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Chapter XXV – Hanging Decisions
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A melodious hum encompassed the 'oohs' and 'aahs' of two children who gazed down over the pool of green below them, while the gut of one adult twisted in on itself with acidic, agonising pangs.
Vincent felt physically sick.
"Whoa, look at all the Mako!"
Denzel hung over the rusted railings of the old Mako Reactor with palpable awe, his fear of heights completely quashed by childish wonder. Marlene joined him in the emerald glow – basking in the luminescence of refined Lifestream.
"Yo, be careful 'round tha edge," Barret warned as he trudged up behind them, his feet carrying less weight in their falls than usual. Marlene looked back at her father and nodded with a smile while, as if broken from a spell, Denzel stumbled back from the edge with eyes wide as saucers. His sudden awareness of height and subsequent fear of falling was knocked out of him, literally, when he collided with something cool yet solid at his back. He peered over his shoulder to find a leather covered leg with ornate silver buckles strapped tight to an ebony belt.
Denzel looked up from Vincent's waist to find the gunslinger staring hard at the rust-ridden Mako Reactor stood deep in a sea of viridian. His crimson gaze didn't falter even as the orphan stared rigidly back, stretching in an attempt to see over the man's cowl.
If Denzel didn't know any better, he'd say Vincent looked sick.
Two hands suddenly pulled the boy back, Tifa's careful grip on his shoulders guiding him closer to her own waist. Her russet hues were trained carefully on the crimson-caped man and Denzel looked back and forth between the pair with a hint of confusion marring his brow, recalling the two adults' behaviour at the last bridge they passed.
'They're doing it again...' he thought.
"Oh wow, have you seen this drop!" Yuffie exclaimed as she grasped the oxidised steel railing in both hands and leaned over the edge, the top half of her body teetering over the rusted barrier. "That is one looooooong way down!"
Tifa grimaced when she felt Denzel recoil against her legs and she tore her gaze from Vincent to shoot the ninja a cautionary glance. "Sure is," she muttered.
"I mean, can you just imagine! Slipping then falling and falling and falling-"
Tifa pinched the bridge of her nose. "Yuffie."
"-and falling and falling and-"
Barret turned around and, on noticing Tifa's exasperated expression and Denzel near hiding under her duster at this point, decided to intervene with an all-encompassing boom.
"YO, YUFFIE!"
The ninja snapped to attention and leaned back from the balustrade as Barret's roar echoed through the chasm and rose above the gentle glow of Mako deposits. Everyone bar Vincent turned to stare at the ninja who lamely stared back.
"... And falling," she finished.
"I would advise caution," Nanaki finally spoke up, the chimes of his mane joining the natural melody of Mako. "This walkway doesn't appear entirely stable." He continued past the ninja, claws audibly clicking against the patterned steel grating of the ramp. As he slunk past Marlene, Cait Sith, who rode atop the fire-dog's neck, stretched a hand out towards the girl whilst bearing a most cattish grin. Marlene smiled and took his gloved hand in her own, allowing herself to be gracefully guided down the walkway like a father would his daughter on her wedding day. Barret grinned at the sight and followed after them with a chuckle reverberating through his shoulders. On hearing their oncoming approach, Vincent briskly strode ahead, his cape billowing behind him with audible flutters as he took the surprising and incredibly rare role of party lead.
Tifa's brow furrowed heavily at the sight, perplexed by the gunman's decision to become point man. Usually her laconic comrade was found protecting their flanks or rear, his ranged weaponry picking off distant, ignored targets or enemies attempting ambush with deadly precision. What surprised her even more however was Denzel suddenly pushing off her legs to shakily stumble after Barret, his eyes fixed rigidly on the crimson-caped man who stalked ahead.
Tifa crossed her arms, lost in a runaway train of complex thought. Just when she felt she was about to derail from the tracks, she latched onto a concern she'd almost forgotten since their departure from Costa del Sol. Turning to the ninja behind her, she found Yuffie to be observing the surrounding area with rare sobriety, her features awash in green luminescence.
"Yuffie," Tifa began softly, though it didn't any lessen the surprised jolt from the teen. "Can I ask you something?"
"Depends on the something!" Yuffie grinned, accompanied by a brief flick of her hand to the trailing ribbons of her headband. "But sure, you can ask me anything, Boobs!"
Tifa held her tongue at the nickname and her first memory of Yuffie that came along with it, instead choosing to ignore the bait in favour of focusing on the topic at hand. "How long were you in Costa del Sol for?"
"Of all the questions you could throw at me, you ask me THAT?" Despite her apparent incredulity, Yuffie tapped a finger on the end of her chin. "Let's see..." she stepped away from the railing she'd previously been hanging over and turned her full attention towards the fighter. "I was there for... three days before you guys showed up."
"Three days? Did you stay in the villa the entire time?" Tifa placed a hand on her duster-clad hip.
"Not exactly. I did at first after seeing the inn prices," Yuffie waved her arms in a grandeur display of annoyance, "but then some woman claiming to be a caretaker or something barges in saying," here, the ninja took on a whiny, high-pitched voice, "'You can't stay here without express permission from the owner! Leave or I'll report you!' What a drag!"
Tifa brushed away some stray chocolate locks from her face as she turned to gaze at the rust-riddled Mako Reactor. "So, what did you do then?"
"Well, I grabbed my stuff and went looking for somewhere to stash it while I figured out a place to stay. I found a bunch of lockers and was throwing my junk in when I bumped into these totally hot surfer guys!" Yuffie grinned, the memory dancing behind her eyes. "We got talking and apparently one of their buddies had fallen sick so they had a room to spare. I offered 'em some gil to help foot the bill so long as they let me stay! Win win! They even gave me some surfing lessons too, it was totally sweet!"
Yuffie threw her arms out and began mimicking the stance of being on a surfboard, trotting past Tifa and down the ramp as if she were surfing on waves. The fighter held back a grin at the sight.
"So, how come I found you in the villa?" Tifa tilted her head, her gaze deep with inquiry as she sought the ninja's own.
"At that point their room lease expired, so by the time you found me I'd just thrown my stuff back in there thinking I wouldn't be bothered again! But so much for THAT idea!" Yuffie rolled her eyes as a grin teased her lips, her referral to Tifa's sudden interruption of her sleep at the villa not going unmissed by the fighter.
Yet Tifa blinked with a puzzled air, her brain attempting to do the math.
'So, if Yuffie was in Costa del Sol three days before we were... then she must have been there at the same time as Cloud! But if she stayed somewhere else other than in the villa, she could have missed him completely...' Tifa turned away, her gaze falling ahead and on the retreating hulk that was Barret. 'And if Cloud did have Fenrir with him, there's nowhere to store a motorbike in Costa del Sol. So... did he camp on the outskirts of town?'
The little red ledger that rested in her duster pocket suddenly weighed a lot heavier.
"You're sure asking a whole lotta questions. What's the deal? There something I don't know about?" Yuffie's voice cut through the fighter's flummoxed buzz of thoughts with a teasing grin, but it was effectively cut short when Tifa turned to her female compatriot with an expression of utmost sobriety.
"... I'll tell you later, Yuffie."
'Once I've figured out just what's going on myself.'
Yuffie's brow furrowed slightly and she studied Tifa intently as the woman moved on ahead, the fistfighter picking up the length of her strides in order to make up the now considerable distance between her and the rest of the party. As she drew near and began to close the gap with Yuffie tailing behind her, she just made out Barret's brazen voice making jovial conversation – or argument, she wasn't sure.
"Man, I can't wait fer a propa' brew of java. None of that instant shit you keep feedin' people back on the Eastern Continent. No wonder you all look like tha walkin' dead!"
"Hey noo, I know of a certain bonnie lassie who wouldn't take too kindly tae yer words!"
"You know Tifa isn't included in that statement as well as I do, Cait Sith," Red XIII spoke up at the crown-wearing cat entwined in the fine tangles of his mane.
"Well, how aboot Reeve?" Cait Sith crossed his arms with a twitch to his whiskers, "He's from thae Eastern Continent and I'm sure he wouldn'ae appreciate it, neither!"
"He's more of a tea drinker anyhow," Barret brushed off the small robot. "Get between him an' a cup of Earl Grey and yer just askin' fer trouble. Found that out the hard way when I called 'im before dawn once."
Red merely shook his head, the black vacuity of his scarred eye accentuating the amused glimmer to his lone ochre-coloured counterpart. "I didn't realise there were particulars to making coffee. For myself, it's simply a drink and nothing more."
"Nothing more!?" Barret gawked, "Naw, it's more technical than that! You gotta get the right roast o' beans fer the brew yer making then get the water to just tha right temperature... Jes' you wait, I'll show you a true cuppa coffee made the good ol' fashioned Wallace way!"
They were brought from the subject and subsequent perplexities of coffee when suddenly the walkway beneath them juddered and groaned, causing Marlene to squeak in surprise and cling to her father's hand while Denzel threw himself against the man's legs in frightful desperation. Tifa swallowed her own bubble of fright and clenched both railings in gloved hands while Yuffie snatched the duster at her hips in a white-knuckled grip.
"Everyone hold still!" Red barked, his claws instinctively protracting to scratch deep into the metal etchings of the steel ramp while his tail burned ferociously as it whipped to centre his balance. Cait Sith took fistfuls of Nanaki's mane into his hands as he peered down over the ledge, the green glow of Mako beneath them suddenly appearing sick and malignant as the liquid bubbled with twisting, tempting vapours. Snapping his gaze ahead rather than below, the small cat puppet fixed his eyes on Vincent's rigid back, suddenly aware of the man's crooked posture. The catwalk quaked with tremors for a few more terse and heart-stuttering seconds before, finally, the structure and wooden trestles it lay on fell silent.
The collective sigh of relief was almost palpable.
"Everyone walk a bit more lightly, a'ight?" Barret spoke up, relinquishing his hold on the two children who'd sought his safety. "Slow an' easy like."
The words had barely left Barret's lips when suddenly Vincent, who was a considerable few strides ahead of the party, burst into a sprint that left the oxidized plating resonating with the impact of gold sabatons on steel.
"The f*** did I just say!?" Barret snapped after the trailing beats and flutters of the gunslinger's tattered cape. Cait Sith was quick to act, (much to the surprise of everyone else,) and hopped down from Red's head to dash after the crimson-cloaked man, taking care not to focus on the way the catwalk swayed under the sudden movement and how his own balance was thrown too close to the edge for comfort.
Vincent couldn't take it anymore. He ran.
'Insides burning! Organs searing in fire in heat in FLAMES! It burns it BURNS IT BUUUUURNS!'
'IGNORANT HOST. RUN.'
Fire choked his heart and raged through his gullet as his very flesh blistered with an alien heat that pulled at his very core. Hellmasker continued his fevered ravings while Chaos bared satanic teeth that sunk deep into his skull and set it in aberration and brimstone. To breathe was to take in propane; air only serving to further ignite the inferno that ravaged his body and mind. Reaching the end of the walkway and ducking around the side of the reactor, Vincent nearly doubled over as he stumbled desperately to right himself.
'What is... wrong with me... !?'
While it was one of the many unanswered questions Vincent had since carried with him on joining his old comrades in their quest, he at least had enough evidence to know it had something to do with the giant pit of chatoyant green beneath him.
Though what the correlation was between himself and Mako, he failed to grasp.
"Ye alright thair, laddie?"
Vincent snapped to attention at the sudden accent and pulled himself upright with great effort just as Cait Sith rounded the corner of the reactor's cooling tower.
"I'm fine," Vincent grit out between clenched teeth, the strain of maintaining his posture taking a heavy toll on his insides as they writhed and entwined in on themselves. The little booted cat didn't buy his assertion and took a step closer much to Vincent's – or his demons' – annoyance.
"Vinnie, ah got cat's eyes, not bat's eyes! I ain't blind! Whit's wrong with yae?"
"That's none of your concern," he snapped a little too quickly, striding towards the abandoned railway tracks that once carried coal between Corel and the town's nearby mines many, many years ago. He could hear Barret's tumult even over the whir of the reactor and it was to that realisation which Vincent froze mid-stride, his eyes widening slightly. Spinning on his heel to peer up at the rusted tower over his rigid cowl, Cait Sith was almost whipped by Vincent's ragged cape at the action and, as he fell on his back and onto the chequered plate flooring, the robot followed the gunslinger's gaze with alarm and confusion.
It took but a moment for Cait Sith's caveat to die in his throat, his furred jaw falling open at the sight.
The party had spent so much time looking down that they hadn't bothered to look up at the towering reactor before them. Nondescript puffs of steam slowly rose from the vents embedded in the sides of the lofty metal structure, discreet in size and dissipating before they reached any real height to grow noticeable. The hum of generators within the containment cylinder was mostly drown out by the refined liquid the tower was steeped in, the distinct melody acting as a natural mask to the auditory workings of an unmistakably active Mako Reactor.
Vincent narrowed his eyes to a dangerous glimmer. "Cait Sith-"
"A'fair ye ask, I didn'ae anythin' aboot this, Vinnie!" the cat puppet was quick to defend himself with frantic, waving hands.
"And does Reeve?" Vincent almost bit back, his bandanna sticking uncomfortably to his forehead as sweat seeped through the crimson cloth.
The cat remained silent.
Golden talons twitched with fervour of both scorching body and searing mind and, as Cait Sith turned back to him, Vincent was quick to tuck the wicked appendage against his writhing stomach.
"Ah think it's best tae let 'im knoo aboot this yerself," the robotic feline finally replied, raising a gloved hand to shield his eyes against the low sun as it crowned the surrounding mountains. "If thair's one thing ah doo know though, it's that it looks like tha reactor's operatin' at less'un half capacity. Someone's certainly tryin' ta keep all this hush-hush!"
Vincent studied the head of the reactor once more, recognising the cat's words to ring true as the machinery hummed softly around him like a long-lost song recollected. Another pang knotted in his stomach and Vincent visibly flinched before his torso involuntary lurched forward as if he'd received a punch to the gut. He heaved for air as he almost buckled, just catching himself from falling to his knees much to Cait Sith's fright and most salient concern.
"Jeez, whit's wrong with yae, Vince?!"
His heart beat painfully within his ribcage while something wicked snapped its eyes open in the back of his skull, but before Vincent could attempt a response the whole walkway and all of it's connecting framework gave a loud, encompassing groan. Cait Sith and Vincent both looked to each other as the ground juddered beneath them and it was a split second before both cat and gunslinger bolted to the other side of the reactor, their footwork egged on by the panicked commotion of their comrades and the sudden screams of two children.
"EVERYBODY HOLD ON!" Barret boomed, his giant fingers wrapped tightly around rusted railings as the walkway began to quiver and sway. Vincent briefly paused at the bottom of the ramp, the sight itself momentarily bringing him to a standstill. Denzel and Marlene clung to Barret's waist for dear life while Tifa hung onto Red XIII as the fire-dog fought to keep his paws gripped on the patterned grating. Yuffie remarkably held her balance well as she tried to frantically usher the others off the wavering catwalk, her wide eyes seeking anything to use as leverage or a means to escape.
Cait Sith looked back and forth between the party and the audibly protesting bridge before he ran over with a frenzied dash and began to scrabble at the railing, doing everything in his power to try and steady the walkway despite knowing his strength and size would make his attempts nothing but vain. Vincent swiftly moved to assist the feline when another surge of pain ravaged his body with alien ferocity, pulling at his innards and forcing him to double over. Rather than assist the small robot which was his initial intention, Vincent instead ended up grasping the railing for support as his stomach lurched with agonising twists. Cait Sith turned to him in alarm and moved a hand out on reflexive impulse to help, when suddenly the cat's mouth fell open in fright.
"Vinnie, watch oot!"
"Vincent, watch out!"
The gunslinger scarcely had time to react to Cait Sith and Tifa's unified cries when suddenly a pair of claws swiped straight for him, barely missing his pale face as he narrowly dodged the oncoming blow. The monstrous paws caught the last two buckles of his cloak in their descent and tore open the straps with an audible snap, loosening the fabric and partly revealing his ornate black buckled shirt as the gunslinger spun and near stumbled back to face his assailant.
Amber eyes burned deep with rage in the dragon-like skull of what Vincent recognised to be a Bagnadrana, the six-legged creature rearing it's long neck in an act of intimidation as it approached with a piercing hiss. Vincent rose to meet its full height with his own, gloved fingers brushing aside his cape as he shakily reached for Cerberus' grip, stepping more prominently in front of Cait Sith and shielding him from the monster's lancinating glare.
The creature bristled within its sickly green carapace and Vincent attempted to push past the nausea that wormed its way through his gut. His chest heaved and he could feel the slow trickle of sweat work its way down his high cheekbones to drip from his cowl-concealed chin. Strength beginning to falter, his focus waned with it and as if sensing this, the monster before him reared up and inhaled deeply with a noise similar to that of a punctured gas canister.
A sudden crack of gunfire pierced the air and the dragon-like creature roared in pain, it's signature Poison Breath ability interrupted by the telltale sound of Barret's gatling gun, Myrna.
"Tha hell's wrong wit' ya!? Get a hold of yourself!" Barret barked, spinning the cylinder of his gun-arm back into place with a satisfying click just as the lumber trestles beneath the catwalk groaned deep. Suddenly, the wood cracked and split with a resounding snap and Red yelped, the two women on the wavering walkway yelping with him as they each cried out and fought for balance. Panic flitted across the ex-AVALANCHE leader's face and Barret looked between himself, the walkway, and the monster still reeling from his well-placed series of bullets, before he made one of the most difficult decisions a father could possibly make. Taking firm hold of Denzel and Marlene, Barret heaved the two children up into his trunk-like arms.
"''Ere! Catch!" He didn't wait for Vincent or Cait Sith to answer before he suddenly tossed the two youngsters across the now gaping breach between the reactor and the crumbling catwalk.
Marlene barely had time to squeak before she landed soundly on the reactor's support structure with an equally stunned Denzel following shortly after, the boy stumbling to fall next to Cait Sith just as the cat made to help him to his feet. On sight of the hissing monster, Marlene quickly ducked under Vincent's cape in fright and the gunslinger finally grasped some of his once lost clarity at the young girl's action. Unholstering Cerberus, he aimed it squarely at the Bagnadrana while conflict warred within him at his comrade's cries and the two children suddenly entrusted to him.
"Cait Sith, take Marlene and Denzel to safety," he ordered brusquely, unveiling the girl's hiding place with a flick of his cape as he approached the recovering creature.
"But Vince, whit aboot-"
"Leave me!"
Vincent made his own decision and ran straight for the dragon-like beast, leaving no room for negotiation as he lithely sidestepped around its snapping jaw and led the monster away from the two children, all the while keeping one eye trained on the catwalk and the unsteady forms of Tifa, Yuffie, and Nanaki. He could just make out Barret on the lower section usher to the three above him before he backed up and, with surprising speed for the hefty man, sprint forward to leap across the now open gap towards his daughter on the other side.
Noise echoed around them in a cacophony of disarray, from the Bagnadrana's shrill hiss and audible snaps at Vincent's heels, to the panicked pleas of Marlene and Cait Sith aimed at an indecisive Barret. The man watched helplessly as Tifa, Yuffie and Red XIII fought to right the walkway beneath them as it screeched with protest and Barret curled his hands into mighty fists.
'Shit-! I can't leave tha kids but I can't leave the others, neither! Even if Vince is actin' as bait!' Barret's alarmed gaze flickered over to the man in question at the thought, watching as he nimbly dodged each savage swipe and bestial blow in lieu of fighting back. The dragon-like creature scuttled after the gunslinger with mounting rage and while Barret knew the man could handle his own, he didn't miss the way Vincent's step would occasionally falter or the way his back jerked from some unknown assailant. The ex-AVALANCHE leader furrowed his thick brow at his comrade's alien behaviour.
While Barret trusted Vincent well enough to handle any given situation – he did throw him the kids, after all – he still felt the need to keep an eye on the gunslinger and watch both their backs.
As the gun-armed man wrestled with his ability to determine the right course of action, Vincent continued to fight his own personal battle against the acid rising through his gullet as he acted as decoy for the group. Suddenly, an ear-piercing screech rose through the air as the groaning framework of the walkway resonated with violent vibrations; the metal wrenched apart, tearing away from the reactor's support structure with a hair-raising shriek.
"F***!" Barret swore heavily, decision made for him, and he threw out his trunk-like arm to catch the severed metal of the catwalk's railing before it careened and completely crumpled in on itself. He grunted in pain as his muscles snapped taut and bulged from his arm, his biceps as steely as his determination as he desperately held onto the broken structure. He could hear the split and tumble of wooden trestles as they snapped apart, falling into the bubbling pool of Mako beneath them and Barret roared over the resounding splashes to the three now stranded across the yawning gap, "JUMP, DAMMIT!"
"Easy for you to say!" Yuffie bit back before she visibly shook her head with a whip of her trailing headband ribbons. Using what little catwalk was left on their now crumbling island, the teen stretched out her long, lanky legs and focused all of her strength into building up a sprint. Reaching the edge, Yuffie sprang into a grandeur leap, screaming all the way over the pit of Mako. Landing roughly atop the salvaged metal Barret desperately clung to, the ninja scrabbled to her feet and nearly threw herself the rest of the way to land next to the gun-armed man and onto stable ground.
Marlene and Cait Sith were quick to reach her side and the ninja shot them a troubled yet reassuring grin before she rose, worried eyes turning to her two friends still on the far side of the broken platform.
"Hurry it up, Tif'!" Barret grit through the whites of his teeth as sweat began to bead on his brow, his strength tested to its limit as the debris he held on to pulled, screeched and grated in his grip. The fighter turned from her panicked gaze of the severed catwalk and the two children standing across the divide to the fire-dog scrabbling for purchase on the slanting platform. Nanaki turned to her with grave wisdom behind his ochre-coloured eye and nudged her palm with his nose. Tifa hesitated but nodded grimly all the same; no more words were needed.
For them to go together would throw the balance of the platform completely and risk neither of them making it.
Tifa clenched her fists and took a deep breath of the Mako-laden air, the moisture catching the back of her throat and almost making her gag. Gaining as much footing as she could on the rickety structure, Tifa followed Yuffie's actions only moments earlier and burst into a sprint towards the mangled edge. Kicking off, Tifa bound forward with great momentum and soared over the bubbling Mako deposit, her duster flapping audibly mid-flight.
She landed with lissome precision, knees curled up to her chest and slender fingers pressed against the mangled plating to cushion the impact. Rising swiftly, she hopped from the debris her old friend clung to and across the gap to Barret's side. Marlene rushed to her and Tifa circled an arm around her shoulders, giving her a reassuring squeeze as she quickly sought out Denzel. Finding the boy to be shuffling nervously against Yuffie's side, she spun back to the pressing matter at hand and waved hurriedly to Red XIII while trying to ignore the drum of her heart against her ribcage.
She knew Barret wouldn't hold out for much longer.
"Come oon, buddy boy!" Cait Sith cried, frantically hopping in place next to a straining Barret. Nanaki's ears pricked at the sound of the cat's plea and he gripped the patterned grating in each of his protracted claws, lowering his furred body closer to the rocking structure. Muscles wound like a taut bowstring, the fire-dog curled ready to spring across the divide when a sudden crack of gunfire pierced the air. Tifa jumped, startled, before inwardly cursing herself for almost forgetting about Vincent despite catching sight of his strange behaviour earlier. The sharp screech of framework pulled back Tifa's attention just as the fire-dog made an impressive leap from the protesting walkway with lithe cat-like grace.
Soaring through the air for a few painfully tense seconds, Nanaki crashed down upon the severed platform just as the makeshift island behind him crumbled; the structure crumpling in on itself as it fell with a shrill lamentation of metal, careening straight into the walls of the Mako Reactor's deep, engorging pit. With Red out of immediate danger, Tifa spun to seek out her crimson-clad comrade when the sudden, unnerving sound of thousands of beats rising like an orchestra score beneath them caused her to freeze.
Red appeared to do the same as his ears stood bolt upright when suddenly the severed walkway Barret desperately clenched to snapped with a hair-raising rend of metal. The quadruped yelped as the whole platform listed down towards the bubbling, acidic green pool of Mako.
"RED!" Yuffie cried along with Cait Sith, Marlene and Tifa as she lunged for the walkway's opposing railings. Catching the wrenched balustrade, Yuffie's arm snapped painfully taught and the teen cried out, doing everything in her power to hold on to the falling walkway along with Barret. Tifa's heart lodged in her throat and she dived towards Yuffie, grabbing the ninja by the waist and contributing her own strength to her friend's efforts. Cait Sith yelped in panic and grabbed onto Tifa's leg while Marlene clutched onto the other with an equally frightened Denzel, the three of them tugging at the fighter's calves together.
"SHIT!" Barret unabashedly swore, his arm glimmering with perspiration as he fought to keep his own grip while Nanaki scrabbled and clawed for purchase against the ramp. "When the HELL did ya... get so heavy... Red...!" he strained, sweat dripping down his face to trickle through his beard.
"Now is... not the time... !" Nanaki managed to bark back amidst the clack and scrabble of his claws as he fought to pull himself up, his mane and fur near standing on end in fright.
The thunderous beats beneath the group grew louder and louder with a vengeance, the sound reverberating through the air around them until suddenly a great flock of birds burst forth from the pit below. They swirled and danced in a tornado of discordance, screeching and clicking their beaks as they circled and rose. Tifa snapped her gaze skyward, catching the sharp glints of the birds' elongated horns and recognising them to be a swarm of Needlekiss.
Realisation struck her like lightning and she flicked her gaze to the destroyed remnants of the walkway Nanaki, Yuffie, and herself had once been standing on, the metal jutting out like a multitude of rusty, broken bones. The framework had found its resting place against the walls of the Mako Reactor and Tifa could just make out the smattering of nests that lay within the pockets of the structure walls; no doubt belonging to the flock of birds before them who had been disturbed by the falling debris.
"Tifa, look out!"
The fighter barely had time to react to Yuffie's holler at the Needlekiss diving straight towards her when suddenly a gunshot cracked through the air with a deafening bang. Blood burst from the feathered monster as it careened to the ground just as Tifa turned to find Vincent spin back towards the rapidly approaching Bagnadrana at his heels, once more retraining his gun sight on the wounded dragon-like creature. Tifa barely had time to mouth her thank you over the sheer volume of noise when Cerberus once more roared, piercing the shrill screech and chatter of birds with another round of bullets fired from the gun's triple-barrelled maw.
Finally catching the Bagnadrana off-guard, the shot ripped through a gap in the monster's steel-like carapace and the persistent creature collapsed with a gurgled roar to the steel grated floor. Vincent lowered his gun and visibly gasped for breath, his shoulders heaving with his chest as sweat trickled down the long bridge of his nose.
It had taken Tifa being in immediate danger for him to finally aim straight.
His gut wrenched like the sound of the platform his comrades desperately clung to and Vincent turned his suffering gaze to the swarm of birds soaring above, the creatures physically and audibly driven to a frenzy after he'd fell one of their own. They swooped increasingly lower, their spear-like horns growing dangerously close as the multitude of beating wings almost suffocated the party with noise. Vincent furrowed his brow under his sweat-soaked bandanna, crimson gaze flicking to his surroundings and making a quick reconnoitre of the area.
A large cliff lay to the southeast, the decrepit railings that circled the edge – or at least the ones that still stood – suggesting it had once been used as a popular viewpoint of the reactor. Vincent also equally deduced it would make a great vantage point for him to pick off and distract the flocks of Needlekiss that swarmed a struggling Nanaki and the others fighting to save him.
Though his desire to help was great, Vincent knew that his role of decoy was not over yet.
Raising Cerberus into the air, Vincent took a steadying breath through the acid and bile that rose through his gullet before, with a rare, devil-may-care air, he deftly pulled the trigger.
The flock above him reached a fever pitch as the bullet ripped through the swarm with a deafening bang and echo that was lost in the furious beat of wings. On heeding the commotion above, Vincent turned tail and sprinted towards the railway tracks he'd inspected earlier near the Mako Reactor's entrance. Snapping open Cerberus to expose its cylinders, Vincent snatched a handful of .44 Magnum bullets from one of his cape's inner pockets before shakily thumbing them into the break-top revolver's three chambers. The encroaching cawing and flutter of wings at his back told him his decision to play decoy was the right one and he snapped the gun's cylinders back into place with a flick of his wrist, Cerberus voicing its agreement with a satisfying click.
Reaching a small, red brick bridge supporting the stretch of track before him, Vincent leapt down to the path beneath before ducking under the miniature archway that led to another set of stairs and, to what he assumed to be, the viewpoint of the Mako Reactor. Stretching long legs to his advantage, Vincent bound up the stairs three at a time before he rose Cerberus in the air and fired another volley of bullets towards the airborne monsters. A chorus of shrill caws rang out amongst the chaotic flutter and as Vincent reached the top and moved out towards the centre of the cliff, his gut suddenly wrenched with an agonising twist.
Vincent doubled over, his gauntlet clawing at his stomach as Cerberus almost fell from his trembling grip. The glow of Mako deposits surrounding the reactor mocked him as he heaved for air, struggling to catch his breath as he attempted to right himself; strength waning as he fought off sheer exhaustion. A sudden whoosh of air by his ear forced him to flinch away and he spun to face the Needlekiss that almost speared him with its bladed horn. The birds flocked and hovered above his head and Vincent cast a quick glance to the reactor below, secretly thankful most of the creatures had followed him rather than continue to assail his comrades.
Quelling his concern for Nanaki to focus on the matter at hand, he aimed Cerberus once more upon with a renewed grip and began to fire into the swarm. Their cries were nothing short of cacophonous as Cerberus began to pick off and feast upon the majority of the flock, their indigo-tipped wings blurring together in the chaos of feathers as many of them dropped with resounding thuds to the ground. Suddenly, the gunslinger was racked with another bout of pain and as he attempted to straighten himself, one of the two remaining creatures swiftly swooped down with its silver-crested horn aimed straight for his chest. Just catching the bird's intent, Vincent quickly holstered Cerberus before throwing back his cape. Crouching low, time appeared to slow for the gunslinger as he softly exhaled before executing a swift and graceful somersault, his cape curling in a whorl of crimson as he flipped backwards to barely avoid the bird's blow. Spinning round, he lashed out with five wicked, golden digits and clipped the monster's wings, sending it soaring to the ground.
What he didn't anticipate however, was the remaining monster following up behind.
The Needlekiss collided with his shoulder just as he lashed out with his claw, catching the bird's neck as it tore at his cape and sending it falling with its brethren, but not before losing his own balance.
Thrown back past one of the many gaps in the rusted barrier, Vincent was suddenly sent tumbling over the cliff edge as he fell prey to the uncontrollable rush of momentum.
Lunging for the edge, his claw desperately lashed out at the rockface as he attempted to regain his grip as well as his breath, chest heaving painfully whilst his lungs screamed over the howl of his own demons. Gauntlet dug deep into a series of narrow cracks, the wicked digits carved their own series of fissures into the cliff as he sank further and further. His talons tore deep into the weathered crag as gravity and something parasitical and alien within jerked him inch by inch towards the pit of Mako below.
He scrabbled for purchase amongst the spidery clefts in the cliff, the rising condensation making them slick with condensed Lifestream and causing the metal of his golden sabatons to scratch audibly against the hard surface. Small rocks clicked and tumbled from the scraping of his heels on stone as he clawed and wrestled for purchase, but it was no use.
He was slipping.
His cape fluttered from the rising wisps of steam that drifted up from the pit yawning at his feet. An unknown fire raged through his entire being and Vincent almost completely lost his strength, his sanity, grip faltering at the alien pull on his insides and the gleaming aureolin eyes that burned deep within the darkest recesses of his skull. He weakened and dropped a few agonising inches more; knife-like talons cleaving fresh crevices into the rock as everything and nothing spat and screamed in his head.
Vincent jammed his eyes shut, attempting to catch his breath and shut out his demons, willing himself the strength to pull himself back up when suddenly a crunch of stones underfoot forced his gaze back up towards the cliff edge.
It was a moment before Vincent suddenly found his voice. "Denzel... ?!"
The orphan stared coolly back at him, the warm, Mako-laden wind ruffling his unkempt hair. Vincent inwardly cursed himself for not noticing the child trail after him earlier and just as he were about to warn the boy of his dangerous proximity, Denzel suddenly shuffled closer to the edge despite evident hesitation to do so. Vincent paused, words lost to confusion as the gunman peered up at him through the sweat that clung to his furrowed brow. Ebony bangs swept across blood-red eyes as Denzel looked down to meet them, an incomprehensible expression etched across his young face awash in luminescent green.
Vincent fell silent, the only sounds between them being the occasional flutter of his tattered cape as it billowed on passing wind currents. He desperately clung to the slick cliff rock, struggling with an ever losing grip and overall grasp on the situation that was unfolding in front of him.
Denzel took one more step closer to the edge until he was at the very brink, his sneakers knocking stray pebbles to clack and careen down into the gaping pit below. Confliction warred behind azure eyes before, suddenly, the orphan crouched down low at the edge.
Denzel made his decision.
