Leaping right in front of him, eyes closed, adrenaline surging into her heart, she aimed the drill at the man, pressing the trigger. The drill came to life with a loud whine as the bit started to spin. Then, it whined to a low buzz before dying out completely. Her tightly squinted eyes opened and stared at the instrument as if it were a dead animal. Shera's eyes traveled up to her target, Cloud, who was staring at her expectantly in his shirt and boxers.

"Shera, if you are going to kill someone with a weapon, at least make sure it's working," he said groggily, foggy vision prevented him from seeing the look of embarrassment on her face.

"Cloud!! Oh! It was you! I thought it was an intruder!!" In a trice, the drill was thrown behind her back. It landed somewhere outside with a dull thump.

"S'awright. Many people've tried to kill me before."

"Er...I uh....Cloud there's no simple way to put this, and I really don't want to face Cid for it...."

"What's up?"

"What's down, you mean. The Highwind is toast. Despite the fact that I have nearly unlimited resources and tools, I still can't get it off the ground." She paused and sighed before resuming. "The best I can do is turn it into a Gelnika that will fit the team and some supplies, but nothing else. No Chocobo breeding, no air deck, no operations rooms, barely anything. I'll have the Gelnika up and running in a few hours," her sentence was met with a sob that tumbled out of her throat. Her eyes clouded and the tears were unstoppable. "I'm so sorry I couldn't do anything more for you all, Cloud...but I...I can't do it. I'm always working on something for Cid, and getting nothing out of it!"

"Shera....it's okay. Something that flies is better than nothing at all. Besides, it was extremely noble of you to take the initiative without consulting us, so we'd have a way to get to Sephiroth tomorrow. I really appreciate it even if Cid doesn't," his voice was calm and soothing to her, yet the choked sobs continued.

"It still isn't good enough! I can't do anything right....especially when I let Cid down on the launch date! I always do this at the wrong times!" Shera's eyes were pools of salt water, which spurted down her cheeks and left streaks which burned them. Her eyes were bloodshot red, and for a moment, Cloud saw Vincent in them before realizing Vincent wasn't there.

"Shera, I want you to take the rest of the night off from the Gelnika project. Instead, I am reassigning you to a smaller project, that you can do any time you wish. I want you...to build Vincent a better claw," Cloud spoke with reverence. "Barret really did a number on the last one...and it would give me something to remember him by....if he's...." He couldn't say it. Instead, his mouth gripped itself tightly shut as he fell to the floor unconscious, trembling violently.

"Oh shit! Oh God, Cloud, don't die on me. I need a doctor. Doctor, doctor, doctor......Aeris!! She'd know what to do!" Shera sprinted down the hall, ignoring the black oil which ran off her lab coat and onto the wooden floor. Reaching the end, she made a sharp right and leapt into the air, foot out. Aeris' door smashed open. The Cetra sat up in her bed, sheet wrapped around her body so the other woman wouldn't see her nakedness.

"Shera! Are you all right?"

"Never mind me! Cloud is in shock or trauma or something. He need's medical attention, and since you've got healing powers I thou....." She was rudely interrupted when Aeris, clad in white sheet tucked about her, sprinted out the door and down the hall. Shera heard a squeaking noise when Aeris' bare feet slid on the oiled floor.

Grasping the wall and righting herself, Aeris resumed her stride towards the living room. Shera's hysterical cry had woken the sleeping household, as well as caused all the clap-on lights in the building to activate, sending a warm yellow glow into every room and promoting general confusion.

"What happened?"

"Damned if I know!"

"Stupid Cat!"

"I thought he was a pillow!"

"Yuffie! You've...you've gone too far!"

"%$^ moogle! Get your ass in gear!"

"That's no way to speak to an animal!"

"No time for that now, let's go!"

They all appeared in the living room, where Aeris was bent over Cloud, hands positioned palm-down over his chest. Her large aquamarine eyes were squeezed shut, and a small blue aura seemed to emanate from her figure.

Tifa ventured forth, kneeling beside Aeris. "How is he?"

"Not good, but he's stable. There's no physical damage, but his mind seems to be...for lack of better word....eviscerated," she snapped out of her reverie. Opening her eyes, she let the ultimate love bleed into them, so Tifa could feel it. "I think he'll be okay, but I can't get inside of his head."

"Aeris...I....I'm so scared....what if he stays comatose and never wakes up? What if he's terminally ill or something?" Tifa was hysterical, her sobs were choked and infrequent enough to permit a cough here, a sniffle there. Suddenly, she trembled and went limp, falling gracefully into Barret's arms.

"She's just had a fright and needs some sleep. I'll take her back to her room," volunteered the gun-armed man, as if he had a choice in the matter.

"Barret, wait a second. Bugen taught me how to make an herbal remedy to allow a peaceful sleep. We should give some to Tifa; it'll lower her stress levels," came a growling voice.

"All right. Red, go get them herbs and do your thing. I'll bring Tifa to her room and wait for you there."

"I'll return shortly," the Red tiger bounded down the hall and outside into the clean-smelling grass to hunt for those herbs; the ones with the pungent aroma that only his nose could detect. Bugen put it in his cologne, and Red always found that scent comforting and reassuring. He remembered how he feel asleep at grandfather's feet while he got his ears scratched. The fire at Cosmo Canyon's center, the night sky, and the marvelous machine up in the observatory. Now the wise old man was gone, imparting a valuable legacy to the grandson.

"For you, Bugen. I'm using that potion you taught me how to make in such an instance and honor your memory, " Red thought to himself as he found the many dark blue flowers he required. Grabbing many stems in his strong jaws, he pulled up and felt their roots give way. Leaping back towards the house, he skittered into the kitchen, stood on his hind legs, and started concocting.

"Red, what are you mixing? It smells like the grease I use on my Conformer!" Yuffie pinched her nose and breathed dramatically through her mouth.

"That's because it is. I needed its molecular properties to purify the extract. Here's some Gil, go buy yourself another tube," came the undaunted reply.

"She's not going to take it....in her mouth...I hope?"

"Bingo! Yuffie, you seem like a smart girl. What do you know about kisenian flower extract?"

"It's used for...umm," her mind wandered back to Godo in the Pagoda of the Five Gods, his boring lecture on ninja emergency medicines. "Oh yeah, it boosts white blood cell count!"

"Excellent. Now I'm sure Godo taught you how to apply it?"

"Crush the flowers into a pulp, make a poultice, apply to affected area," Yuffie was feeling really intelligent. It was rare when people asked her for her knowledge.

"Right. But I take it he didn't tell you that the roots cause Sleepel and for some odd reason, promotes inner healing," said Red. He got his teaching genes from his father, Seto. Or so Bugenhagen told him the night after the Gi cave expeditions.

"That's strange....but very cool. I'll have to try it sometime. Speaking of which, you're making a lot of that jamba juice. Are you going to give some to pokey-head?"

"Yes. That reminds me, Tifa's jamba juice is ready for her. Can you bring it to her while I finish up here?" Red asked her politely; he was always nice to everyone, even the time he stuck one of his barrettes in Vincent's hair and made him resemble a drone at the Honey Bee Inn, he did it with an air of civility.

"No prob," she took the bottle from his waiting paw and tiptoed to Tifa's room, where Barret was awaiting for the liquid. Likewise, Red finished up and, grasping the bottle in his mouth, padded into Cloud's room, where Aeris was keeping vigil.

"This will lower his fever and give him a good night's sleep."

"Thank you, Red, for going through all the trouble."

"No trouble at all. Making it reminded me of grandfather," a sad smile appeared on his lips. "If you require anything else, let me know?"

"Of course," she smiled in gratitude. Red turned about and moved out of the room.

"Okay, Cloud. Down the hatch." She opened his mouth and tilted his head back when the liquid was poured in. Closing his jaw, she waited for the involuntary swallow. It traveled down his throat, like a large knot struggling through the narrow passageway. Covering him up, she leaned back in her chair, drew her shawl around her, and turned off the light.

Cloud slept peacefully; or at least his body did, because he didn't move all night, and Aeris frequently checked on him. But his mind was a ball of Mako fire; his nightmares were intense and spasmodic and ripped into his very soul.

Cloud blinked, then looked down. What he saw nearly killed him. A long, spattered line of gash-red leading into a nearby alcove. It couldn't be....Vincent was too hard to kill.

"Cloud! Help me!" It was the same voice that belonged to his lover. He sprinted around the corner. And came face-to-face with his soul mate, whose arms were chained above him, blood running down his pale chest and lower anatomy. He reached out to break the lock, when Vincent let out a gasp that sounded familiar. It was definitely...no..it couldn't be....but it was...Aeris' final breath....the Ancient City. Cloud's worst fears were confirmed when he couldn't move his limbs. He then saw that familiar figure, clad in black, descending at an alarming rate, the Masamune poised at the same angle.

"Noooooo!" Cloud realized what had happened. Sephiroth....the Ancient City....that high-pitched noise....the whooshing sound....the sighing breath....it all returned to him without mercy.

"He's with me, now," that voice. That evil voice, darkness incarnate spoke to him tenderly. The flood came back, short circuiting his brain and disconnecting the dream.

"It's a compress for your fever, Cloud. Like back down and let me take care of you," said the Cetra as she removed it, wrung the cloth, dipped it into cold water, and reapplied it.

"Vincent."

Meanwhile, in a very far away part of the planet, Vincent Valentine was not sleeping at all. His body ached madly from Sephiroth's last rude assault. Vincent couldn't move his arms, nor could he feel them; the chains held them above his head at a harsh angle. The blood had since drained out of them, pulled by gravity down into his shoulders. Vincent's arms throbbed with a numbness he'd felt only once before. Hojo's vile body shoppe when the man removed his arm and replaced it with an ingenious work of mechanical/electrical/Mako pride. He'd also remembered to infuse the bloodstream with Type 3 neural stimulant mixed with Jenova's red blood cells. Vincent felt a sudden Jenova surge within his veins....it hurt more now than it used to, though he never let on to Cloud. The pangs of sheer pain rumbled up in his chest cavity, temporarily frying his heart; setting his blood on fire. Vincent's pupils dilated violently as his body went into total shock. All the synapses in his genetically augmented brain fired off at once. It hurts. Lots.

Vincent's head slumped forward and a small trickle of blood escaped the corner of his mouth, and dripped down the front of his chin.

In strode Sephiroth; that proud, defiant stride that all he encountered found most annoying. Though all those whom he had encountered were now dead, rotting in their graves, their expressions of fear and hatred engraved on their skulls. Sephiroth was noisily eating an apple...each chomp shot more juice, pulp, seeds, and skin around the cavern. Vincent hadn't eaten in days, and his captor so liked to use weakness to destroy.

"Vincent, wake up. I brought a present for you. Granted, it doesn't taste as good as you, but it is nearly as sweet," Sephiroth added that mocking tone into his voice, the one he used before he killed Cloud. Vincent's shallow breathing and steady bleeding was the only response he received.

"Let me guess, the guardian of death and rebirth taught you that trick, eh? You don't think I know how to use the illusion materia?" Sephiroth grew angrier and angrier at his captive's reticence. Running his fingers through his long dark hair, Sephiroth pulled back Vincent's head with enough force to give the man's neck a bad case of whiplash. Yet he still received no response, only that deathly breathing and blood dripping on the floor, each droplet carried the same sound, conformed to perfect unity. Seeing this made the silver-haired man extremely suspicious.

" What?! How is it possible? The genetic codes within the blood specifications match Jenova's. He couldn't have....no....not likely that he would have suffered Jenova shock," thought Sephiroth as the telltale signs appeared right before his eyes. Gingerly, he peeled back an eyelid to reveal an iris that was slowly dimming.

"Shit! Vincent?! Wake up!!!" He screamed. Still no response from the unconscious body of his new friend. Reaching up above Vincent's heads, he grabbed the lock and yanked it. It snapped like a pretzel stick in his hand, and the chains snaked to the ground. Scooping up his captive, he carried him into the bedroom and put Vincent in his own bed.

" Why do I want to protect this one? It's because....no....Cloud killed mother.....she couldn't have produced another.....could she?" He thought as he reached under the bed and grabbed the emergency Esuna kit. Picking up the green materia, Sephiroth held it above Vincent's head and cast the spell. The body shook lightly, and the breathing had returned to normal. "This bleeding....it should be gone?" He opened Vincent's mouth with his fingers, but only succeeded in causing more of the red fluid to trickle out.

"Se...ph....iroth?" Asked the confused, phonetic voice as it tried to sound out it's captive's name.

"Shh. Rest now, Vincent Valentine. You have just experienced severe Jenova shock and you momentarily lapsed into death," said Sephiroth, his voice filling with concern. His prisoner's darker eyes sleepily regarded those of the evil which had managed to cheat the Lifestream and the Guardian of Death and Rebirth.

"Why?"

"Silence!" The evil had returned to possess the body, mind, and soul once more, instantly snapping the muscled, leather-clad figure back into character. Slapping Vincent's face cruelly, Sephiroth glared at him with unabiding, unfounded hatred. "Be grateful that you still have you life and that I haven't scattered your limbs from Dachao to Mount Nibel."

"Then may I ask you a different question? If you projected the image of Cloud's demise into my mind so that I believed it to be fact, then what truly happened to him?" Vincent begged weakly. "You may have tormented this body well beyond it's breaking point; but without the knowledge of my love's whereabouts, even my weakened frame will not perish. Tell me."

"Cloud Strife? How the hell would I know where Cloud Strife is right now?" Spat Sephiroth as he looked at the vampire with utter contempt. "It was Aeris who stripped me of most of my power; I no longer have the eyes of this planet and the sheer ecstasy of omniscience they afforded me."

"Yet you do know his location, do you not? The Mako bond you two share remains..."

"Damn you, Valentine! I smashed that feeble tie when I killed his mother!"

"No, because that event brought you closer to him."

"Cloud means....nothing to me!"

"If he didn't, then why did you take his lover hostage?"

For a moment, Sephiroth regarded him blankly, causing the plotting gears in his head to grind to a halt before rusting over and falling to pieces. It was as if Vincent had entered his mind and set motion to a new sprocket of hope for goodness within a face and body that was inherently evil.

"Because you and I are of the same fabric," he breathed before moving his gloved hand to his eye to wipe away something that resembled a tear of sorrow. "Hojo engineered us both, Vincent; there's no denying that." Once again, the evil possessed the machine, driving the apparatus back onto the path of its manifestations. "That, aaaaand, my fine vampiric brethren, you are key to the undoing to my Cloud. I shall strip the skin from his body ever so slowly, then watch his organs dry out like an apple's pulp in the sun. Perhaps then I might make an ornamental wreath for you."

"You're inhuman!" Gasped Vincent at the man's instability. "What hidden vendetta does he have against Cloud?" He thought furiously as Sephiroth ran his fingers through his long, black tresses as if to provoke some erotic response. Drawing the caped one closer to himself, Sephiroth parted his mouth and licked straight up Vincent's throat, eliciting a shiver of revolt in response.

"How long did it take you to notice?"

The next morning, Cloud's Mako blue eyes opened when they were aroused to do so by the sunlight which so rudely poured in through the drawn blinds. Sitting up on his elbows, he turned his head to the far left to feel the cramp that was lodged in his neck explode with a spasm of pain. He'd felt much worse before; perishing at the hands of his former SOLDIER teammate, who upon his resurrection, takes his love hostage.

Spotting the source of the sunlight, Cloud's electric azure irises caught sight of Tifa, whose head was pressed into the impromptu pillow of her crossed arms. She sat in a chair, leaning forward onto the place where Vincent would sleep.

"She didn't lie down....because she knew that was Vincent's half of the bed," he thought as tears started to well up in his eyes at the thought of his childhood friend whose heart was affixed to him had finally accepted Vincent as the significant other to Cloud. Sliding out of the bed, he gently picked up Tifa Lockheart and deposited her in the soft envelope of soft blankets and pillows. "Sleep well," he whispered as he gently kissed her on the forehead.

Creeping out of their room before quietly shutting the door behind him, Cloud entered the bathroom and was startled to find a neat pile of clothes set there by Shera, whose nail gun could now be heard through the open window. Pulling on the shirt and pants, he glanced in the mirror and watched as his mouth dropped to the counter. Cloud Strife had attired himself in Vincent's scarlet cloak without consciously being aware of it. Despite his initial shock, he soon caught hold of his racing heart, which now felt warm with a security that only his lover had been able to provide before.

Wrapping the cape tightly around his small frame, he closed his eyes and inhaled the sweet, musky scent of Vincent, his Vincent and no one else's. That delicious smell which was always present about the vampire's neck, yet only there for Cloud's nose which now took in another lungful.

"Get hold of yourself, Strife," he thought as his mind swirled precariously. "You're going to get high of Vincent...again." Walking outside to where the partially-finished Gelnika lay waiting, he was astonished to see that Shera wasn't underneath it's belly hammering away. "That's odd," Cloud thought as he inspected the craft as if trying to see the points at which the sheets of metal had been welded together.

As the spiky-haired young man crouched under the wing to inspect the perfectionist standards Shera had connected the fuselage with, there came a loud, woodpecker-like sound from inside the shed. Scared out of his wits, Cloud shot up with a start, banging his head on the wing's unfriendly turbine with a loud "gonggg!!!" Though he couldn't be sure, he thought he heard a clicking sound and a girlish stream of laughter coming from one of the rooms inside the house. Composing himself, Cloud ambled towards the small, wooden structure, head in hand to dull the pain and hide the goose-egg sized bump which was swelling to a fine size.

As he approached the shed, Cloud saw Shera, back to him, hunched over something small and hot. Blue sparks sprang out with a ferocity from her arc-welder and onto the shining material laying helplessly on her workbench. Cloud moved in to get a closer look, arching his neck over Shera's lab-coated shoulder watching intently as the silver, hand shaped metal apparatus turned red-hot underneath her stream of focused flames.

"Shera?" He asked nervously as he saw the fourth materia slot being carved into the hand. Startled, she bobbed in her seat as her hand flew to her chest to prevent her heart from exploding outwards from it's cavity. Turning to face Cloud, the two pieces of glass glinted momentarily in the sunlight. Realizing that Shera was wearing Cid's flight goggles as an eye shield for welding, Cloud burst out laughing.

"Yeah, Cloud, it's me. I've been working on something for Vincent, just as you requested," she said, plucking up the glowing metallic object with a clamp in order so her friend could get a better glimpse. Plunging the claw into a vat of ice water, Shera's flight goggles filled with fog, and she was forced out of the small room by Cloud's strong arm, as the steam began to singe her hair.

"Are you okay?" His eyes asked nervously as they scanned her misty lenses for a sign of life.

"Oh no! I've gone blind!" Her hands were flailing, looking for Cloud or something of his size and shape to cling onto in fright. "Where'd you go?"

"Hold still for a sec, Shera." Reaching into one of the many secret pockets deep within Vincent's cape, he grasped something soft and pliant. Withdrawing his hand, Cloud produced his lover's black, silky handkerchief. Rubbing the haze away from Shera's protected eyes, he helped her remove her husband's goggles. "A bit tight," he remarked at the sight of the peculiar tan line she had procured about her face; her darkened skin contrasted wildly with the two impressions of circles around her eyes, making her look like a raccoon.

Glaring at him defiantly, she smiled and rubbed her face. "I couldn't find mine on such short notice, so I slipped Cid's off his head while he was asleep," she giggled. "Though if I don't return them, you know what it's going to happen, right?"

As if to answer Shera's question, her husband bellowed at the top of his lungs, causing the windowpanes to vibrate threateningly. "Sheraaaaa!! Where the ^%@& are my flight goggles?!" Mount Highwind had erupted right on schedule.

"In the drawer, dear," she muttered. Roughing deeply, she turned her back to Cloud to face the wrath of her husband, all six feet of his nude form, cigarette on lip. "Close you eyes, Mr. Strife," Shera whispered.

"Whozzat behind you?"

"Oh, er...it's just...I mean.."

"Oh hi there, Cloud! I didn't know you were up so early."

"Likewise, Cid," spoke Cloud softly as he tried to avert his Mako blue irises away from the man who had possessed Vincent for about a day. "I didn't know you liked to walk around naked in your living room."

"Damn it, Strife! This is no time to start bragging about the kinky crap you and the vampire do at night! We have a real crisis here!"

"What would that be?" Cloud cocked his head to the left and raised an eyebrow sarcastically.

"My flight goggles have gone!"

"Oh, no! Not the flight goggles, Cid!" He drawled. "Where could they have possibly gone? Any ideas, Shera?"

"Umm...I think I saw Yuffie stuffing them into her bag of the materia she stole from Cait Sith," her voice lilted as her hand flew up to stuff a giggle back down her throat.

"Damn nijitsu.....I'll kill that urchin this time!" Cid shouted as he lit up another cigarette, drawing on the nicotine fumes before blowing the smoke out of his nostrils. Wheeling about on his heel, he began to make his way back into the house when a loud, slapping sound of fabric meeting flesh was heard. Grasping his buttocks, the pilot leapt about ten feet into the air before falling to the ground with a thud. Cloud looked over to see that Shera had rolled up her lab coat and had delivered the perfect "rat-tailing" unto her husband's body.

"Put some clothes on first, dear."

"B..but.."

"Yes, it's all red and sore now, isn't it? I'll come up to the room later to apply some cold cream to it."

"It hurts! It hurts!" He screamed running back into the domicile at breakneck speed.

Somewhere in the distance, an egg timer went off with a pathetic dinging. "The hand is done! Wanna see?"

"Of course!"

They raced back to the shed, now devoid of steam, and shrieking with glee.

"My creation!" Shera cackled. "It's alive....it's.... alive!!!"

" 'My gorgeous Myrthil arm, part of the Shera collection at Wall Market.' Free with your purchase of ninety-nine Gil worth of Shera designer body parts and limbs!" Cloud hadn't laughed since Vincent had been abducted that night by his arch nemesis.

"How do you do it?" He gasped as his radiant blue eyes scanned the surface of his lover's future claw. "Everything is perfect...down to the last detail!"

"I know. I found Hojo's blueprints in Vincent's room in the Highwind. I've also added some refinements. See, four materia slots, to make it the perfect companion for his Death Penalty gun. I've also replaced the finger blades with smaller, sharper, and lighter ones. Aaaand I've galvanized the Myrthil with a small piece off your Shinra-Beta armor, so not even Barret's Ungarmax attack could put a ding into it. Oh yeah...it's also wireless! No more of those to solder back into place like in the days of old! She smiled happily when she placed the prosthetic into Cloud's arms.

Leaning over, Strife pecked her on the cheek with a quick kiss of gratitude. "Shera.....thank you...it's...it's....incredible. It reminds me of Vincent so well....and I'm sure he'll appreciate it even more! Thank you so much!!"

"I'd do it for anyone, Cloud. But since you, Vincent, and Cid are my favorite people, I am honored to be allowed such a task!" Shera beamed as she hugged Cloud happily. "Anyway, I must be off before Cid gets the idea that chasing Yuffie in his boxers is an acceptable thing to do. What worries me more is that he doesn't wear undergarments around the house.....poor Yuffie," she groaned before disappearing.

Hugging the new claw-arm to his chest, as if it were his lover, Cloud closed his eyes and made a promise to his soul mate.

"Vincent....wherever you are, I'll find you and bring you back to me!"

Meanwhile, it would seem that Cloud Strife's oath would never be fulfilled, not really anyway, since Sephiroth was having the time of his life with a vampire.

"He loves me." SNAP

"Arghhh!!"

"He loves me not." CRACK

"Stop!!!"

"He loves me! I knew it!" KA-CHINGG

"Are you kidding? I'd rather tongue a Zolom!"

"... not. Curses, foiled again!! " GRIND...POP

"Okay, okay. Not a Zolom! I'd prefer being reamed by...the Sister Ray! At least she's got more balls than you!"

"Oooohh!!! So happy! Look, Vincent! Your pinky finger here says you love me!" CRUNCH

Pulling off the last digit mounted on Vincent's ultra-sensitive mechanical claw as if it were but a petal upon a daisy, Sephiroth delighted in seeing the gears within the wrist break down before spilling out on a wave of black oil. The lubricating ooze dripped steadily out of Vincent's hand (or what was left of it), as did his moans of pain as they tumbled softly from his lip.

"I may be the 'one-winged angel', Vincent. But you're going to join me as the 'one-armed vampire'," Sephiroth grimaced as he brutally ripped off the remaining portion of the dark-haired man's limb, exposing hissing wires, which shot electrical sparks every which way before becoming silent. Feeling as if his entire body was being immersed in sheer pain, Vincent was too far gone in agony to scream out. "I like it when it's silent," mumbled the former SOLDIER as he removed his pants and tore off Vincent's. "Also, when it hurts!"

Guiding his erect member to the vampire's opening, he brutally forced himself inside the clenching heat. Sighing with pleasure, he withdrew before plunging his cock to the hilt, taking long, hard strokes within his captive's virgin passageway.

Suddenly, Sephiroth reared his head back with lust, opening his illuminated green eyes to the ceiling as he released his seed into a furnace. Pulling out abruptly, he watched in glee as the long, glutinous stings of white slowly crept out, adjacent to the steady dripping of the blood of innocence. Both fluids, of pain and pleasure collected around Vincent's ass, forming a rose-colored pool which crept into the cracks in the tiled floor.

"Uggnnn," Vincent moaned as his scarlet eyes caught sight of Sephiroth, leering over him.

"So...was it good for you as it was as good for me?" He ran his hands through his prisoner's raven hair, admiring the silky texture and length.

"N...no, it was awful...," he breathed with such irregularity that it would seem to anyone that he was on his deathbed. Yet Vincent was a survivor of Hojo's ghastly Body Shoppe, the administrative process of the Turks, and the loss of his love, Lucrecia, to the biogeneticist who took apart his mind and body one day, and reconfigured them into a frail-looking body which held demons not of this world. "In the face of all of that," Vincent suddenly thought. "Sephiroth couldn't be much worse."

"I am," Sephiroth replied, reading his prisoner's thoughts.

It was then that Vincent saw what the reincarnation of evil meant to do as it lifted his legs way back and surged into his body again, drawing a torrent of blood. The puddle of anguish and passion's spending grew much larger that night.