Wounded

Missing Parts


Missing pieces of the puzzle

How can it be put together?

Wondering on many things

The special little songs you sing

And in the worry of betrayal

There is something haunting of that word

And then to be rejected once again

Is something the heart cannot take?

Missing it is, it does not fit

A part is missing

That is all that it is

But does it wish to be found

Do you want to find it?

There is no certainty to it

Now is there?

One more, perhaps more

And the puzzle will be complete

Once it is finished

There will be death

And a soul at peace.


There was shock, to say the least to Vincent's system at the words Masamune, to that being the sword used upon him… No wonder he had been hurt so gravely. It made sense, yet only to a tiny degree of what the entire thing was. He couldn't comprehend who would do this and for what reasons would be behind it. It was almost a cruel trick at the thought that Sephiroth would actually be living. That was just not possible, not after these years… And what time the man had been gone. There was no vessel at the moment known for him to control, nor was there a single sighting of a silver haired man in a long black trench coat.

Perhaps the truth behind it all was the missing links between the actually injuries and his current occupation as a Turk.

Tseng checked the outfit of the other, and not approving of the garb he had worn before, he gestured to the other to return to the room and to wear the suit that was upon his bed. Relenting to the suit of his occupation, he glided in and glanced upon the black suit. There it was, including the Shin-Ra armband… He shuddered mentally at the memories the suit brought to him, even if they were equally divided between both the good and the bad, he could not forget that it was the suit of the Turks that brought him into the death he had had. And then it led him to the hell that he pondered would ever end. Was that aloud for him to have peace?

Sitting upon the bed, he attempted to struggle the outfit on. His most difficult process was getting the sleeve on through the claw, which ended up in shredding the damn thing anyhow. Which, he rolled the sleeve to a point where no damage was noticeable. And boots removed, leather shoes and new glove on. Cerberus of course placed loyally at his side, and he was quite content, for the moment. A familiarity took over as he placed upon him the typical steel-reinforced plating in the jacket. Along with the Shin-Ra logo belt, and of course, the perfect part to add to the outfit, the tie, it all fell back into place, even if a different color. Smiling a little to himself, he placed himself in front of the mirror, looking at this drastically changed appearance. The headband and claw were in place, but otherwise… He was the man he had been.

Tseng, impatient as could be, he was missing a part of something… 'special' at the moment, he burst into Vincent's room, and nodded a little, until he saw the claw and the headband.

"Shin-Ra protocol." He stated.

Vincent of course refused. "I outrank you."

Tseng blinked at those words, "You are mistaken, Valentine."

"As rejoining, from my previous position, I outrank you. Both in seniority and in skills."

This caused the slightest of twitches to come from the corner of the man's eye, yet he seemed to ignore the comment. "Fine." Not wishing to argue, he left, glancing over his shoulder as he did so. "You are expected in the President's office."

And, silently as any Turk, he was gone into the air.

Almost mechanically, Vincent left the room, walking in a brisk pace, looking around for the office of his new boss, there was some odd feeling of familiarity, in the anticipation, and of course the curiosity. Yet professionalism kept him calm, as it always.

Cloud stood in his way, the look he had was more than Sephiroth's own. It was a look that Death would give if Death was a woman and suffered from a severe PMS, standing for Pissed-off Menstruating, Shutyourmouthidiot. Which, the last part was the part that most of the male species tended to ignore. Though, in his experience, Vincent was well aware that the look he was getting was what he wanted to avoid.

There was anger. Even if they had… become friendly with the new leaf of Shin-Ra, it was just a sick reminder that Vincent had once been a Turk. That and how they all knew what Shin-Ra had done to him. What Hojo did to him, didn't the suit give him memories? Didn't the damn suit cause him to feel that pain? Even Cloud had to change outfits to stop himself from always remember the past, from the old SOLIDERS uniform, to the one he now wore. Almost a hate for what Rufus… no, it was a loathing, a sense of abhorring towards the male. He couldn't help but wonder, wonder, wonder, and he realized. Rufus needed Vincent for something, that something… he wouldn't be able to know…

"Vincent." The man stopped, looking at him with a blank look, the cold one he always wore. Cloud didn't like seeing that from his friend. It caused a deep stirring of anger.

"Yes?"

A sadness filled Cloud eyes as he looked at the other man, grasping him by the wrist, since he couldn't truly reach his shoulder, the man was too tall. Vincent was frozen, Cloud knew that. No one could resist the secret weapon of Cloud's teary blue eyes. He hadn't used these since he wanted some of Tifa's cookies. He could tell the other male faltered completely, even if he was a male, no one could resist the boyish charm.

"Why are you doing this, Vincent? You don't want this, I know you better than that? Why?"

"…I owe… them."

"And they owe us even more! We should just call it even, Vincent. Please, you're still in no condition for this work, you know what happened last time you were in the Turks!"

Vincent's silence gave Cloud the cue that he knew he was right. Even if Vincent was 'over' it, the truth was, after something like that, you're scarred for life. Not even Cloud was idiotic enough to ignore that.

"The sword was Sephiroth's." Pupils dilated in Cloud's blue hues, a fear and sense of dread taking over him completely as he remembered that man, the man of his deepest nightmares, Sephiroth. He had been controlled by that man on more than one occasion; along with the obvious fighting to save the world and that the man was a crazed killer that murdered Aerith in cold blood, among other things…

"His…? Haven't we sent him to the grave enough? Shouldn't he be gone by now?" Cloud's voice was a soft whisper as his lovely blue hues glanced to the floor, thoughts spinning within his head as he pondered upon this, why was it that the damn Planet had to continue this battle? Twice he—no, thrice he had killed Sephiroth, but now, once more he knew there might be a battle to come.

"Others can hold the Masamune, it is not necessarily Sephiroth, but it is always a possibility."

"…Damn."

"I believe the connection… Possibly the reason he continues to come back is the presence of Jenova cells on the Planet, like the ones within you, or… Maybe it is you, Cloud?"

A curious gaze cast upon Vincent, Cloud didn't understand this for the moment, perhaps the blonde factor was playing a role within this as the conclusion slowly came. "You mean… He'll continue… Until I die?"

Vincent only nodded.

"But… then…" And all went dark for Cloud.

The first thing that was seen, was the concerned crimson hues that Vincent help, he realized he was on the ground, and quickly sat up, looking around. Within the small bed, covered with white sheets. He looked at saw that Rufus and his Turks were positioned around, looking at him. Reno's eyes perked up, and he grinned.

"Yo, for a moment we thought you had a coma… Damn Cloud…yo…"

Rufus rolled his eyes at the idiocy that was Reno, and turned away for a moment, closing his eyes, temples rubbed within the frustration that he felt. There was a sad point that only a few Turks remained, and that one of them had to be a complete idiot, damn Reno.

A swift hit upon the head was distracted to Reno by Tseng as a perfectly fitting reaction to the idiocy that was distributed by the drunken red-head that could of course give Cid a run for his money in drinking. This was quite the impressive feat. Though, the slum-raised man shrugged the hit off, worse had been done to him, and a few of those things had been given to him by Cloud anyways.

"I'm fine."

A frown was given to him by three males and a female, ranking the three's femininity to a higher rate than it had before, unfortunate for this, isn't it? Rufus walked forward and peered down at Cloud, who was two years his younger, and smirked. "No, you will be here for the night, I doubt Miss Lockhart would let me live if I let you return to her in this condition. I would prefer not to have her restrained for attempting to take my life."

Cloud scowled, glowered, and pouted at once.

"Nice girly face." And this time Cloud threw a pillow that was within his reach and hit Reno on the head, who just chuckled. "See, you are a girl, yo." A glare again was administered.

"Cloud, it would be best." Vincent's sound voice stopped the argument, for now. Yet, still the vengeful pouting continued on Cloud's part, but that was ignored as the Turks quickly slid out of the room to either go drink (Reno), watch the drunk (Rude), do paperwork (Tseng), and of course, help with the paperwork (Elena). Rufus stayed behind, to make sure that the idiot didn't do a single thing to cause harm to himself for fear of the wrath of fists that Tifa possessed. He had seen her bitch-slap Scarlet, and even if it was a nice show to see the cat fight, he did not want to feel her fists. In that way at least.

"Valentine… I never said I wanted you as a Turk once more, get dressed within that odd garb you usually adorn, that suit does not suit you." A scoff was uttered from the lips of Rufus Shinra, as Valentine quickly left.

A smile graced Cloud's lips as he looked at the other. "Thank you, Rufus." He spoke softly, laying back down, quite pleased that Vincent wasn't going back into the occupation that in a way, started this, over thirty years ago, wasn't it? "Thank you."

A scowl was now adorning Rufus's face, instead of the chocobo-head's. "I did not do it for you, to have another idiot upon my staff would not be a wise decision on my part, and I already have Reno."

Inside eyelids, Cloud rolled his eyes at the petty excuse Rufus threw out. Deciding it was best for him to ignore the stuck-up man; he decided to go to sleep, at least for now.


Within the late night, the two Turks, Reno and Rude stumbled, or at least one stumbled. Rude was only slightly tipsy, which barely affected him except for a slight slur of his speech. The redhead on the other hand was ass-faced drunk beyond any coherence of speech that no normal person could understand, which meant Rude completely understood what he said, even through the drunkenness. Then again, understanding Reno even when he had no drink within him was something that was almost godly, as ability at least. Half-lugging the drunken Turk around, Rude kept his eyes peeled for any signs of threat, for there were some who know Turks by the suit, and were aware that they were still within operation… That meant that those who still had a deep hatred for Shin-Ra would most likely attack them, and an attack would mean the need for defense.

Yet, Rude was not ready for what came to him this time. There was usually a warning, a sign, a feeling. But this time nothing warned him as he felt the coldness of a blade brush his back. Frozen, he heard nothing, but knew that something was to happen.

Quickly he ducked down, dodging the blade as it swung as to cleave him in half. Reno, beyond all movement and reason, was brought with him. Rude cursed as this was absolutely the worst time to be fighting when he had to save Reno's hide as well as his own. He heard the sword swing once more, and rolled out of the way as it clanged to the ground. Another curse uttered from his lips as his precious sunglasses fell off.

"Reno, it would be nice if you were sober." He spoke bitterly as he stood the redhead in his arms as he moved forward launching himself, but the glint of a silver blade blocked his way. Falling to the ground, he laid flat as he saw the menacing flash of silver above him. His legs rose up, feet clamping on either side of the blade before it could bear down and nicely slice him in two.

With the light drunk on his body, it was impairing his movements, he could not leave his partner to die, and that would be heartless. And otherwise, who else would be humorous in even the worst of situations, like almost drowning to death while fighting off rather hungry sharks, even if that was Reno's fault in the first place. This time, it was also his fault. Grunting in exhaustion as the strength itself faded from him, he closed his eyes and attempted to recharge his form, failing, he opened again, with one push throwing the blade as far as possible, grasping the lazy ass and running with a burst of 'oh shit'.

Though, after about a minute of running in the 'oh shit' manner, he finally realized that… the blade, everything was gone. As if nothing had happened at all. Confused beyond all reason, Rude glanced around wondering what had just happened and if he was going completely insane. Most likely he was becoming insane, after being partnered with Reno for so long, it was bound to happen sooner or later.

Yet the question now, what had happened?


Cloud hated this bed confinement. There was nothing else to be said about it. It was ridiculous in his mind to have to deal with this. He hated lying down and having nothing better to do than to feel the ice—blue eyes that Rufus possessed, piercing him. That one-millionth sight escaped his lips, it was evening now, much later than he expected, and not that it was a surprise. He did not bother to sleep; he had too much energy for that. He preferred to be exhausted when he slept, which gave him a much better snooze time if that happened. Otherwise he woke up again and again and again just for the sake of having too much energy to burn.

Yet, the other man before him was already starting to nod off. Occasionally the man, when he thought Cloud wasn't looking, closed his eyes and tried to stop his head from lowering. Yet snapped open once he heard the creak of the bed, meaning Cloud shifted. It was funny games, in the swordsman's opinion, watching that happen repeatedly. Just because he wanted to mess with Rufus's head. It was just a nice little game he was playing…

"Rufus… Just go to sleep, you're obviously tired." Cloud stated this plainly, earning a cold glare from the other blonde man, which made a chuckle escape from the 'Ex-Soldier's' lips. It was quite humorous to see the elder man act like such a child.

"I will end up putting you to sleep quite soon, Cloud." The bitter frozen words flew out of Rufus's lips in only a few seconds, and he then stood, and left the room muttering about a 'damn chocobo headed idiot'. Yet, coming in at that moment was the familiar sight of Vincent Valentine within his red and black garb, splashed with metallic gold. Comforted to see the man without the Turk uniform on, Cloud leaned back into the bed and placed a small smile upon his lips. "I'll go to bed, Vin." He muttered, closing his river-blue eyes.

"If you wish." Vincent said, taking Rufus's former position, his eyes unblinkingly staring at his… friend.

The pair of Reno and Rude busted into the office of their boss, Rude holding the now snoring Reno within his arms, panting heavily as he dumped the dead weight upon the ground, looking wildly around for his boss. Lucky for them, the CEO wandered into the office at that moment to see the disheveled sight of his two Turks, one dead drunk, and the other… one of the living dead. Slightly amused at this sight, the young Shin-Ra pushed his exhaustion aside to hear the most likely humorous tale.

"…Sir…" Rude took a time to breathe, and then collapsed to the ground, exhausted. "Sir… We were attacked, a blade… silver, and it was long. It was just like the Masamune itself, we almost died at this. It did not help that he was passed out drunk. We barely escaped alive, sir."

And he froze, his eyes wide, pupils dilated as this news hit him. "Then… he returned, and… He is here for revenge." His fist rose up in the air and landed upon the desk, a loud thud resounding. "DAMNIT!" He swore loudly, "It's starting all over again."


A grin crossed the lips of a man as he stood, blade in hand. He grinned widely just for a moment, and finally, finally he stepped foot on a path of what he wished to do, and that was to kill. To slaughter them all. It was time for the revenge to start.


Charan-Amaya: Well, it's been forever since I actually did this, you know, updated. And now, well, I might have another chapter up soon. Some things I have updated quite a bit. Isn't it funny? Well, happy reading and I hope to update soon. The sequel will hopefully come out soon enough? I hope? Oh, and thanks for a little helpful reviewer, I would've never noticed that mistake and I went through and corrected this chapter. -Doesn't look at-

TO BE CONTINUED