Taming the Fates Amidst Chaos

'Internal thought'

'CHAOS SPEAKING'

*Hojo talking through the collar*

~ (Time and/or story focus shift)

A/N: This chapter is going to have some very dark themes to it and I will be nice enough to put a **WARNING** up for those of you that can't handle those parts. It contains a child's death and I apologize for this but I find it crucial to the character development in this story.

Chapter 15

A cold voice spoke into the microphone: "Beginning test sequence 1103 B."

Fluorescent lighting began to flicker on, revealing a large circular arena. The dirt floor was smooth and packed, the thirty foot steel walls gouged with claw marks and melted slag. A lone figure stood in the center, his pale skin, marred by numerous scars, was almost glowing under the harsh unnatural light. The man was leaning slightly to the left, a glint of gold drawing attention to the heavy metal claw on his arm. The shift in balance and the irritated redness of the skin near the appendage revealed the unfamiliarity of the weapon.

"Test Subject V-001. Initiate battle training."

The test subject, Vincent Valentine, gave no indication of hearing the static-broken voice in the speakers. His orders came from one person alone and he knew better than to give any indication that he heard anyone but Professor Hojo. A part of him hated the bastard, wanted to strike out at him and watch the man fall. They always added something to test his loyalty, his obedience. They thought they had him beaten, but he would always fight. However, that part that kept fighting, the last that was left of the man he had once been, was slowly fading with each of these training sessions. 'It's a battle I've already lost, isn't it? I lost as soon as he put this collar on me.' He quickly shut out the question that came from his heart.

Vincent had quickly learned what the numbers for the tests meant but did not show his intelligence. If the Professor suspected that the dark haired gunman still retained any thoughts other than obedience, life would grow far worse than it had been. Sequence 1103 meant a certain order to the creatures he would be fighting but the B meant there was a variant somewhere. A morbid curiosity settled inside him as he wondered just what he would be killing this time. These few moments of blood and death were the only freedom he found anymore.

The steel doors at the far edge of the arena opened loudly, revealing three obviously starved Nibel wolves. He can hear their growls, feel their hunger, smell their breath, but he remained silent and still in the center of the floor, dead scarlet eyes focused on the floor. Vincent could hear it, the Professor's condescending laughter, filled with pride at 'his' accomplishments, at his taming of the human monster in the arena. The scientists all sat in an enclosed balcony, their computer screens monitoring the activity in the arena below. He could easily have reached them though they were twenty feet above him, ripping them to shreds with this abomination they had replaced his arm with. Still he waited for the signal that would go from the silver bracer on Hojo's arm to his collar, the command that would allow him to unleash his rage and frustration on the unsuspecting wolves.

The door to the balcony opened, a young woman's voice drifting into the room, "Dr. Hojo?"

"Ah, Dr. Yufrena Kisaragi. I am so glad to have you back from maternity leave. I hear that you had a son, correct?"

Vincent fought through his blurred memory for the familiar name. 'Kisaragi...royal family of Wutai...' He knew the wolves were closing in but he had not been given the command yet so he strained his ears to hear the voices above him. "Yes, his name is Tseng," motherly pride filled the woman's voice, "Only three months old and already he has been given the mark of an empath like the one I have."

"A little young to be marked so strongly isn't it? Well, we'll have to discuss how those gems work some other time, Yufrena. For now I would like your assistance with my little project here."

Vincent could almost feel their gazes shift to him as the wolves circled closer. "You say you found him? I get a strange sense from him, it almost feels like there is more than one down there."

"That would be the demons."

"What?! He really has...I thought when you wrote that in the reports you were speaking of a mental problem."

"Calm yourself and sit, Dr. Kisaragi. We are perfectly safe here."

A lone wolf broke from the circle, latching onto Vincent's human arm. The dark haired captive stood silently as ever, despite the fangs tearing through his flesh. "Why does he do nothing to defend himself?"

"I have yet to give him an order to do so. He has become almost perfect, obeying nearly every order as long as I have this device. Observe," Vincent felt his blood begin to heat as he realized that he was going to be let loose soon, allowed to do something. His breath nearly halted with expectation as a single word vibrated through the spike embedded in his neck, "Kill."

~

"Master will be most displeased with us."

Vincent tore his gaze from the scene in front of him as an unexpected voice filled his mind. Chaos let out a roar, "YOU!!!"

The gunman felt a presence nearby but could find no form or focal point, "Who is it Chaos? Why is he in my mind?"

"We are you and you are we," The soft voice echoed, familiar but strange. There were different tones to it, as though multiple people spoke at the same time.

"GO BACK TO SLEEP YOU SPINELESS BASTARD!"

Chaos was quickly building himself into a rage and Vincent knew he needed to diffuse the situation before the demon went ballistic. "Chaos, calm yourself. Talk to me, tell me who this is?"

"You have forgotten us? No matter, when Master comes to claim us..."

"YOUR MASTERS ARE DEAD, SERVANT, JUST AS YOU SHOULD BE. I REFUSE TO JUST LAY DOWN AND LET YOU..."

"CHAOS!!! What the HELL is going on?!" The demon fell silent at Vincent's uncharacteristic outburst, "I need you to talk to me, demon."

"He is talking to you. Just not the you that you are. We are the you that was and will be." The strange presence shifted, seeming to come closer before disappearing completely.

The dark haired gunman stood in the silence for a moment, calming his own emotions before turning his attention back to the demon that shared his mind, "I want an explanation."

"YOU'LL GET ONE, HUMAN, BUT IT WON'T COME FROM ME. THIS IS SOMETHING I COULD NEVER TRY TO EXPLAIN. I HAD JUST HOPED THAT SINCE THEY WERE DEAD," Chaos hesitated, turning away from his host. He waved a shadowy arm towards the scene below, "YOUR MEMORIES WILL TELL YOU."

~

The dirt flood had become darkened with blood from the more than twenty bodies littering the arena. The raven haired captive once again silently stood in the center, his body painted red from the battles. His own life fluid was dripping to the ground, causing a slight dizziness from the blood loss but he could still feel their gazes. The scientists still watched for any mistakes or weakness as he kept a tight hold on his body. After a moment, Hojo's smug voice echoed, "Well that was a fine warm up round. Though I do suppose it wouldn't do if you bled to death before we are done, eh? Chaos! Regenerate!"

Vincent felt the demon's hatred for obeying the man but he was soon bathed in a purple glow. "He seems perfectly trained in body, Professor. I suppose the problem is the erratic emotional state I sense?"

"Yes and it is quite a large problem at that. When we first took the subject in, he was insane from the demons possessing him. He killed a young mother in cold blood before the child was even a week old." The collared man cringed at the reference to Lucrecia, guilt plainly written on his features before he caught himself. Hojo did not berate him however, "You see? Now that he and the demons are collared, he is fully aware and understands the depths of his crimes. The problem is that he is unable to control the will of those inside him and therefore is susceptible to being controlled by them. They tear at his mind as well as his flesh."

"Then those scars?"

"Self-inflicted or from his transformations." Vincent wanted to scream at the man for his lies, memories of the scalpel and bone saw still fresh. Just as he was about to speak however, a new voice entered his mind, 'But that was self-inflicted. If we had not killed Lucrecia, if we had left things as they were, if we had simply done out job, we wouldn't be here now. We let our feelings get in the way, this is our punishment. We have brought this on ourself.' Yes, this was his punishment. He would take it without complaint and hope that one day he would find absolution. "Is there something wrong, Dr. Kisaragi? You have the strangest look on your face."

"I just got some unusual readings from your subject. He was very tense and angry a moment ago. Then another of those individuals seemed to appear out of nowhere and now he bears a strange sense of calm."

"Marvelous!" Hojo let out a short laugh, "This means we are very close. That new individual you spoke of is key in my experiment. Now to finish this exercise. Pardon me Yufrena, but I must insist that you leave. I do not wish to have you witness the necessary measures I must go through." The woman paused for a moment before turning and leaving the control balcony. Dr. Hojo waited in the silence then spoke quietly to one of his assistants, "Release her."

**WARNING**

Vincent watched out of the corner of his eye as the steel door slid open. As a small figure hesitantly stepped from the shadows, the collared man felt his eyes widen and his breath halt. A little girl, no older than eight or nine, blinked in the harsh fluorescent lights. She clung to a small moogle doll with one arm and tugged at the frayed hem of her yellow dress with her free hand. Her light brown braided hair swung gently as she searched the room, green eyes locking on the figure standing in the center of the arena, "H...hello? Where am I?"

Hojo's voice entered Vincent's mind, secretly transmitted from the bracer to the spike in his neck, *Sit and remain silent. Let her come to you. Do nothing until I tell you to.*

The captive slowly lowered himself to the dirt floor, his heart racing, 'What is he doing? Why is she here?'

'It matters not. We will do as Master says. It is our place to follow his will, not question it.'

The Professor's voice came again, this time over the loudspeakers, "Miss Nadia is it?" The little girl nodded timidly, "Don't be afraid. My friend is lonely and I cannot come down there right now to see him. Do you think you can keep him company for me for a little while?"

A small, innocent smile began to grow on Nadia's face, "Is he a nice friend?"

"Why don't you find out for yourself?"

The little girl cautiously began to make her way across the arena, avoiding the torn bodies as much as she could. Her pace slowed as she neared Vincent, apprehension and curiosity visible in her eyes. "Hi, I'm Nadia. What's your name?" The collared man remained silent, eyes pointed to the floor though he watched the girl at the edge of his sight. "Don't like to talk? That's ok, I like it quiet sometimes too. Hey, is that real?" She pointed to the metal claw attached to his arm. "Well I guess that was a silly question huh? I mean, if it's there, it's real right?"

Feeling a little braver, Nadia leaned closer to the dark haired man, placing a small hand on his metal arm for balance. She gasped as she looked into his eyes, "Wow! I've never seen anyone with that color eyes. They're really pretty, did you know that?" A small shriek left the girl as her hand slipped in the blood that was still wet on the golden appendage. As she fell, her arm caught on one of his claws, grazing the flesh.

Vincent's sense of smell was quickly overwhelmed by the smell of human blood. Chaos and the others had been starved for nearly three months this time and the rich scent had them immediately clamoring. He shut his eyes and grit his teeth against the mental assault when a maddening laughter echoed in his mind, *They're hungry aren't they, Vincent? Pick her up and set her in your lap.*

His eyes shot open at the order, his body moving before he even began to think of fighting it. The girl quickly clung to him, holding her injured arm and sobbing at the pain, "I'm sorry. It was my fault. I didn't hurt you too did I?"

Her question fell on deaf ears as Vincent became lost to the emotional torrent building inside him. He had to fight it, he couldn't lose himself to the demons again, *Good boy. Now kill her!* He froze. He couldn't do it, no, he wouldn't do it! Then why was his arm raising? 'Master orders and we must obey. There is no other choice. We are a monster and that is all we will ever be.' The golden metal hesitated for a moment, hovering behind Nadia's back. Green eyes met scarlet and she gasped, "You're crying! I did hurt you didn't I? I'm so sorry!"

"No," A soft whisper met her ears as a sharp pain shot through her body, "I'm sorry."

**END WARNING**

As the little girl fell limp in his arms, a hoarse scream echoed in the arena. The small body dropped to the floor and the dark haired captive fell to the dirt. Hojo immediately left the balcony, appearing through the open steel doors. As he approached, the collared man slowly rose to his knees, "Answer my questions. Who are you?"

~ "...incent!" ~

A droning multi-toned voice replied, "We are who Master says we are."

~ "Vin..nt...ake...up!" ~

The scientist smirked, "What are you?"

~ "Come on, Vincent. Snap out of it!" ~

The dark haired figure raised his head, revealing eyes that were no longer scarlet and amber. Rather they had become scarlet in the center and darkened to black at the edges, "We are an extension of Master's will. We are what he makes of us."

~

"No! Cloud, don't touch..."

Scarlet eyes shot open as the sound of gunfire rang through his ears, immediately followed by the sound of a large body falling to the floor.

____________________________________________________________________________________

SapphireDog
No need for a doctor's note :D I'm just glad your feeling better (i hope ^-^') I've been sick too so I know the numb brain feeling XD Another awesome chapter XD I must agree with your thoughts on Dirge though :/ I would have like there to be more to it. More then just the simple (my opinon ofcourse) boy meets girl, girl refuses boy, boy gets shot for messing with a mans wife story line XD Then again, Iv been on the same part of the game for almost a year now :D so I've only watch the chapters online. Stupid Rosso can kiss my ass, she needs to die. Anyway! again, awesome chapter XD
Frizz: Thanks for the compliments and I am glad someone else agrees. Maybe sometime I will actually do a new spin on Dirge but for now I want to see where this one goes.

Anonymous Sister of the Author
YES YOU! you evil, EVIL person!!!

will vincent let chaos out???

UPDATE SOON PLEASE!!!

ASOTA
Frizz: Suspense galore! Since you have been such a patient, fun, and loyal fangirl, here! *Gives ASOTA a whipped cream covered Yazoo*

AyaFujimiya
OMG! I love this fic, you are very talented and I can't wait
to read more from you.
Frizz: I am so glad you like it and glad you reviewed. Hope that you like the rest of this story!

lapislazulai
I love the idea of this collar causing Vincent to forcibly transform into his monsters. It's fascinating. And the relationship you're developing between Chaos and Vincent is awesome. I really like this, and I hope you continue soon.
Frizz: Trust me, this is just the tip of the iceberg with this story. Hope you don't mind a lot of twists and turns.

Kuragari
ok, you are now my #1 author... simply for Linkin Park. They are my favorite band ever. that song always had a very Vincent feel to it... I somehow saw 'leave out all the rest' as a very FF7 song... but was never really sure why. *shrug* I really like where this is going. I love your take on Vincent's relationship with his 'inner demons' and how you've had Chaos develop. He is as much of a character as Vincent and i love that. as usual, I'm eagerly awaiting an update from now the coolest author ever!! lol, see ya soon! ^^
Frizz: Linkin Park rocks! As well as Alter Bridge. But anywho, I hope that I continue to live up to your expectations!

Ainaloth
I´m missing Yazoo.. Are you teasing me..? *glare-of-doooom*
...aw hell, this fic is so good that I can't stay mad at you! XD *snicker*
Frizz: Sorry to keep you waiting on him...he should be back in the next chapter. Just had to get some story development with Vince first.

haowue
Your story is amazing, and I love it very much. Vincent is my favorite one, and I want more him, please? BTW, Seph x Vin is my favorite pair, would you please write a new story about them? HAHA , uke-vincent is so hot, really.
Frizz: Who's to say that won't happen in this story? Don't worry though. Once this one is done, I already have two others in mind. One is a Seph/Vince the other is a surprise crossover.