Yeah, this one's short, but…I just wasn't in the mood today guys. I'm really sorry.

Chapter 36

Jaras wanted to die. For the moment, he no longer cared about anything other than the fact that he had been throwing up for well over four hours now. With every wretch, he felt like his entrails would rupture and spew forth from his body, since there was nothing left within him to purge. His ability to tolerate touch, sound, and light had improved after the first two hours had passed, but only to be replaced with body wrenching pain. All of his muscles burned as the Mako that he'd ingested fought the Jenova that had taken up residence within his body. He'd been sweating profusely and had removed his clothes with the help of Jeanine, leaving him in only his boxers upon the hospital bed.

This sweating, combined with his nausea, served to dehydrate him, making his physical misery that much worse. Brandon had offered to place an I.V. line into Jaras to help him with this fact, but Jaras, like his father, possessed certain dislikes for being messed with and he had refused. Now, however, he was beginning to realize the foolishness of this and questioned whether or not he'd even survive the next day or two with how badly he felt.

Throughout it all, Jeanine remained right at his bedside. After every bout of nausea that he suffered, she was there to wipe his face and take care of any mess, never complaining and constantly offering him reassuring smiles. She was profoundly worried over her husband's state, even though her father kept reminding her that such a reaction to Mako exposure was expected and normal. If all went well, Jaras would come out of this in a day or two just fine, but he would have to undergo further doses before all of the Jenova was killed within him-- or so they hoped.

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Another snap of a metal bar and the feline demon had enough room to push his torso through into Vincent's cell. His lower half got caught up, however, trapping the beast momentarily in the tangled metal of the cell's former wall.

Vincent was looking around for any weapon he could use to defend himself, knowing that it would be pointless when push came to shove, but he was unwilling to go without a fight. Seeing that the cell was barren of anything that he could employ in his defense, he just backed against the wall and stared at the monster that had now managed to pull his right leg through and was working on freeing his left.

Inside, Vincent found it fitting in a way that he was about to be torn apart in such a savage manner. After all, he'd killed plenty of people and creatures while in the form of his own demon, and now he'd know what it was like to suffer such a fate.

Not that Vincent wanted to die, because he didn't.

"Okay, look," Vincent raised his hands in a pathetic gesture, knowing that most likely, Cid wasn't going to hear a word of what he had to say, "go ahead and come over here and tear the living hell out of me, just get it all out of your system, Highwind. All I ask is that you stay down here and leave everyone else alone. Do we have a deal?"

The demon looked over at Vincent and roared once more, the sound paining Vincent's ears.

"I'll take that as a yes." Vincent looked away, giving thought to Tifa, Aaron, and Charlotte.

The beast finally pulled his form completely through the bars and stood there, slowly gathering himself before lunging at Vincent. His upper lips were pulled back, exposing his fangs, and he gave a low growl while folding his wings tightly upon his back.

Vincent looked back at the monster and gave a faint smirk. Even facing death, what he was about to say humored him. "Come and get me, Mr. Snuggles."

The demon hissed and then leapt, knocking Vincent to the ground with an incredible force. Vincent's head swam from the impact against the concrete floor and he opened his eyes, finding himself face to face with the creature.

His gold eyes narrowed and he opened his jaws before attempting to bend down to get Vincent's neck between his teeth. Instinctively, Vincent tried to put his arms up to block this, but his right one was pinned by the demon, leaving only his left to come up and offer any protection.

Vincent's left arm was caught in the demon's jaws and bitten into, and the creature had no intention of letting go. The beast began to shake his head from side to side, allowing his teeth to sink further and further into Vincent's muscle and bone.

Vincent shrieked in the agony of this as he felt the bone above his elbow snap. His own blood was covering him as the beast refused to let go or quit shaking. Having seen Tifa's cat at home catch mice and hold them in its jaws, then shaking the hapless creatures to shreds like this, Vincent knew what he was in for. Not to mention that he suddenly had a lot more sympathy for the poor rodents.

The pain in his arm grew worse and then the demon raised his head and Vincent realized that his arm was still in the beast's mouth, yet he didn't feel any pull. He quickly closed his eyes and refused to look, knowing what had been done. "Just kill me and get it over with, Cid."

The demon slung his head to the side, throwing Vincent's dismembered arm against the cage bars. As he did so, he caught sight of the cell door and realized that escaping was probably a better idea than remaining here and finishing off Vincent. The demon stood up and stalked over to the door, grabbing it within his strong hands and with one sharp tug, snapped the door cleanly from its hinges.

Vincent panted to catch his breath when he felt the creature get off of him, thankful for this reprieve, focusing on the horrendous pain in his truncated left arm. When he heard the cell door ripped open and then hurled to the ground, Vincent was jolted to attention. He knew that the worst possible thing for Cid to do at the moment was get out. Anyone he encountered while in this form was doomed, and Vincent knew he couldn't let that happen. He clenched his teeth through his agony and struggled to his feet, determined to do something, even though he knew not what.

Once up, however, he felt the color drain from his face and his ears started ringing. The trauma of having had his left arm torn off was getting the better of him and he started to pass out.

This is pathetic, came a voice from deep within Vincent's mind. You go to measures to see that I'm removed from your body and within jus t days you find yourself in a situation where you need me.

Vincent closed his eyes, trying to fight the impending darkness. Either come out and help or shut the fuck up.

So be it, I'll stop him. You better get on your knees tonight, Vincent, and thank your ever loving God that you forgot your damned injection this morning.

Vincent couldn't fight the dizziness that was washing over him and he fell to the ground, unconscious.

Cid, or rather, his demon, looked back once at Vincent's unconscious form before stepping out of the cell and heading toward the corridor that would eventually lead to the airfield. He got several yards down the corridor before he heard something behind him.

A growling voice boomed out. "Where do you think you're going?"

He spun around, seeing the all too familiar sight of Chaos. His lips pulled back into a sneer. "You're no match for me, Chaos. Leave me alone."

"No, I've not had a good fight in a long time." Chaos slowly neared, having to stoop slightly within the confines of the hallway. "Here, kitty, kitty…"

This taunt was more than Cid's demon was willing to take. He spun and charged Chaos. Vincent's demon, in turn, crouched down, ready for the attack. When the feline beast reached him, Chaos attempted to grab a hold of him but Cid's demon was far stronger than he, and Chaos was flung back several yards.

Cid flexed his claws and lowered his head, hissing. He knew that he would be able to take Chaos in a flat out fight.

Chaos picked himself up, stunned from being tossed back like he had been. The discrepancy in their physical strengths was immediately clear to him. "Well, at least I'm not named Mr. Snowball Snuggles."

This didn't particularly thrill the other beast and he charged again, this time taking Chaos to the ground. They grappled against one another for several minutes. Chaos may not have been as strong, but he was far more experienced in fighting and he found himself on top and throttling the other beast. Knowing that this was Cid's first transformation, Chaos was a little perplexed at how his demon was keeping control this long without reverting back. "Do you not get tired?"

The feline beast managed to get his hands upon Chaos' arms and pulled them from his neck. He used his wings that were behind him against the ground as a lever to push himself up, sending them crashing back to the floor, this time with Chaos on the bottom. Chaos got in one good blow during this, though, and four deep gashes were opened upon the other demon's chest, his fur soon becoming stained with the copious amount of blood that ran forth.

Quigley was walking with Amy and heard something horrible scream out from a corridor not too far away. He looked into his girlfriend's eyes and let go of her hand. "Stay here, understand?"

She nodded at him as a lupine howl rang through the base again, scaring her. "Quig, be careful!"

He was already jogging off in the direction of the sound. "I will. Go to your room and lock the door!"

Amy was afraid for Quigley, but knew better than to question him on this. Something terribly wrong was going on, and from the sounds of it, it wasn't something that she wanted to see, anyway.

Quigley already had his suspicions over what was taking place, and he dreaded what he would find. As he came around a corner, his eyes went wide as he saw the two demons wrestling one another. He hesitated for a moment, not knowing what to do before he spun back around and ran off. He needed to go get to Porter or Reno.

Neither of the monsters noticed as the researcher came and went, being too absorbed in their fight to care. Chaos was still beneath the other creature, his throat being crushed in the strangle hold that his opponent had upon him. Things weren't looking good.

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Reno was sitting at his desk, eyes fixed upon the porn link that'd he'd found in an email. He didn't notice Quigley's approach until the researcher was at his side.

Quigley was out of breath after running all the way to find his boss. "Reno! We've got a problem!"

Immediately flushing red in his embarrassment, Reno reached forward and flicked off his monitor before looking at the blond. "Wh…what's the big crisis?"

Quigley had caught a glimpse of what had been on the screen, but was too upset to dwell on it for the time being. "Demons…both of them, and they're fighting!"

Reno got up, frowning. "The fuck? Both of them? Vinny and Cid?"

The researcher nodded. "They're going to kill each other, we need to hurry!"

"I don't really know what in the hell we're supposed to do, Quiggers." Reno tried to think. "Wait, they're locked up!"

"No, they most certainly are not! They're in the corridor between the detention block and the private quarters." Quigley was already backing up, wanting to get back to the scene of the fight. "Come on!"

"Fuck, fuck, fuck!" Reno slammed a hand upon his desk before grabbing his cane and following Quigley. He reached beneath his suit jacket to make sure that he was carrying his gun. Sure enough, it was there.

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Chaos had struggled out from beneath the other demon and tried to get some distance between them, but found himself violently jerked back by his tail and pulled into the arms of his advisari. He was crushed within that muscular grip for a moment, before finding himself picked up and hurled back into the corridor.

Chaos hit the wall and fell to the ground, panting. His wings both hung behind him broken, having been shattered early on in the fight. His strength was fading him and he realized that he was going to lose control back to Vincent fairly soon and that when that happened, Vincent would be done for.

Reno and Quigley appeared around the corner, seeing Chaos lying on the ground just before them, and the new, feline demon just a short distance off, approaching slowly, obviously set on killing Chaos.

Reno pulled out his gun and looked over at Quigley. "Well, this is just wonderful."

"What do we do?" Quigley asked, hoping that his leader had some sort of plan.

"I have no fuckin' idea, Quiggers." He cocked his gun and held it up. "Both of you! Knock it off!"

Both demons looked at him. Chaos narrowed his eyes. He needed help, but Reno and his lab geek companion would do him no good. "You'll need more firepower."

Reno considered the gun in his hand, and knew that it was true. "Yeah, well…"

The other demon once more roared, causing Quigley and Reno to turn away, covering their ears. That done, it came forward and pounced upon Chaos once more, this time managing to sink his teeth into the base of Chaos' neck.

Chaos screamed at this pain, and attempted to push the other beast off of him, but his ability to do so was lacking.

Reno honestly was at a loss for what to do. He knew that the cat like thing was well on his way to killing Chaos and thus Vincent and so he raised his gun once more and fired off a shot.

The beast let go of Chaos' neck and sat up quickly, looking at the wound that was burning within his right shoulder. Not having that same thick reptilian hide that Chaos did, Mr. Snuggles (all right, I'm sorry I named him that now) was slightly more susceptible to gunfire than his opponent. However, he now trained his gaze on Reno.

Seeing that he had successfully drawn the demon's attention. Reno spun around and attempted to run. "Come on and follow me you fucker!"

Cid's demon looked down briefly, seeing that Chaos was no longer moving and rose up, taking chase after Reno.

Quigley flattened himself against the wall as Cid's demon rushed past him, intent on catching Reno. The speed of the creature made it obvious that Reno wasn't going to get very far before the beast caught up with him, but to Reno's credit, he was going as fast as he possibly could, running and having dropped his cane far behind him.

Chaos, badly injured and severely wounded, gave up and let Vincent have his own form back.

Reno looked back over his shoulder as he ran, seeing the monster quickly catching up with him. There was a door before him at the end of the hall and he reached into his pocket, searching for the key he carried for it. When he reached the door, he struggled to get the key into the lock with his shaking hand, and had to give it several tries. Finally, the key slipped into the lock and the door opened. Reno hurried inside and then saw the demon terribly close. He fired off a few more shots and then slammed the door.

The feline beast hit the door hard, but it held. There was a horrible pain in his abdomen and he looked down, seeing that Reno's last three shots had struck him there. He wavered where he stood, before collapsing to his knees. After all that he had been through, the demon was finally losing his hold over Cid.

Reno stood in the silence of the abandoned room he was in, panting to catch his breath. He smiled, realizing that retreating into Tseng's room had possibly saved his life. "Thanks."

Cid's consciousness slowly crept back to him. The pain in his midsection was unbearable and he cinched his arms down around his waist, groaning in his misery. "Oh fuck, what happened..?"

Reno, still leaning against the inside of the door heard the agonized comment and hoped that it meant that Cid was himself. He turned, cracked open the door, and looked out. He spotted the pilot, marked with blood lying on the ground.

Cid felt someone's hands upon him and he forced his eyes open, finding himself looking up at Reno. "What's goin' on?"

Reno reached down and pulled back the pilot's arms, seeing the bullet wounds. He knew that they were serious by their location and he knew he had to act. "You just freaked out for a little there."

Cid gnashed his teeth and closed his eyes as he saw Reno pull out his cell phone. He heard the quick conversation that Reno had with someone, requesting medical help. Cid couldn't help but realize that he wasn't wearing anything. His eyes opened again and he lifted his head a little, looking down at his body, confirming his fear.

After requesting medical assistance, Reno shoved his phone back into his pocket and looked at Cid once more. "How you doing?"

Cid grunted in response. "Why the fuck am I undressed?"

"Oh…" Reno honestly hadn't paid that much attention to the pilot's unclothed status. He pulled off his suit coat and covered Cid with it, opting to give the guy a little dignity. "You fucked up Vinny pretty bad."

Suddenly, Cid remembered transforming into the demon and his eyes went wide. "Oh shit…is he okay?"

Reno gave him a weak smile. He had no idea how Vincent was fairing, and opted to lie. "Yeah, you know Vinny. Nothin' keeps him down."

Cid seemed to accept this answer and he let his head hit the floor again. He was slipping into shock from his injuries, and his world started to spin.

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Quigley turned his attention to Vincent and went to his side, seeing that he'd retaken his own form again. Once beside Vincent, he covered his mouth with his hands. The right side of Vincent's neck was lain open and bleeding severely. He scanned the rest of Vincent's body, seeing various other gashes and injuries and then he noticed what had happened to Vincent's left arm, seeing that it simply wasn't there below the elbow anymore.

He gently placed a hand upon the side of Vincent's face. "Vincent?"

Vincent moaned quietly in response, not quite conscious. He rolled onto his right side, what was left of his injured arm moving weakly as the pain from it ran though his body.

"Okay, just hold on." Quigley looked up and down the corridor they were in, seeing some of the medical staff and Janice running toward where Reno was with Cid. He called out to them, knowing that Vincent was in desperate need of their help as well. "Hey! Janice! Kyle! Someone!"

Janice, having been told that Cid was suffering gunshot wounds kept on her way toward the pilot, but she glanced over at Kyle, giving him permission to go see what had happened to Vincent.

Kyle hurried over to Quigley and looked down upon Vincent, quickly assessing the situation. Knowing that Vincent wasn't in any shape to wait for help, he stooped down and picked up Vincent in his arms, carrying him toward the infirmary.

Janice, in the meanwhile knelt at Cid's side. "Reno, hold his arms back so I can see."

Once more, Reno took Cid's wrists in his hands and pulled them back, revealing his injuries to the doctor. "How bad is it?"

Dr. Arlin wasn't happy with the locations of the entry wounds, or the amount of blood that was coming from them. Yet, seeing that Cid was still somewhat conscious, she didn't want to alarm him. "Let's just get him to the infirmary. Reno, call Angel and see if she's feeling up to helping. I'll either need her help in surgery here with Cid or she can help deal with whatever is wrong with Vincent."

Reno quickly complied and pulled out his phone again, stepping back as Janice's medical team carted Cid off toward the infirmary. He dialed the number to the house as Angel had remained there with Dana today.

Angel, having been suffering from nausea all day, answered the phone on the fourth ring. "Hello?"

"Babe," Reno smiled instinctively upon hearing her voice, "we need you in the infirmary."

She sat up from her position on the couch. "Why? What's going on?"

Reno looked back down the hall, seeing everyone heading off with the injured men. "Well, Cid sorta turned into something and he and Vincent got into it. Vincent changed, too. They're both pretty fucked."

This was the last thing that Angel wanted to hear. Her main concern was over her father, as she still had some unpleasant sentiments toward Cid at the moment. "How bad is my dad hurt?"

"I don't really know. I only got a good look at Cid." Reno dropped his gaze to the floor.

"Okay, I'll be there in a little bit. I'll take Dana to Jessie's." Angel sighed heavily and hung up the phone. She feared what she'd see when she got to the base.