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Chapter IX – Dirge of the Beast

Upon entering Kalm from the southwest, it didn't take long for the group to locate the inn: a straight left from the town's entrance found themselves a warm welcome in an atmospheric abode. The innkeeper appeared to be caught unawares by the large party bustling through his doors, especially by the way he leapt from his chair and sent papers flying alongside his log book and set of keys. Pleasantries were exchanged as well as a modest amount of Gil before the slim and kindly man led them up to their room for the night. As the group settled they watched him leave in rather high spirits, no doubt from the newfound jingle in his pocket.

Denzel and Marlene wasted no time in scampering to the nearest beds, scrambling up onto the covers to test the elasticity of the mattress springs. It was the first time they'd stayed at an inn before, and they took in their surroundings with all the wide-eyed charm and fascination only a child could hold. Tifa and Barret settled their mattress wars and readied them for bed while the other party members made themselves comfortable in the room. It wasn't long before both children fell to the sandman's charms, light snoring occasionally drifting from them both.

"Tha' didn't take lang," Cait Sith said, amusement tugging at his whiskers while he tucked Marlene's quilt under her chin with great care so as not to wake her. He then carefully stepped his way to the bottom of the bed, plonking himself down on the edge to watch the others. Red was situated at the foot of the bedstead, lying across on the rug with tail carefully raised so as not to burn anything. Barret and Tifa sat beside one another on the bunk at the far end of the room, next to the window that Vincent had taken upon himself to lean against.

"Alright, Nanaki," Tifa began, hands clasped on her knees. "Are you going to tell us why you've been in Fort Condor?"

The creature in question raised his muzzle from the rug with a flick of his ears.

"Certainly." He paused as he rearranged his tail with care, bringing it closer to lie next to his front paws. "I have been carrying out grandpa's dying wish."

This snared the attention of the others with a steel grip. They knew he referred to Bugenhagen, the wise elder of Cosmo Canyon who Nanaki affectionately referred to as 'grandfather' or 'grandpa'. The old man had passed away during Meteorfall when AVALANCHE was still banded together, at the respectable age of one hundred twenty-nine, just short of his one hundred thirtieth birthday.

"Dyin' wish?" Barret pried, a deep crease to his brow.

Red nodded slightly, inhaling deep through his nose before continuing.

"Yes. Grandfather told me there was more to life than just what lay within Cosmo Canyon. He asked that I travel the world, to survey it and gain true knowledge. It was also the reason he asked me to continue accompanying Cloud and your group, rather than staying behind during Meteorfall." It was here Red paused and cocked his head to the side, his tassels dangling with a merry chorus. "Speaking of, may I ask where Cloud is?"

The room fell silent. Barret's lips twitched in vexation. 'Damn,' the dark-skinned man thought. 'I thought Reeve would'a told 'im!'

Nanaki's gaze fell upon Vincent as the man moved for the first time since he settled at the window. While the others may have thought the gunslinger to have been dismissive of their conversation, Red XIII knew better. The gunslinger peered over his shoulder to answer Nanaki's question and save Tifa the trouble, when the fighter's voice broke the stillness and stunned them all.

"Cloud has been gone for a little over a week now. No one knows where he is. I've tried calling him but he won't answer his cellphone, so I figure he'll get in contact when he's ready," she finished, cracking her knuckles in tame contemplation.

'Or if we find him first, ready or not,' she added to herself in the quiet of her own mind.

Barret blinked at her steady tone, as if spoken from a woman who was discussing something as menial as the weather. Vincent uncrossed his arms and held his crimson eyes steady on Tifa's form. This was certainly an unexpected turn, one which he had not foreseen. And with it came newfound respect for the woman that sat in front of him.

A hiss through giant teeth in his head, sharp and primitive. Growling rolled long after its words. Vincent found that, to his disturbance, they spoke in appreciation.

'Ssshe isss sssstrong. A sssuitable mate.'

Vincent's bandanna pulled with his frown at the beast's words. He'd never heard the demon speak in such a manner.

'Mate?'

An unmistakable urge surged and clawed from within, though it was not enough to break Vincent's stalwart guard. He now knew Galian Beast's intent with loathsome certainty, however, and he quickly averted blood-red eyes to once again peer out the window.

"I'm sorry to hear that," the fire-dog eyed an apologetic gaze at the fighter who simply nodded in response. Barret studied Tifa's face with care before smiling to himself.

'Glad she's doin' better. Tha's more like the Tif' I know. But she's still got a long road ahead of her.' He was tugged from his thoughts by Tifa's quizzical glance. Barret gave a rough shrug in turn, the crack of a smile on his face widening to a grin before he turned back to Red.

"So anyway, I get why you ain't in Cosmo now. But why Fort Condor of all places?" Barret moved his left hand to rub at his right biceps, circling the arm as he massaged the thick muscle. Red XIII almost offered a human grin at the gun-armed man's question, his left eye creasing in pleased regard.

"Ah, now that is the question, isn't it? You could say that I heard some rumours... or perhaps, that a little condor told me." Here, Nanaki chuckled at his own joke. "Apparently, a condor has returned to the Fort. I can confirm this to be true. I travelled to see for myself."

Tifa clapped her hands together, a huge grin blooming across her face.

"You mean that little condor chick we watched hatch out of the egg has come back?" The thought alone made her giddy. During their past travels they'd helped a group of resistance fighters defend the Fort, stopping Shinra's attempts to rid themselves of the extremely rare condor species nesting there – all because of their perceived threat to the Electric Power Company's Mako Reactor operations. The resistance succeeded, though the mother had tragically died during the conflict. Its fluffy little newborn chick, however, hatched from its egg and flew off to no doubt continue the species' survival. After the event which was now known as 'The Siege of Fort Condor,' it was delightful news to hear that the birds had returned and continued to thrive.

"I don't think it's that exact chick," Red laughed, "but they have indeed returned."

Tifa immediately spun towards Barret, hands clasped in excitement. "We have to stop by there! I can't wait to see the condors again!"

Barret chuckled deep in his throat. "Sure, I don't see why not. I'd like to see 'em again." The dark-skinned man grinned at Tifa's infectious enthusiasm, then tried to quell the quake in his shoulders when she jumped to her feet and began pacing.

She spoke to herself out loud as she begun to wear down the floor, as if a detective going over deductive reasoning at length. "I wonder how many of them there are now? Or where the chick we saw before went? Maybe there's a whole bunch of them somewhere we haven't even seen yet!"

Barret and Cait Sith tried to stifle their laughter to avoid waking the children. Nanaki shook his head with a fanged grin, the tassels of his mane lending their own voice with melodic chimes. Vincent regarded Tifa over a cloaked shoulder, taking careful note of the way she almost danced about the inn room with a delicate, albeit genuine, smile.

Seeing the way she was acting brought forth a strange feeling from within. Vincent felt like he was really seeing her for the first time: that he was finally catching a glimpse of the woman he remembered from three years ago. He felt captivated, as if he had travelled back in time.

And suddenly very, very old.

"–And I'm sure Vincent wouldn't mind, would you, Vincent?"

Vincent blinked, crossing his arms and tucking his chin into his cowl. Tifa stared at him with expectancy, as did the rest of the group. The gunslinger's continued silence confused the fighter, but before Tifa could repeat her question, Nanaki spoke up.

"I'm sure Vincent would accept stopping by Fort Condor on our journey." The lion-like dog shot him a toothy grin as if to say, 'I knew you weren't listening'. His tail flicked back and forth for the embers to laugh in his stead.

"... Do as you wish," Vincent eventually replied, turning once more to the window. He could feel Tifa's gaze linger on his back as he did so.

"Well," Barret said as he rose from the bed with a groan, "I guess we should get some shuteye. It's been a long day."

Tifa turned to the dark-skinned man in thought before moving to stand next to him. "I really wish we could have taken care of some more monsters," she admitted. "I don't feel like we've done very much." She pulled her gloves tighter around her fists as her frown did around her temples.

Red's ears flicked in thought at this. Rising on all fours, he shook the ruffles out from his flattened fur and eyed Tifa with interest. "Well, now would certainly be the best time..." he trailed off with an air of mystique synonymous to his species.

Tifa and Barret peered at him in question.

"Whatcha mean?" Barret asked, narrowing his eyes at Red XIII.

"Monsters thrive in darkness."

They all spun to face Vincent in surprise while the cloaked man calmly did the same to them, his sudden timbre laced with enigma.

A hellacious voice descended upon his mind and lay waste to all organised thought, a sound like huge beams of wood being rent. The power was suffocating.

'DARKNESS. MY DOMAIN. THE PERFECT PLAIN TO TEAR ONE'S EYES AND ROT ONE'S FLESH.'

Vincent closed his eyes and turned his face towards the window, pausing to reinforce his mental barriers. Once Chaos oozed from his immediate cognition, he continued. "Now would be the most opportune moment for us to seek them out, if we so wished."

Tifa's russet eyes took on a fiery new sparkle as she sought answers from Barret's own. "What do you think, Barret? I think it's a good idea."

Her old friend shook his head, a stern frown crossing his weathered features. "Yeah, an' what we gonna do 'bout tha kids? I ain't waking them up at this hour jes' so we can go monsta huntin'."

"Of course not, one of us can stay behind and look after them," Tifa reassured. "We won't be that long, right?"

"Ah'll doo it! I dinnae mind," Cait Sith piped up, hopping down from the bed with a soft thump from his little leather boots. "Just leave it tae me!" Here, he pounded his furry white chest with a gloved fist.

Barret gave way to a rare bout of hesitation. After pacing with long strides from his heavy steel-toe boots for a few seconds, he finally turned to address Tifa. "Awright. I can't say it ain't a good idea, an' I'm itchin' to really try out ma new arm." Here, he flexed the fingers of his alloy prosthetic. "But only fer an hour, a'ight? I don't like leavin' tha kids alone fer too long." Barret glanced towards the beds where the two children snoozed away, dreaming sweet dreams and none the wiser about what was being discussed. A rare, affectionate smile tugged at his lips as he watched them sleep.

"Dinnae worry yer pretty heads! As lang as yae promise tae come back soon, I'll protect 'em wit' mah life!" With Cait Sith's last reassurance, the rest of the party agreed to the plan and the one hour time constraint.

After quick preparations and a goodbye kiss left for Marlene by her father, the motley crew made their way downstairs to inform the resident innkeeper. They found him in the same position they'd first seen upon entering the lodge: sound asleep at his desk with a small puddle of drool drowning the reception papers that littered the wood top.

"Perhaps we should leave him be," Nanaki advised, nudging towards the exit with his muzzle. Tifa nodded her agreement, though her amusement was as clear as a cloudless day.

"Let's hope he doesn't wake up and lock us out," she whispered. "I don't think he'll be too keen on seeing us all return through the window."

Nanaki snorted through his nose while Vincent hid his own deep behind his cowl. With unanimous agreement they decided to sneak out, taking care to close the door softly behind them.

A full moon, glorious in swollen hues, greeted the four ex-AVALANCHE members as they stepped out into the crisp midnight air. Pale light enshrouded everything in a wash of silver, embalming the town in a metallic glow. As they traversed down the empty streets, Vincent paused to peer towards the bright circle in the sky; so bright that he couldn't help but see it as a pale imitation of the sun. Rays of silver bleached his ebony hair a striking shimmer of white.

'This strange sensation of foreboding... It does not sit well.'

Vincent narrowed his crimson eyes before glancing towards the retreating backs of his comrades. After a moment, he followed, resolute to be on his utmost guard. Red XIII's tail burned bright as they approached the grasslands bordering Kalm, his flame's orange glow warming the town's architecture and quaint brickwork. As he padded away, the fire receded with him, allowing the town to grow cold and forlorn once more. Vincent watched Barret stride ahead to take lead and took a few suitable steps behind the party to accommodate: he always was better suited for rearguard.

"Okay, listen up, foo's!" Barret addressed the group with a wave of his enormous arm (missing the shared glance and one bitten cheek between Tifa and Nanaki at his use of 'foo'). "We all gotta be on our toes. Jes' cause we're lookin' fer monsters don't mean they can't get the jump on us. So stay alert, or I'll personally beat yo' asses!" He punched a steel fist into the palm of his hand, the resounding smack accentuating his words. "Red, I'd like ya ta go in front. You're damn helpful as a light."

Red XIII's tail swept out behind him at Barret's words as if it had a mind of its own, while the quadruped blinked up with lazy regard at the man. "It's certainly good to know I'm valued in this team," the lion-like creature said, his face carefully stoic. Tifa ruffled his mane to console him despite knowing he spoke in jest.

"Tif', you're with me," Barret ordered, pointedly ignoring Nanaki. Tifa nodded in response, her fists voicing their own acknowledgement in the form of crunched leather. "And Vince–"

BANG!

The gunshot ripped through the night as the party spun lightning fast to find another Kalm Fang fall victim to Vincent's revolver. The man in question twirled the smoking gun around leather-clad fingers before holstering the deadly weapon, turning attentive blood-red eyes on Barret while gunfire still rumbled on the wind.

"... Yeah, keep doin' that," Barret finished, crossing his mighty arms. The stern look he shot the crimson-caped man was completely ruined by the grin tugging at his lips.

"He means to say, 'good job'," Tifa corrected, her smirk only growing wider when Barret began a mild protest. Vincent merely nodded in response, stepping over the corpse of the creature he'd dispatched with ease as its soul began to return to the Lifestream. Glimmering ribbons of translucent emerald joined rising flecks of pure life as they drift to the air, the body of the beast returning to the Planet.

"I suggest heading east, towards the Mythril Mines," Red XIII advised. "With such a large expanse, I'm certain that will be the best place to seek out our foes." He turned his lone, ochre-coloured eye in the direction he spoke of.

"Sounds like a good idea. Quicker we get there tha quicker we can get back." Barret brought up his steel right arm and pulled it back to lock his elbow into place. This caused connecting machinery to click, shift, and purr until his prosthetic hand whirred into an impressive gatling gun. "Let's go!" he bellowed, stomping after Nanaki who led the party on with his ever bright and burning tail-flame. Vincent and Tifa followed close behind without complaint. As they journeyed towards the eastern expanse with only the full moon and a blazing tail to guide them, they encountered numerous wolf-like Kalm Fangs. However, none of them were any match for the group.

Nanaki lunged at any beast who dared stand in their path, sweeping his weaponized tribal headdress at foes or literally fighting tooth and nail. Barret provided support via his gatling gun, taking aim at charging beasts and roaring a bellow of triumph whenever he scattered a group with sheer noise and a hail of bullets. Tifa had fully recovered from her shoulder injury (if her fluid movements were anything to go by) and provided cover from both sides, gracefully ducking and pivoting through attacks before delivering a brutal counter with gloved fists, knuckles shattering bone. Vincent remained at the rear of the group and made short work of any approaching threats. With heightened eyesight and acute hearing, he dispatched enemies from great distances with his signature weapon. The ornate revolver in his hand smoked its fury as it howled with each pull of the trigger, raining down bullets like raindrops.

Despite the party being significantly weaker due to three years without concentrated combat, they still held on to their honed fighting instincts.

"I think that's the last of them!" Tifa called out, tugging her gloves tighter around her fingers and wiping the sweat from her brow. There were indeed a lot more monsters in the dead of night deducing they must have fought off at least twenty of them.

"It would appear so," Red called back with a wary eye still cast about the area, ears twitching. The group now found themselves on the verge of rounding the nearby mountainside that led to the Mythril Mines. Outside these mines was a thick stretch of marshland where intimidating, giant serpents known as Midgar Zoloms called home. Knowing this, Nanaki called out in caution. "I do not suggest heading any further, lest we head into the marsh and run into a Zolom."

"Did you encounter one on your previous journey?" Vincent asked coolly, turning to address his red-furred comrade. A small zephyr swept past with all the indifference Vincent himself matched, teasing the gunslinger's cape to rise on the currents. Ebony hair brushed past blood-red eyes and over the folds of his red bandanna in wisps.

Nanaki shook his head in response, the wind running though his fur in waves and ruffling his mane to become tousled. "I didn't, but I don't wish to test my luck. Or, should I say, our luck."

Vincent nodded and was about to turn back and once more survey the area, when a vicious growl broke through his psyche and hissed around huge canines to rumble the fine sutures of his skull.

'Sssomething SSSTRONG aproaccchesss. We are in itsss territory.'

Despite the demon's warning, Vincent's blood ran fervid with the monstrosity's anticipation. Galian Beast grew restless and made itself more prominent in his skull. Vincent snapped his head to the side, teeth grit under cowl in an attempt to curb the demon's feverish exhilaration. Red XIII immediately perked his head upright towards the gunslinger, ears following suit as his nose twitched with growing intensity.

"That smell... there it is again. But it's much stronger this time..." Nanaki spoke more to himself out of confusion than any formal address to the group. Before he could voice question to Vincent, who now stood with his back turned to the party, the whole ground shuddered as if someone had walked over the Planet's grave.

"... What was that?" Tifa asked, doing her best to keep her voice level as she dug her boots into the soil to hold balance. The ground churned under their feet as enormous rumbles left the earth quaking. Nanaki's retractable claws emerged to dig into the soil for purchase, while Vincent shoved one of the gold-pointed toecaps of his solleret boots into the dirt.

"How the f*** would I know?!" Barret barked back with crude abandon, in the middle of righting himself from a particularly bad stumble. "Keep it togetha! Hold yer ground!" The gun-armed man's natural leadership abilities shone through, despite him never being designated as such by the present party. These were the crucial moments where Barret proved himself not only a comrade who had his teammates' backs, but a tried and tested leader who held everyone together through gritty experience.

The earth once more shivered under their feet, but this time everyone was braced for the tremors, weapons at the ready. Another quake rocked the landscape, then another, then another. Finally, an enormous shape emerged from behind the mountain. As the figure lumbered from the cover of the sloping ridgeline, the full moon purged all shadows in a wash of silver luminance.

A monstrous eye of violet honed in on them, surrounded by a pelt of golden hue. Long horns stretched out from its skull like crooked palisades, acute and deadly. It turned its mighty neck, the palatinate purple mane lining its vertebrae falling across its shoulder blades. The whole party could only stare, shock rooting their limbs to their sides, numb, as they stood engulfed in the humongous beast's shadow. Their heads barely reached the top of the monster's elbows. It moved one great forelimb towards them, its giant paw digging into the soil and causing the very earth to tremble beneath their feet.

Nanaki was the first to find his tongue. "K-King... Behemoth!? Aren't they only found in the depths of the Northern Crater?!"

Tifa could only stand, mouth agape. She could barely think. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she knew Nanaki was right: King Behemoth's were extremely rare. The party had only ever seen them in the Northern Cave, three years ago when they descended into the very depths of hell to confront Sephiroth at the Planet's Core.

"Let's sort tha' shit out later! Right now, WE GOT A BIGGA PROBLEM!" Barret only narrowly dodged a vicious swipe from the King Behemoth by throwing himself to the side, but the resulting gust of wind that followed knocked him straight across the field on his back. He tumbled into a backwards roll and gasped the air back into his lungs. "SHIT! IT'S TOO POWERFUL! Red! You got any Materia?!" Barret didn't wait for an answer and instead opened fire on the towering beast. The King Behemoth reared back with a staggering roar that rattled the very mountainside. Red XIII's ears pinned flat against his head at the sheer volume, his whimpers of pain lost in the sheer volume. Tifa shoved her palms against her own ears and pressed down in a futile attempt to deafen the strain on her eardrums.

Vincent ducked his own head with grit teeth, but not from the King Behemoth's roar.

'I am the true alpppha. Thisss isss MY territory. I will assssert dominanccccce.'

"I don't have any Materia with me!" Red barked over Barret's rapid gunfire. "I donated it along with everyone else!" The King Behemoth was unfazed by the noisy swarm of bullets, instead whipping its long barbed tail and setting its violet eyes on one of the party members who still had yet to move: Tifa.

"Tif'! Move it!" Barret bellowed, trying to gain the beast's attention. "Hey, ugly! I'm tha one ya want!" Barret unleashed more rounds from his arm in strobes of gunfire, but the King Behemoth paid him nor any of his bullets any mind. It stalked towards Tifa with huge, lumbering paws, raising its powerful barbed tail in warning. She was frozen to the spot, legs unresponsive no matter how hard she tried to command them.

'Come ON! Move it, Lockhart! MOVE!'

Just as she finished her internal order and felt her thigh muscles respond, the King Behemoth's tail lashed down in a vicious strike. A sickening smack resound through the air as soil and sediment was sent soaring, obscuring the scenery.

"TIFA!" Barret and Red XIII's screams were almost drown out by the resulting rain of soil, the downpour of earth so heavy on their shoulders it felt like great chunks of hailstone. A brief lull in the debris afforded them a glimpse of a crimson cloak. As the dirt rain eased, so did the breath from their lungs.

Tifa had been thrown to the ground and out of harm's way by Vincent, judging by the way she lay sprawled under the gunslinger. The man hovered over her with visibly laboured breath, chest heaving against his cloak straps. Tifa was stupefied; a Chocobo caught in headlights. Every sound reverberated around her like she was underwater, contained within her own fishbowl world. Vincent's words shattered the glass.

"Tifa... are you... alright?" His struggle for air was audible as he leaned over her, his body and cloak both a shield and veil over her form. A wicked claw gripped into the earth beside her head to support his weight. She blinked, a small part at the back of her mind flushed with the knowledge of their close proximity, but their immediate situation gave her no time to indulge it. She propped herself up on her elbows and watched him move to accommodate her, ignoring the pleasant tingle over her limbs as his cape swept over her skin to uncover her body. The intoxicating waft of leather and gunpowder from the man brought back clarity and the use of her tongue.

"I... should be asking you that." She fought to keep her voice level but the inflection of worry was impossible to quell. She watched as he appeared to struggle with some unknown assailant; as he tried to conceal his battle with whatever onslaught held him siege, but couldn't quite manage to do so. He slowly rose to his feet, glaring at the King Behemoth who shook out the dirt from its tail spikes. On sight of Tifa unharmed, it only grew more agitated. It padded from side to side, tail whipping a furious dance behind it. The fighter ignored it in favour of watching her friend.

'What's wrong with him? I've never seen Vincent quite like this before...' Her thoughts, along with both Barret and Red's voices of clear relief, were drown out by the King Behemoth's second bellow, a roar that shook the ground and rattled the monster's jaw. Vincent glowered at the beast, stepping to the side and pulling his gun from its holster all in one smooth movement. His hand faltered slightly, however, the barrel of his gun tilting towards the ground. This didn't go unnoticed by the fighter who pulled herself to her feet, eyes fixed on Vincent's form.

"Tif'! You hurt?!" Barret called from her left, gatling gun locked onto the King Behemoth. Red growled by his side, his own tail sending passionate embers into the night sky which each twist and turn. Tifa bit her lip at her own shortcomings, her own self-directed thought of 'sloppy' an involuntary one. When she simply nodded back with renewed fire, Barret returned the gesture. "Stay focused, girl!" Tifa rose to the encouragement, facial muscles pulling tight with a flare to her nose as she glared daggers at the King Behemoth. It took little heed as it began to round on Vincent.

"I suggest we flee! We're not strong enough for this battle!" Red barked, canines bared through the growl rumbling from his throat. His nose twitched with increasing agitation: the strange scent emanating from Vincent had been growing ever stronger during their encounter.

"And where to?! I ain't leadin' that thing ta Kalm!" Barret spat. "We got no choice! Unless we can tire it out so it can't follow us or defeat it, we don't exactly have a lotta options here!" The ex-AVALANCHE leader gave his own growl of agitation, pulling back his machine gun-arm and firing. "COME ON! How many bullets do you want from me!?"

The weapon bucked wild in bright strobes of fire as it unleashed round upon round upon the beast. While most bullets hit their mark and lodged deep in the monster's flesh, blood spurting from each torn hole in its thick pelt, the King Behemoth was undeterred. Instead it tucked its head, readying to gore its new target on titanic horns. Vincent readied himself, raising his gun to take deadly aim, but an overwhelming surge of power ravaged his body and knocked him off-guard. Winded and hunched over as if physically hit, he did everything in his power to hold on to his revolver.

'I am the alpppha male. I will challenggge it. I will asssert dominancccce!'

The gunslinger jerked his head, jamming his eyes shut with desperation and ground teeth. Though he appeared to be ignoring the cries of his comrades, the truth was he could no longer hear them.

The King Behemoth began to charge, the earth quaking under the beast's colossal feet.

"VINCENT!" Tifa burst into a sprint as quick as her cry. She lunged across the field with arms outstretched, barely reaching Vincent in time to knock him clean to the ground just as the King Behemoth swung its head. Acute horns tore deep recesses into the soil where the man once stood with all the force of a wrecking ball. The lumbering beast slowed to a trot and turned to see the devastation left in its wake. On seeing it had yet again missed its mark, it shook its head in fury, great mane tossed to and fro. Tail thrashing, the King Behemoth once again turned on its chosen prey, a monstrous roar rattling its jaw.

Tifa, who had been thrown across the field from the momentum of her own collision, pushed herself up on scuffed elbows to watch Vincent. The man rose to his knees, breathing coarse and ragged. Something painful swelled in her chest at the sight: never before had she seen him in such a state. The man was more than adept at hiding his physical and emotional state (mainly to his own detriment much to his teammates' frustration), and Tifa knew this only all too well. To see him suffering so clearly lit something tender and raw behind her ribcage. Her blood boiled. She stood, fists clenched so tight her nails bit through her leather gloves and into her palms.

Overcome with emotion at the whole situation, a scream ripped itself from her lips and tore through her throat without conscious thought.

"AAAAAAAARRGHH!"

She charged, unbridled and tempestuous, at the King Behemoth. The beast stopped dead mid-stride, caught completely off-guard by this brazen approach from its prey. Tifa's limit was broken. She unleashed a flurry of blows upon its raised paw, her fists a series of blurs as she pummelled the monster back with her Beat Rush. The huge beast staggered as its limb was deflected hit after hit. While the King Behemoth was rendered unsteady, Tifa leapt high. She threw herself into a backflip, lashing her foot out in one deadly blow to deliver a powerful Somersault to the side of its face. The monster barely had time to roar in pain as its neck was lashed to the side. Knocked off its feet, its lumbering form crashed to the ground with a quake that shook the soles of the party's feet. Tifa fell from her flip and landed with fluid grace into a crouch, breathing heavy.

She still wasn't at her best, especially given her form three years ago, but this was certainly an improvement. Slowly but surely, it was all coming back to her.

While the King Behemoth lay stunned on its back and struggled to regain its footing, she turned to Vincent. He too was crouched, cape rising on passing winds like a warning flag and blocking any clear view the party may have had of him. Behind the crimson curtain, his gauntlet rose to his face with crooked talons, the appendage not entirely under his control. He screwed his eyes shut. His right hand joined his left in its fever dance as he began to shake with primal rage. Violent delights ravaged his senses. He knew, only then, that it was too late. Galian Beast pierced his mental barriers with a sweep of curved horns and razor-like claws, pushing to the surface with thrilling glee.

'Not here! NO–!' A snarl ripped from his throat as he doubled over with convulsions. His gauntlet was no longer his own as it tore deep grooves into the earth. Gradually, as if in slow motion, his revolver tumbled from his grip. The dull slap of gunmetal hitting the ground was heard by everyone bar Vincent.

'I. Will. Asssssert. DOMINANCCCCCCE–!'

Tifa jerked one uneasy step towards him. Barret stood numb with muscles tense. Red's ears pricked up with fur on end.

Never before had any of them, ever, seen Vincent drop his gun.

Nanaki's nose twitched with rapid tics as he peered towards the gunslinger. Something akin to horror washed out the vibrant red from his fur as it passed over his face. His ears pinned flat against his skull as a whimper rose from his throat without bidding. He made a sudden bolt towards the fighter in a streak of tail-flame. "TIFA! GET AWAY FROM HIM!"

The woman staggered back in surprise at Red's bark, her eyes meeting his lone one as he dashed to her side.

"We have to help him! I'm not leaving him there!" She made to sprint towards the man but was stopped by a tug snapping her duster taught. She turned to find Red gripping the corner of her black leather garment with his teeth, effectively holding her back. She pulled hard to free herself and was almost thrown forward at the same time the material voiced its protest with a resounding rip. Catching herself, Tifa spun on her heel to confront the fire-dog. "RED! Let me go! What's WRONG with you!?"

Nanaki stood holding a torn square from the right corner of her duster in his jaw, but the frightened look in his eye quelled all her anger. She snatched the ripped piece of black leather from his mouth and stuffed it into her front utility pouch; now was not the time to worry about it.

"You do not understand!" Red spoke the moment his mouth was free, "It's not Vincent!" Nanaki's frantic tone was almost lost to the hail of gunfire from Barret in the background. Tifa's brow furrowed and she swallowed her alarm, peering back at the gunslinger. At one point during their terse exchange, the King Behemoth had recovered and now towered over the man in question with paw raised, ready to deliver a devastating blow. Tifa and Red XIII were rooted to the spot in horror.

"ARE YOU GUYS FINISHED?! SHIT! VINCENT, MOVE YOUR F***IN' ASS!" Barret's cry and attempts to distract the creature came too late. Amongst the screams of the party, the paw was thrown down with vicious power upon Vincent.

Then, in a flash of gold as quick as lightning itself, the enormous limb was completely deflected in a reverberating clang of metal.

The team could only stand and stare. Frozen and slack-jawed, they watched wide-eyed as the King Behemoth was sent lurching back. Even the beast appeared bewildered as it looked down at the ball of crimson beneath it. Seething in anger and with an immense roar, it tried again, rearing up to throw all of its weight into its next blow. A great dispersal of air whistled through its claws at the force as the monster plummeted down on Vincent Valentine.

This time the attack was completely blocked by a golden gauntlet thrown up against the titanic paw, stopping the savage force dead in its tracks. The monster stared down at the appendage holding its weight, an incomprehensible look crossing its features. The whole air stilled and choked as terrible, incisive eyes of gold emerged to peer over the wicked claw. Suddenly, the creature's whole paw was lurched down; then, in an act of strength simply not human, the King Behemoth in its entirety was hurled across the plain. The earth trembled from the violence as the beast slammed into the nearby mountainside.

Barret's arm fell slack as he lowered his gun, jaw hung open in stupor. Nanaki recoiled with soft whimpers, as if he held forbidden knowledge of whatever alien atmosphere hung thick in the air. Tifa could only look on, numb to the core as her body flushed cold. The hairs on the nape of her neck prickled as Vincent, or what used to be Vincent, rose to his full height and turned to face them. The whole team were familiar with Vincent's transformations during their journey three years ago. But this...

Galian Beast stood at twice the height of Vincent, with twice as much muscle rippling under his shimmering violet-blue fur. Huge bestial horns ripped from his skull to curve inwards with wicked abandon, devilish in appearance. Golden eyes pierced the darkness with smouldering slits as an impressively long tail whipped behind him, the dorsal spines that sat at the sacrum of his back glittering with each powerful sway. The demon's thick mane ran a vibrant shade of crimson until it bled away to a sheen of silver at the tips. Galian Beast stretched his mighty neck and turned his face to the moon, powerful jaws parting to reveal a graveyard of ivory razors. His huge canine teeth glittered like wet headstones under bright moonbeams.

A keen peal rose on the air, the sound tearing its way through the demon's throat as he unleashed a howl so terrible and baleful it froze the blood of any who heard it. It was a war cry for the most primal of animals and monsters alike; it was a call of the hunt.

The King Behemoth pulled itself to its feet and shook off the boulders that had dislodged with its mountainous collision. Rounding on the demon that had so effortlessly thrown it to one side, the monster charged straight for him with a deafening roar of its own, blinded as it was with fury.

Galian Beast turned to lock eyes with the fast approaching foe, teeth bared with a thrill for bloodshed. It only accentuated his terrible features. Muscles wound tight with visible curves while awfully sharp claws tore deep gashes into the earth. The demon tensed, golden gauntlet (a new addition never before seen by the party) shifting behind him for balance, before he lunged forward and charged straight back at the towering monster. The tattered red cape wrapped around his waist, another unseen change not at all dissimilar to Vincent's own cloak of crimson, lashed out behind him in billows almost as wild as the demon himself. The King Behemoth lurched its head and swung its grand horns, tearing a huge chunk from the earth as easily as a hand scooping up water, but Galian Beast was beyond agile and easily avoided being gored. Moving like a blur, he dug golden-plated paws into the soil (almost identical to the gilded plating on Vincent's boots) before leaping up to latch onto the King Behemoth's face. His claws dug in with savage disregard, tearing flesh asunder and causing a well of blood to spring forth in wild bursts.

Galian Beast then reached out his wicked gauntlet and gripped at the maw of the King Behemoth as it bellowed in pain. With a strength and force simply demonic, he wrenched at the bone and completely broke free the lower jaw with a clean and sickening snap. Blood exploded from the wound like a burst reservoir, the King Behemoth's tongue lolling from the rupture. The demon revelled in the red liquid, making no attempt to move from the spray as it washed his fur a vibrant shade of horror. The monster's roars were now more akin to screams, a guttural wail of mourning piercing the air as it swayed on its feet. It tried to escape with a few weak staggers, but it was no use.

The demon clambered up onto the King Behemoth's neck before clamping down vast canines the size of a whole forearm into its fleshy jugular. He viciously snapped its spine with ease, another torrent of blood gushing forth. The monster's hindquarters dropped first as it began to froth a vivid and viscous red, before it finally collapsed under its own weight. The ground quivered as the immense creature fell. Galian Beast clambered up its body and made his triumphant stand atop his new trophy as the last of the King Behemoth's life bled out. The demon's fur was matted and dripping, sticky and thick with fresh blood.

He peered down at the party from his corpse throne, running his tongue across titanic teeth as he bore them with a sickening smile. No matter how many times he swept over his incisors, they still remained stained with life's crimson.

'I AM ALPHA. I AM KING.'