Author's note: I've written this story months back and finally decided to post it. It's a novelisation of one of the Before Crisis Final Fantasy VII special gameplays of the special episode of our favorite red-haired Turk-Reno! It also has a few scenes from Crisis Core-Final Fantasy VII.
Just wish they'd do a full 3D render remake of Before Crisis Final Fantasy VII and a couple of more story-line games of the Compilation that's been unsettled for the past 8 and a half years since Genesis' mysterious return in the secret ending of Dirge of Cerberus Final Fantasy VII.
Okay, enough blabbering, let's begin, and remember, I don't own Final Fantasy VII. The rights belong to Square Enix.
Before Crisis-Final Fantasy VII: Episode of Reno.
[ ν ] - εγλ 0001, one day in April. Mysterious things have been happening. Two figures were walking towards the Science Department Archives of the ShinRa building on the 45th floor. About an hour later, they were looking at what documents were missing, and one of them, having red hair and red marks above his cheek-bones, wearing goggles on his head, his uniform un-tucked and the absence of a tie, was complaining a lot. His partner, a bald-headed man with sunglasses, and uniform more neatly worn, was the more serious and stern one out of the two. Known the less, they were partners, and they had been together for a long time.
"How long've we been doing this?" asked the redhead, "I'm sick of having a staring contest with a bunch of old records."
His partner just remained silent.
The redhead turned to him with a small smirk and said, "Hey, Rude. Let me tell you something fun—"
"…we're working." the Bald man whose name is Rude cuts his partner off with a point.
The redhead rolled his eyes in annoyance, "Yeah, yeah, I know. But I can't wait until we're done. How do you put up with it? This kind of work's a real snooze…" he grumbled, as he recalled being assigned for the mission.
In the Turk Headquarters a few hours earlier, Rude and the redhead stood before two other men who wore identical uniforms. One was an old man who is the leader of the Turks, having brown-gray hair and a scar on his left cheek, and the other, a younger man but slightly older than the other two, having long black hair that was tied up to pony tail, having a small dot on his fore head and dark eyes. He was the Second in Command of the Turks.
"Someone has broken into the Science Department archives and made away with a large number of confidential documents." The man turned to Rude, "Rude."
"Sir." Rude nodded.
"Reno." The man continued, turning to the redhead who's name is Reno.
Reno smirked, "Yessir."
"Identify and apprehend the perpetrator quickly." The Director ordered.
The second in Command continued, "We believe this case may be related to a certain other incident."
"Which incident?" Rude questioned.
"The SOLDIER mass desertion." The Second in Command answered.
The Director continued, "There may be more to this mission than meets the eye."
"More than meets the eye, huh..." Reno thought deeply. He knew that his superior had a point, and had a feeling that something might happen but couldn't point check on it though. Plus, that wasn't the only thing that was on his mind.
"Start off by checking the contents of the archives against this list and confirm which documents have been stolen." The Director ordered.
This leads back to the Present, to which Reno disliked greatly as he grumbled, "Being stuck in here is driving me nuts. I'm dyin' for some flashy action here, man."
Behind his shades, Rude rolled his eyes in annoyance as he replied, "If you have the time to complain, use it to work."
Reno had to strain himself from sticking his tongue out childishly. Instead he continued, "Hey, Rude. Can't you feel our precious time slipping through our fingers?" he was so bored. He then added with a small grin, "That's why I wanna get in as many exciting missions as I can."
"Flashy or not. Work is work." Rude pointed out.
"Rude...?" Reno quirked an eyebrow in confusion and supisioun. There was something odd with his partner and it was starting to annoy yet worry him.
Rude continued, hiding his smirk, "…from the first time we met, I knew…that you were a real hothead."
"Whadda ya mean!?" Reno asked, greatly annoyed as he thought to himself, 'That was ages ago… Is he still mad about it?' though it might've been a possibily. When he first joined the Turks, not everyone liked the idea of having him around. He had made reckless decisions when he met and first paired up with Rude which got the older Turk angry. Still, they worked together and eventually, after their team work which was surprisingly like they've been doing it for years, they remained together as partners. Still, Reno couldn't help but worry if Rude was still mad at him.
He was brought out of his thoughts when the alarm suddenly went off with red lights flashing. "The alarm!?" Reno asked, shocked as he and Rude looked around, wondering what was going on. To make matters more complicated, a Red Saucer enters the room. The Shinra security system is such that intruders are targeted by the machines through heat and movement sensors and eliminated. This made the two Turks puzzled even more.
"Security bots!?" asked Reno.
"Why here!?" Rude added, just as shocked as his partner.
Reno looked up at him and asked, "Hey, Rude. They only go for suspicious-lookin' people, don't they?"
"Yeah. They track and attack using infrared detection." Rude nods.
The redhead thought it was a very smart idea. "Hmm, clever little bots, aren't they." then he questioned, "But what're they doing in here?" as he and Rude fail to notice that the Bot was scanning them while slowly approuching them as they talked.
"Maybe they noticed someone suspicious?" Rude suggested.
"You mean maybe..." Reno trailed off with a salution coming into mind.
Rude continued, "...the one who stole the documents?"
The two thought about it, until they noticed that the bot scaning them, acting on as if it was un-certain about their apperences. Reno thought it was very strange. "Hey, hey, hey! Something's wrong with them." he thought, as he saw that the bots were getting closer. He knew that it wasn't right. "What're they creeping closer to us for?" he asked.
"Who knows… Don't let it get to you." Rude says, even though he had a bad gut feeling about this.
Reno wasn't convinced as he whispered, "They couldn't be…" Suddenly, it shoots a bolt of electricity at the two. Caught by surprise, they dodge the attack, and the shot hits the bookshelf. Thankfully it didn't damage any other documents, but now the bot was acting wild like it usualy does to an intruder.
"Looks like they're serious." Reno thought, as he pulled out his EMR and concludes, "If they're lookin' for a fight then they've got one!" standing in a fighting stance. Rude, knowing that his partner was right, also stands in a fighting stance. They then team up and themselves against the robot, and quickly defeat it. After the fight, the two hear a sound coming from somewhere.
"Geez, what now?" Reno groaned.
"It came from over there." Rude said, pointing outside of the room.
"But..." Reno began then sighed in defeat, "Oh, all right. One thing's for sure, the bots have us figured for bad guys." then he and Rude leave the room and just as suspected, more bots attack them, and they had no choice but to elimate them. They are unfazed by the attacks though.
Rude groaned, "What a pain. All the bots on this floor are after us."
"Hmph. Buncha slowpokes, though." Reno shrugged, smirking.
"...Let your guard down, and they'll get you." Rude warned.
But Reno simply laughed, saying, "I could take 'em all on myself, no sweat."
"You grow bored too easily." Rude pointed out.
"What!?" Reno asked, shocked and somewhat hurt by the words from his partner. It was like Rude's words are crushing Reno's pride of being the Fastest of the Turks, because really, Reno is the fastest in Turk history. No one else in ShinRa, except for the great Sephiroth of SOLDIER, can come even close to Reno's speed. Not willing to have this unsettled, Reno suggested in a determinded tone, "Let's have a contest. I bet one Materia that my speed will sweep the house. Whadda ya say, Rude?" with a smirk.
When Rude didn't say anything, Reno continued, "Not in the mood, huh?" he then laughed and betted, "Then you're betting your Barrier Materia. Whoever takes down the most bots wins." and then leaves the room laughing to begin defending the room while attacking the now crazed bots. Rude stays behind a bit, saying to himself, "…this too is work. I don't plan on losing." before leaving the room to begin his own sweep.
Meanwhile, Reno runs through the corridor, thinking to himself, "Man, Rude's been acting strange all day. It's just been one thing after another. I wonder… Is he mad about something…?" he then shrugs and says, "Anyway, I've gotta win this bet!" when suddenly, two more bots approuch and fire electricity at him. He quickly dodges and then yelled out to them as he begins to whack one of them, "Take this, you hunka junk!" and he successfully defeats his opponents before continuing on, not willing to lose to Rude.
At this time, Rude was busy himself. 'I won't lose to Reno. There are still plenty of bots.' he thought to himself. He punches and destroys the bots with ease, as his ability is strength. He is known as the Strongest of the Turks, because nobody else apart from Sephiroth can match his strength. This is one of the reasons why he and Reno are partners. When they fight against oppents who are either too strong or too fast, one of them will take on with the matching ability before finishing off the enemy together.
"I'll take care of the rest." Rude mused to himself, believing that Reno is still busy.
As it turns out, Reno was fighting the last of the bots and with that, smirks to himself. "And that's the last of 'em." before making his way back to the to the document room. Up ahead, Rude was approuching him. "Rude." Reno called as he approuched his partner before asking, "How's it going over at your end?"
"About done." replied Rude.
Reno smirked at this, "Heh… Looks like it's my win." he laughed before saying, "Come on, fork over the Materia." grinning away like an evil person. Rude, greatly annoyed, hands over his Barrier Materia to his partner who places it into his pockets. The bald-man groaned, "Tch..." at this. He gave his partner a look that said, 'You won this one, idiot.'
The redhead shrugged, and said, "The outcome was obvious. Getting your work done fast is important."
"Hmph. Heap of nonsense." Rude groaned as he and Reno made their way back towards the Document room. As they walked, Reno questioned, "Anyway… Why'd the security bots go attack us out of the blue for?"
That was a good question. It was very strange for the bots to attack out of the blue like that. Unless...
Suddenly, a ringing tone goes off in Reno's pocket. The redhead digs into it and brings out his phone, and answers, "Yeah, Reno here." and after the caller said something, Reno nodded and looked at Rude who asked, "Is it the Chief?"
"Yeah. It's time for us to hit the spotlight." Reno answered as he turned on the speaker mode on so he and Rude can talk to their superior.
"Are the two of you all right?" asked the Chief from the other end.
Reno answered, "Some rogue security bots attacked us." in a calm tone.
"Even on the 45th floor, huh." The chief thought deeply. In the Turk's office, the Second in Command says, "The security bots on all floors started behaving erratically at the same time as the building came under attack."
The Chief thought about this, then turned to a young urban girl who was wearing a Turk uniform but looked no older than fourteen, and he questioned her, "Damage report?"
The girl shook her head and replied, "No problems here. A SOLDIER 1st Class is dealing with the situation."
"You mean Sephiroth?" asked the Chief.
"No. It's Zack. He just got promoted today." the girl answered.
"Zack..." the Chief thought. He had heard about the young SOLDIER who originally came from Gongaga. Still, the Director couldn't help but feel unsettled about the young man. He shook this off and questioned to his Second in Command, "Then have you found out what's causing the bots' strange behavior?"
The Second in Command nodded, "It may take some time, sir. Both the building and the bots have to be brought back under control."
"So the security system went haywire and the building was attacked all at the same time…" the Director thought deeply.
The young urban girl looked troubled, "Could the two be related…?"
Instead of answering, the Director ordered, "As the Turks, it our job to find out." before calling Reno again as he had hung up. When Reno answered again, the Director explained, "Headquarters is under attack."
Back on the 45th floor, when Reno was explained about the situation, he thought to himself, 'So that's why the alarm went off.'
"The identity of the enemy is still unknown." continued the Chief.
"Is is our turn to shine?" Reno asked hopefully.
To his disappointment, the Chief answered, "No. Leave repelling the attack to SOLDIER."
Reno sighed, "But they've already got their hands full."
"They still have their newly promoted 1st Class to send out." the Chief replied.
"Huh. Sure took him a while to get that promotion." Reno thought.
The Chief continued, "There was an empty spot among the 1st Classes and SOLDIER has been short on manpower recently."
"The SOLDIER mass desertion, right?" Rude asked.
It made sense, Reno figured. But that wasn't the main thing concerning him, as he asked, "But what about the wacky bots?"
"Their erratic behavior coincided with the assault on the company headquarters." the Chief paused then realized, "No, not just the security bots. Systems throughout the entire building went of control."
The two of them frowned at this, as Rude asked, "Could it be connected to the attack?"
The Chief answered, "That possibility must be investigated. And investigating is what we Turks do."
"Well," Reno began with a smirk, "then we'd better hurry and—"
"That won't be necessary." The Chief interrupts, "Leave the investigation to Cissnei."
Shocked and disappointed again, Reno asked, "To Cissnei!? But what about us?"
"You continue to check the archives to confirm which documents are missing." The Chief replied, much to Reno's annoyance.
When Reno didn't say anything, the Chief continued, "We need to find out as soon as possible. I'm counting on you." in a strict tone.
"I hear ya." Reno sighed before hanging up as he and Rude were back in their assigned room as the redhead is grumbling.
"Back to the ol' staring contest, huh…" Reno sighed before complaining, "It ain't fair that SOLDIER gets to hog all the good parts." then he shrugged, "Well, guess we've got no choice."
Rude grunts, "You always get distracted unless it's a big job."
"Hmph." Reno mumbled, before asking, "Why's Cissnei getting the special treatment?"
"Good question." Rude agreed.
Reno continued, "The newcomers don't even know she exists..."
"Yeah. She also goes about her work carefully and diligently." Rude says, before adding, "Unlike a certain someone I know..."
Smirking and a bit puzzled while quirking an eyebrow, Reno teased, "Hey, Rude. That "certain someone," he wouldn't happen to wear sunglasses?"
Rude shook his head, "No...Goggles."
Groaning and realizing that Rude was referring to him, Reno sighed in irritation, "I shouldn't have gotten out of bed today." But just after he spoke, Reno noticed something in the shadows close by and focused his eyes to get a better view from where he was standing. "Hm?" to which Rude noticed the sound his partner made. Reno's eyes widened as he realized that it was a figure of a man. "There's someone there!?" The figure flinched as he realized that he's been spotted. Panicking, he ran out of the shadows.
"Impossible." Rude muttered.
"The floor's locked down, we should be the only ones here." Reno recalled.
Rude nodded before saying, "So if there's someone sneaking around..."
Reno knew what Rude was talking about and concluded with a serious look, "...you can bet that it's the document thief!" before realizing why the bots have been acting so crazy and says, "The security system shot up to S when the alarm went off!"
"The stairs are blocked during a Level S state of alert. No one can access them, not even SOLDIER, the Turks, or the executives." Rude explained.
"That means the only way out…is the entrance." Reno realized.
Rude nods grimly, "Then that's where our suspect is headed…"
Fearing this, Reno shouted, "The elevator!" ready to give chase.
"We have to seize him." Rude agreed.
Reno then rushed out of the room to give chase. Rude quickly followed. They thankfully saw the theif who continued to run and head towards his only exit. Reno then had an idea, turned slightly to his partner as they ran and said, "Let's get him from above!"
But Rude disagreed, "No, from below!"
"We're the Turks. We always get the job done." Reno pointed out.
"Of course."
"And what this situation calls for is..."
The two looked at each other and concluded in agreement and unison, "Split up!" and Split up is what they did. It was another advantage to their team-work. If their suspect was tricky, the only way to cut him off is one of them to be ahead while the other continued to give chase. Reno runs directly to the Elevator, while Rude takes a different path south-east in order to cut him off.
'The suspect is headed for the entrance.' Rude thought, then he had an idea of himself, 'I'll get ahead of him and cut him off. Reno dislikes ambushes so now is the perfect time. A flawless plan.'
Meanwhile, Reno neared the elevator as he says to himself, "I gotta grab that goon stat. This is going great!" he was actually smiling. Finally he was getting some real action. He could see the elevator but some of the looks of it, it was already starting to move. But that wasn't a problem. A lot of people, SOLDIER included, have made a bit of a damage on the closed doors in order to catch their suspects. His EMR ready, Reno says to himself, "There we go. Sorry, Rude, but the one to nab him..." he then pauses while turning his EMR on at full power and blasted at the doors with much electricty. The doors were blown, with a hole in it as he concludes, "Will be me!"
Wasting no time, Reno leaps into the elevator shaft, landing perfectly on the roof of the descending elevator. He smirked, "The target is right below me. He's good as mine." before deciding, "Better not take any risks, I don't wanna botch this one."
Grinning to himself, Reno kneels to the hatch to open it. "Now all I've gotta do is get the hatch open and it'll be another job well done." Unfortunately, there was a password lock on it, which means he needed a password in order to get in and stop the theif.
"*Tch* It won't open… I have to enter a password." Reno grumbled, before shrugging, "Oh well, guess that won't be a problem." he pulled out his PHS and dialed the Chief's number.
"Veld speaking." The chief's voice spoke.
Reno says, "Chief, it's Reno. We're chasing after this shady character we spotted in the archives. Right now I'm sitting atop elevator number A108, you see."
"Reno... Charging straight in again..." the Chief-Veld sighed as he thought to himself, 'He never changes.' but he knew that at least they were getting somewhere if Reno spotted the suspect. He hangs up before turning to his Second in Command. "Tseng."
"Sir." Tseng the Second in Command nods.
"Check the surveillance camera inside the elevator." Veld orders.
Wasting no time, Tseng immediately programs the cameras. To his shock, they weren't working. "*Gasps*!? Sir, the surveillance camera is not responding!" he turned to his superior.
"*Tch*, So they're malfunctioning too." Veld thought.
On the elevator, Reno could hear the problems, and knew the only thing to do. He then requested, "I need a password to get the hatch open. Could you look it up for me?"
"All right. We need to confirm the perpetrator's identity as soon as possible." Veld answered.
Sastified, Reno hangs up while thinking to himself, "Now then, all I need is the password and that guy'll be under lock and key in no time." but then suddenly he hear a noise above him and as he stood up and looked up, he immediately jumped out of the way as a Red Saucer falls and lands near him, going all crazy and erroredly scans that Reno is a threat. "Security bots!?"
Seeing that if they land, Reno came to another concludion. "I've got no choice but to take cover." He managed to destroy the weaker one that he battled first before going to finish off the second one. Thankfully it was defeated. Reno sighed, and took a deep breath to relax a bit. "That's Shinra security for you, it's a real pain to go up against."
Suddenly he felt a small jerk and elevator stops, and frowns in confusion. "The elevator stopped?" He looked at the number on the walls and noticed that it was only level 20.
"We're still on the 20th floor… That's weird… I thought he was going all the way down to the lobby for sure." Reno thought to himself. but suddenly after a few seconds, he felt a stronger jerk, and to his shock and great concern, the elevator starts to go up, but there was something seriously wrong: It was going way too fast, almost like a crazy driver going over the speed limit.
"What!? The elevator is going up!?" He asked loudly.
In the Turks office, Tseng noticed the elevator was going up as well and was greatly concerned. He turned to Veld and says, "Sir! The elevator Reno is on is heading back up! Unless it's stopped, he's in danger."
Concerned and worried for the redhead, Veld immediately asked, "Have you found the password!?"
Tseng shook his head gravely, "Not yet. The Level S alert has tightened security, I'm going to need more time to decipher the password."
"Time is running short..." Veld says before ordering, "Give Reno any scrap of information we have on the password."
"Yes sir."
"And contact Rude."
Tseng immediately dials Rude's number, only for the phone line to cut off. He then explains to Veld, "It seems that I can't get in touch with him..."
"*Tch* At a time like this..." Veld sighs. He was worried for Reno's safety and the whereabouts of Rude.
While still stuck in the elevator, Reno waited, and waited, until his phone rang and he answered, "Hello?"
"Reno, here's the situation. You have 50 seconds until the elevator reaches the 59th floor." Tseng explained.
'Oh no.' Reno thought scaredly but tried to stay calm. "I've gotta solve this fast or I'll be squashed flat." he mumbled.
Tseng continued, "I'm in the middle of deciphering the password, I'll let you know as soon as I find anything."
"I'm gonna give it a shot too." Reno nodded in agreement. He waited until Tseng continued, "Here's what I've found out so far, the password consists of 8 digits."
Reno nods, "Okay, got it!" before he begins his work, but the problem is, what he had so far wasn't enough. He was starting to panic. "Man, there's no time to waste… Come on and open!" he cursed.
In the Turk's office, Veld was gravely worried about Reno. 'Reno's specialty is his speed. Depending on the situation, specializing in being fast can be both an advantage and a disadvantage. If only Rude was there...' he thought.
"Sir! Cissnei is on the line." Tseng says as the commucator rings.
Veld answers and Cissnei, the young girl, says, "Someone has reprogrammed the security system from the inside. Backup restoration has been disabled, but I'm working on fixing it right now."
"Tch. So it wasn't a coincidence after all." Veld thought before looking Tseng again, "Tseng."
"Sir." Tseng nods.
"How is it going with the elevator?"
"We might be able to regain control, but it will take time."
"Isn't there any way to stop it..."
Back in the elevator, Reno's phone rings again and he answers, then Tseng speaks, "Reno, we have another clue. The 8 digits of the password is the date of the discovery of Mako. You have to get it right in two tries or the mechanism will lock itself, so be careful." before hanging up.
Reno gulped, "Only two tries, huh..."as he knew that if it continued on with this speed and if he wasn't safely inside the elevator, he would be crushed by the ceiling. "I'm running out of time, so here goes nothing. Lesse, Mako was discovered in..." he remembered the numbers of 19590923. He decided to give that a shot as he quickly gets to the little keyboard and types in the number and then pressed enter. But just then he thought he was saved, a little annoying voice speaks from the little computer, "OK! INPUT CODE #2."
"Another Password!?" Reno's eyes widened, all confused and worried, "What's going on?"
"Reno? What's wrong?" Tseng asked since Reno didn't hang up. "It's asking for a second code." the redhead answered, not borthering to hide the fear rising in his voice.
"I'll try and get to it." Tseng quickly said, before hanging up.
In the office...
"It's a two-stage password…Time is running short…" Veld says after Tseng explained Reno's situation, before Tseng notices the commucator ringing and he says, "Sir, incoming call from Cissnei."
When answered, Cissnei reports, "Zack has secured the upper floors and Sephiroth has escorted the President to safety."
Veld sighed, "As expected of SOLDIER 1st Class."
"However, the rampaging security bots have spilled out onto the streets. Innocent citizens might be attacked if this keeps up." Cissnei continued.
"What!?" Veld asked shocked, before saying, "The company would lose face if they started attacking the citizenry." then orders, "Take immediate action!"
"Shouldn't SOLDIER be enough to handle it?" Cissnei asked, concerned.
Veld shook his head, "SOLDIER are short on people right now. They won't be able to cover all of Midgar."
Back in the elevator, Reno glanced at his watch and saw that he only had thirty seconds left. Time was running out. His phone than rang again and he quickly answered, "Hey, Tseng, about the second password...I'm in a pinch here, you know!" panicking.
"Reno! The second code is different, it changes with every floor. You have to enter the floor number that the elevator is currently on." Tseng explained.
"That's just great." Reno remarked sarcastically.
"According to the monitor, you'll soon be five floors from the top. Since the elevator stops at the 59th floor, the second password will be..." suddenly the phone is starting to cut off.
Reno cried out, "Hey, Tseng, I can't hear you too good." but the phone was cut dead. "No good. But I'll figure it out." even though he sucked at maths. He then looked up and saw that the ceiling was almost in sight and his time was fading more quickly. With no other choice, he held out his hands and thought up 59 and counted down as quickly and calmly as he could, "Lesse, I'll soon reach floor...54!" and punches the number '54' and pressed enter.
"Access comfirmed." said the computer before the lock made a clipping sound and unlocked.
"All right! It opened!" Reno cheered, wasting no time.
In the office...
"Sir! The elevator hatch has been unlocked!" Tseng says as he noticed this as well.
Veld sighed in relief, "So Reno made it in time..."
"It seems that we lost contact with him on the way, but he managed to pull through by himself." Tseng figured. But then suddenly, on the monitor, he and Veld noticing something else was wrong. "wh-what's this!?"
"Wha!?" Veld asked in horror.
Unfortunately, before Reno can even lift the door up, he heard a loud noise near him and when he looked, to his dismay, a monstrous Proto Golem security robot crashes onto the roof of the lift.
"Looks like something huge popped out. No big deal… I ain't about to go down in flames with a pile of scrap!" as he pulled out his EMR and fights the large robot, again using his speed, skills and weapon to fight it, but it is too strong. He dodges it's attack.
"*Phew* That was a close one." Reno mumbled to himself, but to his horror, he was too late. He looked up once more and the ceiling was just so close to his head now, and it knocks him to his knees.
"Reno! Hurry inside!" Veld shouted.
"There's still time!" Tseng added.
But Reno knew, it was no use. "I won't make it—!" Crouching as down as he could, Reno covered his head with his hands, bracing himself as in his mind, his entire life flashes before his eyes and he knew that this was the end. The redhead Turk shut his eyes tightly, but he was unable to scream, while the robot was about to approuch him when...
CRUSH! then there was silence.
'I'm dead...I'm dead...I'm dead...' Reno thought to himself as he heard the crushing sound, before he realized that he felt no pain, no feeling of being crushed to death. He did however, also hear metal falling onto the roof near him. Opening his eyes nervously, he found that he was still crouching on the roof of the elevator. "I'm...saved?"
Blinking, Reno slowly uncovered his head and slowly looked up to see the robot in front of him. But there was something different.
The huge robot was half crushed, jammed with wires and metal sticking out, small sparks coming out every twelve seconds. Reno also noticed that because of that, the elevator was forced to stop just a few feet from where he was kneeling, a number of feet from the ceiling, and not only that, in the robot's fate, everything was fine at the moment. The crushed security bot brought the elevator to a stop just in time.
Sighing in the biggest relief in his life, Reno chuckled softly, "Heh, guess I owe him one."
Then he heard something else and quickly turned to see the hatch open, and to his utter confusion and shock, Rude climbed up since his head was visable.
"You're a dangerous man." Rude said in a stern tone.
Reno blinked in shock, "Rude!?"
"You would have been flat by now if it hadn't been for the bot." Rude continued.
"Why're you here? Weren't you going to head for the entrance?" Reno asked, as he grabbed Rude's offered hand and carefully climbed into the elevator while Rude answered, "I planned to catch the elevator on the 20th floor using a rope to reach the emergency staircase."
"Then the thief..."
"There was no one there when I got on."
Reno and Rude stepped out of the elevator and onto the floor of level 59. Reno sighed again, swallowing the dreaded thought that appeared in his mind of what could've happened had it not been for the robot. On the other hand, because of it, Reno was almost killed.
"Tch, How could he have disappeared? I'm sure he took the elevator." Reno thought, "I rode atop it all the way to the 20th floor and it didn't make a single stop along the way."
Rude turned to him and questioned, "Then how did the thief escape?"
Reno then came to a realization and said softly, "He couldn't have…" before trailing off.
"…never gotten on the first place?" Rude suggested.
The redhead cursed at himself. "So he just pretended to ride the elevator." He kicks the floor in frustration, "Damn it. We've been had… We botched our job." he cursed. Then a thought struck him and he turned to his partner, asking, "Hey, Rude.
You said you got on on the 20th floor, right?"
Rude nodded, "I expected you to be right above me."
"The elevator started climbing back up once it got to the 20th floor. So while I was fighting for my life, you were inside there all along." Reno realized and soon became very angry.
"...Maybe." Rude replied, looking down.
Furious, Reno yelled, "Then why didn't you hurry up and stop it? Were you trying to kill me!?" shouting. To his dismay, Rude didn't answer and another thought came into the redhead's mind. Hurt and betrayal slowly surfaced inside him as he muttered, "You're not denying it."
He paused before asking in shock, "Were you really gonna..." before trailing off. He didn't want to believe it. Reno couldn't stand the thought of his partner wanting to kill him.
Rude, sensing that his partner is thinking that he was going to betray him, answered, "I was trapped too." easing Reno's heart a little. Rude continued, "None of the buttons would work." since it was his way of saying that he tried to save his partner who was also his friend. Through out the years of being together, Rude knew, no matter how much of a pain Reno is, he would never betray him. In fact, even though he didn't show it, Rude didn't stand of the thought of Reno being killed in the elevator if it wasn't for the bot.
Relieved and somewhat returning to normal, Reno asked, "The system was acting up again, huh?" glad that Rude didn't want to kill him after all.
"That's why the emergency brakes wouldn't kick in." Rude answered.
"Then why'd it stop?"
"…the power lines were cut."
Reno thought about this, then said, "…must've been taken out in the destruction." then he shrugged, "All's well that ends well. It's about time I got to come inside."
Rude turned to him and asked, "...scared?"
Even though he was scared, Reno pouted and said, "Come on, that was mean." not admitting it. Too much pride for that.
"Don't worry. The elevator isn't going anywhere." Rude smirked a bit.
"You're enjoying this, aren't you?" Reno asked in annoyance, rolling his eyes.
Rude shrugged, "Isn't that your line? Work is fun once it's over?"
Reno groaned, "That's enough outta you. You really did get up on the wrong side of the bed today." still supcious on why his partner was acting up.
A pause.
"Anyway, on to the next job." Rude says.
"Sheesh, we're being worked to the bone here." Reno sighed.
"It's a flashy job this time. That suits you fine, doesn't it?" Rude replied.
Reno shrugged and answered, "Well, let's take this chance to make up for the last job." before running into the direction of the stairway, confusing Rude.
He called, "Reno! Where are you going?"
Reno stopped for a moment, before turning his head slightly to face his partner as he answered, "I don't care how long it takes...but I hate elevators." he paused for a moment. "I'm taking the stairs."
The thief however, with the help of two identical men with wings(?) arrived back at the Document floor, and rummaged around for what he was looking for.
"Now I can finally get my hands on the last documents." He turned back to the two men and said, "…could you scout out a route back to the hideout in the Plate?" to which they nodded. "Well then, later."
Once his men were gone, he said to himself, "Everything is going according to plan. With SOLDIER tied up fighting security bots on the streets, the few remaining guards won't be able to stop me."
Meanwhile, the Turks arrived to find Midgar in Chaos. The bots were chasing innocent citizens who were running away like crazy, just like in a horror movie.
"Would you look at that. All of Midgar's overrun by security bots." Reno mumbled as if there wasn't anything wrong.
Rude sighed, "This is going to take a while…"
Their hidden ear-pieces cracked to life and Veld said, "The rogue security bots have taken to the streets. We've been unable to confirm it, but it seems that there might be monsters about as well. SOLDIER has been deployed, but it's a big area to cover. Sector 8 is our responsibility, every new Turk is sent out to patrol it. We'll take care of the enemy here. Cissnei should already be on the scene." then he ordered, "Reno, Rude, get out there as fast as you can."
Then the piece dropped and the Turks had no intention of disobeying.
"There sure are a lot of 'em." said Reno as he looked around.
"Let's split up." Rude suggested.
The redhead nodded in agreement, "All right, I'll go north."
"Then I'll take the western side." Rude replied.
With that, the two partners split up again, this time not making the same mistake they made in the Elevator. Reno headed up towards the north side of town, when he heard someone scream, "No! Stay away!"
Stopping, Reno turned to the sound and gasped as a large bot had a man, about in his early twenties, cornered, and the man himself was shivering in fear, crying out, "S-Save me!"
Not needing to be asked twice, Reno leaped into action, slid to a stop between the bot and the innocent person, and the young Turk swiped and kicked at the mechanical enemy, while the citizen went to hide nearby. To Reno's dismay, more bots kept coming his way.
"Those stupid bots are outta control. They'll end up hurting innocent bystanders unless we stop them." Reno thought to himself as he continued to fight, but more kept coming and he grunted, "They just keep on comin'."
But he will not rest. He will not stop. He will NOT fail again. Reno always hated being a failure, which is why he worked extra hard in training and learned to try and not make mistakes. While he complains lot and prefers action type work, he would do his work none the less. Missions are top priority, as he learned from both Tseng and Veld, and took it to the heart.
Finally, after fifteen minutes, Reno smashes the last of the bot in the area. Wiping sweat off his forehead, Reno muttered, "At least this area's been cleared now."
Then his PHS buzzes, and he answers, hearing a familiar female voice from the ear-piece, "Cissnei here. How is it going, Reno?"
"Sector 8 north side is all clear." Reno casually reported.
He heard Cissnei giggle and she replied, "That's our Reno, as fast as always. The bots have been seen gathering to the south."
Reno knew what to do, and answered back, "I hear ya." then hang up. The man whom he saved earlier approached him.
"Thank you! I'm truly grateful." Said the man, then he digged into his pockets and pushed a small green bottle into a startled Reno's palm, saying, "Here, please drink this."
"Health and Magic cure potion?" Reno asked, blinking in surprise. Then asked, "You sure you wanna give it up?"
The man nodded, "I'm not much of a fighter and I only take one with me if I get tired. But you need it more than I do right now."
Well, there was a bit of a point. "...Thanks." Reno finally said, smiled and nodded, then walked away to head over to the south side. He decided to save the potion for later and placed it into his pants-pocket.
As he made it to his destination, he heard a woman scream in terror, "D-Don't come any closer!"
"I gotta hurry!" Reno ran as fast as he could to reach the woman. He made it, and moved her out of the way, saying, "Get to somewhere that's safe!"
The woman nodded and ran away, while Reno faced not one, but three bots lined up, facing at him, ready for the kill. He groaned, "Those cheeky little bots are teaming up on me."
He fought as hard as he could, and as usual, more kept coming, and he was slowing down a little. "Come on, faster!" he shouted, beginning to have trouble. Maybe the reason for this was because he was a bit trumatized for the elevator incident that nearly claimed his life.
'No! You've faced death many times already. It was just an elevator!' with this in mind, Reno continued to fight, regaining his confidence and his courage. He eventually defeated the last bot on the area.
"That's the last of them in this area." he panted. Reno then rang Cissnei's number and reported, "South side's all clear."
"Good work. Do you think you could hit the east side too?" Cissnei asked.
Reno wouldn't take no for an answer, so he replied, "Gotcha." then hung up and made his way towards the east side. He was stubborn and would not take the potion until later.
Again, as he made it, another citizen was in trouble and the innocent person screamed, "Uuaaahhh! S-Stop it!" Reno saw another man, around thirty, harrassed by more bots.
He sighed, "Over here too, huh." then made a run towards the bots and the innocent man who screamed again, "G-G-Get away from me!"
"This is bad. I've gotta pick up the pace." Reno said to himself, starting to panic and forced himself to run faster.
Finally, a minute later, he told the man to run, and faced more bots who had their attention towards the Turk.
"How nice of you to come and meet me, that saves me the effort of tracking you down!" Reno smirked and once again, got into battle. Once again, he completed his job and the bots were no more than piles of broken metal. It'll be expensive to replace them, but it's either that or have Midgar's people turn against ShinRa.
"All clear." Reno smirked. He took out his PHS and once again called for Cissnei, reporting, "Yo, Cissnei. East side's clear now."
"Great, now you can link up with Rude on the west si-ah!?" Cissnei suddenly cried out, and then...her connection was cut off.
Reno's eyes widened as he heard this, and cried out, "Hey! Cissnei!? Cissnei! What's wrong? Answer!" but it seemed his co-worker's phone was suddenly dead. He closed his phone and was becoming worried for her safety. Yes, she was a sucessful Turk for her age, but she was still young, and while he wasn't that much older, he always felt protective for his comrades.
"Did she get cut off…? Did something happen?" He asked himself, trying not to think of something horrible that happened. Then his phone rang again, and without really paying attention, he answered, "Cissnei? Are you all right!?"
But it wasn't Cissnei. "...It's me." it was Rude. "Did something happen to Cissnei?" he asked.
"We were talking when the line suddenly went dead." Reno answered.
But then he felt a bad gut feeling creep up, and his partner just said, "…don't worry…"
"Rude?" Reno asked, getting very worried.
"Nothing."
"You all right?"
"...Don't borther." said the older Turk.
Reno sensed that something was happening at his friend's side as well, and said stubbornly, "Well, I'm not buying it. I'm heading over whether you like it or not." then hung up and snapped the phone shut and puts it away.
'I don't have any time to waste. Man, there's been something wrong with Rude all day today.' Reno thought to himself, then caculated, "Lesse, Rude's over on the west side…" he trailled off, and muttered, "But I'm worried about Cissnei, too."
He hated split ends and crossroads. In the end, he knew that his partner needed him more right now, and Cissnei would have to fend for herself. With this resolve, Reno dashed towards the West side of the Sector.
Immediately, he spotted his partner cornered with large bots. Being the reckless man that he was, Reno leaped and dashed on top of the bots and lands safely next to Rude who saw him coming.
"Man, would you look at you?" Reno smirked as he stood next to his friend.
"Hmph. Don't let your guard down." Rude said, clearly not in the mood for humor.
Reno frowned. "Huh? Today, you've been-" he was cut off when one the bots slashed at them, which they dodged immediately. Reno then continued, "Oh well, whatever. Let's just get this over with."
With great team work, Strength and Speed combined by two people against odd numbers, they got the job done in no time.
"Another job well done." Reno smirked again.
"Now we go look for Cissnei." Rude said.
"Finally. Let's go!" Reno said, as he and his partner dashed to aid their comrade and friend.
Reno and Rude arrived at the fountain centre and near the corner of another entrance to another part of town, they saw Cissnei cornered by two men whom the Turks recongise as Genesis clones.
"Reno, Rude." someone said their names and the two Turks turned and saw Tseng approach them.
"Tseng!" Reno replied, mentally relieved that the Wutaiian came as well and was alright.
"What about the other areas…? This one is…" The second in Command trailled off.
This allowed Reno to report, "This place is a total mess." then noticed that the older man looked like he was a bit surprised. "Tseng, are you all right?" Reno asked.
"Never mind that, looks like someone is about to grab all the action." Tseng replied, looking at the direction behind the two younger men.
Reno and Rude both turned around and saw what Tseng was looking at. Another man, around Reno's age, with black spiky hair and a SOLDIER 1st Class uniform just arrived at the scene, unaware of the other Turks.
"That man...it's..." Tseng trailed off again.
"Hold on! I'm a comin'!" The young SOLDIER called out towards Cissnei, unaware that the young female Turk can look after herself.
Reno frowned. "That uniform… He's a SOLDIER 1st Class."
"So that's the new 1st…" Rude realised.
Tseng nodded, confirming, "His name is Zack."
This borthered Reno a lot. "Can't let SOLDIER snatch a Turk job." and immediately got ahead of Zack before stopping. The Turk held out his EMR in his left hand, extended his arm and used his weapon to block the young SOLDIER's path. Shocked and forced to skid to a stop, Zack looked up to see Reno who casually took a few steps forward before stopping.
"Sector 8 is Turks jurisdiction, Slick." He turned to face Zack, pointing his EMR almost threatenedly at him.
The young SOLDIER just stared at him, before Rude approuched on the other side before stopping, adjusting his sunglasses while Zack gazed at the bald man. Tseng appeared behind the trio.
Eventually, the black-spiky-haired teen protested, "You've got to be kidding me!" he turned to the Turk behind him. "Tseng, do something!"
"There's no need for concern." Rude calmly stated, slightly turning his head to gaze behind him.
"Huh?" Zack turned to find Cissnei with a weapon out and the two copies down on the floor. "Okay…" while Reno tried not to laugh at the 1st Class SOLDIER's cluelessness.
"The other areas?" Tseng asked again.
Reno explained, "Midgar's just crawling with nasties."
"SOLDIER is having difficulties." Rude stated, glancing over his shoulder at Zack who was a bit annoyed, but he knew that the Turk was right.
"Reno, Rude." Tseng said.
"Just say the word." The red head sighed.
"Go." Tseng ordered.
"Yes, sir." Rude said.
Reno chuckled as he ran up the stairs to the plaza, Rude following close behind, while Zack folded his arms behind his head as he watched the two partners continue their work before they aren't seen by their comrades or the 1st Class SOLDIER.
In the meantime, Zack was left a bit bumbed down. "So now we're outsourcing to the Turks?" Zack questioned.
"SOLDIER's being stingy." Cissnei stated as she approuched behind Zack. She was a small woman with long, reddish Orange hair and matching eyes. She was dressed in the usual Turk Suit and fingerless gloves.
"There's a manpower shortage." Zack responded. Then he realized who he was talking to and went, "Huh?" as he turned to Cissnei and realized what she was wearing, despite her age. "You're a Turk, too?"
Cissnei smiled as she folded her arms. "I'm Cissnei."
"I'm Zack, pleasure to meet ya," greeted Zack pleasantly.
"Zack," Tseng interrupted as he approuched the two, glancing at Zack with his usual stare as he folded his arms across his chest. "Aren't you on an assignment?" he questioned.
Cissnei lifted her left hand just under her mouth as she silently giggled. She knew Tseng as the second in command, and she liked him, but right now, she despite their first meeting, she liked Zack already.
Zack's reply was, "Same objective. Need some help here?"
"I appreciate the offer," Tseng unfolded his arms to turn him away. "But…"
Cissnei cuts Tseng off. "Oh, how generous!" She began to walk away. The two men stared at her as she turned back and said, "Well Tseng, Zack, I gotta go." she winked at them before running off down the street.
Meanwhile, Reno and Rude headed towards Mako Reactor 8's entrance. Suddenly, the red-haired Turk noticed something and shouted, "Look!"
At the entrance, it was someone he and his partner immediately recongised. The thief. He was dressed in a white lab coat, having dark hair and beard.
"It's the thief from the archives." Rude realised. Reno nodded.
Realising that he was sighted by the Turks, the man panicks and makes a run for it. Not wanting to take any chances, and realising this may be their only chance now to catch the thief and get the documents back, Reno was about to give chase.
"Reno!" Rude shouted as he grabs hold of his arm and held it tightly, pulling him slightly back. Reno struggled to get free, but Rude's strength was too strong for him.
"Damn it, we gotta catch him!" Reno shouted.
Rude shook his head, "Leave him. Right our job is to restore peace to Sector 8."
Reno turned his head slightly to look at his partner with furious eyes and pointed out, "But he's getting away right in front of our eyes…"
"Hate simple jobs?" Rude asked.
"I hate botching a mission even more." Reno answered, forcing his body to relax a little.
"Forget about it." Rude sharply said, then softened his tone, and continued, "If you can't shake old mistakes, you'll just screw up again. Better get your priorities straight." he looked deep into Reno's blue eyes, and stated, "We don't have any time to lose. Let it rest. You said it the first time we met."
Reno sighed, remembering that he said those words before, and he knew that those words were true, but he also knew that any job has to become a failure. He waited until Rude finally lets him go.
"Yeah. That's why, right now, we have to give our job at hand everything we've got." Reno pointed out as he turned fully to face his partner now that he was free. "That's why I'll..." he trailled off. "This could be our only chance to catch him, and if we don't get him now, then we might as well kiss those secrets goodbye!"
There was a pause, until eventually, Reno gave up, and said, "I don't give a damn anymore. I'm going after him, whether you like it or not!"
He was about to enter the Reactor, when Rude said, "Reno." making the redhead stop. The taller Turk then said, "I'll go too."
Reno turned to face his friend again, and even if the taller man wore sunglasses, the shorter man saw that his friend was concerned, and eventually, he nodded. The Turks then both entered the Reactor together.
Meanwhile, at the Turks HQ, Veld gets a call.
It was Cissnei on the line, "Sephiroth has pacified Sector 1 and 2."
'That was fast.' Veld thought, admitting that he was a little surprised.
"He seems to be on his way to Sector 3 now. But there are problems with restoring order in Sector 7." Cissnei continued.
"What about Sector 8?" Veld questioned.
Cissnei replied, "It's pretty rough, sir."
Knowing the course of action, Veld ordered, "Look for the source of the enemy outbreak."
"Yes, sir." with that, Cissnei hangs up. A second later, another call comes in. It from Reno.
Veld sighed, then answered, "What is it, Reno?"
"We've spotted the documents thief." was Reno's answer.
This took the Director by surprise. "You have!?" he shouted in surprise a little.
"Requesting permission to track him down, sir." Reno replied.
This made Veld a bit supicious. He knew how much the young red-haired Turk loved action, despite the given orders he was given. The older man wanted to make his point clear. "So you're saying you've found a flashier job to take on, is that it?" he asked in a stern tone, one that is considered risky and very dangerous.
Reno tensed up, and answered, "No...It's not about flashy action, I just don't wanna leave a job half-done."
"What about your current mission?"
"Tseng and Cissnei are enough to handle Sector 8. Besides, if we miss this chance we'll never catch the thief." Reno pointed out.
Veld had to admit that his young subobite(Sorry for the spelling mistake) was right on that one. Perhaps he underestimated Reno's heart a little. This was proof that the young man cared about getting important jobs done. Plus, Tseng and Cissnei were available right now.
"Hmph. I'm well aware of that." Veld admitted.
"Huh?" Reno asked.
Finally, Veld knew that Reno was right. "I'm expecting results." the Director concluded.
"Gotcha!" Reno replied, then hung up.
In the plate's undergrounds, Reno and Rude, now having permisson to complete their previous assignment, raced to catch the thief once and for all.
"Give it up, Turks." The thief's voice called out. To their dismay, more bots appeared, and ready to attack the Turks.
"The security bots here are acting up too." Reno said in irritation.
The thief laughed, "You'll never catch me."
This made Reno furious, "You slippery little...! An amateur like you has no hope to escape the Turks!" he shouted as he and his partner fought against the bots.
But has they continued to chase down the thief, mroe bots blocked their way, and it was very frustrating.
"We lost him…" Rude sighed, then said, "If it wasn't for these bots we'd catch up to him in no time… This ain't our lucky day."
Reno rolled his eyes and asked, "…you say we're out of luck…?"
"This is no coincidence."
"What do you mean!?"
"He's counting on the bots to help him get away." Rude realised.
Reno shook his head in disbelief, "How's that possible? They're attacking anyone in sight." but then he gasped, and realised a horrible truth, something he wished it wasn't true. "Unless he hacked their tracking program…" he trailed, then said, "It could be a possibility."
Rude raised an brow, "But how was he able reprogram Shinra bots?"
The redhead didn't know the answer to that one, but he knew one thing. Instead, he continued to try and track down their target, with Rude close behind.
After another half an hour, Reno and his friend finally found their target stuck at a dead end. "We've got you now." Said Reno.
But the target didn't seem worried. Instead, he said, "According to my data…"
"Data...?" Reno asked, puzzled.
"Reno, Rude. Strong individually, but virtually unbeatable as a team." The thief chuckled and explained, "Together, you hold a near perfect record of successfully accomplished missions."
Reno was shocked, "What are you talking about!?"
"Being chased around by you two has allowed me to confirm my data." The thief laughed.
This shocked both of them. "Data!?" Rude repeated Reno's earlier question.
Reno shook his head in disbelief and said, "You couldn't have…" then realised something and pointed out, "But our mission data is seriously confidential information. Even the top brass has barely laid eyes on it."
The thief smirked, "Elementary. Shinra's network security is flawless. Hacking into it from the outside is impossible."
The redhead was stunned at this. "You mean you have access to the system?" he asked, getting a bad feeling about this.
"True. A system administrator could extract that kind of data." Rude realised.
Reno gasped. Now he understood. The thief was another ShinRa worker-yet he, like Genesis, has become another traitor. Or pehaps, was on Genesis' side now. For whatever reason, Reno wanted to catch this man, and get full blown answers out of him. But as he was about to approach the traitor of ShinRa, two Genesis clones appeared out of nowhere, having blasted from the wall behind the thief and stood in front of the man, now facing the Turks.
"Tch! Outta the way!" Reno shouted at the clones.
The former ShinRa scientest laughed, "Any more questions?" when neither of them answered, he just laughed and said, "Then I believe we're done for today." then turned and ran into the area where the hole leads.
"He's getting away!" Reno shouted in anger.
"Watch out, Reno. They're SOLDIER members who deserted with Genesis." Rude warned, remembering that Tseng had reported that Geneis were using third and second class deserted SOLDIERS as his clones.
Reno shrugged, "Suits me fine. SOLDIER always hogs all the glory anyway. It's payback time." as he and his partner prepared to fight.
Reno then turned to his friend and said, "Rude."
"Yeah." Rude replied.
The redhead smiled, "We're not gonna let 'em beat us to it." his smile grew into a smirk and concluded, "We're going after him!" and with that, he and his partner fought against the two SOLDIERs. It was a tough battle, but the Turks were determinded
Reno ended up having a large scratch on his left arm which was bleeding, but he didn't have time to heal it. He knew that the thief had to be captured. Both Turks continued on, and finally, caught up with the thief who was still running.
But Reno knew what to do. He threw his EMR at the thief with all his strength, and perfectly aimed, the weapon hits the back of the man's knees, causing him to cry out in pain and fall flat onto his face.
The redhead smirked while Rude went over and grabbed the thief by the shoulders, before holding the man's arms tightly to his back, as Reno approached and smirked at the now terrified thief.
"So, System administrator, huh?" Reno mocked.
Back in the Turk HQ, Veld was listening to another report Cissnei was sending in.
"Sir. Some of the SOLDIER members who deserted with Genesis have been spotted in Sector 8."
"What's the situation?" Veld questioned.
Cissnei replied, "I have been trying to track the movements of the masked units." she then gasped as if she saw something, and said, "I've spotted Genesis, he's moving on his own. I'm continuing pursuit."
Nodding, Veld said, "Be careful."
But suddenly he heard her gasp again, and asked, "Cissnei!?"
"I was almost spotted." She replied, then hung up.
Veld sighed. Then he got another call from Reno again and answered, "Reno?"
"We've caught the document thief and confirmed his identity." Reno reported.
Finally, some good news all day. "Good." Veld approved, then questioned, "Who was it?"
"Neumann, the head system administrator." Reno answered.
"He's the one behind the security system anomalies." Rude added in the background.
This was the answer after all, then. Veld said, "I see… He was the leader of the system development team, no wonder that he was able to manipulate it to such an extent." then asked, "But why would he be interested in stealing so many scientific reports?"
"Money." was Reno's simple reply.
Rude then explained, "He was offered a big payoff for turning traitor."
"Now if we could only find out who the mastermind is…" Veld trailled off.
Reno seemed to realise the answer to that one, because he replied, "Hollander of the Science Department."
The Director realised that it was true. Since Hollander lost his bid as Head of the Science Deparment to Hojo, it was clear that this man wanted revenge, no doubt is with Genesis as well. Veld then said, "That makes sense. Hollander is suspected to have been involved with Genesis over the SOLDIER mass desertion. Then the security system malfunction was deliberately timed to coincide with the attack on company headquarters."
"They're based in Mako Reactor 5." Reno explained.
"I'll inform Lazard and have SOLDIER sent there as soon as possible." Veld said, then added, "Good work, you two."
Reno then suggested, "Then we'll head over to Reactor 5, too."
"That won't be necessary." Veld simply said.
"Why!?" Reno asked, shocked.
Veld sighed. He knew Reno would ask that. The director replied, "This is SOLDIER's business. Let them sort it out."
Reno grumbled to himself, as Veld said, "SOLDIER is best suited to deal with SOLDIER. Stay out of it." then hung up.
Meanwhile, Zack had just saved Cissnei from an advanced clone of Genesis and glared at the dead body, before noticing that Cissnei walked up to the body, and knelt down, glancing at it's single wing.
"When I was a kid, I always wanted to have wings." Cissnei admitted, before standing up and continued, "You know, like an angel."
Zack sighed before mumbling in a soft and somewhat sad tone, "If people had wings, they'd be monsters." referring to his last encounter with the real Genesis back in Banora village before it was bombed by the Shinra Army.
"Wings symbolize freedom for those who have none." Cissnei pointed out softly, "They don't symbolize monsters." shaking her head.
'Freedom huh? I guess that's a nicer way to say it.' Zack thought as he chuckled a bit, smiling a little, somewhat feeling a bit better. Cissnei seems to be smart kid and a strong believer.
Meanwhile, Reno grumbled as he and Rude reached the fountain again since their job was replaced by SOLDIER(namely Sephiroth and Zack). They stopped as Reno sat on the edge of the fountain, annoyed.
"…there we go, having our work stolen from right under noses again." Reno sighed.
Rude shrugged, "There's no helping it."
This didn't please Reno a bit, as he said, "But… We never really got to find out the enemy's true motive. Today's been one close call after another."
"SOLDIER's manpower problems almost proved lethal…" Rude said.
"And they've still got the guts to tell us to mind our own business. It's always "SOLDIER this, SOLDIER that," dammit." Reno said in irritation.
"That's the way it is." Rude said, before looking at his friend, and added, "Like you say, Reno, you have to go with the flow."
Reno thought about it, then figured that his friend was right on that part, and just sighed, deciding to give up and call it a day. "What's done is done, huh..."
Rude frowned, then asked, "So, you feel like taking on a flashy job? It'll take a while for SOLDIER to get here."
But Reno shook his head, "Nah, I don't feel like it."
When his partner didn't reply, he just said, "It's not a job for us Turks. Why waste our precious time on it?"
"…you sure you haven't changed a little?" Rude asked.
"I ain't changed a bit." Reno chuckled, starting to feel a bit better. He then added, "It's just that you can't always get what you want, so sometimes it's best to let bygones be bygones."
"...I see." Rude thought.
Reno smiled, then stood up and said, "Good. Now that that's behind us, let's get back to work."
"We're already done for the day." Rude pointed out.
This made Reno grumble again, and rubbed the back of his neck, saying, "Today was a real backbreaker."
"...Leave it." Rude sighed, getting a bit annoyed.
This was enough for Reno, so he approached his taller partner and said, "Are you still mad…? Partners shouldn't hide things from each other."
"Hmph. I'm just peachy." Rude replied.
But Reno shook his head, "No, that's no good." then thought up an idea and said, "Let's make a bet."
Rude quirked an eyebrow, and asked, "A bet?"
"Let's see who can get the prize first."
"Get? Get what?"
That's when Reno suddenly found the answer on his own, and smirked, "Your usual pair of shades, Rude."
Rude was shocked at the answer. "Wha-!?"
"You're having them repaired, right?" Reno asked as he smirked and took a good look at the pair of shades his partner was wearing. Sometimes he was a good mind reader or he can discover things and answers just by looking at simple objects.
"But, how… I haven't told anyone." Rude was baffled at this discovery. His usual pair was broken since yesterday, and he was a lover for shades, and if one of his shades were broken, he gets into a sourmood.
And this Reno somehow knew. "How many years have we been a team? You're wearing a spare pair." Reno replied, then said, "No wonder I thought there was something strange about you today."
He then looked at his annoyed partner and asked, "Come on, you gonna stand around and pout forever?"
Rude never liked being a loser when it came to small challenges Reno makes, then replied, "Hmph… I'll take you up on that bet."
"Then what will you bet?" Reno asked.
After a moment, Rude replied, "...Our partnership."
Reno stayed silent. He sighed as he realised how much he cared for his partner who was also his best friend, someone who, sometimes can be irritating, but is also loyal and caring, like a big brother would be.
A big brother...
The redhead realised just how much he actually(and in reality) loved him. Reno looked at his friend and formed a soft but warm smile.
After Cissnei left, Zack got a phonecall from someone. He answered and listened. It was Sephiroth who, right now, is inside Mako Reactor 5, walking on the bridge.
"Once Sector 8 is clear, come to Mako Reactor 5." Sephiroth ordered.
At Zack's location in Sector 8, he asked, "Did you find something out?" curious.
"Angeal has been sighted." was Sephiroth's answer.
Angered at the answer and remembering the Company's order earlier, Zack asked, his anger getting the better of him, "So it's search and destroy?"
Inside the reactor, Sephiroth answered, "The Army's mobilizing, but there's still time." he then added, "You and I will find them before they do, and..."
At Zack's location, he intterupted and shouted, "And WHAT!?"
At the loud shout, Sephiroth held the phone slightly away from his ear, mentally mumbling, 'Ow...' before placing it back to his ear, and finished with a smirk, "...fail to eliminate them."(Note: my favorite part of the entire game!)
This made Zack pleasently surprised, as he asked in hope, "For real?"
Sephiroth laughed, not minding Zack's determination. It appeared that both of them, different people, were actually both close to Angeal. Maybe it wouldn't be too bad to be friends with each other. So, he replied, "Yes, for real."
"Execellent! Probably!" Zack said.(Note 2: This sentence doesn't make any sense.)
With that, Sephiroth hung up and continued down on the bridge.
Zack did the same, and quickly made his way towards Reactor 5, but he and Sephiroth were both unaware of what the Turks(Or mainly Cissnei and Lazard) are doing.
In the Turk HQ, Veld got another call from Cissnei. "Cissnei, are you all right?" he asked, a hint of concern in his tone.
"Yes, thanks to Zack." Cissnei replied.
Veld sighed, "It was good that there was a 1st Class around." then he questioned, "So, was it Genesis?"
"Actually…it was a Copy." Cissnei sighed.
The Director sighed, then said, "Then where could the real one be…"
Then Cissnei explained, "According to the latest intel from SOLDIER, Zack and Sephiroth have just joined up for a new operation."
This made Veld concerned, "A new operation? Lazard didn't say anything about that." then asked himself, "Sephiroth and Zack. I wonder where this is heading…?"
He then shook his head and ordered, "Cissnei, keep track of Zack's movements."
"Understood, sir." Cissnei replied, then hung up.
Veld then thought to himself, "Zack… I wonder what he's planning to do…?"
TO BE CONTINUED IN...
CRISIS CORE-FINAL FANTASY VII & BEFORE CRISIS-FINAL FANTASY VII.
Whoa! It's really long compared to my second part of my Sailor Moon Continuum.
Please review and tell me what you think. And if you're interested, to go my link "Tashasaurous" to read my other stories and tell me what you think about them in the reviews.
Next time I might add in Tseng's and Legend's special episodes story-lines, even though none of them are mine.