Neither 'Outlaw Star' nor 'Final Fantasy VII' belong to me. I'm not sure who owns 'Outlaw Star,' but I do know that 'Final Fantasy VII' belongs to Squaresoft. I don't own either Leilong or Vincent Valentine, but I just have the urge to make these two gunslingers have a showdown! Enjoy!
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DUEL OF THE OUTLAWS
by Bleeding Wings
Clyde was having another busy day at his Pub. Seeing almost every seat filled with beer-drinking outlaws, Clyde wiped another empty glass to get ready to serve the next customer. Irene was also having her hands full, serving dozens of outlaws with every drink on the menu. Like Clyde, Irene was getting a major headache from all the loud conversations every outlaw was sharing.
Clyde felt a tremor from underneath his feet. As he looked around, he realized that his bottles were clanging into each other on the shelves. Some of his customers felt their drinks splashing a bit out of their mugs, and they tried their best to keep their drinks steady from the tremors.
What the hell's going on? Feels as though a dinosaur's heading our way. Clyde thought.
As the tremors intensified, a man with a gigantic, iron backpack swung the doors open and walked right inside. He had a very short haircut and a well-trimmed mustache, and he appeared to be a year or two beyond his prime. The other outlaws had to move out of his way, not only because of his 350-pound backpack but also to show respect. They knew his reputation for blasting away anyone who got in his way, and none of them would dare point a gun at his face and challenge his prowess as an outlaw. The man placed his pack next to him on the floor and sat at the bar close enough to face Clyde, the bartender.
"Hey, Clyde! How about something strong?" the man asked.
"Leilong! Long time, no see! How long has it been since you came here?" Clyde asked, giving him a bottle of whiskey and a shotglass.
"About 4 months. Been pretty busy, collectin' bounty from 12 outlaws and pirates. I thought I was gonna get a challenge, but who was I kiddin'? How's Gene Starwind and his friends doing?" Leilong asked, pouring down his first shot and gulping it down.
"They're doing just fine, Leilong. I tried to give Gene a call, but for some reason, nobody could answer the phone. Something strange must be goin' on with those guys."
"I wouldn't worry about it, Clyde. Whatever the dilemma is, I'm sure Gene and his friends will get out of it." After seconds of a pause, Clyde decided to change the subject.
"So now you're gonna settle down? Maybe you should go to BlueHeaven and take a break for awhile. Find yourself a woman and have a good time. I can see in your eyes how exhausted you look."
"You oughta get your eyes checked, Clyde. I still got some good years in me, man. I want to ask you a question," Leilong said, pouring his second shot.
"Sure, Leilong. Let it out."
"Have you seen this man?"
Leilong took out a picture and showed it to Clyde. Clyde knew from the moment Leilong took out the photo that it was going to be a picture of his next bounty. When Clyde got a good look of who Leilong was after, Clyde turned extremely pale.
The man in the picture was dressed in black, wearing a red cape with a red collar that almost covered his mouth. His hair was long and black with a red headband snugged right under it. The man's shirt and pants were black, and his shoes were red as well. He almost didn't seem to be the dangerous type, having a face almost no woman could resist. And his build was pretty fair, showing himself to be more well-defined than bulky. What was most distinguishing about him was his left golden gauntlet, which had razor-sharp claws. And his eyes were as cold as arctic ice.
".... for G-d's sake, why do you want to hunt him down?" Clyde whispered.
"You know why, Clyde. It's not just for the 25,000,000 wongs! Maybe this time, I can finally get myself a challenge! I can see it in his eyes. There's no way I can turn down this opportunity, Clyde! The last outlaws and pirates I brought down were just a bunch of bags full of hot air! None of them could put up a good fight like Gene Starwind did! Well, maybe this pretty boy can do the same," Leilong answered. As Clyde looked around carefully, hoping nobody would hear them, Clyde slightly leaned over the bar so only Leilong could hear his whispers.
"Leilong, if you value your life, just forget about that guy."
"WHAT THE HELL ARE- What the hell are you talking about?"
"Look, Leilong. This is Vincent Valentine we're talking about here! He's one ferocious son-of-a-bitch! Ever since Valentine came to Sentinel III, dozens of outlaws and pirates went after him, hearing from a broker how much his head's worth. God knows why he's here. I heard that almost every person who went after him never survived his wrath," Clyde said. That information made Leilong's eye twitch.
"You're overestimating the bastard, Clyde. Damn, you make him sound even more lethal than the McDougal Brothers! That guy looks just around Gene's age, and he's perhaps even tougher. He seems to have great spirit, but he's probably just a kid who didn't get his feet wet enough in the world of outlaws," Leilong said, taking another shot of whiskey. Clyde began to sweat as he looked to his right. Quickly, he turned his attention back to Leilong.
"Leilong, just forget about that guy. He's-"
"I know what he is! He's a gold-mine! And he's gonna possibly give me the toughest battle in my entire life! VALENTINE'S GONNA DIE TODAY!!"
As all the outlaws heard Leilong's words, everyone trembled. As some of them let out a yelp, every beer-chugging outlaw jumped right out of their seats and ran for the exit. Causing a commotion, none of them cared about whether or not the seats and tables got overturned, whether they dropped their mugs and let them shatter all over the floor, or whether they ran over each other to get out of there. All they cared about were their very lives. Now the bar was as empty as a school on a weekend. All this left Leilong dumbfounded.
All that was left were Leilong, Clyde, Irene, and a man in the shadows.
Irene felt her blood boil when almost everybody stampeded out of the pub.
"Damn! Now I gotta clean up this stupid mess! They should at least have the courtesy of leaving me the tip!" Irene said. As she was about to march for the door that said "Employees Only", a man many seats away from Leilong pivoted his seat towards her and held up a handful of wongs for her. Irene was surprised about how much wongs he offered. Reluctantly, she took the wongs from the man whose eyes were hidden in the shadows.
"Thank... thank you. Man, you sure give pretty huge tips," Irene said. The man got his face out of the shadows, letting Irene see his face. Irene felt her heart racing as she laid witness to the man's beauty. Never had she saw such an incredibly handsome man, before. The man smiled and nodded his head to her, letting her know that she's welcome. As she blushed, she reluctantly walked away to get ready to help clean up the mess. The only time she turned her eyes away from the man was when she finally got to the door.
What... a.... hunk! She thought to herself.
When Irene was gone, the man pivoted his seat back to the bar to have another drink of milk. After finishing his glass and wiping his milk-mustache off, he slowly took out his silver handgun he named Quicksilver.
"Hmph. What crawled up their asses?" Leilong asked. As Leilong filled up his glass for a third shot and was about to bring it to his mouth, a speeding bullet shattered the glass into dozens of pieces. Leilong was shocked not only about having his glass shot out of his hand, but also about somebody having the nerve to actually do that to him.
As Leilong whipped his head to his left, he got a good look at who fired at him. The man turned out to be the one who was on the photo. His silver handgun pointed right at Leilong, smoke drifting out of the gun's muzzle. Holding as still as ice, the man's face was facing away from Leilong, looking only at the drinks on the shelves.
"As I was saying, Leilong, he's here..." Clyde told him, trembling.
Letting out a growl, Leilong got out of his chair, dropped his shattered glass, whipped out a pair of enormous armor-piercing cannons and pointed them right at his attacker.
"You got a deathwish or something, ya piece of garbage?!" Leilong asked ferociously, gently caressing the triggers. Keeping his eyes away from Leilong, Vincent Valentine twirled his gun and quickly slipped it back into his holdster. He quietly got up from his seat and walked to the exit. As he got close to the exit and kept his eyes to the world outside, he opened his mouth and said:
"You and me... 12 o'clock high at the Junkyard. You better pray there will be a more peaceful world beyond this one when I tear you apart..."
Vincent's cold voice crawled right up Leilong's spine. To Leilong, that didn't sound like a young man. In fact, he almost didn't sound human. Leilong's breathing became heavier and he felt a sweat trail down his head. Shakily, he put his cannons back into his iron backpack as he watched Vincent calmly leave the bar. With shaky eyes, he stared at the exit where Vincent walked out, staring at the doors as they creaked from swinging back and forth. Leilong swallowed his anxiety and wore a smile.
"You'd better be worth it, boy. I'm in a mood for a good fight. So don't you dare disappoint me..."
... to be continued
