Cloud sat kneeling next to the newly awakened Tifa, and Barret, his mouth agape. "Son? Th-that's Vincent's... dad?"

Chaos scoffed. "Oh spare me the fatherly dramatics. I'm just having some fun."

A shot rang through the air, and Chaos barely dodged in time. He stared in astonishment. "You'd attack him too? What kind of father are you?"

"The kind that's ready to amend for his past sins."

Nanaki had dragged Reeve and Yuffie over to the rest of the crowd, and looked up from where he was licking his wounds. "So, that's where Vincent gets it." Tifa held a hand to her jaw. She didn't care what all she'd been through, tooth-aches had to be the worst pain imaginable. "You alright?" She looked up at Cloud, and tried to smile, without showing her now-misshappened teeth. "I'll be fine." She glanced over at Cid who was still laying on the ground behind Grimoire. He'd finally fallen under into a pool of his own blood.

Cloud ran over to Cid, trying to see if he was still alive. The pilot was breathing, but his heartbeat was faint. He pulled him up onto his back, making his way over to the others.

Grimoire's eyes shifted to them. As soon as he was sure Cid was clear, he rushed Chaos, sliding under his feet. With a flick of his wings, the demon was airborn, but Grimoire seemed to be right behind him. He wasn't expecting him to be able to jump that high, and didn't see the foot coming that sent him straight back to the ground. Grimoire landed, firing two shots, both ripping apart the membrane of one wing each. Chaos growled in pain, his eyes flaring at him.

"Wow. Guess Vincent had to get his skills from somewhere." Tifa commented, trying to rouse the young ninja.

"Hold up." Barret managed to push himself up with his good hand. "I thought Vincent's dad was dead?"

"There's no doubt that he is." Nanaki chimed in. "It's a lot like the way Aeris managed to come back to us when Cloud was fighting against Sephiroth's remnants. Though it seems a bit different. Maybe something about his death allowed him to keep his physical body. Innabling him to fight now to protect us."

"Well, I think it sucks." Barret growled. "With all we tried we couldn't put so much as a dent in that damn demon. But this guy pops up and dissables him like it was nothing."

"Well." The lion-wolf licked at his wound again. "He may have a body, but he is still a spiritual being… a lot like Chaos."

Barret huffed. "Still sucks."

Chaos roared with rage. His attention diverted to the wounds in his wings. The bullet wounds shreaded them to begin with, but now it seemed to be eating outward from the wounds. Evaporating his wings. Chaos drew Deathpenalty, firing upon him. "If you're a spiritual being then I should be able to rip you apart. Grimoire dodged the bullets, ducking behind the remains of a statue. "This is true, Chaos. But you have to invoke the power of your arm. And I won't give you the opportunity."

The bullets wore the top of what was left of the statue away. Grimoire fired at him, but at the cost of catching a large bullet in his upper arm. The impact threw off his aim, and he nailed Chaos in the tip of the left wing. Chaos growled, watching the wound eat away at him again. "What the hell is in that gun?"

Grimoire grinned, holding a hand to his fresh wound. "My bullets are infused with Protomateria."

Chaos' eyes sprang open. "What?"

"That's right." He stepped out, pointing his gun at him again. The bullet wound on his arm had completely healed. "They reject you from the point of contact… who knows what'll happen if I land a solid hit?"

Chaos grimaced at him, aiming his own gun as he rose to his feet. "I have a feeling you do."

"Maybe."

"Well, I don't intend to find out." A barage of bullets flew straight into Grimoire, knocking him flat on his back. Chaos holstered his gun, running at him. His arm glowed a fierce violet color, as he began to invoke the power layed dorment within it. He knew those bullet wounds would heal soon. Since he was already dead, he couldn't kill him, but with one good swipe he could disrupt the soul and lock it deep within the planet. Far down into the Lifestream where it could never resurface.

Grimoire raised an arm, allowing him to slash deep within the skin. Having the demon so close gave him the perfect vantage point to land a bullet straight into the center of his chest, just right of his son's hearts.

Chaos flew back, propelled by the explosive force being so close. He flumped to the ground, unconcious. The large leather wings fully dissolved into his back, his long raven hair falling limp around his head.

Grimoire straightened himself, holding his arm. He cried out, falling back to his knees. The arm Chaos had cut into was glowing a bright green from the deep gashes. His arm throbbed against the cuts and felt like it was dissolving. He forced himself onto his feet, making his way to Vincent's limp body.

"V-Vincent?" Cid was laying on his side. Nobody realized when he'd woken up, but the pilot seemed to be trying to get up.

Tifa placed a hand gently on his shoulder, holding him down. "Cid, you shouldn't move. It seems Chaos missed a killing blow, but you could still damage something."

Cid closed his eyes against the pain, grasping her arm. "B-but… Vincent."

"It seems like Vincent's gonna be ok. His dad seems to know what he's doing. I think he's back to normal now."

Cid doubled over onto the ground. "I need to be sure."

Cloud pushed him fully back onto the ground. "Tifa's right, Cid… you're no good to Vincent dead."

Barret groaned. "Tifa."

"Huh? Yea, Barret."

"Marlene should have a Cure Materia that I gave her a little while ago… see if you can go get it from her."

"Oh… right." She rose to her feet, and ran off to 7:th Heaven.

Grimoire knelt next to Vincent, gently rolling him over onto his back. His features had softened back to their normal state. His soft breaths disrupted the hair that'd fallen in front of his face, and there was a small glow in his chest from where the bullet hit him. Grimoire brushed the hair from his son's face, sighing deeply. "I'm so sorry Vincent. If I'd never found these monsters, you'd never have to suffer. But I'm going to fix this." Despite his rage, it didn't seem like Chaos put nearly enough energy behind his attack. (maybe he was caught off guard that he'd actually taken the attack) The cuts still remained, but it ceased to continue to dissolve his astral skin. Grimoire lifted Vincent into his arms, with the main weight supported by his good arm. He stood, attention diverted as Tifa ran back with the small green orb in hand. She set to work on the more injured members. Unfortunately, this particular one wasn't developed enough to cover more than one person.

The gunman made his way over, his son gently craddled in his arms. His red gaze flicked to Cloud first, and he half sxpected him to reflect that same glare that Vincent always gave when he was angry, but instead his eyes turned to the pilot. "Are you Cid?"

Cid's eyes widened. "Uh… y-yea… I am." A slight red touched his cheeks. If Vincent's dad knew what all was going on here, then does that mean he was watching him? And if so… Did he see what he did to him?

Grimoire just smiled crouching in front of him. His face was softer now. More gentle. And he deffinately had that fatherly smile. "Can I borrow your plane?"

Cid started from this unexpected question. "Huh wha?"

"In order to banish Chaos and his brothers completely, I need to take Vincent to where I first found them. I only have a short time left."

"Uh s-sure… go ahead."

Grimoire's smiled widened. He straightened up, still balancing Vincent in his arms. "Thank you, Cid… for everything."

"Huh?"

"I want you to promise me something, though."

Cid felt his face heating again. Grimoire's smile had faded and it was unnerving. "What's that?"

His eyes took on a more sorrowful glare. "I want you to promise you'll take care of my boy." He looked down at Vincent' docile face. "Promise me you won't ever leave his side."

Cid's eyes widened at the request. Was he getting daddy's blessing? "Uh, y-yea. I'll protect him… I promise."

Grimoire smiled again, though his eyes still seemed touched with sorrow. He nodded and started off around the group. "Oh, yea. I almost forgot." Grimoire turned back around and kicked Cloud sharply in the ribs. Cloud doubled over, holding his ribs. He didn't break anything, but it still hurt like hell. The swordsman looked up to see him walking away from them. A brief thought crossed his mind. He wondered if he'd have done worse to him if he hadn't been holding Vincent.

--

AN: WOO TWO IN ONE DAY!!!! i'm ona role.... and i'm only 2-3 chappies away from the end, let's see if i can keep it up. i did want to have two dialogues in this that i just didn't know where to put them in, so i'll just inform you here. the first is a back and forth between Grimoire and Chaos *ahem* "Tell me, Chaos. you've invaded VIncent's body for many years now. why is it you never told him you were the one that killed me?" "Pssht, oh please. Don't flatter yourself. i was aiming for the woman. it's not my fault you had to play the hero. Guess being stupid's just genetic"

and the other one was just a random comment "huh... didn't know Vincent was into blonds... live and learn" :giggle: