Disclaimer: yeah, I don't own FF7 or FFX. It's sad but true; so please don't sue.
The Gunslinger
Chapter III
"Unwelcome Guests"
He fell forever, tumbling down a black abyss. There was no time in the darkness, just pain and horror.
A soft white light appeared in the darkness beneath him and grew and grew, until the light swallowed up the darkness, becoming brighter than the sunniest day. He raised his hand to shield his eyes, but it did no good. The light was too bright to be stopped.
The abyss narrowed and he began to bounce and careen off the jagged walls, cutting and battering his already weak body. The cold stone ground rushed up to meet him with increasing speed and then further broke his body when the abyss ended.
He doesn't know how long he lay on that cold ground, unmoving, scarcely breathing. Time held no sway in this nightmarish existence, this hell.
It was the light that awoke him, shining through his eyelids and into his wounds. He gingerly opened one eye and looked at his surroundings for the first time.
It was a cave, a massive grotto filled with stalactites and still water. A flock of bats rustled overhead, frightening him at first, but only at first. He slowly stood, then stumbled as his body was still too weak to support his weight. He tried again and just managed to reach a large stone for support. Leaning against the stone, he turned towards the source of the light and wept.
It was crystals; a large fountain of Mako straight from the center of the earth and embedded in the crystals was a beautiful young woman, her hands crossed over her bosom and her eyes closed.
Lucrecia…
Her visage faded as soon as he thought her name and the light from the crystal dimmed. A low rumbling began and he cautiously took a step back as 3 monsters appeared next to Lucrecia's crystal.
To the crystal's left, was a monstrous fire-breathing beast with purple skin and red horns. Beside it, an ogre-like creature whose parchment-like skin cackles with yellow electricity.
To the crystal's right was a man in blood spattered clothing wearing a white mask and loosely carrying a gore-ridden chainsaw.
The loud rustling of leathery wings filled the cave and his gaze turned upwards, above the crystal. A devil of red and black hovered above Lucrecia's head, its massive leathery wings barely moving to keep it aloft. Red eyes stared down at him and a clawed finger stretched out and pointed.
He never had a chance.
The 3 monsters on the ground rushed at him with blinding speed, their gruesome flesh fading into transparent spirits and plunging into his chest. He reeled from the blows and clutched his chest in agony. The pain quickly spread into his arms and head and he thought he would die from the pain alone.
But the nightmare wasn't over yet…
With a rush of wings, the devil above swooped down and plunged its clawed hand into his heart. Blood bubbled out of the wound as the devil began to fade into transparency and flowed into the wound. The flow of blood reversed itself and the wound closed as the last of the devil entered.
Pain, somehow even greater than before, exploded throughout his entire body and he now truly wished for death…
-X-
Vincent shot awake, clutching his chest. He closed his eyes and focused on the pain, trying to drive it out with sheer willpower. It took longer than usual for it to subside.
He opened his eyes and found himself back in his small cabin aboard a ship for Kilika Port, not in Lucrecia's cave. He didn't even know if Lucrecia's cave still existed.
Vincent had been on the ship for three days now and was actually enjoying himself. He found the gentle rocking of the ship over the waves to be very soothing and the smell of chocobos to be a pleasing aroma, despite their endless 'warking' in the night. He had almost laughed the first time he saw the chocobos powering the ship. In over 2,000 years, they had changed almost as little as he had. It felt good to know that there were other things left in the world as timeless as he was.
Unable to fall back to sleep, and not really wanting to either, Vincent donned his civilian clothes and went up to the deck, his claw carefully wrapped in his cloak. The night was calm and peaceful. There was a brisk wind and the ship traveled quickly over the water. Vincent could even see a school of dolphins swimming alongside the ship. The tranquil scene pushed away the memories and thoughts from his most recent nightmare and Vincent felt a small taste of peace in a lifetime of horror.
"You alright, sir?"
A freckle-faced crew member interrupted Vincent's train of thought.
"Hmm?"
"You shouldn't be out of your cabin this late at night sir," the crew member said. "A lot of fiends come up to the surface at night. They've been known to attack ships, especially when Sin is nearby. You better go back below where it's nice and safe," he instructed as if Vincent was a small child.
"Fiends do not concern me," replied Vincent and he turned back to the ocean.
"You're funeral, mate. Just don't come screamin' to me for help when some fiend drags you overboard."
Vincent turned his gaze from the sea and his red eyes burned into the sailor. The sailor's freckle-face paled and his blood curdled. He quickly stepped away from Vincent and rushed below deck, where it was nice and safe.
Alone again, Vincent returned his gaze to the sea. The sea had gone dark and choppy and the ship bounced hard over the waves. The dark sea returned thoughts of his nightmare and the images he saw filled his mind.
'Galian Beast…Death Gigas…Hellmasker…Chaos…' he thought, naming the demons that inhabited his body. 'They are more restless than I remember, harder to control. Especially Chaos. Something wrong,' he thought. 'Something wrong about this world…'
A sudden spasm of pain, starting from his concealed claw hand and shooting up into his chest, drives Vincent down to one knee. His cloak flutters to the ground as tremors shake his body. His normal hand clutches his chest until the pain subsides.
Gasping for air, Vincent uses the ship's railing to pull himself back to his feet. He stands on shaky legs as his body heals, shaking his head to clear the cobwebs. He raises his clawed to brush his long hair out of his face and stops in mid-motion. The claw was glowing blood red, a precursor to full transformation.
"Chaos…"
Vincent snaps his head up as a scream from the rear of the ship shatters the night air. When he looks down, the red glow was gone.
'Was it ever really there?' he wonders. 'Did I imagine the whole thing?'
Another scream, this one the high-pitched cry of a young woman, breaks through his confusion. He tears off his civilian clothes, ripping the cloth right off with his claw, reveling the black bodysuit underneath. He picks up his crimson cloak and whirls it over his shoulders, quickly fastening it into place. Replacing his headband from a pocket, Vincent runs towards the rear of the ship.
A horde of crew members were running in a panic towards Vincent, away from the danger. They were too scared to pay any attention to the gunslinger until he reached his clawed hand out and snagged one of them out of the crowd.
It was the freckle-faced young man from before. His face still hadn't regained its color from when Vincent had frightened him and his eyes were wide and bloodshot with fear. He mumbled madly, ranting and raving nonsense. He scratched and kicked at Vincent, trying to escape. Vincent held him tightly and lightly backhanded him across the face. The blow dazed the young sailor and knocked him out of his hysteria. His breathes became less frantic and he stopped fighting against Vincent's grip, although he was still not happy about being kept from escaping.
"Let go of me!" he shouted.
"What is going on?" asked Vincent.
"A Sinspawn is attacking the ship!" shouted the sailor.
"Sin spawn?"
"Yeah, you know. Everywhere Sin goes, he leaves a bit of himself behind; scales and stuff like that," the sailor explained quickly. "They become massive fiends and one of them is attacking the ship! C'mon man, let go of me!"
Vincent let go and the sailor stumbled away before running after the rest of the crew. Vincent could see them loading into longboats and fleeing, not waiting for the other passengers, abandoning them to their fates.
Vincent would not.
-X-
He stood alone on the deck, the crew long gone and the other passengers either dead or dying from some unknown sea monster. Drawing his pistol, Vincent neared the rear of the ship. Crouching behind a cask of fresh water, Vincent peered over the deck at the creature.
It was huge: a giant writhing mass of whip-like tentacles attached to an oval shaped mass of pink and green flesh. A dozen beady black eyes, each the size of melons, surrounded a gurgling pointed mouth lined with irregular, jagged teeth. Unfortunate passengers and crew, so easily abandoned, dangled from the massive tentacles and Vincent could see bodies and various body parts wedged in between teeth.
The sight made his blood boil.
Leaping high into the air, higher than the ship's main sail, and landing on the top of the crow's nest, Vincent leveled his gun at the apparent "front" of the monster.
BLAM!
All three chambers exploded and the bullets slammed into the Sinspawn's face. Black blood and bits of gore fell onto the deck as the monster let out an ear-piercing shriek of pain. Its many eyes swept over the deck, looking for its attacker.
"Over Here!" shouted Vincent's demonic voice and he leapt from off the crow's nest.
Tentacles of all shapes and sizes lash out into the air at the falling gunslinger. He twists and turns in midair, dodging the huge tentacles. He quickly passed through the larger outer tentacles, only to be swarmed by dozens of smaller, faster tentacles. The smaller tentacles swatted at him, whipping at his body. Vincent clawed at the tentacles, slapping them away with his pistol or clawing them to pieces.
Using a shot-off stub of a tentacle as a springboard, Vincent shot away from the mass of tentacles and flew over the creature's back, firing round after round into the Sinspawn's flesh. Vincent ran up its furrowed flesh, his pointed boots stabbing into the monster with every step. In its pain, the Sinspawn lashed out at everything within reach; its tentacles flaring out in every direction, shattering the deck of the ship, snapping the main sail in half like a toothpick. The tentacles slammed down across its own back, trying to hit Vincent, but only scoring bloody lashes on its own flesh.
Vincent ran up the monster's massive back, easily dodging the wild tentacles. Reaching the crown of the monster's head, Vincent slid down the Sinspawn's face, digging his claws into the soft flesh as anchors. Cocking his pistol, he fired point blank at the congregation of beady black eyes.
The monster roared and tried to buck the gunslinger off, but the golden claws remained embedded in its flesh and Vincent fired again and again into the Sinspawn's face.
Suddenly, one of the smaller tentacles sprang up and wrapped itself around Vincent's ankle. Pulling with gigantic strength, the tentacle tore Vincent off its face and tossed him into the air like a rag doll.
Another slimy tentacle caught him in midair and wrapped around his body like a snake. Vincent gagged at the stench of blood and spoiled fish coming from the tentacle as its coils began to crush the life out of him.
"Argh!" he growled in pain as the tentacle squeezed harder and Vincent could feel his ribs cracking beneath the pressure. The tentacle squeezed harder and an audible crack filled the air as the first rib snapped in two.
"RRRRARGH!" Vincent roared. Pain flashed through his body and his gun slipped from his hand and clattered to the deck.
Cursing, Vincent struggled within the tentacle's coils, but even his own enormous strength was no match for the coils.
The tentacle tightened more and the air rushed out of Vincent's lungs as he felt another rib go.
He clenched his teeth tightly in an effort to block out the pain and focused on the mastered Lightning Materia embedded in his claw. Vincent's mind stretched out and connected with the crystallized life energy in the Materia. Static electricity began to build and the air smelled like the ozone before a storm as the connection was made.
A massive bolt of lightning materialized and crashed into the constricting tentacle, blasting it in half and sending waves of electricity into the Sinspawn and Vincent. The monster shrieked in pain as the remains of the tentacle holding Vincent fell to the deck. He gingerly rolled away from the charred tentacle, his muscles twitching and his cloak smoking from the lightning blast. He struggled to his feet and fell back to one knee, clutching his broken ribs.
'On your feet!' he subconscious ordered him. 'Get on your feet!'
Baring his fanged teeth, Vincent forced himself up and retrieved his gun. He turned to face the wounded Sinspawn.
The beast had stopped its rampaging and had gathered all its remaining tentacles around itself, its few remaining eyes focused solely on Vincent.
Vincent's eyes began to glow blood red and dashed forward, disappearing in a blur of black and crimson. He reappeared in front of the Sinspawn's mouth, gun drawn and aimed at the broken nest of fear filled eyes.
The Sinspawn opened its cavern-like mouth to suck Vincent in. A snake-like tongue spit out and wrapped around Vincent's waist. The tongue began to pull backwards, dragging the gunslinger closer to the jagged teeth. Vincent dug his heels into the broken deck and pulled against the Sinspawn's tongue.
Taking aim, Vincent fired at the roof of the monster's mouth. Blood burst into the cavernous mouth as Vincent fired again and again. The monster uttered a wet, gurgling death rattle as gray brain matter began to drip through the bullet holes. The slimy tongue loosed and fell off Vincent's waist, rolling out the side of its mouth. The dozens of remaining tentacles fall limply onto the deck, twitching in their death throes.
Vincent stepped out of the dying monster's mouth, wiping the revolting saliva from his cloak. Bright lights begin to appear above the Sinspawn, dancing like the pyre-flies Vincent saw along the banks of the Moonflow. Vincent watches as more lights appeared and the Sinspawn's bloated body began to fade before his eyes. More lights appeared and began to float into the sky as the Sinspawn vanished into the night.
-X-
Mateo Vargas was the night man at the Kilika docks and was bored out of his mind. No ships ever came into port after dark and there hadn't been an attempted robbery since the last Calm, 15 years ago. So, like every other night, Mateo leaned back in his chair next to the Sin Warning Bell, fighting back drowsiness.
Mateo was fantasizing about his girlfriend Mircea's long legs when the sound of a dog barking broke through the peaceful night. Mateo jerked back in his chair, nearly toppling over. The dog continued its frantic barking and Mateo reached for the warning bell when he saw the ship.
The ship was badly damaged, nearly destroyed. The main sail had been snapped in half, the steering wheel lay shattered on the deck. The rear deck was reduced to a collection of loosely connected splinters and the whole ship was listing heavily to one side as water poured into its hull.
Mateo's hand lowered away from the bell and he ran out of the guard hut, grabbing a lit torch on his way. He reached the dock in time to see the ship barrel out of control into the docks, shattering planks, spilling crates of cargo into the sea, overturning torches and setting fire to the remains.
Mateo stood dumbfounded as the ship caught fire. Plumes of black smoke poured into the sky and flames licked at Mateo's face. He stumbled backwards and tripped, landing flat on his back. He scrambled backwards and stared at the wreck.
Suddenly, a comet of fire erupts from the rear of the ship and hurtles into the sky. Mateo watches as the ball of fire arches through the air and crashes onto the ground near him. He slowly crawls towards the crash site, too amazed to rise off his hands and knees. His fascination turns to horror as he watches something rise out of the fires.
A man, dressed in a red cloak, stepped causally out of the flames. He stamps out the last bits of fire licking at his cloak and turns towards Mateo. The man's red eyes seem to burn through Mateo and he cowers backwards.
Voices in the distance. Mateo turns and sees the entire village rushing towards the burning docks. He could see Mircea leading the pack, could see the fear in her pretty eyes. He raised his arm and waved at her. Then he turned back around to point at the stranger in red, but he was gone. Only a single pointed footprint heading towards the jungle remained.
Mateo stared at the footprint, then the jungle, then back at the footprint.
"He was right here," he muttered to himself as Mircea and the villagers arrived. "He was right here…"
-X-
Vincent flew through the jungle canopy, startling a family of brightly colored birds from their roost. The gunslinger jumped from treetop to treetop, wincing and holding his broken ribs as he landed. He could feel the bones knitting under his bodysuit, but, for now, they still hurt every time he moved.
He made quick time though the jungle and arrived at a long stone stairwell. Staying in the shadows, Vincent ran up the staircase, taking them two or three at a time. He reached the top of the stairs in no time and stood in the entranceway of the Kilika temple. Large statues of a priest in short-sleeved robes adorned the exterior while fire burned in dozens of torches and pits.
Vincent walked unnoticed to the heavy front door and stepped into the empty temple.
'Everyone must be busy dealing with the ship,' he thought as he walked up the stairs towards the Cloister of Trials.
-X-
Vincent calmly walked through the Cloister of Trials, replacing the Fire Materia he found in Cid's tomb with the mastered Materia he found in the Trials' entranceway. He easily avoided the various fire-based traps along the way, jumping over fire pits and ducking under jets of flame fired from the walls and ceilings.
He reached the antechamber and lifted aside the heavy stone blocking the Chamber of the Fayth with his claw. The Chamber was decorated in dark fiery reds and oranges and row after row of torches lit the walls, displaying beautiful murals of demons and savage beasts. A mural of a heavily muscled man with a massive claw-like weapon adorned the floor of the chamber, much like the unicorn had in Ramuh's temple.
A low, mournful hymn began and the spirit of Ifrit appeared above the Chamber's alter. The spirit looked nothing like the fire demon Vincent remembered. The green-skinned, man shaped monster had become a ravaging beast. No longer remotely human, or even demon looking, Ifrit was a primal force of nature. Massive horns jutted out of his head and shoulders and its massive hands brandished curved claws the size of swords at Vincent. It was hunched over like an ape; its heavily muscled arms were much longer than its legs and bore dozens of large scars. A fiery mane topped its head and tapered down its back. Fire dripped like saliva from its wolf-like jaws.
The spirit stared down at Vincent and roared. It lumbered forward and began to flesh out, losing its incorporeal transparency. Ifrit rushed forward and barreled into the unsuspecting Vincent. The now tangible spirit struck Vincent with its spiked shoulders like a runaway train, gashing and smashing into Vincent's already battered ribs. The blow spun Vincent around and knocked him to the ground. He barely managed to roll out of the way as the fire demon's curved talons speared into the ground where his chest had been.
Vincent sprang to his feet, grimacing as pain flared in his ribs, and leapt over Ifrit's back. Focusing on the beast's thick neck, Vincent connected with the un-mastered Ice Materia he found in Cid's tomb. A spear of ice materialized and shattered against Ifrit's neck, razor sharp edges cutting into the thick flesh. The beast roared in painful rage and the temperature in the room flared.
The fire demon flipped backwards in an impressive display of agility, landing perfectly on top of the alter. It raised its massive clawed hand and a ball of dark fire began to form in its palm. The ball grew and grew until it was the size of Ifrit's fiery head. The ball began to float into the air, away from the outstretched hand. Ifrit slammed its palm into the floating ball of fire and launched it at Vincent. The ball rocketed towards Vincent and the gunslinger barely rolled out of the way. The ball exploded into the wall besides Vincent, leaving nothing but a smoldering crater. The blast knocked Vincent to the ground, bits and pieces of rubble raining down upon him, his cloak smoldering and smoking from the heat and fire. His entire body ached under the rubble as he tried to pick himself back up.
Ifrit stood upon the alter, growling and breathing black smoke. It sniffed the air and, realizing its intruder was still alive underneath the pile of smoking rubble, created and fired more balls of fire. Explosion after explosion rocked the temple and more stone and rubble pilled on top of Vincent. Fire licked at the tattered crimson cloak and bits of black hair poking out of the rubble. The chamber rumbled as an entire section of the ceiling, no longer supported by the wall, crashed down on top of Vincent, burying him completely. Ifrit stopped and roared triumphantly as the cloud of dust settled.
Suddenly, amidst the mountain of rubble, obsidian flames and dark light pierced through the stone and rubble began to move. Ifrit snorted flames and watched, ready and waiting to pounce. Slowly the rubble began to clear away and a new monster crawled out of the wreckage.
It was human shaped, but no where near human. It was far, far larger and more heavily muscled than any human being could ever be. Its long arms ended in hideous clawed fingers and a tattered red cloak was wrapped around its waist. Bare-chested, its purple skin simmered with heat and a pair of sharp red horns crowned its silver haired head.
The Galian Beast stepped away from the rubble and approached Ifrit. Black fire sprung up from the ground with each step he took and spread across the room, until the entire floor burned. He spread his arms wide and 5 orbs of black fire burst into the air in front of him.
"Time to fight fire with fire!" he roared at the Aeon.
Author's Notes:
I love cliffhanger endings, don't you? My description of Vincent's Galian Beast form is my combination of the original and Dirge of Cerberus forms. I liked the original, but the new one was just way too cool looking to ignore. The Sinspawn was mostly inspired by the Kraken from Pirates of the Caribbean II: Dead Man's Chest. I loved that monster, it was very well done in the film and I wanted to try and recreate that a little bit. Let me know what you all think out there in reading land.
Reviewer shout-out time!
Sirius123: glad you liked the Aeons are Summons thing I'm using. There are much more and much better surprises on the way…
Silverpaws: well I'm enjoying writing this too much to give up on it anytime in the near future. I already have the entire story played out in my mind, from beginning to end. Just need to put it all on paper. Stick around and enjoy.
Yuleen75: To me, FF7 and FFX are very, very similar in setting and plot. The characters are so unique and special that you can mold them to any situation. Its something I've always loved about them. Hope you enjoyed this chapter.
Alixen: One thing I loved about FFX's heroes and heroines was their humanity. They didn't seem invincibly strong like other FF characters. Vincent was badass in FF7's world and even more so in FFX. However, that doesn't mean I'll make the FFX crew sissies or anything. They will kick plenty of ass later on. Hope you enjoy this chapter. Keep reading and reviewing.
Aldalena: glad you're cartwheeling around. I love creating that reaction. Sorry, no hints on anything allowed, its in the rules. Read on and maybe I'll get you doing flips.
Dariokkan: You know, I haven't even considered letting this little secret out to the public of Spira. Thanks for giving me something to think about. I wonder if the people would riot?
PenAngel: I'm glad you liked this so far. I hope you enjoy this chapter as well.
Sir MIDNIGHT: How can a story with Vincent as the main character go wrong? Ok there's a lot of ways, but I think I've got this one set to be very cool and very fun to read. Hope you like this chapter, keep reading and reviewing.
Whatevergirl: The robber guy was a fun bit to write and solved my problem of having Vincent so easily recognizable, being the legendary fairy tale figure and all. Plus, Vincent is so damn serious and broody I needed to have some comic relief in there somewhere. Enjoy.
Silverwind20: here's another chapter. Why don't you tell me what you think of the fic next time, instead of begging for the next chapter? I promise I'm going to keep posting.
Macs: I'm glad someone out there is checking my grammar and mechanics. I don't have a beta reader or whatever and just rely on my own editorial skills. I also have pet peeves about stories that just butcher ideas and language. That's why I always outline my ideas before committing to a story. Please keep on reading and reviewing and let me know how I'm doing, both story wise and grammatically.
Tormax: First time I went through the Cloister of Trials I thought the spheres looked exactly like Materia orbs. It was just one of those things that clicked in my head. Plus, it give me a way to give Vincent back him magical abilities and lets me write more interesting battles. Gun fighting is a lot of fun, but I like blowing things sky high with magic as much as the next writer. In a fight, I'd put Cloud over Vincent. Cloud was just the man, end of story. I think that even with Chaos and Vincent's general awesomeness, Cloud would win in the end, Omni-slash style.
savinglifelessness: like the pen name. Right now I'm seeing Vincent being mostly involved with Yuna's pilgrimage than Braska's. However, we will be seeing Braska and his gang again and fairly soon.
Jrockerwendie: I used to like Cid, until they toned him down in Kingdom hearts and Advent Children. Whatever happened to the foul-mouthed, spear toting, chain smoking badass? They settled him down too much. The best part of writing the mugger scene was Vincent's reaction to the mugger's gun. It was a little nod to that scene from Crocodile Dundee. How do you like the Ifrit Aeon scenes?
Thunderstorm101: hope you enjoy reading as much as I enjoyed writing. Keep on reading and reviewing.
Tsuriai-Teen: already got back to you once and loved your latest chapter in your fic. Added it to my favorites. You keep on reading and reviewing mine and I'll do that same for you. Say hi to Reiko for me.
SSJ4Sora: Love your enthusiasm. Try to be more specific next time, ok?
Thanks to all,
Nataku's Wrath
