Chapter 9
Aya held a folder in her hands as she walked through the double doors of the Square City Police Department. It looked like it would be another hard night working the late shift. In the center of the reception area was a large white oval desk with several secretaries seated behind it.
"Hello Lt. Brea. Fuse is waiting for you in the 9th floor conference room" said a young female secretary.
"Thanks" smiled Aya as she continued to the elevators behind the reception area.
Aya got in the elevator and began the ascent to the 9th floor. Aya was in charge of investigating the significant increase of organized crime in Square City over the past year. She had some evidence that convinced her that Shinra Inc. was primarily behind it all.
Aya got to the 9th floor and proceeded down the dark blue hallway to the conference room. Although it was late the place was just as busy in the night as it was in the day. The offices Aya passed were filled with officers writing and filing reports. Aya entered the conference room. There was a long table with several chairs on each side of it. At the far end of the table sat a man with long blonde hair and a black suit and tie.
"Hey Fuse" said Aya to her partner.
"Hey Aya. I saw your interview earlier today. Nice cover with the whole sexual escapade story" said Fuse.
"Yeah it was the best I could come up with. I've been around long enough to know you can't let the media on to anything that you're really thinking because they'll mess up your whole investigation" said Aya as she sat down beside Fuse.
She opened up the folder and the two began looking at it.
"Yeah and we can't let the Shinra know that we're on to them" said Fuse.
"Ok well we know that the Don had been a Shinra informant for several years now" said Aya.
"Ok then why would the Shinra want to waste the guy now?" asked Fuse.
"Well I believe they are running scared. They are planning something really big. Something bigger than they've ever had their hands in before and they can't afford any loose ends. The thing is I feel that they are planning just a little bit too big and that's what's going to help us finally nail these guys" said Aya.
"Explain"
"Well until recently Shinra kept a lot of their plans to themselves but lately they have been dealing with several organizations and criminals around all of Gaia. Shinra is good at keeping its own secrets but how good are Shinra's allies at keeping Shinra's secrets?"
"Hmm that's interesting. So instead of trying to get to Shinra we get to one of these other more small time outfits and get them to spill the beans?" asked Fuse.
"Exactly. Although the one I had in mind isn't all that small time…." said Aya softly.
"Who is it?"
"The Black X Syndicate…." said Aya as she flipped through the folder to another page.
"Those guys are psychos. When I say psycho I mean they will wipe out your entire family if you cross them. Mother, father, sister, brother, cousins, uncles, grandparent. They'll try to wipe out the entire bloodline" said Fuse.
"I know but Shinra has had some dealings with them recently and there has been some Black X activity here in Square City particularly concerning this guy right here" said Aya as she pointed to a picture in the folder.
The picture was of an extremely tall man with blue spiky hair. In the picture he had no shirt on and some long grey robe bottoms. Across his chest were several strange black tattoo marks that were in the shape of lighting bolts. Perhaps the thing that stood out the most on this man is that instead of normal arms he had these huge mechanical arms. The fingers of the arms were three long razor sharp blades.
"How does a guy like that pick his nose?" asked Fuse.
"Very carefully….anyway this is Shuzer. He is one of four Black X leaders. He's been dealing with the Shinra recently. As you can see he is a class S criminal so he is extremely dangerous" said Aya.
"Class S? Super strength, speed, and abilities beyond your normal criminal eh? Haven't dealt with a class S since we were tracking down Ultros a few years ago. He still got away though...anyway are you sure this is the route you want to take Aya?" asked Fuse.
"Yes. I want to find out what the Shinra are up too" said Aya.
(Next Scene)
Vincent leapt across the rooftops of the buildings. He was eager to get to Quistis's place. He had been staying at her place during most of the day and made rounds through the city at night. Vincent's theory that the experiments Shinra Inc. had performed on him were incomplete seemed to be holding true. He felt his emotions returning and found that his feelings for Quistis were growing stronger by the day.
"I wonder how the SeeD ball went" thought Vincent as he leapt to the fire escape outside of Quistis's window.
The window was open…which was unusual because Quistis usually kept it closed and only opened it when she was sure Vincent was out on the fire escape. Vincent stepped through the window and into Quistis's bedroom.
"Quistis?"
Vincent looked through the dark apartment but Quistis was no where to be found.
"Hmm"
Vincent saw a piece of paper on Quistis's bed. Beside it were Quistis's glasses. He picked up the paper and read it.
If you wish to see her again you'd better hurry to the old funhouse on Dog Street.
-S-
Vincent crumbled the paper in his hand. He was furious. He knew this was the Shinra's doing and he was mainly furious with himself for endangering Quistis. Vincent leapt out of Quistis's window in a flash. Dashing over to the adjacent rooftop Vincent began to make his way toward Dog Street. Vincent's mind raced. All he could think about was whether Quistis was alright. The night sky was filled with stars and the wind blew Vincent's hair back as he leapt from building to building. Deep inside him he felt a burning scratching feeling….almost as if something inside of him was trying to claw its way out…
"Which way is Dog Street?" thought Vincent as he landed on top of a building.
He tried to remember as he stood there on a rooftop. A slight breeze moved his jacket a bit.
"It's east of here" said Vincent as he finally remembered.
(Next Scene)
Quistis was tied down in a chair in a dark abandoned funhouse. The funhouse went out of business several years ago. It was a place filled with several trick mirrors that could make you look tall, skinny, small, or even fat. In the room that Quistis was kept in she was in the center of several mirrors that surrounded her in a circle.
"Why are you doing this?" asked Quistis as she struggled against her ropes.
Shadow stood there with Interceptor and said nothing to her
"So you do the Shinra's dirty work huh?" asked Quistis.
Shadow looked at her and still said nothing.
"I'm never junctioned to a GF when I really really need to be…" thought Quistis
(Next Scene)
Auron and Yuffie stood on the roof of Auron's Gym. Auron figured it would be easier for her to practice throwing her shuriken up there because inside the gym it would surely get stuck in a wall or something and the last thing Auron's Gym needs is for something else to break. Almost everyday something would break especially when Cloud or Squall came.
"Ok again" said Auron as he stood a few feet behind Yuffie.
"Ok" said Yuffie as she prepared to throw her shuriken.
Yuffie looked to the top of a building across the street and she caught a glimpse of Vincent leaping away from it.
"Yuffie go ahead and throw it. Is something wrong?" asked Auron.
"Umm…no" said Yuffie. She was sort of freaked out by seeing some random guy jump across buildings.
"The people in Wutai said the city would be full of weirdoes thought Yuffie. She just shook it off and went back to practicing.
(Next Scene)
Vincent made it to Dog Street and passed by the bar called Fate which was on the same street. Outside Volt and Kou saw Vincent dashing across the rooftop across the street.
"Did you see that?" asked Volt.
"Yeah…you think that was that Mystery Man guy everyone's been talking about?" asked Kou.
"I don't know but I got a feeling something bad is about to happen" said Volt.
"You and your feelings….you should relax more Volt" laughed Kou.
Vincent continued along the rooftops making his way a little further up Dog Street. Much of Dog Street was run down and it was always known as a rough part of town. Right across the street stood an old worn down abandoned funhouse about two stories tall. There was a large rectangular skylight on the roof. This was where the Shinra had taken Quistis Vincent concluded but this type of thing didn't feel like how a Shinra operative would work. Vincent continued to feel that strange clawing feeling inside of him. He got a running start and leapt across the street to the roof of the funhouse.
(Next Scene)
Shadow heard the thump of Vincent landing on the roof.
"We have company…. come Interceptor" said Shadow.
Within an instant Shadow and Interceptor vanished into the darkness. Quistis was all alone.
"Vincent…"
(Next Scene)
After landing on the other side Vincent looked around for a moment. He saw the skylight and proceeded towards it to see if he could find a way in. Suddenly Vincent sensed someone behind him. Just in time Vincent deflected a star shaped shuriken that was hurled at his head with his gauntlet.
"Not bad…" said Shadow.
Vincent looked to see Shadow and Interceptor standing there several feet away.
"Who are you? What have you done to her?" said Vincent.
"You're so concerned for her. Your feelings are your weakness. It'll be so easy to eliminate you" said Shadow as he unsheathed his katana. Interceptor began to growl.
"You're not with the Shinra" said Vincent.
"It's business…" said Shadow.
"Shinra double crosses everyone. You think you'll get paid after you take me down? They'll kill you just to keep you quiet" said Vincent.
Shadow said nothing.
"Ok then this is how it has to be…" said Vincent
The two stared each other down for a few moments. Then as if on cue the fight began.
"Go!" yelled Shadow as he pointed to Vincent.
Interceptor began to glow with a fiery light. With surprising speed Interceptor rushed toward Vincent so fast he could barely react.
"AWWWOOOOO" howled Interceptor as he advanced on Vincent.
Interceptor latched on to Vincent's gauntlet. Vincent tried to shoot Interceptor but by then Shadow had run up and hit the gun out of his hand with his Katana. Vincent's gun slid across the ground. Vincent shook Interceptor off his arm and Shadow sliced horizontally at Vincent's neck. Vincent ducked under the attack and tried to hit Shadow with a footsweep. Shadow jumped over the attack then countered by slicing vertically overhead. Vincent blocked with his gauntlet. The two stood for a moment in a stalemate.
"Fire 3!"
Vincent cast a fire spell on Shadow. Shadow dodged but was still knocked back by the blast of the spell. Vincent ran to pick his gun up but Interceptor picked it up in his mouth before he could get to it.
"Damn, I have to take out the dog first!" thought Vincent as his mind raced.
He knew he couldn't let Quistis down. Although still fairly powerful Vincent was not nearly as powerful as the day he left that laboratory. His power, reflexes, and skill had depreciated somewhat.
"Matra Magic!"
Vincent cast this spell on Interceptor. Several tiny missile like objects began shooting rapidly at the dog. Interceptor ran around to avoid the missiles as they impacted all around him on the rooftop. As he leapt to avoid one of the missiles Vincent grabbed the gun from his mouth and punched the dog hard.
"Arf" whimpered Interceptor as he hit the ground.
"Interceptor!" yelled Shadow.
"Hmm you talk about me but it seems you're attached to this dog" said Vincent twirling his gun around his finger like a cowboy.
Vincent pointed his gun at Interceptor while the dog was down. Shadow hurled a shuriken at Vincent's head to stop him. Vincent dodged the attack by sidestepping really fast. Before he could aim his gun again at the dog Shadow had leapt towards him and unleashed a barrage of star shaped shurikens at Vincent.
Vincent rolled to his right to evade the shurikens. Before Vincent could recover and get off the ground Shadow was standing over him preparing another overhead strike. Vincent lifted his gauntlet to deflect the attack which knocked Shadow back a few feet. Vincent pointed his weapon at Shadow but by then Interceptor had recovered and attacked him.
"Grrrrr" growled Interceptor as he bit down hard on Vincent's gun hand.
A bit of blood squirted from Vincent's hand as he grabbed Interceptor and hurled him toward Shadow. Shadow grabbed Interceptor quickly before he could hit the ground. Vincent stood up with his gun at his side and Shadow readied his katana once again. Vincent was now standing with his back towards the large rectangular skylight. He steadied his gun and then began firing rapidly at Shadow. Shadow and Interceptor ran towards Vincent. Shadow expertly deflected each bullet that came towards him. Shadow and Interceptor leapt forwards and both of them rushed Vincent. All three of them fell through the skylight. Vincent went crashing through to the top floor of the funhouse. Strangely though, neither Shadow nor Interceptor were with him.
It was really dark inside the funhouse. Vincent got up off the ground as fast as he could and looked around. He was in a hallway filled with mirrors. Vincent held his gun up and began walking slowly through the hall. As Vincent passed each mirror his image became short, then tall, then skinny, then fat. Vincent walked all the way to the end of the corridor where the hallway turned to the left.
"Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha!"
Vincent looked behind him fast. It was an old mechanical clown that sat mounted on the wall. Vincent turned back around and was about to continue walking down the hallway again when….
SMASH-
Shattered glass flew everywhere as Shadow burst through a mirror near Vincent. This time Shadow wielded some three pronged metallic claws on his right hand. Shadow slashed at Vincent's face. Vincent leaned back and the attack barely missed. Shadow front kicked Vincent in the midsection which knocked him back and off balance. Vincent raised his gun and began firing at Shadow. Shadow ran up the side of the wall avoiding the bullets and leapt off with the claw extended. Vincent grabbed Shadows extended arm and threw him over his shoulder. Shadow rolled to recover as he hit the ground.
"He's too fast for me to shoot…no Time materia on me….I could have slowed him down. Hand to hand might be the best way." thought Vincent as he constantly tried to strategize against this formidable opponent.
Shadow turned around and began rolling toward Vincent. Vincent holstered his pistol and prepared to fight Shadow hand to hand. As Shadow rolled toward Vincent he rolled to a standing position and thrust his claw at Vincent's chest. Vincent sidestepped outside of the attack and grabbed his arm with both hands. He then slung Shadow headfirst into the nearest mirror smashing it. Shadow did a back kick to Vincent's stomach. Vincent fell back and smashed a mirror on the opposite wall.
"NIN!" yelled Shadow gruffly.
Shadow held his index finger out and vanished. Suddenly Vincent noticed he no longer saw his reflection in the mirrors near him. On both sides of the hallway the mirrors were filled with images of Shadow.
"What in the…" thought Vincent confused.
He had never faced an opponent that fought like this before. All at once the images of Shadow that filled the mirrors began stepping out and before long Vincent was surrounded by three Shadows in front of him on the hallway and three Shadows behind him. The six Shadows pulled out their Katana swords in unison and began advancing toward Vincent.
The first Shadow that stood in front of him thrust his sword at Vincent's chest. He blocked the attack with his gauntlet by deflecting it to the side but at the same time the Shadow behind him did an upward vertical strike. Vincent stepped back and barely avoided the attack. Vincent side kicked that Shadow and knocked him back a bit. Another Shadow in front of him slashed at Vincent's head. Vincent ducked and dodged it then grabbed that Shadow and pushed him back into two other Shadows. The three Shadows behind Vincent all began hurling shurikens at Vincent. Vincent jumped and flipped over the barrage of shurikens and landed behind the three Shadows. With all six of the Shadows on one side of him Vincent acted.
"Flamethrower"
Vincent cast the spell and sprayed a long stream of fire at the Shadows. The Shadows were ingulfed in flames and vanished.
"Illusions…." thought Vincent.
Once again Shadow burst out of another mirror near Vincent. Vincent shielded his face as the shattered glass flew. Shadow put his fingers into his mouth and whistled. Interceptor then smashed through one of the mirrors and attacked Vincent.
"The mutts back" thought Vincent as he kicked Interceptor away.
Interceptor whimpered but quickly recovered. He reared his glistening fangs and leapt at Vincent again.
"Ice 3"
Vincent used the last of his magic power to cast the ice spell as Interceptor leapt at him. Interceptor was encased in a block of ice.
"Bakuen Ryuu!"
Shadow held his hands together with his two index fingers extended and concentrated. Suddenly a snake made out of fire appeared in front of him. The fire snake hit Interceptor and singed away the ice thawing him out.
"Hmpf" groaned Shadow as he clapped his hands together.
This sent out a powerful blast of energy in the form of a shockwavethat knocked Vincent back through the wall. Vincent crashed through to the first level. Vincent fell to the ground in a large room that was surrounded by large mirrors. It was the room Quistis was being held.
"Vincent!" yelled Quistis as she struggled against her ropes.
"Quistis…." said Vincent as he got up slowly from the ground. He was badly hurt.
"Vincent look out!" yelled Quistis.
Shadow leapt down with Interceptor and sliced Vincent across the chest. Blood sprayed from the wound.
"Cure 3"
Vincent tried to cast a cure spell but he was out of energy. That last Ice spell drained him. Vincent stood there holding his chest in pain.
"No! Vincent!" cried Quistis.
"Time to finish this" said Shadow.
Shadow walked toward Vincent with his Katana ready. Vincent prepared to pull his gun. He had to make this shot count. He pulled his gun as fast as he could. Vincent fired at Shadow but he vanished. A bunch of leaves floated there in the space where Shadow had been standing.
"Vanished…" Vincent was confused.
"Vincent behind you!" yelled Quistis.
Before Vincent could react he felt the cold steel of Shadow's katana entering his back. Vincent looked down to see the blade sticking straight through him.
"Hmpf" said Shadow as he removed his katana from Vincent's back.
Vincent slumped to the ground on his knees.
"Easiest 2 million gil I ever made…." said Shadow as he pulled his sword out of Vincent's back. He then lifted his sword up in the air and prepared to deliver the death blow to Vincent.
"Noo!" yelled Quistis as tears streamed down her face.
Vincent felt the incredible sensation inside him again. The one he felt when he escaped from that laboratory. The feeling was like a raging fire inside that continued to grow out of control. He felt his insides changing and soon…he felt his outward appearance changing. Vincent began to shake wildly and sparks of blue and purple energy began to emit from his body.
"Hmm?" said Shadow confused.
"You said the feelings I had for her make me weak. Today my feelings will be your downfall!" yelled Vincent as more energy rushed from his body.
"What is this?" thought Quistis. She was confused and scared at what was happening to Vincent.
All of a sudden Vincent's form changed. He grew larger and his skin became purple. His clothes burst off of him as he grew. His hands and feet turned to claws. He gained a long tail, large black horns and fangs. Vincent had transformed into the Galian Beast.
"What is this?" said Shadow backing up a bit.
ROOAAAR-
The Galian Beast let out a booming roar as it shed the last bit of its humanity. Interceptor ran to attack the beast but it swatted the dog with its tail much like a person would a fly. Interceptor whimpered as he hit the ground with his legs broken.
"Interceptor! You hurt my dog it's time to put you away!" yelled Shadow as he prepared to strike The Galian Beast.
The Galian Beast lashed its tail out at Shadow. Shadow dodged the attack by leaping high into the air. Shadow hurled several shurikens at the beast from the air. The shurikens lodged into the beasts skin but they didn't stop him at all. The Galian Beast opened its mouth wide and shot a large fiery ball at Shadow as he landed back on the ground. The flare hit Shadow head on and the explosion knocked him back hard. Shadow's katana was knocked away from him and lodged itself into the ground near Quistis. Shadow was sprawled on the ground. Much of his skin was burnt and his ninja uniform was scorched. Shadow tried to stand up to fight some more but the beast was already on him.
The Galian beast grabbed Shadow by the throat and began slamming him into the ground. The floorboards cracked as Shadow's body slammed into the ground repeatedly. After the beast finished slamming Shadow sadistically it tossed him away like an old rag doll. Shadow landed near his dog hewas hurt very badly. The beast then went berserk shooting beast flares around the room and catching the place on fire. The fires in the old building began to spread quickly. Shadow was too hurt to fight anymore. He crawled over to his dog Interceptor.
"Let's get out of here old friend" said Shadow as he grabbed the injured dog.
Vincent's power began to fade and he slumped to the ground again. The energy was leaving him and he began to slowly turn back into his original form. Shadow looked at Vincent for a moment.
"Next time we meet it won't be business. It's going to be personal"
Shadow and Interceptor vanished into the darkness. Meanwhile the fire in the building was spreading rapidly. Vincent got up and walked over to Shadow's Katana. His clothes were torn. The top part of his outfit was completely blown off showing his bare chest.
"Vincent! Are you all right?" asked Quistis.
"Yes I will be. I think that transformation healed me" said Vincent picking up the Katana.
Vincent cut the ropes with the Katana and Quistis shook off the rest of the ropes. Quistis checked his wounds as soon as she got free. His wounds really seemed to be healing rapidly. Vincent embraced Quistis and even in the midst of the fire that was starting to rage in the funhouse Quistis knew she was safe in his arms.
"How are we going to get out of here?" asked Quistis.
"This" said Vincent brandishing a green magic materia.
"What is that?" asked Quistis.
"It's the Exit Materia I used to escape from the laboratory" said Vincent.
Quistis held on to Vincent as he cast the spell. Soon a dark circle appeared around them and the two vanished from the burning building.
(Next Scene)
"Everybody get out of the club! Be careful don't push!" yelled Volt to the people in Fate.
The crowd came pouring out because the fire from the funhouse had spread up the street to Fate. Sion, Kou, Volt, Echidna and Dominique ushered the people out of the bar. Finally the fire department showed up and began fighting the fire. It had taken them so long though that they really couldn't do much the fire had gotten so big.
"It's about time they showed up! What the hell took them so long!" yelled Echidna.
"This is the wrong side of town. They don't really care what happens here" said Volt.
"Sion… the bar…it's gone" said Dominique as she cried on Sion's shoulder.
Sion hugged her and tried to comfort her.
"It'll be ok Dominique…"
(The next day)
Quistis walked down the hallway to her apartment. Quistis skipped work that day but she still ran a few errands near her home. Vincent had been laying low in her apartment all day. She couldn't stop wondering what the next step would be in their relationship. Maybe she could get Vincent a job with SeeD. They could always use a good rifle man. Quistis got to her apartment door and turned the knob.
"Vincent I'm home" said Quistis as she walked in the door.
"Hey" said Vincent.
Vincent was standing there with a tanned trenchcoat and across his back was a duffel bag.
"What's wrong Vincent? Where are you going?" asked Quistis as she spotted him with the duffel bag.
Quistis…I'm leaving" said Vincent slowly.
"Why?..." asked Quistis even though she knew why.
"I can't stay here. I have to get out of town as soon as possible. I put you in danger before and I can't do it again" said Vincent.
"…I guess I knew that"
Quistis put her head down. Tears began forming in her eyes. There was silence for about two minutes then Quistis finally spoke again.
"Will I ever see you again?" asked Quistis by now tears were streaming down her face.
Vincent walked up and touched her face and she looked up at him. He tried to wipe some of the tears away but there were just too many.
"Your eyes aren't red anymore" said Quistis through her tears.
With that last transformation Vincent had exhausted most of the power he received from the experimentation performed on him by the Shinra. His eyes had returned to their normal brown color and his physical appearance for the most part was passable for life in the day.
"You have the most beautiful brown eyes" said Quistis. She laughed even through her tears.
Vincent smiled.
"Yes of course you will see me again. Things just need to die down around here. I could never leave you for good because….because I love you" said Vincent.
Quistis heart felt like it was about to stop as he said this. This was it. Ever since the two of them met this was what they were trying to relate to one another. Although she was sad that he was leaving Quistis knew deep down that they would be together again and that everything would be ok.
"I love you…too" said Quistis smiling brightly.
Vincent and Quistis kissed right then for the very first time. Quistis wished she could stop time and experience this one moment of pure happiness forever….
(End Chapter 9)
Well Vincent finally pulled through in the end. Too bad he has to go though but rest assured I'll show you what he's up to from time to time so it's not the last we'll see of him….or Shadow. Aya's partner Fuse is from Saga Frontier and so is the bad guy Shuzer that they were talking about. If you're a fan of fighting games you probably found some of Shadows moves familiar. I used moves from some fighting game ninjas. Galford from Samurai Showdown property of SNK/Playmore is a ninja that also fights with a dog so some of the fighting involving Interceptor comes from that. The claw moves are taken from Vega sometimes called the "Spanish Ninja" from Street Fighter 2 property of Capcom. The things involving the Bakuen Ryuu, the mirror images, and the teleport attack with the leaves Shadow did were moves by Hanzo of Samurai Showdown property of SNK/Playmore. I'm a big fan of fighting games and rpg's. A guy like me could play those all day. Thanks for the support. You keep me wanting to bring you the very best story that I can write. Take care.