Sanguis Jus Soli

Eighth Heaven Bar
Midgar, Commercial District
8:30 AM

'Gods, that guy doesn't slow down no matter *what* I do to him.' The thief blasted around the corner, seeing a bar ahead. 'Eighth Heaven... have I heard that name before?' It didn't matter, escaping from the purple clothed demon mattered.

“You fool; you think you can run away from me?” Vincent roared as he leapt off the street corner that adjoined with the alley, kicking off the brack thunderously and swiping at the thief in one fluid movement.

The thief ducked as the claws flew past his head and buried into the brick next to him. Smirking, he turned and fled to the bar. An enraged Vincent Valentine roared, “Give me back my present or I'll rip you apart!”

Looking at the package he held in his right hand, about the shape of a well-crafted violin case, the thief shook his head and yelled back, “No way, man! If it's worth something to a Turk, it's worth mountains of money to me.”

Pulling a grenade from his belt, he chucked the safety mechanisms off, tossed it at Vincent, and continued running.

Growling, Vincent finally pulled his arm free, caught the grenade, and quickly scanned the material, body, and weight. The thing registered automatically in his head, 'Kisaragi Mk II Smoke Grenade; harmless.' Still twirling from the momentum of catching the grenade in his whirl, he quickly eyed his thief and projected a mental path of impact. Then the shot was clear, 'Go down little piggie, in a puff of smoke!'

The grenade shot like a cannon into the thief's back, exploding into a cloud of gas on impact. A scream of pain thundered through the streets as the thief went tumbling to the ground, package in tow, and grunted as he got to his feet amidst the smoke.

In a haze, he saw the bar sign over head and ducked into the bar quickly. The moment he was through the door, he felt something smash into him. He looked to his right, where a girl in a white tanktop was slowly flipping an egg in her hands.

Whipping his gun out from its leather pouch, he pointed it at the girl and growled menacingly. A bang rang out in the bar and then a thud.

'Shit! Shit!' Vincent's mind repeated over and over as he threw himself towards the bar with all of his speed. Bursting through the hinged doors, he spun through the air as he flew. Soaring over the tables and chairs between the bar, he pulled out his gun, checked it quickly to make sure it was ready to fire, and landed on the bar with gun pointed at the thief. The bar shuddered from the impact and the glasses bounced, some of them flipping through the air to shatter onto the floor, and a wine bottle that was there before began spinning on its underside lip.

The thief's gun pointed at the ceiling, the bullet lodged in the wood and the gun, coated in eggwhites and the barrel clogged with goo, was smoking. The expression on the thief was complete and utter pain. Underneath his legs was one Cloud Strife, with his fist still firmly lodged in the man's ballsac. Withdrawing his hand slowly, he slid out from under the thief and nodded at Tifa. She smiled cutely and flashed a victory sign as the thief fell backwards; unconscious.

At the bar, the bottle stopped spinning and crashed into the ground behind Vincent.

Vincent's cloak finally fell limp behind him, devoid of motion now that he stood still. Seeing that the situation was under control, Vincent sighed and spun his gun back into its holster. Rolling off the bar with perfect balance, landing on his feet, he said in a low voice, “Are you all right?”

Cloud grinned widely and Tifa shrugged, “We seem to be okay.”

Barret sighed as he rested against the kitchen door heavily, surveying the situation. “Geez, it's not like I just got the place re-done or nuthin'. Some brat just had to come in here and break my stuff.”

Vincent coughed to get Barret's attention. “The police will pay for this distrubance. The gift he has is mine.”

Cloud raised an eyebrow, “You got a date finally, Mr. Valentine?”

Sighing with aggravation in his tone Vincent answered, “I do not know of any woman who would dare ask a demon to dinner, no.”

Tifa smirked and said, “You want dinner tonight then, bad boy?”

Rubbing his hair in frustration Vincent replied, “Excluding those that know me far beyond my unusual appearance.”

“'Ey, you want these eggs or not?”

Cloud looked over to a slightly miffed Barret and nodded, “Yeah, let's have it. I'm famished.”

Barret placed the plates down on the counter and stretched his arms, “Damn. Not two hours after I wake up and *already* people are tryin' to wreck my bar. And I haven't even had a customer yet!”

A man in blue burst through the door with pistol drawn, “Freeze!”

Barret sighed, “Late as ever, Sgt. Mckenzie.”

The man smirked, “I see this one picked the wrong bar to hide in.”

“Nothing we couldn't handle.” Barret replied. “Ring him up for the damages he did today as well, I got a fine bottle of wine that just got broke thanks ta him.”

“I'll do that, Mr. B. Can't have anyone russling up this favorite bar of mine.” Mckenzie smirked and hauled the Thief out to the front of the building.

“Who was that?” Tifa asked as she picked up the crate of eggs.

“Ah, him? That was McKenzie, Sergeant McKenzie. One of my favorite patrons; keeps the place safe at night when I'm busy cookin'. By the way,” Barret smirked at Cloud, “Yo, Spike-ass, you gonna eat those eggs or make love to 'em?”

“Something isn't right here,” Vincent said onimously.

Cloud stared at the glass mug on the bar, watching it vibrate slowly. “Tifa,” he asked quickly, “grab me the Buster. Now.”

Letting the crate of eggs fall to the ground, she ran back to the room and grabbed his sword without a further notice.

Cloud's mind curled as he felt it. 'This feeling---it's like that time before---Sephi--?!'

The glass stopped shaking suddenly and everything returned to normal. Vincent looked back to Cloud, swinging his pistol back into its casing, and stated, “It's gone.”

Tifa dragged the sword across the room, leaving a trail of chipped wood and dropped the heavy sword at Cloud's seat. “What is it, Cloud?”

Slowly, his eyes opened. His hand ripped towards the sword, grabbed the handle and the sword ripped through the air. Feeling the approaching blade, Vincent flipped over it as it sliced through the air.

Then the blade cut through the bar, unhampered, and when the blade came full circle, its target was clear. “Tifa!!” The demon roared in Cloud's burning eyes as the sword flung itself towards her neck. Jumping out of the way, she felt it nick her even despite her fast reflexes.

Burning a brilliant flame red, Cloud's head turned towards Vincent, who aimed his gun. “Cloud, don't do this.” Cloud's eyes flashed as he launched himself at Vincent. From the Death Penalty burst three flaming shots. In a blur of movement, Cloud flung the bullets away as the unholy red flames began to burn his clothes away.

The Buster slammed into the wall as Vincent rolled out of the way. Looking back at Cloud, who stared at his blade with a furious expression of hate, Vincent's blood ran cold as Cloud's head shook with rage as he turned towards Vincent. In the eyes he saw only flaming, pure, unabashed hate and rage.

Like a malfunctioning machine, Cloud's limbs and muscles spasmed uncontrollably as he ripped the sword out of the wood and began walking to Vincent. In a demonic roar, Cloud yelled, “Vincent!! RUN!!”

“What's wrong with you?!” Vincent yelled back in surprise as a burst of flame ripped from Cloud's aura of dark power. He felt the searing heat blast against his face and then found himself against the wall.

Barret raised his gun to fire, “Don't make me do this, Cloud.”

Cloud's head whipped towards Barret, “RUN!!” The sword itself began to shake and mutate. Vincent watched in horror as the sword slowly turned a glowing orange and began to bubble on its surface. 'What power *is* this!'

Like a whisper, Cloud burst through the air, breaking the wood beneath his feet from the power of his launch, and sliced Barret's arm off as he raised it in defense. Electricity spewed from the gun arm as Cloud roared at Barret.

Vincent pulled a bullet from his cloak chanting, “Namizoclovastan, Namizoclovastan, Namizoclovastan,” he put the bullet into the chamber, cocked the Death Penalty, rose to his feet and yelled to Cloud, “I'm here!! Come at me!!”

The demon's head whipped back to Vincent and burst through the air like a bat out of hell, swinging his sword ferociously and leaving a trail of fire as he flew. Vincent closed his eyes in sorrow for what he was about to do. 'Cloud--'

Tifa shouted across the room as she Vincent raise the Death Penalty, “Cloud, no!!”

Vincent's eyes flashed open. A brilliant flash of light boomed into the room as he roared, “Namizoclovastan!” The gunshot sent Cloud flying back into Barret, toppling him over and slamming him into the pillar behind him. The wood splintered like a grenade as Cloud slammed into it and fell to the floor.

With a roar, the beast that was once Cloud tried in vain to come to its feet. Glaring at Vincent one last time, Cloud roared, “SEPHI--!!” The word caught in his mouth and the flames vanished as he fell to the floor; lifeless.

Vincent slowly lowered his gun and closed his eyes. 'I'm sorry.'

Barret coughed up a bit of blood and shook his head, “Damn...” Looking back to see Cloud behind him, lifeless, he wondered what the hell had just happened. Tifa charged across the room, gathering Cloud in her arms.

She placed her fingers on his neck, eyes awide in fright. She waited for what seemed like an eternity, and felt a weak pulse. Her eyes closed and she shuddered in relief, “Thank you, Vincent.”

Slowly, Vincent walked over to Cloud. The scene repeated in his head. There was only one conclusion, “Someone possessed him.”

Barret, grabbing his chest to try and stop the throbbing pain in it, staggered to his feet and replied, “Damn he's a tough sonofabitch.” Staggering towards one of the rooms, he stated, “Get 'em healed; I don't care how much it costs. I'll pay for it.”

He paused at the doorframe and looked back at Vincent reluctantly, “If he tries that stunt again, Vince... try not to kill him. For me?”

Vincent nodded, “I will try.”

He smiled and walked into his room to nurse his wounds, “Thanks, Vincent.”

Shaking with fear, Tifa gathered Cloud in his arms and hoisted him off the floor. Still in shock of what had just happened, she looked up to Vincent, who cooly examined Cloud's limp body. “He will die within the hour if he does not get attention immediately.”

Tifa's fear sky-rocketed, “But the nearest hospital's an hour and a half away.”

Smirking, Vincent took Cloud from Tifa's arms and said, “For a normal human, yes.”

She tried to smile but could only manage an odd smirk. “Please—hurry, Vincent.”

He nodded, “Can't let you two love-birds get detached so easy.” With that, he was already out the door, flying from the street to a nearby rooftop in one leap.

Tifa blushed lightly. 'He knew what we did--?' Smirking she shook her head, 'Pervert.'

Returning to the bar, she grabbed a bottle of beer and popped open the top. Grabbing the nearest available glass, she poured the beer in and downed it in a single gulp. The sticky alcohol burned the back of her throat as it went down, causing her to wince in pain, but she didn't care.

“Hang on, Cloud.” Vincent muttered softly as he leapt from rooftop to rooftop. Spotting the white medical center in the distance, built out of the shell of the old Midgar building, he charged as fast as he could to it.

Reunion – Three days away