Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Sqauresoft Characters such as Cloud,
Tifa, and Barret etc. I do however own all of my own Characters Such as
Gale Amber, Stratus Strife and so on.

The Forgotten

Chapter 38: Releasing the Inner Demon.

Lance ran forward, sending out a spray of bullets before him as he closed in on his enemy who hid above on the balcony. He reached the balcony and hid under it, pulling a grenade from his belt and pulling the pin. With a lunge he threw it up onto the balcony. It landed at the Generals feet and he dived from the ledge with a cry as the grenade blew. Talenous hit the floor with a thud and lost the grip on his gun as it tumbled forward into the wall. He scrambled forward and was about to reach for the gun when he felt something brush against his ear.

"Move and I splatter your head into tiny peaces." Lance sneered as he stood with his shotgun to the man's head.

"Wait." The General pleaded. "I'm sorry. Forgive me. Please. Just let me go and I wont make any trouble ever again."

"Why is it I find that hard to believe?" Lance was about to pull the trigger when the brute spun round and knocked his gun to the side with his arm, before driving his fist into the teen's gut. Lance stumbled back, gasping for the air that had just been driven out of him. Talenous wasted no time and punched him hard in the face, then again as Lance fell to the floor. Talenous stood on the boy's chest with his big black boot and began to dig his heel into the flesh and grind.

"How does that feel kid?" Laughed Talenous and began pounding away again.

He raised his heel to smash the boy again but this time Lance caught the foot and spun the man with a flick of his wrist. Talenous lost his balance and crashed to the floor. When he got up he was met by a furious attack by Lance, who was swinging his fists left and right. Talenous raised his hands and tired to block the hard hands but didn't do a good job and found him self backed up against a wall with Lance banging against him. Talenous slumped to the floor as blood spilled down his now bust nose. Lance stood over him, panting from exhaustion.

"You can't win boy." Hissed Talenous. "I'm stronger than you. You're just a kid. I'm a general. I'm unbeatable."

"You don't seem so tough now though, do you?" Lance was about to kick the man when a sharp pain ran through his body and he fell to the floor numb.

"Fool!" Talenous got to his feet with the help of his soldiers and they stood over the boy. "I'm a General! When you fight me you don't just fight me. You fight my army!" He broke into laughter and then began kicking Lance roughly in the ribs with his huge laced up boots.

Lance coughed up blood as the tenth boot found its mark. He used all the strength he had and tried to push himself to his feet but found he couldn't. One of Talenous's men had placed their boot on his back, holding him in place for the General to beat him to death. He kept trying however, pushing and pushing but not getting anywhere until he couldn't fight any longer and gave up.

"That's it." Talenous smirked. "He's finished." The man took his boot from Lance's back and they stepped away from him.

"What news do you have?" Talenous asked in his gruff voice.

"We have taken care of all the lower levels and they are clear of the creatures." One reported.

"However they still remain higher up and we fear they could reach the president soon enough." A second said.

"What of that cocky Piper?" Talenous almost roared.

"He is on the higher levels protecting the presidents room but I fear these things are even too strong for him."

"Then what are you waiting for?" Talenous said. "Assist him!"

"Yes sir." With that the small army left the room and Talenous approached Lance once again, this time armed with an electro stick.

"Well boy." He sneered. "I seem to have won."

"Not so fast." Lance hissed out as he stumbled to his feet.

"What?" Talenous cried. "How can you stand after that punishment?"

"It seems you have underestimated me."

Talenous roared once more and sprung forward with his stick at Lance. Lance saw this and stumbled out of the way in the most ungraceful of ways, almost falling as he circled around Talenous.

"Stay still!" Talenous shouted and punched Lance, who was unable to dodge and fell to the floor. This however turned out to be a blessing as his hands felt the handle of his gun and he grasped it as Talenous lunged again with the electro stick. Just before the stick was to make contact a loud bang sounded and Talenous flew backwards as blood splattered the face of Lance. Thump, Talenous hit the floor and was silent.

Lance lay there in silence for minutes, trying to gather the strength to get up. He finally did and pulled himself to his feet, stumbling over to Talenous's body. He was still, his eyes open and almost popping from his head in shock. The look on his face was enough to please Lance as he stared out in shock, his mouth agape. A huge hole had borne through the mans chest and left a blank void of nothing, seeing straight to the cold metal of the floor.

"It seems I win Tal." Lance smirked and then collapsed back onto the floor beside the man, not wanting to fall into sleep but being able to do nothing about it as darkness enveloped him.

----

Stratus, Gale, Tifa and Red ran on and on up the everlasting stairs until a howl caught their attention. Red stopped first, recognising it as his own.

"I'm sorry but I must leave you." And with that he bounded through a door on his left that lead to floor twenty-five.

"Wait Red!" Gale tried to go after him but Tifa stopped her.

"Let him go." She said as Gale looked at her. Seeing the look on Tifa's face she nodded and they continued on up the stairs.

Red stopped suddenly when he caught sight of who he thought he would find. Before him was his exact equal, besides the black fur and different tattoo that read 'one'.

"One." He said out loud in thought.

"Thirteen." The other snarled. "So I wasn't the last."

"And I wasn't the first." Red replied. "That's why you hate Shinra. Your experiments, early ones."

"Yes." Red One replied with a hiss. "They turned us into freaks. They said we were failed experiments and they locked us away on an island far from anywhere. But suddenly the power to the facility returned and we were freed from our prison. And now we take our revenge on them through this Ranish."

"Don't be a fool!" Red snarled. "Your one of my species, yet your being so foolish. I know what you will do after this. What I don't understand is why?"

"Because the world will never accept us." One replied. "And we will never accept them. You see we are no longer human. We are beyond that. We are greater. And we will be the end of this cruel world because we can."

One didn't let Red reply as he began to attack, running forward with speed that matched Red's own. Red dodged to the left as One crashed down and bounded back to attack Red again. They went at it like this for a while, neither letting up. Red took his chance and tackled One to the ground, the beast howled as his head hit the floor with a crack and his neck snapped as Red stumbled with his paw on his face. Red stood over the beast dead form, in shock at what had happened. He never meant to kill his own but had done none the less.

"Forgive me." He spoke quietly to himself. "But I think it was for the best in all honesty. You where no longer apart of our people but I will honour you. Sleep well my friend."

With that Red stepped back and cast a fire spell onto the beast prone form and it burst intro flames and burnt away into ashes.

----

Cloud and co left Blain behind and entered the elevator, hitting the top button of fifty. The elevator burst to life and they rose higher into the tower. With a ping the elevator doors opened and they stepped out to meet many Forgotten. At the head was none other than Deluge Staan, his wings spread out behind him and his tail whipping by his foot.

"Ah." He slurred. "I was wondering if you could help me but we seem to be stuck. You see there doesn't appear to be any means to go higher without a key card."

"Staan!" Vincent ran forward and unbuckled his Death Penalty faster than any human eyes could see. Staan found himself starring down the barrel of Vincent Valentines trusted weapon within seconds of them arriving on the floor.

"Oh." Staan stepped back and raised his eyebrow then smiled. "Ah yes. I remember you. Vincent wasn't it. I thought I'd killed you but oh well."

"Shut up!" Vincent snarled. "We have unfinished business and I mean to finish it right now!"

"Very well but would you please but your gun down." Staan smirked as Vincent stepped back.

"Before we begin I have something to show you Staan." Vincent smirked himself and then relaxed. He looked almost asleep as his eyes shut and he dropped his gun to the floor with a clunk.

"Vincent?" Yuffie asked but got no reply.

Suddenly Vincent eyes shot open but they didn't look the same, they glowed Red entirely and then he roared to life with a scream as his teeth grew fangs and his hands transformed into claws. His entire body grew fur and then two bones sprouted from his back, before opening up into wings darker and greater than Staan's.

"Chaos!" Cloud stumbled back and drew his sword. "Everyone be careful! Vincent is no longer our ally. Chaos has taken control and will do whatever he pleases."

"Your wrong Cloud." Chaos hissed. "I did not take control per say. You good friend Vincent let me take control of his body. He wanted Staan beat so bad he made a deal with the Devil within. Know this Cloud I have no intention of fighting you. Yet anyway. My fight is with this Staan."

"Interesting." Staan smirked again and the two disappeared and re-appeared clawing at each other. They smashed through one of the window in the room and began battling in mid air as the rest of The Forgotten surrounded Cloud, Akira, Barret, Cid and Yuffie.