DeepGround, Lab lift, Midday…

Her hold on him was getting stronger by the second. The steel heel of her boots was going to crack his metal skull soon if nothing was done. But Cait couldn't let that happen, not yet at least; he had a mission, he had to hand over the data he collected. But to do that, needed the crazy woman to be distracted, and Vincent was the only one that could do that for him, but for some reason, the man wasn't resisting the DeepGround agent's attempts. In fact, his usually expressionless friend's face was twisted with confusion and pain; he couldn't understand why though, but now was not the time to think about it.

"L-lad, any day now!" Cait yelled as the agent's foot pressed harder and harder on his robotic skull.

Vincent got one of his arms free and reached out for his gun. His fingers lightly grazed the weapon's grip, but Cheshire stabbed his outstretched hand with a stealth knife, impelling it in place. He bit his lip hard enough that the skin tore slightly, holding in his grunt while his wounded hand slightly twitched from the pain.

"In pain? But I haven't even begun yet." She grinned down at him as she reached and grabbed his head. Her nails, which were as long as a cat's claws, dug into his scalp; Vincent could feel those nails growing, piercing the delicate skin, and becoming more profound. Blood soon flowed out in small streams down to his face, blurring his vision in red.

The sight horrified Cait like no other; seeing Vincent bleed from a simple looking action wasn't normal, not at all. 'W-Why? Why is this happening? It's because he's not immortal anymore? But still! He's stronger than her! He can easily overpower her, so why? Why was he going easy on her?!' He couldn't understand his friend's actions, but he couldn't just watch this go further. As Cheshire focused on torturing Vincent more, the less pressure Cait felt on his head. He waited, and while doing so, he was hearing Vincent's low but painful grunts and seeing the blood-forming under him slowly. It was getting worse with every passing second.

Soon enough, he felt the pressure almost wholly gone. Cait then bolted from under Cheshire's foot, going straight for his megaphone near the elevator's control panel. His escape didn't go unnoticed. The woman halted her torture; she was anything but happy with the robotic cat's attempt. Reluctantly, she released her prey and went after him without skipping a beat.

Cait quickly grabbed the megaphone, furiously adjusting the dial to the highest settings as he could, which proved to be challenging to do with his shaking hands, before being plucked by his tail and brought up to Cheshire's eye level. Bloody nails filled his view and startling him, he couldn't just imagine what she would do to him. But before she took action, he instinctively moved his head away, shielding himself as he aimed his megaphone at her, his arms shaking with fear.

"Brave, aren't you? Sadly, it won't be a memorable deed." the Hostile woman gave him a terrifying grin. But before she acted, with the trigger pulled and his mouth to the mouthpiece, Cait gave a loud scream through it, causing a deafening sound near the agent's ear. This caused his captor to dropped the robotic cat and hold her ears in pain.

Cait took this chance to try getting to Vincent's side, Yet he was grabbed again and faced the now angry Cheshire, and this time, she knocked the megaphone out of his paw. Defenseless now, he felt her bloody fingers reached into his belly area where his power cells were hidden. But just as she was about to get a good grip, a bullet flow right passed her, grazing the side of her arm, causing her to hiss in pain. Still holding him hostage, she turned to face her shooter, sure enough, it was Vincent Valentine.

The tall man in crimson stood on his feet, blood dripping from his injured hand and face, with a dead-looking expression, his crimson-colored eyes looking dull. Using his other hand, he flicked the blood-coated stealth knife towards her, making it land in front of her feet.

"Returning a gift? How rude of you, sir." She hissed at the gunner, a pretend pout forming on her face.

Vincent, on the other hand, said nothing, merely adjusting his aim, directing it to where her heart should be. But neither of them made any moves afterward. They just stood there, never breaking eye contact nor making a sound either.

"Will you shot her already, lad?! This is getting us nowhere!" Cait yelled in frustration at his friend. His flailing limbs annoying his abductor.

"He's right, Vinny, shot me already. The wait is just unbearable!" She whined playfully, taking a step forward in his direction while shaking the cat, but he didn't shoot her. "What is preventing you from killing me, I wonder? Are you worried about what you might lose when the deed is done?"

Vincent's eyes widened, his gun arm shivered slightly for a brief moment. Pleased with his reaction, Cheshire moved even closer towards him, which caused him to take a step back and away from her advance.

"They told me all about your dark history, Vinny. An Ex-Turk, Professor Lucrecia's former lover, shot down by her partner Professor Hojo. And used in his immoral experiments as well as her little pet project. You poor unfortunate soul, you had it ruff." She finally stood a fair distance from him. As for Vincent, he was running out of the floor, his back leaning on the rail, and behind that, what seemed like an endless fall into a pitch-black shaft.

"I heard you recovered from that heartbreak. I wonder who that miracle worker was?" She threw Cait at Vincent and grinned big, enjoying the hesitation in his eyes.

Out of instinct, Vincent dropped his gun and caught his robotic companion. After making sure Cait was fine, he gazed back at Cheshire as she had reached for her mask. As the mask and mane came off, Vincent's face twisted in horror at who it was that attacked them. Standing before them was the missing self-proclaimed ninja herself, Yuffie.

"Oh, wait, it's ME!" She declared cheerfully. Her brown eyes suddenly glowed and turned crimson, a color that matched his own eyes. She lifted her arm towards them, suddenly the Death Penalty disappeared from the floor beside his feet and reappeared in her outstretched hand.

"Lass!" Cait cried out, his horrified expression matching his tall friend. But she brushed his worry off, uncaring.

"Without Chaos' healing ability, you'll die the instant you receive a fatal wound. Sad, isn't it? And I was sooo hoping to play with you more, Vinny, But I have to kill you now." she gave them an innocent smile, but it betrayed her next action. She pulled the trigger, hitting Vincent's directly to his chest.

The hit's force caused the man to stagger backward, leaning more and more on the low railing. Cait tried his best to apply pressure to the wound, but he knew it was in vain. As he glanced at Yuffie, it was as if everything slowed down, he took note of the tear that streamed down her cheek, the distressed look in her eyes, and how it contradicted the broad toothy grin plastered on her face, although it twitched near the end. The mental image burned to his memory just before he and Vincent went over the railing, falling into the dark, unfathomably deep shaft.

"This game of cat and mouse had come to an end, so sad." Yuffie dropped the gun used to her side and stood near the edge; her eyes followed them to fall into the black abyss.

When she couldn't see them anymore, she lifted the gun up to examine, the chain that dangled from it caught her curiosity. The three-headed canine's imagery shimmering in silver with the little light available in the room was very familiar to her. But the ringing of her earpiece took priority over her wandering thoughts. So she answered while lowering the weapon to her side.

"This is Cheshire the Vidini. The Ex-host and his companion have been dealt with."

"Well done, Rookie. Head back to the base; your energy is low and in need of a recharge."

"Yes… Emperor Weiss." after hanging up, she looked back at the gun. She hooked it up to her belt, considering it a trophy. She dawned on her mask, then made her way to the exit, her metal heels hitting the rusted steel floor echoing in the large hollow shaft.