The Servant: The Aleron Saga

by Piccolo Sky

The untold story of Bahamut. In this fourth installment, Bahamut's triumphant return to Gaia is cut short as he sees visions warning him of a cataclysmic future, one that will test both him and his pupil in a way most unexpected.

25. The Turks Return

The doors to the waiting room swung open. Tifa and Denzel, both nervous and expectant about the result, turned their heads to see who it was. They soon formed expressions of happiness and joy.

"Marlene!" Denzel yelled out as he began to get up from his seat.

"Not just me." Marlene answered. She stepped in through the doors, and a moment later a boy followed out after her. Tifa and Denzel recognized him as well.

"Hi everyone." Azure spoke as he smiled and walked through the door. He was perfectly awake and alert now. The only difference was a bandage that was attached to his neck.

Tifa took note of some look in Marlene's eyes as she turned to Azure. There was something…anxious within them. She didn't press it for now. Denzel, on his part, merely rushed forward and put his arms around his friends, one on either person. Tifa looked down to that, and then crossed her arms and smiled. She was happy to see them together and healthy again, and that was what mattered right now.

After the three embraced for a moment, Denzel broke off from both of them. "You alright, Marlene?"

"I'm fine. I just feel sleepy." The girl answered.

"How are you, Azure?"

"I feel great. I thought I could just walk right out, but the doctor wanted to put a bandage on my neck. I hate hospitals."

"Ms. Lockheart?"

Tifa raised her head at that. Apparently, the kids hadn't been just sent out on their own. The door was still open to the ER, and a doctor was standing there. He was holding it open with his body at the moment, and looking to her. He motioned her inside.

"I'd like to discuss things in private for a moment."

Tifa hesitated, but then gave a nod. She turned down to the children, who were still talking to each other. However, on seeing Tifa looking to them, they ceased and began to turn to her.

"Guys, just stay right here in the waiting room." She told them. "I'll be right back."

Denzel nodded. "Alright."

The woman turned up from them after this and to the doctor. He was still holding the door open, and so she walked forward to the open room and entered. As she passed through, the doctor turned away from the door and moved in to her side. After that, he led her on, back farther into the ER room and away from the waiting area. He kept going until they were about halfway between the exit doors and the central desk area. The area was rather busy. Some of the spillovers from the battle were arriving, and almost all of the on-call nurses and doctors had come in. Some were getting irritable and causing a ruckus, but the chaos of the room itself was responsible for most of the noise. After all, it was a busy time.

Once the doctor had stopped, it was Tifa who started things off. "What about the other one with us? Barret?"

"He's alright as well." The doctor answered, as if trying to get around that issue quickly. "He's already causing the nurses some trouble…but I still want to keep him overnight. I need to talk to you about Azure."

Tifa paused for a moment at this…wondering if he had found something he wasn't supposed to. "…What is the matter with him?"

The doctor was hesitant at that. Tifa saw a look of some unease…or confusion…coming over his face. He finally managed to shake his head. "…There isn't anything wrong with him, Ms. Lockheart. He's completely healthy. Better than healthy, in fact. I've never seen a boy in as good a shape as him."

This made the woman even more puzzled. "…Then I don't understand…"

"…It's about the nature of his injury." The doctor continued. "It initially had the entire staff puzzled. It wasn't until one of the native doctors from Mideel came forward that we had an idea of what it could be. He said that he had seen similar types of injuries on people who had been infected with a sort of fly larval parasite. I don't know where your boy has been, Mrs. Lockheart, but it appeared that he had a serious infestation of similar types of larva."

Tifa's eyes widened a bit at that. A nauseous feeling traveled through her. She looked down a moment, trying to take this in. What in the world had those things done to him?

"Needless to say, we immediately put him in the MRI to try and localize where they were. We were preparing for surgery. However, on examining him with this, we found something strange. There were indeed what appeared to be punctures of some sort going into his skin, but we only found fragments of exoskeleton left from the larva. We assumed that, somehow, they had died on entering, although I have no idea how, and that they somehow were purged from the body. That seemed ridiculous to us all. There was no reason to believe that the parasites would spontaneously leave, and they were too deeply imbedded for him to remove them. We followed up with another MRI, one with higher resolution. Now…we found no traces of exoskeleton at all. Thinking we were in error, we did yet another. We double checked everything this time. And yet, not only were the fragments gone from this one, but the punctures were beginning to close up. We couldn't even detect any of the inflammation we had noted when he first came in."

Tifa looked back up at this, her former sickened expression turning confused instead. "Wait a minute…what are you saying? That he was infected by these things, and they just…went away?"

"I'm not sure what I'm saying." The doctor answered. "All I know is that based on the presence of exoskeletons, the theory that he had a parasite infection is probably valid. But I don't know where they went. If they left, then the exoskeletons should still be there causing an infection until they are removed or broken down by white blood cells. But breaking down would take days. The scans were only thirty minutes apart. It is impossible for something like that to happen. But if that wasn't enough, his puncture wounds are sealing. Inflammation has died already. I put a bandage on him, but by the time I did so it looked as if the wounds had been healing for two weeks. I know that isn't possible."

This, however, gave Tifa some pause. She realized what the doctor was saying and what he observed. But moreover…she realized who he was talking about. If Azure truly was a Sephiroth clone of some sort, then he had Jenova cells within him, almost fully integrated with every cell in his body, if not fully integrated. That was responsible for a lot, including accelerated healing, and the ability to survive almost mortal wounds. But even so…this was staggering. After Cloud had been run through, it had to have taken him at least a month before he could move again. Any faster, and the healing could be considered instantaneous…

However, Tifa remembered well two months ago. Azure's bullet wound had to have been a few days old at least, and it looked severely infected and as serious as it would be with anyone. It healed quickly, but not at this rate. And now, Azure was suddenly healing faster.

Tifa wasn't a scientist…but she hoped that this wasn't a sign of something…accelerating.

"Really, it's a miracle any way you look at it." The doctor continued. "These insects are bad customers. This isn't really a bad thing. I just wanted to alert you to what I found, for your information."

Tifa paused, looking into space, for a few moments more. But then, she turned back to the doctor and gave a nod.

"I understand. And thank you…thank you very much."

RULER

Fenrir ground to a halt in the circular drive, and Cloud powered it down soon after. He immediately dismounted once it was done, but Ragnar took a moment to examine the area. He had been right…this was right on the border of the destruction. East of here the city was booming and rebuilding, but west of here it was still mostly a junk pile. Construction sites were all around the area. Even the otherwise luxurious hotel had an embarrassing view right across from what was essentially a pile of rubble. The road was even damaged, and was being repaired at the moment.

All in all, Ragnar figured this was probably a good place for those people to hide. Most likely, when they had first established their "base", assuming it was underground, this part of the city was still all ruined and near to the parts that had survived. As the city had expanded out, they may have built somewhere over the hotel. He wasn't sure, but there was only one way to find out.

Ragnar dismounted as well, and both men began to walk to the entrance. Again, it was pretty nice. Big windows, lots of trim, new carpeting, well illuminated and elegant… The owners must have been trying to get a drop on the industries of this town when they expanded into this sector. There were two men in front of them. One was wearing a broad hat and gloves and standing by the door. Ragnar wasn't familiar with higher class additions, so he didn't realize this was a doorman. Closer to them was a younger man in a black suit, who looked at Fenrir uneasily as they approached. Yet when Cloud reached him, he turned to him and reluctantly held out his hand.

"Um…may I have your keys?"

Cloud kept walking and didn't turn to him, but he did raise his hand and drop them in the man's own outstretched palm.

"I wouldn't ride it if I were you." He darkly answered, making the younger person swallow and step back a bit from the approaching duo.

Next the two came to the doorman. He looked at both uneasily a moment, but then opened the door and let both of them pass through. However, on emerging into the lobby of the building, the two didn't receive any better reviews. There were some people chatting in the lobby, and some easing back in the lounge as well. This was in addition to the staff at the front desk. However, as people turned and noted the two new entries, they abruptly stopped what they were doing and stared. They only attracted more stares as they entered and made their way to the front desk. Ragnar at first frowned at this. What? Were they that uncivilized looking?

Then he suddenly realized that they were. Neither had changed or cleaned themselves up after the battle. Their clothing was still torn, their boots were still caked with mud, and their bodies were covered with injuries and blood…not all of which was theirs. Added to that fact that both had rather large swords strapped to their backs, and they were a rather fearsome and deadly sight to behold. Even though both bore the insignia of the Planet Protector Army, obviously these people weren't used to seeing militants in this part of town.

At last, the two men arrived at the front desk. On doing so, the worker there froze for a moment, staring at them. His eyes went down along their bodies, and slowly worked their way up to their heads, seeming to take note of all of their injuries, tears, and other items that made them look like something that crawled out of the garbage. In the end, he tapped his finger nervously for a moment, and then shrugged to himself.

"…May I help you? Or…call an ambulance?"

"We're looking for someone." Cloud answered.

"It's not our policy to give out names…"

"Not like that." Ragnar immediately threw in. "We're wanting to know if you've seen any people come in here or by here that look…" Ragnar hesitated for a moment, stumbling for the right word. "Look…I don't know…dirty, homeless, ragged…"

Ragnar regretted saying that immediately, for the worker raised an eyebrow and looked over them again. He knew what he was thinking. The youth sighed and tried again.

"Look…we just want to know if these guys have come by with a woman. The woman would have looked fine, but they'd all be wearing big dirty coats with their hoods pulled over their heads."

The man hesitated again, but in the end shook his head. "No. No one like that has come by here."

Ragnar reached into his pocket after this. A moment later, he pulled out the pamphlet, and showed it to the worker.

"Do you remember giving one of these to anyone who matches that description?"

The man sighed. "We have thousands of those. Some of them can just be picked up by passersby. And I don't work at this desk all the time."

The youth frowned. It was worth a shot, although he hadn't thought it would have much success. He put the pamphlet back into his pocket.

"I suppose you wouldn't mind if we looked around the place a little." Cloud finally asked.

This made the worker rather uneasy. "Er…actually…"

"I thought you wouldn't." Cloud cut off, turning to Ragnar and tapping him with his elbow. "Come on, kid. Let's see if anything sticks out."

RULER

"Man…I've got to stop taking these late missions…"

Rude said nothing in response to Reno's complaint. Krystea didn't either. Elena, however, business-like as always, turned to him and frowned. "Why can't you ever be more responsible?"

"Because I don't have to be responsible to these goons. I'm not a New Shinra peon." Reno answered as he leaned his head back, letting the wind catch his hair. For once, the Turks weren't using one of their trademark helicopters. Instead, for tonight, they were using a car. A rather nice one too, with a feature that Reno had personally requested: convertibility. Naturally the top was down now. The girls in the back were a little upset at how this let the wind blow their hair a bit wild…but Reno seemed to be enjoying it fine. Rude, as he was to almost everything, was indifferent as he drove the car onward down the road.

It was getting close to midnight at this point. Elena and Krystea had turned in. Rude and Reno had just stumbled in, with Reno appearing far more snookered than Rude. They had currently been holed up in Neo Junon. With the loss of army personnel due to the invasion, the General had ordered them there to supplement the forces that were located there. This was especially important to him since the PPA had survived destruction yet again that afternoon. They had complied, although it seemed to be a do-nothing job. Reno and Rude had immediately visited the officer's lounge, while Elena and Krystea brushed up on their skills a bit before turning in. However, that had changed now. They were once more being called into duty.

Returning to the Northern Continent two months ago had gone surprisingly well. The general seemed to have forgotten all about how angry he had been at them. Once more, they were accepted everywhere, and free to move about as they desired. Reno did note that New Shinra soldiers seemed to be keeping an eye on them everywhere they went now, but they had nothing to hide. Another thing worth noting is how many more "perks" they suddenly had. They were given better accommodations inside the New Shinra HQ Dome, and part of the staff was now devoted toward helping the Turks maximize their performance ability, in terms of physical and mental performance. They ran physicals, analyzed their ability in exercising, diet, and gave them other regiments to work out on. Naturally, they were all a bit confused at this sudden special treatment…and as such had been wary.

However, right now, it was business as usual.

Neo Junon was all but abandoned at the moment. Except for a few patrols and the night staff, the few army divisions left in the port had turned in for the night. It had been the clearance tower and their workers that had called Reno just as he was getting ready to stumble into bed to save strength for his hangover tomorrow. Apparently, there had been an older model helicopter that had come to Neo Junon. They claimed to be a reclamation team, and they possessed the right codes for clearance. However, all reclamation teams had been called in months ago, and their story seemed fishy. It was confirmed to be suspicious a minute later when a second unidentified helicopter was found to be following the first. It was immediately blown out of the sky, but that left the remaining one, which didn't run but proceeded to land as cleared. This made them suspicious. What did it mean? Were they in on some sort of plot? Or were they ignorant of the fact they were being followed? Perhaps the abandoned chopper had been a decoy? Or was it a hastily made plan?

Prior to landing, a division of some hundred troopers was sent in to intercept the crew on landing. In addition, the Turks had been called in case it was something bigger. And now…here they were, speeding along through the buildings that made up the base to head toward the designated helipad.

At last, on turning a corner, it came into sight. Just up ahead on the road was an elevated platform off the ground. The Turks recognized this as one of the many helipads at this port. And sure enough…it had a rather archaeic helicopter resting atop it. It looked like one of the older issue ones that had been released way back prior to the Wutai-Shinra War. At that time, the large bulky transport ones were the only ones available for use, so even Turks of that day utilized them. As they neared, however, they saw no crew. The only sign was the open doors on the side of it, indicating they had dismounted. There was also no sign of the hundred-soldier unit sent in.

The Turks began to zero in on this and examine it as Rude dropped speed and closed. Even Reno was able to look up and watch it. Drunken as he was, he had so much experience that he could hold his liquor remarkably well. If he hadn't been able to…he wouldn't have lived this long in the Turks. At last, they pulled up alongside it. Rude swiveled the car around to park, and then shut it down.

The four immediately went out. Rude calmly exited his own door. Elena, eager as always, leapt over the side and began to rush to the machine itself, looking for clues. Reno tried jumping out the same…and banged his leg in the process. The otherwise silent night was broken by a muffled obscenity. Lastly, Krystea calmly exited her door as well, and drew Valentine. By this point, Elena's head was inside the open helicopter, and looking around.

Reno rubbed his leg and got wobbly to his feet. He pulled out his nightstick a moment later, and turned to the blonde Turk. "…What's the verdict?"

"Nothing here." Elena answered, ducking back out again. "No signs of a struggle either. If the New Shinra boys have already got here, they may have picked them up."

"Haven't heard anything from it on my end." Rude answered, gesturing to the radio in his ear.

"Then maybe they took the fight somewhere else." Krystea answered with a shrug. "They should have arrived before we did. They could have run for it."

A creak got the attention of the four. They snapped around to the source, Krystea raising her weapon as she did. However, what they saw wasn't that dangerous. It was just one of the side warehouses for the helicopter equipment and spare units. What had creaked was the open door. It had been slid apart wide enough for a man to squeeze in, and it had rolled slightly in one direction.

This, however, gave the four of them pause. Even if they didn't know procedure for the docks, which they did, a look around the area would have revealed that the warehouses were normally closed and locked. The fact that one would be open this late at night without workers running around was a suspicion. They didn't know if the New Shinra had come by here or not, but it became clear that one or more members of the crew of that helicopter were hiding out there.

The four didn't risk making anymore noise. If they were there, then they would hear them coming. Instead, Reno, suddenly seeming to have sobered up immensely, turned to the others. He knew he could be seen if something was looking out from the opening, so he hid his face from the doorway. Once he looked to the others, he mouthed the word for a formation. The three saw this and immediately understood. A moment later, Reno turned back around. He turned far more casual, and seemed to resume looking around the area for anything out of the ordinary. The other three immediately did the same. After a few moments of this, Reno looked up and arbitrarily down an alley on one side. Pretending to notice something, he turned to Elena and motioned for her to follow him. Both turned and began to walk to that spot. At the same time, Krystea snapped her head up to the opposite side, pretending to hear something. She immediately held her gun in that direction, and then moved out. Rude noticed this, and covered her from behind.

The four, now in two groups, continued their charade and moved out into alleys on either side of the helipad. They kept it up until they were clear from anyone's view. Once there, they quickly dropped the act and turned back to the warehouse. Moving as stealthly as a cat, both groups began to creep around, working their way through other alleys and making their way back to the sides of the warehouse. They kept their eyes and ears open for anything as they did, in case the enemy had sentries or made a break for the helicopter. Nothing happened, however, and the four were free to move their way forward and around, making their way to their destination.

At last, both groups reached it. Once there, they pressed against the wall and moved their way forward. They went around the edge of the building, and arrived at the front. Still sliding, they inched their way toward the center, and the opening in the middle. Both groups froze there, and held for a moment. They turned and looked to each other, making sure they were ready. After taking a few deep breaths and holding for a bit longer…they sprung. Reno and Krystea leapt out in front of the opening, weapons brandished, with Rude and Elena right behind.

They saw nothing. Given how late it was, and how dark outside, the lightless inner chamber was impossible to see. If there were people in there, they could be hiding somewhere in it, staying silent, and the four would never see them.

Reno looked around a moment in the front door. Then, he formed a slight frown. Yet in the end, he turned behind him and motioned the others forward. Krystea and Elena were hesitant, but Rude gave a nod. Slowly, Reno began to step inside. Krystea matched him, angling her body out to cover a better area. Elena and Rude matched backs with them and went in as well, guarding them from being jumped in the rear. They continued to stay silent, in case, for some reason, the enemy didn't know they were there. They inched their way slowly into the dark warehouse, slipping into it and out of the doorway…

Abruptly…Reno's foot stepped into something that squished. On doing so, he immediately halted, and made something of an uneasy grimace.

"What was that?" Elena turned around and asked, her voice immediately echoing throughout the entire chamber.

On hearing this, both Rude and Reno rolled their eyes and sighed.

"So much for the element of surprise…" Reno said aloud with a grumble.

Elena heard this, and immediately paled and recoiled a bit where she was. At any rate, Reno turned and looked to Rude. The big man, seeming to anticipate this, turned to him.

"Rude…do you got a light?" Reno asked with something of a grin.

The man gave a single nod in response, and then reached for his suitcoat. A moment later, he produced a small type of cylinder. One could mistake it for a flare, but in truth it was very different. Holding it in one hand, Rude slammed his palm against the bottom of it. Something within the cylinder began to ignite, but before it could, Rude looked up to the dark ceiling, and flung the device up to it as hard as he could. When he did…a sort of putty came out of the sides and began to expand. On smacking against the ceiling, the putty proved to be adhesive, and immediately stuck it there. After doing so, the cylinder finally did begin to spark, and slowly it began to produce a green phosperous glow. Within a few moments, it was glowing far more than a regular glow stick, and became almost blinding to look at. It showered down on the area, filling the entire warehouse space with green light.

And on doing so…the four stiffened as they saw their surroundings.

The warehouse was a slaughterhouse. Bodies were everywhere…and most of them hadn't simply been stabbed or shot. Many of them were sliced to pieces…or worse. Blood was sprayed everywhere, like some sort of gruesome paint job. Reno looked down with a look of unpleasant disgust at his feet. Apparently…one of the entrails had made it that far, and he had stepped in it. With a frown, he raised his foot and snapped it to shake it off, and then looked up ahead again.

They only looked over the slaughtered division for a moment, before they noticed movement. That…and some sort of sticky, sucking sound. The four looked…and saw some bundle of rags slithering forward, seeming to adhere to the ground as it did. On seeing it…the memory of the four immediately registered. They knew who this guy belonged to… What more, more rag-clothed individuals began to move forward as well, attracting their attention. They were all centered in the middle of the room, facing the four in front. There were five of them all together. However…they also noted that one individual not in rags was standing in front of all of them… He was dressed in a white lab coat instead, and had slim and slicked back features. He looked at them with cold, merciless eyes. Krystea had no idea who this person was…but as for the others, they were unnerved, and showed some puzzlement on their faces. This man was a stranger to them…but something about his face seemed familiar…

Krystea tensed up a bit, remembering her previous experiences with these things. The others stayed in their positioned, and zeroed in on the man.

"It's about time you showed up." He addressed at last. "I was beginning to wonder how many of these soldiers I would have to kill before they sent you in."

"…So who exactly are you? Dr. Strange?" Reno asked after a moment.

"My name is Dr. Hoeng, but that isn't important." He answered. "What is important is how much time I have left…not much. So, to avoid being killed, I suggest you hand over your friend."

Krystea frowned. "Go to hell." She answered, before aiming at the man and firing.

The three Turks recoiled, Reno in a bit of unpleasant pain, as the cannon that was Krystea's gun went off. However…fast as she was, there was one faster. Suddenly, one of the rag clothed people shot forward. Moments before her bullet could impact the man, this one extended its appendage. However…they soon saw it wasn't an appendage at all. It was some sort of giant, scythe-shaped, black claw, with serrations under it. Krystea's bullet, which had enough power to pierce a tank, struck this appendage. The thing beneath the hood gave a cry of what could only be agony, although it sounded like nothing any of the Turks had ever heard, before the claw bent sharply inward. However…it did not break. Krystea gaped in amazement. She didn't think anything could stop her bullets…

Hoeng, however, frowned and turned to the other four. "You best had follow Martel's example next time. If I die, you all spend the rest of your lives like this."

This made the others stiffen, but then turned to the Turks. Immediately, they stepped forward and placed themselves in front of Hoeng. They appeared to shift themselves to the ready for a fight. The other Turks tensed up in response. Krystea herself turned slightly behind her, looking to the open doorway. She had a feeling they might need an escape route.

Reno grinned and rubbed his nose. "You guys may think you're pretty tough, after our last encounter, but that was because you had the element of surprise. You'll find that one on one we're a bit harder. Although…" Here, the Turk gave a pause, and looked confused. "One thing does puzzle me. It looks as if you six managed to kill all these New Shinra soldiers all by your lonesome. But back at Junon, you guys cut and ran as soon as you could, even though there were more of you. Care to explain that?"

"For one…we couldn't risk being seen." One of them answered. "We didn't want to risk a fight. The doctor said he wouldn't restore us if anyone was made aware of what exactly we were. That distinction doesn't exist tonight. We can kill you at our leisure. However…the other reason, and the far greater one…is that we didn't have time to call for…'reinforcements'."

Elena looked puzzled at this. "…Reinforcements?"

In response, the one that spoke drew back his sleeve. Underneath was an arm…sort of. It was a sickly jaundiced color, and it appeared to be made of some sort of tough tissue that wasn't flesh. What more, it was intensely segmented, almost looking as if he was made out of little quarter-sized squares. He let his fingers point down to the ground after this. He paused a moment, and then shook his hand.

To the surprise of the four, the tips of his four fingers fell off from his body and to the ground, hitting like some sort of hard nut. Elena looked disgusted. However…there was no blood. It seemed as if those segments had just detached. The four continued to look to them…and soon noticed something. They only lay still for a moment, before they began to shake and shift…as if something was within them.

Suddenly, one side of the segments cracked, and out came a tiny, hooked, circular mouth. The hooks immediately extended and lengthened, and they gave tiny cries. Now, the other Turks began to look sickened as well. Slowly, a segment containing this mouth pushed out from the body. As it did, it cracked open more, and segments popped out on the sides of it, revealing tiny little limbs to go with it. As this happened…the thing began to grow. It was as if its segmented body was suddenly being filled with liquid, and it was starting to expand. As the thing rolled around and produced more segments and features, it continued to enlarge. The things began to make more hideous cries, and rolled around on the ground writhing as they grew.

After a few moments, the things stopped forming. What was left was something horrible. They looked like compressed little humanoid bodies with hunchbacks. They had the giant, ugly mouths with suckers, and they looked around with translucent, small beady eyes. Their fat little segmented fingers extended and closed, grasping the air. Then, they rolled their odd little bodies up and began to come to their feet. On standing, they proved to be about two and a half feet tall apiece. They heaved and sucked as they did so…before turning their full attention to the four in front of them. The Turks were revolted.

"You…gave birth to those things?" Elena nearly shrieked in disgust.

"No." The hooded man answered. "I gave birth…to these things."

To the shock of the Turks…the entire room suddenly came to life. Leaping over crates, coming out of empty helicopters, popping out from behind rafters…and leaping down over the entrance they passed through to block the door…were the things. Hundreds of them. They were shoved into every nook and cranny of the warehouse. But now, they came out and began to make horrible little sucking noises, all while aiming at the Turks in the front of the room. They held for now…hissing and snarling in their spots.

Hoeng cracked a smile. "Good, Scion. Now…have them kill the others. But make them leave Krystea."

Scion stiffened at that, and turned behind him. "…I told you, master… After they've been alive for ten minutes they begin to stop responding to my commands. I don't know if I can control this many at once…"

Hoeng hesitated a moment at this, losing his smile. He thought for a moment about this facet. But in the end, he shrugged. "We'll deal with that problem when it comes."

With that…the four hundred creatures gave hideous cries…and all shot forward at the Turks at once.

Immediately, the four went back into their huddle, turned, and began to fight. They swarmed in on them from all sides, biting, sucking, and clawing. They dropped from the ceiling, scurried across the floor, and bounded at them. It was like a horrible nightmare…but the Turks weren't going to succumb to it. As they charged, they answered back with full fury.

Reno smacked away the first one with the back of his nightstick before firing out an electrical pyramid. This caught another eight before he snapped around and fried another three with the end of his prod. One was slithering up to his feet at this, but he responded by giving it a kick between the eyes. Vicious as they looked, they weren't that durable. His powerful blow indented its head and sent it flying back.

Elena rapidly emptied her clip, killing one with each bullet. However, a tide was coming at her, and she couldn't destroy them all. Luckily, on running out, she resorted to her fire materia and began to incinerate them. They seemed to hate fire, and after engulfing three of them in flames, the others hesitated on their side, giving Elena enough time to freely cremate more before loading her gun up with another clip.

Rude preferred the direct approach. Fingers oustretched, claws snapping, each one came up to him with intention of latching their mouths into him or worse. However, Rude was just as vicious and fast. As each one approached, a powerful blow from his fists smacked it back. The first one took a right cross, being thrown into a wall so hard that it squished on impact. The next one nearly had Rude's left fist put through its head. The third was knocked back by a powerful kick from Rude's feet, bowling into its comrades. The fourth received an axe kick to the top of the head, compressing it to only eighteen inches. Two tried jumping at once…but Rude merely brought both hands together in a slapping motion and crushed their heads together. Another dove for his face. Rude caught it with one hand, slammed his skull into it with a killing blow, tossed it into the air, and then let it fall until it was in range for a roundhouse kick. The impact not only nearly cut the boneless creature in half, it sent even more flying as the projectile of a creature was sent flying into them. On impacting one, the strength was so great that it killed that one as well.

Krystea let her bullets fly. Each one obliterated at least four of them, and usually more. Her shots tore through the entire building, turning the creatures into sickening piles of yellow slime. Even after she had used up her bullets and had to reload, the creatures were hesitant, looking nervously over their dead comrades and seeing not even organs left. Even when they did get enough courage to fight back, Krystea was able to hold them off using only a one-legged defense until she finished reloading and resumed.

This went on for about a minute, as the Turks cut through the creatures right and left. Some of them got close enough to claw or scratch one of the group, but in the end they all died. Soon, a pile of carcasses surrounded the Turks. They had killed over a hundred of them…and the creatures, small minded as they were…began to grow fearful. Elena spread out her flames farther, and that further discouraged them from attacking. The edge began to go into the favor of the Turks…

However, it didn't last. Abruptly, while Elena and Krystea were in the midst of blowing away another score of the things…purple appendages shot out and seized their weapons. They gave a quick twist to wrench both of their wrists, making them cry out, before yanking back and ripping their weapons from their grasp. Elena and Krystea spun around in surprise to the source, and saw that one of the hooded things now had both weapons. It had two more tentacles out as well, these ones wrapped around Reno's prod. However…this one didn't lose it so easily. Reno was digging his feet into the ground and holding onto the weapon with his teeth grit.

"Leggo!" He protested. "You know how much this thing cost me?"

Rude turned around and noticed the sudden reversal of fortunes. Not only that…but the creatures seemed to realize it too. Some were still attacking at this point, and Elena and Krystea were forced to fight them off with only their fists. But unlike Rude, they weren't as deadly, and soon the things began to swarm them. Rude realized he was the only one still at the top of his game. But before he could find a way to help out…another surprise occurred.

The biggest hooded figure of them all gave out a cry so deafening that both his comrades and the creatures as well as the Turks recoiled in hearing it, feeling pain from the blast. After this, he charged forward to the Turks…headed right for the strongest link. Rude wheeled around and saw it coming. On doing so, he tightened his fist, and stood his ground to prepare for a fight. The thing continued to charge, and Rude waited until he was just within range. Then…Rude abruptly leapt off of the ground and did a backward somersault in the air. As he did, his foot shot out and caught the huge hulk beneath the chin, first with one kick and then the other.

Yet on landing again…Rude saw that the creature hadn't even paused. Shooting forward the rest of the way…it swept out a brown, furred, clawed fist in a backhand motion. The result snapped Rude's head violently in one direction, making him stagger. Immediately, the thing dove forward, seized his body, and gave another roar as he snapped him around and flung him into the debris of some of the crates that the creatures had broken out of. The impact was hard, and sent more wooden pieces flying everywhere. Rude gave out a cry of his own on landing. He came to a rest, sprawled out on top of the debris. But in the end, he groaned and looked up to the thing.

It turned and began to stalk toward him. "Your fancy little moves have no impact on the sheer strength of a grizzly bear." He grunted…before moving to charge again.

Krystea and Elena were both trained in physical combat, and many of the initial creatures that tried to come on them fell down. However…they weren't nearly as fast as Rude. As the fires died and more creatures gained enough bravery to charge, it soon became a losing battle. Abruptly, one of the things lashed out and imbedded its hooks into Krystea's leg. The woman cried out in agony before snapping the appendage. It flung the creature off…but at a costly price of tearing open a bigger wound. More soon jumped in and began to grab their arms before they could punch their comrades. They started to smack them together at this, but soon more were grabbing their legs and arms. Others were starting to jump on their bodies as well, forcing them to bring their heads to bear.

"There's too many!" Krystea yelled.

"Get out of here!" Elena yelled back as she slapped another away. "We have more guns in the car!"

"You can't hold them off by yourself!" Krystea protested, stepping on another's head.

"Well we won't be able to hold them much longer together either!" Elena answered. "Just move!"

Krystea hesitated…but in the end, she was the junior officer to Elena's senior. And being a Turk always meant trusting each other in a crisis situation, and being ready to make sacrifices. She held a bit longer, but in the end cursed and turned to the doorway. She immediately turned up her fighting a notch and batted away the nearest creatures, before reaching down and iron palming the ones on her legs in the head, making them go limp and drop off. After that, she moved for the still open doorway, smacking a few other creatures away as she came…

However, as she did this…she didn't notice that another one of them reacted…the same one with the scythe claw from earlier. It snapped its head up to see Krystea running…and then moved. It crouched for a moment, and then suddenly ran forward. It moved oddly as it did so, seeming to not be able to run normally, but still very fast. Once it got close to the huddle of creatures swarming Elena…it crouched and leapt into the air. Showing incredible jumping ability, it leapt over the mass, past Krystea, and toward the doorway. Just as Krystea reached it…it twisted around and landed, ending its jump on its feet. It stood facing the woman down.

Krystea hesitated a moment…which was nearly fatal. Abruptly, the thing made an inhuman noise and shot forward. It swung out its other arm…revealing an identical claw. The woman gasped and jumped back, just barely missing it. As it was, her silk tie was severed from the rest of her clothing. Not stopping, the creature brought its other scythe up and down on top of her. Krystea paled a moment, but then quickly used her combat techniques. She slammed both of her palms together as the scythe was brought down, treating it like a sword. To the surprise of the creature, she soon had this limb in a sort of "blade catch".

Krystea used this moment to swing one foot up and bludgeon the thing beneath the chin, while it was stunned. The head snapped back quickly, and the hood flung back in the process. However, just as abruptly, the thing snapped its head back down, not seeming to have been more than stunned by that move. Krystea gaped at the face she saw…if it could be called a face. It was like the face of a human woman and that of some giant wasp or mantis creature had been melded together, with one hideous expression twisting into the other in certain spots around the face. Its mandibles clicked and moved, accenting their sharp points…while the woman's one human eye glared at her murderously.

With that, the thing suddenly showed its strength and began to push her back. Krystea, to her amazement, was soon overwhelmed, being nearly pushed to the ground. The thing was far stronger even than her, and she worked out. It began to swing its other claw at her, struggling to cut her with that. The woman could barely hold onto the power of the one claw she had. She swung out her feet and smashed it into the torso of the thing…each blow doing absolutely nothing. She struck it in the head again…only to have its face snap up a moment and then return just as quickly, with no change in the murderous eye.

Reno grunted and twisted where he was, trying to get his prod out of the grip of the tentacle. The creature itself grunted, seeming to be having a lot of trouble holding his own. The two were in a tug-o'-war.

"I said give it back!" Reno cried.

The thing responded by sneering…and then suddenly producing two more tentacles. He shot these out and grabbed the prod with them as well, increasing his torque. Reno grunted and stumbled forward a foot…but then got his bearing and yanked back just as strongly. He swung his body back to use gravity to help him, and to the thing's shock continued to hold. It sneered again, and swung out four more tentacles to grab it. Soon, it was enclosing the entire prod, and yanking it back full strength. Reno began to soon buckle again, his grip slipping.

"Give it up!" The thing hissed. "No one can beat me in a pulling match!"

Reno grit his teeth and continued to hold back. His strength was ebbing though, and he was slipping. But rather than get disheartened…in the end, he grinned instead.

"You want it that badly?" He finally asked…as he maneuvered his hand down the handle. Once he had it hovering over a certain button, he waited until just the right moment. Then, in a flash, he both released the stick and pushed the button at the same time.

"Take it!"

The sudden loss of one side of the pulling match had a predictable effect. The thing cried out as it stumbled backward. Its tentacles had an elastic effect, snapping back to him and sending him staggering from the snap. But worst of all for him…the pole suddenly became electrified, and he was grabbing the shocking end of it. The thing screamed in agony as a jolt of electricity far greater than that of a trio of cattle prods went coursing through his body. Electricity shot out of his mouth and tentacle ends as he flew back…before he too slammed into a bunch of crate debris, fell back, and sprawled out on the ground. Giving a moan…he let his limbs fall, sprawling out on all sides in the debris and crates he was surrounded by, and released the prod, letting it roll to the ground.

Reno grinned and cracked his knuckles. A few of the creatures tried to move in now…particularly the ones he had trapped…but he quickly decked them to knock them away. While they were still coming, he charged forward, knocking more out of the way as he did. He charged for the fallen one, wanting to make sure that he didn't get up again. Soon he passed by the creatures, and made a straight course to the thing itself…

When suddenly, it snapped its head up, and it grinned from beneath its hood.

"Surprise!"

Then, it suddenly yanked up with its previously thought lifeless and splayed tentacles. In reality…he had been lengthening them and bringing them under the crates and debris on either side of him. Now, as Reno closed in, he drew both together and yanked up a pair of boxes. Reno didn't even have time to stop before the thing smashed his head in between the pair, breaking them in the process. Almost instantly, Reno faltered and collapsed to the ground, going face down into a pile of rubble and debris himself.

The bear creature moved up to Rude as he still stayed sprawled on the ground. Rude stayed down as the thing grew closer…but then lashed out at him when he was about to grab him. His foot went out and smashed itself into the thing's knee. However, he did not get the breaking sound he intended. On the contrary, the thing continued to move forward. Snarling, it reached down and seized Rude with his claws, and then yanked him off the floor.

Rude answered by giving the creature two crosses against the face, both of which barely made it shift. The thing hissed at him again, and then merely snapped around and flung him into another pile of debris, smashing through it in the process. Rude cried out and sprawled as he landed in it, stretching himself out again. He groaned afterward, before slowly beginning to pull himself back to his feet. But he had barely gotten his flat feet under him again when he felt himself seized by the throat. It immediately crushed inward, choking him. Rude's eyes expanded underneath his glasses, as the creature yanked him up and put him face to face with him. Rude gagged, but then drove one of his fists forward in an iron palm into the thing's throat. Again…no effect, and a moment later the person snapped around and flung him once more across the room, sending him smashing into more debris.

Rude collided hard with it, before splaying out face down. There, he held for a moment, motionless, getting covered with dirt from the warehouse, and a bit torn up from being flung around so much. But then, he exhaled, and began to push himself up from the ground yet again. He slowly managed to get on all fours. Once again…that was as far as he got before a powerful, crushing grip seized him by the leg. Rude rasped, his throat aching and feeling it hard to swallow, before turning around and seeing the beast grabbing him again. He grit his teeth, and answered by driving his foot down and crushing against the thing's fingers. Normally, it would have smashed the bones, but this one showed nothing. It rose to its full height, dragging Rude with him, so that he was dangling upside down in midair. Still having a free leg, Rude drove it forward into the thing's teeth. Again, it snapped its head back a moment, before returning it to the previous position. All that Rude was doing was annoying it. It grit its teeth at him a moment, before abruptly swinging him upward like an old doll, letting his body flail up in the process, and then swung down to smash him against the floor. Again, fragments of boxes and other equipment lined the floor, and his body was thrown on it roughly, breaking some in the process and driving sharp edges into his flesh as well. After smashing him this time…the bald man went limp.

Elena punched one way to drive another creature out of her way, even as three more grabbed that same arm. She crossed over with her other fist and punched another, but it was a far weaker blow, now that three were climbing on that arm and getting ready to embed their hooks in her. Crying out in frustration, Elena kicked one away and then stepped on another…before the things swarmed her legs and kept her from moving. More jumped on her back and head, and all of them working together began to immobilize her. Not giving up without a fight, Elena swung her head one way and the other, smashing as many of the things out of the way as she could. But the number was just too much. And now that they had her, more began to embed their fangs into her. Elena continued to struggle, but it became more futile by the moment. The things not only swarmed her, but her strength was failing too. She began to get dragged down…

Finally, Elena seemed to break. With one last cry, she fell down and flat against the ground. She immediately went limp and lifeless, seeming totally drained of strength. The creatures howled in delight, and immediately began to swarm over her, embedding more of their hooks into her flesh…

But to this, their "father" called out.

"Enough!"

The things didn't listen. They continued to attach themselves to her, no longer caring for the whims of their master.

"I said enough!" He yelled louder. Beneath his hood…the man grew tense and nervous. He was a monster now, but he had once been a human. True, he had made these creatures to kill the New Shinra that came in, but then he could control them. He had them finish them quickly or immobilize them for the others. He didn't have them finish them off like this. He knew what they were… They were like tapeworms…attaching their mouths to anything living and sucking the life out of them. He hadn't been made into a leech like his friend…but this was no less bearable…knowing that he had actually begotten these monsters, knowing that each one had an image of him in it… Although he had wished to kill the Turks like the others…not like this. Not in such a nightmarish, horrific manner…

They weren't listening. They were growing independent again. Until now…he had always managed to kill them before they got too independent. But if he failed…what then? Would they grow into…one of him? He couldn't bear the fact.

Immediately, he snapped around to the lumpish one. "Mortimer! Eat them! Pick them off that woman!"

The lump looked around momentarily…but then seemed to nod. It slithered/walked forward, easing its mashed body over to the fallen Elena. The creatures already had prey, and ignored him for the most part. One did grab onto him as he came forward, no longer distinguishing between friend and foe. However, his hood looked down to it for a moment…and a second later the thing seemed to suddenly give a cry as it seeped into the rags of the creature. It gave one last cry before being silenced forever. Now free, the lump was able to go all the way to the side of the fallen woman.

It hesitated a moment, glaring at them all. It seemed indecisive, unable to decide what to do for a moment. But it wasn't. It was just plotting its next move. Once it made a note of all of the creatures, and planned accordingly…it reacted.

Abruptly, the rags of its torso shredded…as jelly-like pseudopods snaked out en masse and attacked the small tapeworm creatures. They only had a moment to look up in surprise at the attack…before each one of them found themselves engulfed by one of the creature's pseudopods. Some grabbed more than one…breaking off into smaller ones and latching onto the others. But once they touched them, invisible forces sucked them into the mass of the creature. They screeched and protested, but for all of their efforts they could do nothing. Biting or clawing the thing only engulfed them quicker. Soon…all of them were caught by it…and being sucked inside it, through the tentacles, and into the central body mass of the thing.

Elena was left sprawled on the ground behind. The things had left some gashes as they were pulled out, but other than dermal lacerations and some ripped clothing, she would be fine. The lump fed the last one into its body cavity…beginning digestion…and cast one last look to the woman. After that, it simply turned away and began to slither back to its previous spot.

Krystea struggled underneath the grip of the creatures. It snapped its mandibles at her viciously, trying to latch onto her face. Meanwhile, it's own incredible strength continued to push against her. She was forced back, needing to move to stay away from the thing. The creature began to push her against a wall, meaning to force her back. Luckily, as it got near, Krystea pulled up on the claw and put her feet against the wall, and then quickly walked around it to get out of the trap. Hissing, the thing began to swing its claw at her again, forcing Krystea to arch herself back and sacrifice a good position to avoid getting sliced.

The woman soon realized she wasn't doing well. If she let go, the thing would be able to claw her without restraint. But if she didn't let it go, she was practically at its mercy. She had to do something… At last, she saw a possibility. She continued to struggle for a moment longer…but then suddenly twisted around, using the claw as a fulcrum, and brought up a leg to smash it into the far larger eye of the creature. Durable as it was, this hurt. The thing screeched and backed up, raising its claws to its face in agony.

Now free, Krystea released the claw and moved in. She slammed her fist into its throat…but a moment later recoiled in pain. It was like trying to punch through lumber, which wasn't as easy or painless as some martial arts performers could make it look. And Krystea wasn't as good at hand-to-hand fighting as Rude or even Elena. Nevertheless, she couldn't let up. She came forward and began to smash it across the face, letting everything she had go into it. For all of her efforts…she felt herself banging up her knuckles and cutting her skin against edges of its "exoskeleton", all while failing to make it even back up a foot. Eventually, the creature recovered…madder now. Roaring, it swung another claw at Krystea, forcing her to duck to avoid having her head sliced. She darted in afterward, driving both fists into the stomach of the beast. It had the same result…if not even worse. The thing once more slashed at her, forcing Krystea to leap back.

She hesitated here a moment…but then tried a new move. Abruptly, she flung her body forward, landed on her hands, sprung her body up into a handstand, and then shot out with her legs to seize the creature's throat in a pincer. She immediately twisted and crushed at the same time while pulling back, trying to inflict some pain or throw on it. The thing sneered in response, and ineffectively tried to reach its claws up to pry her off. But for all her effort and straining…Krystea couldn't do much. The thing was too heavy, and the exoskeleton went over its windpipe. She was struggling, but couldn't fight back…

Suddenly…Krystea was interrupted. A small yellow thing leapt down and landed in front of her. Her face was filled with a sucker full of hooks. Gaping in surprise, Krystea slipped and let the thing go. It immediately sneered and staggered back, getting away from her. Krystea, on her part, fell to the ground, her head still twisted behind her and looking at the thing upside down. In a moment, she would have sprung up to fight back…but it was too late. The thing was already opening wide and coming…

However, just as it crouched to leap…a similarly textured hand shot down and seized it by the neck. Immediately, it started wriggling fiercely, but from the way it was held it was impossible to get free. It could only writhe and snap viciously.

Krystea looked up to who had this thing, and traced the arm up to a source. To her surprise, it was the same person who had spawned these things, still mostly shrouded in rags. He brought the thing up slowly, holding it in front of his face. Once it was there, he glared at it a moment, watching it twitch and snap at everything, including him. Krystea didn't see his face, or how cold and loathing it was at seeing it. All she saw was a moment later when the man made a fist…cracking the thing's neck in his grip. After that, he let the monster fall to the ground, dead.

Krystea hesitated, but then soon realized her present situation. She turned and saw that the one she was fighting had recovered now, and was walking back to her. Not only that…but so were the others. They were all turning from their previous opponents, and focusing in on Krystea as they walked forward. There were few of the small creatures at this point, and those that were there were being killed by them. She heard a grunt from the big one.

"Feh…this was too easy. Who thought the Turks would be such wimps? I got a bigger fight from some of the soldiers…"

The one with the tentacles was retracting them as he walked up as well. "I can't believe he fell for such an obvious trick. Charging at me like that? You'd think he learned to fight yesterday…"

"Forget them." Hoeng announced. Throughout the entire fight, he had stood idly by and let his minions do the work for him. However, now that the action was over, he too was making his way forward. He looked rather calm, but also focused entirely on Krystea. As he came, the others soon moved in around her, until they surrounded her fallen body. Her opponent looked ready to attack, but held its ground for the moment. Krystea looked around herself…her eyes filling with anxiety. She couldn't fight them all off by herself, and now they were moving in to hit her together.

"Now…if you're finished…" Hoeng addressed as he came to a halt next to her. The others stopped as well. "Are you ready to come along?"

Krystea looked around for a moment, again examining the situation. She soon realized she couldn't possibly fight them all off. She was already sore and tired from tangling with the one who was already there. The others were already down…and she knew what that meant. This made her scared, and she swallowed back a lump in her throat, but in the end, she turned back to the man. She quivered a bit, but finally gave a nod.

"Alright…I'll go with you. Just leave the others alone."

The tentacle one snorted. "Yeah right. And have them come after us like last time? Better to get rid of them now…"

"…No!"

The sudden sharp voice didn't come from Krystea. To her surprise…as well as to that of Hoeng's comrades…it had been the scientist.

The woman and the others turned around to him, gazing in puzzlement. To Krystea's amazement, Hoeng's face had abruptly broken, losing its cool, emotionless edge…and turning to anxiety. For a moment…he looked actually scared, or nervous about that. And yet, at the same time…it was as if some sort of fit had come over him, as if by saying that was the equivalent to a mood swing or outburst. He actually steadied a moment, and seemed to try and compose himself.

In the end, Hoeng swallowed, raised his head, and smoothed his suit out. "…It doesn't matter anymore." He simply stated, much more calmly. "They can't stop us at this point."

Tentacles looked as shocked as a hooded man could be. "But master…!"

To this, Hoeng suddenly turned emotional again. He snapped around, and gave an icy stare to the creature…immediately making it cring.

"…Are you refusing to obey me?" He asked with a biting tone to his voice. "Do I need to remind you of the penalty for disobedience?"

The thing swallowed, and immediately shook its head in the negative.

Hoeng glared at him a moment longer, but then drew himself up once more, turning calm once again. Afterward, he turned back to Krystea. He looked down on her as he reached into his pocket. Krystea, on her part, expressed nothing but puzzlement at him. This was odd. Why did he react so strongly to the idea of killing the Turks? Did they know him? She certainly didn't… As she stared, Hoeng pulled out a small mint tin from his pocket. He opened it up a moment later, and pulled out an object from within. After doing so, he closed it up and replaced it, and tossed the object to Krystea. Instinctively, she reached out and grabbed it, and looked down to what it was.

It was a red pill…but not just any red pill. A moment later, she looked back up to Hoeng in surprise. "How…how did you get this?" She asked. "Only Turks use these drugs!"

"Then you're aware of what it will do to you after you take it." Hoeng answered calmly. "Do so now."

Krystea hesitated at that. She knew exactly what this was. It was a knock-out pill. Their organization used it, and until now she had thought they did so exclusively. Obviously, that had changed. But she still didn't want to take this drug. She'd be out for a good couple of hours. She began to regret not taking more seriously Reno's training to immune herself to various types of poison and sedatives. After all, if they were the only ones who used this, then why make yourself immune to it? Trying to hold it in her mouth would be useless. The gel cap was weak, designed to dissolve in light moisture if a potential victim tried that. What more…during while she was out, he could do anything to her. She already saw the things around her…knew what he appeared to have a knack for doing.

In the end…Krystea decided that despite the plan, this was no good. She frowned instead, and threw the pill back in Hoeng's face. It smacked off of it, causing him to close his eyes a moment, before falling down to the ground.

"Shove it." Krystea snapped at him.

Hoeng's eyes slowly opened, and he glared rather darkly down at the woman…in a very unnerving matter.

"…Wrong decision."

Immediately, a purple length snapped out and encircled Krystea's throat. It quickly tightened, becoming a choking hold. A moment later, she was ripped off of the ground by it, being hung in mid-air. She gagged, trying to breathe, and looked out to the source. Tentacles had done it. She was about to reach out her arm to grab for the appendage…when the big one grabbed her from behind. Suddenly, she found herself engulfed by a bear hug, and his massive arms went out and pinned her own to her sides. She was left with no resort but to choke and kick wildly. Neither of which did anything.

While Krystea's face began to turn red, Hoeng calmly moistened his lips, and then slowly bent over and down to the ground. He lightly picked the pill up from off of it, and then straightened once again. After doing so, he turned his head to the one that made the monsters. He gave a nod on doing so. The thing nodded back, and then reached out and seized Krystea's cheeks. He grasped her hard, running his scaly fingers along her skin, and forcing her already gagging mouth to stay open. Hoeng responded by putting the pill inside it. She had no air to spit it out with, and before she could use her tongue, Hoeng reached out and slammed her mouth shut. To her shock…he was incredibly strong, far more so than he looked. He forced her mouth closed with no effort at all. He then reached out and pinched her nose closed. After that, Tentacles finally let go.

Krystea held for a few seconds…but she had no air left. She was beginning to turn purple in the face. She tried to break free, get out another way…but it was no good. Soon, she began to spasm and struggle violently, flailing about hard to try and escape. Still, it was hopeless. In the end, she couldn't control her body. In a desperate effort to breathe, she swallowed, and took the pill with her.

Finally, Hoeng released her. As the woman gasped and began to breathe heavily, he turned away and began to put some distance between him and her. She panted for a moment…before gritting her teeth in rage and glaring at him.

"I'm going to kill you for this…"

"Probably." Hoeng answered with a bored voice. This made Krystea freeze again, and look at him in puzzlement. However, he offered no other explanation. He was on another task now. He reached down into the side of his coat. A moment longer, he emerged with a kind of gun. What kind it was…Krystea never saw. In addition to being nearly asphyxiated, she was also tired and drugged. As she panted, her breaths grew slower and slower. Her eyelids drooped, and her mouth hung loose. While Hoeng reached into his pocket again, she gave one last sigh before spilling forward, going limp in the grip of the big one.

"We're done here." Hoeng answered, seeming to know exactly when Krystea would pass out, without turning around. He removed a small bottle soon after, and plugged it into the gun. "Mortimer…dispose of the rest of Scion's creatures. Malcolm, take Mrs.…Valentine…" He paused here, almost as if it was a joke. "…to the helicopter."

Malcolm gave a nod, and turned to begin to move back to the entrance. As for Mortimer, he turned to the nearest dead creature. He began to inch his way over to it. For him, this was one meal he didn't mind eating. He hated those things as much as he hated what he had become. He could get rid of one of them at least. Besides…after tonight, he and the others would finally be human again.

That cheerful thought was the last thing Mortimer ever thought of…before a sizzling, smoldering ball of fire shot down from the ceiling and impacted him…immediately blowing him into a million pieces in a giant ball of flame.

As the huge eruption tore through the warehouse, flinging debris and body parts everywhere, the creatures froze in the middle of their tasks and struggled to shield themselves. A stench of brimstone filled the air, and smoke and heat rippled over their bodies. A deafening boom rang in their ears. Shocked and stunned at such an event…they were only able to cringe a moment, protecting themselves. Even Hoeng had crouched and brought his arms in front of him, still holding the gun. But then, they turned and looked back to see the cause.

Malcolm made a pitiful call. "Mortimer…"

But there was nothing left…only a few piles of slime that were now aflame. A black hole was in the ground, with fire and debris scattered around it. He had been totally obliterated by the attack. Those gathered began to have their memories register, remembering seeing a ball of light streak down from the ceiling. Wheeling around, they looked up to the source. On doing so…the human parts of their brains were stricken with terror. Monstrous as they were now…they, like normal humans, felt fear.

Especially when faced with a demon.

A horrific black nightmare was in the rafters. A gouged hole in the ceiling nearby, appearing to have been torn up with the bare hands…or claws…of this thing signified its entrance. Its black wings, bat like and dark as obsidian, stretched out behind it, filling the ceiling and accentuating its power. Its horrible twisted gargoyle face brandished long, saber-like teeth, and its eyes burned red. One of its fists still smoked from where it had thrown the ball of flame. It rippled with muscle and power, without love or pity in its eyes or black heart. It eyed them all like a starving, rabid lion eyes a lame rabbit.

And Hoeng noticed one other thing…it was dripping, and smelled of seawater.

Thinking back to what happened when they landed…when the New Shinra shot down something behind them…and thinking to what he already knew…Hoeng understood.

"…It's him." He murmured aloud to himself.

The thing sneered one more time…and then sprung. Diving from the ceiling, it lunged at those who were gathered. On doing so, they scattered in its wake, reeling back from it. The big one dropped Krystea in the process, letting her lifeless body fall to the ground. The thing landed a moment later, flipping around and touching down on the ground with its bare feet. It hissed again, and turned a glare around at those gathered near it.

However, after a pause, Malcolm gave out a yell and shot for the creature. The thing noticed him coming, and hissed. It waited until he was within range…and then merely lashed out with a backhand to smack Malcolm away like so much debris. Not only did his huge body, weighing close to a thousand pounds, get batted away, it actually went flying through the air, sent soaring back before hitting the sheet metal walls…and then being punched through them.

Slim shot out next, extending its appendages and wrapping two around every limb of the creature. The thing hissed and turned to him…and then with a quick movement snapped its arms and legs. The sudden force ripped each tentacle out of the socket of the creature, sending its blood flying and making him scream in agony, staggering back. The pain was so sharp, he couldn't readily bring another tentacle to bear. That was too bad for him…because the monster shot forward at him next. He recovered just in time to look at him and cry out in terror…before the thing shot its hand out and seized him by the head. Roaring like a demon, the thing yanked its arm back, and then swung it down while still holding onto the tentacled one's head. He smashed it into the cement pavement, immediately embedding it into it…or possibly crushing it flat against it. As blood ran out from under the hood…the body went limp and moved no more.

Screeching, Martel extended its claws and shot at the beast. But it too heard this, and snapped around as she was about to attack. It reached out and seized both claws, and held them perfectly firm as she attempted to stab it with them. It roared in her face, gnashing its teeth and snarling. Then…with a show of incredible strength, it yanked her body off of the ground and over its head. It released one hand and moved it to the leg instead, seizing it. Then, giving a bloody roar…it proceeded to dismember Martel, literally ripping her to pieces.

Scion was frozen in terror. Much as his monsters had terrified him…this thing was so much more vicious and horrific. It was like the devil had come into flesh. It freely let Martel's blood rain down on it as it ripped her into smaller and smaller pieces. But once its bloodlust had gotten all the satisfaction it could out of her, it dropped the remains to the ground to join the rest. After that, it snapped around…and made Scion gasp in terror as it zeroed its blood red gaze on him. It began to turn, looking to mutilate this victim next…

When suddenly, the body of Hoeng darted to its side, jammed the end of the hypodermic gun against its arm, and injected.

The thing roared in sudden surprise and pain from the medication, and angrily swung its arm around, smashing it into Hoeng. Although it appeared that the power of the blow would kill any man, Hoeng merely cried out as his body was flung back across the room and smashed into the sheet metal wall. He only winced when he made an impression of his own in it. But before the inertia could release him to let his body fall to the floor…the monster was on him again. In a flash, it was standing before him, stretching out its seven foot height, and having a black talon enclosed around Hoeng's throat. The man's eyes widened, he gasped, and he immediately reached out and seized the talon. But it was hopeless to dislodge. He looked up, and saw the blood-covered, diabolic face of the monster looking back at him. A hungry glare was in its eye, as if it was trying to think of the best way to kill him…

But then, suddenly…the beast's face faltered a bit. It seemed…distracted, almost. It gave out a much milder grunt…and slowly began to lower its arm. Hoeng, in turn, was slowly lowered to the ground as well. As this happened…the scales of its wings began to separate and fall to the ground. Its body began to shrivel, shrinking into a smaller isometric form. The twisted face began to smooth out again, and the ears and nose began to regress. The black skin itself seemed to flake off and shed, forming a pile of dark material underneath the thing.

Abruptly, the sound of flesh ripping sounded…and the thin tail of the beast fell off and to the ground, like a lizard shedding its tail. Not only that…but soon, the arm that was holding Hoeng disconnected from the body too, dropping him the rest of the way. He slumped down into a seated position, but was still alert. With wide-eyed anxiety, he quickly pulled the arm off of his neck and began to rise again. The thing kept shrinking, and its muscles kept decreasing in size. The eyes stayed red, but began to develop white corneas. The black skin that fell began to reveal baige, softer flesh underneath. The wings finished falling off, their ends peeling like the rest of the appendages. The one-armed humanoid left continued to shrink until he neared six feet. Black sprung again from the top of his head, lengthening immediately to go down to his neck. It soon became clear that it was hair. The rest of the face finished smoothing out…revealing human features.

As Hoeng recovered and Scion stared in shock, the demon disappeared all together. What was left was a tall, powerful, dark-haired, one-armed, and totally nude human. Even now…his very presence exuded the dark feeling that they received from the demon creature. However, the man didn't stay in that position long.

He closed his eyes…exhaled a massive breath…and then collapsed.

Hoeng and Scion alike paused a moment, breathing hard and trying to relax from what had just happened. As they stared at the fallen man, another sound was heard at the opening. Moments later, Malcolm, face covered in blood from a nasty head wound, stumbled in, looking ready to attack. However…he soon realized he was too late. He turned around, and with growing horror saw that his comrades were already dead. He stood there, framed in the entrance, and bowed his own head in solemn reverence.

Scion continued to try and calm down, while Hoeng at last was able to straighten up. He swallowed, and then smoothed himself out again. Afterward, looking more calm and regular, he began to reach into his pocket again. A moment later, he emerged with an identical bottle. He removed the now empty one and threw it aside. As he did, he pointed to the man. "Alright…take the woman and him back to the chopper."

On hearing this, both Scion and Malcolm snapped out of it, and turned to Hoeng.

"Him?"

Hoeng looked down on the fallen man a moment…his eyes dark.

"…I want to see how that beast fares against Specimen NA."

"You're crazy!" Malcolm boomed as he stormed in. "He killed our friends so easily! He'll kill us too! You want this monster running around back at the base? We aren't just your pawns to have killed as you please!"

Hoeng turned his head calmly to Malcolm at this. However…his eyes were intent and burning again. This made the creature pause a moment. After this, he turned his head to Scion, making sure he saw this too.

"…The only thing you both should be concerned about is this." Hoeng stated, raising the bottle, to let them all see it. After doing so, he lowered his arm and plugged it into his gun. As he began to pull back his sleeve, he continued. "This represents the final period of our little game. After injecting one vial into this man, which I was forced to do due to your lack of battle capability, I am left with just this one."

His sleeve pulled back, Hoeng put the gun up to his arm and pressed the trigger. Once it had flowed into him, he pulled it away again. He looked down to the hypodermic gun…and then simply tossed it away like so much waste. He looked back up afterward.

"That gives you all six hours." Hoeng sharply continued. "Six hours to fulfill my requests before I lose my ability to assist you. Six hours to finish this experiment before you all spend the rest of your lives as you are now. If you are angry at me…then by all means, attack me. Kill me if you wish. Then damn the rest of your friends back at the lab to their fate, even if you have accepted yours."

The two paused at this. They hated this. They regretfully looked to their dead. So many of them were dying…one after the other. They didn't even have time to give them proper burials…just dispose of their bodies as soon as possible. Now they would leave Slim and Martel behind as well, leaving them to rot or be dissected by the New Shinra scientists. However…another fear was also prevalent. They had died like this…died as monsters. If they didn't comply, they were going to die as monsters too. And that was a horrible thought.

In the end, Malcolm exhaled with a grunt. Then…he began to walk forward to pick up the dark man, leaving Krystea for Scion.

RULER

To be continued...