A/N: One review last chapter. That's depressing. Well, thank you RenoS, always loyal. Since it looks like I'm losing readers fast, I'll wrap this up soon. This will probably be a big Reno and Vincent chapter. Anywho, read on.

Chapter 19: Tragedy in the Shape of a Bullet

"God damnit, Rude! I can't lift this fuckin' thing up by myself!" Reno's face was bright red with the struggle. Who knew steel could be so heavy?

"Took you fuckin' long enough!" Reno spoke, but didn't bother to look at his fellow Turk. Rather, he simply kept struggling. He didn't bother to watch his language either. He made it a general rule that, in times of crisis, cursing in front of any bi-standers was a bad idea, but this was getting too frustrating for him to worry about what he said.

Elena lay on the ground nearby, holding tightly onto the hand of a weeping woman. "Don't worry, ma'am. We'll have you to a doctor in a jiffy. Just stay with us a little while longer."

Gun shots sprayed through the air, luckily missing their target, who didn't seem to be paying much attention to them. When Cloud reached a temporary hiding spot, for the first time he could recall, he actually wished for Yuffie to be there. Her Leviathan materia would work much better than buckets of water.

"What'll it be, Cloud?!" Joe's distant voice was barely audible over the roar of the flames. "Save the city? Or fight us off and save your own hide!?"

Reno's message to cloud had been slightly misleading, though Cloud had a feeling it wasn't intentional. He just wished he would've known what to expect....

"Cloud!" Reno quickly burst into the room that Cloud had deemed his 'bedroom' of sorts. "Put on your damn clothes and get your friends ready!"

After Cloud had sufficiently calmed the frantic Reno, he got the story, or at least what Reno knew of it. "Junon's on fire. Buildings are lighting up like torches left and right. But the big thing is Neo-Midgar. There was a bombing in Old Midgar - shrapnel's everywhere. People are dropping like flies. Some poor bastard just bled to death in Rude's hands!"

That was enough to get Cloud moving, but it wasn't enough to prepare him for the ambush waiting in Junon. Joe and a small army of those genetically altered soldiers gave them a warm welcome - one made out of lead.

"Shudda fuck up!" Cloud thanked his lucky stars that he brought Barret. The Missing Score was quite a weapon - firing at about 5 times the speed of the soldiers' guns. The big man may not have been killing them, but they certainly were left wanting (wanting their limbs back, that is).

A few gunmen ventured a little too close to Cloud for comfort. With reckless abandon, he ran out of his corner, wildly swinging the Ultima Weapon in an arc. A dull thud as he passed let him know he hit his mark. A gray tinted head rolled along the ground, before an accompanying body fell atop it a few seconds later. At least, in a year of inactivity, he hadn't lost his touch in disposing of nameless henchmen.

Gawd, I hope the sun rises soon. Yuffie didn't like the idea of looking through rubble for bodies. She especially didn't like being woken up in the middle of the night to go looking through rubble for bodies. And to top it all off, it was still dark out.

AND , as if that wasn't enough, Cloud had decided that she stay with Vincent. He was the most responsible after all, and she did have tendency to get herself into sticky situations. I bet he's loving all this dark, creepy stuff...

Vincent stopped dead in his tracks as his ears picked up something. He looked around warily until he heard a sigh from in front of him.

"Don't worry, Vinnie, It's probably just the screams of people stuck under shit." This was the third time in the past ten minutes Vincent had stopped because he heard something. Yuffie had yet to see any reason for him to be so paranoid. Other than the fact that he's always paranoid...

Vincent curiously gazed at her. When did she start cursing? "You are around Cid and Reno too much for your own good." Vincent was generally opposed to making small talk like this, but quickly learned from walking around with her for a good hour or two, talking kept her from losing her cool.

As he began to walk again, Yuffie joined suit. "A little jealous, Vinnie Valentine??"

The comment was promptly ignored by Vincent. He wanted to keep her from freaking out - he didn't need to start some sophomoric conversation about nonexistent crushes. Plus, he was distracted. Their stalker may not have come out where Vincent could see, but he or she certainly made their presence known to his ears.

Yuffie was convinced that he was only hearing after effects of the attack Midgar had suffered, but he knew better. They were foot steps, and very distinct ones. There was only one person, and from how low the thud of the foot fall was, Vincent ventured to guess that is was a man, and not a small one either.

Then, Vincent paused again to sniff the air. Yuffie had begun to say something to him, but he wasn't listening. What was that smell? Sweat? His ears were at it again. This time he heard light breathing. The intruder had to be close if he could hear that.

The realization came quickly. Vincent rapidly surveyed their location. He and Yuffie stood in an alleyway of sorts, between large piles of debris. This would be a perfect place to attack them.

In one swift move, Vincent pinned Yuffie against one barrier and shielded her with his body as he quickly whipped the Quicksilver into action. A loud shot rang out just as a body fell from some higher ground to stand in front of him. A bit of blood sprayed on Vincent's face from the point blank shot into the attacker's shoulder.

Time froze for Yuffie. She didn't know what it was. Maybe it was how he was willing to risk his life again to save hers. Maybe it was the sensation - the stark contrast between the cold sting of the claw pressed against her back and the warmth of his body pressed against her abdomen and chest. Maybe it was how quickly and calmly he acted, so unlike her.

Whatever it was, she found herself wrapping her arms around him. Whether it was for protection or as some sort of thank you, she didn't really know. But she knew she didn't want to let go. Even as the gun blast momentarily lit up Vincent's face, and she could see the blood across it, accenting his deathly red eyes, she didn't want to let go. Even as that cold claw began to shove her, and he began to yell something at her, she didn't want to let go.

"Yuffie! Run!" Vincent gave the thief a hard shove back in the direction they had came from, but she only stared back at him, seemingly mystified. Just what he needed: a little girl frozen in place while he fought off someone at least twice his size.

Ash recovered quickly despite the bullet lodged in his shoulder. He was caught off guard to say the least: he was supposed to be doing the ambushing, not the other way around. Using his good arm, Ash sent a fist towards Vincent's temple. Instead of the soft thud of bone against bone and the warmth of fresh blood, he was met by the high pitched twang of bone against metal and the cold of a golden claw.

Yuffie watched as Vincent's skilled claw caught the wild blow. She grimaced as she watch the assailants knee shoot up and make hard contact with Vincent's ribs. The thought that she might've heard a crack was enough to send Yuffie into action.

Dealing out a few wild, flailing blows got the man's attention, like she wanted, but now that she had it, she wasn't sure what to do. Her beloved Conformer was out of the question – it was far too large and bulky for her to use in close combat. She opted for a few martial arts techniques.

Ash was momentarily distracted by this small girl's advances. Although the fists were small, they packed a good sting to them. He imagined one of her boots making contact with his skull would equate to a good deal of pain, but never found out. He easily caught her foot before it hit, sending the air born ninja falling fast to the ground.

A smug smile showed on his face for only the briefest of moments before it was kicked off. The hard bottom of Vincent's left boot sent Ash flying sideways into the opposite barrier. "Run! Now!"

Yuffie was still reeling from the pain throughout her side when Vincent's voice made its way to her. Run? Of course not. She couldn't run and leave him alone to fight this guy. But then again, it wasn't exactly like she had any luck trying to hurt him. Ok, maybe I'll just run to get help...

As Yuffie ran, she couldn't help herself - she had to turn back to see how Vincent was doing. Much to her chagrin, his opponent wasn't the kind of person who liked to stay down for very long. Vincent didn't seem to be in any great trouble, but he certainly wasn't taking down that guy any time soon. Dear Leviathan, I hope I find someone fast...

It was like the whole world was on fire. Every step she took greeted her with a heat that was more intense than the last. She could feel her unprotected skin starting to blister and peel. Though she always justified her scantily clad attire with the excuse that less material meant less in the way of her fighting, Tifa would kill for long pants and a jacket right about now.

But she bit back her pain and comfortingly squeezed the hand of the boy the was guiding. She couldn't help but feel inspired by the boy - Tommy, if she recalled correctly. Tommy had stayed with his baby sister, who was crying loudly - clasped protectively to Tifa's chest. Their parents had gone outside to see what all the commotion was about as, unseen by their eyes, the fire spread with dangerous speed. Once out in the street, the local police forbade them, for their own safety, to return inside the apartment building.

She promptly thanked her maker that the two children were only stranded on the 2nd floor. As she hurriedly stepped into the street, Tifa coughed violently, feeling the cold night air like shards of ice inside of her previously burning lungs. She had never felt such a wonderful pain.

"Ma'am! Miss Lockheart!" A man wearing a white helmet with the word "POLICE" written across it in blue waved Tifa over to him. "Miss Lockheart. Mr. Highwind has sent a message."

Hey Tif - I managed to get away from the fighting. Cloud needs me to get reinforcement from Midgar. Since I'm gone, he needs your back up

-Cid

Tifa wasn't sure whether to be happy or not. She was, after all, finally able to leave the heat of the fires behind her for the moment, but she couldn't help but wonder which was worse - being in a fire or being in the line of it.

Yuffie came running to the Turks just as Cid was making his landing. Though Reno wasn't exactly a fan of visitors from AVALANCHE, they were the first two people to come into their makeshift clinic that weren't critically injured. He was quite relieved.

"Reno, Vincent needs help!" Yuffie was flailing her arms wildly as if trying to get his attention, although she was standing right in front of him. "Some big guy. He's HUGE! Well, not that tall. Probably about your height. But he's strong as hell. And he's got short black hair, kinda spikey."

Cid had exited the Highwind in time to hear the description. "Tha' sounds like one of them fuckers from Junon."

Reno's face showed a mixture of recognition and anger. That was the man that shot him. As he looked down at his bandaged arm, his anger grew. "Take me to him."

"Wait!" Yuffie was in the middle of expressing her gratitude when Cid interrupted. "Ain't anyone gonna ask wha' I came all the way back here for!?" A moment of silence told him the answer was a resounding 'no.' "You fucks! We were ambushed! We need some fuckin' help!"

All eyes turned to Reno. Throughout the night, any able bodied person in Neo-Midgar had come to think of Reno as the leader - even Yuffie. "Laney, you think you can handle things here by yourself if I round you up some civilian assistants?"

Elena didn't even bother to look up from the gash she was stitching shut. "Sure. I'll be bored as hell, but I can make it." Could she handle it? After as long she she'd been here tonight, she had this thing down.

"Rude, you're going with him. Take Reeve's little toy and that cat-thing with you. And find 'Lena some help on your way." Rude promptly left the group to carry out his superior's orders.

After watching Rude leave, Reno took his turn to disappear. He walked somewhat hastily over to Yuffie. "Take me." Yuffie quickly followed the simple command.

Cid watched on with a bit of amazement. Reno certainly knew how to govern his troops. He even had Yuffie obeying his orders - something she would only do for Cloud after several weeks of bitter refusal.

Ash found himself panting. That claw could sure hit like a sledge hammer - a sledge hammer that was faster than a train. Vincent's chest continued to rise and fall at a regular, at rest, pace, but inside he was in just as much pain as his opponent.

All in all, the two men were pretty evenly matched. Ash hit harder than anyone Vincent had faced before, and the man shot to kill. Vincent struck strongly and evenly, but was running circles around Ash in the speed department. One thing Vincent did have over Ash was stamina - a factor quickly showing its importance.

When Ash took a moment to collect his breath, Vincent took advantage. A swift kick to the gut sent what little air Ash had flying from his lungs. Vincent remained calm. He raised a hand to knock Ash from the conscious world - not to end his life. His blood boiled at the thought of the ambush - at the though of sneak attacking him and a small girl. But he would not give in to the bloodlust. He had spent this past year depriving Chaos of the blood it desired - he wouldn't let the demon regain its strength at a time like this.

So, with the though of finishing off his opponent out of his mind, Vincent readied himself to end his fight. That is, until his ears picked up a sound foreign to a battle field - laughter. Vincent paused and scanned the area. It didn't take long for him to find his intruder.

Her hair flowed in the slight breeze passing through the area. It was long and black, much like his. He could only detect one of her eyes in the lack of light the night gave. It was an odd occurrence, but he didn't dwell on it. As he watched her, she halted her inappropriate laughing fit and brandished her weapon, a katana of medium length.

In an instant, Judith was by Vincent's side. She moved with ludicrous speed, but Vincent was on his guard. The fact that her speed hadn't caught him (like it had with any other enemy she had come against) left Judith shocked and vulnerable. After his initial sidestep of her advance, Vincent quickly and violently wrapped his human hand around her right wrist. Turks always knew the odds were in favor of a person being right-handed. Slamming her with inhuman force against the nearby rubble resulted in her weapon flying wildly through the air, out of her grip.

Judith winced with pain, but didn't lose a step. Two feet lifted up into a rough kick to Vincent's abdomen. Expecting the move, he tightened his muscles to absorb the blow. He didn't even flinch.

At first, rage took control of her features, but the woman's face soon softened into a smile. "You're even tougher than everyone makes you out to be. I'm impressed."

Vincent ignored her words with a hint of suspicion growing in his mind. She couldn't honestly think he would be distracted by simply talking to him, could she? No, she isn't a fool. Then what is she getting at? No one who knows what they're doing talks during a fight, unless it's for a reason.

Then the recognition hit him. He had completely been ignoring Ash. The man certainly had recovered from the blow by now. A small stinging sensation came to Vincent's upper back.

Yes, Ash had indeed recovered, but in more than just the physical sense. As he regained his balance and breath, Ash also managed to use the opening to recover a useful tool from a holster under his arm. As soon as his partner finished her sentence, a tranquilizer dart flew straight towards Vincent. It hit its mark perfectly.

Bodies decorated the ground below the Highwind. Rude couldn't help but feel a pang of anger in his heart as he watched the lifeless forms of mercenaries and Junon MP alike pass below him. What was going on here?

Cid had filled him in on the way over, but he still couldn't believe it. Who the hell would do this? Who the hell would set half of a flourishing city ablaze and send in troops to kill off the Military Police? The same kind of person how would bomb Neo-Midgar...

As the Highwind landed in a spot seemingly in control of the Junon MP, Red silently thanked his ancestors that only nameless bodies were seen. A death was tragic no matter who it was, but he was grateful that no AVALANCHE personal had been found dead yet.

"Alright, helpin' Cloud, Tif 'n Barret is numero uno on our list." Cid spoke loudly to make sure he was heard over the distant gunfire. Walking out into the streets, he lead everyone off the now landed Highwind. "Helpin' them means dealin' with Joe 'n those damn zombie lookin' things, so be careful. They ain't far away, just a couple blocks, so get yer weapons ready."

Tifa could barely see through the barrier of disheveled hair and sweat she had been building up. The lights of the city managed to brightly light up the early morning that was still untouched by the sun, but they also glared off the sweat droplet dripping down her hair, obstructing her view even further.

It hadn't dawned on her how hard dealing a death blow to any of these things would be in hand to hand combat. Her skills proved useful in unarming the soldiers, but her usefulness stopped there. It was rather frustrating.

Cloud, on the other hand, thanked his lucky stars for Tifa. Her swiftly removing the guns from the Mako soldiers had made it a walk in the park for him. A slice here, a chop there and the bastards were down for the count.

Barret had barely broken a sweat. In fact, the only droplets of perspiration on him were around his forearm. The Missing Score may never over heat itself, it certainly got him hot. Despite the amount of ammo he had burned through, the one armed man hadn't disposed of many Mako soldiers. He was an effective fighter when he could simply blow a countless number of holes in his enemies and watch them bleed to death, but accuracy wasn't his forte. Cid best be bringin' back Valentine, 'n soon. I'm runnin' low on ammo, god damnit!

Though Vincent wasn't with them, Barret was nonetheless happy to see Cid and company quickly approaching them. Any relief would be appreciated.

Rude quickly jumped into the fray. He hadn't seen action in a long time and he needed some. A quick fist to the face of the nearest soldier let out Rude's pent up regression at his lack of activity recently. A knee to the same victim's stomach released his rage at his leader sending him and Elena home. A punch to the kidney burnt off a bit of frustration with the Neo-Midgar situation. An elbow to the temple made him wonder what the hell it took to take these things down.

Apparently no one filled Rude in on the enhancements of these Mako soldiers, but that didn't stop him. He continued to try to pummel the poor ex-human out of existence until he was interrupted by Cloud's blade. The ex-Soldier saw Rude's trouble and decided to intervene. The sharpened Ultima Weapon cleanly punctured the soldier's forehead, leaving it lifeless.

"Your gun might help. Head shots and little else kill them." Cloud didn't waste any more time talking. He knew Rude was bright and would listen. His presence was needed else where.

He made his way back to Tifa just in time to see her fall. A gunless soldier had her by the throat. He had snuck up on her as she fought a Mako soldier off of Red's back. Her red face was quickly turning a deadlier shade. Sheathing his sword (as to not hurt Tifa in the crossfire), Cloud moved in.

Gloved fingers dug into the attacker's shoulders as Cloud wrestled it to the ground. Tifa utilized the opportunity, sending a fist into the nose bridge of the soldier. Her blow coupled with Cloud's attack let her free. She gasped for the life giving oxygen she desperately needed. As her vision focused again, she saw Cloud drive the Ultima Weapon into the Mako soldier's throat.

She turned her attention to the rest of the group. Everyone seemed to be handling themselves rather well. Barret was still firing unrelentingly. Rude was sending off well placed shots into the heads of the Mako soldiers. Red, Cait and Cid had formed an effective trio. Cait noisily distracted the enemies while Cid and Red disposed of them.

But, with his small army falling fast, Joe still stood tall with a smirk on his face. What the heck is he so happy about?

Tifa would have her answer soon, and she wouldn't be pleased.

Vincent found it hard to breath. His overly sensitive sense of smell was a curse at times like these - stuffed in the back of a van that reeked of stale cigarette smoke. This was where he had come to after the tranquilizer had worn off. His overactive immune system managed to fight off the chemical quickly. He awoke shortly after being loaded into the vehicle.

He could've escaped, or at least he reasoned so. He was only restrained by a few chains It might hurt a bit, but he could break through them. He knew better, though. He wasn't sure where he was or who he was with. The best option was to ride the wave just a little bit longer.

The figure in the passenger seat turned to look at him. The first lights of morning had begun to appear, providing more than enough light for Vincent to get an adequate evaluation of one of his captors. The woman's hair, when not caught up in the wind, was rather straight. The soft morning light that reflected off of it did nothing to lighten it's hue - it was still as black as night. The one eye he had perceived earlier was a dark brown. Where he expected to find a second eye, instead he found something much more mechanical. It's metal shined a strange golden color - the same tint as his claw. As she examined him, it moved in correlation with her natural eye. It seemed to be a camera of sorts to make up for the other half of the world she would normally be missing.

The craftsmanship was interesting, but Vincent ignored it. He knew if he looked at that mechanical eye for too long, he'd come to a realization he begged wasn't true.

Luckily, Judith's voice cut off that destructive line of thinking. "Besides being tougher than everyone seems to think, you're cute too. Joe never mentioned that."

Joe? Was Joe the one behind all of this? Vincent had his doubts. An ex-Turk living the luxurious life of the most successful Chocobo jockey this world has ever seen didn't make for a disgruntled terrorist very easily. He must be working for the same person these two are...

Reno and Yuffie could find Vincent nowhere, but a few of those damned Mako soldiers had no trouble finding them. Reno had quickly opened fire, laying to waste one instantly and sending a bullet through another's arm. Yuffie back flipped to avoid an onslaught of gunfire and retaliated with a skillful toss of her Conformer. An automatic rifle clattered to the ground.

"Yuffie, take cover!" Reno barked out his orders as he dove to a barrier, firing the whole way down. A soft click meant it was time to change his clip. He cursed himself for firing so damn fast all the time. He had a feeling he'd be burning through clips left and right this morning. God I hope I brought enough...

A new set of ammo loaded, he darted out of his hiding place. This time, he fired a bit more accurately and watched long enough to see where his bullets hit. Two missed. One hit an arm, making the creature lose control of its gun. Two found there way into the abdomen of the next attacker, not really seeming to phase it. Another missed. One hit its mark - the head. The final bullet lodged itself into the last soldier's leg. It stumbled, but regained it's balance easily.

Another clip done with by the time he reached Yuffie. He hadn't noticed as he ran, but she was actually fighting back - throwing her Conformer wildly from the safety of her shelter. She had grown up a lot in the past year. Reno could remember her hiding behind rocks and shaking like a vibrating bed when he had fought AVALANCHE.

As he fumbled in his pocket for a new clip, Reno let his mind wander. Why can't more of them be like her? They'd be a fuck of a lot easier to get along with. She's mature enough to fight, and she STILL has a sense of humor...

His mind snapped back into action as he heard the loud click of his reloaded weapon. He had been doing this so long, his body could do that sort of thing without direction from his mind. As he lined up his next shot from the safety of their barrier, he recalled what Valentine had said. Only headshots...

He quickly popped out, but stayed stationary. Two bullets flew trough the air. Where they hit didn't matter - if they weren't headshots, they might as well have been misses. Reno cursed under his breath. How was he supposed to aim with these things emptying an ungodly amount of magazines in his direction?

As he thought, he kept on eye on Yuffie. She was doing a good job of not getting hit, but the slices stretching across the Mako soldiers' skin due to her attacks weren't really getting the job done. He could see the frustration on her face.

Yuffie adeptly caught her Conformer as she ducked back behind the pile of rocks. This was getting annoying. The Conformer wasn't built to cut people's head's off. And the Great Lady of Wutai wasn't meant to hide like some sort of coward. She ran as fast as she could, her hand mechanically launching the conformer into the air.

She hit her target - the neck of the middle attacker. But the victory would go uncelebrated. As her features began to morph into a smile, to hot sensation of pain took over her body. She couldn't even manage to reach up and catch her Conformer. It flew helplessly past her as her vision began to blur. She fell to her knees as her eyes perceived the morning light creeping over the horizon. It was a beautiful sight to see before passing out.

Joe's smile widened as he saw the approaching van. "Well, children, play time is over."

The van came to a stop and it's back doors flew open. Three sets of eyes (one set glowing red) watched the man from the safety of the vehicle. They watched as he pulled out a strange remote control.

"I hate to say that AVALANCHE's valiant efforts were wasted, but they were. You all got here about four hours too late. I wouldn't start all this havoc without setting my grand scheme into motion first, would I?"

His finger made it's way to the first button and pressed. An explosion could be heard in the distance. "You see, before you all arrived to save the day, four very small bombs were placed around the city. Yes, they are very small, and not all that powerful either, but the Materia Converters they're attached to pack quite a punch."

As Joe readied him self to detonate the next bomb, the group froze. Well, everyone except Tifa froze. They had been fighting this whole time, but she had helped save some of Junon's inhabitants. She had seen the burn victims, the children with dead parents, the helpless breathing their last breath. She had witnessed the horrors and would not let them happen again.

She didn't think, Tifa only acted. She ran, fists ready to break every bone in Joe's face. She ran straight into Ash. With Joe providing an ample distraction, the burly man made his way out of the van pretty much undetected. His leg connected full on with Tifa's stomach. She folded and fell to the ground. "So, we meet again?"

Ash's hand rose into the air with Vincent's Quicksilver in it. He pointed it in the general direction of the crowd. "Anyone else want to be a hero? No? Didn't think so."

The gun found its barrel pointed downwards, inches way from the back of Tifa's head. His mouth cracked into a dangerous smile. "Let's call this pay back."

"Ash! Look out!"

Judith's call forced Ash's attention up. He barely had time to react. He saw a blur of motion that called itself Vincent Valentine. The ex-Turk moved at an incomprehendable speed that made his body a blur, undeterred by his still restrained arms. But through the morning sky, those blood red eyes, glowing with an anger Ash had never seen before, were perfectly visible.

Ash only had time for one action, and he made it a good one. The sound of the shot was deafening. All eyes went wide as Vincent's body fell lifeless to the ground.

A moment of silence hung in the air before his head cracked hard against the pavement. As if on cue, the world erupted into a mass of hysteria and confusion.

Judith hopped over into the driver's seat of the van and sped to the spot where Joe and Ash both stood, stunned into paralysis. She rolled down the window, shock written on her features. "What the hell did you do?"

Ash's mouth opened to defend his actions, but a hard punch to the arm from Joe cut him off. "Shut the fuck up, you idiot! Get his body in the van, now! And while your at it, start praying that Hojo doesn't kill you!"

Tifa had braced herself for the blast. She silently prayed for some sort of miracle, and it came. After hearing the gunshot and realizing her brain was still in her head, she looked up with a bit of happiness to see what had happened. What her eyes found quickly beat the joy out of her. A miracle is what she got, but it was not an act of God. No, this "miracle" came from something much more demonic.

Why would God take the life of someone like Vincent Valentine? A man who had saved them all countless times, a man who only yesterday took a bullet in the back for one of their companions, didn't deserve to die like this. Tifa could feel the tears building pressure behind her eyes.

Cid watched in horror as Ash hastily loaded Vincent's lifeless form into the back of the run-down van. Vincent, that annoying bastard, was dead. The only one that figured out his treason. The only one that was perceptive enough to pick up on every flying mistake he made. Vincent would never chastise him for risking their lives on some dangerous maneuver again.

Cid turned to see Tifa crying. Fuck that! She could mourn all she wants, he was getting even. He ran wildly, but he was too late. They had already entered their escape van. It didn't matter to him. He'd still hacked and slashed their piece of shit car into pieces.

Cid managed to put a few carvings into the can before it sped off, but he wasn't satisfied. He turned around to look at the rest of the group. Some were yelling, some were staring wide eyed, one was crying, but no one was moving.

"What the fuck are you jackasses doing!?!? Let's go after their skrawny asses!!"

A/N: How'd ya like that twist? Sorry for not making this chapter as Reno-y as I promised. The Reno parts are coming up, but this was turning into a beast of a chapter. I had to cut it off. Sorry this chapter took so long to get up. I've been almost done with it for a while, but I had exams and moving to contend with. Even if you're mad at me for doing such a horrible thing to Vinnie, still review. Please!!