Reno sat atop the roof of his home, staring at the sky. With everything that had happened recently, he and Rude had left the Turks and were living out on the planet itself. They were tired of working for Shinra Inc. Still, there was little trust between himself and Avalanche, not that anything else could be expected.

Rude had gone his own way, leaving him to fend for himself in his new life. Now Reno didn't really know what to do.

Reno took a deep breathe and leaned back, now lying on the roof... then he felt a tile move... and another, and before he knew it he was sliding down the roof. He rolled over, trying to grab onto something, ANYTHING, but to no avail.

Reno tumbled off the roof, and his landing was softened by… Cloud's bike. "Son Of a…"he started to say, dusting himself off, when he realized whose ride he had knocked over and damaged. And then he saw Cloud a couple feet away. "I.. uh… Slipped?" Reno sputtered, backing away slowly.

Cloud returned the bike to its upright position. "You're paying for that."

"Sure… yeah… What're you doing here, anyway?" Reno asked, composing himself.

"I was about to ask you the same. You're not up to anything, are you?"

"I left Shinra… so did Rude. The rest of the Turks have left us alone so far, But…" He shrugged his shoulders.

"If you're up to something, I'll find out. " Cloud got on his bike and tried to start it, but it wouldn't.

"Um… You can use mine…" Reno offered, nervous again.

"Get this fixed and to me in two days, or I'll use you for sparring practice." Cloud said as he hopped on Reno's Bike and took off.

"Damn stupid Spike-head" Reno grumbled and kicked Cloud's bike, "OW, Son-of-a.. ow ow ow!" He yelled. "RRRRgg.. sometimes I really hate him." Reno walked Cloud's bike down the street to a repair shop, favoring his injured foot.

"68,000 Gil... and it'll be ready in a week." The mechanic said.

"I don't have a week… I have.. 2 days… "

"Two days? Why the rush… look.. it's 5 days.. that's the best I can do.."

"But Cloud's gonna whomp me if I.. Look, how much to get it done in two days?"

"Well… if you put it that way… Hmmm" The mechanic thought a minute. "236,000 Gil, up front, and it'll be perfect in 36 hours."

"236,000 GIL! Are you Kidding me!" Reno Pulled at his hair in frustration.

"Take it or leave it, buddy… It's not my ass on the line."

Fuming, Reno paid him. "When I die of starvation, I'll come back from the dead and haunt your ass forever." Reno grumbled as he left.

Now over a quarter Million Gil Poorer, Reno walked into town, or what was left of it. He'd never realized it before, but Midgar was really a horrible place to live.. he considered moving to Kalm, where many others had moved, but hadn't yet made up his mind.

Not even paying attention, he stumbled over a bottle and fell to the ground. "Today is just not my day…" He grumbled, moving to get up… but then he noticed something. From Ground level, he could see under a dumpster in the alleyway… underneath the dumpster was some sort of wet, dark liquid… and was that.. a hand? Reno Got up quickly and ran behind the Dumpster to investigate.

((What Happens Next? Who's this Person behind the Dumpster? Are they Alive? Find out in the Next Chapter!))