The Animal I Have Become

Chapter One – The Dark Inside Of Me

I can't escape this hell
So many times I've tried
But I'm still caged inside

Somebody get me through this nightmare
I can't control myself!

So what if you can see
The dark inside of me?
No one will ever change this animal I have become
Help me believe
It's not the real me
Somebody help me tame this animal...

-- Three Days Grace, Animal I Have Become

The moon was full, but that had very little to do with the chaos in the streets below.

There was smoke, screaming, and blood dripping off the monster's snout. He lunged his great purple head and struck yet another person, craving blood and flesh.

He roared in fury. His prey were getting fewer and fewer, hiding. Getting smarter. This just wouldn't do.

There, a smaller one. They were the most tender. He dove and to his surprise, did not make his mark. A young girl, with a familiar face, stood between him and the cowering teenager, her glowing weapons drawn.

"You will not hurt him." She said, determination written on her face. Then her face fell. "V-Vincent Valentine?"

A weak moment. Galian Beast roared in triumph and struck the girl, who dodged at the last moment, dragging the boy with her. "Run home, Denzel!" She cried, brandishing her weapons at the monster again.

"If you wish to die..." Galian hissed, diving at her again.

She spun on her toes, lightly, her years in Deepground unforgotten. Just as the beast passed her, she struck. The downstroke was swift, but not swift enough.

The monster grabbed her wrist and in one smooth movement, snapped it in half. She cried out in pain, but spun by the hand he was still clinging to and stabbed at him with her other weapon.

He was strong. She was going to die.

Shelke had thought she would die several times in her twenty-six years, but never by the hand of a friend.

"You'll pay for this." She said. "The others will fight you."

"Let them come." The Galian Beast said, sniffing her, searching for the sweet spot.

Ah yes. The neck. How could he have forgotten? Licking his chops, he set upon the girl, ignoring her screaming and fighting.

About halfway through, his host stirred, violently, from within him. He laughed, a little maniacally, which is normal because he's a demon.

To his great alarm, he felt his host take firm control over the body they shared and drop the girl's corpse, before launching the both of them into the heavens.

"Shelke..." Vincent's voice said. He closed his bestial eyes and headed for the mountains.

- - - - -

Yuffie Kisaragi was many things. She was a woman (and was she – she'd bloomed quite a bit in the past few years. Enough to make her think that perhaps one of her parents was not fully Wutain), she was a bounty hunter, she was a member of AVALANCHE, and she was a princess.

But one thing Yuffie was not was a pilot. She wasn't even a good passenger. So when she found herself at the helm of a small plane, when the pilot had unexpectedly run to the bathroom to puke, she was startled.

To the say the least.

"'s the last time I drink rum when I know I'm takin' ya somewhere, kid!" Cid's grizzled voice said, from the little cubicle at the other end of the Tiny Bronco.

Yuffie, eyes wide, drew a cigarette from the pocket of the long-sleeved shirt she'd thrown over her scanty outfit to protect against the chill of altitude, and lit it, knowing she was in for one hell of a ride.

And boy was she right. By the time Cid had finally emerged, empty-stomached, from the bathroom of his little plane, she'd flown them through the worst patch of turbulence she had yet to experience.

Yuffie may not have known how to fly, but she knew how to read weather readings. She feigned ignorance when Cid threw her a dirty look.

"Don't gimme that look, Yuff, I know better. You read the SATSCAN same as I can. You went through that shit on purpose." Cid, lighting a companion cigarette to Yuffie's, sat himself down and grimaced slightly, before buckling himself in securely and taking control of the plane.

"I think I did pretty good." Yuffie said, leaning back nonchalantly. She set one leg atop the other in a crossed fashion and jiggled one of her booted feet, bored now that Cid was back in command.

"Yeah." Cid said, begrudgingly. "But you coulda fuckin' killed us."

"Oh, come on." Yuffie said, rolling her eyes and flicking her ashes into the little ashtray Cid kept near the instrument panel. "You and I both know that the minute she went into a dive you'd be out here, saving your little baby."

"And get puke on the instrument panel?" Cid snorted at that impossibility.

"This is Midgar Air. State your identity and destination." A cool voice said.

"Midgar Air, this is the Tiny Bronco, passengers Cid Highwind and Yuffie Kisaragi, destination Kalm." Yuffie said into her headset. She may not be a pilot, but she had served as copilot many a time, a job that, when Cid was around, meant she got to talk into the microphones and file flight plans. Cid had always, to quote him directly, "Hated that shit."

"Copy that, Tiny Bronco. You are cleared for landing in Kalm, runway 2-2-9. Advise coming about, as there is a strong tailwind."

Yuffie flicked her eyes at Cid, who nodded.

"Roger that, Midgar Air. Over and out." She flicked a switch to turn off her mic and made a few notes on the clipboard, noting which runway they would use and what direction they would be coming from.

"Hang on a sec, here, Yuff, we've gotta do a slight spin to get into the right direction." Cid said, chomping on the end of his Marlboro and turning the controls, ever so slightly.

Yuffie rolled her eyes and extinguished her smoke, before clipping her restraints into place. Cid was an excellent pilot, of course, but there was a strong tailwind, which meant that when they turned around there would be a strong headwind. There was always the chance something would go wrong and flip the plane.

Yuffie was no pilot, but she knew her aerodynamics. It had been required at college.

That's right. Yuffie Kisaragi, 26 years old, had graduated with a degree in aerospace dynamics. She didn't use it much, though – she was a bounty hunter. Rufus had not yet the funds to restart the Shinra Space Program, which is what she was waiting for.

Being a princess is so boring. And besides, now that her father had remarried and she had a two-year-old brother, she didn't need to be around anymore; she wasn't the heir to the throne and frankly, that pleased her immensely.

They were landing when a voice crackled in her ears. "Yuffie, Cid, is that you? Over."

"Teef?" Yuffie said, flicking the mic on. "Teef, what's up? You sound upset."

"Oh, Yuffie, Cid! We've been trying to get hold of you for eight hours! Something horrible has happened..." Tifa trailed off and Yuffie knew that the older woman was crying.

Yuffie glanced at Cid, who was looking concerned but trying to land a plane at the same time.

"Teef, we'll be on the ground in about ten minutes. Meet us at the plane and we can talk while we do the post-flight check. Cid's a little preoccupied right now."

"I...Sure. I'll be waiting." Tifa said. She hiccuped. Yuffie wondered if she'd lost yet another baby – it was really sad that Tifa, who had so much nurturing instinct in her, could not bear her husband, Cloud, even one child of their own.

Exactly ten minutes later, Tifa ran up to the plane, with it's rotors still whirring, tears falling from her delicate eyelashes. Yuffie knew then that this was not yet another miscarriage.

"Oh, Yuffie." The older woman threw herself into an embrace with the shinobi, and cried. "It's so horrible."

Yuffie blinked. "What happened?" Cid was coming around the nose of the plane, having jumped out as soon as the brakes were set.

"It's Shelke. They found her this morning."

- - - - -

Shelke had never understood funerals, so Yuffie found it vaguely ironic that they were holding one for her.

She, Cid and Barret stood at the back of the crowded church in Kalm, smoking cigarettes and frowning. That the girl, who had slowly but surely evolved into a likable person over the past seven years since they'd all met her, had died in such a horrific manner, was just...awful.

Yuffie remembered when they'd showed her the remains. Pieces of her were missing; she looked like so much ground meat, with a neck and face attached.

She wondered what could have done so much damage in the – no pun intended – calm streets of Kalm. Tifa hadn't said what had killed her, and at the time it hadn't really been appropriate to ask.

So when she, directly after the funeral and on the way to the reception, had gotten a page on her communique, she politely excused herself, not thinking anything of it.

Yuffie felt like she'd been punched in the gut when she read the bounty file.

VINCENT VALENTINE – Wanted DEAD or ALIVE for the murder of Shelke Rui and several other townspeople of Kalm. Dangerous, approach at your own risk. Bounty: 1,000,000 gil.

She gaped, and then used the device to delve into the world 'net, searching the sites for news about Kalm. Finally, she found one. It was a video; she turned the sound up.

A reporter stood there, destruction behind her. It was obviously a side-street of Kalm.

"This is the scene in Kalm today, after a monster attacked, killing 42 townspeople, amongst them Shelke Rui, sister of Shalua Rui, celebrated WRO scientist who perished in the Deepground incident seven years ago. Shelke was a former member of Deepground herself. No videos or pictures were taken of the beast that caused such destruction in the formerly-quiet town, but eyewitnesses say it looked like the legendary Behemoth, only upright and much, much smaller. While the monster was not described as having wings, those who were there say that it could, indeed, fly." The reporter shook her head. "It is a tragic day in Kalm."

Yuffie closed her eyes. Vincent's Galian Beast. Vincent had attacked Kalm.

It seemed so horrible; the Vincent Valentine she knew wasn't the kind to seek out violence – it usually found him, not the other way around. Something was really wrong.

She went back to the reception and cornered Tifa.

"Why didn't you tell me?" She said, planting her hands on her hips. Tifa looked up at her through tear-stained eyes, questioning.

Yuffie thrust the communique at her. She read Vincent's bounty profile and her mouth formed a small O.

"It was a monster." She said, shaking her head. "But now that I think about it...it did...it looked like one of his...his monsters." She squeezed her eyes shut. "Vincent did this."

She dissolved into more tears as Yuffie looked around, knowing the one guest she absolutely needed to talk to was in attendance.

Yuffie found him, surrounded by his faithful Turks.

"Rufus, what gives?" She demanded, thrusting her slightly damp, thanks to Tifa, communique at him.

He didn't even bother to look at it. "Vincent attacked Kalm. He has to answer for it." He said, softly.

"But DoA is kind of harsh, don't you think?" She asked. "He did save the world three times. I think there's a little leniency to be called for here." She knew she was talking madness, but a hard knot had formed in her stomach at the idea of some of the bounty hunters she knew going after Vincent. They were ruthless, and loved DoA calls. Vincent could fight them, but there were so many. He didn't stand a chance.

Rufus sighed and gestured to the door of the reception hall. "Let's discuss this outside." He said. He gestured for Tseng to follow him and the rest to stay.

Tseng, Rufus and Yuffie exited the room and walked a ways before continuing their discussion.

"Yuffie, something is wrong with this picture." Rufus said. He shook his head. "It's unfortunate. I don't want to condemn Vincent. I want him alive, because I think we've finally developed a way to...extract the beasts from within him. Hojo's apprentice worked it out from his notes. But he cannot be allowed to do this again. Surely you understand that; either he comes in alive and we fix him, or he comes in dead, and everyone is saved. It's one or the other."

Yuffie glanced down at her communique. The bounty hadn't been accepted yet.

"I'll take it." She said. She pressed her thumb on the thumbplate, indicating that she had taken on the bounty and no one was to attempt it for 48 hours. "But only because I don't want him dead. DoA was a little harsh. You didn't even mention a preference for having him brought in alive in the file."

"There are lives at stake here, Yuffie." Rufus said. "Shinra is in charge of justice, and I intend to make sure it is served. We still need to know why he attacked."

"Obviously, he's out of his fucking mind." Yuffie said, shoving the device into it's holster on her belt. She exhaled. "Let the others know that something's come up. I better find him before someone decides to break the rules."

- - - - -

Vincent was growing to dread the nights.

Nights were when Galian Beast came out to play, and tormented him and whomever he managed to find.

He was in a cave. Where, he had no idea. He almost always woke up in a cave and was unsurprised to see the trend continue.

For the past five months it had been his routine. Go to sleep, become the beast, kill people, wake up in a cave. Where the cave was, he had no idea.

His mind was tormented. He had no idea what was causing the monster within him to act up, but he knew he had killed countless people – men, women, children, and Shelke, who was neither woman nor child.

Every morning, when he awoke to the sun's bright rays – for the monster invariably chose east-facing caves – he felt as if he were less and less human, and more and more an animal.

And he could remember it all – the smell of burning flesh and chaos, and the taste and feel of human blood running down his throat.

He wished fervently that the monster could have confined his activities to other monsters. There were hundreds of them, thousands even, throughout the planet. But no, the Galian Beast craved human flesh and blood.

He also wished someone would stop him. He figured that was impossible, though; he had attempted suicide multiple times only to have his body heal before his very eyes. His metabolism ate poisons, his flesh removed bullets and sealed the wounds almost instantly. Hojo's manipulations had worked very well.

His feelings of hopelessness grew every day. The first time he'd thought it was a once-off, that the old monsters had flared up, but the Galian Beast had started coming more and more steadily during the nights, until finally he was attacking every night, and driving Vincent insane. Forces were at work that Vincent was incapable of properly understanding. Either that, or he was just becoming weaker.

Personally, he suspected both.

He had stopped eating, stopped sleeping, all in the vain hope that a weak host body would weaken the monster within. It was all a failure; Galian Beast ate enough for both of them nights when he didn't take care of himself. So it was with a heavy heart that he sluggishly stood and left to seek some form of sustenance, his mind filled with memories of better days.

At first he thought of those days in Nibelheim, with Lucrecia, but ever since Deepground those memories had become tainted. No, now he thought to his time with AVALANCHE. And he tried to avoid thoughts of how his friends would despise him.

If Shelke had survived, they would already despise him. And rightly so. He was a monster; inhuman, a god of destruction. If Shelke had died, they may have still put two and two together; Tifa and Cloud lived in Kalm, and Denzel had seen him. Cid and Yuffie were constantly in and out of Kalm; Yuffie, because that was where Rufus had set up the bounty hunter base, and Cid because it was a convenient stopping point for long flights. Barret came often as well, to let Marlene visit Denzel, and to see Tifa and Cloud. Really, all of AVALANCHE could have been there last night; it was completely possible.

It was all for the best. If anyone could take him out, it was AVALANCHE. He closed his eyes in pain; he hadn't spoken to any of them in...years. It seemed that the last time he'd ever see any one of them was as they were killing him.

He'd just killed a wild chocobo and managed to stake it out over a fire to cook when an unfamiliar sound pinged through his consciousness. His eyes widened as he realized that it was his phone, which had not rung in months and had not been charged recently, either. He was surprised to find that the thing still worked.

He looked at the caller ID. Yuffie. He flipped it open.

"Vincent?" Yuffie said. She could hear his ragged breathing. "Vincent, are you there?"

"Yuffie." Vincent said.

"Vincent, why? How could you?" He could hear her gasping for breath. "How could you do that to Shelke?"

So they did know. All the better. He closed his eyes.

"Stop it before he kills again." Vincent said. It was the first time he had openly admitted to someone that something was going on. Before he could comprehend that, he gasped as a pain shot through his arm and his hand forced him to drop the cellular phone. He roared angrily as the Galian Beast forced an early transformation.

The cooking chocobo forgotten, the beast let loose with a cry that made birds take flight and nearly deafened Yuffie, who was still listening. Then the beast launched itself into the sky.

"Vincent? VINCENT?!" Yuffie's voice screamed through the phone, tinny. Then the phone shut itself off, a "Low Battery" alert flashing before function ceased.

- - - - -

Yuffie was already on her way to Vincent's location, which she'd found by hacking the Shinra PHS data network (She would never, ever, ever let Rufus know she'd discovered his password somewhere; it was way the hell too useful) when his phone cut out. She frowned, a panicky feeling coming over her. Flipping open her phone again, she dialed Rufus and left him a voice mail.

"Rufus, I talked to Vincent. I think the Galian Beast is acting independently. I'm going to try to find him now." She shut her phone off, not wanting it to go off while she was hunting a monster, and did the same with her communique.

Setting a brisk pace on her chocobo, she set off toward where Vincent had last been. It was possible that he was nearby. It was also possible that she wouldn't survive the trip.

Yuffie had changed a lot in the past ten years; she was no longer that spunky 16-year-old girl. She was hardened and mature and curvaceous, and she didn't get motion sickness anymore. But one thing remained the same; she couldn't let a friend of hers suffer, and she couldn't let him kill anymore.

Then she paused, the rhythmic sound of the golden chocobo striding a soothing counterpoint to her chaotic thoughts. She hadn't seen Vincent in damn near four years. No one had. She had no idea if he even looked the same. He could have grown a beard and cut his hair and started wearing normal clothes, and then she'd never fucking find him.

Oh well. Best to worry about that when the time came.

She was just thinking about that when there was a rushing noise and a roar, and then a knock upside her head. She was falling off the chocobo, which was warking in alarm.

She closed her eyes, knowing that this was it; she was going to die.

"You shouldn't have interfered, girl!" A rough voice said. She looked up into the evil eyes of the Galian Beast, and she fainted.

Author's Notes: I'm at it again! Another Yuffentine! Haha! Poor Vincent. He always gets fucked with, doesn't he?

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