Disclaimer: This is a Star Wars/Final Fantasy VII crossover. I do not own in any way any of the characters associated with Lucas Films or Square-Enix. The only characters that belong to me are any original ones that may appear through out the course of the story.
This story takes place just two years before Star Wars: A New Hope and during Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children.
Silver Mercury
Chapter Five: Appetite for Destruction
Marlene Wallace looked through the drawers in Tifa's bedroom, trying to find the materia armlet that Tifa had asked for. So far, she had no luck, for the materia armlet was being strangely elusive. Marlene tried her best not to disorganize all of the contents within the drawers, but after a while of not being able to find it, keeping it organized was close to almost impossible.
Marlene's heart raced due to the rushed feeling that Tifa's Seventh Heaven suddenly gave off. Tifa had gotten off the phone with someone and immediately began to run around the house, gathering things. She had told the orphans not to panic, that they were going to stay in Kalm for a little while. When they inquired about the rest of the orphans in Southern Edge, she had to reassure them that they would more than likely meet them in Kalm as well.
Marlene finally found the small materia armlet and held it gently in her small hands, starting at it for several moments. The six-year old was more than a little troubled. She was worried about her father and she wanted to see him. As she was staring down at the glittering materia jewels, an arm suddenly latched onto her's, making her gasp. She looked to see an orphan boy standing next to Denzel who found enough strength to get out of bed. Both boys had vacant expressions in their eyes. The boy next to Denzel pulled on Marlene and said, "Come on! There's someone who found a cure to Geostigma!" Marlene tried to pull back, almost not believing it, but the orphan boy was strong enough to pull her out of the room, causing her to drop Tifa's materia armlet on the floor. Only the excited cries of children were heard outside as the front door of Tifa's Seventh Heaven closed shut.
Tifa emerged from the bathroom, strapping fighting gloves onto her hands when she called out, "Marlene, did you find it?" The silence in the building caused Tifa to run out into the bedroom. "Marlene? Denzel?" No answer, not even so much from any of the other orphans. Tifa paced around the room wearing a worried expression on her face. She stopped, narrowly avoiding the materia armlet on the floor from being crushed. Tifa picked it up and held it for several moments before grasping it tightly, running downstairs and out into the street.
Well, at least they're going the right way, she thought as she spotted the group of orphans far across the street. The sounds of explosive gunfire in the distance made Tifa wince, thoroughly glad that the children did not go into Southern Edge. She followed them, feeling a strange foreboding within her that increased when she watched the children eventually climb over the barricades that separated the Edge Sector from the Midgar ruins.
The ruins were silent, minus the distant gunfire in the distance and the excited voices of the children as they wandered into the gravesite of those that had perished from Meteorfall. Tifa glanced momentarily up at the giant metal plate that loomed over the ruins, broken in some places, but intimidating nonetheless. She was reminded of darker times, when all of Midgar's people suffered under that very plate, hidden from the sun and from the sky, while the wealthy Shinra family lived above it in the central main skyscraper, the headquarters for Shin-Ra Electric Power Company, exploiting the money they earned from the starving people in the slums below. She was reminded of why she fought then, two years ago, and why she should continue fighting now that a new enemy had arrived to make the people suffer again.
The brunette bar hostess grew desperate as some time passed and the children ventured deeper into the ghostly ruins. There were buildings she had recognized from her time living in the slums of Midgar, and after having to endure seeing the wreckage that was Sector 7, where her Seventh Heaven bar was originally located, the children finally stopped, entering an old, but still standing church in the middle of Sector 5.
Tifa stared up at the wooden oak doors of the church, her heart skipping a beat. The building was bathed in warm sunlight, blessing no other part of the city of Midgar save for that one. The corners of her eyes filled with tears as she grasped the thin pink ribbon tied around her arm. Taking a deep breath, she pushed the door open and stepped inside the church. Running past the rows of oak benches, she caught sight of Marlene standing alone in the middle of a large bed of white and yellow flowers in front of the altar with tears streaming down her face.
"Marlene," Tifa cried, kneeling down in front of the girl and placing her hands on her shoulders. "What happened?"
Marlene sniffed. "They said someone found the cure, and we came here. Now they want to play hide-and-seek, but I...I can't!" She covered her face in her hands and began to sob quietly.
"Oh, Marlene..." said Tifa as she put her arms around the crying girl. "It's okay Marlene, I miss her too." A silver tear slid down the side of Tifa's face as she thought about their lost friend who had once inhabited the church. "It's okay to cry Marlene, but I don't think she would want you to be sad, right?" Marlene whimpered and looked up at Tifa, wiping away the tears with her hands. Smiling, Tifa suggested, "Come on, let's find our friends and get to Kalm, then we can play more hide-and-seek where it's safe."
Marlene reached out to Tifa's face, wiping away the one lone trail with her thumb. "You were crying too, Tifa. She wouldn't want either of us to be sad."
Tifa nodded and stood up. "You're right." She took a hold of Marlene's hand and scanned the church with her eyes. "Now let's find where the others are hiding so that we can get out of here." Marlene however had let go of Tifa's hand and ran to a spot where a sleeping bag and lantern had been set up, picking up a white bandage and showing it to her.
"Does Cloud live here, Tifa?" Marlene asked, and Tifa only stared with darkened eyes at the bandage in the girl's hand. Marlene's eyes widened with worry. "Cloud isn't sick is he?"
Tifa looked at the ground, shaking her head slightly, instantly knowing why she had seen Cloud so pale when she last saw him and why he had refused to talk about it. She remembered the hopeless look in his eyes when he spoke to her. "I don't think he will fight it, Marlene."
Marlene clenched her fist around the bandage and exclaimed, "But he has to fight it! Cloud is the strongest person I know!" A low and foreign chuckle in the air made her jump as well as Tifa.
"Hey…wanna play?"
Tifa's eyes widened at the sight of the man who had just entered the church. He walked slowly towards them, his face holding a smirk and his green eyes holding nothing more than intent to do harm. He wore all black leather and his short spiked hair shined a silver platinum color, making Tifa's heart beat madly with fear that the man before her could somehow be related to the one who intended to make himself a 'God' two years ago.
"Who are you?" Tifa demanded, quickly grabbing hold of Marlene's hand and sending a cold glare in the man's direction.
The man with the silver hair replied with a mock bow. "My name is Loz." Looking up at her he asked, "Where's Mother?"
The way he rolled the word 'Mother' off of his tongue made Tifa nearly flinch with the returning nightmares of her past. Refusing to lose her cool she looked around the room. "There's no one here!"
"Fine then," replied Loz, running a gloved hand through his spiked hair. "Play with me."
"I don't know what you're talking about," Tifa spat. "Now leave us alone, whoever you are."
Loz looked up at the gaping hole in the ceiling and began to laugh, sending chills down Tifa's spine. Quite suddenly, the orphans who were hiding from Marlene emerged from their hiding places behind benches and pillars and stood directly behind Loz, their eyes vacant of emotion.
"Kids," Tifa gasped. "What are you doing? Get away from him!" She noted Denzel who was standing in the front. His clear blue eyes were not as empty looking as the other children's. "Denzel!"
"He says his brother has the cure, Mom," Denzel replied. "If he does..."
Tifa's eyes widened anxiously. "Denzel! This man is dangerous! He'll hurt you the first chance-,"
Loz placed a hand on Denzel's shoulder who was now looking doubtful about Loz's intentions, but as soon as Loz touched him, Denzel's eyes emptied of thought.
Clenching her fist and tightening her hold around Marlene's hand, Tifa shouted, "What did you do to him?"
Loz shrugged in a seemingly innocent gesture. "Nothing, nothing at all." Tifa turned away from him and knelt down in front of Marlene, looking deadly serious.
"Marlene, it's going to get dangerous here. I want you to find a place to hide, and the first chance you get, run away, go back to the bar and call Cloud. Understand?" Marlene nodded nervously and Tifa pushed her gently. "Go." Immediately, Marlene ran away from the scene and hid behind a large pillar next to an oak bench.
Loz's frighteningly vivid green eyes brightened enthusiastically as Tifa tightened the gloves around her hands. "So you're actually going to play now?"
Tifa said nothing in return and took a fighting stance. Loz smirked. "Finally." He titled his head back, causing it to crack and then did the same for his knuckles. "Well then," he said, flexing his fingers. With speed almost impossible to comprehend when seen by the average person, Loz had charged at Tifa, throwing punches and kicks her way.
After almost two years of not using them, Tifa's trained martial arts reflexes returned to her just in time to block Loz attacks. Her speed matched his, and at some moments she was even faster than he was. Finding an opening, Tifa jumped up with a back-spinning kick towards Loz's face. With a pained grunt, Loz stumbled backwards, and once she was on the ground he jabbed her hard in her stomach, causing her to hunch over which he then used the opportunity to kick her across her face. Tifa flew back into the bed of flowers with a pained cry and stopped in front of the altar.
"And here I was told that Tifa Lockheart of AVALANCHE was a challenge," said a laughing Loz as he stepped up to her form and looked down at her. A thin trail of blood was trailing down the left side of her mouth and a bruise was already starting to form on her cheek. Loz stared down at her with a sneer. "Quite pathetic actually."
Loz wasn't prepared for what happened next. Tifa swung her leg out and Loz tripped backwards onto the ground. Standing up, Tifa wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth and proceeded to bring her leg down onto Loz's neck in a fatal blow, but Loz rolled out of the way and stood up several yards away from her. With a low growl resounding in her throat, Tifa ran after him, and like an acrobat she leaped onto the wall, kicked off of it in the direction of a column and kicked off of that as well which gave her the momentum she needed to kick Loz across the face again. He flew back and Tifa did not even give him a chance to land as she kicked at his body again several times. Once he was finally sliding on the ground she flipped over him, sliding back on her feet so that she would be ready for the next move.
Loz stood up, his green eyes narrowed dangerously and his teeth clenched. Brushing himself off he said, "You'll pay for that Lockheart." He smirked and taunted her by holding out his hand and gesturing her to come to him. "Come, come, pretty Lockheart, so I can teach you how to fight."
Tifa charged at him with a battle cry and performed an onslaught of kicks and punches that Loz was barely able to defend against. As he brought his arms down to parry one of her punches she kicked him hard across the face with a satisfying "TWACK!" sound. Loz's head flung backward, but when she tried to kick him again, he grabbed hold of her leg, lifted her up and began to spin her body around several times. Tifa became dizzy with the room's objects blurring past, and before she knew it, Loz had thrown her using the centrifugal force he had created. She knew she was flying upward, and while airborne she flipped in the air, allowing herself to grab hold of one of the wooden beams across the tall church door, and planting her booted feet firmly across the wooden surface of it.
Loz stood looking up at her. Pedals from the flowerbed slowly fell, for they had been thrown up when he threw Tifa across the room. The yellow and white pedals rained down like a curtain of falling feathers from the sky. Tifa glared back at Loz, her normally soft brown eyes narrowed, and looking almost wine red in color.
"I take back what I said," Loz apologized as he stepped forward towards the door. Tifa continued to glare at him from above, her hand grasped tightly around the wooden beam across the door. Loz continued, "You are quite the challenge. It's too bad I don't have time to play with you anymore…"
Tifa's eyebrows knitted together in confusion as Loz pulled out a weapon and attached it to his arm, aiming it at her. With a gasp she let go of the door to jump off, but as she was in the air a burst of clear blue energy shot from the weapon at her and pushed her back, filling her entire body with an agonizing pain. With a cry, Tifa fell down hard onto the flowerbed, all of the bones in her body aching painfully.
"Come on," she heard Loz's voice say. "Let me show you that cure." Tifa's vision was clouded and blurred, and she could not see what was going on. She could only hear the frightened cries of a protesting Marlene, which were heard further and further which each passing second.
Tifa's head was throbbing. "Mar..lene…" She couldn't move, even with Marlene's yells calling her. She had been immobilized somehow, and the pain she felt was almost unbearable. She blinked several times before closing both eyes completely and letting darkness take her.
Vader hadn't seen the Shin-Ra General since the Shadowcreepers attacked. Once again, he was not able to sense them approaching, and the idea that they were able to hide their presence in the Force infuriated him. So he struck down each one that approached him, not even allowing them to land a single blow on him. With each swipe of his crimson lightsaber, a shadowcreeper exploded into darkness.
"Lord Vader!" called out a stormtrooper and Vader turned to him. The stormtrooper saluted him, his white helmet containing a large scratch across the front. "Our forces have been trying to hold the creatures back, but they're making their way towards our transports!"
"Contact the Devastator," Vader ordered, "and order them to ready the frigates for takeoff."
"Very well my Lord," replied the stormtrooper. "What would you like to do with the prisoner we took from the city?"
"Take her aboard, and make sure she is not damaged before her meeting with the Emperor," Vader commanded.
The stormtrooper saluted. "Yes my Lord!" He then left to fulfill Darth Vader's wishes, but not before Vader's communicator beeped with an incoming message.
"Lord Vader! A prisoner has escaped! And the vehicle we confiscated from him is gone as well!"
Vader gripped the communicator in his hand hard enough to crush it if he wished to. "Cloud Strife…" Once the battle was finished and he was back aboard the frigate, he would remind himself to punish whoever was responsible. "Deploy a squadron of TIE fighters. Have them search for Cloud Strife and bring him to me, dead or alive."
He ended the transmission and ignited his lightsaber once again, letting the anger and hate he was feeling consume him. He fed off of his fury, using it as power source against the shadowcreepers. One of the creatures jumped at him and he held out a hand, the shadowcreeper stopped in mid-air convulsing violently. Vader concentrated on the dark side of the Force, and with the use of his mind, he tore the creature apart limb from limb. The shadowcreeper shrieked in agony before exploding into another cloud of blackness.
I must find where these creatures are coming from, Vader thought as he brought down another one with his glowing red blade of light. I sense that they are being controlled by an individual or perhaps a group of them. I will eradicate them before they ruin my master's plans.
As he was fighting, he could see the remainder of the Shin-Ra troops trying to hold their own. They hadn't been attacking the stormtroopers nor the stormtroopers been attacking them since the shadowcreepers arrived. Vader witnessed the Shin-Ra soldiers unleash their attacks of ice, lightning, and fire more than once, and it was proving to be quite effective against the creatures.
They seemed to have harnessed the powers of the Force in a way that I've never seen before. I must find out where and how they have retrieved this power. Vader ran towards one of the Shin-Ra soldiers who was unleashing an attack of lightning at an oncoming shadowcreeper. He noted the small glowing orbs stuck in the grooves of the soldier's firing weapon, and how they glowed brighter each time an attack of electricity was released.
I see… Vader realized. Those orbs are some kind of physical manifestations of the Force. He felt a familiar presence near him and turned around, hearing the voice of the Shin-Ra General from the beginning of the battle.
"Hey," she called out, her chin length black hair bouncing up a bit as she was running. She had both her weapons in her hands, but she was not aiming them at him. "You ever see these monsters before?"
"No," Vader answered shortly. "I assumed that your kind was familiar with them."
The Shin-Ra General shook her head. "We hadn't had monsters here for over two years, and I've never seen any that looked like those before." The General looked off to the distance, her glowing blue eyes holding a far away and thoughtful look. Then she suddenly looked back at him, her eyes holding an urgent expression. "We can't let them get to the Edge sector!"
Vader turned away from her, waving a hand dismissively. "That city is not my concern."
Her eyes narrowed. "Look, I have no idea why you people are here, but if you're looking for something, then destroying the place where you might find it isn't going to help you. If those monsters get to Edge, they'll destroy everything they see!"
Vader turned to her suddenly, his cape billowing behind him. "Are you surrendering to the Empire then?"
"Of course not!" she shot back. "I'm just suggesting a temporary truce until we get rid of these things. We won't be able to fight them off if we keep fighting each other. We'll have a better chance at defeating them if we help each other for the time being. Then, you can go back to all the fighting and destruction you want. If we don't destroy these things, neither of our sides will be able to get what we want. This whole battle against these monsters is a waste of time for both of us and you know it."
Vader stared at her and she stared back, yet he could sense the apprehension she was feeling from him. Finally he stated, "Very well. Your troops will help mine defeat the creatures, but after that you will either surrender or die."
She sighed as Vader walked away. "Fair enough, I guess," she stated with a shrug and then turned to a Shin-Ra trooper who approached her.
"General Posada, the enemy ship is taking off!" barked the soldier, pointing at the sky. General Naomi Posada looked up at the sky to see the giant black ship in which Vader had arrived slowly start to take off.
"I guess they're doing it to protect the ship," she replied. "I really doubt they're actually going to leave anytime soon."
Cloud had slowed down considerably. The pain in his left arm had returned, and this time it was twice as painful than the last time he had felt it. Not able to bear it any longer, Cloud stopped the motorbike and sat upon it, staring at his covered arm with pained eyes.
"I know now that I am not fit to help anyone. Not my family, not even my friends…" Cloud stared at the sky, only to see the invading ship take off. "How could I fight against something like that?"
A high-pitched whirring noise filled his ears and Cloud looked behind him. The moment he did, three small ships had already moved in front of him. He looked at each of them as they hovered in the air, waiting for him to make a move. They were the same strange ships he had seen in the main hangar bay of that frigate transport. Each was steel-gray in color and were round, despite the two large flat panels on the sides of each ship. His eyes widening, Cloud turned the motorcycle back on and accelerated it to its top speed as soon as the ships began to fire at him. The powerful green lasers narrowly missed him and shot the ground, bringing up massive clouds of dirt as he was trying to escape.
I know there's no way I can outrun these things. Cloud looked up as the motorcycle raced down the dirt road, watching the three ships above him, knowing in his gut that the ships weren't moving nearly as fast as they really could. He raised an arm up towards one of them and a bolt of lightning struck out from his hand, hitting the ship on its underbelly. The ship halted and shook, emitting electricity around the hull and then began to spin out of control. Cloud accelerated again as the pilot of the ship he had hit maneuvered away from the scene to prevent the ship from crashing. The other two however had continued to pursue him, shooting the powerful green lasers at him which made the ground shake underneath him upon impact. Cloud shot another bolt of lightning but missed. His target cleverly maneuvered out of the way.
Cloud gasped for breath, feeling a pain in his chest. Every time he tried to take in air his lungs felt like they had been pierced with one hundred needles. He grasped at his chest while driving the bike with his other hand. "Not again…" he muttered, and then suddenly his head began to hurt. "I'm…not going to make it…"
The two remaining ships had made a formation, which put them close to one another. They were directly in front of Cloud, moving backwards as they shot at him. He moved the motorbike in zigzag forms in order to avoid the blasts, but it was becoming more and more difficult as the pilots of the ships observed the way he drove the motorcycle. Cloud then decided to end the chase by using their battle formation to his advantage. The ships were close together, and he would knock out two birds with one stone. Cloud shot another bolt of lightning, which hit one ship and caused it to crash into the other. Both ships crashed into a cliff-side with a large and deafening explosion.
Feeling weary and weak from all the energy he had expended throughout the day, Cloud moved the motorcycle from off of the dirt road and onto a large two-lane road paved with black cement. The environment around him became greener, and trees actually started to appear. After about twenty minutes of traveling, the road led up to a small mountain, which eventually overlooked a large building sitting on the mountainside, decorated with trees and a waterfall that ran under it. He was no longer in the Midgarian region or it's wasteland.
A large sign on the curb read, "Healin Lodge: Geostigma Sanitorium in love of silence." Under the title read three more locations with arrows pointing in which direction they were located, one of the locations being Midgar, and the other two being Kalm and a place titled Chocobo Ranch. Cloud quickly sped off down the road in direction of the large building, eager to get his meeting with Rufus Shinra over with.
He stared out of the window, standing alone in the clean lobby. Warm sunlight seeped through the blinds of the window as a television set demonstrated the news in the corner of the room.
"This is live footage of the current situation just outside of Midgar," blared the television as his back faced it, not interested in watching it. "It appears that the giant spaceship has taken off into the air. Perhaps they are leaving for good, but apparently, the sounds of gunfire just outside the city have proved otherwise. The Shin-Ra troops still seem to be trying to defend the people of Midgar from the extra-terrestrial invaders…"
Reno was a lean, thin man, with flaming red hair. Though disheveled, most of it was tied back in a long ponytail while the rest hung over a pair of goggles perched on top of his head. He stared out of the window with his hands in his pockets, observing the outside world with bright aquamarine eyes. The navy blue suit he wore was not nearly as neat as his comrades would have wanted him to wear it, but he could care less. He preferred to wear his uniform in his own un-professional way, for it matched his personality. With his blue jacket open and the white cotton shirt hanging out from under it, he would not have preferred it any other way.
His bored looking face then changed into a quaint smirk as he heard the sound of an approaching engine. He stared through the window as he witnessed a blond young man drive up to building in a sleek black motorbike. Reno looked down at the ground, keeping his hands in his pockets as well as the smirk on his face, and within a few minutes one of the two doors in the room opened up.
Reno turned away from the window to face the blond man who had just entered. "Well if it isn't Cloud Strife! How're you doing buddy?"
Cloud frowned. "Cut the crap Turk. We've never been friends and I'd like to keep it that way."
Reno shrugged with a mock look of hurt on his face. "Well, nice to see that someone around here hasn't changed much. What've you been up to these past two years other than delivering stuff anyway?"
Cloud looked away from him, his blue eyes narrowing. "None of your damn business. Now what does your boss want that's so urgent?"
Reno clapped both of his hands together. "Now there's the true makings of someone from SOLDIER! Always down to business!" He walked away from him towards the other door and held it open for him. "This way please."
Cloud silently walked through the door and entered a darkened room where barely any sunlight entered through the window. At the far end of the room opposite of where Cloud and Reno stood was a wheelchair occupied by a figure garbed in a white cloak, almost all of the figure's features obscured by it. Next to the wheelchair stood a tall man with no hair wearing sunglasses and the same navy suit Reno wore except his was much more hygienically kept than that of his red haired counterpart. The tall bald man stood silent with his arms folded across his chest with an air of contempt about him.
"Cloud Strife…" murmured the figure in the wheelchair with a deep male voice. "I trust your journey here was without trouble."
Cloud shook his head. "Not exactly."
"Is that so," replied the man in the wheelchair. "I am sorry then."
Cloud crossed his arms and glared at the figure. "Since when were you ever sorry for anything that involved AVALANCHE, Rufus?"
The figure in the wheelchair, which had been addressed as Rufus answered, "Well as you can see, I am not exactly in prime condition to worry about chasing your band of renegade rebels about the planet. Shin-Ra Inc. has more important matters to attend to. Our goal is the restoration of the world, Cloud."
"What do you want?" Cloud asked, his eyes never moving from their narrowed expression.
"I am in need of your services."
Cloud shook his head and automatically replied, "Not interested."
The cloaked Rufus continued to speak, as if he had ignored Cloud's statement. "We've already initiated an investigation of Sephiroth's wake. So far we have come up with close to nothing. However, not long ago three young men bearing very similar appearances to Sephiroth appeared, asking me about their mother." At this, Cloud's eyes flashed with recognition and surprise. "You've seen them haven't you? Those boys are looking for their mother, and I'm afraid they're up to more than just that. What exactly, I still am not sure, but they seem willing to do almost anything to find her."
Cloud looked at the ground, saying through clenched teeth, "So what do you need me for?"
"I want to hire you for your services as a bodyguard," Rufus replied. "The three men may pose a potential threat to Shin-Ra Inc. as well as ruin all of the restoration we've accomplished. I also have a feeling that they are somehow connected to the Geostigma disease that's ravished the Planet."
"Thanks, but no thanks," Cloud said, turning away from Rufus and the tall bodyguard next to him. "I think your Turks can handle the job just fine. Besides, shouldn't you be worrying about the army that's invaded the planet?"
"General Naomi Posada is in charge of defending Midgar against the invaders; another reason why I wanted to hire you." Cloud's eyebrows furrowed, the name Rufus mentioned sounding oddly familiar to him. Not thinking on it any longer, Cloud walked back to the door placing his hand on the doorknob just as Rufus spoke again. "Cloud look. You're an ex-SOLDIER, aren't you?"
Cloud shook his head, muttering, "Yeah. In my head." He turned away from Rufus Shinra again and opened the door, beginning to step out.
"I heard you were living with the orphans," Rufus said, causing Cloud to stop dead in his tracks. "Wouldn't you want to put the smiles back on their faces?"
Cloud stood still for several moments and then turned back to him, his expression hesitant and sad. "But I…"
"Come on Cloud," Reno pressed, "Together we can rebuild Shin-Ra."
With an angry glare, Cloud pushed Reno out of the way and left the room, repeating, "Not interested."
Now standing in the middle of the lobby, Cloud held his mobile phone to his ear, waiting for Tifa to pick up. It kept ringing and Cloud could only tap his foot in impatience. Just as Reno quietly entered the room, Cloud hung up, scowling. "She's not answering her cell. Something's happened."
Reno shrugged. "I'm sure she's fine. The girl is more than capable of taking care of herself. Call the Kalm Inn if you have to."
Cloud shook his head. "Already did. They said she didn't check in. I don't think she's made it out of Edge yet. What if something's happened?"
Reno stepped forward a bit. "According to our reports, our troops are still trying to hold off that alien army back. She's probably stuck in traffic or something."
"No," Cloud replied. "Something's happened. I know it. I have to go to her." He looked to Reno with urgency in his deep cerulean glowing eyes.
Reno nodded. "Alright then. Take care of yourself Strife. Those guys aren't to be messed with."
"I know," said Cloud. "I've already felt my fair share of their methods of negotiation. That's why I have to go. I can't let Tifa fall into their hands."
"Of course." Cloud turned around and began to walk away when Reno called to him again. "Hey Strife." Cloud looked back at him. "You still have that box I told Tifa to give you?"
"Yeah," Cloud responded. "What about it?"
Reno's usually carefree expression turned to one of all out seriousness. "Don't let the silver haired guys get to it."
"Why? What's in there?"
Reno smirked and held up a hand. "That's top-secret Shin-Ra information. Don't try opening it either, it might be potentially dangerous."
Cloud crossed his arms with a frown. "I thought you told Tifa it wasn't that important."
Reno chuckled. "If I told her otherwise she would've started asking questions, and I really don't need that right now from her. Just keep the box away from those guys at all costs, alright?"
"Fine," said Cloud in a stoic tone. "See you later." He left the room, leaving Reno by himself. Soon enough, the bald man that was guarding Rufus entered, standing next to Reno silently.
"You know what Rude?" Reno asked without looking at him. "That guy never changes. You'd think that after two years he would've at least stopped being such a stiff little spiky prick."