Disclaimer: Final Fantasy still does not belong to me, I only use it to fill up my paper. Midnight, Skylar, Nathaniel, the Boss and this story line are still all MINE!
Big thanks!
To dragondeathqueen, for the review as usual, so sorry for the long wait! :( also, I probably won't be doing a sequal :) and the Cloud thing you requested will be up as soon as possible! :)
and to DovieDM-1991-Promised Wings, for the review ^^
also a big thanks to everyone who's added me or my story to any of their lists, it's very much appreciated ^^
I'm back! I am so incredibly sorry for the wait! I really hope you can forgive me :(
This is a pretty long part (8 pages in word) and it took me quite some time to write it, so I really hope you'll like it :)
there's just one more part after this one, I already wrote it, but I wanna look over it again so I'll post it tomorrow or the day after tomorrow :)
Enjoy and let me know what you think! ^^
The Howling Vampire
Part 21: Fire
"Do you really think they're still there?" Nathaniel asked Midnight.
"It's our only option."
They were discussing their course of action for the evening. The plan was simple, get in and try to get rid of everything and everyone.
"Is it necessary to kill all of the Boss' men?" Cloud questioned.
"I'm not sure. You see, they only follow orders because they have no choice, they've been brainwashed. We might be able to get them to change their points of view when the Boss is gone, but I can't guarantee it. We can only wait and see," Skylar explained.
"Then everything is settled, I suggested we all prepare ourselves and wait for Marius," Nathaniel said.
The others nodded and one by one got up and left the dining room table. Midnight looked at Cloud and Tifa for a moment, he'd been sending her worried glances all evening. Midnight mentally told Vincent to leave and waited until everybody else was gone before walking up to Cloud, whom was now staring at an invisible spot on the table with a thoughtful expression on his face.
"She'll be fine," she said.
"I don't know. Last time..."
"Last time we didn't have half as many forces as we'll have now. She's a strong fighter Cloud, you don't have to worry about her."
Cloud looked up at Midnight and nodded before slowly getting up. Just before he left the room, Midnight stopped him.
"You really should just ask her out sometime you know," she said while sending a knowing expression his way.
The corners of his mouth tugged up slightly in a half smile.
"If we survive this."
Midnight nodded and waited for a few moments more before going upstairs to get her things. When she entered their room, Vincent was just putting the last piece of Cerberus back in place, he'd cleaned the gun to make sure it would work perfectly. Midnight picked up her leather pants, tube top and corset and swiftly changed her clothes in the bathroom. When she came out, Vincent was sitting on the bed, a stony expression on his face.
"What is it?" Midnight asked him as she knelt in front of him and placed her hand on his cheek.
"I'm worried about this."
"You're not the only one."
Silence fell between the two of them. Midnight got up and put on her weapons and picked up her coat just as they heard a loud knock on the manor's doors. Vincent and Midnight went downstairs and Vincent opened the door to be greeted with the sight of a handsome, dark haired man who appeared to be in his late 30's, his hair was pulled back in a neat ponytail and he was wearing an old fashioned looking armor with numerous swords and daggers.
"Marius, welcome," Midnight said.
"You must be Vincent?" Marius said as he nodded to Midnight and let his gaze sweep over Vincent.
Vincent nodded but remained emotionless as he stepped aside to let Marius enter.
"How many men did you bring?" Midnight asked him.
"I should have a few thousand. I've given up on counting the number of warriors that are loyal to me quite a few centuries ago, as you know, many owe me," he replied, a teasing twinkle in his eyes.
By now, the others had come downstairs as well, all armed and ready, and Midnight smirked in amusement at the look of amazement on the faces of Tifa and Yuffie. Introductions were made and suddenly they heard a series of growls outside. Marius opened the doors and revealed a number of Vampires standing in front of a number of Wolves, swords ready and teeth bared. The group stared in awe at the sheer number of creatures standing in front of them. How they had never before heard of them was a mystery to them. One of the Wolves looked past Marius at Midnight and straightened himself out into his human form, it was Romulus. His troops weren't nearly as large as those of Marius, but they were loyal and he'd summoned them to help nonetheless. Marius and Romulus shared a cold look as Midnight stepped forward.
"Thank you Romulus", she said.
"There are more Wolves, but it seems that most of them have sided with Hojo. I wish I could do more," he said, a solemn expression on his face.
Marius then turned to his troops.
"Stop this nonsense immediately!" his voice boomed.
They all looked at him in pure bewilderment, but he turned his gaze to Midnight, indicating that she should speak to them.
"Tonight, we will face an enemy that could bring on the destruction of everything we know and hold dear. Should you face him as rivals, then his power will only grow, and you will lose everything you have worked so hard for. Your parents, wives, children, brothers, sisters, they will all fall if we do not destroy this enemy as a united front! I ask of you, to put your feud on hold and join us as we face this threat!" Midnight's voice boomed over the troops.
They had all fallen silent after her first sentence. Slowly but surely, the Vampires put their swords away, bowing their head to Midnight's authority, and the Wolves turned into their human forms, their doubtful gazes still directed at Romulus. Marius let his eyes glide over his men as Romulus did the same. They still seemed reluctant to bury their feud. Marius and Romulus turned to each other.
"I suggest we join her, what say you?" Marius said as he extended his hand.
"I'm in," Romulus answered, grasping Marius' hand with his own.
"My Lord, how can you be sure they won't turn against us when we turn our backs?" one of the frontline Vampires spoke up.
"How do we know you won't do the same?" Romulus replied to him.
"We have no choice but to trust each other now. I have heard of this enemy, I know what he can do, he almost destroyed Midnight," Marius added.
"Then we will fight him, we don't need them!"
Marius extended his arm toward Midnight.
"I assume this woman is no stranger to you, and if I'm correct then you're very much aware of the power she possesses."
The Vampire nodded.
"Hojo, our enemy, can use her power to destroy this world as we know it. We-"
"But this Hojo is one man!"
"And he has the support of at least a thousand. Have you never wondered where some of the humans and even some of your own kind disappeared to?" Midnight spoke.
The Vampire fell silent.
"Well then, I suggest we get to it. We have quite a bit of work to do," Marius said.
They moved swiftly through the woods, AVALANCHE in the front, the Wolves and Vampires following in their stride. When they got to the caves, they were already greeted by a pack of Wolves. They stopped and Romulus went to stand next to Midnight.
"They used to be part of my pack. They've joined Hojo though," he explained to her and Midnight nodded as she took a step forward.
One of the Wolves straightened up and stood in front of Midnight. They gave each other a stern look before Midnight spoke.
"I suggest you let us pass. I'd hate to let you all go to waste," she said, her usually emotionless voice tinted with sadism.
The Wolf smirked.
"And what makes you think we would go to waste?" he questioned her, a sneer evident on his features.
Midnight sized him up for a moment. His brown hair had a shaggy cut, his black and crimson eyes were wild. She could easily take him without use of her genes. This Wolf was so corrupted that he overestimated his own power, he was weak, but Hojo and the Boss had made him think he as invincible. A short scoop of the other Wolves in front of her told her that they were the same, all weaklings lead to believe they were stronger than they truly were.
"I'm sorry Romulus," she whispered to Romulus, whom simply nodded his understanding.
"Because you're weak," she said to the Wolf, sadism still in her voice, as she threw one of the daggers from her belt into his heart.
His eyes widened in terror as he looked down. He fell down and the other Wolves growled at the group in front of them.
"If you don't want to end up in the same way, I suggest you let us pass," Midnight spoke again, but the Wolves didn't budge.
Five of them suddenly lunged at Midnight but she easily blocked 2 of them while Vincent shot one and Skylar and Nathaniel took care of the other 2. Midnight looked at the Wolves again and saw fear flicker in their eyes. They hesitantly started moving aside, still growling. Here and there, one of them lunged at Midnight, but she easily sliced through them with her katana. Marius told the majority of his men to wait outside, while he followed Midnight inside.
In the camera room, Hojo was looking at the screens with annoyance.
"You said they would be useful!" he yelled at the Boss next to him.
The Boss was getting worried, the Wolves were supposed to be much more of a challenge.
"And they have been. You see, they'll be too confident now, it'll be the end of them!"
I hope.
Hojo gave him a suspicious look but soon returned to looking at the screens.
"Get your men ready," he sneered.
Alexander was standing in a corner of the room. He was starting to doubt his decisions, however, there was nothing he could do about it anymore, and he felt more helpless than ever.
They continued to walk through the corridors until the once again reached the great hall. Midnight's senses were on overdrive.
- There's nothing here. – Nathaniel mentally told her.
Midnight only nodded. A spotlight went on and revealed the Boss. He was sitting on a throne in the middle of the room and looked at Midnight with a sadistic smirk on his lips.
"Well, look who's here again."
Midnight remained silent. She simply reached for the gun on her thigh and lifted it, pointing it right between his eyes. The Boss' smirk only grew.
"Now what satisfaction would shooting me give you?"
A voice made Midnight brake her gaze and lower her gun.
"Sir! We're under attack! There's thousands of them, we're completely surrounded," a Vampire came to a halt in front of Marius.
"Let's go," he said and started rushing out of the caves again.
Midnight sent one last look in the Boss' direction and then followed.
- What do you think you're doing? We've been waiting for this for years! – Ainra yelled in her mind.
- Don't worry, I'll get him later. Now use your energy for something more useful, such as helping me get us out of here alive! –
When Midnight came outside, her eyes widened. The battle had completely broken loose. She couldn't find anyone from her group anymore, all she saw was Wolves, men and Vampires fighting for their lives. There was something strange about the Boss' men though. But before she could take a closer look, a ball of fire flew straight at her head. She dodged it and was getting ready to scold Skylar when she realized that he hadn't been the source of the fire. It was one of the Boss' men. He lunged at her, swinging his sword at her head, but she easily blocked his attack and then noticed what was different about him. There seemed to be a glowing orb in his arm.
Materia. There's materia in their bodies!
Midnight dodged a few more of her opponents attacks, but soon found his week spot and she easily took him down. Another lunged at her, this time with a sword loaded with electricity. As she continued to fight, she looked for Skylar and Nathaniel. She soon spotted them and stopped worrying about them, they were fighting back to back again and their teamwork was flawless. She soon located the other members of the group and noticed Tifa was having some difficulties with a man who was swinging around a large hammer-like weapon. She ran up behind her and jumped around her, changing into her Wolf form in midair, and knocked down the man. His weapon flew away, knocking down another one of the enemy men, and she bit down in his throat, ripping it out when she pulled back. She stood up straight again and wiped the blood off her mouth, nodding at Tifa before going back to fighting whomever dared lunge at her.
Skylar was slowly but surely getting tired. He'd been using his genes for almost the entire battle, as had Nathaniel. The distance between was increasing with every enemy they defeated and soon they both found themselves alone, surrounded by enemies.
Midnight looked to her left and saw Skylar. He was surrounded, and she was worried. She could tell from his eyes that he was getting tired, the enemies kept coming though. She tried her hardest to fight her way towards him, slashing and stabbing through her enemies at full speed. She sensed someone attack her from behind and she swiftly turned around, blocking the attack. She was shocked when she came face to face with the goon that used to drag her into the Boss' office every time she refused to fire the gun they forced into her hands. Her eyes burned crimson and she registered the fear in his eyes when he recognized her. She blocked his feeble attack and jumped on him, dropping their weapons in the process. She sank her claws into his shoulders and her teeth into his neck, reveling in the sounds of his screams and the way he squirmed as she sucked the life from him. By the time she was up and ready for her next attack, Skylar had become even more closed in and she slashed her way through the crowd. Suddenly, time seemed to stand still. Skylar raised his arms to turn into his Phoenix form, when an opponent behind him ran his sword through him. A last ring of fire erupted from his body and took out the enemies closest to him when a bone-piercing scream rang through the air. Midnight caught him in her arms.
"Skylar? Come on, don't leave me!"
Tears were starting to stream down her face as Skylar let out his final breaths. Midnight started shaking him, but his eyes wouldn't open again. Her head fell back as an animalistic scream came from deep within her, making the everything fall silent as all eyes fell on her.
Vincent felt the voice go through every part of his body, the pain in it almost made him fall to his knees. He turned around and his eyes fell on Midnight and the lifeless body of Skylar in her arms. A pair of bat like wings shot out of her back, her hair became raven black, her fangs shot out and her nails turned into sharp claws while the rest of her body became more angular. She let go of Skylar's body and lunged at the first enemy she saw. In mere moments, they were fighting at full force again and Vincent could only pray that Midnight would not loose full control of her genes...
After a very long hour, the fight was finally starting to die down as most of the men that were left had moved inside. Romulus and Marius ordered their troops to wait outside until Midnight gave the order to go in. Midnight ripped the limbs off her last victim and then turned to look at the outcome of their battle. The ground was littered with corpses, most of them of the Boss' men. She turned back into her human form and crimson tears made their way down her cheeks as she recognized many of them. She went back to Skylar's body and dropped down on her knees. Vincent stalked over to her, placing his gun in its holster, and wrapped his arm around her. She put her head on his shoulder and soundlessly let the flow of tears continue. Nathaniel wearily approached them, dropping down next to Midnight.
"We can't stop now," he said, pain evident in his voice.
"We have to get rid of them!"
Midnight picked her head up from Vincent's shoulder and nodded.
"We're putting his body somewhere else though," she said as she got up.
Midnight and Nathaniel picked up Skylar's body and placed him in the bushes a few feet away from the battle.
"How are we?" she asked Romulus and Marius.
"Not too bad, I still have a little over half of my men," Marius said as he looked around.
"I only have about 30 left," Romulus spoke.
Midnight nodded.
"Let's go then."
With Midnight and Nathaniel in the front, they once again entered the caves. The Boss, Hojo, Alexander and the men were waiting for them. Most of them were still okay, but some of them were badly wounded.
"Welcome Midnight, welcome," the Boss said, a wide smile on his face.
Midnight felt Vincent tense up behind her as his eyes fell on Hojo.
"Let the party begin!" the Boss yelled and the first line of his men fell forward, attacking Midnight and the other.
They easily got rid of them, and soon they were once again divided, all fighting for their lives in the large crowd. Midnight was nearing in on the Boss, it was only a matter of minutes and she'd reach him. She was so close... However, it seemed as though new men were streaming into the hall at a steady pass and Midnight found herself surrounded. Ainra and Manalani were restless. Midnight knew that she'd be able to get out of her situation easily if she just let them out, but she couldn't.
- Midnight! Let them out! – Nathaniel's voice screamed in her mind.
He'd been sensing that Midnight had been holding back, and right now they needed her genes.
- Nathaniel, what if I lose control? –
- We'll do what needs to be done. Now just help us! –
Midnight took a deep breath and carefully let go of each and every string of control she had. A wave of power rolled off her and pushed her opponents back, her hair became a silvery white, her skin pitch black, the whites of her eyes became black, her golden irises remained, her hands turned into claws, her fangs grew and a pair of large bat wings covered in black fur emerged from her back. All eyes fell on her, and the Boss' men's eyes filled with fear. The group held their breath, the Boss was astonished and Hojo's smirk only grew. Midnight lunged at the nearest man and pulled his head off as though he was a rag doll. In 30 minutes, the battle was almost settled. The few men that were left, were ready to surrender and Midnight was standing in front of the Boss. The Boss took a few steps closer to her, an arrogant smirk on his face, but Midnight could clearly see the fear in his eyes.
"Well then, you've defeated me. What say you we join hands? Just imagine the things we can do," he spoke.
Midnight didn't respond. She only stepped closer to him and picked him up by his throat. his hands shot to hers as his feet dangled above the ground.
"Just imagine what I will do to you now," she growled, her voice low and demonic.
The Boss screamed as Midnight put him down again. He fell to the ground, clutching his groin, and Midnight only smirked. She would crush him, piece by piece.
"Get up," she growled.
When he didn't get up immediately, she shifted her powers to his hand and he clutched it in pain as the bones started to crack. He hurriedly got up and Midnight stood close to him. Her hand shot out and went straight into his chest, breaking his sternum in the process, and took a hold of his heart. His face was contorted in pure pain as Midnight squeezed his heart and pulled it out before crushing it in her hand. When she looked ahead of her again, Hojo was gone and Alexander was standing in front of her, a gun to his head.
"Please forgive me," he whispered, tears streaming down his face.
Midnight examined him and saw the scars on his fingers when they'd tortured him. She slowly turned back into her human form, her expression still hard. She knew she would never understand why her father had taken the path he'd chosen, but she also knew that it was important for her to forgive him. It was the only way for him to die in peace and for her to achieve full closure. She took a few steps towards him and embraced him.
"I forgive you," she whispered into his ear just before she pulled back.
Her father nodded and pulled the trigger.