get the hell off me you creep!"
Chilled by that frigid gaze, Tifa moved back a little. She kept her hand on his shoulder though. She wasn't about to back down completely.
Tifa looked to see how the others had reacted.
The sleepy Yuffie was finally fully awake. She was still sitting on the counter, but her hands were clamped over her mouth and her eyes were so wide it looked like her brain was trying to force them from her head.
Shelke was standing to Vincent's left…just standing. She had fallen into her old habit of showing no emotion whatsoever.
Cloud looked as worried as Tifa felt. His arms were no longer crossed, and the glazed, doped look he had worn since the battle was gone. He was frowning and his eyebrows were slightly puckered together. His eyes were wider than they normally went (though nowhere near as wide as Yuffie's).
Tifa looked back at Vincent. He was still glaring at her for touching him. "You don't remember us?"
"I don't know you!" he snapped.
Cloud sat down in the chair Tifa had vacated. Vincent's eye darted to him and he could see all the anger and frustration written there.
Vincent's shoulders were hunched, his bandaged hand was gripping his right arm so tightly the knuckles were white, and his eyes were narrowed to tiny pinpricks. It was definitely a look that didn't suite him.
"What do you remember?" Cloud inquired.
"My name…" Vincent stopped. His angry expression disappeared as his mind drifted inwards. It looked like his entire memory was lost…then he went on.
"My name is Vincent Valentine…"
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. He knew who he was. Then they realized he was still talking.
"…I'm a Turk. I work for Shinra Manufacturing."
Their relief visibly melted. A loud 'thud' and an 'ouch' caught them all off guard. Hearing Vincent's statement, Yuffie had promptly leapt off the counter only to bang her head on the overhanging cabinet and fall over. "It's alright! I'm OK!" she announced as she got up. She realized that everyone was looking at her and remembered how serious the situation was. Gasping, her eyes widened and her hands covered her mouth once more.
"Her mind is trying to escape," is what floated though Tifa's thoughts just then. She coughed into her fist to hide her snicker.
Vincent met Cloud's eyes with more determination. "I'm currently posted at the Shinra Mansion in Nibelheim, guarding the scientists Dr Hojo and Dr…Crescent…" His voice trailed off as he recalled something very important. "Lucrecia…" he whispered.
He leaned forward, putting his hand on the table. "Lucrec…Dr Crescent is gravely ill. Where are we right now?" He looked around, eyes wide with urgency. No one answered him. In fact, no one in that room would even make eye contact. "She's sick! I need to get back to Nibelheim in case…I'm afraid something might happen!"
Still none of them would look at him. All their heads were turned away...all their eyes cast downwards…all except Shelke. Vincent hadn't really paid her any mind until she spoke. "Dr Lucrecia Crescent is –"
"WHAT'R YOU THINKING!?!" Yuffie cut her off.
Shelke looked unflinchingly at Yuffie. "He has amnesia," she stated, "I'm trying to jog his memory."
"Oh…" Yuffie said. She locked her hands behind her back and stared at a spot on the floor. They could see her face turning red.
Shelke restarted. "Dr Lucrecia Crescent fled the Shinra Mansion after the birth of her son. That was over thirty years ago."
"She fled…" Vincent turned his head away from Shelke and looked at nothing in particular. "…thirty years ago?"
"Yes," Shelke continued, "she was seeking death, but because of the Jenova Cells in her body she could not find it. As an alternative, she incased herself in pure Mako crystals."
Vincent was still looking at nothing. "What?" he whispered. It was taking a moment for the information to register…then, "WHAT!?!" He stood with such speed that Tifa had to take several steps back to keep her footing.
"That's a lie!" Vincent almost sobbed. "Lucretsia can't be…can't be…dead?"
Shelke shook her head. "Not dead. Not in the way you are thinking," she explained. "But she will never again be a part of this world."
"Nice one Shelke, that's real sensitive," Yuffie muttered.
Vincent's breathing had picked up again. Both his hand and his claw were clenched into tight fists and he looked dangerously close to either tearing Shelke apart or crying. He shut his eyes as tightly as they'd go and stood like that, breathing heavily, for a couple of minutes.
No one, not even Yuffie, had such a serious lack of wisdom as to interrupt him.
Finally Vincent calmed down enough to speak. "Who…who are you people?" he asked, "And how the hell do you know about Lucretsia and the Jenova Project?"
It was Cloud's turn to answer. He quickly introduced everyone in the room. "With the exception of Shelke, we were all once members of a resistance group called AVALANCHE. You were a member as well."
With that, Cloud went into a similar explanation to the one he had given five years ago. This time he wisely forgot to mention that AVALANCHE had been fighting Shinra or that Vincent tended to transform into one of four monsters during battle. Remembering his friend's reaction the first time he heard about Sephiroth, Cloud left that name out as well. The result was a vague and choppy tale that was so silly Cloud would have been worried had Vincent not questioned it.
"You're saying everything I care about is gone?" Vincent's voice was full of disbelief. He kept his narrowed eyes on Cloud, who nodded. That was all he could do.
"So I slept in a coffin for thirty years."
Cloud nodded.
"But then you woke me up."
Cloud nodded.
"And I helped you save the world."
"Three times!" Yuffie had been busy with the kettle, but she took a moment to add in that bit.
Vincent looked at her and back to Cloud. "Three times," he added.
Cloud lowered his head. "Look, I know it's hard to believe, but-"
"You're damn right it's hard to believe!" Vincent cut him off.
During the story Vincent had sunk back into the chair. Tifa gripped his shoulder again. She was still trying to calm him down, but this time she was also trying to keep him from rising.
"Don't touch me!" he yelled at her. The sudden increase in decibels in his already powerful voice made everyone in the room jump. Tifa backed off. The last thing she wanted was to agitate him.
Vincent glared at Cloud and, with every ounce of venom he could inject, said, "Who the hell do you think you are, trying to feed me this shit?" Cloud glared back. There was the two of them locked in a glaring contest. "Your story is ridiculous! How can someone sleep for 30 years and still be alive? And I'm only in my twenties. Plus 30 years means I'm over 50 now?"
"62 actually." That was Shelke. Vincent ignored her.
"So what, I just didn't age?" Explain that!"
Cloud lowered his head, slightly embarrassed. He knew Vincent had been shot and experimented on by Hojo, but even that didn't explain the strange longevity. He glanced hopefully at Shelke. She knew more about what happened than anybody. She shook her head. Her look said she knew, but she wasn't going to say anything.
"We never really asked," Cloud answered softly.
"Unhunh…" Vincent didn't look very satisfied with that answer. "You're making me sound like some sort of vampire and you can't even give me a good explanation. You must think I'm an idiot if you expect me to fall for that."
Cloud didn't know what to say, so Tifa cut in. "We don't think you're an idiot, and we understand if you don't believe us."
Vincent closed his eyes, tilted his head back, and grinned. "Good," he said, "I'm glad we finally see the same picture. Now…what did you do to me?"
Cloud looked puzzled. Why should Vincent ask that? They rescued him, that's what they did.
"What do you mean?" Cloud asked.
Vincent's head rocked forward as his eyes flashed open with all their crimson fury. He slammed his claw down on the table with terrible force and scraped it towards himself. Thin curls of wood twisted up from each finger as the sharp points dug furrows in the table's surface. "I mean that!" he spat.
"We didn't-"
"Stop lying to me!" Vincent stood up with such force that the table lifted with a bang. "You did something to me! Something…I was…"
Vincent's mind was muttering to him, "Shot. You were shot," but its voice was too quiet and his rage too loud.
"…I can't remember. You did something to make me forget, but I know…" He was surrounded by a thick black and red aura, and his eyes were glowing.
Cloud cursed under his breath and braced himself for a fight. Vincent was about to transform right there in the middle of Tifa's kitchen!
Tifa was still behind Vincent. She readied her fists, contemplating striking him in the back of the head to knock him out, but she feared it wouldn't do anything except piss him off more. Instead, she gripped his gun arm and said, "Calm down," as forcefully as she could.
Vincent went rigid…
Something had his arm…holding it down.
It was holding his whole body down.
Leather…it was leather. He could feel them embracing his bare flesh. There were restraints on his arms and legs, across his chest and hips. They didn't allow him any movement.
He kept his breathing steady –had to stay calm
–but he gasped at the light touch of a hand on his abdomen. He jerked, trying to get away…had to get away, but it was no use. The straps were too strong, and his body too weak…
So very weak…
The touch, instead of going away like he prayed it would, started to creep over his skin. It was prodding and pinching, exploring the muscles of his stomach and chest.
He tried to open his eyes…to see who it was and what they were doing, but he had being in the dark too long and the light was too bright. It burned and blinded him…he kept his eyes closed.
There was humming…
A woman's voice….
A voice he recognized…and hated…
He continued taking deep steady breaths, trying to keep his body relaxed and hide from her how afraid he was.
She traced the line between his abdominal muscles with her finger, and before he could figure out what was happening she pushed the cold metal of a scalpel into the flesh just below his ribs.
He had managed not to cry out despite the sharp bloom of pain in his midsection. He was breathing in short gasps and could feel the warmth of blood…his blood…slipping down his sides as the scalpel sliced to his navel.
He strained with everything he had, but there wasn't much left. Still he fought the restraints and the pain, though he knew neither would relent.
The humming…she was still humming.
Just as he felt her fingers plunge into him and manipulate his organs…just as he drew in breath to scream…
…he realized he could move. The restraints…the humming…the wound…they were all gone. He was clothed. He was standing.
He was afraid though. There was pressure on his arm…a hand.
It was her! She was still there! She was just making him think he was safe!
Well…he'd just have to make her pay for that…
"Vincent? You OK?"
Vincent wasn't even breathing as far as Tifa could tell. He was so stiff that she might as well been gripping a statue. She leant forward and looked into his face. His eyes were opened slightly, but they looked glazed and unfocused. Whatever he was seeing, it wasn't in the room.
"Tifa, let him go," Shelke said. Tifa looked at her, a little confused. "Let him go," she repeated.
Before she could respond, Tifa noticed Vincent blink. She looked very closely at him. "Vincent?"
All she saw next was the flash of his claw. She let go and raised her arm to stop it from slicing her face. Before she knew it, she was slammed into the wall, her arm pinned above her head in a grip not even Barret would be able to break from.
Vincent was towering over her, his body oozing dark energy. Little motes had appeared and were swirling in red and purple around him. His face was twisted and furious and his mouth was open, his teeth bared.
"No more…" he grunted. He moved his free hand to his hip, where it was met by the comforting steel of a gun.
Tifa felt the three barrels of Cerberus press into her stomach. She met Vincent's eyes. They were glowing, pale red irises on black.
This was it.
He was about to transform…about to kill her!
