Woot, first fic! Ahem...

This fic, and the longer version (waaaaaaay longer) were inspired by the works of my favourite fan artist; Wyna Hiros. For this story the two pics are Last Bullet and Cover. You'll find her work at fanart-central, deviantart, amongst many other places.

You may notice that there are no names given to the beasts. This is because Wyna made them up (or tried to...), so they are not technically creatures you would find in the game.

I'm very 'canon.' Please, if you notice mistakes tell me... I might disagree with you on the point, I might correct it.

Copyright: Characters not my own, blah blah... you know how it goes.

This is the first fic I have publish in a public fiction-y place. C&C is amazingly welcome, so long as it is constructive. Also, I'm utterly pants with ratings and age restrictions. Let me know if I messed up with the rating. Thanks.

I:!!:I

Rain beat down on his dark hair, running into his crimson eyes and blurring his vision. Growls echoed around him, mingling with the cracks of thunder and the booming crashes of Meteor's approach. How many enemies could be left? He had gone on ahead after the defeat of Sephiroth to help with the evacuation of Midgar. It had proven more troublesome than fighting the deranged son of the Calamity; monsters, attracted by the death and destruction, had crowded into the city.

Vincent had a single bullet left; fighting Sephiroth had taken much out of him and used most of his ammo. His magic was low, his materia almost useless; he had perhaps four basic spells left. Yuffie, who had joined him in the evacuation, was no where to be seen. Neither were any of the Turks, including Reeve. He was alone in this battle, alone once again.

Jaws snapped at his cloak. His reaction was instant; the small wolf-like creature took a Fire spell square in its glowing face. It fell to the ground twitching, its pack-mates yapping at the corpse and now keeping their distance. A large bat-like monster with one single massive red eye rose up from behind the other creatures. It was ready to swoop down on him. He called on the heavens and a mighty Lightning bolt hit it. The bat tumbled onto a green horned beast below, its eye sizzling and oozing dark liquid across the monster's back.

Two spells. He threw Ice at a brown, gelatinous and many-toothed creature to his left. It squealed but did not fall. He threw the last spell at it, this time Lightning. The blue forks just bounced off its wobbling hide as it lurched at him, its gaping mouth full of deformed teeth and rotting flesh. Vincent raised his gloved arm and the beast's jaws caught it, threatening to crush through the armour.

"One more bullet," he murmured as thunder rolled through the charged skies. Vincent pushed the Death Penalty into the mouth under his arm, breaking through the vicious teeth, and pulled the trigger. Putrid blood flew into his face. The beast relinquished its grip and breathed its last. Vincent stumbled backwards from the corpse, holding the gun up, hoping his enemies would still be wary of it.

No more more bullets. At least seven demonic beasts.

"Demonic."

His left hand clenched, metal grinding against metal. He knew he could defeat them all with ease, these monsters forged in the sickening glow of the Mako reactors. All he had to do was lose control; let the beast take over and allow Chaos to rule his actions. He waited. As soon as one of them touched him he would transform, but not until then… he would put it off as long as they would leave him alone.

The wolf pack were running at him, he caught sight of them out of the corner of his eye. He waited; waited for their jaws to touch his flesh. They never arrived.

A lance, followed by the captain of the Highwind, landed in the middle of the pack, scattering them. Cid turned around to his friend and tossed him a new clip, pointing up at the transformed airship above.

"You got my back, Valentine?"

"As always," he replied.

A smile almost touched Vincent's lips. Cid was perhaps the closest thing he had to a friend since his fall from grace. The man was insane in Vincent's eyes, but he brought with him a kind of rough good cheer that made Vincent feel alive once again, even if it was just a little.