Chapter 6—Visions of Horror
Vincent had to bite back a wave of mixed anger and fear as the swept over Midgar. Parts of the rebuilt city were nothing but smoking ruins, while other parts sparked with fighting or fires.
Near his own home, a wave of Darkness rolled out of one of the neighboring houses. It resonated with the Darkness still lurking inside himself and he knew that it was Chaos' limit break. As both of them were reluctant to use it, he hated to think what would have convinced the demon to do so.
Hold on, loves. I'm coming.
"Vincent!" Cid's voice coming through the deck's loudspeaker interrupted the gunslinger's budding train of thought. "I'm gonna swing low over the house so you can jump off. Then I'm gonna use the ship's guns to run these assholes off."
"Understood."
"They're all right, Vince," Cid assured him.
I hope so.
Vincent moved swiftly to the railing as Cid lowered the ship. True to his word, the pilot hovered over his house and Vincent jumped over the railing with a speed and grace that somehow had not deserted him when the demons were removed from his body.
He often wondered about those lingering abilities, but today he didn't question them; those abilities might mean the difference between life and death for his family.
Cerberus was in his hand with no conscious thought on his part when he landed, his mind a body falling into what Yuffie called "Turk-mode." He scanned the street as the Highwind moved away, looking for Yuffie. When he didn't immediately see her, he turned his gaze toward the house the Darkness had come from.
The demon standing there, over the body of a woman in red, chilled him to the bone.
"Chaos!" He heard Yuffie shout, attracting the demon's attention.
It began approaching their house, where Yuffie must have holed up, killing intent evident in each step.
"Chaos get it together!" She yelled.
The demon launched itself at the porch.
Vincent fired, and prayed that it wasn't really Chaos.
Immediately, he leapt from the roof and to the street, his boots ringing loudly in the suddenly silent air. With barely any thought, he ran to his house.
Reeve was on the porch, pulling the demon off Yuffie. The ninja was alternating between swears that would make Cid blush and whimpers of pain as their friend worked. Quickly, Vincent moved to help—noting that despite the physical differences, the demon looked indisputable like Chaos.
"Vincent!" Reeve exclaimed in a relieved voice.
"What happened?" Vincent asked, trying to stay calm, despite the myriad of emotions coursing through him.
"Do you mean the attack or Chaos?" The other man replied.
"Then that is Chaos?" After an anguished look at the demon, the gunslinger knelt down next to Yuffie, who threw her arms around him with a pained hiss.
"It's him, Vincent," she said in a broken voice. "He went into the house all right, but when he came out…"
Wordlessly, he held Yuffie as she began crying into his chest. Reeve put a hand on Vincent's shoulder consolingly for a moment. Then he moved to examine Chaos.
"He's still alive, Vincent. I have a Phoenix down—"
"No. Its not safe." Vincent shook his head, thinking of Anessa, who was crying inside the house. "We need to put him someplace secure before he wakes up."
The WRO Commissioner nodded. "I'll call my people.