Hmm... it's been about 3 months. Sorry! Sorry! I'M SO SORRY!
Chapter 3
The Beast Within
Vincent stood planted to his spot, looking down at Hojo. The scientist's arm drew back in slow motion and the needle came down at the Turk's neck.
Suddenly, all of the man's training took over. He ducked down and punched the scientist hard in the stomach. There was a satisfying "oof" from the man.
The hypodermic needle dropped to the floor and it made a loud clatter, but no one paid attention to it. Hojo bent over, groaning in pain. He slowly turned his head up at Vincent. "Get your own damn wife! I don't need you worrying about her! I can take care of her just fine, thank you!"
Vincent brought a fist into his face. The scientist dropped to the floor, clutching it. "You're doing a great job of it! You took away her own son! A newborn child needs his mother to survive!"
Hojo was still on the floor, his hand slowly creeping towards the hypodermic needle. "He doesn't need his damn mother! The Jenova cells have already helped him build his immune system and nervous system! He… will… be a SUPERHUMAN!" with that he leaped up and jabbed the needle into Vincent's carotid artery.
Lucrecia screamed. Dark spots appeared in Vincent's vision and he toppled backwards, pulling the needle out of his neck.
So damn dizzy…
He looked at Hojo. Fire coursed through his veins and his brain was hurting like hell. His vision began to blur so he saw four of Hojo. "What the hell did you do to me! What sort of shit did you use!" his words sounded slurred.
His head gave a lurch and he emptied his stomach's contents on the marble floor. Hojo laughed and struck him across the face. "Don't get that shit all over my shoes!" he screamed.
Vincent fell backwards onto the floor, a welt appearing on his face. Hojo laughed loudly. It hurt his head. "I thought you were smarter than that, Vincent. I really did. You disappoint me."
The last thing he heard was Sephiroth's wail as Hojo took the baby back into his arms and the Shinra soldiers running into the room…
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"I think I should be the one to tell this part, Red."
Everyone looked up to see Vincent walking into the room. They all noticed that he seemed to have gotten paler and emaciated.
"Aw damn. And I forgot to hang garlic around my neck," Cid teased, making a cross with his fingers. "What happened to you, Vince? You don't seem to be at the top of your health. Did you get anorexic or something?"
Cloud didn't want to think that way, but he had to agree with Cid. The ex-Turk did look like a walking skeleton. The man's cheeks were sunken and his bones were nearly jabbing out of his skin. He seemed to be in a worse condition than before.
"I could not sleep," Vincent replied, outstretching a bony hand, hauntedly. "Something seemed to call me here. Red, it is best that I tell of what happened from here. You can take on afterwards."
Yuffie skipped to Vincent's side and examined him "Whoa! Vincy, you need to eat!" she then proceeded to grabbing his outstretched arm. "Only skin and bones… Vincent…" his skin barely stretched over all the bone.
Vincent sighed and retracted his arm. "Don't worry about me, Yuffie. Worry about yourself. After all, you are to rule Wutai."
Yuffie shrugged it off lightheartedly. Then Vincent kneeled down, and began his story.
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Darkness. Silence. He wanted to call out for somebody to please come and help him, but his mouth wouldn't move. Nothing would respond, not even his eyes.
Dee… dee… dee…
Is that a heart monitor?
Dee… dee… dee…
It must be… it's so damn annoying…
Urrrggghhh…
Again came the darkness and silence, save for his thoughts. He focused hard on his eyelids, but they still wouldn't budge.
"Hello Vincent. I just hope you're conscious to hear this. When you wake up… it'll be a big surprise!" Hojo's voice… laughter… "I love surprises!"
Suddenly pain shot through his limbs. "Eeeeuuuggghghh!"
Was that him screaming? He couldn't be sure. He wasn't sure about anything… just that he was going to die from all this pain…
His eyes suddenly snapped open. Hojo stood above him. His vision was still blurred. He tried to wipe at his eyes with his left arm, but something cool and metal touched his face. He looked at it. A claw… his arm was a claw! "No!"
Hojo laughed manically. "Like your new improvements? Look around, Vincent, look where you are."
He turned his head a little. Was he in some sort of box! A… a… coffin! "You… you're sick!" he screamed, his voice croaky from disuse.
"Am I?" Hojo asked and laughed. "Well, now it's time to say goodnight." With that, he slammed the coffin lid shut.
"Sick bastard!" he screamed, pounding against the lid with his mutilated arm.
The coffin lid suddenly flew open, and Hojo fell back, his eyes wide open. Vincent walked towards him, his claw slowly opening and closing. Looking down at it, he suddenly made a grab for the scientist.
The claw went around Hojo's scrawny neck and Vincent easily lifted him up. Surprisingly, he could feel the blood flow in the man's jugular with his metal claw. "I'm glad that this arm isn't totally useless," he snarled and found his voice deeper, he hadn't noticed when he had screamed. "Shouldn't have made it operable… right?"
Hojo's hands came around the metal arm's wrist, but it was no use, it was metal and it wouldn't do much good. "D…damn… y…you…" he spluttered, his windpipe nearly all the way shut.
"Damn me? Hahahaha," Vincent thought his laugh sounded way too evil, almost like those stereotypical villains that you would only see in children's movies. "Damn you, Hojo! Look what you did to me!"
"Get away from Lucrecia!" Hojo forced out, his eyes bulging and face purple from the lack of oxygen. "G… GUARDS!"
Shinra soldiers in blue and red armor came running into the room, all of their guns raised. Vincent laughed again. "Hojo… you coward… do you need that many soldiers to neutralize me? Just when did I become so dangerous?" the last words came out as a hiss.
"Fire…" Hojo croaked.
The commanding soldiers raised their hands and the blue soldiers fired at Vincent, some even drawing their swords and getting closer to the Turk.
A bullet flicked by Vincent's ear and he clamped his real hand onto it. Another one struck him in the temple.
He came a groan and dropped Hojo. His hand immediately moved to the wound and he felt warm blood pouring dripping down.
Am I going to die?
You will not die!
What the hell was that voice in his mind? Was he going insane? Another bullet suddenly warned him of the danger that he was in. A bullet ricocheted off the wall and hit a machine.
There was an explosion of sparks. Little flicks of orange went into the air and some landed on the carpet.
Fire…
And just like that… the voice was right. A part of the carpet caught with a spark and in an instant, it grew into a small blazing flame. He paid no mind to it. Fire can be an enemy… but during this time… it was his friend.
"Hey! Someone put out the goddamn fire!" Hojo commanded. None of the soldiers dared to move past Vincent to put it out.
Shots came all around him. Before he even realized it, he was suddenly dodging all the bullets, everything coming to him so fast that his brain could barely even process it.
He was running… towards all of those damn soldiers. He raised his left arm… and he slashed down with the claw. Soldiers in the way took the full blow and fell back screaming with claw marks upon their faces.
Ahahahaha…
Slash, punch. Five more down. Fifteen more to go. Just as he reached out to strike another person, he spasmed and fell over.
"Haha… I think he's out…" one of the soldiers laughed nervously and slowly approached him, his gun raised.
None of the soldiers had noticed, but Vincent saw that his normal hand was turning into a claw. He stared at it in fear, just before another spasm caused him to groan and set the hand down. The soldier began to near him and he was as tense as ever.
Hahaha… he's going to die…
"Alright you… I don't know what the hell happened to you, vampire man… but you're sure as hell not gon run loose…" the soldier prodded him with his gun, looking back at his friends, he chuckled with relief. "Damn me… if he ain't cold…"
Wait for it…
Another jab came into his back and all the other soldiers had the nerve to approach. At that instant, he couldn't stand all the jabbing and suddenly leapt up, his claw whipped out at the speed of light and sent all of the soldiers flying backwards into the wall, injured or dead.
He stared at his claws, from his metal one to the other one that had previously been his hand. He flexed it and felt the muscles slowly pull on the bone to make it move. It was his own flesh and blood. Warm crimson liquid were dripping down both of them. He felt like a killer...
… What was he thinking? He was a killer.
What the hell am I? He wondered, a feeling of dread spreading over him. What has Hojo done to me so I am this way?
You are more…
Who are you?
There was no answer to that question. His mind was silent. He searched his mind for another being, but he found nothing. Was he going mad? What was this other voice in him? Was it another side of him? Was this like a sick imitation of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde?
"What have you done to me, Hojo!" he screamed in the voice that was not his.
Hojo did not answer. The scientist's eyes were filled with fear and something close to guilt. He backed away, muttering to himself.
Vincent snarled. How could this be? He was something that even Hojo had feared. He looked back at his bloodstained claws. Again he opened his mouth, even though he hated his new voice so much. "I want to see Lucrecia."
The scientist had backed into a corner, watching him with fear. "Guards!" he cried meekly.
Vincent yelled in anger and plunged one of his claws into a machine. Electricity sparked all over the place, adding to the already growing fire. His eyes glowing with anger and hate, he totally lost it and screamed, "LOOK AT WHAT YOU DID TO ME!"
Hojo pressed against the corner and he trembled. Looking at the wall with fear and regret, he called even louder. "GUARDS!"
Before the scientist could further reveal their location, Vincent's metal claw snapped forward with a "shlink" and grabbed the man's shoulder. His other claw clenched into a large fist and smashed it into his face.
Hojo gave a small cry as the other side of his face smashed into the wall, causing a gash to appear on his cheek. He moaned, eyes rolling upward, and slumped into Vincent's arm.
"IS THAT ALL YOU HAVE!" he screamed, shaking the limp man roughly. When the scientist showed no signs of consciousness, he flung him away like a piece of trash and laughed coldly. "That's all you have…"
I must see Lucrecia! The thought burst into his head and he looked up. Looking back at the fire, it continued to grow and approach Hojo.
"Well… I don't have the time to kill you… but the fire does!" he laughed maniacally and then stopped, feeling sick.
No time to lose. Find this "Lucrecia."
The Turk looked around. There were no signs of immediate danger and he left the room, leaving the fire untended to.
I've been dead. My writer's block is killing me even further. I apologize to all of you readers! Something is clogging my source of inspiration! Plz! Help it come back alive! Review... tell me your thoughts about this story! Is it crappy? Is it good! I want to know!