Disclaimer: I don't own the crow or FF7. They are the property of James O' Barr and Squaresoft.

A/N: Hello everyone I've got another one for you all to read. I hope you all like this one as much as you liked my other stories. I'd like to give credit to Kokuryu for helping me find information on The Crow. This story is for you man.

A dark storm approached the town of Nibelhelm. Riding in the storm a crow flew through the sky. In its claws it carried a red materia, glimmering from the flash of lightning. It dove down into Nibelhelm flying towards the Shinra Mansion. The mansion had been abandon for over a year. It once was the most respected and beautiful building in Nibelhelm. Now it was an old worn down building inhabited by wild monsters. The crow flew into one of the broken windows on the second floor. It continued to fly from the room to the hallway.

The crow went passed the grand staircase. It flew into an old room with a brick wall. As it neared it a secret door in the brick wall opened up. The crow flapped down a spiral walkway leading to a dark, dreary tunnel under the mansion. It came to a door near the end of the tunnel. It cawed once and the door swooshed open by some unseen force. In the room laid a coffin. The crow landed on the coffin, holding the red materia in one claw. It tapped the coffin lid a couple of times.

The lid began moving under the crow. An inhuman scream came from the coffin. The crow flapped of the lid and landed on a human skull lying in the corner of the room. Something began beating on the lid from inside in the coffin. The coffin lid's locks broke off and the lid was thrown off, revealing a one-arm man with blood red eyes and long jet-black hair. He was wearing a bloody and torn business suit. Vincent Valentine sat up in the coffin looking at his surroundings. He got out of the coffin awkwardly when he realized his left arm was gone. He sat on the edge of the coffin, examining his stump. When he touched the stump, a memory flared up in his mind.

"Stop it! Leave Lucrecia alone!" Vincent shouted with blood dripping from his mouth.

Rude had his arms pinned behind him, holding Vincent up to Reno. Reno held a gun Lucrecia gave him as an anniversary gift. Reno raised Death Penalty and used the butt end of the gun to hit Vincent alongside his face. Rude let go of Vincent, letting him fall on the floor, coughing up more blood.

"Shut up, you trash! If you had just stayed with the Turks, then none of this would be happening," Reno said, kicking Vincent in the face.

Vincent was flung back against the wall. Reno pointed Death Penalty at Vincent.

"Nice gun, Vincent, mind if I try it out!" Reno said, firing Death Penalty.

The bullet ripped into Vincent's left arm, blowing it off close to his shoulder. Vincent screamed in agonizing pain, falling into shock.

"Fucking awesome! This gun is a beauty. I bet I can kill a behemoth with one shot from this baby!" Reno said, smiling like a kid finding a new toy.

The flashback ended and Vincent almost fell to his knees from the painful memory.

'How did I get in that coffin?' Vincent looked down at himself. 'I'm cured in blood! My-my arm! I must have lost a lot of blood when Reno shot it off, but then how am I alive… unless I-I'm dead!' Vincent thought.

It could only be the most logical thing. The stump didn't look healed, but it looked so fresh. Blood was still dripping a little from the exposed flesh and bone. The crow cawed at Vincent and flew out of the room. Curious, Vincent followed the bird; he saw it fly into the secret library, which was at the end of the tunnel. He entered the library cautiously. He scanned the place and saw it was a mess; books were lying on the floor, papers were scattered everywhere. The two huge containers in the room still looked in good shape, but were a bit rusty around the edges. He couldn't and didn't want to know what they were used for.

Vincent heard the crow caw at him from a table at the far end of the library. He walked over to the table. The crow had put down the red materia it was holding, and was pecking at a box, laying on the table. It was a long rectangular black box with a symbol of a golden skull on it. The crow pecked at the box again, wanting him to open it. He stared at the crow with a blank expression. He somehow felt that was what it wanted him to do. He shrugged it off and unlatched the locks with his remaining hand.

He slowly opened the black box. The inside of the box was lined in red silk. A deeper red silk sheet covered something almost cylinder in shape inside the box. He removed the sheet and gasped at what he saw. A long golden mechanical arm rested in the box. On the back plate of the palm of the golden arm was the symbol of the crow. He picked it up and eyed the workmanship of the arm. The moment he brought it up to his chest wires sprung out of the end of the golden arm. The wires attached themselves to his stump. Vincent screamed in terror, he let go of the golden arm and tried to yank the wires out of his flesh. The wires dug themselves deep into his stump. The golden arm dangled from his stump for a few seconds. The wires pulled the golden arm up to the stump. The end of the arm clamped over the exposed flesh and bone.

Vincent started beating on the arm, howling in fear. He was expecting great pain from having the wires and metal gig into his flesh, but no pain came. A few wet noises were heard as the inside skeletal frame of the golden arm attacked itself to the stumps remaining bones.

The end of the arm tightened itself around the stump, followed by a loud click when it stopped moving. Vincent stopped hitting it when it stopped moving. He stared at it curiously, wondering why it attached itself to him. The crow cawed at him sending a wave of reassures to him. He narrowed his eyes at the crow then at the golden arm. He moved his stump and was surprised when the golden arm moved like a real arm. He flexed the clawed hand, amazed at what just happened. He moved it around to see if it was working properly. It responded to every command he gave it just like his old arm. The crow cawed again and pecked at the red materia it had been carrying.

Vincent wondered what it wanted him to do now. He picked up the red materia with his human hand. A dark eerie light emitted from the red materia as it came to life. Vincent was surrounded by darkness. A skeletal throne appeared in front of Vincent. Sitting on the throne sat the ruler of the underworld Hades.

“H-Hades!” Vincent gasped in fright.

"Vincent, you have been chosen to stop the evil plaguing the planet!" Hades said in a deep raspy voice.

“Why me?” Vincent asked.

"You were resurrected by the crow. You are a lost and restless soul, caught between the living and the dead. The terrible injustice done to you, and the strong love for your wife brought you back. You cannot rest until you corrected the injustice done to you,” Hades said.

Suddenly, another memory flashed in Vincent's mind. Vincent cradled his bloody stump. Elena held Lucrecia by her hair, and she held a gun under her chin. Tseng walked up to Vincent, staring down at him coldly.

"Why- why are you d-doing this to us, Tseng? I've always done what Shinra wanted. We haven't done anything to Shinra to deserve this!" Vincent said.

"This wasn't my idea, Vincent. Are new president, Rufus, ordered it so," Tseng said.

"But why?" Vincent shouted at his one-time boss.

"You were are best, Vincent, when you resigned from the Turks. It created a great upset in our branch. Rufus wanted you back by any means, and if you refused to come back. Then we are to terminate you and your wife as traitors to Shinra," Tseng said.

"I'm not a traitor!" Vincent yelled.

"Yes, you are! You tried to quit the Turks. Have you forgotten already, Vincent? Once you're a Turk, you're a Turk for life. The only way to ever leave the Turks is to die!" Tseng said.

A wild laughter was heard from behind Tseng. Vincent looked behind Tseng and saw Rufus laughing. He strolled over the Vincent, smirking sinisterly, as he pulled out a gun from his white jacket.

"Hello, Vincent, I wish we had met under different circumstances, but if you had just come back. Then none of this would have been necessary," Rufus said.

"I quit, because I was tried of doing all the dirty work for your father. I swore on the day when he died I'd resign. I'll never return to the Turks or Shinra!" Vincent said determinedly.

Rufus folded is arms and rubbed the tip of his gun along his forehead. "Vincent, Vincent. You don't realize what you are saying. If you keep refusing me then you force me to take drastic measure!" He pointed his gun at Lucrecia. "I like to think of myself as a fair man. So, I'm giving you one last chance. Come back to Shinra or else!" Rufus snarled.

"Vincent! Forget about me, darling! Get away while you can!" Lucrecia pleaded.

"Oh, shut up!" Rufus said. He shot her in the head, killing her instantly.

"Lucrecia!" Vincent cried.

Elena dropped Lucrecia's body, licking off some of the blood that splattered on her hand. "Bitch got what she deserved!" Elena said, kicking her body.

Vincent felt burning tears run down his face. "…Lucrecia," Vincent wept.

"Now, your answer, Vincent!" Rufus said.

Vincent spat blood at his face. "Never!" he said.

Rufus wiped the blood off with his handkerchief. He placed the barrel of his gun on Vincent's forehead. "What a pity. You had such great potential," Rufus said, as he pulled the trigger.

The flashback ended and Vincent was on the ground, clutching his forehead. He clawed at his head from the remembered pain of the bullet going into his head, and then he wept from the memory of losing his wife, the heart wrenching pain he felt when he saw her lifeless face hit the floor. His sadness soon turned into a dark rage. His eyes glowed as his anger intensified, the symbol of the crow on his golden hand glowed burning red.

"What must I do to avenge Lucrecia," Vincent said in a dark cold voice.

"You must kill those who were involved with your murder, but that isn't your only mission," Hades said.

"What else is there?" Vincent asked.

"Shinra is killing the planet! Their mako reactors are sucking up the souls of the dead in the life stream to fuel their unquenchable thirst for power! It cannot be tolerated any longer. You are my chosen one, Vincent, that golden arm is a gift from me. It is virtually indestructible, as are you now, because the crow has resurrected you. You are stronger and faster than any human. You cannot die or feel any pain. You will heal from any injury, but take caution, Vincent! Your crow is your link between the living and the dead. If it is wounded or killed you will be a mere human again," Hades said.

“I shall! When I kill Rufus, that shall destroy Shinra!” Vincent said.

"Make sure it falls, Vincent, you are your wife's last hope. If you don't stop Shinra's reactors, then Lucrecia's soul will be sucked into those horrid things and vanish from all existence!" Hades said.

“No! How can I know if she isn’t already being sucked into Shinra's reactors?” Vincent panicked.

Hades held up a skeleton hand to quiet Vincent. "Do not fear, Vincent, I am keeping her safe in limbo, but I cannot keep her there for too long. I grow weak as the planet grows weak. You must destroy Shinra before they drain the planet dry!" Hades said, sounding slightly tired for the first time.

“Shinra will burn in the fires of their own reactors when I take my vengeance on them!” Vincent said.

"I have faith in you. Now, go and cut the cancer from the planet's heart! If you are ever in need of my assistants use the materia the crow gave you to call me forth," Hades said, vanishing from sight.

Vincent returned to the secret library. It wasn't until the crow cawed did he realize it had been on his shoulder when he spoke to Hades. He tucked the red materia in his pocket and left the secret library. He went down the tunnel and went back into the coffin room. He walked over to the coffin and touched the edge of the coffin. Vincent was bombarded by a vision.

"Fuck, he's heavy! Where the fuck do we dump him?" Reno complained sounding very pissed off with having to carry Vincent's body down the tunnel.

"Tseng said to put the body where no one will find it,” Rude said.

"Why? We could have just left his ass with Lucrecia's body. The people in this shit hole of a town can deal with them!" Reno said.

"Tseng said Vincent doesn't deserve a proper burial. A traitor must be dumped with dishonor somewhere where no one can remember him," Rude said.

He helped Reno carry Vincent's body into the coffin room. "This is good enough for an ex-Turk," Rude said. He and Reno threw Vincent's body into the coffin, locking it from the outside.

Vincent roared with fury, and he raged through the room. The crow flapped off his shoulder and landed outside the room. Vincent thrashed about the room. He crushed a few of the human skulls. He raked his clawed hand on the walls, and on the other coffins in the room. He stopped raging and clamed down. The crow flew back in and perched itself back on his shoulder. He left the coffin room and went down the tunnel to the spiral walkway. He exited the secret passageway and entered the old room. He walked out to the creaky floored hallway.

None of the monsters tried to attack Vincent. They all felt he was a threat to not reckon with. Vincent went down the grand staircase and out the front door of the mansion. It was raining hard when he stepped out of the mansion. He turned back to look at the mansion one late time. It was here his and Lucrecia's life was supposed to change for the better. Lucrecia worked an experiment she kept secret from her co-workers. She didn't trust any of the other scientists in Shinra with her findings.

Particularly, one scientist he couldn't recall the name of, but he remembered the man always made him fell uncomfortable. When Vincent quit the Turks, he and Lucrecia moved into the mansion to start their new lives. They were able to afford it, because the high pension they received from working in Shinra. Lucrecia could work on her experiments and Vincent could have had time to try another line of work. He didn't know what else he could have done after being with the Turks, but he was willing to try.

Vincent was about to leave the mansion, until he remembered a secret Lucrecia had told him. He went back into the mansion and went to the room they kept their safe in. Vincent spun the combination and opened the door. Inside, Lucrecia had put one of her experiments in. Vincent reacted in the safe and took out a small vial filled with a strange purple liquid. The label on the vial read 'Chaos' when he held the vial he experienced another flashback.

"What you got there, honey?" Vincent asked.

Lucrecia had just put the vial in the safe when he asked. She walked over to him and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Just a little something I've been working on. It's a vial with the essence of a demon in it," Lucrecia said.

"A demon! Isn't having something like that a bit dangerous?” Vincent asked worriedly.

"It's perfectly safe, dear, it can't hurt anyone. Not unless someone injects it into themselves, but that would be a fatal thing to do,” Lucrecia said.

"Why's that?" Vincent asked.

"It's a high concentration of a powerful demon. If someone weak took it they would die from the overwhelming serum,” Lucrecia said.

"I still think it's dangerous to have. Why on this planet would you need that no one can use,” Vincent said.

Lucrecia tapped his nose playfully and kissed him. "You never know when you might need something like that!” Lucrecia said.

The flashback ended and Vincent had a small smile on his face.

'Maybe this will come in handy after all,' Vincent thought.

He pocketed the vial in the inner pocket in his torn suit. He went to the piano room to get a gun he kept hidden just for emergencies. Vincent glanced around the piano room. The floor was covered with dried blood. On the far wall from the door there was a bullet hole the size of a tennis ball. It was in this room he and Lucrecia were murdered. He walked to the piano and felt under it. He found his old gun Quicksilver still strapped where he left it. He checked to see if the gun was still working, and tucked it in his belt line behind him.

Vincent tried to recall anything else he might need. All his other personal things and Lucrecia's were either broking by now, or wouldn't be worth taking with him. He left the mansion out into the rain. He walked into the middle of town and came to the well. He scanned the town for any sign of life. There weren't any people out. All the building looked dead, except for one of the houses.

One window in the house was lit. Vincent remembered it belonged to two old friends of his Cloud Strife and Tifa Lockheart. He and Cloud have been friends for five years. He met Cloud on one of his missions with the Turks. He was to help some soldiers fix a malfunctioning reactor up in Nibelhelm Mountains. Wild monsters had infested the reactor. Vincent almost didn't make it if it hadn't been for Cloud. Since that mission he and Cloud became close friends. He remembered the day Cloud introduced him to his girlfriend Tifa. She acted as their guide up in the mountains. Tifa was the one who convinced him and Lucrecia to live in Nibelhelm. She said it would be the perfect place to raise a family.

She didn't mean to make them live here she was talking more about Cloud and herself, but Vincent was enthralled by the way she talked about having a happy life in Nibelhelm. He went to the house and knocked on the door. He heard someone inside hurrying from upside come down to the door. The person unlocked the lack and opened the door. A longhaired brunette with wine red eyes girl was standing in the doorframe. She had a very healthy framed body. The kind only a dancer or marital artist can obtain. She was wearing a white tank top and a thigh high shorts with suspenders. The girl was also wearing fighting gloves and combat boots. Tifa Lockheart gasped as she saw who was standing at her door.

“Vincent! Oh my god! I-Is it really you, where have you been all this time?” Tifa said in one breath.

“It's been along time, hasn't it for you? Yes, it's really me, Tifa, can I come in,” Vincent said.

“Of course! Come on in you must be soaked to the bone,” Tifa said. She stepped back behind the door to let Vincent in.

He entered and the crow flew off his shoulder, and it perched on a cabinet. Tifa regarded the bird curiously, until she noticed Vincent's golden arm.

“Vincent, what happened to your arm?” she asked.

“It's a long story I'll tell you later, but there's something I need to ask you,” Vincent said.

“What is it?” Tifa said.

“Do you know what happened to Lucrecia's body?” Vincent said.

Tifa turned her face away from Vincent. “Cloud got worried when we saw Shinra leave the mansion. After the left town he went in to see if you two were all right. H-He found Lucrecia's body dead in the piano room. He told it looked like a fight, but he wouldn't tell me anymore. Cloud said he saw someone's arm lying close to Lucrecia. He thought you were it was yours, but we couldn't find your body. We buried her body and the arm at the cemetery. We gave her the best funeral we could afford,” Tifa said, beginning to cry.

She ran over to Vincent and gave him an affectionate hug. “I'm so glad to see you're alive. We feared you were dead too!” Tifa cried.

“I am dead, Tifa,” Vincent said.

“W-What?” Tifa said.

Vincent told her everything that had happened to him. He told her about the crow and what Shinra was doing to the planet.

“Barret was right all along,” Tifa said, after Vincent finished his story.

“Who's Barret?” Vincent asked.

Before Tifa said a word. Vincent saw in his mind a big muscular black man with a machine mounted on his right arm.

“Rough looking guy, Tifa, why would you know someone like him?” Vincent said.

“You mean Barret? H-How do you know he's rough looking?” Tifa asked.

“The crow lets me see into a person's soul,” Vincent said almost darkly.

“Oh…! Ahem, a-anyways, he leads a group called Avalanche. They are trying to stop Shinra. Cloud and I met him when he and his group were going to blow up the reactor in the mountains. He told us that he suspected Shinra was harming the planet. After what Shinra did to you and Lucrecia Cloud quit soldier and we joined Avalanche. As a matter of fact I was just packing our things when you knocked,” Tifa said.

“Packing? Are you leaving Nibelhelm?” Vincent asked.

“We have to, Vincent, we are going to Midgar. We're going to establish a base there and start fighting Shinra!” Tifa said.

“This is quite a coincidence, Tifa. I have to stop Shinra too,” Vincent said.

“You do! Oh, wonderful, Cloud will be so happy to see you again,” Tifa cheered.

“No! You can't tell anyone I'm back! Once my mission is accomplished I will be returning to the Afterlife. It's best if Cloud doesn't know about this meeting, Tifa. I should leave now before he does return,” Vincent said, heading for the door.

“Wait, Vincent, you can't leave in those clothes. Come with me I'll get you some new clothes to wear,” Tifa said. She grabbed his human arm and dragged him upstairs.

She took him into her room. There she went through her closet. She found a black shirt and black baggy pants. Tifa found a red cloak she thought would go with his eyes. She even found a pair of golden steel-toed boots that would match his arm. He removed his suit and put on the dark attire. Tifa gave him a fingerless glove for his right hand and three buckled belts to hold up the baggy pants. He put these on and he managed to keep Tifa from seeing the vial when he slipped it in his cloak.

Tifa walked around Vincent, tapping her chin thoughtfully.

“There's something missing,”Tifa said.

She went to her dresser and pulled out her make-up kit and a red bandanna.

“What's with the make-kit?” Vincent asked.

“Just sit down on the bed, Vincent,” Tifa said.

Vincent did as he was told. Tifa pulled out her white fountain and rubbed it all over his face. She was careful to not put any near his eyes and mouth. Next, she took out a black eyeliner and eye shadow and applied them on his eyes. She used the eye liner to draw a vertical line above and below each eye, making them look like black tears. She used a black lip liner to outline his lips. She stopped for a minute and looked at her handy work.

“Still not enough,” Tifa murmured.

She traced long lines on both sides of his mouth to make an evil smile. She wrapped the bandanna around his head to keep his long bangs from getting in his face. Vincent got off the bed and looked at himself in the mirror hanging over the dresser. He didn't look anything like his old self. Vincent knew he had now become a dark angel of vengeance. He took the red materia and put it in the slot in his gun, and tucked it in his cloak.

“Tifa, you wouldn't happen to have some spare materia I could use, would you?” Vincent asked.

“Sure, I'll get you an armlet to use, too!” Tifa replied, going to get these items.

She came back quickly with a Mystile and some materia. She gave Vincent a Long-Range, Added Effect, Deathblow, Hp Plus, Mp Plus, Fire 3, Bolt 3, Barrier, and a Destruct materia. Vincent loaded the materia in the slots in his gun and his armlet.

“Are they all mastered?” Vincent asked.

“Yes, Cloud always trains up any materia he gets,” Tifa said.

Vincent walked over to her and embrace her in a hug. “Good-bye, Tifa,” Vincent said.

“Good-bye, Vincent, I'm glad I got to see you again,” Tifa said.

“Me, too,” Vincent said.

He let go of her, and went to the window and opened it. The crow flew out of the window and Vincent jumped out after it into the dark, stormy night. Tifa ran to the window, hoping to see Vincent one last time, but he disappeared into the darkness. Tifa closed the window and fell on her bed. She cried there, until she heard Cloud come home. She quickly wiped her tears away and continued packing. Vincent watched as Cloud went inside the house from on top of the roofs. He waited till Cloud went upstairs and hugged Tifa before he turned away and jumped off the roof. He went to Lucrecia's grave.

“I will avenge us, Lucrecia! Shinra will fall to ashes when I'm done with them. Please wait a bit longer for me. We'll be reunited after I spill the blood of Shinra and the Turks!” Vincent vowed.

He left the cemetery with red glowing eyes, and the symbol of the crow on his golden hand, burning bright red in the night.