Hey, it's me. Now, I know I haven't worked on Heretic much, but as soon as I'm done typing this story up, I'll finish that one. This is probably the best story I've ever wrote, and I owe that to Nathan and Liz (coughnotcough), who helped me write it. I refuse to abandon this one as I have my others, and have already done seven chapters in advance.
There's some backstory you'll need on the three OC's. The first, Rasputin, is mine. He and the second, Riou, became friends with Cloud and the others six months after Advent Children. The third, Luna, just works at the bar. Don't worry if you don't like her, none of us do. But I hope you'll like the other two. Anyway, enough babble. On with the show!
(This is totally a page break)
It was a warm fall day. Lives were going on as they would on any other day. People were running late for work, skipping school, eating a late breakfast, having quiet coffee. Midgar, however, was still, eight years after Sephiroth's second resurrection, in ruins, save for one building.
Rufus Shinra had rebuilt the Shinra Electric Power Company from the ground up. Though it was no longer the evil, Mako-sucking monstrosity of his father's day, the Turks and several soldiers were still in Rufus's employment. When the media asks about this, he simply smiles and says "I try to keep in touch with my old friends."
One of these 'friends', however, had just been cut out of the loop, so to say. Fired for arriving drunk three times in one week, Sterling Dark stumbled into a room he had never been in, intoxicatingly complaining about his new unemployment.
"Fuckin' morons!" he belched, "Fire me, why don't they? I've been here since Shinra Senior, dammit!"
He slammed his fist onto a console, cursing like a drunken Cid Highwind. He heard a 'blip', and looked at the screen. The cameras underneath the Sister Ray (which also had been a source of much media attention) came on. Sterling's eyes widened, and he hit a few buttons to undo what he had done. However, the doors locked behind him, and a gas emitted from the ceiling.
"Oh shit!"
The Sister's barrel filled with a red energy. Sterling panicked. Before he could do anything, however, the room filled with gun shots. Three soldiers entered the room as Sterling fell, dead. One of the soldiers fell to the ground, face in his hands.
"God save us!" he cried. "We're too late!"
The Sister had fired. It's target; The Northern Crater.
(Part two)
In Kalm, a small delivery service had recently settled in quite comfortably. The building it was located in also had a bar. The sign read "Strife Delivery Service and 9th Heaven". A man wearing all black, with a coat that had only one sleeve, with spiky blond hair and glowing blue eyes sat on a couch, drinking a beer. His companion, a man with long raven hair kept somewhat tidy with a red bandana, wearing a read cape and golden boots, had a martini, and was eating some nachos. They were watching television.
"Though many believe it to be a beast, the Midgar Zolom is actually only childish, wishing to play with any passers by who may…"
"What bull." Cloud said. "We fought one before we met you, Vince, and it wasn't friendly."
"I see." Vincent said, and sipped his drink. "You realize of course that I don't care?"
(Part three)
Far away, near the former city of Corel, in the Gold Saucer, a long time companion of former AVALANCHE rebel group, was playing a video game. He wore a black and white mask, and his short silver hair was spiked. He wore a white hooded sweatshirt, grayed from the usage. A silver necklace of a cross spilled out from it .At the joysticks he gripped, black leather gauntlets with buckles held tight, covering various battle trophies. Most women would still say… "ewww" . People were staring at him, disturbed by the amount of noise he was making.
"Die, you frickin' evil space ship!" Riou screamed. "Aha! Heck yes, three hundred more points and high score! Woot!"
However, his high score would have to wait. His cell phone rang, and his ship died. With a crushed look on his face, he answered.
"Hello? Oh, hey Raz!"
The man on the other end sighed irritably. He had ankle length silver hair and bright red eyes. He wore all black, tied together with a black trench coat with green trim. It clashed heavily with his pale skin.
"Why doesn't anyone call me Rasputin?" he grumbled, then said to Riou "Shinra has a huge problem."
Riou rolled his eyes.
"Geez, did Reno get his hand stuck in the vending machine again?"
"No…well, yeah, but that's not it. Some drunk shot off the Sister Ray. It hit the Crater."
Riou let this sink in, and went into business mode.
"Right, got it. I'll pass the word onto the 9th. Get Yuffie to get the jaws of life, and get someone to Midgar to investigate the Sister."
Riou hung up and looked at the screen.
"Cool, second place."
(Part four)
At the 9th, a girl with shoulder length dirty blond hair held up in a strange bun and a gray dress was cleaning glasses. Cloud and Vincent were now both drunk, and making stupid bets with each other. Luna shook her head.
"Hey, Tifa, you've got bad taste in men."
Tifa, a girl with slightly longer brown hair and a black leather dress-type-thing, sat in her own stool, sighing.
"Men…"
Luna smiled.
"C'mon. They're great entertainment."
"Heh." Tifa smirked. "True. You ever seen Cloud get his hand stuck in the toaster?"
"Toaster? I thought it was the condom machine?"
Tifa grimaced.
"That was when Vincent got him drunk." She looked over and saw Cloud carrying his sword, complaining that he missed the 'good ol' days'. "Hey, put the damn sword down if you're gonna keep drinking! My bar can't handle another explosion!"
Luna giggled.
"That was pretty funny, actually."
Tifa sighed.
"Well, insurance covered it. Really, I don't remember buying the drunken-warrior-toaster-explosion policy."
"Hey, Cloud," Vincent said, slightly slurred, "I'll bet you twenty five gil you can't fit your whole head in the legs of the chair."
Cloud, who was even more drunk, grinned.
"You're on! Wait, my phone's ringing…" Cloud answered and grinned at the voice. "Hey Raz!"
Rasputin growled.
"Is Vincent more sober than you?"
"Slightly."
"Put him on."
Cloud nodded as if Rasputin was right there, and threw the phone at an unsuspecting Vincent. He saw it, however, and ungracefully caught it, then answered.
"Hello?"
"It's me. Riou was supposed to call half an hour ago, but he's at the Gold Saucer, so…"
"He hasn't contacted us. Is something wrong?"
"The Sister Ray shot off and hit the Crater forty five minutes ago. Four confirmed deaths, several injuries, and a few missing. We need the jaws."
"Right." Vincent sighed. "We're on our way."
He hung up and threw the phone to Cloud, but the blonde wasn't there. Vincent looked around.
"I'm down here…sorta….stuck. You owe me some gil!"
(Part five)
Riou walked into the Gold Saucer's trolley and took his seat. As was his custom, he pulled his binoculars out of his pocket to observe the prison below. He didn't really know why, but it had always fascinated him. He watched the several prisoners, and wondered how many of them were actually guilty of the crimes they were accused of. Maybe that was what was what he was obsessed with; if you were accused of anything in this world, you were guilty. It was a depressing thought, really.
He felt the trolley lurch and begin to move. It threw his concentration off. He set the binoculars for a second , thinking of the situation at the Crater. Then, to see if it was obvious the place had been hit, he looked at it through the binoculars. He saw something, but he couldn't tell what. All he knew was that it was moving. He turned the knob several times to get a better view. What he saw disturbed him.
Twelve cloaked figures were slowly making their way to the summit, near the smoldering point of impact. Riou focused on the smoke, and a shadow of a man could be seen. Riou quickly put the scopes away and pulled out his phone. He dialed Rasputin's number and held the receiver to his ear. His friend answered after the second ring.
"Yeah?"
"Raz!" Riou cried. "There's something you've gotta s-"
Riou was cut off as the train lurched forward suddenly, and he dropped the phone out the window. He cursed and tried to catch it, almost falling out himself in the process. He steadied himself and sighed, sitting back down.
"Oh well…"
(Part six)
Back at the bar, Luna had pulled a tub of butter from the fridge, and was rubbing it on Cloud's still stuck head. Vincent was pacing, worried, though his face showed nothing. Tifa grabbed his real arm to stop the moving. It was making her nervous.
"Vincent, what's wrong?" she asked.
"Hold still, dammit!" Luna yelled at Cloud, then looked at Vincent. "Did Reno get his hand stuck in the Coke machine again?"
"No…well, yes, but that isn't why I'm worried. Someone shot off the Sister Ray approximately forty-seven minutes ago. We need to get the jaws and leave, but…"
"What!" Tifa cried.
Cloud, from his point under the rest of them and through his drunken haze, had just deciphered the first part of the message.
"Someone shot off the Sister?" he cried. A pause, and he giggled unlike any twice-world-savior ever should. "I smell like toast. Heh." Luna smashed the butter on his head.
"Dumbass. Hey, where's his sword?"
(Part seven)
Rufus Shinra walked toward the entrance of his building, irritably straightening his tie. The press wanted a statement, and he hated public speaking. With a passion. He turned a corner and saw Reno struggling against his soda-induced imprisonment.
"Hey Reno." he muttered. Reno looked up and waved with his free hand. The President kept walking.
He reached the entrance to the building and saw the dozens of reporters and sighed. He walked outside and was instantly assaulted by questions.
"Mr. President, can you explain what happened today?"
"Was this an accident, Mr. Shinra?"
"Are you trying to use all the Planet's mako, Mr. Shinra?"
Rufus cleared his throat, getting a temporary silence, and chose his words very carefully.
"Ladies and gentlemen," he said, hating the small shake in his voice, "I can assure you, this was a very unfortunate accident. A recently fired employee, who will not be named, wandered into the control room and slammed his fist into the controls-"
"Mr. Shinra, do you mean to say it's that simple to get into the room that controls this Planets largest cannon?"
"If you are an employee of his status, then yes."
"Are than any confirmed casualties?"
"I'm sad to say, yes, four, the then employee included. A survivor, who's job it was to guard the room, has been fired for his absence."
"Yeah, I'll bet! Machine gun fired!"
Rufus growled.
Am I that predictable?
"President Shinra, what is being done?"
"I'll tell you more as I find out more myself. Thank you."
The President turned and walked back into his building, ignoring the questions and insults flying at him. He wiped a thin line of sweat from his brow and muttered several curses.
(Part eight)
After departing from the trolley, Riou had searched for a payphone for several minutes, then found one next to a fisherman's boat. He had dialed Rasputin, and was talking quickly.
"Raz, we've gotta get to the Crater soon, man. Something big is going on."
Riou could detect the doubt in his friends voice, and it angered him.
"The Crater, Riou?" Rasputin said, "What, other than the hole in the side, could possibly be new at the Crater?
"You don't understand, Raz! There were these twelve guys-"
"Just people from Icicle who wanted to check it out. Calm down and get over here, man."
Riou pouted and crossed his arms. Raz was not winning this argument.
(Part nine)
At the Crater, the twelve cloaked figures had reached their destination. They dropped to their knees and bowed at the figure in the smoke. Said figure was holding a sword, and was chuckling.
"Se…phi…roth." one of them muttered.
"Noli manere memoria." the figure muttered, and stepped out of the smoke. He had waist-length silver hair, and a long black coat. He was even more pale than Rasputin.
"I will not remain as a memory," he said, "and no one can make it so."
(This is the end of the chapter)
Alright, that was it. Please, leave me a review, whether you like it or not. Tell me what to change, what was alright, whatever. I'll update every Monday, so until then, later!