Hidden Power
Summery: There is a small race of people hidden away in the world capable of intense power. Some call it magic others simply think of it as hell force, all evil. In truth it is nothing more then a gift from deep within the person. Normal humans will not accept these people, thinking them of a horrible threat to life, so they are hidden deep within the normal ranks, peacefully living their lives out. But such peace died when a force know as Shinra rose to control these people for its own evil intention. The race had then been forced to rise in defense against mass murders and kidnapping to no avail. These people became known as Adepts. Listen to their story as two Adepts find love in a ravaged and dieing world.
Reno/Tseng, Cloud/Zack
A/N: Well, I'm back at work on a whole new story. One that is certainly unusual for me to be writing but it's been a heck of a lot of fun. Although if the summery wasn't hint enough this is an ALTERNATE UNIVERSE story with YAOI or SLASH depending on what you call it. It won't be slashy right off the bat but I'm going to get there. Although I really shouldn't be posting this and juggling it with Crimson Clouds and Black Rainbow, I just can't help it. When I need a break from those two I have a third option that is a lot of fun to mess with. I have a feeling many of my readers will really enjoy this. ) At least I hope you will…
Please READ AND REVIEW if you all will be so kind, they really make my day, especially if they are nice comments. But don't be afraid to flame me, in fact, I encourage them! ) If you don't like it, tell me why. HOWEVER, any flaming for it being YAOI or SLASH will be removed and completely ignored because you have been warned. Same goes for it being ALTERNATE UNIVERSE, note the CAPITAL LETTERS being used to emphasis this. And for those of you who read all this crap I clap for you, 'cause I know a lot of people don't. Hell, sometimes I don't. Which is really bad…
CHAPTER ONE:
'This is so not good.' A red head thought to himself. He turned to run only to find he was surrounded. The blue clad SOLDIERS sneered at him but remained wary. He held his hands out in front of him and summoned a blade of fire.
'I will not let them take me alive!'
He held his sword easily in his right hand and lifted his left. He pointed his palm at the SOLDIERS in front of him and they raised their shields in a pathetic attempt of defense. Fire leaped viciously from his palm and destroyed all in its path. He ran through the cleared space, slicing down any SOLDIER who dared get in his way. Running as fast as he could he began to leave the SOLDIERS behind, losing himself in the maze of a city. Once he had run a good distance he stopped and put his hands on his knees, panting. He coughed, tasted the metallic taint of blood and spat.
'Shit, that attack used more energy then I thought. Not to mention I've been running for three damn days.'
He let his sword dissipate and sighed.
'I can't keep running. I have to find a place to hole up for a little while and get my energy back.'
Green eyes scanned the surroundings. He turned back the way he had come and realized the SOLDIERS had regrouped. He sighed, turned to run and ran into someone. Arms wrapped around him tightly and he stood perfectly still, shocked that someone had snuck up on him. He was tall but the man who held him was about an inch or so taller. He looked up and saw that the man had hair as dark as a raven's wing and it fell to his shoulders. In the middle of the man's forehead was a black tilak and he had chocolate brown eyes. He immediately knew who he had been caught by. This man was Shinra's Sensor, an Adept with the ability of sensing another Adept's powering and pinpointing it, it was the only way the man could have taken him like that.
'I will not be taken!' he thought furiously. He fisted his hand and drew his power into it.
"Don't." The man hissed warningly. He ignored it and opened his hand, a fireball forming. Before he could use it though he felt a sharp prick at the back of his neck and the fireball dissolved. Suddenly he felt completely powerless. He struggled to free himself, the closeness of the man's body was extremely unnerving when he could feel the man's body heat.
"Let go of me!" he growled.
"Only if you listen to what I have to say." The man returned.
He stilled and thought,
"Fine."
The man slowly released him, cautious that he would run. He backed up a few steps and silently waited.
"As I am sure you realized I work for Shinra, but not of my own decision. I work for them because I must, not because I wish to. I want nothing more then to be free of Shinra. You don't want to be used by them and neither do I. We can help each other, I can tell that your too weak to run or fight, you will be captured. If you work with me and give Shinra the pretense that you want to work for them, we can win their trust and us that to escape."
The man fell silent then and studied the person before him. The Adept had spiky red hair that was about an inch too short to reach his shoulders. He had emerald green eyes that held a dim glow that all Adepts had that only he, a Sensor, could see. Only Adepts had that inner power glow, the stronger the glow the more energy the Adept possessed. The redhead's glow was very dim, he was at his energy limit and if exhausted farther he would probably die. He was wearing baggy clothes that hid a well toned body, if not a little too much on the thin side.
"So let me get this straight. You want me to be willingly be captured by Shinra, do their dirty work willingly and help you escape, all willingly?"
The man nodded.
"I don't fucking think so."
The man sighed,
"To keep running from them will mean death for you."
He shook his head,
"I don't care. I have nothing but my Power left for me anyway, and that is not a blessing."
"More and more Adepts are being discovered each day and Shinra either kills them or uses them. When we escape we can form a team and destroy Shinra."
"We can put Shinra down?" he asked suspiciously.
"Yes, but only by working together."
"Destroy Shinra, huh? Okay. You've got a deal. The name's Reno."
The man nodded,
"I'm Tseng."
Reno looked behind him at the quickly approaching SOLDIERS,
"Alright, now what?"
"Now we begin our deception." Tseng replied.
Reno smirked, "Cool. Now when will that Serum wear off? I want my power back."
"Don't worry, I only gave you a small dose, it should wear off very soon. However, I suggest that you don't use any until you have a chance to rest."
Reno nodded,
"I know. I'm not dumb."
Tseng shook his head, quickly coming up behind Reno and handcuffing him.
Reno yelped,
"Hey! What do you think your doing?!"
"Relax. It's just standard procedure. If I didn't do it they would be suspicious."
"Don't mean I have to like it." He mumbled to himself.
"I don't expect you to. Reno, I need you to trust me if this is going to work."
Reno glared at him,
"Trust is not something I'm going to hand out just like that. You've got to earn my trust."
Tseng nodded,
"That's perfectly understandable. I agree."
"Then don't ask something of me I can't give."
Tseng sighed and eyed the approaching SOLDIERS,
"You see that silver haired man out in front of the SOLDIERS?"
Reno nodded,
"Yeah. What about him?"
"That's Sephiroth, the General of the SOLDIERS and pride of Shinra. He's not an Adept but he is extremely powerful. Nobody had ever defeated him in battle."
Reno whistled,
"Wow, the guy must be something else, huh?"
Tseng nodded,
"There are only two SOLDIERS under Sephiroth's command you can trust, I'll introduce you later but as for the General himself I'm leery of him. The General's a strange one. You'll have to keep your eye on him but as long as you stay out of his way I think you'll be okay."
Reno nodded and absently tugged at the handcuffs.
"Oh, and one more thing." Tseng said, "You're an Adept, Reno, never forget that. But you must never use your power against a worker in Shinra's employment unless otherwise ordered by Shinra. The last thing we need is to anger Shinra. If we cause anger we will be killed."
Reno sighed,
"Great. We don't have long then."
Tseng looked at him in confusion. Reno noticed and shrugged,
"Let's just say people have a tendency to get pissed off just at my personality. I'm the kind of person who's going to say what they think."
"So your hot headed."
"Yep. In both senses."
Tseng only shook his head,
"Just control yourself and be polite."
"Yes, sir." Reno said with a grin.
Tseng sighed.
&
As the man and his SOLDIERS approached they were able to get a clear picture of the man. The General was very tall with very long silver hair and an extremely long sword. Beside Tseng, Reno gasped suddenly and swore,
"Shit! Shit, shit, shit! You damn idiot Reno. It's the damn General! The General! Great Shiva, don't let him recognize me."
Tseng looked at him in bewilderment but it was too late to question the Adept for the General had stopped only a few feet away.
"Tseng. I'm glad to see that you've caught him. I was getting tired of running after him, he's an unusually tricky one."
Reno held his silence.
"He's cost me a high number of men, Tseng. I hope for his sake you've managed to convert him."
Tseng nodded, "I have."
"Good." Sephiroth said, eyeing Reno. "What's your name Adept?"
"Reno, sir." He replied, searching for that flicker of recognition in his strange blue-green eyes. He found none.
"Well Reno, welcome to Shinra. Tseng, I imagine your car is near here, correct?"
"Yes, I'm taking him to see Shinra."
Sephiroth nodded,
"Very well. I'll leave two SOLDIERS along with you."
The General turned toward his troops,
"Zack Fair and Cloud Strife."
A black haired man stepped up, closely followed by a blond man.
"Escort these two to their vehicle and return to base."
"Yes, sir!"
The General then swept away, the remaining platoon following his lead. The black haired man turned to Tseng,
"Man, am I glad you were the one who caught up to him."
Tseng shrugged,
"Reno wasn't hard to find."
The man turned to him,
"Reno, huh? I'm Zack and this is my friend Cloud."
Zack lowered his voice and said, "He doesn't talk much."
The spoken of blonde glared at him and Zack grinned,
"See what I mean?"
Reno laughed, he had a feeling that Zack and he would get along just fine.
Zack sobered slightly,
"But really, Reno, you're tough. I think you could have taken out the whole platoon if you had a mind to."
Reno shrugged,
"I don't know about that."
Zack stared,
"Are you kidding! You wiped out thirty three of our men with that one attack."
Reno just shrugged and thought to himself, 'One attack that nearly killed me.'
"Anyway." Tseng broke in,
"We should really get going. You two don't have to escort us, the car is right around the corner and I know you must be tired."
Zack nodded,
"Yeah, tired is an understatement. Thanks, we'll see you later." They turned and with a wave form Zack, the two SOLDIERS hurried after the rest of them. Tseng turned around,
"This way."
"So, Tseng, are those two the SOLDIERS you said I could trust?"
Tseng nodded,
"Yes."
"Cool. I like that Zack. He's got a sense of humor, that's not something you see very often. I don't know what to think about Cloud though."
"Cloud's just quiet…you want to tell me what that was all about?"
Reno looked up at the sky,
"What do you mean?"
Tseng just looked at him. Reno shrugged,
"I've just had a bit of a run in with him once. He had order to kill me. I was only 17 at the time so I escaped fairly easily. Eventually Shinra just assumed I was dead and quit looking for me."
Tseng shook his head, "You just keep on surprising."
Reno grinned, "It's what I do best." He said before spying a sleek black car,
"Whoa! Is that yours? How did you afford it?"
Tseng only shrugged,
"I saved up, and we do get paid."
Reno's eyes widened,
"Really? Sweet."
Then Reno's nose twitched and he sniffed,
"Uh, Tseng. My nose itches."
Tseng rolled his eyes and moved behind him, unlocking and removing the handcuffs. Reno rubbed his nose with a sigh then absently touched his wrists. Tseng opened the passenger side door and gestured for him to get in, then moved around to the other side. Reno moved to get in but a sharp flare of pain unlike anything he'd ever felt set fire to his brain. He clutched his head and cried out against the heat that was frying his head. All his Power that had been subdued came rushing back in wave after wave of intense burning. It washed through his entire body, but he felt the effects more in his head then anywhere. In a flash Tseng was at his side,
"Reno! What is it?"
Tseng gripped his shoulders and shook him lightly.
"Open your eyes, Reno! Open them!" Instinctively he obeyed. Using his own power Tseng saw that Reno's eyes burned fiercely with Power, too much Power. Reno gave a shuttering sigh then and sagged slightly. The fire in his body and eyes faded to what Tseng could deem safe and helped Reno to stand back up.
"Damn, that hurt." Reno muttered.
"The best I can tell," Tseng said,
"You had an allergic reaction to the serum."
"You think?" Reno replied sarcastically.
Tseng stared at him and Reno looked away, "Sorry."
Tseng shook his head,
"I'll have one of the scientists check you out and find the problem. Let's go."
Reno nodded and got in his side as Tseng went around the other side. The car started quietly and they headed off. After a couple of minutes Reno perked up and sniffed.
"That smell." He muttered.
Tseng glanced at him,
"What?"
"That kinda spicy, sweet scent. What is it?"
Tseng sniffed experimentally,
"I don't smell anything."
Reno turned toward him and grinned, "Wonder why."
"Huh?"
Reno leaned forward and, startled, Tseng stiffened but all he did was inhale. Satisfied, Reno pulled back,
"Yep, it's you. What cologne do you wear? It's awesome."
Tseng stared at him strange and turned his attention back to the road.
"It's imported from Wutai."
Reno looked out the side window,
"Wutai, huh? You're from Wutai, aren't you?"
Tseng nodded,
"Is it the tilak?"
Reno pulled a pair of goggles from the top of his head that Tseng had only vaguely noticed and shook his head. Some red locks fell into his face without the restraint and Reno batted absently at them.
"Yeah, a bit. You have the accent and the look of a Wutaian. Most Wutai people give off a graceful air, you're no different."
Tseng cast him a surprised glance,
"Have you been to Wutai?"
Reno just waved a hand,
"I was on a business trip with my step-dad. The place was incredible, something like that sticks."
He stared out the window with a far off look and muttered, almost inaudibly to himself,
"Scenery was the only thing good about that trip."
Reno shook his head quickly,
"But I never saw anyone with a tilak like yours."
"It's the mark of an outcast."
"…Oh."
Silence fell as Reno went quiet and stared out the window, lost in his own world. Tseng, himself, was surprised the red head had not questioned him further. He glanced at the young man but his face was turned away. Reno turned his goggles over and over in his hands, almost nervously. Then he sighed and slipped them back on, they did hold back some of his bangs. His head fell back and he closed his eyes with a soft sigh. Tseng slowed for a red light and studied the Adept. Tseng had him pegged at around 20 or 21, after all he had a young face but that didn't necessarily do justice. Aware he was staring he turned back to the road and drove on.
&$#!
The black haired young SOLDIER and his blond friend stepped out of the General's office after giving their account of the search.
"Well Cloud. I think that went rather well."
Cloud snorted,
"Well? He cut our platoon in half!"
"Can you blame him?"
"Of course not, but the General's not happy."
Zack rolled his eyes,
"Sure he is. We completed our mission didn't we? That's all he cares about."
Cloud shook his head,
"We didn't really finish our mission."
"How do you figure?"
"Well, our orders were to bring the Adept in or kill him. We didn't capture him, Tseng did."
Zack paused,
"True. But, we did run him to Tseng, who converted him, which is even better."
Cloud sighed,
"Whatever you say Zack, whatever you say." He said as he walked off.
Zack grinned broadly,
"That's right, whatever I say!" His grin faded,
"HEY!"
Cloud smirked slightly and rolled his eyes.
&$#!
End. Of Chapter One of course.
Chapter Two is not (too) long in following so keep an eye out for it!
Thanks for reading,
FireHawk038