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Chapter 2: Fated Meetings
Vincent and Cloud both sighed. Barret and Cid had gotten into another argument about God knows what.
They walked through the bustling streets of Edge towards the only weapons shop worth going to in Edge. Thankfully it wasn't on the opposite side of the city, but it was still a pretty good distance. It actually wasn't far from the grocery store that the others would be going to soon. Tifa had declared that the kids had to do a few chores before they headed out, so the four guys left them at the bar with Cait Sith.
When they finally came into view of the sign that read 'Weapons Emporium' upon it, Cloud and Vincent looked at each other in relief. The four walked through the entrance, hearing a bell above their heads to signal to the employees that customers had just come in.
A male was behind the counter in the middle of the store. He looked up. He was around 38 years old and stood as tall as Vincent at a solid six feet with shaggy, dark brown hair and blue eyes. He smiled at them warmly. "Welcome to Weapons Emporium. Is there anything specific you are looking for or are you just here to browse?" he asked them politely.
"Just browsing for now," Cloud answered.
The man nodded, the smile never leaving. "Very well, but if you require any assistance, please do not hesitate to let me know."
"Thank you."
They began to meander through the store. There were a couple of other guys in the store in the knife-shuriken section that were huddled together, mumbling amongst each other. Cloud went over to the sword section and judged the blades there; Cid went to the spear-lance section; Barret and Vincent went to the gun section. Vincent deemed the weapons well crafted, but of course they couldn't compare to Cerberus.
"Hey Sebastian, I finished modifying the pistols! They are so freakin' badass now!" a voice called from the back room.
The man at the counter sighed and yelled back. "You're lucky there are no children in the store right now otherwise I would probably have to fire you."
"You wouldn't do that! Then how would you get such amazingly crafted weapons," the voice said as it appeared and was revealed to belong to a woman with chin length strawberry blonde hair that was cut into layers. Her purple eyes focused on Sebastian rather than the customers that were staring at her. She stood at Cloud's height of 5'7" and looked around his age too. At present she was wearing a pair of sneakers, jeans, and a black camisole. In her hands were two pistols.
Sebastian grumbled. "Touché," he relented.
"Ha! I win," she cheered.
"You win the round, but you haven't won the war," Sebastian cautioned.
"Yeah whatever," she said walking over to him. "Alright, I call these babies the 'Fenix Q787.' I managed to install a laser to help with aiming since a scope was completely out of the question. Silencers can be attached to ensure stealth, but even without the silencers they fire fairly quiet," the woman said as she handed them over to Sebastian to look at.
When he was done his inspection he said, "Now I remember why I am forced to keep you around."
"Because I'm the best weapons manufacturer ever?"
Sebastian grimaced and muttered, "That about sums it up."
"Another win."
"Whatever," he said as he unlocked the viewing case and put the pistols in before locking it again. "Now if you don't mind Shana, how about we discuss lunch?"
"But it's only 10:45 in the morning."
"True, but we're closing early remember? We have that high profile customer coming in at three, so we're shutting down at 2:30 and since you came in at 7, I deem it time for you to have your break."
"Oh come on!"
"Don't even complain. I'm sending you out on an errand for our lunch. Go to the store and grab a nice loaf of bread, whatever meat you want, and cheese," Sebastian said as he pulled out some gil from his wallet and gave it to her which she took after a moment.
"Epic sandwiches?" she asked sounding hopeful.
"Epic sandwiches," he confirmed.
She stepped back from the counter, flourished, and bowed. "Yes master. I shall go and do your bidding!" she mocked before turning to go into the back room.
"It is only one small favor Shana Jennings and it benefits you as well!" he shouted after her.
Smiling, she shook her head and grabbed her short sleeve purple jacket that matched the color of her eyes and her bag which she slipped over her head so that it went diagonally across her front and back. She walked back out and turned when the guys over at the knife-shuriken section called for her assistance.
"Hey baby, how much do you want for all of this?" one of them asked her, indicating himself.
She put her arms behind her and looked him over as her right hand went to grab a small dagger that was sheathed horizontally behind her across her waist. "Well, all things considered: free. You're worthless," she replied.
"What was that?" the guy asked, before menacingly walking towards her flanked by his three friends.
Before she could even blink, a swirl of red appeared to the side of her. He had a gold gauntlet that was clench into a fist; the high collar of his cloak masked the bottom part of his face as his long, messy black hair trailed down the back.
"Don't even think about it," Vincent told the thugs.
"Yeah? What are you going to do about it?"
"Oh I'm so glad you asked." In a split second Vincent had Cerberus pointed at the lead guy's head. One of the thugs drew his gun and pointed at Vincent to which Shana quickly unsheathed her knife and pointed it at the guy's neck. Cloud grabbed one of the swords and Cid a spear; both came up behind the thugs. Barret let his arm morph into his gun and pointed it at them. Sebastian came up from behind the counter wielding a shot gun.
"Now, this is what's going to happen," Sebastian said. "You four thugs are to get out of this store this instant. Try anything and I won't hesitate to use this."
"You wouldn't dare," one of them challenged.
"Would you like to test that? Both my employee you harassed and I are on very good terms with the police here in Edge as we supply them their weapons and armor and make upgrades and repairs. So yeah, want to try it?"
The thugs slowly withdrew; the one holstering his weapon. They left the shop. Sebastian sighed and returned his shot gun to its hiding place under the counter. Shana sheathed her dagger as Cloud and Cid returned their weapons to the rack, Vincent holstered Cerberus, and Barret made his gun become his arm again.
"Well, that was fun," Sebastian heaved. He looked at the four remaining customers. "Thank you for coming to our aid."
"Tch. We wouldn't have needed their help," Shana muttered softly, but didn't know that Vincent heard what she said.
I wonder why you think that, he thought as he watched her through the corner of his eyes.
"Well, I'm off to do your bidding. I'll be back soon," Shana told Sebastian.
"Woah, hold on a second there missy. Shouldn't you wait a little longer before going out there? Those thugs just left and you're already leaving?" Cid stated.
Barret jumped in. "For once, Cid has a point. They could be waiting out there for you."
Shana turned her head to the side. "I appreciate the concern and I thank you for your help. I'll be fine," she told them with confidence in her voice before walking out of the shop.
There wasn't any hesitation in her words and she spoke as if she knew that she would be ok, Cloud observed.
"I apologize for her, but believe me, she can take care of herself. She will be alright," Sebastian said.
"It just doesn't seem right," Cid muttered.
"That may be true, but she knows how to handle that dagger of hers," Cloud reasoned.
Sebastian interjected. "I feel that I should introduce myself properly to you gentlemen. I am Sebastian Michaels; the owner of this store. The woman is Shana Jennings."
"I'm Cloud Strife."
"Cid Highwind."
"Barret Wallace."
"Vincent Valentine."
Sebastian stared at them in awe. "You're a part of Avalanche? The ones who stopped Sephiroth and Omega?"
They all looked a little embarrassed. "Yeah," Cid finally confirmed.
Sebastian beamed. "It's such an honor. Now I really must thank you for helping us."
"Ms. Jennings seemed to think you didn't need any help," Vincent said.
"And why is that?"
"She said so."
Sebastian cursed in his head. "Shana is the one that makes all of these weapons that you see here in the store. She's the one who taught me how to properly hold firearms. You said she knows how to wield a dagger; she can wield a lot more than that a master level. She is the true mastermind behind this weapons shop because Shana is a weapons expert, specializing in sword combat. She probably could and would have kicked their asses on her own."
"Where did she learn her skills?" Cloud asked.
Sebastian shook his head. "I have no idea. I just know that I am extremely fortunate to have befriended her."
Those guys were from Avalanche; there's no doubt about that. It was definitely Highwind, Strife, Valentine, and Wallace. Hard to believe that such legendary people would come into your average weapons store, Shana thought to herself as she weaved through the crowds towards the store.
When she finally arrived she quickly found everything she needed for the epic sandwiches. She was on her way to the checkout area when quickly turning into an aisle she collided with someone and knocked them over.
"Oh my goodness! I'm so sorry. I didn't see you there," Shana said quickly offering her hand to the woman she ran into.
"It's alright. I'm ok," the woman replied as she took Shana's hand and hefted herself off of the floor.
"Still, I feel bad about it. I need to watch where I'm going more often."
"It's ok. It's probably just one of those days. I'm Yuffie Kisaragi."
Another Avalanche member? "I'm Shana Jennings."
"Shana Jennings? That's a really cool name."
"You think so? I've never gotten a compliment on my name before. I always thought it was just bland; one that never stood out."
"Well I like it. It has a nice ring to it."
Shana grinned and laughed. "Thanks then."
"Yuffie?" Tifa called.
"Over here Teef," Yuffie replied.
Tifa came into view with Shelke, Denzel and Marlene with a cart full of groceries. "Oh! Hello there."
"Hello. I'm Shana Jennings."
"Tifa Lockheart. Everything okay?"
"Yup! Shana here kinda just ran into me and knocked me over," Yuffie explained bluntly.
"Now I feel even guiltier," Shana told them.
"Oh hush. I told you I was fine."
"Well, if everything's okay, we're ready to go checkout," Tifa said to Yuffie.
The ninja nodded and waved to Shana. She watched the group leave. Six members of Avalanche in one day. What's next? Reeve popping out of nowhere? Shana mocked in her head as she began to walk towards the checkout lines.
She made it through fairly quickly, beating Tifa and Yuffie's group out of the store. Shana was at the end of the block when she thought better of herself and doubled back.
They were just coming out of the store, their arms full of bags when Shana ran up to them. "At the very least, let me help you home with those," she offered.
Yuffie sighed. "I told you I was fine."
"I know, but it'd make my conscious feel better knowing that I helped and made it up to you."
Tifa smiled and intervened before Yuffie could start talking. "It's alright Yuffie. I think Marlene is having a little trouble with her load anyway," she said looking down at the girl who had several bags and seemed to be a little worn down already.
Shana knelt down. "May I help you with those?" she asked Marlene politely. "Thank you," Shana said when Marlene nodded. She took the two heavier bags so that the young girl still had two of her own.
They walked towards the bar; Shana, Yuffie, and Tifa talking about random things while Denzel, Marlene, and Shelke holding their own conversation. They were only a few blocks from the bar when a voice called out, "Made some friends I see."
The thugs from the weapons shop appeared making the group stop; Shana grit her teeth. "Followed me I see. Are you trying to make it easy for the cops to put you in jail? First harassment and now stalking." She lowered her voice so that only Yuffie, Tifa, Shelke, and the kids could hear. "I want you all to run as fast as you can. They're after me, so I'll lead them away from you," she said as she gave one bag to Marlene and the other to Shelke.
"What? We can't just let you do this alone," Yuffie whispered.
"You have to. You have Denzel and Marlene to think about. Trust me; I know that you three can take these guys on by yourselves." Yuffie, Shelke, and Tifa widened their eyes. "Don't give me that look. Pretty much everyone on the planet knows who the Heroes are."
"Heroes?" Shelke wondered.
Shana nodded. "Oi! You guys want me? Come and get me!" she called to the thugs before turning and running down an alley.
"GET HER!" the one shouted as they all started after Shana.
Tifa and Yuffie nodded at each other before hurrying their group home. They rushed in, catching their breaths.
"Are you guys ok?" Cloud asked in concern.
"Yeah, we're fine. Just ran into some trouble that is now being led on a chase," Yuffie replied with a smile.
"Trouble being led on a chase?" Cid questioned, bewildered.
"Yeah. These guys came out of nowhere and exchanged a few words with a woman who was helping us home since she ran into and knocked Yuffie down in the store. Then the woman hightailed it away from us and led the thugs away," Tifa explained.
"Huh. Weird. Should we call the police?" Barret said.
"Actually, that woman seemed to know what she was doing. And besides, it's not like we know where she went," Yuffie reasoned.
"That's true, but what can we do?"
"Hope that that woman loses them. The thugs didn't seem like a smart bunch."
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