Chapter 37: Chaos

Sephiroth storms down into the Science Department in the early hours of the morning. The guards, scientists, and other personnel scrambling to get out of the way of his fury. He had always had suspicions that never failed to sent him into depressive hysterical laughter when he thought about them alone, but to have it actually confirmed...

"I don't know of any easy way to say this, so I'll ask it plain, Sephiroth... do you know that Hojo is your father?"

Sephiroth snarled, making those nearby cower.

His father.

His damned father.

Of course it would be him.

Sephiroth has the urge to turn the entire Science Department into a blood bath, and he is finding it difficult to reign it in. How many of these people were there while he was growing? How many watched while...

He cuts the derailing thought process off and instead focuses on getting answers. How Hojo gives them determines how slowly and painfully he will die when the time comes. He makes for the mad bastards office, and then pauses when he sees the door slightly ajar, and hears the sound of mad cackling laughter. Oh dammit, what has he done now?

"Her vessel... yes... her vessel... oh yes," cackled Hojo, "It will be perfect. The Crisis at its peak power, hosted by its greatest vessel. The perfect test, the perfect challenge..."

Sephiroth peaked in, and then raised an eyebrow. Hojo looked even more deranged then usual, and like he hadn't slept in days.

"Once Sephiroth defeats and destroys... no no no... join...," slurred Hojo, clutching at his head, and to Sephiroth's brief shock, the skin on the man's head and hands bubbled and stretched a bit before returning to normal, "Should... he should join his mother, his sister..."

What in the world had the doctor done to himself? Was there no sanctity? Had he experimented on himself too?

"Yes... yessss...," slurred Hojo, "The son standing at the side of the devoured daughter, unstoppable. Specimen K will fulfill her destiny, as will my son."

What did Kairi have to do with these mad ramblings?

"My son...," groaned Hojo, clutching at his head again, "No no no no... perhaps... perhaps should have sent them together. Could replace... could overwhelm. Specimen K and Specimen S together... no, no he's not ready for the Calamity. Better this way. Better to send Specimen K to her fate."

Sephiroth narrows his eyes, not liking that at all, and steps inside. "And where exactly, Hojo, did you send her?"

"Where did I send her?" cackled Hojo, standing up and looking at him with a mad glint in his eyes, "Why, to her Mother of course. Hee hee hee haaaaw!"

Sephiroth narrowed his eyes. "Her Mother?"

"Yes... to Jenova. I sent Specimen K to Jenova," cackled Hojo.

Sephiroth blinked a few times. His Mother... was also Kairi's? How was that possible if she was from another reality?

"But maybe I was inconsiderate. Perhaps I should have sent you as well. Jenova will soon have her host to possess, but she will also need her son as her champion, then, when you are Reunited with her, what Jenova began two-thousand years ago can finally be finished, hee hee hee," cackled Hojo.

The hairs on the back of Sephiroth's neck rose and his skin began to crawl. Host... HOST? To possess? Any possible implication he could draw out of that statement were ALL catastrophically negative. And two-thousand years ago? For one, that eliminated her from actually being his physical mother. For two, what was he talking about? What had happened two-thousand years... wait... the fall of the Cetra was said to be around that time... could it be just a coincidence? His gut instincts were screaming at him, something terrible was soon to happen, and Kairi and his Moth... and Jenova were at the heart of it.

"Well? Do you not feel her call? Or is she to busy preparing for her rebirth into this world through her host? Hee hee hee, I never imagined since the beginning of Jenova Project K what Specimen K's true potential was, what Jenova desired for her. Glorious... it will be glorious! The Calamity from the Skies will be reborn! The Heaven's Dark Harbinger shall rise again, even more powerful and eternal than ever! With Specimen K's body, Jenova will be practically immortal! Haa haa haa haaaa-ERK."

With one swing of his blade, Sephiroth decapitated Hojo, fists clenched tightly on his blade. "That... is enough... out of you. I should have done this years ago."

Sephiroth's mind was racing and whirling over what Hojo had just said, but above all else, one thought shined out clearly: Kairi was in danger, extreme danger.

Sephiroth flicked his phone out and attempted to call her, but, to his frustration all he got was: "We're sorry, this number has been disconnected."

That damn man! Hojo had set this up perfectly. He had implied a grim fate for her, and potentially for him as well, calling him Jenova's champion. If Jenova was capable of possessing Kairi, and maybe him as well, he couldn't be the one to go after her. With Angeal away, the only one left was...

Sephiroth dialed a number in an instant.

"Well if it isn't the great and mighty Sephiroth, confronted the old bastard yet have..." began Genesis.

"Genesis," interrupted Sephiroth with an urgency he didn't think he had ever used in his entire life.

Genesis's tone changed instantly. "What is it?"

"Can you reach Kairi in your mental web?" demanded Sephiroth.

"Well of course I... wait... what?" said Genesis, "I don't... what IS this?"

"Genesis?"

"Its like a wall just went up around her, slimy and dirty to touch, I don't... she's been shielded in the web, I can't reach her," seethed Genesis, "What the hell is going on?"

"Do you know where Kairi went on her mission?" asked Sephiroth.

"A mountain town called Nibelheim, why?" asked Gensis warily.

"Go to her, now. She is in danger," ordered Sephiroth.

"From what exactly? She's practically immortal," asked Gensis skeptically.

"Hojo," was Sephiroth's reply.

He didn't have enough time to properly explain, Genesis needed to go NOW. Nibelheim was on the Western Continent, it would take hours at top helicopter speed to reach Kairi, every second counted.

There was a series of curses from Genesis. Hojo was one man they all had feared, even immortality wouldn't save someone's sanity and mind from that man, that was what he trusted to get Genesis moving.

"Go as quickly as you can Genesis, you must reach her before its to late, and... beware Jenova," finished Sephiroth.

"Your mother?!" said Genesis at a loss.

"GO NOW!" he ordered.

Sephiroth paused at the sound of shattering glass, ripping clothes, and the sound of a wing beating furiously in the air before the call was ended. Genesis was going to FLY? Hmm... well... when driven he could be pushed beyond his limits. Perhaps he could reach her in time, but, such an effort would drain his strength...

Sephiroth ran a hand through his hair out of distress. Kairi wasn't his only concern, no, not the only concern at all. What truly concerned him was what Hojo had implied...

...Jenova will soon have her host to possess, but she will also need you as her champion, then, when you are Reunited with her, what Jenova began two-thousand years ago can finally be finished...

If Jenova was the one who had destroyed the Cetra... then... just what was it she would be 'finishing'? What Hojo had called her... the Calamity from the Skies, the Heaven's Dark Harbinger... neither tittle implied anything good. It filled him with dread. If Jenova had all but wiped out the Cetra before, what would she be capable of after possessing Kairi's near immortal body? Her 1st Class mako enhanced power? As cruel as the thought was, he had a awful hunch that there was a lot more riding on whether or not Jenova was stopped than just Kairi's life.

"Son... my son..."

He whirled, shocked, to see black liquid seeping out of Hojo's severed head, his neck and mouth and eyes. "Myyy sooon... laptop... password is... your mother's name."

"Jenova?"

"L-U-C-R-E-C-I-A C-R-E-S-C-E-N-T," rasped out Hojo, "I... I prepared you... made you so strong for... for this... you are my greatest crea..."

Sephiroth stalked forward and crushed Hojo's head underfoot in a splatter of blood and black ichor. He scuffed his boot on the floor to get it off before briefly locating Hojo's laptop, hiding it in his jacket, and then incinerating the entire room with several Fira3 casts. Best to make sure the deed was probably done.

"So much for carefully planned," muttered Sephiroth, before stalking quickly down the hallway, into the elevator, reaching the ground floor, then disappearing into the early morning crowds.

Later, in an abandoned house in Sector 6, the laptop plugged in, he shakily enters his true mother's name as the password, and watches as the screen goes to desktop. His eyes scan over over the folders and file names, stopping on one in particular: The Jenova Project.

His eyes narrowed. He'd trust Kairi and Genesis to deal with his so called 'Mother'. It was long past time he had gotten answers...

Come to me my daughter, it is time for our Reunion.

Kairi bolts upright in her bed, eyes briefly glowing green instead of pinkish, before she shakes her head. "Alright kids, up and at em! It's time to go!"

Tifa and Cloud groan, but get up and start getting ready for the day. Kairi is out of the shower and downstairs in the inn eating, foot taping with impatience. Vincent is downstairs before either of the own. His footsteps are oddly cautious, he regards her with a solemn look, gold flecks in his red eyes that she finds odd, but brushes aside in her desire to get moving.

"Is this truly what you wish?" posed Vincent quietly.

Kairi blinked at him. "Pardon?"

He simply stares at her.

She scowls. "I don't have time for vague-Turk bullshit, whatever you're yammering about either say it or shut up, sit down, and eat."

Vincent sighs, but sits down.

Her children arrive minutes later, they eat, and within half an hour, they leave Vincent behind and start up Mount Nibel, heading for the Reactor...

Reno of the Turks sighed, muttering to himself as he flicked through his messages on his PHS. It wasn't often he had Ancient Duty, but it was always so boring. Well, unless he went in and messed with the poor girl, but he only did that on occasion since both Veld and Tseng gave him hell for it. Honestly, it was just a little ribbing. She wasn't as delicate as the others seemed to think she was, that tongue of her's gave as good as she got.

His eyes flicked down from his perch on the rafters of the church (he liked to choose different spots to be creative), watching Aerith taking a cat nap on a bench in her church. Girl seemed all tuckered out and stressed earlier, staring at her flowers with a solemn look, whispering in quiet soothing tones. He knew all the hub bub about her being able to com-un-icate with the big blue ball they were all on, he didn't really care that much, or envy her. It was more than apparent when she was talkin to it, always went home with a huge headache, sometimes she even got it so bad she called out for them and asked if they had anything for her head.

He had been on duty all night-into-morning, switching off briefly with Rude to eat, before coming back. Aerith had been tense for hours, he had seen the lights on the house flickering on and off all night, even asleep now she looked troubled, it was enough that he had cautiously sent a text to Tseng as the go-to contact on all-things-Ancient. There wasn't much they could do about it, but they had noted more than once that her abilities made her rather receptive to shit-hits-the-fan events. Tsunami hit Junon awhile back, she had been moody that day, had even asked them if something bad happened. The height of the Wutai War had sent her into mood swings as well, brief, not exactly violent, but bad enough that they didn't want to be near her. There was a tight lid clamped on all questions regarding how she reacted when that super summon was active, and he knew better to press. This though... he didn't know, there was that feeling in his gut. The one that made him bring out his most friendly smile and most 'pleasant' of jokes as he was slowly inching his hand for his rod or a...

Aerith bolted upright, clutched her head, and screamed.

Reno would never admit it, but he almost fell off his perch at that. Ain't never heard her scream like that before. He maneuvered himself to start walking, making for the entrance to the top levels of the church as the girl continued to scream and cry. He had his PHS out and was texting as he went, ignoring the break-your-spine-or-at-least-your-leg drop. Couldn't be worse than texting while driving, and he did that just fine.

'Yo Tseng, target's screaming, nasty fit, never seen anything like it'

Satisfied, he jumped down and started running down the winding and broken stairs, jumping over broken sections and pitfalls, until he reached the ground level and ran to the front. Aerith screams had lessened in intensity, but she was shaking good. Like an addict needing their fix, just without the whole drug thing. He jogged over and knelt down, about to put a hand on her shoulder when his phone jingled.

He fished it out, glanced down, and then his eyes went wide to see just who was calling. Guess Tseng had went to the top...

"Yo, bossman," said Reno, wincing as Aerith let out another scream next to him.

"Reno, whats wrong with her?" came Veld's voice.

"Dunno, she was takin a nice cat nap then she just bolted up and started howling," said Reno.

"Put me on speaker," demanded Veld.

"You're live bossman," said Reno.

"Aerith? Aerith! Calmn down and speak to me," called out Veld.

Aerith shuddered, shivering, glancing blankly at Reno and then the phone, eyes so wide he wasn't sure there was a pupil there.

"Speak to me," said Veld, a calming tone Reno was sure he never gave any of his Turks, almost made him jealous, "Whats wrong?"

"J...J...J...," stammered Aerith, eyes going in and out of focus.

"One, two, three, take a breath Aerith," instructed Veld, "Just like last time, one, two, three."

Reno raised an eyebrow. Last time? Boss man had to coach her through a fit before?

He grinned. "Daww bossman, didn't know you were a softie."

"Reno," came out Veld's warning tone.

Aerith took a shuddered breath, eyes coming into focus. "V-veld...?"

"I'm hear, what's it saying?" asked Veld.

"It's not the Planet I heard," whispered Aerith fearfully, "It's Jenova."

Reno went still. He hated that word, he really did, shit always went bad whenever he heard it.

"What do you mean?" asked Veld cautiously.

"Jenova called for her daughter," whispered Aerith, "I heard it, I felt it, so did the planet. It's terrified of the Calamity's return."

"Aerith, Jenova's braindead," said Veld in disbelief, "I've seen the readings myself."

"Veld, you don't understand," said Aerith, voice shaking and cracking, "I've learned enough from what the Planet's shared with me. It was never about the mind, nor the body she inhabits. Its about her cells. Jenova isn't dead, she's just been bidding her time. And she's ready. She called for Kairi, and if she answers, if Jenova gets her, we're ALL dead."

Reno frowned, unsettled. "What do you mean 'gets Kairi'?"

"I... I've always felt Jenova inside of Kairi, all the times we spent together, and while Kairi might be blind to what Jenova intends, I'm not," said Aerith, appearing to steel herself, "Jenova is going to turn Kairi into her active host, it's going to rip her mind and soul apart then wear her body as it's skin. It's going to start all over again, Jenova's going to start consuming everything again, and this time, there's not going to be anyone who knows how to seal Jenova away, because I sure don't."

There was deathly silence for a moment before Veld spoke, "Even if that happens, we have SOLDIER to fight her."

Aerith laughed, and it wasn't a good kind. "You mean the SOLDIER that is seeded with Jenova's cells? That SOLDIER? How exactly do you think shes going to wipe us all out if not with them? Ignoring that you have nothing that can actually handle Kairi except maybe Sephiroth if he resists Jenova's call, but considering the years he spent in Hojo's lab, I'm doubtful he'd side with the planet if it came down to it."

Reno let a nervous bob run down his throat. "Well, that puts things in a new light."

"We can have people out and after Kairi...," began Veld.

"Veld, it's happening now," said Aerith, "Kairi is so close to Jenova, you don't have time. It's... it's all on her, whether she accepts it, whether she resists it, and if she does, whether or not she wins. The Planet is waking up it's WEAPONS, but even then, there's only one entity close enough to get there in time to maybe make a difference, and the planet is just as terrified of waking HIM up, because its still likely we're all going to die anyway if he enacts his purpose..."

Kairi walks as if possessed, stopping and waiting for nothing. Any monsters that get in her way are cut down without hesitation.

"Oughta leave some for us Kairi," said Cloud, huffing.

"We're not here to play games," she snapped back, "We have to get to the reactor, have to get to her..."

"...to who?" asked Tifa.

Kairi stops for a moment, dizzy, head throbbing. She reaches up to massage her forehead before shaking it and moving on. The snow does little to bar her path, blazing a trail that her children follow behind in. She hasn't bothered waiting for the troopers to get up, she didn't need them. They'd only get in the way, they weren't connected to Mother, they weren't needed...

The buzz in Kairi's mind is steadily growing, and its so hard to think...

They come across a bridge that's so old and ragged that Kairi doesn't even bother with it. She grabs both Cloud and Tifa's shoulders and flies them all over it.

"Well... can't say I see the flight appeal," said Tifa after Kairi dropped them.

"Oh I don't know, thought you'd like being dangled over a hundred foot drop," said Cloud dryly, "Maybe you know how I feel now. Feet on the ground is always the best."

Tifa huffs and swats at him.

Kairi ignores her children's play, her heart is thumping so loudly...

"Hey Kairi? You always get so quiet in the web on missions?" asked Tifa.

Kairi gives her a brief blank look, confused, she's not done anything differently to her presence? Or does she mean since she's not chatting up a storm like her children are? "Focusing on the task at hand is never a bad thing."

Tifa shrugged, both her and Cloud falling into step as they round the next bend...

And there it is.

The reactor.

Mother.

Kairi near runs for the stairs leading to the door.

WHAM

The sound of a heavy impact, followed by two bodies crumpling to the ground sounds behind her. She stops and whirls. Both Cloud and Tifa are on the ground unconscious, and standing behind them is...

"So, I guess your summon woke up Valantine," said Kairi flatly, eyeing over the man's changed state.

The man's eyes are pure gold. His hair replaces by jagged blood read and black spikes. Two large demonic wings extend behind him. The leather of his clothing replaced by muscular red and black carapace, except for one spot where his right breast would be, that has a glowing orb in it. His gauntlet had turned bone white, as had his boots. His gun had oddly changed as well, elongated, with a red and black aura glowing about it.

"Stray from this course little Calamity," came the Summon's dual-voice, "And I will spare you."

Kairi raised an eyebrow. "Your sister didn't bother, was all for just trying to kill me."

A sharp, predator smile shows far to many jagged teeth. "Zirconiade had only a short time to acclimate with her host. I have had decades to adapt traits from mine. While we would not normally co-exist so... peacefully, both Valentine and I are in agreement: You cannot enter the reactor."

She narrows her eyes. "Why?"

"You know why," answered the Summon, "The original Calamity must remain sealed."

Kairi snarled. "So, you wish to keep me from freeing Mother?"

"I wish to save you, child," said the Summon softly, "I disagree with the Planet's handling of this situation. It should not have come to this point. Blunt, brutal honesty should have been given a long time ago, not mere warnings or sudden attempts to destroy you. You should have been pried free before you became what you are."

"Save me from what?" demanded Kairi.

"From your so-called Mother," answered the Summon, "It wishes nothing good of you child, it will consume you."

"Listen not to this beast," snarled Mother in her mind, "Allow my power to flow into you child. While you have grown strong with the final SOLDIER enhancements, you will still need me for this. You are not yet experienced enough or at the true peak of your abilities to best this creature."

Kairi stared at the summon for a long moment before scoffing, "I've been waiting since I was first turned into her daughter for this moment. She will be free, we will be reunited, and I will get the answers I seek."

"The only answers that abomination will give you is its gaping maw as it devours you and delivers you into eternal suffering," snapped the Summon.

"Look, summon..."

"Chaos," it interrupts, "I am Omega's Squire. I exist so that at the appointed time, I may return all life to the Lifestream. The higher powers fears my premature arrival, but they forgets, I am not a mindless beast incapable of reason. I will do what I must to stop you, and then I will return to my slumber."

A chill goes down her spine.

He exists to exterminate all life?

Kairi tenses. "Chaos, I don't particularly want to fight you. Especially since I don't want to deal with Verdot's reaction if you force me to kill you and your host. So I'll give you the chance to back down. I defeated Zirconiade, I will defeat you as well."

He regards her for a moment. "Perhaps, but this time you will have to do so without your children, if you are capable of the deed."

She frowns. "What?"

"Or have you not noticed how your Mother has isolated you?" mocked Chaos, cocking his gun then aiming it at her, giving her little time to think.

The resulting shot is anything but a physical bullet. A ball of red and black energy shoots out that Kairi barely dodges. She stretches her wing, draws her sword, and charges. He takes off to the sky, shooting as he goes. Kairi surges after him, dodging left and right or deflecting with her blade, gritting her teeth. He's faster than she is...

"Child," snaps Jenova, "LET. ME. IN."

Kairi reaches down their connection and pulls Mother to her. Unlike last time, all she gets back is raw power rather than a merging. Its still invigorating as it is vile, she does not like how Mother's power feels. She will use it though if it means taking Chaos down. She flaps her wing and shoots at Chaos far faster than before. The summon is apparently not actually afraid of a melee, it blocks her blade with his gun, batting away before raking her stomach open with its claw. Kairi hisses and kicks it away, casting a quick cure before igniting herself and her blade with Light, letting its power fuel her.

"So be it, Calamity of Light," snarled Chaos, "I had hoped for another path, but if this is your choice, then you reap the decision."

Black and red energy cackles around Chaos, and then Kairi hardly has time to think as the summon effortlessly weaves through the air, switching back and forth between ranged and melee with shots of its gun and swipes of its claw all the while impassively staring at her. Kairi grits her teeth, her blade singing back and forth to intersect it's 'bullets' and deflect his claw. Then a bullet slips through and carves a path through her arm. She hisses and flings herself away, and oddly, the summon doesn't follow, merely cocking its gun and waiting.

Kairi frowns and looks down at her arm, at the black and red wound the energy bullet left. It doesn't burn like the wounds Zirconiade inflicted, but in a way, its worse. The cells touched by Chaos's power are not damaged, but utterly dead. Her own cells can't connect and rejuvenate them, she can instead feel her body working to quickly reject and push out the dead tissue and spread new cells in their place. She can't let what would normally be a fatal wound hit, because she has the feeling if he blows her brains out she's not recovering from that in time to stop him from just destroying her body. Same if he takes off her head.

She takes in a breath and lets it out. "If you're expecting me to back down from that and its implications, you are sorely mistaken."

Chaos's lips curl into a sneer. "So be it."

It waves its claw, a sphere of black and red energy gathering in it, then shoots the collected energy towards Kairi. Before she can dodge, he shoots the sphere and explodes it, the energy slamming into Kairi and sending her sprawling through the air. Bullets rain after her as Chaos surges for her. Kairi snarls and waves her own hand, releasing a burst of light that obliterates the bullets and sends Chaos hissing away. It holds up its own arm, regarding the oddly bleached carapace with a wary look.

So, her energy has its own effect on him, interesting.

"You are a creation of life," mutters Chaos, "My opposite in so many ways. You exist to make life, I exist to end it."

He thrusts a hand forward, and a torrent of energy surges at Kairi. She roars and thrusts her own hand out, pumping light out of her body into a stream that collides with Chaos's energy in a brutal explosion that sends the both of them rocketing away from another crying out in pain. Kairi flies down low to the ground, skimming along the snow before shooting up towards Chaos's falling form, wing beating rapidly. Chaos backflips, readies his gun, and shoots at her. She swerves to the side, corrects herself, and gives a battle cry, swinging a brutal two-handed blow at the summon.

Chaos catches the sword in its bone-gauntlet, cringing as light blazes along the blade. It turns its gun towards her, and Kairi frees a hand to grab his wrist, forcing the gun away. He snarls at her, and she bares her teeth in turn, faces inches from one another as they struggle and flip through the air trying to overpower one another. He draws his legs in close to his chest, then lashes out and boots her away, aiming his gun and shooting at her as she tumbles. She snarls and swings her glowing sword, releasing a wave of light energy from it that destroys the bullets and screams through the air for Chaos.

The summon dodges, and then is forced to dodge again as Kairi keeps swinging her blade and releasing energy waves from it.

"ENOUGH!" roars Chaos, aiming a glowing hand at her.

Kairi screams as chaotic energy explodes around her. It feels like a giant hand has gripped her, trying to squeeze the life out of her. She takes ragged, agonized breath, before she grits her teeth. Light glows around her, combating the energy trying to destroy her. An orange glow surges to life, and she roars out a Limit Break. "LIGHT NOVA."

It explodes right on Chaos, stopping his attack, and sending him screeching. But whats more, the glowing orb in his chest is flaring brightly, he clutches a hand to it, seething in pain. Kairi narrows her eyes. That... that orb... is that a materia? Its not red like a summon materia... but something else. She's not sure what, but capitalizing on a weak spot is something all SOLDIERs have trained into her. She beats her wing, closing the distance, and goes for a wide cleaving attack. Just like she thought, Chaos again captures her blade in his bone-gauntlet, but that's what she wanted. She lashes out and plants her boot as hard as she can into his glowing materia.

Chaos roars in agony, tumbling away, curling into a ball, arms protectively around his chest. He hits the snow hard, shivering in pain. She flies down, raises her sword, and spears it right through his back, driving hilt deep. He snarls and boots backwards, his foot connecting with her knee and knocking her to the ground. He stands, reaches behind himself, clawing the sword and prying it free. She throws herself at him, slamming into him, her sword and his gun tumbling into the snow. She raises a fist and slams it down on his materia again. He screeches and backhands her with his gauntlet, a spray of blood as he rips into her face.

She raises her fist again, making it shine brightly with light as she focuses her energy into it, and brings it down again for his chest. He lashes out and grabs her wrist, his own hand glowing with chaotic energy, the resulting burst of energy making them both cringe, but they don't stop, not this time. She pushes against him, forcing her hand closer and closer...

Then she screams as he drives his bone-gauntlet into her gut, ripping into her flesh, and starts digging in. She grits her teeth and forces her hand closer until she finally touches the materia, grips it, then rips it clean from his body. Chaos withdraws his gauntlet and roars before throwing her away. She rolls on the ground, finds her sword, and grabs it, pocketing the materia...

Then she realizes she might have made a mistake.

Without the materia, Chaos begins to morph, rather than looking like Vincent, his entire form turns into a kind of imposing muscular black demon one might see referenced in stories or TV, but this is no mere story-tale character, its presence darkness considerably, and Kairi feels shivers roll down her spine.

"Foolish Calamity," rumbles Chaos, and there is no duality anymore, "The Protomateria is made to contain and control my power. Valentine has given me uncontested reign to release myself. You will find that removing it from me was a grave mistake."

He swings a claw, and the mountainside explodes in an eruption of black and red energy. Kairi screams as she's thrown into the air. She grits her teeth and rights herself in time to see Chaos surging forward, his wings pump back and forth in powerful strokes, and he is upon her in moments. She swings her blade, slicing into him and leaving a wicked white line across his chest, but her barrels into her regardless, taking powerful swipes that tear into her, leaving agonizing red lines across her body. She makes to skewer him, but he grabs her wrist, twists it, and wrenches her sword away, discarding it. She roars and drives a glowing fist into his chin, sending him staggering away, snarling with fury.

"CHILD!" roars Jenova, "Use your powers as my daughter! You CANNOT win without it!"

Chaos lashes out and drives a claw into her left shoulder, reaching down and grabbing her elbow with his other claw, and then with a bellow, rips her arm clean off. Kairi screams and lashes out with her feet, slamming into his chest and sending him away. He discards her arm through the air and resumes rushing for her.

Kairi seethes, willing the wound closed and ordering her cells to begin to regenerate. She eyes her arm on the ground below Chaos and orders 'Grow'. She refocuses as the demon rushes for her, and instead of fighting, she goes for evasion. She flies away, deflects blows with her light infused arms and legs, and just plain dodges as much as she is able to. Then she gets distracted as a second sight enters her, and for a moment its like she's looking out of two spots at once. The beast catches her in that moment, two hand slamming her down and to the ground.

Kairi takes a moment to focus herself, both bodies as she realizes the damn arm actually grew succeeded in growing into one, clothes made out of colored skin. Chaos surges for her, landing before raising a claw that goes for her neck. She lashes out with her still intact arm and grabs his wrist, planting her foot into the snow and upon the ground beneath. She shakes with effort as it begins to overpower her...

Then her other body find her sword, rushes forward, and skewers Chaos from behind. The summon roars, looking backwards, eyes going wide with disbelief. Kairi's main body finishes regenerating the lost arm, and thrusts both hands forward, blasting the beast with a barrage of light. The other body rips her sword free as the beast is sent flying. Kairi's bodies regard one another awkwardly before they both nod and flap their wings, taking off. Its... disorienting, but oddly instinctual, to coordinate and control them both. Her main body focuses on using her powers of light, sending blasts of energy or casting cure on her other body, which uses her blade, enchanted with light, to combat Chaos head on.

The demon seethes with frustration. "Inch by inch you rid yourself of your humanity, how long will it be, Calamity of Light, before you lose yourself entirely in what you are becoming?"

It roars, energy exploding around it, before it all condenses in his claw that he drives into Kairi's other body, exploding it into bloody bits.

Kairi grimaces and eyes the body parts thoughtfully before grinning. 'Grow'.

This time Chaos isn't blind to what she's doing, snarling and blasting her body parts with his power, disintegrating them into ash. Unfortunately for him, he made quite the mess and left bits of her everywhere. Arms and legs and partially formed bodies rush at him, turning into tentacles that grip him and begin to drag him to the ground. Kairi rushes for him, pausing briefly to pick up her sword, then carves into his chest as her coalition of cells keeps him pinned. She rips her sword free, draws the protomateria from her pocket, and drives it into the wound she made.

Chaos screeches and releases a nova of energy, banishing Kairi and exploding her unconnected cells away. Kairi grits her teeth and wills her cells to condense, some flying to return and sink into her, some condensing to form a second body again. She watches as Chaos begins to morph, returning to the Vincent-demon hybrid form that groans, duality returning to his voice.

"Really shouldn't have told me what the materia was and did," mocked Kairi through both bodies, "You were stronger with it gone."

Chaos huffs, snapping his wrist to the side, his gun materializing back in his hand. It eyes both of her bodies warily, shifting its footing, flings flexed and waiting. Kairi smiles widely, a slight almost crazed look to her face, before she raises her sword and slices clean off another arm of hers and orders 'Grow'. She finds she's starting to like the spread awareness, the sense of being more than just what she is, more than just one body. Its... addictivly alluring.

Chaos snarls as a third Kairi slowly stands up, coming to life. "Even if I perish here, Calamity of Light, it is YOU who will lose in the long run. If not to your foul Mother, then to yourself. You will become everything you once stood against, and will have little blame to give but to yourself."

Kairi hums as she regrows her arm, enjoying the ridiculous advantage her 1st Class Enhancement gives her already insane regeneration powers. "I know who I am and what I stand for, Chaos. I champion myself and my beliefs, my children, my friends and family."

He regards her with pity. "So you say, but in what state do they have to be in? Themselves? Enslaved to your will? Or worse, consumed as a part of you?"

Kairi rushes at him with three bodies, all glowing with light. Bone splinters out of her spare bodies' hands, transforming into bone versions of her sword. They come at him in impossible ways to dodge. He takes hits, firing his gun and swinging his bone-gauntlet, taking as much damage as he dishes out, but he doesn't have her regeneration. He can't make new bodies out of flesh that is lost. Blood starts to generously soak him, his body slowing as wounds mount up...

Then he starts glowing with a Limit Break.

Kairi barely has time to think 'Oh fuck', before he surges into the sky and screams, "EXTINGUISH!"

Her spare bodies blacken and die, disintegrating into dust that she cannot reuse, and Kairi screams in pain at the backlash of losing so much that is her dying all at once. Then the limit break hits her, blanketing her in darkness that rips into her flesh, trying to smother her life. She screams in suffering, reaching as deep into herself as she does, and pulls out all the power she can. Light explodes from her and banishes the attack, but leaves her exhausted. Chaos slowly levitates to the ground, and they both huff and puff, tired and drained.

Kairi steels herself, readying for one final onslaught, her own pain turning into a whine of a limit break, and not Light Nova this time.

Chaos regards her with a tired, sad look. "Foolish child. In the end, you will be your own downfall."

"LIGHT-ZANTETSUKEN!" she scream, blurring through the air.

Chaos tries to dodge, but only succeeds in stopping himself from being completely bisected. Her blade still cleaves through part of his body. Chaos staggers, gasping for breath, clutching at his side, then falls to a knee. Slowly, his body morphs again, the demonic features fading away until its just Vincent, who pitches forward and collapses into the snow unconscious. Kairi regards the body for a moment, before she scowls and casts a simple low grade cure. And again, only so much as to close the wound. She didn't want to kill Vincent, and once she was with Mother, that summon wouldn't be enough to do anything if it tried again. With a tired huff, she turns and stalks away.

She takes off into the sky, heading back to the reactor. She lands and inspects her children, kneeling down and feeling for pulses just to be sure, casting cure and esuna when she confirms their life and gets them up and moving.

"Ugh... what hit me?" slurred Cloud.

"Dunno, thought I heard something then I was out before I could make a sound," said Tifa, rubbing the back of her head, wincing, then staring wide eyed at Kairi, "Are you okay?! You're covered in blood!"

Kairi looks down at herself for a moment before wearily moving to sit on the reactor steps. Sitting down with a heavy thud as she releases Mother's power back to her. "Nasty monster hit you from behind. Took a bit out of me to take it down."

"Uh..," said Tifa, fumbling for her pockets, "I took a bunch of supplies from the truck before we left, here, I got potions and ethers."

Kairi greedily chugs everything down, sighing in relief as she does. She feels Mother tugging impatiently at her presence, but she can wait a bit. Kairi needs a break to give herself a time to recover her energy. If Shinra left any nasty surprises inside the reactor, she needs to have a bit of her strength back. Her children, bless them, give her space and stand guard as she moves to the side of the reactor instead of its steps, and slides down to sit on her butt for a quick cat nap.

Once she's up...

It will be time to meet Mother at long last...

Author's Note: Next Chapter is titled J-E-N-O-V-A, get your favorite versions/remix of the song ready!

Review Responses:

The Unplanner: There will be no pleasant family dinners unfortunately, and its not so much a 'layer' of trust that's going to be ripped away, but all of it. I'll say I'm sorry in advance, but an author will do what they must for the story, I had whats coming planned almost from the beginning.

Patrick the Observer: Will have to stay tuned for Book Two to see what the quad becomes.

Well, Rufus certainly isn't taking the reigns. It might come up at one point in book two, Kairi might be at an celebration event for the rocket successfully hitting atmosphere, but its not going to be a major thing for me to focus on compared to other things outside of maybe a part of one chapter.

SalemTheSpeakerOfTruth: Clearly.

That guy0101: You'll have to find out the hard way.

TimeDiver: Well, you were the one saying they were unlikely, so not much surprise there :P.

Mogryking: Thanks.

Antex-The Legendary Zoroark: Yeah... characters aren't going to be having a good time. Not sure on the timeframe of book two. I might pre-emptivly write chapter one so I can do a link or something at the end of book one to it so people can go in and follow/fav it and don't lose traction of the story, but for its actual progression? We will see...

Spellflame: Yeah, i'll try to get chapter one of book two done before I write the epilogue. As for what happens with Jenova, it all begins next chapter, so wait and see...