Hello. Before I begin, I'm going to have to get on my soapbox for a moment again. This time, I'm biting the hand that feeds me.

On trying to write a brief comedy fic a few months ago, I realized that this site doesn't allow scripts or MSTs. I'm like, "What the crap?" Granted, I've seen people abuse the script format countless times in the past, but I still don't want to see it outrightly banned. I think that format is the best for comedy. If you try writing comedy in prose, it gets too slowed down, and the only type of humor that works is dry. You need script format so that the dialogue is rapid and the joke comes through, so you won't get bogged down by words. Even syndicated columnists like Dave Barry occasionally use script dialogue to get their humor across.

And on the note of being anti-humor, why are there no MSTs? (Note: For those of you who don't know what this is, it is a derivative of MST3K, or Mystery Science Theater 3000, which is infamous for making fun of horrendous movies by heckling the picture while they watch it. The fanfiction equivilent is for a writer to take a bad fanfiction and then insert their own little quips and comments at points that are especially bad or warrant humor.) I love MSTs. Sure, I know they can probably be overdone by amateur people who just enjoy making fun of other people's work, but when they're well done I love them. My own work has been MSTed in the past, and I thought the result was not only hilarious, but also pointed out that I was being far too redundant and overly descriptive in my chapters. Frankly, I would love someone to MST a chapter of this particular fanfiction (especially the ones that I got lazy on and just tried to tough my way through).

And on a side note, I have to get this rant off my chest though it's random. There are certain cliches in the vernacular that I would really like to see burned in effigy. I can't stand it when someone says, "Don't even think about it." Ooo... I'm thinking about it. What are you going to do now? That's right. Walk away, you pansy. And what about "Here goes nothing"? Usually, a lot is riding on that moment, so actually a lot could "go" with it. So why do they say nothing? Finally, there's these stupid politicians who end their political ads with, "I'm (insert name) and I approve this message." It started with Bush but now it's spreading to others. Why are they doing that? What? Are their ads somewhere where they say, "This ad was praising me, but I don't approve it." Or why not have their voices put in on their opponent's ads that mudsling them? "I'm the politician who got trashed in this advertisement, and I don't approve this message."

Phew...alright, that's enough crud for one day. It's been a while since I've posted. In reality, this chapter has been done for some time, but I wanted to make some headway. Then one thing led to another...schoolwork, road trip, sick with a cold... At any rate, here you go.

---

Rude's work was finally done. A complicated set of cables was now connected to the mostly-gutted control panel, but it would finally work. With this accomplished, he quickly reached into his bag one more time, and pulled out a second decoder. He attached this to his new cables that he had strung through the machine, and activated it. This time, it worked like a charm. Digits flashed on the display of the decoder as it ran through the system momentarily. But after a few seconds, the panel turned green, and with a groan of metal the elevator doors opened.

"Let's go." Reno immediately ordered, barely giving Rude time to disconnect his decoder before moving into the open machine.

---

The man grinned even wider now, almost seeming to defy the constraints that a smile would put on a man. The evil and venom within him seemed to begin to exude. He knew now that Vincent knew the truth.

"…You were dead." Vincent darkly uttered at last. "I burned your remains myself."

"Wonderful thing about Jenova." Hoeng answered. "No matter how many pieces it becomes…it can always grow back. I'm not sure what exactly happened. Perhaps a part of my brain survived. Perhaps a finger fell through the grating and hit the street. I can't really remember anything until a few weeks later, when I had regrown into something resembling a chordate. Even then, it took me a long time to finally emerge as something vaguely humanoid.

"Most of the facilities I used to use were gone, but I was aware of this place. I came down here and began to rebuild the teleporter prototype, intending to use it for the purposes that I described before. I was able to work quite peacefully, knowing that all others who had been aware of this facility's existence were dead. Slowly and surely I was able to construct my plans and build this device to my specifications.

"But then…two years ago…I ran into a snag. I had injected myself with a critical dose of specialized Jenova cells, so that they would integrate with my body, essentially remaking me into an offspring of Jenova. However, it didn't work out. Jenova's essence was too savage and primal…and too aggressive. It began to take over my entire body. I can only assume that this was due to the disturbance of the three Sephiroth larva that showed up. The cells were trying to consume what was left of me, and remake me into a piece of Jenova myself."

"Pity they didn't succeed." Vincent darkly returned.

"They nearly did, mind you." The man answered, still grinning. "Even before they did, I was degenerating mentally. It was reverting into a primal alien myself, without the intelligence to finish my work. My own genes were too far corrupted to salvage. As I lost intelligence and rationality by the hour, I quickly programmed this machine for a fusion. I then sought a proper…'donor', so to speak.

"In the end, I would have gone with a bum off the street if I had to, but fortunately that wasn't necessary. Tseng of the Turks dropped by, you see. He was poking around where he didn't belong, rooting in the garbage of the old Shinra. Now that he's a part of me…or perhaps, I a part of him, depending on how you look at it, I know he was looking for something that he might have been able to use for leverage one day assuming someone went against the New Shinra. He was also trying to find the source of the Sephiroth clones that had rampaged downtown not long before."

Vincent's gaze narrowed. "…And he found the source, didn't he?"

Hoeng chuckled. "That was kid's stuff. A science project. I didn't actually think that flooding Midgar's water with that low amount of Jenova cells would have an impact. I'm a bit pleased it did, although the project was yet another failure. At any rate, he normally would have been enough for me…but you are well aware of how durable these Jenova cells made me. Even you couldn't contest me alone. And once I was done with him, I ran the fusion program. I was very pleased with the result. A few batches of human DNA was just what I needed to keep Jenova in check a bit longer."

Hoeng's smile faded after this for a moment, into a rather disappointed expression. "Unfortunately…I was no longer Hojo, just like I'm not Hojo right now. There was as much of Tseng's brain kicking about in here as there was mine. I never studied the mental effects of fusion. For a few months I wasn't sure what to do. Half of me wanted to continue my work…the other half wanted to rejoin the Turks…literally." He paused here, and then smiled again. "But luckily…the goals of Hojo, and his mental fortitude, were what Jenova craved. As it began to invade my system again, my tendancies once again tipped toward that of Hojo, and a decision was made."

Mental fortitude…you mean your madness. Vincent thought. Hojo was already insane with no regard for life. Jenova was the exact same way. It appeared now that this man, whatever he was, was being warped toward insanity by Jenova. Because Hojo had been insane, he was gratifying toward his nature…

"But…as you may have guessed from my context…" Hoeng continued, speaking slower now…with a more deadly undertone. "Jenova was merely halted…not stopped. Soon it began to aggressively retake this body. I couldn't risk another fusion. If I did so, this new one would have more personality than the other two did independently. It would be in control. To finish, I needed to find a way to arrest its progress.

"I found a temporary solution. A special drug had been made prior to the fall of Shinra that had been going through lab tests. It was supposed to be administered to SOLDIER members who met with a violent reaction to injection with Jenova cells. It somehow managed to arrest the progress of the cells in integrating with their host. I injected myself with a concentrated dose, and found success. The progress was halted.

"But like I said…it was temporary. The drug weared off…Jenova came back stronger. I had to inject myself once a day to keep it back. Then…I upped to twice a day. Then three times. Currently, I am up to four times…and I'm afraid this is as far as I'll ever go."

Vincent's eyes opened again. "…What do you mean?"

Hojo grinned and chuckled. He backed up a bit, and then formed an open expression as he held his arms out wide in front of him. "I give up." He answered with an almost cheerful voice. "They win. I will abandon my flesh before the sun rises today…and will emerge as a new creature. Farewell to life. Farewell to humanity. Who knows? Perhaps someday, my offspring will move to be the next form of life on this world. Perhaps I will gain the immortality that Jenova possesses. But at any rate…what is left of my humanity will be fading very soon. I gave the last dose to you, Vincent, to force you to revert out of your Chaos form. You see, the mutational genes operate very similar between you and Jenova. My own drug must have less than ten minutes at this point. Already…I feel myself becoming more giddy…and my thoughts a bit more feverish." He grinned wider…and a light shone in his eyes. It was one of growing madness, as if his remaining sanity was slipping away right there.

"…I can actually feel it starting to crawl under my skin, Vincent. She becomes more aggressive every time… By now, she's ready to devour my humanity alive. Tear it to bloody pieces. This is my last official experiment, Vincent. And you are a privileged audience to it."

With that, Hoeng turned away and back to his console. He swept his arms and coat as he did so, moving in a grandiose fashion. With rapid strides, he made his way over to the console. Yet as he did this, Vincent noticed something else. He didn't seem to realize that his other "experiments" were listening in on him. And they didn't seem to like what they heard. They were beginning to look to each other and murmur. But as for the mad scientist, he reached his console and pressed a few buttons. In the end, he turned to Vincent, flashed one more grin (Were his teeth getting larger?), and then pressed the enter button.

Despite his position, Vincent saw something light up on screen, and he was able to read it.

PROJECT APEX PROTOCOL

REAGENTS

Cylinder A: Subject A – 1.00

Cylinder B: Subject B – 1.00

Cylinder C: Subject C – 1.00

RESULTS

Cylinder D: Subject ABC – 1.00

- Subject A – 0.25

- Subject B – 0.25

- Subject C – 0.5

TIME TO FUSION: 10:00

Press any key to initiate.

Hoeng leaned off of the console at this, and began to walk back toward his prisoner. "Well now…that's all taken care of. Ready to commence at any moment. However…there's still one detail left to attend to, Vincent. And that regards what I am going to do with you…"

"How about what you're going to do with us?"

Hoeng's grin suddenly faded. He turned around, his face looking annoyed that it had been interrupted. On turning around, however…he found himself faced down. Not three, but four of the creatures were standing there glaring at him. While Hoeng had been displaying his results to Vincent, a fourth had come in. And now, they had made their way over to him. Three of them stood at the side of the console. One of them was the new one…an ugly black shriveled creature with a mouth of tentacles and looking to be made of rubber bones. The one full of bone spikes, however…had come forward and stood before Hoeng. Their faces were dark and tense, and they did not look friendly or happy.

Hoeng narrowed his gaze at them and nearly sneered. "…What are you all staring at?"

"A man who has a debt to pay." The bony one nearly spat.

"Nimrod and Serena are both dead!" The shriveled one spoke. "They're on their way here!"

Hoeng glared at this one. "And why are you here cowering away, instead of stopping them?"

"To hell with them, and to hell with your experiment!" The bear snapped.

"You were trying to cut us out, weren't you?" The segmented one added angrily. "You were going to watch this experiment, then you were going to leave us to rot!"

Hoeng grit his teeth. "If you four know what's good for you, you'll-"

The scientist was cut off…as abruptly the bony one stuck his hand under the scientist's jaw. His fingers were outstretched, and he let bony claws rest under his chin. However, the two bony claws on the end extended and scraped against his head on either side, soon catching it within a bone fork. The other two claws sharped under his chin, threatening to extend and finish the job.

"If you know what's good for you, you'll never order us around again." The bone one sneered. "We've killed dozens in horrible ways for you. We're rather good at it by now."

"Change us back now!" The bear roared. "Your experiment can wait!"

Hoeng, despite his position, hissed in response. "I have no time to finish this experiment…I need to do it now."

"Then too bad for your experiment." The segmented one answered. "And too bad for you."

"You should have thought about this before you made us your toadies." The bone one continued. "Not so fun being on the receiving end of my claws, is it? Now you cure us right now…or we rip the girls to pieces, and your experiment burns in hell."

Hoeng stood silently in response to that. The creatures glared at him. They were serious this time. They had banished all other fears. They weren't going to wait. The bone one continued to hold him, and actually extended and retracted his claws a few times against him to show his intentions. The man burned with subtle anger, looking over all of them. Vincent saw this…saw how much he suddenly hated them. It wasn't just a mere anger…it was true hate. He looked like he was being insulted to be attacked by his own "experiments", as if somehow his intelligence and science made him a better to them. He was taking on more of Hojo's characteristics all the time…

In the end, however, the man inhaled deeply, and straightened up. His face calmed somewhat.

"You want a cure?" He asked…his voice laced with venom.

Vincent saw him move, though the creatures didn't. After that moment, he would wonder for some time if he should have yelled a warning. But at the time, his decision not to made all the difference for them.

Hoeng's thumb suddenly moved down and to a wristwatch-like band on his wrist. But it wasn't a wristwatch…it was something else. Some sort of device. Once it reached there, he pressed it.

The bony one suddenly spasmed, and then shot back. Screaming in agony, he pulled his claws away and put them to his head. The rest of the creatures turned to him in surprise and shock at this sudden action. But he didn't notice. He began to throw his head about violently, grasping his skull and screaming louder and longer every second. The things hesitated…but then tried to come forward and grab him, trying to calm him down or ask what the problem was. But it was useless. The bony one smacked them away and continued to scream. He was beginning to foam at the mouth as his rage built, becoming more violent and wild.

Suddenly, he threw himself to the floor. His comrades looked helplessly on as he thrashed about madly. He threw his head against the ground again and again…until blood began to come out and bones began to break. But still he flung about. His screaming turned into an unintelligiable babbling. He spat up everywhere. He began to vomit. Blood started to come from his nose and ears. Shocked, the other creatures began to gape and back off as he threw a larger and larger fit.

Finally, the bone creature went limp. And yet even then, its body continued to shake. Vincent became aware of a noise still going…a light humming. It was coming from the creature. But already, he could sense the heat dying on it. It was dead…either by the invisible assailant or from snapping its own neck in its madness. He turned his gaze away from him a moment later, along with the others, and back to Hoeng.

He was standing calmly again, his face once more tight with madness…but now, also sadistic pleasure.

"There's your cure." He hissed. After that, his flashing eyes glared at the others…almost ravenously. "Would anyone else care for some?" He glared over them a moment. The creatures, on their part, backed up in growing fear. Vincent realized that some sort of implant had to be in them that controlled them. But apparently, they had not realized that Hoeng could activate it from such a remote location until now. They began to cringe before him, staring at the man in horror…both at what he could do to them, and his sudden wickedness.

"Oh come now!" He snapped with mad glee. "You were all raring to fight me a moment ago! Now you're backing down like the dumb animals I spliced you with! Don't you want me to free you from this wretched existence? I thought you all said you wanted to die rather than stay in this form!" He turned and glared at one in particular after saying this. Vincent watched as the black shriveled one yelped, and began to quiver with terror. "How about you, Gelon? You're always whining about how inhuman you are! Let's cure you, shall we?"

The thing whimpered, and began to plead. "Master, please…no-AAGH!"

An even more heaven-rendering, horrific sound went out as the inhuman beast fell to the ground and began to spasm as his predacesor had. Terrified, the others looked to him helplessly a moment, before turning back to Hoeng. He glared at them like a hungry lion…and so they continued to shrink back. But over the horrible, inhuman screams, Hoeng spoke out.

"Here's the truth, my little rats!" He blared in twisted merriment. "There was no cure! There never was! Once I spliced you, half of your cells were cast to the four winds! Even if I could possibly isolate the DNA within you, separating you would leave you half an organism…a faceless, formless, bleeding wad of haploid flesh! However…if you really, really hate what I've given you…then be so kind as to stick around, so that I can have those little implants I gave you fry your brains with electricity until they melt!"

The two remaining ones quivered and continued to pull back. However…they were also aghast. After all, they were still human. And they couldn't possibly fathom how a man could be so twisted and evil. He wasn't even shooting them. He was letting them fry…for fun. He was enjoying watching them die. In the end, staying was hopeless. The two swallowed, turned to each other, and then turned back and began to scat away faster.

"That's right." Hoeng sneered as Gelon stopped moving and began to bleed. "Go and live among the rats for the rest of your days. See if the life I gave you isn't preferable to death. Meaningless cowards. You were the slime of the earth when I made you. To the slime you will return."

If the two heard him, they said nothing. They turned fully at last, and ran all the way back to the catwalk. Soon, they were running out of the chamber. Yet after they crossed this, and began to go through the door, the segmented one turned and yelled back.

"I swear to God I'm going to kill you for this, Hoeng!"

To this, Hoeng merely snorted. "Brave words…" He muttered. "For a stupid fool who only found a spine when he was out of range of my remote…" After this, however, he reached up to his wrist and deactivated his controls. Both of the creatures were quite dead by now, and slumped down at last. The buzzing stopped. Hoeng turned back to Vincent after this. His grin was larger now…and his face seemed to be thinner. Parts of his skin seemed starting to blotch.

"Now where were we…" He spoke. "Oh yes, your fate."

With that, Hoeng began to pull off his lab coat. Yet as he did, he revealed something besides clothing underneath. He was wearing a holster of some sort. On one side was a pistol. On the other was a shotgun. Both looked rather high tech, and there was extra ammunition in the belt. Hoeng, however, immediately began to take these off, undoing the whole belt in the process. Then, a bit to Vincent's puzzlement, gathered up the discarded belt, walked forward, and began to attach it around Vincent's waist.

"I bet you're wondering why I'm arming you, Vincent." He began, that same glee on his voice. "I assure you, the ammunition is live and the guns are deadly. I never had your talent for weapon making, but I found one of the more powerful handguns in the Shinra arsenal and approximated one of your shotguns. I'm not worried, you see. It is quite impossible for you to kill Specimen NA. Nothing can, save for a series of ultrasonic codes that I genetically encoded into him. I had to have some way to control him, after all."

Hoeng tightened the belt until it was secure. After that, he walked around behind Vincent. A moment later, to the man's surprise, his restraint began to move forward. Apparently it was on some sort of mobile platform, and Hoeng was able to push it. He began to move Vincent past the console and toward the floor space between his teleporter and his controls…where the closed crate awaited.

"Now then…you might be wondering what Specimen NA is." Hoeng continued as he pushed. "He's kind of a hobby of mine…something I worked on in my spare time. NA stands for Nexus Adapticus. It's a classification name of my own design. As a nickname, I call him simply the Chimera.

"The Chimera does not belong to any order, class, phylum, or kingdom known to man. He is the end result of 437 consecutive fusions into one body. Each cell of his body is nearly bursting with the amount of DNA that is packed into it. He essentially has the characteristics of almost any organism you can think of, carefully packed away to be called on in time of crisis in any situation he might need. In effect, I have created a creature that will instantaneously evolve to everything you do to it. That is why it will be quite impossible for you to kill him. But I do want to see how long you can last."

Hoeng finished wheeling Vincent out. After that, however, he twisted him so that he was facing the crate in front of him. With that done, he turned away and began to walk back to the console. Vincent was able to look over and see him as he did. He turned his head the other way. The girls still had no idea what was going on…what was about to happen to them. Aerith had given up trying to get out. Krystea was still kicking, but she was running out of stamina. Both of them were staring at what was going on…what was about to happen to Vincent.

Hoeng finished reaching his console, and quite calmly turned around on it and sat in the seat. After doing so, he adjusted a few things. It seemed like he was opening something, perhaps unveiling a new set of controls. Vincent also began to become aware that his hair seemed to be splaying out a bit more wildly. And he seemed to be breathing harder…and sweating a bit. After wiping his brow and swallowing, he looked up to the dark man.

"Here's the game, Vincent." He announced. "I'm about to simultaneously release you, give the signal to the Chimera to attack, and begin the countdown to the fusion. That will give you ten minutes to kill the Chimera, kill me, and shut down the program. Now…I doubt that a normal human could last more than a minute against the Chimera. But you? I'm thinking you'll give me a good four minutes easy of entertainment. How's that sound for a game?"

"I think you should wait until the star player comes onto the field."

Vincent heard this voice from behind him, so he was unable to look to it. However…he recognized the voice. Hoeng himself snapped up and looked behind him. The dark man heard a rush of footsteps coming forward, obviously from someone running up. A moment later, a body shot out between him and Hoeng. Just as he recognized, it was a lanky figure bearing a large, scaly, tri-bladed sword.

"Game's over, Dr. Feelgood." Zola announced as he held his weapon out. "I've already called in a PPA division. They're going to tear this place apart and you with it."

Hoeng stared back at him, and in the end merely smiled and shrugged. "So what? The experiment will be over in ten minutes. But thanks for coming anyway. I'll enjoy seeing if you make an appreciable difference in the coming battle."

With that, the man reached down and activated the controls.

Vincent saw an LED display come on at the back of the console, immediately displaying the digits "10:00". Afterward, they started to count down. But as for him, the restraints on his arms and legs suddenly snapped and released, and he was dropped to the ground. Normally a person would have been too stiff to stay up, but he landed nimbly on his feet and rose to full height. He turned his attention toward the last item of interest in the room. The metal crate in front of them. Snapping and hissing was going off around it as the locks and braces were disengaging and falling to the side. Zola himself turned away from Hoeng and looked to it, and after a moment aimed his sword at it instead.

The last of the braces fell off, revealing the crate itself. One door was mounted into it, right in the front. The bolt for that door disengaged, and it immediately swung open, revealing the pitch black interior. Zola tightened his grip. Vincent reached for the hand gun and raised it to aim at it. From the weight he could feel it was already loaded. The two stood their ground, and watched to see whatever horror would emerge.

Needless to say, both were a bit surprised when something finally came out.

Eventually, a rather thin, lanky, and unbalanced type of creature waddled into the open room. It had a thin, smooth body with skin that looked void of scales, hair, or any other distinctions. Its puny arms were as thin as paper towel rolls, and its hands were vastly reduced. The same with its legs. It was using a thin, small tail to help balance it, but it was hardly helping. Its head, almost bigger than its torso, was oversized and seemed to be dragging it down. Two large, black eyes took up most of it. It had a simple jaw with no teeth, and it made a rather pathetic bleat as it stumbled forward, seeming to struggle to even stay alive. It was a dark green color, indicating that it was some sort of humanoid amphibian. But seeing as it stood all of thirty inches off of the ground, it wasn't that impressive of one.

Zola lowered his arms almost immediately. "…Is this some sort of joke?"

The creature itself spent a few more seconds leveling itself. But once it did, it seemed to finally turn its attention to them. Giving another flimsy cry, it suddenly began to barrel forward toward them. Well…perhaps barrel was too strong a word. It definitely flailed around toward them. It seemed to have set its sights on Zola. The basilisk, in response, put his sword away and gave a disapproving look toward the monster. He waited until it was just within range…and then lashed out and decked it.

The thing turned into a rag doll, and was flung violently backward, toppling over itself as it did so. It was smacked nearly all the way back to the crate. On landing however, it began to make a miserable whine. To Vincent and Zola's surprise, the thing was seriously hurt. The middle of its head had a fist shaped indentation in it, and a cracking sound was heard as fluid began to leak out of the wound and mouth. It drooled some sort of blood on the ground and writhed about, like a thing waiting to be put out of its misery.

Zola snorted at it, turning back to Hoeng. "If ever there was a case of too many cooks spoiling the soup, I think this was it."

Hoeng, however, had not changed. "You think it's over so easily? Why don't you take another look at him?"

The basilisk and Vincent both turned back in response to that. Vincent, on his part, grew nervous despite how easy that had been. This thing was Hojo. He didn't kid around when it came to matters like this.

As the two watched…something began to happen. The thing was slowly stopping its writhing, and was straightening out again. The blood appeared to be drying up. Not only that…but the indentation in its head was expanding and flattening out again. But it did more than just reform. As it did…some sort of clear substance began to come out from the head wound. This was a darker purple color, and it quickly began to flood around the rest of its head. It coated the entire top of it, making holes for the eyes, and moving out to form ridges behind it. After that…it began to harden. The two men heard it become solid and firm in some sort of drying noise. Once it was done, the creature began to wobble onto its feet again. It was still unbalanced…but now, it had a large piece of helmet armor on its head.

"That's a neat trick…" Zola remarked, though only seeming surprised and not scared.

In response to that, Vincent pulled up his handgun and clicked it. "I'm not waiting for its second act." He stated, as he took aim at the middle of its head and fired. An eruption of a gunshot later, and a hole was blown clearly through the thing's skull, tearing out most of its brains and splattering them against the back wall in the process. The thing immediately collapsed in a heap and went motionless.

Vincent cocked the pistol again, and turned to aim it in between Hoeng's eyes. By now, about thirty seconds had passed. A humming was beginning to start in the machine behind them. Aerith and Krystea were aware of this. They were looking around in confusion. Somewhere, beneath the metal panels, something was beginning to slowly turn. Vincent ignored this and focused on Hoeng.

"Unless you'd like to join your experiment, turn it off."

Hoeng snorted. "My experiment hasn't even begun to fight."

As if in response…some sort of wet ripping sound went out. Vincent turned back…and saw that Hoeng was telling the truth. The thing was moving again. Not only that, but the fluid that was leaking out of its head was being drawn back in, and it seemed as if the hole that was in it was closing. The flesh was growing around it, seeping back into the wound. In a few seconds, it was solid. The helmet had been cracked, but now it regenerated.

That wasn't all, however. Thicker plates suddenly began to poke out of the helmet. They started to overlay the rest of it, and expand its already thick size. The thing was writhing again, and starting to get to its feet once more. Vincent glared at it a moment longer, before raising his gun and firing at the new plate. As he feared…his bullets ricochetted harmlessly off of it.

They did have another effect, however. They seemed to knock the thing off balance. As it was getting up, it suddenly was bowled over. Either it was the size of the bone plates, or it was the flimsy body of the creature…but it suddenly fell on its back. It once more became pathetic, as it writhed there helplessly a moment, trying to get its legs under it but failing badly. It was too heavy for its own good.

Zola cracked a grin. "So much for that guy."

Unfortunately, Zola had spoken too soon again. As the creature struggled…another ripping sound began. The thin neck of the creature suddenly began to fatten. As it did, the thighs of the creature swelled as well, and the bones in its legs began to lengthen and widen. Its tiny feet enlarged and grew flat and jointed, becoming far more stable than before. Soon, its neck was strong enough for it to lift its head from the ground. Its legs grew powerful and strong, and it was able to put them underneath it and roll back. It put its body back on its feet, and then pushed itself up. It wavered again…but only for a moment. Then, its tail began to lengthen and thicken as well, balancing it out.

Hoeng snickered from where he was. He was quite sweaty now, and his skin…almost seemed to ripple as his teeth appeared to lengthen. "The Chimera doesn't evolve until it sees a problem with its current body. Every advantage you display over it will be countered with a stronger adaptation. It may not be much now…but at the end of two minutes the thing will be more than strong enough to kill the both of you."

Vincent, unfortunately, believed him. Quickly, he put his handgun away, and began to reach for the shotgun next. Blowing away its brain had done no good. Perhaps if it was blasted into smaller pieces… Yet before he could ready to fire, the thing revealed its new speed and power. Suddenly, it lunged forward and dashed at the two of them. To their surprise, it was far faster than last time, and was on them within seconds. It was still headed for Zola first, and the basilisk, surprised by its movements, couldn't reach for his sword in time, and was only able to raise his arm up to shield himself before it landed…

However, his fear soon proved unjustified. The thing opened its weak jaw and bit down on his arm…but the blow was nearly meaningless. With no teeth and no heavy masseter muscles, it only managed to gum Zola. The basilisk recoiled a moment, but then looked up in confusion. However, that soon turned to disgust at the creature gumming him. Frowning, the half-esper lashed out and punched it across the face with a powerful hook. He felt the jaw break underneath his blow, and the impact nearly ripped it off of his face. Bleating again, the thing backed up and shook its head as blood once more flowed from the wound.

Unfortunately…the thing was beginning to recover faster. With a movement of its jaw, it clicked it back into place. Immediately, the jaw started to thicken. As it did, the thing began to grow teeth. Large sharp teeth, that quickly started to fill its mouth in several rows. Its arms also cracked as the bones extended. They hung low and jointed more, making them capable of slashing. Most of its tiny digits stayed small, but the central ones began to thicken and lengthen, as well as grow curved. Soon, they were turning into giant, razor sharp claws.

Zola was through joking now. He was beginning to realize just what this creature could do…and he was learning that Hoeng wasn't lying.

"…We might be in big trouble."

The clock at the console turned to 9:00.

Krystea and Aerith were watching this fight in growing fear, astonished at how the creature was upgrading itself. But at the same time, they became aware that the starting hum was now constant, and growing in volume. Other devices around them were beginning to switch on too.

Vincent could hardly worry about that. His gun was out, and he immediately began to implement it. He raised it to the creature just as it finished upgrading itself, and spun around to him. It snarled once…now definitely a snarl and not a whimper…and then charged at Zola again. That was as far as it got. The gun was already loaded, and Vincent discharged with it. He let out a series of shells into the beast, blasting away at its middle. The skin there was still thin and vulnerable, and soon giant eruptions began to tear away its insides and sent great globs of blood and entrails pouring out in its wake. The creature bellowed in agony and staggered back as Vincent discharged the entire shotgun into it, blasting it with six shells in all. When he was done, the creature was practically torn in half, and collapsed to the ground again to leak more fluids.

The dark man wheeled around to Zola at that. "Keep it busy." He instructed, as he turned and began to move for the console.

Zola opened his mouth to protest, but quickly shut it again. He saw the creature moving again, and turned back to it. To his surprise, the thing was drawing its fluid back in already. Newer, stronger muscles were growing and covering the wounds. Its body's green skin began to be replaced all over with a leathery, stronger one as it began to rise with surprising speed. The basilisk gaped for a moment, but then reached for his sword and began to draw it.

However, the thing was up before he could bring it around, and was lunging at him with his claws. Zola was forced to break off his attack and shoot back before the thing's claws could slice into him. Even so, he narrowly felt his abdomen missed as he jumped back. The thing lunged out and snapped at his head afterward, forcing him to shoot back again. Zola had to leap back soon after to miss another claw swipe. Finally, after this, he began to raise his sword to strike back.

The thing hissed one more time, and lunged at Zola one last time. As it did, Zola came forward with his own sword out, aimed at the ready and prepared to drive it through the thing's chest. Both of them shot to one another…and then both struck as one. The thing's claw darted out and raked across Zola's torso, cutting through his armor straps and into his tender flesh underneath. Zola cried out…but also managed to drive his sword deep into the thing, plunging it through the new skin, through the chest, and out the other side.

The two froze after that a moment. Zola yelled in agony, while the Chimera bellowed in pain and rage. Its blood soon began to flow freely, and with a grunt it began to weaken on the end of the sword. As it did, it looked up to its opponent. As its original eyes were now useless, they began to narrow and shrink, forming more focused ones of a predator. And as they did…they saw Zola in front of them, and watched as his own wound bled for only a few seconds…and then sealed itself up. It soon began to revert to true skin. The thing must have had some brain inside it, for it appeared to gape.

"Yeah…you aren't the only one that can regenerate." Zola snapped with a grin, before shoving forward with his sword still out. The limp creature was powerless to resist as it felt itself flung forward and then plunged down into the floor. Zola put his full force into it, piercing his own tri-blade into the metal and forcing downward. Soon, he pinned the great creature to the ground like a giant mounted insect. After doing so, he pulled back off of it. It writhed slowly, but didn't immediately recover.

"That should hold you a little while." He sneered at it.

Vincent had already replaced the bullets in his shotgun, but after doing so returned it to his side. He pulled up his handgun instead and crossed around to the backside of the console. As he did, he saw that Hoeng wasn't miffed. He adjusted something else on the controls before he appeared to turn a key to something, and then pulled it out. After doing so, he turned to the approaching Vincent. The dark man turned to face him so that he was only a few feet away, and then raised his gun and aimed it between his eyes.

"You have two seconds to turn off the machine before I see how badly you want to live." Vincent darkly stated.

Hoeng merely smiled back and grinned…his jaw seeming to loosen. "Not only will I not turn it off…" He menacingly answered. After saying this, he raised what he had pulled out. It was indeed a key. He proceeded to open his mouth, put it in, and closed again. A moment later, he swallowed.

"Now I've locked the controls to the signals that would kill the Chimera." Hoeng finished with a smile. "So now what will you do?"

Vincent didn't respond.

He let a slug from his gun in between Hoeng's eyes be his answer.

The man, now smoking from the center of his head, collapsed off of his chair and became dead weight. Vincent quickly tucked his gun back into his holster, and then brandished his claws. It was time for a bit of quick surgery, he thought, as he began to step forward to the man.

The clock turned to 8:00.

The humming was quite loud now. The sounds of other machines starting underneath the device were coming on, and they too were beginning to whirl and grow in volume. Krystea noticed this, and angrily lifted herself up, pressing her body against the glass with her back and her feet. She struggled and tried to push against the door. Aerith looked to her and saw this, but then turned…and gaped. She silently cried a warning, but even if it was audible it was too late.

Zola had just caught his breath and turned to the gunshot noise, and had just seen Vincent begin to walk to Hoeng's dead body. But before he could say anything else…he suddenly felt a monstrous hand encircle his throat. Zola's eyes bulged, and he turned his head to see that the Chimera was up. Its body was enlarging now…growing more muscle. It had grown it until it was large enough to yank itself from the ground. By now, it was man sized. The blade was still stuck in its chest, but it appeared to be dealing with it. Its hands had enlarged to seize prey, which it had done now, and it was strong enough to haul Zola over to it. And as the basilisk watched, he saw the mouth of thing beginning to enlarge as well as it glared at him, seeming to get ready to swallow his head whole.

Yet the basilisk wasn't about to let it do that. Gritting his teeth, he lashed out with his free hands and seized the end of his blade. Summoning his strength to bear, he ripped back and tore his blade out again. The prongs on the end of it promptly tore larger wounds through the chest of the beast, causing it to gush blood out profusedly. The thing roared…but didn't look to be in nearly as much pain as before. It was only enough to get its grip to loosen, allowing Zola to slip through. To the fear of the basilisk, the thing was beginning to adapt to take more pain as well. The blood was beginning to change colors…probably to become more efficient to allow it to deal with blood loss more. And though his rip should have torn the heart and lungs of the beast, the creature wasn't staggering from any organ loss. Perhaps it was growing new ones…

Zola quickly backed away, for the creature was back up in no time. Now, a plate of bone was beginning to grow over its chest. That didn't matter to the basilisk. A gun was one thing, always firing off the same strength bullets. Swords were dependant on the strength of their bearers, and weak blows were different from strong ones. He could still hurt it if he tried harder. However…this thing was quickly adapting, and getting in its face was only making it evolve faster. And so…Zola tried something else.

The Chimera was focused on Zola. To that end, the man didn't press the attack…but simply backed away from it. Its new larger jaw opened, revealing five rows of teeth, and it snarled at the man. It lunged forward and attempted to slash at him, but Zola knew better now. He quickly dodged out of the way and put twenty feet between him and the Chimera before it realized what had happened. Snarling, it turned and lunged at him again…only to meet with a similar failure. Zola held his blade up, but continued this technique. The thing adapted quickly to things that damaged it, but to its own inadequacies it seemed more ill suited. By keeping it like this, he might stall it a bit longer…

While Zola began his deadly dance, Vincent dipped down to Hoeng's side. Disregarding the blood…which was turning strangely pink, he dipped his talons into his guts. Without any disgust or remorse, he freely began to slice into it. He cut through one lair after another, and carelessly threw out the tissue and entrails as he did. He continued to dip into the man until he made his way to his stomach… After that, he sliced in, and immediately began to look for the recent addition…

Unfortunately, the Chimera was not as dumb as it appeared. It continued to struggle to hit its mobile target, and failed in that regard. Its body slowly began to change, but without some direct problem effecting it, it was still constrained. However, it had been ordered to attack. And it would attack anything. And as it looked and saw Zola darting around it…it also noticed the man by the console. This one too had attacked it severely, but unlike its current foe he was standing stationary and seemed to be unaware.

On seeing this, the creature abruptly turned away from Zola. Ignoring him, it ran to the console instead. The basilisk raised his head in puzzlement, his face turning to confusion.

"Hey ugly!" He called out. "I'm right here!"

But the thing didn't care. It was rushing for its new target. Vincent continued to dig into the wound, not noticing it coming. A moment later, he finally grasped something metal and small. He yanked it out, but had no time to examine his finding. At that time, he became aware that a presence was closing. He wheeled around, and was just in time to see the bloodthirsty Chimera lunge over the top of the console and sail toward him. As he was drawing his gun, it reached out and lashed its huge fingers around his head in a crushing grip.

But even as Vincent felt the vice-like pain against his skull, he had already drawn his bead. From pure memory, he raised his gun, took aim at the thing's eyes, and then released two bullets. Two splats of fluid burst forth a moment later, and the creature was rendered blind. Enraged, it swung its body around and threw Vincent in the process, trying to cast the assailant away from him. Its strength and speed had already increased considerably…and Vincent found himself flung away from the console far faster and stronger than he had thought possible. And on crashing to the ground and sliding against it, feeling his body impact hard enough to damage even him…he realized it was growing deadlier too.

As the Chimera shook its bleeding head, the clock nearby hit 7:00.

Vincent managed to get to his feet silently, although he felt sore within. As he did, the Chimera spun around and leapt off of the console and back to the ground. Once there, it sneered and snarled at the both of them. Vincent put his handgun away and pulled out his shotgun, knowing full well there was only one vulnerable spot left on the creature to his weapon. Nevertheless, he stood his ground as Zola raised his sword and readied to fight alongside him. This was bad. Now it was between him and the controls. He would have to stall it longer before he could get to them. Contrary to what Hoeng had believed, turning into Chaos was hardly an option. Even if he could transform into it, which he wouldn't be able to do for another few days, the form would kill everything in the area, probably including Krystea, Aerith, and Zola. Worst of all…the creature would probably survive it, meaning it would evolve into an even stronger form than Chaos…

When the thing faced them again, already its eyes were replaced with some sort of armored sensory organ in the middle of its head. As the two held back, the Chimera suddenly changed tactics. No longer caring to wait for the next move, it suddenly transformed anew. The tail behind it grew thinner, and the end began to swell. As it did, a long barb emerged from the rear end and brandished itself. The thing then snapped its rear legs back, reversing them to make itself faster on all fours, and then slammed itself down on the ground. The forearms retained the claws, but began to morph into more locomotion-type limbs. Once this was done, it glared at the two of them a moment longer…before suddenly striking out.

To the shock of both of the men, it lashed out with its tail like a scorpion rather than charging. But when it did so…the tail lengthened considerably, shooting across the room as it did. And it was so fast that neither of them had a chance to react fully in time. The attack was aimed at Zola, and the basilisk only managed to shift slightly to let the barb slice across his side instead of into his chest. Blood splattered out from the wound, and Zola yanked back and cried out in pain as he grabbed for his side. However, unlike previous times in which Zola had been injured…the blood flowed freely now, not slowing down or drawing back in.

Zola grit his teeth in agony. "Damn thing's become poisonous!" He growled. "He's numbing my regeneration!"

Vincent, however, had no time to assist the basilisk. While Zola fell on his back and struggled to stop the bleeding the old fashioned way until his regenerative ability purged the poison, the Chimera moved again. This time, it used its new quadraped body to shoot forward and then lunge at the man with surprising speed and force. Vincent raised his arm to fire…but it was too late. The thing lunged at him, slamming its now larger body into him and wrestling him to the ground. It put him down hard, and pinned him underneath its powerful limbs. The impact was bone crushing, causing some ribs to snap. But it also moved a paw out and pinned Vincent's gun arm to his side, keeping him from using the shotgun. As it glared down on its prey, its mouth opened wide, revealing its rows of teeth. Then…it snapped at him.

Vincent was barely able to move his head out of the way before the head came down…tearing right into the metal instead. It cut open its mouth when it did so, and broke a few teeth. But as it pulled its head off again, Vincent saw its jaw and teeth thickening and regenerating. It soon shot down even faster than before, nearly scraping Vincent's skin when he dodged this time, before buring its teeth into the metal ground, and this time biting out a peace of it. The dark man wasn't going to let it get a third strike.

As it pulled up its head again, Vincent went into action. He still had one hand free…his metal one. And when the creature pulled back, he extended his claws, shot his hand up, and plunged them deep into the side of the thing's neck.

A major blood vessel was still there, and Vincent made sure to slice into that as well as the windpipe. Afterward, he continued to move his talons in and cut, causing its foul blood to spill over him. As he kept his hand moving, it made it harder to adapt too. The thing tried to roar, but only spat up more blood as a result. Vincent moved to pull up his shotgun after this…but that was hopeless. The creature was becoming too accustomed to pain. It kept its arm down firmly on Vincent's limb, keeping it pinned down. And as Vincent continued to try and damage it, it began to adapt to it again. Its blood was growing thicker, making it harder to flow. And he could almost feel new arteries and windpipes growing in as fast as he could cut them… The thing was calming down, and glaring at the dark man again in rage.

However, it never was able to pull off an attack.

Abruptly, the arm that pinned Vincent's limb down was severed from its body.

As the new thick blood began to pour from the wound, the creature roared in pain again. But Vincent, not wasting a moment, quickly brought his gun up and jammed it in his mouth. He discharged six more shots, blowing away the thing's brains, skull, windpipe, and anything else he could manage. The thing soon began to go limp, and once it did, Vincent tore out his limb and slammed it into the thing's chest. The power threw it off and flung it back against the ground.

Vincent quickly got to his feet, ignoring his chest pains, as he pulled the gun out, already moving to reload it. He looked to see his savior, and saw that Zola, despite his bleeding, was still fighting. His face was tight with pain, but he was still coming. Wielding his bloody blade, he shot at the creature again. It was fallen, and he wasn't going to let it get up. He quickly reached its side and slammed the blade down on the other limb, severing that. Not finished, he went up to its head afterward. He brought his blade back one more time…and decapitated it.

Panting and sweaty, the basilisk reached for his side with one hand and let his sword go to rest with the other. He glared at the motionless, bleeding creature against the ground.

"Let's see you put yourself back together after that."

Vincent continued to reload his gun, not sure if it would do any good anymore. "…I'm afraid it will in just a few moments." He answered the basilisk. "I still have the key. The only way to kill it is the way Hoeng said. We have to activate the signal that tells it to die." He turned to Zola afterward. The man looked back to him. "Keep chopping it up into pieces and keep it down. I'm going to-"

Vincent was cut off, however, as the Chimera revealed its new speed of recovery. Its arms and head were gone…but abruptly its sides exploded as two new arms, grasping like the old ones, emerged and seized both men around their necks. Gaping in surprise, Zola wheeled back to the thing, while Vincent, eyes widened, nevertheless turned back more calmly. The thing was growing again, and its muscles were expanding to be able to tackle two opponents at once. It was passing seven feet without the head. It was getting back up again…as the severed arms started to grow back once more. As it once more shifted to being bipedal and got to its feet, it shot out with them and grabbed the men by the torso as well. Its nails were already growing into claws, and digging into their flesh. It yanked both off the ground as it stood.

Then…they were able to see its new face. The torso suddenly shifted…and split. To their disgust, a giant, tooth-filled mouth began to grow right out of the middle of the chest. Sensory organs began to grow where the pectoral muscles had been, auditory organs sprung out from the sides of its chest, and it began to roar at them once more. Its mouth quickly began to grow larger, no doubt planning to devour them.

Zola and Vincent both raised their weapons. The thing merely crushed more on their necks, gagging them, and then lifted arms off of their torso to grab their arms. Yanking their weapons out, it threw them loosely to the side, and glared at the both of them with murderous intent. Vincent grit his own teeth, and raised his talons to cut into the wrist. But that was too late. The thing's body was now far too durable for the blades. Both of them were hung helpless as the creature started to squeeze the life out of them. Despite his own power, Vincent knew he could die too if blood was cut off to his head. And it was now. He felt his vision beginning to dim as he was cut off from air.

The clock turned to 6:00.

But then…abruptly…he felt himself released. His body suddenly fell to the ground, and a moment later fleshy appendages fell on top of him. He lay limp for a moment, but then his body began to recover, and his vision cleared and air came back in. He looked up to see what had happened…

The Chimera was roaring in pain again, looking down over its latest lost limb. It wasn't bleeding, but apparently the fingers on one side of its body had all been cut off at the knuckle. Vincent saw the source. A blade-like appendage snaked away from it, revealing itself to be a green, scaly tail. It was attached to a large lizard creature, who was now in the grip of the other set of arms. Vincent knew who it had to be. It was Zola. He had reverted into his lizard form. And he had just bought him some time.

While Zola applied his new strength to grab onto the limbs that held him and began to pry them off, Vincent got up as quickly as he could and ran over to the console. The Chimera let him go, focusing on his new opponent. The basilisk managed to break free, and then quickly leapt out from the creature's grasp and hopped in front of it. He got on all fours and hissed, flicking his tail about dangerously. The Chimera himself sneered at him, and then lashed out with his tail again. However, Zola was faster in this body. He quickly leapt to one side, letting the blow harmlessly nick the ground where he had been. He kept this up, continuing to stall the creature by dodging it, and trying to buy Vincent the time he needed.

Moving as fast as he could, Vincent returned to the console. He still had the key in his hand, pressed against it while he had been using his gun before. He had managed to hold onto it when it had nearly been smacked away with the gun. Now, he pulled it out as he reached it. It took him a moment of looking it over before he finally found a keyhole mounted onto the console that appeared to fit it. He immediately inserted it, gave a sharp turn, and opened it up.

The Chimera, seeing its tail wasn't doing too well…suddenly split the flesh on the end of it, and made three identical tails. Zola gaped at this, freezing in surprise, which was a fatal mistake. The Chimera lashed out immediately with all three at once, each one independently swinging. The basilisk snapped out of it and moved at the last moment, but it was too late. Another barb caught him along the calf, sending him sprawling and making him cry out in pain again. His side had just finished bleeding too, he thought with irritation. Luckily, the poison hadn't mutated yet, and he began to heal from this far more readily now that he had the antibodies.

But it might not have mattered. Suddenly, his body was tackled as the Chimera leapt on top of him again, smashing its own heavy body onto his. He felt his own bones break as it did, and he cried out in pain. While he struggled to recover from the agony, the Chimera shot out its four limbs and grabbed all four of Zola's. Hissing, it came to its feet, and yanked Zola off the ground. The basilisk hissed and snarled as he found himself stretched out between four different grips. The Chimera glared at him a moment longer…but then began to yank. At this, Zola snapped his head back and roared, feeling the thing start to rip him unsunder…

However, it didn't get far.

Vincent's eyes finally rested on a button labeled, "Terminate". Immediately, he pushed it, and looked up to see the results.

The moment the button was pushed, an annoying, siren-like screech began to peel through the air. Vincent and Zola both found it unpleasant, but bearable. However…the moment the sound struck the ears of the Chimera, a different story played out. The creature's optical organs seemed to widen in shock, and giving a roar louder and more agonized than any it had made so far, it released Zola so that it could cup its ears with all four of its hands. Zola collapsed to the ground, and immediately hissed in pain and agony as well. However, he managed to begin to drag himself away from the creature, as it began to thrash about in place. Whatever the sound was…it was torture to the beast. Like Hoeng had said, ever cell in its body contained a gene telling it to die when exposed to this sound.

After a moment…it began to change. Fluid started to leak out of its ears and its mouth. The skin appeared to beginning to run on it. Vincent saw this and realized it was working. The cells were engaging in apoptosis on a massive level, resulting in fluids that essentially couldn't be reabsorbed. In a few more moments, it would be dead…

However, the creature had other ideas.

Just as the thing began to slow down…it altered. Abruptly, the hues over its body, the purple, green, and leathery colors, changed colors once again, making it more red, orange, and blue instead. Not only that, but plates of bone suddenly grew over the auditory canals, and the ears themselves were sloughed off. After doing this, the creature's writhing began to cease. It calmed down and began to pant, as the fluids around it started to dry up. What size it had lost began to be rebuilt.

On seeing this…Vincent felt a rare wave of fear.

Hoeng had built his Chimera too well. Now, it was adapting to the controls that he had implanted in it. That part of DNA had been causing it trouble…so it had simply mutated the sequence in its genome. Now it was immune. The one thing that could kill it was gone.

What now?

Knowing it was futile, Vincent nevertheless began to reach for his handgun again. He had just pulled it out, however, when the creature recovered. It turned around to him and snarled, knowing he had been the one that had nearly killed it, and now making him the greater threat. In response, it lashed out a barb at him. Vincent's eyes widened, and he attempted to dodge…but it was no use. The thing's reflexes had grown sharper than his. Not only that, but instead of a barb, the end of its tail transformed in the middle of flight into a three-pronged, joined, and spike bearing cap of sorts. On reaching Vincent…it lashed out and grabbed him at the chest, plunging the spike into it as he did so. It wasn't deep enough to reach the heart, and fortunately, his bone stopped some of it. But it still was jabbed in, and blood began to pour out in its wake.

Roaring, the thing snapped Vincent back like bait on a fishing line, spun him around, and then cast him across the chamber to slam as hard as it could into the central cylinder. Vincent's body impacted with a sickening smack…possibly cracking as it did so, with his head smashing against it first. The dark man, strong as he was…went limp. The gun toppled uselessly out of his hand. Despite how much the whirring was going on, the two prisoners looked out in horror at what had happened. Krystea stopped her struggling and yelled something silently to Vincent. However…it was too late. The thing released him, and let his body fall to the ground. A great bloody stain was left in his wake. Yet as strong as the impact had been…the cylinder was intact. It hadn't even bulged.

The Chimera recoiled its tail, satisified that Vincent was dead or at least disabled. It wheeled around to Zola next. The basilisk was stunned at how powerful it was, and how it had so easily shrugged off what was meant to destroy it. The creature swallowed, but then tried to scramble to its feet. It was a useless gesture. The Chimera was on it in less than a fraction of a second, and had once again seized him with all four limbs. Just as before, he yanked the beast up in front of him. Snarling madly, the thing began to yank again, intending to rip him apart. Soon, Zola's body was wracked with agony, and he kicked his head back and yelled again.

Yet somehow…the basilisk was able to keep thinking. It did have one move left… He was pretty sure that even this creature wouldn't be able to adapt to it. Of course…that was if he could finish before it could come up with anything. The creature had adjusted in the middle of dying last time. It could do so again. Then there was the fact that it might not have any eyes that could see it. However…he had to try. Vincent was fallen…he might be dead. And that machine was going to do something terrible to Aerith and Krystea. He had to try and take this thing out…before it became any worse…before it somehow found a way out of this facility and went topside, where nothing could stop it…

Hey any of you espers out there… If you can hear me in the next life, I could really use your help right about now…

Zola clenched his jaw and bit back the pain as best he could. Then, finally, he flipped his head down and faced the creature. He focused his power for a moment, making sure to not only do this…but to do it aggressively and quickly. He had to immobilize it quickly on the cellular level the moment he began. Once he had as much of his dwindling strength as he could manage, Zola opened his eyes and stared right into the "eyes" of the beast. In a display of magical power so strong that it seemed to cut the air, the creature was mentally "slapped" with a wave of powerful energy that made it pause.

The Chimera found itself suddenly looking dead into Zola's eyes. It saw this a moment…before it realized what he was doing. It was effecting it somehow, immobilizing it. On seeing that, the thing tried to close its eyes and look away…but found its body frozen into staring at it. Sneering angrily, it quickly began to grow more muscles and nerve fibers to its eyes, to move them out of the way. But they were immobilized just as quickly. As it grew new eyelids…about four different pairs of them, they quickly were immobilized as well. Not only that, but the immobilization began to spread out around its body.

The thing hissed. Immediately, more muscles, independent nerve centers, and other adaptations filled it, all with the goal of blocking its vision. But Zola concentrated and kept pushing, moving as fast as he could while he still could. New limbs grew from its chest for the sole purpose of covering the Chimera's eyes. They grew so fast that they moved to cover them even as he was working. But just as they half covered them, they were frozen again. He began to pull harder, starting to rip Zola apart again. He managed to dislocate his limbs before he could stop him…causing the basilisk considerable agony…but again failed to finish his work. The thing grew more adaptations. It began to move, shift, and struggle, trying to get its head out of the way. It began to grow a new head with new eyes. But still, the immobilization continued. Zola quickly shorted out as much as he could, moving as fast as he could. It soon became a race between the two.

However…Zola had one advantage. Everything he immobilized stayed immobilized. The Chimera had to move further on to try and outdo it. And so it did. It aggressively continued to grow new limbs, moving away from its torso and to its arms and legs. More appendages shot out for its eyes. Heads and new organs sprouted from its arms, moving down the length as Zola continued to work. But still, the basilisk pushed on. As the eyes of the Chimera began to turn gray and dull, more and more of its body slowed down to a stop. It crossed its front arms, its lower arms, and finally all the way to the hands and digits. At the very last, it tried to open its hands and drop Zola, breaking off contact. But it never received the chance. The last of its body became immobilized at long last.

Zola quickly focused the rest of his power to finish the job. The optical organs of the thing turned rough and stony. It quickly spread out, solidifying the rest of the body. No organic molecules were left. Everything was rearranged into an inorganic, non-charged, dull compound. The wave continued to spread across the thing's torso, hardening it into rock, before moving up and down the limbs. In its wake, it left a bizarre set of structures, heads, and limbs, sprouting everywhere and streaking back to the one goal of the eyes, but each one of them having failed. They too turned into rock, until the wave of stone covered it all the way to the tips of the digits that held Zola himself.

The hands covering the basilisk's limbs turned hard and brittle. They were clasped strongly around them, but the grip was no longer focused. The thing in front of him finished turning completely into a statue. When that was done, Zola finally broke off his gaze. He was tired now, taxed both from physical exertion as well as fighting. However, he had enough strength to end it. Flexing his hands and feet, he grit his teeth and yanked. With a powerful tug, he broke off the fingers of the creature one last time, and freed himself. He fell to the ground a moment later. He nearly tipped forward and sprawled, but he managed to hold on. When he did, he quickly popped his dislocated bones back into place, gritting his teeth through the pain, and then stood firm. He pulled himself back up to his feet before the monster. He glared at it for a moment, but it was just long enough to focus his strength. He saw how bizarre and nightmarish it was now, frozen in that moment of death…with all of the appendages encircling it and radiating toward the center of the eyes…

But then, he unleashed his power, and swung around to strike it with his tail.

The top of the statue was immediately shattered, and broken into a thousand pieces.

As the remains of it fell to the ground and broke as well, Zola let out a massive exhale, and then collapsed to the ground.

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To be continued...