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-IV-

"It seems heīs alive."

"Hey, heīs opening his eyes."

Vincent slowly opened his eyes. He couldnīt remember when or where he was. Then, he remembered it all. Royale, Gustave, the fall, everything. He sat straight, and took a look around him. He saw two men standing near him. One was very old, as his long beard, and white hair made evidently. The other was a little younger, with his bald head gleaming at the sun. Both of them were dressed in rags. Vincent then tried to speak, and felt his throat dry.

"Here you go, pal."

The old man gave him a drink of a brownish liquid. Vincent drank it, trying not to think of what it was.

"Welcome to the Desert Prison, or "Inferno" as we like to call it. My nameīs Dante, and my partner there is Joe, altough we call him "Fingers". If heīs around, better watch your stuff, since it tends to disappear and misteriously end in his pockets a little bit too often."

"Donīt pay attention to that old man. Iīm Joseph. Whatīs your name?"

"Vincent..."

"Well, Vinny, welcome here. By your clothes I assume youīre accustomed to the high life, but donīt worry. Although this is a hellhole, itīs the best hellhole in the world."

"Where am I?"

"Are you paying attention, sonny? Youīre at the infamous Desert Prison. Population 714 now with your arrival. Hope you like beach, since itīs like it, just thereīs no water in miles around this place."

The old man laughed. The bald man shook his head. Vincent then took a better look around. All he could see was some shacks, old trucks that obviously had driven a long way before ending there, and sand. Lots of it. Sand all around the place, losing in the horizon.

"What did you do, Vin?"

"Huh?"

"You must have done something very bad to end here. What was it? Did you tried to cheat at the blackjack? Did you lose all your money and couldnīt pay your debts? Or you tried to steal money from the casino?"

"I tried to kill Royale."

Dante and Joe were shocked.

"Ohhh! Thatīs bad sonny! No shit you ended here, that Royale is a real son of a bitch! What did you try something as stupid as that?"

Vincent didnīt answer. His thoughts wandered on what would happen now.

"Gustave must have know that I failed, and heīs going to try and kill Royale. If he suceeds, itīs not likely he will help me get out of here. He will get all the glory, as always. And if he fails, he must be on his way here." he thought.

"Hey sonny, we asked you a question! What in hell were you thinking when you tried something as stupid as that?"

"I was sent here on a mission by the Shinra. I didnīt expect any troubles, since I know Royale well."

"Well, it seems you didnīt know him as well as you though, if you ended here. You better get acustomed to this place, because youīre going to die here." Joe said.

"Cīmon, sonny, we are late." Dante said, as he helped Vincent to get up.

"Late for what?"

Dante and Joe started to walk, Dante puling Vincent by his right hand. He found it difficult to walk in the sand, his feet sinking up to his ankles.

"Even here, there are some traces of what you would call "society". There are hierarchyīs, you know sonny?"

"As a newcomer, you must pay your respects to the top man in charge here." Joseph said.

“And who is that?”

“Youīll see by yourself.” Joseph said.

They walked until they reached a place that looked like a junkyard. Old trailers were everywhere, their leftovers exposed to the sun like they were animals who had died there, after spending the last of their strength trying to abandon that place. Dante walked up to where a couple of men were standing guard at both sides of an entrance at the side of a truck. He exchanged a few words with them, signaling to Vincent occasionally. He was wondering what the hell were they talking, when Dante signaled him and Joseph to come nearby.

“Well, sonny, now youīre on your own. Remember, the rest of your life depends on what you do and say in the next fifteen minutes.”

Vincent walked through the entrance. It took a couple of minutes before his eyes got used to the darkness in there. A couple of torches were at the walls, and in the middle, sat a huge, muscular bald man, with a goatee, dressed in nothing more than a pair of jeans and a leather vest.

“What is your name punk?” the man asked.

“Vincent. Vincent Valentine.”

“Why were you sent here?”

“I tried to kill Royale.” Vincent said, trying to sound confident.

The man frowned when he heard this. He then started to laugh loudly. Vincent jus standed there, asking himself what the hell was so funny.

“Thatīs a nice story. Now tell me the truth.” The man said, trying to reprise the laughs.

Vincent just stared at him, without blinking. The man stopped laughing, and his expresion turned serious.

"Goddamn son of a bitch."

The man then walked to where a chair made of scrap metal and tires stood. He sat in it, and closed his eyes, trying to assimilate this shocking truth. He stood there in silence for ten, maybe more minutes, and Vincent was beginning to ask himself if he had fallen asleep, when suddenly he opened his eyes, got up, and walked to where Vincent was standing.

"I knew it was a matter of time before he pissed someone too badly he would be knocking at the doors of the Promised Land before his time was due. Who sent you?"

"Someone who wanted him dead."

"Lemme guess. It was the Shinra, isnīt it?"

"Maybe. What makes you think so?"

"It was either the Shinra, the Corel Mafia, or the Wutai Yakuza. You seem a lot more intelligent that the usual hitman, so I take youīre one of them Shinra college boys."

"Maybe I am. So what?"

The man banged a fist in the wall. He turned around to face Vincent. Vincent just held the glare.

"We have a little problem here. As you can see, here we have a very fragile order, sustained in a very defined social ladder. In the last place are the guys who couldnīt pay their debts to the casino. In the highest place there are the assasins. We sort them out by the people they killed, or tried to kill: average joes, casino guards, executives. And Iīm the highest among them. You want to know why?"

"I have a pretty good guess."

"Because I tried to kill Royale. So, that makes me the highest among the highest. And now you appear around here, telling me you tried to do the same thing. You know what does that mean?"

"I have another good guess."

"It means that, when the word spreads around here, all the suckers I had to step on to will be more than glad to follow you. It doesnīt matter if you want my place or not, they will find a way to force you. And you know what will happen?"

"............."

"There will be a war. Iīve battled hard to achieve this fragile peace down here, and now you appear threatening to undo it by your sole presence. But thereīs an easy way to prevent all of that."

Vincent glared to the door. Altough it wasnīt very far, the guards probably would get him before he went far. The man was slowly getting closer to Vincent.

"You have two choices. Either you say you were sent here because you didnīt pay your debts to the casino, or I kill you. Choose wisely."

Vincent remained silent a couple of minutes. Then he said without any emotion:

"I donīt like to die."

"I knew you would be smart. Now, just one more thing. As you can guess, a man like me has many enemies down here. If I was ever to need your support in any... situation, you will help me. In return, Iīll reward you generously: food, water, maybe a little fun with the few girls that are down here. If you choose not to help me, I will pay you in the same coin. Understood?"

"Yes. "

"Well, now you can go away. Remember, help me, and Iīll help you. You do anything stupid and I will mess with you in ways you donīt imagine."

Vincent exited the trailer, and saw Joseph and Dante sitting in the carcass of what had been a sand buggy.

"How did it go?"

"It was okay. Who was that man?"

"Everybody around here call him Bear. It seems he earned the nickname after he killed a bear with one punch."

If Vincent was impressed, he didnīt show it.

"So, what do we do now?"

"Well, since it appears you will be with us for a time, weīll show you around."

Dante then took Vincent around the prison. He showed him the junkyard where lots of junk and old cars rusted, along with an old crane with a magnet stood as a monument ; the barracks where all the thieves and cheaters reunited to talk and drink away their days away; and the bar, where the few alcohol obtained by Bear was "sold" for later favors. Vincent was beginning to think he could not survive more than two days, when something caught his attention.

In the middle of a clear, he saw what looked like a well . But, when he was about to check it, Joe and Dante grabbed him by the arms.

"Stop right there sonny! Where the hell do you think youīre going?"

"I was going to take some water from the well." Vincent said.

Joe and Dante exploded in laughter. Vincent waited patiently until they calmed.

"You think we have a well, here? Donīt kid me sonny!"

"So, what is it, then?"

"Watch." Joe said.

He grabbed a stone, and launched it inside the well. Then, flames erupted from it, like it was a rocket.

"What is that!?" Vincent asked puzzled.

"Itīs Royaleīs way of torturing us." Joe said.

"You see sonny, when we arrived here, Royale had that well built, and then told everyone that, if we wanted to get out of here, the way to escape was inside there. Everyone ran inside the well; to be instantly turned into BBQ by the flames. The few that managed to get inside through the flame bursts were impalled in razor-sharp blades. Then he told us that we shouldnīt had expected to be that easy. Since that day, a poor devil or two, thinking they can do it, try it from time to time; each of them failing. No one knows what itīs inside, but everyone tries, hoping this time they will succed. No one has." Dante finished.

"Havenīt you tried to dig a tunnel to reach the bottom?" Vincent asked.

"Some did. The whole goddamn well is shielded with metal all around it. And, yes, we have tried to find the way to turn off the damn thing, but Royale hid the cables deep in the ground. We tried to find them, but to no avail." Joe said.

"He hasnīt changed a bit. Still enjoys other peopleīs suffering." Vincent said. "But, if thereīs a way to escape, Iīll try it. And then, Royale will pay."

"Donīt take your hopes too high, sonny, Iīve been here since the beginning; and I have yet to see someone to escape from here."

"Arenīt there any guards here?" Vincent asked.

"Why would someone put guards down here? We are in the middle of a desert, for the Planetīs sake! We can get out of here anytime we want, but no one has crossed the desert alive. The few that tried it were either killed by the thirst, or some monster thought they would be a good dinner despite them being in the bones. Right, Dante?"

Dante lowered his head, and began to talk in a low voice.

"Me, and my friend Virgil tried to escape from this... this inferno, by crossing the desert. It was ten years ago. We were fools, thinking we were strong enough to make it across the desert ; but, in the second day, the thirst started to weaken us. Virgil was the worst of us two. He told me to leave him, and go back to the prison. I refused, and stayed with him. By the fourth day..." Dante then stopped, tears in his eyes, as he were seeing his old friend dying before him.

"He died..." Vincent stated the obvious.

"Yes. By then, I was so weak I couldnīt move without a great effort. Virgil pleaded me at first, then he ordered me to leave him. I again refused. He started to curse me, and my mother, and my grandmother... He was such a foul mouthed guy." Dante said, a smile crossing his face. He cleaned the tears off his eyes, and continued. "Then it happened."

"What happened?" Vincent asked, not sure if he wanted to hear the question.

"I donīt want to talk about it. Letīs just leave it in that, when my friend most needed me, I abandoned him. I ran, and I still regret it." Dante then just got quiet. Vincent noticed he didnīt called him "sonny" anymore.

"Cīmon, Dante! It was not your fault. You did what you could."

"Did I, Joe? Did I really do what I could to save him? No, I just abandoned him..."

Dante then started to walk away from Vincent and Joe. Vincent was still thinking about Dante and his tale, when he noticed it was getting dark. He followed Joe to the inside of a shack, where up to twenty guys were sleeping. He sat in a corner and closed his eyes. Tomorrow, he would be a free man.