Chapter 4
Vincent standing in the rain arrived in Juno with out any other encounters, hears high hills coming up from behind him. He spins around to a semi-automatic hand gun being pointed into his face. Pointing right back with his own gun at the person standing there. They stood there staring at each other waiting for a moment trying to figure out who each other were. Vincent took the opportunity to give the female a once over. She was wearing a pink and blue skirt with the pink piece hanging lower then the blue. She had a midriff matching the skirt only the blue was slightly longer then the pink. Still leaving her belly to show. She had one arm through the sleeve of a lab coat the other covered by it. She was wearing glasses with one eye closed, and dirty blonde hair done up in a bun. Vincent noticed on the lab coat there was a name tag.
"You are WRO."
"Who is asking."
Vincent puts his gun back in his holster around his thigh
"Vincent Valentine. Reeve sent me."
She twirls the gun around the trigger guard putting it back into her shoulder holster in one motion. "My apologies."
"Shawna Rulie, of the WRO." she starts pacing. " The commissioner has told me a lot about you."
"What happened here." Vincent looks around.
"That's what I would like to know. I am here on other business, but something is not right. It seems to quiet. I see no trace of Deep ground or the squads that were sent in to fight them. Also where are the five-hundred people that should be still living here. Well this is getting us no where." she looks up into the rain, turning back to Vincent.
"Like I said I have business to attend to. I will see you around." she starts to walk off.
"Businesses" Vincent questions. Shawna turns around.
"The commissioner keeps telling me I am wasting my time searching."
"Searching for what."
"Searching..." she pauses for a brief moment. " My reason to live." she walks off towards the open door she had left just moments ago before she heard Vincent walk past.
Vincent decided to walk around the town more to see if he could find any signs of what was going on. When he stumbles across a downed WRO trooper that was barley holding onto life, rasping and grunting in pain. Vincent crouching down close to him to hear what he is saying.
"Ambushed." The man grunts . "By soldier." Then gasps. "In red. The whole squad wiped out.". Takes a couple more gasps. "Warehouse, on the edge of town. They were gathering civilians". He gasps more. Then looks off towards the way he had come and stops breathing. Vincent leans into him closing the troopers eyes. Then standing up he is even more motivated to find out what is going on as he starts off do the pathway.
Click the Deep ground sniper slides his clip into his special made sniper rifle raising it up behind a crate. Looking through the scope he spots a little boy at the far corner of town square. Vincent crosses under a bridge way headed into the town square, he spots the boy with his newsie hat and black shorts with a windbreaker on that looks a little to small. He was drenched and shivering. Vincent headed toward him to offer some help. When he the hair on the back of his neck raised up. He turns to try finding out who or what it is. The sniper gets Vincent right in his cross arrows seeing through the scope that Vincent had made him out. He pulls the trigger missing Vincent by centimeters. Vincent does not flinch drawing out his gun with a twirl. Firing at the crate wounding the sniper. The Sniper fires a second shot not at Vincent but at the boy as to provoke Vincent into making a mistake. As the bullet travels Vincent shoots at it. The bullets collide in the mid air fling into the background. With out pause Vincent shoots the crate again unloading his gun on the sniper. The sniper falls from the bridge dead as a door nail.
"Thank you mister. The ware house I know how to get there. Its through that gate." the boy points to a gate. The bars of the gate are blue lasers coming from the ground up to a top plate. Four lasers a section with sections all the way across the pathway.
"Do you have the card key."
Vincent shakes his head no. it must have dropped some degrees in temperature because you could now see both of there breaths.
" Come on then, I know some one who does. Follow me" The boy starts to run off. Vincent follows this boy to a small condo. The boy runs into the house without a word to Vincent, coming out a second later. " Here you go that should let you in." he hands Vincent a small key card.
"Hum, right thanks kid."
"Avenge, I could not... Mom and dad..." the boy starts to cry trying to look tough in front of Vincent. "I could not move I was to scare. But but... Please Please, help me avenge there death." He pleaded with Vincent who had moved closer crouching in front of the little boy. Looking the boy in the eyes, then down at the ground. Standing up Vincent walks around him heading to the gate with his key card in hand. Not saying a word.
Vincent uses the key card. Finding the big warehouse that the WRO trooper had been talking about. He enters it through a side door shaking off the rain that drenched him to the core. Hair still dripping he starts walking through the hall that leads to an open garage of the warehouse. Some misc crates and oil drums sit in small groups all over the place. Lighting strikes, Vincent looks around from side to side. "To quiet". Sure enough a Deep ground guard jumps from the balcony. He was bigger then the ones that Vincent had fought to this point. As if to prove the point the guard flexes followed by some karate moves. He is suited up with heavy armor black with blue strips which resembled samurai armor. He motions to the other balconies where snipers step up loading their weapons. Two little guards run up behind the Deep ground Samurai. Vincent thinking through which group he should take out first rolls behind some crates crouching there. Under one of the sniper balconies he pokes up taking the three snipers on the opposite side out. Then moves to the south end of the crates as the two footmen start tracking him waiting for the right moment. He hears the foot steps of one of the men reflex kicks in, Vincent twirls the gun from the side of the crate shooting the footman in the knee cap. Causing him to go down with a loud scream from the pain. Vincent looks around the crate seeing the man paying more attention to his wound then Vincent he taking no chances shifts again shooting the man to finish him off. The other footman swears silently, he thought. Vincent heard it though locating his bearings poking up Vincent fires a bullet to the head. Rolling a barrel to the other side Vincent follows behind it firing up at the second sniper balcony taking the other three snipers out. Leaving just Vincent and the Samurai leader.
"I am going to gut you when I get my hands on you Vincent Valentine." finishing his sentence he spits at the floor like he just swear. The samurai was standing in the open thinking that his armor was invisible. Vincent liking his odds taking cover behind boxes and barrels, choose to stay hidden even after his enemies taunts.
"You have nothing on me, I am from Deep ground." Taking this as a sign to kick his ass Vincent shoots his hand which was holding a glorified samurai sword, the bullet taking his hand clean off. The Samurai wailed in pain filling the warehouse with curse words. He pulls from his back a rocket launcher firing into the boxes Vincent had been hiding behind exploding wood all over the place. Vincent barley having time get out of the way. Rolls firing at the same time hitting the samurai several times, one of the shots taking his helmet off. The samurai falls to his knees then to the side blood coming from his wounds. There was an erie silence that followed, Vincent passed back and forth looking for more enemies. At the back of the warehouse he sees a door wide open leading out side. He walks through the door as it leads to a court yard.
" You know this is the first time that I have ever felt the rain on my skin. But then again I have not even seen the sky till a few days ago." Rosa says looking up into the rain, hearing Vincent walking through the door.
"So your Vincent Valentine." She turns to face him.
"The keeper of the Proto-materia."
"Proto-materia?" He says back to hear questioning what it even was.
"Yes, the key to controlling OMEGA. We know you have it. Hand it over now and I will kill you quickly." They stare at each other for a moment neither one talking or moving. Vincent just glaring back at Rosa.
"Not one for bargaining, then I will make sure you suffer." She vanishes reappearing at his back. "Time to die." She was expecting this move to work on Vincent like it had on the others. She was wrong, as she swings her weapon Vincent ducks under the swipe. Keeping in defense mode as she swings it down and side to side hoping to make contact with him. He dodges all the swings barley each time. He does a back roll to get some range on her. Rosa smiles giving a little laugh as she points the gun part of her weapon at Vincent. Firing at him he dodges the bullets as well staying one step a head of them. He jumps up on some crates flipping down behind Rosa. She is ready for him once he lands she throws a punch at him causing him to go through the wall. She stands by waiting for Vincent to come back out. She is met with a bright flash and red smoke, a figure comes out of the smoke with black and red wings, red hair, claws that should be on a dragon for hands and an undead face yellow eyes and his heart glowing blue. Vincent has transformed into Chaos once again. Rosa steps back with wide eyes seeming to be surprised. Chaos flapped his wings a couple times a spell emerged causing a great wind storm blowing Rosa back. As she covered her eyes from the wind and the light he was causing.
Moments later as if sensing the danger was gone Vincent was himself again standing there all alone in the courtyard he started breathing heavy then fell flat on his back. Rain falling all over his face he looks up blinking he sees the legs, hearing the high hills of Shawna. Vincent passes out as she approaches.
In the cavern again with Lucricia, Vincent is siting in front of her again. Looking at her lifeless body. "Lucricia." Vincent whispers to her while looking right at her. The Mako that surrounds her ripples as he hears her words coming back to him "So sorry. Awake."
"Awake." Vincent replies, blinking "So sorry." she cries back to him.
Vincent opens his eyes again finding him self in a dungeon of the Shinra mansion located in Nibilem. The dungeon was set up as a research library with Volumes of books stacked on shelves. The dungeon was one medium sized rooms with five walls in the middle was a big wooden desk with a couple books set on it as well, this room was illuminated with a single chandelier with eight lamp holders. There was a hall way leading from the stairs to the one room. The hall way was lined with books as well. Looking at a Doctor with a long black pony tale holding a double barrel silver revolver with a wood grain grip. The Doctor had glasses on, Vincent recognizes who it is. It's Dr. Hojo from the Shinra's biochemical research department. Vincent looks down at his hands then the rest of him self. He is in a black suit with both his hands normal. He then notices he has black shiny shoes.
He runs towards the Doc in panic.
"Doc why did you let this happen"
"Silence you. Silence." He screens at Vincent shooting him square in the chest. Vincent doubles over face down on the cold stone floor.
"Why, why can't these people just keep quiet." Vincent sits there vary still. Looking at Hojo's shoes not moving for fear of being shot again.
"Yes, I can use him for my next experiment." Hojo starts to laugh like a crazy man.
"I am a genius, pure genius. The success here will justify all the other failures." He laughs again putting both his arms in the air like he is victorious. Vincent then blacks out again.
Vincent feeling like he was in water opens his eyes panicking looking around at his surrounding, hearing bubbles. He is in a human test tube with metal reinforcements holding the pieces together. The liquid is greenish blue, some how breathable. Vincent looking through the class seeing that he is in a lab of some sort. There was a big table full of computers and instrumentation, one big screen showing all the data. Her back to him is a lab assistant she turns around, Vincent takes in the scene before him. She is wearing a black short dress with a blue blouse with white ruffles up the front a white lab coat. Her hair was pulled back into a high pony tail with a yellow head band holding her brown hair in place. Her bangs were perfect just covering he left eye brow. Seeing that Vincent had woken up she walks toward him. Vincent recognizes her as Lucrecia, she studies her findings about him. Vincent blinks a couple times then opens his eyes again he is in the same laboratory maybe even the same test tube he slowly moves his head back and forth. Out side of the glass this time is a different female. Shawna is sitting there, she notices movement.
" Well look who's awake." as she stands up
Vincent looking around trying to see a way to get out of the tank.
"Hold on I will release you." she re-assures Vincent, not wanting him to damage her extremely costly equipment. Shawna walks over to the side of the tank locating a keypad. She types in a code scanning through a brief menu selecting to drain and release option. The bottom of the tank shifts slightly allowing the liquid to drain out of the tube. Once the last of it drains out the door pops out sliding open. The tank lowers a couple feet allowing Vincent to walk out.
"Where am I."
"Safe inside the WRO headquarters." she shifts her glasses.
"I carried you back here from Edge after you collapsed during your fight with Deep ground." she starts pacing around Vincent. " It seems the beast inside you went a little wild back there. Does this happen often?" True concern in her voice. Vincent looks down at the ground.
"Went wild. Do you mean Chaos." Vincent shifts his gaze from Shawna to the computer like he might find an answer for him self.
" Chaos." she says moving from where she was back into his line of sight. Seeming more excited then before, as if a light bulb just flashed in her head.
"Your body harbors the Chaos gene." She slaps her forward like she could not believe she had missed this information. "Oh that explains your relationship with Dr. Lucrecia Crescent. Were you a product of one of her experiments?"
"Lucrecia's experiments." Vincent replies with a surprised look on his face. He looks away from Shawna then of to the side seemingly hurt.
"I apologize, that is not what I meant."
"Wait. Lucrecia was researching Chaos."
"Don't tell me you did not know." The sound of her voice was like every one knows that, with a hint of pity.
Shawna walks over to a WRO computer terminal typing in her password. Browsing for a moment finding the file she was looking for then opening it up for Vincent to see.
"Crescent General class A scientist specializing in Biochemical technology. In her research thesis " The planet's Pulse" She referrers to Chaos as one of the Central forms residing among us. However her theories where so abstract." Shawna keep talking but her voice faded into the background. Vincent hears another voice.
"I am so sorry. Awaken."
Seeing that he was no longer paying attention to her reciting the file that she had memorized word for word. Shawna looks sideways at Vincent.
" Are you alright."
Vincent looking at the screen with the stats of Lucrecia with a picture, seeming to be hypnotized.
"Can I see that thesis."
"Unfortunately no, aside from it being obscure it was never submitted to the Shinra database. All I know is what I came across while going through the companies archives."
The door at the end of the lab slides open, Reeve walks through the door, heading for Vincent right away.
"Vincent, have you recovered already."
Meanwhile in a data center the little girl who had been linked to the Deep ground network before is typing on a computer. Scanning through tons of streaming data faster then should be possible. Azul walks in behind her.
"What is the status of our keeper."
"His location remains the same as the last confrontation. We can assume this is the WRO headquarters."
"Good that means two birds with one stone." He grunts turning away, walking out of the door he had just come through. The mystery girl stands up looking over at the wooden table next to her with a single orange materia on it. She grabs it installing it in her weapon. Then follows Azul out the door.