Seth's hands shot up and covered his face. "I never miss." He said, his words muffled by his hands.
Irvine looked away from Seth, and over at the Grat. The monster's arm was still intact and still wrapped around Lauren. It stood staring at the silent crowd.
"Seth," Irvine whispered. "Pick up your guns! Try again!"
Seth ignored Irvine, and fell to his knees.
"I missed." He repeated, his face blank. "How embarrassing to miss in front of all these people."
"Snap out of it!" Irvine yelled at the pathetic man kneeling in front of him.
Obviously Seth was going to be no help at the moment. Squall realized what was happening, and pushed his way through the crowd toward Irvine. When he got close enough, he cupped his hands over his mouth, and shouted: "Irvine! Forget about him! Finish what Seth couldn't! Kill the monster and save that girl!"
Irvine looked into Squall's azure eyes. He then noticed Selphie's green eyes, Rinoa's black eyes, and Quistis' and Zell's blue eyes staring anxiously at him.
"Come on Irvy! Save that poor girl!" Selphie shouted.
Irvine turned away from his friends.
"I don't know if I can do it." He thought as his heart pounded violently. "All of these people….my friends…..are counting on me." His hands started to tremble slightly. "I have to try! Lauren will die if I don't!"
He withdrew his Ravens from their holsters, and pointed one of them at the Grat. The creature was now staring at him with its beady red eyes. "Alright Irvine, you can do this. Just aim and shoot."
He pulled back the hammer of the Raven, and heard the familiar "click" as a bullet fell into place. He lined the sight up with the monster's thin arm, that was holding up Lauren.
"Now I see how Seth missed so easily." He thought.
The end of the gun trembled a little, and Irvine had to take a deep breath to steady himself. Sweat dripped from his face and onto the fur collar of his duster.
"Just pull the trigger." He thought. "If you miss, just try again."
Irvine's finger squeezed the trigger. "Bang!" Another shot rang out, but this time it was followed by a scream of anger from the Grat. Irvine looked up in time to see Lauren falling toward the ground. He had hit the creature's arm!
There was no time for celebrating, though. Irvine dashed forward and slid across the ground. He arrived just in time to catch Lauren, merely inches before she hit the rocky ground.
The Grat screamed angrily above them. Irvine, with Lauren safely in his arms, leapt out of the monsters path. He found a grassy spot behind a large rock, and lay Lauren down. He took the Grat's limp vine from around her waist, and made sure she was still breathing.
"Please be ok." He said quietly, as he listened to her light, rhythmic, breathing. He brushed a golden strand of hair from her pale face.
Irvine's attention was torn away suddenly, as screams from the students began again. The Grat had begun its rampage once more. Irvine took off his long duster, and laid it on top of Lauren. He then re-loaded his Ravens, and headed back to finish what he started with the angry Grat.
The monster was now on a mission to tear the training center apart. It had ripped the bleachers to smithereens, and had a piece in its mouth, and a piece wrapped in its vines.
Irvine looked around, and noticed that Squall and the others were still trying to help the upset students out of the training center. He then noticed Seth sitting over in a corner with the same blank look on his face.
"I guess its up to me. I need to kill this monster, before it kills someone!" Irvine thought.
He spotted Lance at the edge of the crowd.
"Lance!" Irvine yelled to the young man. "Get my shotgun!"
Lance spotted Irvine, and grabbed his Exeter. He made sure it was loaded, and ran over to Irvine.
"Here Irvine. What are you going to do?" Lance asked.
"I'm going to kill this monster. Obviously Seth isn't." Irvine pointed to Seth, who was still in the corner.
Lance laughed. "Not so high and mighty now, is he! Well I'm going to keep helping the students out."
"Alright." Irvine gave Lance a pat on the back. "Good luck Lance, and thanks for your help."
Lance smiled, and took off towards the crowd.
Irvine turned and faced the Grat.
"How am I going to kill it without hurting anyone?" he thought. "Guess I'll just have to wear it down."
Irvine dashed forward, and fired a shotgun blast straight into the Grat's face. The Grat screamed in pain and anger. Its blood poured from a dozen small wounds from the shotgun's bullets.
It dropped the bleachers, and turned its attention to Irvine.
Irvine backed up, as the menacing creature waddled toward him. To slow the approaching monster down, Irvine pulled out his Raven, and fired a bullet into its foot. The monster took a swing at the Raven, and managed to knock it from Irvine's hand. The Grat the caught Irvine off guard, and wrapped its vine around his wrist.
In one swift move, the creature hoisted Irvine into the air, causing him to lose his grip on his Exeter, and yell out in pain. From across the room, Squall heard Irvine yell, and saw what had happened.
"I have to help him!" Squall thought with alarm.
The Grat tightened its grip on Irvine's wrist.
"AARGH!!" Irvine yelled in pain, as the monsters thorny arm pierced his skin.
Irvine gave the Grat a swift kick in its head with his booted foot, and attempted to reach for his last remaining handgun in its holster. His fingers brushed the tip of the handle, but the Grat saw what he was trying to do. The monster wrapped its free arm around the gun, and flung it from Irvine's holster, before he could get a grip on it.
"You Bastard!" Irvine yelled in frustration. "Now what." He thought. "I have no weapons!"
Squall squeezed his way through the crowd just in time to see the monster fling Irvine's gun violently away.
"How can I help him!" Squall thought desperately.
Suddenly a glint of metal caught his eye. A few feet away from the Grat lay Irvine's Exeter.
"If I could only get that gun to him!" Squall thought, as he quickly dashed toward the platinum shotgun. He snatched it up, and made sure it was loaded.
"Irvine!" Squall shouted.
Irvine looked down to see Squall with his Exeter.
"Squall!" Irvine shouted, and winced in pain. "Toss it up!"
Squall cocked the Exeter. Irvine obviously couldn't do it with only one hand free.
"Irvine! Make sure you catch it! It will go off and could hurt someone if you miss and it hits the floor."
Irvine clenched his teeth in pain. "Alright! Hurry! I feel like my arm's going to fall off!"
Squall took a deep breath, and tossed the shotgun upward.
Irvine readied his free hand to catch it.
Just as the gun was about to fall perfectly into his hand, the Grat jerked Irvine upward even higher. This caused the Exeter to simply fall back towards the ground.
Fortunately for Squall, and everyone else, the shotgun landed right in the middle of Irvine's booted foot, and balanced precariously.
Whew! Wow! Almost done! ( I know I know.. I have said that many times…but I just cant get enough of writing this story!) I am writing the last few sections! Let me know what you think so far!!!