I swallow hard, peering over the edge of the deck.

Scared?

Have you ever jumped out of an airship and into a fully armed city?

I cannot say that I have.

Then shut up.

"See y'all!" Cid cheers, leaping from the edge and following Cloud and few others. Nanaki frowns, trying to get ahold of his parachute cord, and yelps when Barret shoves him overboard. The big man jumps after the beast with a shout.

"You ready?" I ask, looking over at Vincent. He nods, looking all too comfortable with this situation. He holds out a hand and I take his wrist, pulling myself up onto the railing. Trails of red and black flapping behind us, we soar downward toward Midgar, drifting apart as the air pushes up at us. I bet I could survive a fall from this high just fine without this stupid thing. Wiggling my eyebrows at Vincent, I press my arms to my sides and take a nosedive, eyes squinted as I steadily catch up to Cloud. This isn't so bad. Just as our leader pulls the cord on his parachute, I do the same, the white material puffing up and jerking me backward.

When my feet hit the wet cobblestone street, I tug my pack off and toss it into the nearby alley. I stand tall, placing my hands on my hips as my boots splash through a few shallow puddles. David always said he'd take me and Josh here, even in the condition it's been in all these years. He just wanted us to see how different the world really was.

"Why's it all wet?" Yuffie crinkles her nose. "I thought it didn't rain here?"

"Maybe it was their weather regulators," Tifa shrugs.

"Maybe," Cloud mutters, walking past me to follow Cait Sith, who scrambled ahead to show us a "secret entrance."

"There're a lot of passages in here," Cait explains as he opens the trapdoor. "We'll need to split up."

"I'll go with Cid," I shrug, stepping closer to the pilot.

"But I—fine. I'll go with Spiky."

"Vincent," Spiky looks at the taller man. "You and Nanaki go with Cid as well. Tifa, Yuffie, Barret and Cait Sith with come with me."

We head down the rusty ladder that leads to an underground subway and go our separate ways at the tracks. We keep our phones' ringers on just in case. Cid slings his spear onto his shoulder and puffs away at a cigarette contentedly.

"Why'd ya join me, kid?" he asks, nudging me. "Just curious. I was buggin' ya earlier, is all."

"I'm not holding a grudge," I shrug.

"Yeah? That's good," he chuckles. "Cuz I like ya."

"Why's that?"

"Yer entertaining to be around," he replies, cocky as ever. "Yer just... unlucky. It's kinda funny."

"Oh shut up," I groan, shoving his shoulder. "You're an #$%."

"Yeah? How 'bout this #$% kicks—"

"There they are!" A voice stops us in our tracks. "Avalanche!" Elena cries, charging at us. The oblivious blonde Turk cries out, stopping her charge only once she realizes that she has both a gun and an arrow trained on her head.

"Don't move," I command, Cid and Nanaki exchanging a glance.

"Well, well," Reno croons, tapping his rod on his shoulder rhythmically. "Looky here." He stuffs his hand into his pocket and cocks his head to the side with a cheesy grin. "Hey babe, long time, no see."

"Reno," I roll my eyes. "Go away."

"Oh? You can't deny that you miss me, Vi. C'mon, play nice," he croons. 

"Reno, I think we should go," Elena suddenly warns, backing away as I stuggle to fight against the surge of power that rushes the edges of my conscious.

#$%^&*, Shadow, stop it!

But I need to—

No!

"Aw, c'mon, I ain't afraid of her," he coos, stepping closer and lifting my chin with a single finger. He's got some nerve. I don't know where the strength or the snap came from, but my arrow finds itself in his foot and I strike the underside of his head with the long, ornate length of my bow, sending him flying back into the darkness of the railroad. He doesn't move a muscle, lying still on the ground. I blink down at my weapon. Guess that stuff wasn't useless after all.

"Reno!" Elena squeaks, running and grabbing his arm. She tries her best to drag him across the ground. "I knew I shouldn't have let Rude take that coffee break!" I almost feel sorry for the girl as she struggles, tugging this way and that. With a sigh, I run to her side and crouch to help her. If today I choose to tolerate Lucrecia, then today I choose to spare Reno. The blonde pulls her gun free and presses it to my temple with trembling hands, but I roll my eyes and pull Reno's arm over my shoulder and stand.

"Where do you want him?"

"Are you crazy?" Cid asks, but he's chuckling, clearly amused by my resolve to help these two clowns. "Yer gonna help Shinra?"

"My enemy is Hojo," I reply sharply. "And this is personal, Cid, so I'd just let it be."

"Yeah, yeah," Cid huffs, elbowing Vincent. "See, Vin, women know everything."

Unhappy but left with no choice, Elena turns and nods to the end of the corridor.

"If you can get him down to the end of this hall, I'll get you guys up to the cannon with no resistance." Wow. Baby steps, Elena.

"No problem," I nod. She sighs and sulks as we walk, though she never puts the handgun down.

"Why are you helping me anyway?" she finally demands, breaking up the silence. I sigh and look over at the unconscious man I'm dragging along beside me.

"I just... think it's about time we got over our hatred. We were both stupid—it was just as much of my fault as it was his."

"Huh?"

"The past isn't meant to be dragged on into the present," I shrug. "It's only here to show us where we've come from and where we're to go."

"And that sudden wisdom's from...?" Cid asks. I roll my eyes and set Reno down where I was directed to.

"David. Tell Rude I said 'hi'."

"I will," Elena nods, watching cautiously as we follow her newly given directions.

We split up to decide which way is better, Vincent and Nanaki taking ladders while Cid and I take chutes. Literally—this isn't board game talk. After the first pipe, I can see Vincent and Nanaki high above us. I force Cid to go ahead of me through the next so that I don't slip and kick him in the face. Once we're at the top, we find ourselves high over the other two. We wait on the edge of the platform, talking about the airship until Vincent and Nanaki catch up.

"Still don't see why we had to do that," Cid huffs, rubbing his elbow as he stands.

"We got up here faster than those two," I point out, motioning to the two joining us. "Welcome back, guys."

"There was an animal with him," Nanaki points out, referring to himself. Cid scoffs.

"Yeah? There was an animal with me too. Yer point?"

"Hey!" I protest, smacking Cid's arm. "You wanna end up like Reno?"

"Nah. Let's keep goin'."

We climb out of the underground passage, pushing past a metal grate, and come out onto the street, where sparking bits of machinery litter the road.

"Cloud must have gotten in a skirmish with something," Nanaki points out. I nod, a sense of urgency overtaking me. Goosebumps prickle up on my skin and I shudder. Cid and Nanaki get into an argument about Cosmo Canyon or something. A warm hand presses to my shoulder and slows me down.

"Relax, Violet. There is no use in spending your energy through anxiety."

"I know, but he's up there," I huff, nodding up to the looming cannon.

"And that perturbs you now?"

"Don't you remember what happened last time?" I counter, facing Vincent. "What if I lose control again?"

"Violet," he sighs, nodding for Cid and Nanaki to continue when they notice that we've stopped. "You have a temper, yes, but this is different than the Crater."

"It's almost too much," I reply, shaking my head. "Lucrecia, Weapon, Hojo, and Shadow all at once, not to mention that #$%^ cave. It's too much for one day."

"This never bothered you before."

"And I don't know why it's bothering me now, okay?" I scoff, rolling my eyes. "It's just... I'm not even the same girl Hojo destroyed in the Manor. I'm a nobody. I shouldn't even have the right to—"

"You're Violet Crescent," Vincent counters, raising an eyebrow. "You're stubborn, arachnophobic, and you fight." He hooks a finger under my chin and forces me to look at him. "And you're not afraid of the consequences—or Hojo."

"Yeah, okay," I breathe. He shakes his head and kisses me right there in the middle of the street in an attempt to prove me wrong, not caring if the others turn back to see if we're following.

"You wouldn't let me do that," he pulls away, eyes earnest, "if I was lying." I feel my face grow red and shake my head, pushing that stupid piece of hair out of his eyes.

"You're a pep talker now, huh?"

"Let's go," he mutters, nodding for me to follow him. I nod back, the two of us hurrying down the streets and catching up to see that everyone's together again, staring up at the cannon.

"Ready?" Cloud asks. I sigh, pulling myself from Vincent's side and hugging my arms to my body to keep my warmth in and Midgar's cold out. My cloak flaps behind me, soaked at its hem, and I shiver, following the others up. And there he is. That monster, typing away, turning dials, pushing his round glasses up, repeat.

"Hojo!" Cloud shouts over the wind. "Stop right there!" Hojo merely tosses a glance over his shoulder. I see enough of his face to feel that vengeful hatred building up again.

"Oh. The failure," Hojo mutters, disappointed. Something shifts beside me; I can feel that Vincent's pissed.

"At least remember my name! It's Cloud!" the blonde shouts over the howling wind.

"Every time I see you, I... It pains me to see I had so little scientific sense," Hojo shakes his head with a small chuckle. The only time he feels anything. "I evaluated you as a failed project. But you were the only one that succeeded as a Sephiroth clone." His shoulders tremble with his shrill laugh. "Heh, heh, hee... I'm even beginning to hate myself." About time.

"None of that matters!" Cloud snaps. "Just stop this nonsense!"

"Nonsense?" Hojo pauses. "Oh, this?" He turns around and sets his beady black eyes on me, sneering at my glare. He knows what he's doing. He wants me to lose it so he can test another hypothesis and record more data. I refuse to play by his rules. "Ha, ha, ha... Sephiroth seems to be counting on the energy. So, I'm going to lend him a hand."

"Why?" Cloud demands. "Why do that?" Hojo rolls his eyes, shuffling closer to him.

"Stop asking why, you moron." He cocks his head to the side, looking over the blond. "Hmm... Actually, you may be cut out to be a scientist." The crazed scientist turns around and goes back to his typing. "Energy levels at eighty-three percent. It's taking too long. My son is in need of power and help." He sighs, shaking his head. "That is the only reason why." What, gaining your fatherly instincts now? Avalanche looks stunned by this news.

"Your... son?" Cloud blinks.

"Ha, ha, ha... Although he doesn't know," Hojo sneers. He begins to laugh harder, beginning to sound like a true maniac when he throws his head back. "Ha, ha, ha... Ha, ha, ha!! What will Sephiroth thin when he finds out I'm his father? Always looking down on me like that. Ha, ha, ha!!"

"Sephiroth is your son?!" Cloud cries, repeating what's already been stated.

"Ha, ha, ha... I offered the woman with my child to Professor Gast's Jenova Project. When Sephiroth was still in the womb, we took Jenova cells and injected them into his mother, thus affected the child as well."

"You...!" Vincent snarls. I take a deep breath, staring hard at the ground. If you don't lose it, I won't, Vince.

"I can't believe you're the one who did all this," Cloud frowns. I have to remind myself that to the rest of them, Hojo merely looks like Shinra's resident stereotypical mad scientist. They didn't live through the horrors I did.

"He, he, he... No, you're wrong," Hojo shakes his head. "It's my desire as a scientist!" He turns to face us, cackling.

"I was wrong," Vincent says, pulling Cerberus free from its holster and aiming it at the scientist. "The one who should have slept was you!"

"I was... defeated by my drive to become a scientist," Hojo says, unfazed. "I lost the last time, too." What's he on about? "I've injected Jenova's cells into my own body! Heeee, he, he! Here are... the results!"

A thick green slime spreads across his skin, his eyes rolling back into his head and flashing white. Two creatures appear at his side, equally disgusting. One slaps a slimy tentacle at me and I duck underneath it, one arm swinging out to the slide to summon Nightmare. I slash at the apendage, rewarded with a spray of forest green blood. A gun fires and three bullets rip holes into Hojo's side. Suddenly, I'm reminded of why I joined Avalanche to begin with.

Enraged, I end the monster's life by stabbing through its soft skull and rush to swing at Hojo from behind. He swivels around and grips my throat with a power I never knew he possessed, lifting me into the air and slamming me down onto the metal floor. My vision blurs out of focus and blood seeps from a cut in my temple as I gasp for air.

I must exact my revenge.

Why?

He trapped me with you for eternity. What other reason do I need?

Without me, you wouldn't exist.

You're wrong.

Shaking the attack off rather quickly, I stand and summon Shadow's sword again, the black blade materializing out of nothing. Hojo turns to watch Cloud charge at him; I push my blade through his back until it pokes out the front of his chest. I yank my weapon free, forcing the madman to stumble backward. He chuckles, curling in on himself.

"Haw... Now, let's see... how the mako juice is reacting?"

Hojo's body expands and twists into a towering mount of grotesque flesh, complete with swipes of gray and patches of purple. A monster only he could succeed in creating with pride. Its gurgled cry tears through my ears and a chunk of dripping flesh swipes at Barret—I can only describe it as an arm. Barret's gun cracks rapidly as he fires round after round and Nanaki leaps forward to clamp his sharp teeth down on the monstrosity. I pull out my bow and fire a trio of arrows into its face, rolling under a blow from the arm and firing another. Cid bellows for Yuffie to move before he leaps from who-knows-where and drives his lance down through the fleshy beast's body.

Vincent seems to be on autopilot. Perfect composure, perfect aim, perfect reaction. A slash from his gauntlet when he's close, three bullets at a time when he's far enough. He switches to magic and I tear my eyes away, summoning Nightmare and rushing back into the fight. I swing hard, driven by hatred and the bloodlust Shadow infused into me the moment we were eternally bound.

"Look out!" Cloud calls as a flurry of comets rains from the sky under his command. One last perfectly aimed bullet from Vincent leads to Hojo collapsing, the mangled hand wrapping itself around its body and a white smoke spreading across the platform. A third form appears, hovering, slim, and steely gray. Completely alien.

"Stop," Vincent calls calmly. Everyone freezes and frowns at him. I hang in the background, struggling to fight Shadow away. "This is not your fight, but ours." Barret and Tifa frown at each other but Cloud nods hesitantly, motioning for the others to back off as Hojo's third form waits, its patience mocking.

"Coming," I huff, stepping up to his side. At this rate, Shadow has me holding my breath to push her down. Slowly, my hair creeps down my shoulders, twisting into onyx curls. I curl my hands into fists to fight the talons growing of the ends of my graying fingers.

"Don't fight it," Vincent says, his voice eerily cold. "You must show him the mistake he made by forcing such power on you."

"But Shadow can't just—" I'm cut off by a searing heat pressing to my temple. My breathing freezes immediately; Shadow snarls, my eyes flickering violet lights. "Vincent...?"

"Do you trust me?" he asks, his voice soft but his eyes are harsh, boring into mine.

"What the #$%^'re you doin'?!" Barret demands. Vincent ignores him.

"What're you—" I start, my voice barely breaking a whisper.

"Do you trust me?" he repeats, cutting me off. Do I...? I take a shaky breath and nod. He knows what he's doing. Right...?

His finger squeezes the trigger and someone screams as I fall to the ground, the world spinning into a black abyss. Everything swirls, spins, rocks, thuds, shakes... But I'm still alive. I can hear Cid protesting and Yuffie screaming my name. They think Vincent's really lost it. But Shadow's escaped now... it doesn't matter anymore. The demon pushes herself to her feet, snarling at the ninja before she turns to Chaos, who is now equipped with broad black, leathery wings and a stretched crown of crimson spines. In his chest glows a dull blue light.

Shadow summons her twin blades, leaps into the air, and dives down onto Hojo, slashing with perfected swordsmanship that even Sephiroth could never hope to master. Hojo whips out his long, slender tail, knocking Shadow over twice and drawing blood from Chaos's pale face. My own head's spinning as I watch on, but Shadow's is clear as day, shrieking one word: kill. Hojo screams in fury as Chaos rips another chunk out of his flesh and Shadow drives her blades into his body. But... this isn't right. This is not what I intended when... 

I joined with the prospect of pursuing Hojo—but it wasn't ripping him to fleshy bits that I had in mind. I wanted answers. I wanted companionship. I wanted love. I won't gain anything from this fight but regret that vengeance didn't fulfill me in the end. Vincent... he's the one with the raging anger, the bitter hatred. This is his life's only purpose. This is why he joined. This is his fight—not mine. I force Shadow down and stumble backward from the power of her retreat. Two arms hook under mine to catch my dazed fall. I look up to see Cloud's bleary face.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah," I nod, getting to my feet unsteadily.

"Why'd ya stop?" Cid asks, scowling. "Aren't ya gonna make 'im pay for what he did?"

"This is what Vincent wanted," I shake my head and watch Chaos rage on alone. "This is his fight. I had... others to accompany my initial motive. I figured I might as well let him have the last blow."

"But you only came when we mentioned Hojo," Tifa points out.

"It may be easy to read her outer shell, but it is impossible to read the soul's true desires," Nanaki replies wisely, smiling at me. Yuffie frowns.

We watch in silence as Chaos slams Hojo's mangled monster to the ground. The alien creature turns into the bloodied body of the scientist and Chaos releases Vincent from Hell's grasp. The gunman looms over his enemy, drenched by the rain that pours from the darkened sky.

"Rest in peace... Hojo."

~|~|~|~|~

"Everyone, listen." Cloud stops us all from parting once we've boarded the Highwind. "This journey has been something out of a fantasy book." He shakes his head. "I discovered myself."

"Went to space!" Cid