Midnight, DeepGroung City, Vehicle Lift…

Vincent's hand moved under his cape towards the holster of his gun of choice for this mission, the Death Penalty. While not as sharp as it used to be, he senses felt an enemy's presence close by to their location. Judging by the aura alone, this enemy was not a standard soldier like the ones they ran into before. One thing that he did note about it was very familiar, but he couldn't figure out how it was possible? 'No time to think about it.'

"Sith, We have company." He spoke in almost a low growl. He obviously not in the mood for such distractions.

"How many are we talking about?"

"One."

"Doesn't sound like a problem you can't handle lad. In fact, this should be too easy for you."

"Don't get careless, our opponent could be a dangerous one."

No sooner did he say that to his companion, a rotating object came flying towards them. Vincent quickly plucked Cait off the control panel and moved away, just enough to evade the item that hit the control panel instead.

"That was a close one, lad!" Cait yelped, still showing signs of panic.

Vincent placed his robotic companion down and pulled out his gun, facing the direction where the thrown object came from. He had aimed his gun at the large crate, feeling the aura hiding behind it. A few minutes passed with neither Vincent nor the hidden enemy making a single move.

"I know that your hiding there. So show yourself or else my trigger finger will slip."

There was no verbal response from his opponent; instead, the figure slowly walked out from their hiding spot, hands up and facing him. They were definitely one of DeepGround's agents even if it was a 'she,' the grey suit with glowing mako tubes going through it, and the metal accessories attracted everywhere. The odd thing about this agent was her mask, which resembled a kitsune with mako colored markings rather than the traditional red paint, and it did not cover the bridge of her nose and mouth. Also, there was colossal gradian green colored mane that reached all the way to her shoulders. She was probably a new recruit judging from how she attacked them. But then, on her chest was an object that he long thought was lost after the Omega incident, the Proto materia.

"Where did you get that material?!" He yelled, trying to hide the panic in his voice. But she showed no indication of response to his question.

"Cat got your tongue? Answer me!" He repeated but still no response.

He then got an unexpected response from the mask covered woman. Her shoulders were shaking, and her sights were lowered, lips thinned out, keeping her laughter in. Suddenly she bursts out laughing, throwing her head back up, unable to hold her laughter in.

"What's so funny?!" He yelled again, his patience was running low.

"How fine you look when dressed in rage. You're lucky, too. Red eyes suit so few." She finally spoke but in rhymes. 'Rhymes? Really? From a child's storybook no less. What is she? Nine?' The thoughts went through his mind.

"What's wrong former host of Chaos?" She grinned, keeping her hands up.

Vincent steadied his aim at her; she wasn't going to distract him. She didn't flinch though, she looked very calm, and he can tell that she was staring him down, even if he couldn't see her eyes.

"Hey, I have a thought, how's about a little riddle? If you say 'don't come!' it still comes. If you say 'Don't go!', it still goes. What is it?" Her grin got bigger as she glared at the two friends.

Cait stared upon her, confused. He then shifted his gaze to his friend Vincent; he had no clue what to make of the crazy woman or her riddle for that matter. Should they play along? Then again, Vincent wasn't known to cooperate with DeepGround and their deadly games. For all they knew, this game might very well end with someone being shot dead.

Vincent kept his gaze at her and closed the distance between himself and her. The cold metal of his Death Penalty's muzzle on her forehead, which was protected by her mask. He lifted his free hand and reached out towards it, attempting to uncover her true identity. He wouldn't usually do this, but something about her height and body structure was very familiar. It nagged him, he had to know.

"What's wrong, 'Vinny,' too hard for you to solve?"

His hand froze midway, shock and fear replaced his angry expression. 'Her voice… how she emphasized his nickname, how she actually said it, is EXACTLY like Yuffie's. But that can't be right.' He was thrown into disarray, his outstretched arm was shaking from the fear that it could be true.

He wasn't focused at all, to the point that he did not notice her weapon levitating out of the damaged panel behind them. Then, just as quickly, launched right at him. Cait immediately saw it, and in response, he took out his megaphone and threw it up, taking the attack in their sted. Both weapons fall to the ground with a loud thud, snapping Vincent back into the situation. Though not in the way he had hoped.

He turned his head around to look for the source of the loud noise. When he did, the woman grabbed his hand and forced him to drop the gun. She then, with one swift motion, she twisted his arm back and forced him down on the cold hard metal floor. Her foot pressed on Cait's head, keeping him down and secure, she surprised them completely.

"It's time. And yours just ran out of it 'Vinny.'"

"What in Gaia's name are you, lass?!" Cait cried, he felt the circuits in his head, cracking from the pressure she was putting on him.

With a broad grin, a grin that resembled the infamous cat of wonderland, she lowered her head to their ears. "You've picked up a bit of an attitude, still curious and willing to learn."

She lowered her head lower to Vincent's ear and licking his ear lobe, causing his eyes to go wide and flinch in surprise. Then she whispered again, "I go by the name 'Cheshire the Viridi' unless you have another name for me… 'Vinny'".

~.~.~.~.~.~

Kalm, Town Square, Midday...

Elmyra, Aerith, and Chloe had their girls day out enjoying the open air since it was nice and breezy. While mother and daughter had a nice chat near the decommissioned Mako fountain, Chloe took the chance to socialize with the other children at the plaza.

Seeing how her parents had such great friends and a lot of fun, she wanted to have the same joy. But she didn't know how to approach them. What should she say? What should she do? Would they think she sounded funny? That's what some people have said about her at that place Kitty worked at.

The more she over thought the matter, the more she cuddled her Chocobo doll to her chest nervously. She felt a light tap on her shoulder, making her look behind at her mother.

"You don't need to be shy, go on, and make some friends."

"But... They won't like me."

"How do you know that? You won't know unless you try." Aerith smiled, giving her a light push towards where the other children played. Still hesitant, Chloe slowly walked to them one step at the time; she wasn't in a rush.

~.~.~

"She reminds me of you the first week in the slums. So small, so eager to know the world around you, yet scared of taking the first step. And if that's the case, then she'll be as active as well." Elmyra smiled, soft giggling escaping her lips as she reminisced of the past.

"Well, we were both born in captivity. So I know what Chloe's going through." She continued to follow the little girl with her gaze, watching as the children gathered around her, and probably asking her simple question.

While Aerith was smiling before, it slowly faded, being replacing with worry. "I'm worried about what Deepground breed her for. It's been on my mind since I knew she existed."

"You mean other than reviving the Cetra race?"

"I don't believe its a noble cause. I have tried asking her, but she doesn't know."

"What about her abilities?"

"She isn't a white mage, and I don't feel an elemental magic in her either. Her aura is... somewhere in between both, I just can't tell what."

"I'm sure you'll figure it out eventually."

She was right, Aerith thought; she was the only Cetra around to guide Chloe through it. But right now, The little girl needs a mother, so she continued to watch Chloe starting to play with the other children.

~.~.~.~.~.~

Kalm, Warehouse district, Midday...

The sounds of machinery and workers drowned out the silence of earlier in the day. The sweat dripped off his chin as Zack continued to carry the metal beams to the truck across the warehouse they were housed in. Before that, he took crates of many sizes and weights into the same vehicle. It puzzled him that they didn't have a forklift for all this heavy lifting unless, of course, they felt terrible that they couldn't hire him to help with actual construction.

After dropping them in, He let out a big sigh as he straightened his back. Throwing his head up to let the wind hit his face as he throws his arms up, helping him release the tension he had built up. Besides him was one of the workers taking inventory of the materials, the same person who employed him to help out.

"Man, that was a lot of work. Say, where is all this going anyways, old man?"

"Look who's talking? You practically built for this." The older man laughed, jokingly punching his shoulder. While the man was buff, he wasn't as toned as the ex-SOLIDER. "Anyways, this is for the new market going up south of the town."

"That cool." He let out a whistle, crossing his arms as he looked on as the truck left. Kalm never ceased to amaze him every time he visited. First was the Mako fountain years before; now look how big the town has gotten.

"Anyway, here's your pay for all the help today. although, wouldn't it be better if you applied for the WRO? You would get paid better."

"You may be right, but I like being my own boss."

"Meh, guess you're right."

As they continued to chat, a young man dressed in Wutai apparel came walking up to them hesitantly, wearing a worried expression. "E-excuse me, are you the Mercenary every one is talking about?"

Before Zack could speak, his new friend answered in his sted, almost like a proud father introducing his son. "Yep, it's him. Need something, Yuri?"

The young man named Yuri, now looking relieved, got even closer to them. Eager to employ the merc in a hurry. "YES! You see, I'm expecting a caravan from Wutai to arrive today, but it's late. I'm worried it got attacked."

A rescue mission? Sounds right up his alley, Zack thought. "So You want me to go look for it? Well, I don't mind helping, but I can't really travel the world in one day."

"Of course, the last I heard from them was an hour ago, they said they were near the Chocobo farm."

"Alright, that's do-able. I'll get right on it."

"Thank you so much! I owe you one!" the youth beamed, already taking hold of his hand and shaking it non-stop.

Exchanging a smile back, Zack carefully pulled his hand, worrying that he would hurt the young, frail-looking teen. "Alright, ummm... Yuri right? I better get going."

With that, Zack headed over to his motorbike, strapping his goggles on, and immediately raced off the Warehouse district, his next stop, the Chocobo ranch.