Author's Notes: Sorry for the lack of update. I really did mean to update sooner, but I have had a lot of trouble figuring out how to write these next two chapters. I hope you all like this chapter.

Disclaimer: I am still waiting for hell to freeze over and then I will own FF7. Till then they are still the property of Square Enix.

Apocalypse Rising
Chapter 8: Evil Triumphant

The rocks that had been holding the hoard of Vincent/Assassins were beginning tom break away. Yuffie knew that in just a matter of moments the rocks would shatter and she would have to fight at least thirty killing machines. She turned to look at Vincent, whose body was twitching on the floor. She still wasn't sure what had happened. All she knew was that Vincent had saved her life, and this was the price he was paying. So now she was left alone to defend herself, and Vincent. A few weeks ago Yuffie might have been making jokes about this situation, or maybe have even run, but now she was grimly determined. She would defend Vincent or die trying. She positioned herself right next to Vincent's body and prepared for the coming swarm of enemies.

She didn't have to wait long. The rocks shattered into millions of pieces, and the Assassins charged her. Yuffie threw her conformer with all her strength and it impaled one, while she used her fire materia to burn another three to ash. She was preparing to use the spell again when they started firing their guns. Yuffie quickly used the shield spell and they bounced off. The spell wouldn't last long though so she ran into their group hoping that would inadvertently shoot themselves. Using the fighting formations Vincent had started teaching her she dodged many blows, but soon the attackers were closing in on Vincent's body. She took one second to look at his form. In that one second an assassin grabbed her by the neck and threw her a good twenty feet away into a rock wall. She quickly scrambled to her feet, but it was too late they had already aimed their weapons at Vincent were preparing to fire. Yuffie yelled in rage and charged towards her foes, in a desperate hope that they would focus on her rather than Vincent. It was a long shot, but it was her only hope.

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The pain was incredible, Vincent had only experienced pain worse than this once, when he had been Hojo's guinea pig. His could only hear the strange intense roar that was driving him mad, but slowly through the roar of noise he made out an entirely different sound. Laughter. Vincent racked his already disoriented mind to identify the laughter. Chaos, the demon was laughing at Vincent's pain.

' So you finally did it eh Valentine?' The demon chuckled in Vincent's mind

' Did what demon?' Vincent weakly managed to retort, the pain making it almost impossible to send a simple thought.

' No matter, step aside junior, time for me to take free rein once and for all.'
' What do you mean, answer me monster' Vincent feebly ordered.

The demon didn't listen and he could feel its power taking over, Vincent tried to fight it but the pain was weakening him too much and the change began.

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Yuffie's plan had failed. Only half of the assassins had adverted their attention, and she was now in a heated battle with them. The other half had only briefly noticed her and then continued till they were in firing range. Yuffie could see them looking through the scopes of their rifles. She gave out a final scream of fury, and promptly shoved one of her shriukens into an assassin's face, she race towards Vincent hoping against hope she could make it before they fired. As she ran she noticed Vincent's face, though it was contorted in pain she could see his eyes beginning to glow bright red. She had seen Vincent's transformation enough times to know what this meant. She pulled her Conformer out of a dead assassin and turned back to her previous attackers. If she guessed right, she wouldn't need to worry about Vincent anymore.

The sound of many gunshots filled the air. The bullets flew through the air at their fallen target, but rather than hitting flesh they hit scales as strong as steel. With a roar of fury and pain Vincent transformed to the demon called Chaos. The demon held both the Masamune and dark blade called the Chaos Saber. The creature's glowing red eyes surveyed the scene before it. Then with lightning fast speed the beast cut through twenty of the assassins that had fired at it. Blood flew in the air and the demon laughed. For mindless slaughter was the only thing it enjoyed. In mere moments it had killed all of its attackers. Now it looked towards Yuffie, who was still fighting off five of the assassins. With a bellow the demon attacked all the figures, not caring that Yuffie was among them.

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Crassus stood on top of a cliff overlooking the battle. The man, Vincent had just transformed into the demonic form he had only seen once. The demon was cutting through his warriors like they were air. Furious he turned one of the other two people that stood there with him.

" You fool, you told me that these abominations would be strong enough to kill Valentine!" He yelled to the misshapen man who hid under his cloak.

" Calm down my general. This is much better than if they had killed Valentine. You forget that I am the one who made him what he is. I always worried that he would one day regain his old powers, so in preparation I destroyed most of his memory and designed this little failsafe." The Misshapen One said with irrepressible glee.

" And the destruction of all our assassins was your failsafe?" Crassus asked, his voice rising with rage.

" No, now that Vincent's powers have reawakened, the demon is in full control. Vincent will never be able to resurface. The demon will kill all that it sees until it dies of starvation or exhaustion. That means till it dies you will have a demon killing as many people as it sees, all you have to do is sit back and watch."

Crassus nodded and gave a slight smile. He could think of no better fate for Valentine.

" Go wherever you want, I have no need of you at the moment. I will call upon you when I need more soldiers. My monsters are good, but they do lack the trainable aspect of humans."

" Of course my general. I live only to serve." The Misshapen One said as he bowed, and then faded into shadow.

The General looked at the slaughter with a wide grin. He then turned to gaze upon his other companion. Aeris, avatar for the planet, Gaia incarnate, the very spirit of life. This mighty form was dying a slow painful death covered in poisoned lifestream. With a wave of his hand the black poison moved away to reveal her face. The avatar coughed and gasped for air.

" So you are still alive. Well all the better. I want to show you something young avatar. Look down in the clearing. Do recognize that demon. You should, he is your champion after all. I am going to leave you now young one. I will leave you here to die, watching your champion destroy as many lives as he can. Don't worry though I won't let you die alone. One of my servants is an old friend of you. I am sure you would both like to catch up." The evil general hissed into her ear. "Zack!" The general called into the air, and in moments a shadow formed on the ground, and from the shadow rose Zack, clad in his black and gold robes, though his hood was now pulled away to reveal his face.

" I will just let you two catch up." The general said before fading away.

Zack looked at her for a long moment. Slowly walking around her frozen form. Finally he walked up and gently patted her poison covered hair. " Hello Aeris." He said in a cold flat voice. "My look how much we have both changed. Funny what death does to people."

" Zack, what are you doing? Why are you serving a creature like Crassus? Please what happened to you?" Aeris pleaded to he old lover.

" What happened to me? I will tell you what happened! I had an old friend named Cloud. We worked together, though he had none of my talent at fighting. Together we killed that mad man Sephiroth. Then, when Shinra's goons took us in, I break out of my chamber and save the fool. We ran like hell from that place, and were riding to Midgar. I was coming back to you, when they caught us they left my friend for dead. They shot me till I barely resembled a human being. Then my best friend left me there. He didn't even bury my corpse. He just left and tried to steal my life. He tried to steal you!" Zack yelled, his voice filled with pain, sorrow, and above all else anger.

" Zack, it wasn't Cloud's fault. He couldn't have done anything to help you. He didn't even fully remember who he was. You can't hate him that much." Aeris whispered.

" That hatred is what has brought me back from the dead. My soul was still angry. I couldn't fathom my friend's betrayal. Then it happened. The night the lifestream poured over the earth to stop the meteor. I heard the voice then. It told me that if I was willing to serve I could get my revenge. I accepted and if it means serving Crassus so be it. I have heard Cloud has survived my first attack, I plan to soon fix that."

" Oh Zack, please don't do this, free me and I can free your soul."

" Forget it Aeris. I loved you once with all my heart. Now you mean nothing too me, enjoy your second death. Who knows, maybe you will be reborn yet again. Goodbye Aeris." Zack whispered into her ear, and then kissed her once before fading away to join his general. Leaving a dying goddess to shed a few tears at her lover's fate.

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Yuffie dodged the black blade as it swept at her midsection. All the assassins had died long ago. She had been dodging the demon for half an hour now. Yuffie was not fighting her hardest. She didn't know what effects her attacks might have on Vincent, she just hoped that she could awaken Vincent, and banish the demon. So far the plan was failing miserably. The demon was tireless, its strikes so fast that she was hardly able to dodge them. After dodging yet another close blow she scrapped the plan. She had to knock this sucker out. She summoned all her strength and landed a punch in the demons face. The creature staggered back a few feet, and then landed its own. Yuffie sailed across the sky till her back crashed against rock. Yuffie tried to get up but before she could stand the demon was upon her. It slammed its foot on her stomach and pinned her to the ground. It held the Chaos Saber over her, a smile on its vicious face.

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Aeris could feel the poison filling her system, slowly destroying her mind, the only thing that kept her in existence. She could see Vincent fighting Yuffie. The young girl had been fighting well, but she was totally outclassed. Now Chaos was preparing to finish her off. In a final act of desperation she used all the strength she had left to send a thought to Vincent. She hoped that this thought would be enough to wake him up. If Vincent could take control back from the demon, they might both have a chance at salvation.

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Vincent was lost in a world of pain. He could see what the demon was doing, but he couldn't fight him. The pain was just too intense. The buzzing in his head was trying to destroy him. He could hardly remember that he wasn't the demon. Then through the pain a voice entered his mind. It was quiet yet firm enough to break through the buzzing. The voice said only one word. "Vincent" This word though so insignificant awoke something inside him Vincent remembered that he was not this demon. He was something more than just a monstrosity. As these thoughts came to him the pain receded till at last the buzzing died away, till it was gone completely. This just left Vincent and Chaos. With all the will he could muster he fought the demon back. He would not allow the blade to fall. He would not allow himself kill his friend. With each independent thought Chaos's control began to slip. Slowly he was beginning to change back.

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Yuffie closed her eyes waiting to feel the cold blade pierce her heart. Rather she heard the sound of a sword falling to the floor. Slowly she opened her eyes to see the demon's scales receding back to human flesh. The bat-like wings disappearing into its shoulders, until the demon was completely gone. It its place was a very weak Vincent. With the demons weight off her Yuffie got up and quickly hugged Vincent like he was a plush doll. " Oh god Vinnie! Remind me never to piss you off again. That demon you have inside you is psycho!" She yelled in a vain attempt at humor, as the man gasped for air before finally passing out.

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Aeris gave a small sigh of relief. Vincent was back, and so was her chance of survival. All she had to do now was to send her location to him, and she would be safe. Her thoughts of salvation were dashed though when Crassus appeared out of nowhere.

" My goodness you avatar's take a long time to die." Crassus laughed, as he turned his head to see how his demon was doing, when he saw that Vincent was back he turned his head sharply to face Aeris. " What have you done? You thought you could get him to rescue you. Hardly, though you have just given me an idea. Rest easy avatar. You will not die yet, you have just been promoted to bait." Crassus snarled and with a wave of his hand the poisoned lifestream covered her face again, and all was black as death.

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Vincent and Yuffie had set up camp about a mile away from where they had fought. Yuffie was fast asleep, but Vincent lay awake staring at the stars. He could hardly live with himself for what had happened. He had let the demon take complete control, and had almost lost a good friend. Then there had been the voice. Looking back he could tell it was Aeris's. Ever since he had heard her voice, he felt almost connected to her. He could sense that she was in great pain. He knew that he could no longer go to Wutai. He had to following this feeling, and let it lead him to Aeris. Vincent pulled out the glowing blue materia, as well as the two dull materia. He tucked them into Yuffie's bag with a note telling her to go on. He lingered at the campsite for a moment, before he walked away into the night.

Vincent traveled for many days. Each day the sense of pain coming from Aeris increased. He didn't know where he was going, but a strong sense told him that he was going the right way. After three days of walking, he came to a mountain ridge. He recognized the mountains as those about fifty miles away from Nibelheim. He walked along the mountains till he found a cave. His senses told him that this was the place. In this dark cave lay Aeris, and whatever creatures were holding her. Vincent unsheathed the Masamune, and entered. He followed the cave for hours. All that seemed to be inside this place was a river of green lifestream. Vincent was about to head back when he heard a sound. It was something between a scream and a moan. Vincent turned to where the sound had come from. In this room was a great stalactite hanging from the center of the cave's ceiling. On side of the stalactite was Aeris. Vincent could only make out her face; the rest of her body was covered in a black substance. Without hesitation Vincent leaped to the stalactite and with a mighty swipe cut the stuff. The blade cut through the vile substance and Aeris fell into Vincent's arms.

" Aeris, can you hear me? What's going on?" Vincent asked the avatar's barely conscious form.

" Vin.Vincent. You have to get me into the mako." Aeris coughed out before passing out in his arms.

Vincent turned to leave but now filling the path he had come from was an army of machines with guns and blades for arms. " All right Vincent, time to pay for those sins." Vincent muttered as he ran at the wall of foes. He cut through as many as he could with Aeris cradled in his left arm as he dashed through the chambers taking many cuts and injuries. He continued to run till he saw a large pool of green lifestream and with a mighty thrust threw Aeris into it. Her body began to dissolve into the lifestream while the black poison was destroyed. Vincent didn't have long to celebrate before he was overwhelmed. Blades cut him in hundreds of places, and he could feel bullets flying into his legs and shoulders. Vincent was able to give a shuddering breath before the world faded away.

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Vincent awoke in a marble room. He could feel that he was hanging from a wall. His arms were tied above his head. He tried to speak, but only a hoarse cough came from his blood-crusted lips.

" Oh goody. You're awake. Crassus finally gave me permission to deal with you personally. I am so glad you are awake for it. It just wouldn't have been as fun if you were unconscious. You know it has been a long time since I have seen how your inside look. I wonder if anything has changed." Came a voice from the shadows to the right of Vincent. The voice was clearly insane, but Vincent recognized it. If he could he would have ripped himself from the wall to kill this man who spoke to him. To kill the man named Hojo.

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A/N: Sorry for how short this chapter was, but trust me my next one will be much longer. I know many of you must hate me for using the bring Hojo back to life cliché, but please save your judgments for later. I also wanted to ask you, I have never written Yuffie as a main character before. Seeing as how she has been in most of my chapters lately I was just wondering if I was keeping her in character. If you could just tell me what you think I would be very grateful. Thanks for reading, and please Review. Thanks again.