dragonchaser

Author’s
notes: Hello,
dear readers. I had some trouble with this chapter, which is why it
took so long to write. With any luck, though, the rest of the story
should be done in a matter of days so I can start working on the
sequel. :D

chapter
seven \
infiltration

The
sound of metal against metal echoed throughout the dusty corridor.
Vincent stood up from his crouch, surveying the surroundings he’d
jumped into with interest. Although the base had shut down years
ago, the foot lights were still on, giving off a meager amount of
light. Vincent’s keen ears could hear the soft humming of
machinery below his feet.

He
took a moment to let his eyes adjust to the lack of light, the
crimson glow intensifying to let him see better. Vincent looked down
the corridor in both directions, having landed in the middle, and
realized he hadn’t the slightest idea of which way to go.

Vincent
sighed and pulled out the map he’d printed out at the library
(though he had to repress a shudder at the mere memory of the place).
Vincent frowned, unable to make sense of the blueprints, but he
figured out which way to go once he realized he was holding the map
upside down. Vincent headed to his right (or was it his left? And
did it even matter?), wondering what he would find at the end of the
corridor.

It
turned out that all he found was a creaking metal staircase, which he
bypassed by leaping down to the next landing. There, he found
another corridor, which also had a stairwell at the other end. After
Vincent had gone down five floors, he stopped to look at the map
again, wondering how many floors he’d have to go down. He sighed
when he realized there were many, many more floors to go.

The
gunman stood and surveyed his surroundings. He knew he was alone,
and that this would be the best method to get down to the lab, but...
Vincent shook his head. He couldn’t waste any more time. Who
knew what unspeakable horrors awaited him in the lab far below?

That
decided, Vincent let the shell known as his body dissolve into the
chaos inhabiting his soul. In this form, he had no tangible form,
which allowed him to go directly through the floor, much like a
ghost. Down he went, travelling lower and lower until he felt as if
he was going to the depths of the Planet. Vincent realized that was
the point
— the lab was for materia testing, so the closer to the Lifestream,
the better the results.

Vincent
abruptly found himself in solid rock and returned to the previous
floor, realizing he’d arrived at the bottom floor. He returned to
his human form and found himself looking at a plain door bearing the
words “NO ENTRY.”

He
put his ear to the door and heard only the hum of machinery. Vincent
strained his ears, listening for the tell-tale sound of a beating
heart, and heard nothing. Satisfied that the room was empty, he
pushed open the door and slipped inside.

The
room, which was a large laboratory, held all the machinery he
expected — computer panels, an operating table, and materia fusion
devices. He turned around, sensing a life form, and came face to
face with an occupied mako cylinder.

“Cid,”
Vincent murmured.

The
pilot was unconscious, lost in the mire of his own mind as all
without a strong sense of self were in mako. Vincent was sure that
the loss of his wife, coupled with the fact he’d been captured and
experimented on, had completely destroyed Cid’s confidence.
Vincent spent a moment looking at the pilot before he realized what
he was doing. He turned to the control panel, intending to release
Cid, when he heard footsteps behind him.

Vincent
whirled around, unholstering Cerberus and aiming it before he blinked
once. He came face to face with a short, greasy scientist currently
trying to get toilet paper off his shoes. “Hojo,” he said aloud.

Quincy
H. Lynwood, Jr. looked up, and, to Vincent’s surprise, rolled his
eyes. “Hojo junior,
I’ll have you know.” He ignored the gun pointed at him and
continued trying to get the paper off his shoe. He managed to by
finally realizing there was gum on the bottom of his shoes. “Gum.
How charming.”

“Freeze,”
Vincent said. He didn’t even know himself why he hadn’t shot the
man yet. Every muscle in his body was tensed and poised to attack,
but he remained still.

“I’d
really rather not,” Hojo junior replied. “I’m quite busy, you
see.” He gave Vincent a skeptical look. “I thought you were
going to shoot me.”

“I
am,” Vincent replied. He tightened his hold on Cerberus with the
intent to fire, but could not bring himself to actually fire a shot.
His eyes widened. “What the hell are you doing?”

Junior
smirked, and Vincent couldn’t help but notice how much he looked
like his father. “Bit slow, aren’t you? Bah! Turks are all
guns and muscle, no brains.”

Vincent
decided to ignore the insult. “Explain yourself.”

“You
see, mister Valentine
— yes, I know your name, I knew all about you the minute you killed
my poor clone... which gave me plenty
of time to prepare a countermeasure.”

To
Vincent’s horror, Junior pulled a small orb from his pocket. The
materia was a color Vincent had never seen before: brown. “It’s
a manipulate materia,” Junior told him with the air of teaching a
small child. “Manipulate and sense.”

Vincent’s
eyes narrowed. This was a trap, one he should have seen coming from
the beginning. But the real question was different. “What do you
think you want from me?”

“Not
much, really. You see, I’ve been waiting for you to get here
before I continued with my experiment. I know quite well what I plan
to do may cause the Planet harm; that’s not my intent. I need you,
my dear Chaos,
for a counterbalance.”

Any
words Vincent had caught in his throat. This man knew.
He knew everything
he needed to make this experiment work — the fact that he’d known
to lure Vincent was enough. At this rate, Vincent really was
screwed.

He
could only hope Cid would survive with a semblance of sanity.

—//—

i
hear something i haven’t heard for a long time

is
there someone familiar?

is
someone going to save me

or
am i lost forevermore?

---

Author’s
notes:
Hey, look, it’s Cid. :D I’m so glad we finally reached him. But
just what is going to happen? And whut Vincent is Chaos? What about
Dirge of Cerberus?

...hehe! I
know, of course, and soon, so will you...