A/N: Ok here is another chapter. This has to be the hardest chapter I have ever written. I hope you all enjoy it. Thanks and please review.

Disclaimer: Yeah I don't any of these characters.

Apocalypse Rising
Chapter 9: Man's Darkest Hour.

Hojo. No other name could drive Vincent into such a furious rage. No other being could cause so much pain to so many people. Hojo, the man Vincent had taken no small amount of pleasure killing. Hojo was now the man standing in front of Vincent, and it was driving him crazy. Vincent longed to rip himself off this marble wall and rip this man to shreds. Hojo may have hidden his body behind a cloak, but Vincent would remember his voice till the day he died.

" Do you even remember me Vincent?" Hojo asked, his voice alive with glee, as he moved close to Vincent. " Yes, you do remember me. I can see it in your eyes."

Vincent snarled as he tried to rip his arms from the steel shackles that kept him from his vengeance. He was very weak, his body covered with gashes and bruises from his last fights. Hojo seemed to enjoy this display and began to cackle with joy.

" Oh Vincent, you will never change. You were always the fighter. I on the other hand, I have become something so much more than I once was." Hojo said as he pulled back his hood. His face was no longer resembled a human. Chunks of flesh were missing around his left eye. His skin on his was stretched as that there were several areas where it looked like he was wearing a mask twice as big as his head.

" What are you?" Vincent managed to croak out, as his voice slowly came back.

" What am I? I am divinity, I am power, I am greatness."

" Really? You look more like the corpse I left in Midgar 3 years ago." Vincent said between violent coughs.

" Oh yes, you did kill me didn't you. Well that makes no difference, for now I have ascended past death."

" You look like road kill." Vincent said, wanting to stop this madman's ranting.

" Physical beauty is a small price to pay. When you killed me I was set free from mortal limitations. I could hear the voices of the world. Soon a voice spoke to me of resurrection. I naturally accepted, and now I am here. But enough of this, I have an attack to lead on Wutai soon. So lets get to the fun stuff." Hojo said as he walked away from Vincent, as he walked away torches began to light behind him, revealing the room around him.

The room was a giant marble chamber. On the ceiling was an incredibly large ornate painting of an angelic male flying in the heavens. On the ground below Vincent was an equally large painting of a she-devil encased in flames.

" Welcome to my church Valentine. Enjoy it now, for soon it will become your hell." Hojo cackled as he grabbed about twenty knives from a table twenty feet away.

He held one in his right hand, and with all his strength hurled it. Vincent could fell the blade as it tore into his arm. He took the pain, and didn't make a sound. He closed his eyes and braced himself, as he tried to prepare for the other nineteen.

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Yuffie was pissed. She had been traveling for several days straight. She had been attacked by a hoard of assassins. She had been shot, and had even had to fight with a demon just to get home. Now she was home, and now her father was making her wait! She could barely stand this. She had just gotten home three hours ago, battered and bruised and all her father had had to say to her was that he would see her in four hours.

Yuffie knew what he was doing. He was punishing her for going away. He didn't think that it was fit for royalty to go off on adventures, no matter how talented they were. So this was his form of payback, making her wait just to eve talk to him. Well she wasn't going to have any of it. She walked right up to her father's room in the royal pagoda, and with one hard kick she knocked the door down.

Her father was sitting at his desk, his mouth hanging open as he stared at the form of his daughter standing in the broken doorway. Yuffie's eyes were set with a determination he had not seen before.

" Listen old man we have to talk." Yuffie fumed, as she walked over to his desk.

" And what do we have to talk about daughter?" Lord Godo asked as he matched his daughter's stare.

" What we have to talk about is the future of the world, you old dolt. Now listen to me!" Yuffie yelled. Then, when she was sure she had her father's attention, she told him her story. Of how the stars were still hanging over the crater, of the new monsters they were facing, and the dark fate of Cosmo Canyon.

" Now don't you see? If we don't ready ourselves we might also be attacked like the canyon." Yuffie implored. Godo's face was white, his eyes wide as he took in his daughter's tale.

" That is indeed a problem. However, it is not ours. We are far from Cosmo Canyon. I don't think we have anything to worry about. Now go and get some rest my daughter.

Yuffie stood frozen in place. She couldn't believe what she had just heard. Her father, for all his faults had always been a semi rational man, but now he was acting like a fool.

" You can't be serious! You can't just ignore this, if we just stand around here then we are as good as dead!" Yuffie yelled in anger and frustration.

" Don't you dare talk to me about shrugging responsibilities when you have done that for most of your life!" Godo yelled back.

" Fine, you have a point. I have run from my duties in the past, but no longer. If you won't warn the people then I will." Yuffie said in such a cold voice, that even Vincent would be proud. Then she turned and walked towards the door.

" Daughter! If you walk out and defy me, then you can never come back." Godo yelled in desperation. Yuffie for her part didn't even acknowledge him, and walked out of the room and down the stairs.

" Fine, you have made your choice. From this moment on you are dead to me!" Godo screamed, and with a heavy sigh rested his head on his hands.

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Hojo had used all his knives, but that hadn't stopped him. Now he was putting on some brass knuckles. Vincent was hardly able to see what was happening. His vision was being impaired by a heavy red haze. He was finding it hard to withstand the pain of all the knives in his body.

Hojo walked up chuckling as he pulled his arm back ready to deliver the first of, what was sure to be a series of devastating blows.

The first one hit Vincent's gut like a sledgehammer. The second hit him in the right shoulder. Vincent could feel the bones break at the impact. Vincent could tell that Hojo's transformation had made him a great deal stronger than he had ever been before.

" You know, I must admit that I am impressed. A lesser man would have died a while ago. Though we both know you are no mere man, even before I gave you that demon to keep you company. You were always special, and you don't even remember what you are. I love it. It must kill you, not remembering anything from before your Turk years. Now let me see how many of these punches can you take."

Vincent paid little attention to Hojo his mind was fading too quickly to listen to the man's ramblings. The only thing that seemed real was the constant pounding of Hojo's fist into his body.

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Cloud felt like he had stepped into a dream. He stood before his greatest creation. Here in the largest room of Neo Shinra headquarters was a great throne. Though it looked like just a great metal throne, it was actually the key to Cloud's dominance over Midgar.

Not long after Cloud had woken from his coma, he had found that he could manipulate people's minds. He could use this ability on most people; in fact he had only failed to control Vincent and Yuffie. Those two would pay dearly for stealing his materia. The thought of them was enough to make him shake with anger. However, this throne would ensure their destruction. It would allow him to control all of Midgar.

He would soon have an army of slaves. Then he could focus on getting the materia back, and killing that annoying ninja brat. The throne was not finished though, and till then he would have to make his own fun.

Cloud turned and walked down a hall leading to the elevator. Standing there were his escorts. Barret was watching the elevator, while Tifa was pacing. When he got to them Tifa walked slowly to his side and slipped her arm around his waist. As her hand brushed his back, she hit the weapon concealed in his jacket. Cloud had decided after the theft of the materia, that he would keep Aeris's old weapon with him at all times.

After Tifa touched the weapon, it fell from its spot and clattered to the ground. In a sudden fit of rage Cloud pushed Tifa from him and grabbed the weapon.
" You stupid fool. You could have damaged it!" Cloud roared and smacked the stupid child across the face. Tifa staggered back several feet, and for a moment her eyes seemed to be a little less hollow, and a little more aware. Barret also reacted strangely to Cloud's act of violence.

" What are you looking at?" Cloud snapped, " You saw what she did, and you know she deserves to be punished." Cloud said as he tried to impose his will into Barret's psyche. Though, this time there was something different something seemed to flare inside his mind, resisting his control. Tifa too seemed to be breaking out of her stupor. Soon Cloud lost all of his control of their minds, He quickly drew his blade and prepared to cut them down.

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Barret felt the world slowly coming back into focus. He felt like he had been sleeping for several days and was just now getting up. Only one thought was in his mind. A promise he had made to a friend. He had promised to protect Tifa. Seeing her hurt now was enough to bring him out of whatever trance he had been in. Tifa too seemed to be normal again.

Barret had hardly any time to compose himself before Cloud drew his blade. He was preparing to slash Tifa, but Barret would rather die than see her in pain. Barret ran in front of the blade and took it into his left arm. With his right arm he grabbed Aeris's old weapon and tossed it to Tifa.

" Get it away from here." Barret roared, the pain filling his body as Cloud pulled the sword out of his arm.

Tifa nodded her head and then ran to the stairs and out of Cloud's sight. Cloud didn't look worried however. Instead of chasing after her, he landed several blows to Barret's arm until the larger man fell to the ground in pain.

" So, you going to kill me Cloud?" Barret muttered to his old friend.

" Oh no Barret, I have much better plans for you." Cloud said laughing. He had wanted to have some fun, and this was the most amusing thing he had seen in a while.

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Hojo was getting frustrated. He had tried the knives, he had tried the brass knuckles, he had even tried pouring salt on all the wounds, but still Vincent wouldn't break down. His will was so strong that he had barely even yelled in pain. He thought for a moment on what to do with Vincent. The man was barely alive, yet he still was able to endure all the pain. Hojo needed to break his spirit before he killed him.

" You know Lucrecia always loved you more. It sickened me, how could such a bright young woman fall for you over me? I think it was your face. You always had that cocky smile." Hojo said in his loudest voice, as he picked up a large metal cup and carried it over to Vincent's form.

" Let's see if I can't make a few improvements on that face of yours now." Hojo laughed as he poured the contents of the cup onto Vincent's face.

Vincent, who had resisted all kinds of torture before, cried in pain as acid ate away at his face, dissolving large patches of skin. Hojo laughing the whole time.

Vincent knew it was over. He couldn't take the pain anymore he could feel his body shutting down. His only relief was the images he saw. He could see Lucrecia in all her glory. He could see Yuffie and her youth. Lastly he saw a woman, she had long elegant brown hair, and a laugh that could rival a choir of angels. How Vincent longed to lay his eyes on this angel one last time. Vincent tried to say her name, but his lips no longer worked. Vincent let out one final breath, and then the champion of the planet was gone.

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Hojo looked at Vincent's corpse. To him it was more beautiful than any peace of art. He stood there looking at it for at least half an hour. Then slowly he looked away. With a snap of his fingers he summoned one of his robotic minions.

" Toss the body into the lifestream, let it dissolve into this wretched planet." Hojo growled. He had an army to lead. Soon he would be attacking Wutai, and he had no time for staring at corpses. With a final glance Hojo faded into the shadows.

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A/N: Ok don't kill me. I know this chapter sucked. Please wait for the next chapter before you start sending me hate mail. I do have a plan for this. I hope some of you enjoyed at least some portion of this chapter. I was trying to write in a darker style. I don't think it worked though. Well thank you for reading, and please Review this, I can't make it better unless I know what you think. Thank you.