Disclaimer: All characters and cities are property of Square Enix.

Authors notes: Hey all, I'm back. I have been away for a while now and am eager to continue, so here is my next chapter. Enjoy and please Review.

Apocalypse Rising
Chapter 7: Cast From Eden

"Sephiroth, the man we should bring back is Sephiroth." Was Vincent's answer, and it was met with only a cold silence.

All of the members of Avalanche looked stunned and even a little offended. Vincent could understand their reaction, they had just minutes ago found out about Red's death, and now they were forced with the choice of choosing one person to bring back to life. It didn't help that Vincent had also chosen the one man who had destroyed almost all of their lives and had almost destroyed the planet.

Vincent had not wanted to tell them his choice now, he had hoped to give them a chance to grieve so that they would be more open to his idea. However Cloud had not allowed that.

Cloud, that had been the other surprise. From the moment he had arrived Cloud had antagonized him, as if he was hoping to make Vincent lose his temper. This of course made no sense but none the less it was the truth.

"You have got to be joking right Valentine. I mean even an inhuman beast like you would know better than to even try and mention that idea again." Cloud snarled bringing Vincent out of his own thoughts.

"It is no joke Cloud, and if you would just let me explain." Vincent started his voice slightly showing the anger growing inside him.

"NO! I won't let you explain Valentine! I am out of the game for a few days and you think you can barge in here and take over. This is the one chance we've been waiting for, I can now bring Aeris back, and our group can be complete again." Cloud roared, and the rest of the group except for Vincent took a step back.

"And what about Red, Cloud? He is gone as well, how will our group be complete with Aeris, and not him. " Vincent said in a cool rational voice.

" Don't you dare try and change the subject you Freak! I didn't hear you mention bringing Red back either! At least I will be bringing back a person who can help us fight this new evil. If you bring back Sephiroth then you will only be bringing an even greater one back into the world."

"Aeris can't help us while shi is alive." Vincent muttered.

"What! How dare you, you bastard!" Cloud shouted.

Vincent didn't respond, he had hoped to avoid telling the others the truth. The fact of the matter was that Aeris was now a near god, acting as the avatar of the planet, and if they wished her back, the world would lose its greatest defender. Vincent would have told them this right now but he had a feeling Cloud would try to use that against him, he would just have to try and convince with other reasons.

" I want you all to think for a moment. We have seen these beasts and what they are capable of. In a fight Aeris was almost useless, this is a war and we need as many powerful soldiers as we can get, and despite what you say, the best of them was Sephiroth." Vincent stated in his usual monotonous voice, though now there was a slight edge to it showing his frustration.

"I have had enough of this. How dare you come here and insult Aeris! She is worth more than a hundred of you Vincent. Trust me I will not ask you again, give me the Materia, if you don't I will take it from you by force. " Cloud said, his voice filled with a mix of rage and impatience.

"Enough!" Tifa yelled as she ran between the two men, " Guys this has been a bad enough night without you two fighting. Please let's just get some rest tonight and try to cope with things before we have to deal with this."

Vincent gave a curt nod of his head turned and walked out of the hospital. " Fine. I'm going for walk." Vincent called over his shoulder.

Cloud looked like he wanted to charge after Vincent and rip him from limb to limb, but Tifa grabbed his arm and pulled him close to her.

"Cloud please, just let it go for now." She pleaded.

Cloud looked down at her and let himself relax, to attack Vincent now would only make him look bad. Though Vincent's very presence could not be allowed. He would have to find a way to get rid of him. He gave a quick smile to Tifa and let her guide him back to his room.

...................................

Vincent had walked around Midgar for about three hours. The sky was still pitch black even though it was only an hour till dawn. He silently walked into the hospital and headed for the waiting room where he hoped to get a few hours of rest.

" You know of all the people in the world I was really surprised that you chose Sephiroth." Came Cloud's cold drawling voice breaking the silence of the dark room.

Vincent turned sharply and saw Cloud's form leaning against the wall right across from him. "What do you want?" Vincent asked

" Oh I just had a question for you." Cloud said in a board voice.

" Well, what's the question?" Vincent said impatient to get rid of him.

" Well when you said that you wanted to bring Sephiroth back to life I must say I was surprised, and I must ask why didn't you choose Lucrecia." Cloud said and let out a harsh laugh at Vincent's silence.

"So not in a talking mood Vincent. Well I can't say I am too surprised, I mean from the stories I've heard she was a bit of a slut. I bet you didn't want to bring her back because you thought she would jump on the first man she saw." Cloud said harshly laughing at his words and at Vincent's form shaking with anger.

Vincent didn't dare speak, he was barely stopping Chaos from taking over, so great was his anger.

" Still not talking huh? Well not much I can do about that, but still I have one more question for you. You see I was talking to Tifa before you got back, and she shared with me some troubling news. Tell me Valentine, you did get to have a little fun with that slut before you stabbed her through the heart didn't you?" Cloud said moving closer.

That was it. Cloud had snapped Vincent's resolve and he began to transform. With lighting speed his hand grabbed Cloud by the throat, and his hand transformed into the demon's claw, causing several cuts where Vincent's normal fingers had been. With inhuman force Vincent slammed Cloud hard against the wall.

"If you ever say her name again, I will rip out your voice box and feed it to the dogs you scum."

Cloud gave a slight laugh even though his windpipe was slowly getting crushed. "Oh my God! Vincent what are you doing?!" Came a yell from the other side of the room.

Vincent quickly let go of Cloud's throat, and transformed back into his normal form. He turned to see Tifa standing in the doorway with a horrified expression on her face. Cloud coughed and slowly limped his way to Tifa. On his way past Vincent he whispered something to him. " You're finished Valentine, and don't worry about Tifa, she's in good hands."

Vincent had to fight the urge to become Chaos at these remarks. In fact the only thing keeping him from killing Cloud right now was Tifa. Though he kept control of his demonic side Vincent didn't move he was not sure if he could stop himself from charging Cloud.

The others, being drawn by Tifa's yelling, slowly walked into the room and saw the injured Cloud. In just a few moments everyone was in the room. Everyone was shocked, and began to berate Cloud with questions on what had happened. For his part Cloud played the role of the injured hero to perfection.

" I still don't know what set him off you guys. I heard a noise and I came here to investigate. I found Vincent here looking for Aeris's weapon, I think he was trying to wish Sephiroth back tonight. I tried to stop him and he transformed." Was the story Cloud told the others, and when Vincent tried to interrupt and tell the others the truth Cloud ordered Barret to restrain him. Barret for what it was worth was not enjoying his new job, and mumbled an apology to Vincent when he grabbed the man by the arms just in case he lost his temper. When Yuffie heard Cloud's story her face was a mix of sorrow and disbelief, and then promptly ran out of the room.

" I know you guys wont like this but I think it is the only way. We can't trust Vincent anymore, our only choice is we exile him from Midgar." Cloud said in a perfectly calm voice, it sounded to Vincent as if he had rehearsed this before. After he spoke was an uncomfortable silence followed slowly by a murmur of consent by the others, except for Tifa and Barret.

"Good, now that we have decided that, Now Vincent I'll be taking that materia now." Cloud said as he walked over to Vincent and grabbed his bag from his hip.

" No! You bastard you'll kill us all!" Vincent roared ass he tried to break out of Barret's grip.

" I've had quite enough of this, Barret please escort Mr. Valentine out of the city. Now!" Cloud called as he and the others walked out of the room. Tifa stayed behind for one moment and gave Vincent a regretful look and then she too turned and left Vincent with Barret.

"Don't do this." Vincent said

"Sorry man, but it does look bad for you, I have to do what I am ordered." Barret said gloomily, and proceeded to force Vincent out of the hospital and towards the city's boarders.

When they arrived at the border Barret stopped and with one hand pushed a few buttons on a service panel and the shields turned off. He then let go of Vincent and faced him.

" I really hate for this to happen man, but Cloud has given me an order, and he is the leader now."

"Why are you doing everything he says like some puppet? He is nothing more than a man, you don't have to do this." Vincent said in an imploring voice.

" You just don't understand, he has changed now, there is an aura about him now, I honestly believe he will be the one to stop this evil." Barret said, though he sounded like he didn't believe what he was saying.

" Fine, I'll leave, but do me a favor, watch her for me." Vincent said and turned and walked out of the city and into the dark night.

Barret nodded and turned the shield back on and started heading back for the hospital, there had been no need to ask whom Vincent had meant.

...................................

Back in the Hospital Cloud had to stop himself from smiling. His plan had worked perfectly, not only had he gotten Vincent out of the group but, he had also gotten the life giving materia. He still didn't know how to use it, but he now had all the time in the world. The others were going back to their rooms, and he followed them. He walked along the hallways of the hospital and then stopped at Reeve's room and waited. In just a few moments Reeve came up to his door.

" Hey there Reeve, can I talk to you for a moment?" Cloud asked in a voice that was too merry considering the night's events.

" Uh sure Cloud. You feeling better?"

" Yeah I'm fine now. But I must talk to you about the future of your company my friend." Cloud said with a wicked grin.

...................................

Zack had never been very interested in science, and he had never enjoyed going into the lab. This lab however was very interesting. Spread throughout the entire Shinra mansion were hundreds of tables with different beakers and tubes. This was nothing special for a lab, but in the basement were untold marvels. In these decaying rooms beneath the earth were hundreds of giant stasis cells. Many of them were empty now, but at least fifty of them were occupied. For inside each of these tubes was a single man. Each man was exactly the same, they all had long black hair, a muscular body, and to top it off a deadly claw attached to the man's left arm. These vat grown men were all the spitting image of Vincent Valentine.

"Be it ever so humble there is no place like home!" Came the shrieking voice of the owner of this lab. The man was about five feet tall and wore the cloak with gold trim that signified his rank. Zack could not see the man's face because of his hood, but Zack knew of the man's deformities, that was why they all called him the Misshapen One, and his very presence was detestable.

"Oh Zack I am glad you are here!" The man said in the giddy voice he always had when showing off his latest accomplishments.

" Yes, I see you've managed to clone Valentine. Do you mind telling me why?" Zack asked

" Who better to kill Valentine than himself? These clones are designed to be stronger than he was, and without the whole demonic transformation thingy. These are the best soldiers I have ever created. When do you want them shipped out?" The man said his voice suddenly changing from that of a manic to the cold calculated voice of a professional.

"Soon, I am here only to check your inventory. Crassus will decide when he wants to deploy these creatures."

"Curse him, if he would just let me get involved then Valentine would already be dead."

" Crassus feels that you have too much of a personal issue with Valentine to be fully trusted." Zack said monotonously.

" Fine go report to him then, the sooner we deal with Valentine, the sooner the world will fall to our will." The man said his voice fading back to the singsong pattern that showed his madness. Zack lingered for a moment taking one last look at the lab and then he faded into the darkness going to seek Crassus.

..................................

The local bar at Kalm was nothing special, but it did have one of the better beers Vincent had tasted in a while. It had taken him about an hour to walk here, and he had been sitting around for another two. At first he had been trying to figure out what he would do next, but he found he was just too tired. He had not had a goodnights sleep for days, and he was bruised in many places from more fights than the he could count. All he wanted to do now was have a few more drinks and then get some rest.

" Gawd, let go of me, I'm just looking for a friend, Jeez just let me in Ok, I won't order anything!" Came a girl's high pitched whining that broke through the noise and music of the bar, and brought Vincent out of his thoughts.

" Yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever kid, why don't you just go home and give me a break ok?" The poor bouncer said as he tried to push the form of a nineteen-year-old girl out of the doorway.

Vincent was intrigued and moved closer until he got a good view of the scuffle, and was shocked to see the familiar form of the young girl who had been pestering him for the last few days.

"Yuffie." Vincent called out to his friend.

"Vinnie! You mind telling this punk that you know me and won't let me order anything please!" She yelled back at him.

Vincent turned to the bouncer. "She's with me, here's a hundred gill for your trouble." Vincent said to the bouncer and then led Yuffie to a seat at the bar.

"What are you doing her kid?" Vincent asked once she was sitting and had calmed down.

"Following you, you dolt. You still owe me more fighting lessons. Besides things are too creepy with those guys, anyone who would get rid of you has to be crazy, besides I don't think you would have transformed for no reason. Now how about buying your only fan a drink?"

" Well thank you for your faith in me, but I don't think there is much more we can do, now that Cloud has the materia our odds are a lot worse then they were before."

"Who says Cloud has it?" Yuffie said mischievously.

"What do you mean?" Vincent asked with an arched brow.

"Ta Daaaa!" Yuffie yelled as she pulled out the glowing green orb out of her bag. " I swiped this from old Spiky ass while he was talking to Reeve." Yuffie said proudly.

"This is great, now we at least have a chance, all we have to do is get Aeris's weapon now."

"Why Vincent you look almost happy. Does this mean you will buy me a drink now?"

" No but you do have my thanks."

" Well you're welcome Vincent, even if you are mean. What are you going to do now?"

" I think I should wait a while before I go and try to get the weapon, and I don't like the fact that our enemy has access to all of Cosmo Canyon's information, I think my priority will be to liberate the canyon. " Vincent said, his voice set with rock hard determination.

" Wow! That has to be the dumbest idea I have ever heard. Vinnie I know you can fight like an army, but you see the problem is they actually have an army, the numbers just aren't working for you."

"Then what do you suggest?" Vincent said, only slightly annoyed by the hyper active young girl.

" Come with me to Wutai, I am sure we can find people there who will help you. I can probably even convince my father to help you. Just give it a shot, what can you lose?"

Vincent looked around and gave a slight smile. "You make a good point, we leave tomorrow."

...................................

In the caves near the core of the world Crassus stood and listened. It was in this cave so close to the heart of the planet that he gained information to the events of the world, he had been listening for an hour on the actions of the pest Valentine. Finally Crassus faded out of the cave reappeared on the outskirts of the northern crater.

" Zack your master summons you." The general spoke and in an instant the young man appeared to the right of him.

" You called me my general."

" Yes I have discovered Valentine's plan, it is time to send the new creations, bring the misshapen one to me now." The general asked sternly.

" It shall be done." And Zack faded out and then in just a few moments he returned with the hooded form of the misshapen one.

" The boy here tells me your assassins are ready." Crassus growled.

" Oh yes they are done, and ready for your commands, but I do wish you would consider sending me out to attack in their place. I really want the privilege of killing Vincent myself." The deformed man pleaded.

" No, your past dealings with this man have been less than satisfying, and have proven you to be not entirely trustable." You will send his clones in and destroy him, and capture the young woman he is traveling with. She will be key in our capture of Wutai."

"Fine then, I am bound to obey your orders my general. The misshapen man spat as he faded back into the shadows.

"You Zack are to go to the Canyon, I want you to go over any of the beasts previous research and report back to me when you are done.

Without a word Zack too disappeared leaving Crassus alone in the snowy mountain. He stayed for a few moments as he contemplated his next move. If his sources were right he would have to prepare for a visitor soon.

....................................

Vincent and Yuffie had been traveling for several days now and were only a few days away from their destination. They had just gotten over a vicious mountain and were still in a very rocky area. They had been making great time, though they could afford to slow down a little they didn't. For the last two days they had heard the sounds of a large group following them, and they had a feeling that these people wouldn't be friendly.

"Vincent we have to rest, I don't think I can go much further without some sleep." You whined.

"Fine I think we have gotten far enough away from whoever is following us. You can rest for two hours. I'm going to try and get a view of whoever is following us.

"Fine do what you want just don't bug me while I'm sleeping." Yuffie said as she lied down and put her pack under her head as a pillow.

Yuffie closed her eyes and began to rest, she soon felt a sharp pain in her side. She opened her eyes and saw Vincent kicking her lightly.

" What do you want Vinnie, this can't have been two hours already.

Vincent didn't say a single word instead he pulled out one of his handguns and cocked it.

" Jeez what are you doing Vincent? Gawd I'm getting up you don't need to go and get a gun out." Yuffie said as he pointed his weapon at her.

" Secondary target identified, proceeding capture it." Vincent said in a voice that sounded more like a machine than a man.

Yuffie was about to reach for her weapon and hope to dodge Vincent's shot when sparks and blood flew from his stomach and she saw the tip of the Massamune shoot through him. The body fell to the ground and she saw the real Vincent standing behind it.

"You ok?" Vincent asked in a rushed tone.

" Yeah I'm fine, but he looked just like.." ]
"Me, I know all of them do."

" How many have you seen?" Yuffie asked as she grabbed her conformer.

"At least forty more, and they will be here in just a few moments."

"Oh that's just great. I don't suppose you have a plan do you."

"Actually I do, now get ready here they come." Vincent said as he drew his handgun and aimed at the rocky ledges. Slowly but surely the army of Vincents moved towards them. Vincent fired his gun and it hit one of the rocks above the enemies. The rocks fell and crushed at least thirty of the men.

That should hold them, and I think we can each take five don't you?" Vincent said in his usual cold voice as he held the Massamune in his normal hand and aimed the gun with his claw.

" Yeah sure." Yuffie said as she readied her materia. "Who knows this might be fun."

...................................

Aeris had traveled across the northern continent for the past four days, seeking answers. Her robes generally a bright green were now dark and covered in mud. Normally this wouldn't be possible, as the avatar of the planet, her body was merely an extension of her mind, but these stains were not mud, they represented the poison that had infected the planet. These stains upon her were the effect of the black lifestream.

She had been traveling the northern areas because that was where the poison was confined. Vincent had been successful in stopping the flow of the vile stuff but some still existed in this area, and its existence was weakening this near god. That was why she traveled, if she hoped to regain some of her dissipated power she would have to cleanse the tainted areas.

"Blast this poison, how many more areas must I cleanse before it is gone?" Aeris muttered to herself

"None, for you will never get the chance to find another." Came a booming voice from behind.

Aeris twirled around to face the speaker, and as she did a vicious Halberd appeared in her hands. The weapons shaft was made as if by a mix of stone and wood, while the blade was of the hardest rock the planet had. It was a great weapon, and would serve Aeris in case of a fight.

The man who had spoken to her was none other than the dark general Crassus.

" You must be the mighty spirit of this pitiful planet." Crassus said as he jumped from a nearby ledge and landed twenty feet in front of Aeris. He too wielded a halberd though his was made of pure black metal.

" And you must be the one who has caused the poisoning of this planet. " Aeris spat.

"Guilty as charged." The general laughed, and Aeris yelled with rage and attacked.

The general took a step back and blocked the blade with the handle of his own weapon. Aeris struck again, forcing the general to take another few steps back. Slowly but surely Aeris drove her opponent further and further back. Yet the general didn't seem to mind that he was being forced back. In fact he seemed to be expecting it.

Aeris was about to send another strike towards the general but she couldn't take another step. It was like her legs were stuck in quicksand. She looked down at her legs and saw that the black sludge had worked its way up to her midsection and was slowly paralyzing her. Aeris held back a gasp of shock, Crassus had planned this all, he had been leading her to a heavily poisoned area so that it would weaken her.

" What is wrong avatar? Are you feeling sick, I don't quite know what affect my lifestream has on you but I do know I have won this fight, and you will die.

Aeris fell to her knees unable to keep herself up due to the black lifestream's effects. She looked up at Crassus and saw black lifestream swirling around his right hand.

"Do you see how I have mastered this poison? What chance did you ever have? Though I will not kill you now. No, I will let you watch me kill your last chance at salvation, the warrior Valentine will die very soon. Now there is just the matter of containing you." The dark warrior said as he walked steadily closer, the black lifestream seeming to almost pull itself towards her.

He stood right in front of her and extended his arm so the black poison was right above her head. With a simple flick of his wrist the lifestream converged upon her covering her body in it suffocating her, the avatar of the plant fought against this stuff but it served to only exhaust her, until at last Aeris passed out inside the black poison.

....................................

Yuffie threw her conformer and it impaled itself in one of the heads of her attackers. She had killed two of her five and was working on the other three She then ran and threw a punch at one of the other attackers. When her fist hit the man's jaw she felt like she had hit a brick wall, and before she could regain her composure she felt the cold metal of the attackers claw hitting her head.

The pain was intense and she staggered several feet but she was still on her feet and that was something. She spared a quick glance at Vincent and saw that he was on his last opponent.

"Hey Vinnie can you give me a little help here!" Yuffie yelled

Vincent turned quickly and used his mastered ultima materia and the green fire burnt Yuffie's remaining opponents so badly that their metal and organic parts were melted into soft mush, leaving them completely vulnerable to a physical strike. She charged yet again and this time when she struck her opponent she knocked its head right off.

Vincent had to admit this was interesting, in fact it was almost funny to fight himself and so easily win. Whoever had designed these models had ignored any of his skills other than marksmanship. The opponent he was fighting could barely dodge his worst strikes. Vincent walked slowly toward the last of his attacker and prepared for the kill. In fact he almost was happy about this attack, there was some sick satisfaction he found in killing himself over and over and over again.

Yuffie had just finished off her last melted attacker, and she turned to see Vincent preparing to finish off his last opponent. Just when he was about to kill it, the look alike fired one shot from its gun, Vincent easily dodged the shot but the bullet continued past him and landed itself right into her stomach. She let out a soft yelp of surprise and then fell to the ground in pain.

Vincent saw Yuffie fall and he yelled in rage. With a single swipe he cut the shooter's head off and ran to his fallen friend.

"Yuffie. Yuffie! Come on answer me!" Vincent yelled, his calm face now filled with worry and sorrow.

" Oh God it hurts!" Yuffie yelled as she grabbed her stomach and tried to compress the wound and stop the bleeding.

Vincent grabbed her bag, which lay only two feet away and reached in. There were no potions inside that could heal the wound, which meant that they couldn't close the wound. Which meant that Yuffie would probably not make it.

" Yuffie listen to me, you are going to feel very tired soon. You can't no matter what go to sleep. You hear me?." Vincent said, his voice cracking.

" Please it hurts so bad just let me rest Vincent." Yuffie muttered, her voice barely audible.

Vincent did his best to close the wound and shredded his cape to use as bandages, but he couldn't stop the blood flow. At last the young ninja closed her eyes and passed out. Vincent yelled out multiple swear words. With the wound as bad as it was, there was little chance that she would ever regain consciousness.

"NO! I don't accept this, I've lost too many people already, no more!" Vincent yelled, and as he yelled something snapped inside his mind, and he felt a rush of power surge through him. He could feel the life fading from his friend . He took his hand off the wound and lifted it up into the air, where a breeze began to blow. Vincent could feel the life in the air and captured it in his bloody hand. He took the air and its life and used it to heal the wound, the pulse of the life around him sacrificing itself to heal this person, and while it was inside her dissolved the bullet into nothing. As Vincent did this he heard a soft buzzing in his ears, but he ignored it all that was important was making sure Yuffie lived.

At last the wound fully healed and the blood stopped flowing. Yuffie's eyes fluttered open and she took several gasping breaths looking at her stomach. Vincent smiled, but soon his smile turned to a grimace as the buzzing in his ears became a deafening roar. Vincent felt his muscles begin to spasm, and then he could see no more.

Yuffie was still gasping for air when Vincent began to have what looked like a seizure. She didn't know what to do. She was still amazed that she was still alive, but now her savior was in need. She didn't have too long to think because she heard the sound of moving rock. She turned to see the pile of rocks begin to move, and the hoard beneath begin to rise.

"Oh shit." Yuffie muttered and grabbed her weapon, though she had a chance to run, she would not leave Vincent to be killed by these killers. With grim resolve Yuffie stood in front of Vincent's body and prepared herself for the coming onslaught

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Final thoughts: Well here is my latest chapter, I hope you all enjoyed it. Those of you who were expecting Sephiroth, don't worry he will make his appearance. I know that many of you who have been reading this story might be wondering about a few things. I know that right now the story might have gotten a bit confusing but don't worry I plan on explaining a great deal in about two or three chapters. Again I hope you enjoyed my latest chapter, and please tell me what you think or if you have any suggestions, I would really appreciate it. So please Review. Thank you for reading.