Chapter 10: Accident
The rain pounded on their heads, puddles of water surrounded Sector 7, the streets empty and dark. Reno watched the empty houses and abandoned Department stores, the sky turned greyish black, the weather suiting the area's surroundings. Yuffie held her pistol close to her chest, waiting for the slightest bit of movement to be made, nothing.
"You think anybody's gonna be here?" she asked Reno, he shook his head.
"I seriously doubt it," he replied. Ducan looked around, his head moving rapidly.
"Where's Darth Vader?" he asked incoherently.
"This isn't Star Wars Ducan!" said Cissnei, loading her Uzis and listening for a sound. Nothing was heard except for the faint sound of cars driving. She sighed. "I don't think anyone's here, we should check further down, maybe we'll find something there," she said.
They wandered further into Sector 7, the sky became darker as the rain poured down heavier, along with hail stones.
"This isn't the kind of thing I was hoping for," said Elaine, wincing as the hail stones hit her red cheeks.
They continued walking through the dark street of Sector 7, spotting through the heavy rain and hail stones, Yuffie saw a very dark alleyway ahead, leading to the other side of Sector 7. It was shifty looking and quiet, quiet being an understatement. The look on Reno's face was self-explanatory.
"Uh oh…hey Zack, how about going in there for us and checking it out, hopefully you'll get rid of whatever's in there," said Reno nervously, trying to pass this chance of going in over to Zack. Zack glared at him.
"How about you go in and hopefully whatever's in there will chop your dick off!" said Zack irately. Cissnei looked at Reno, showing a face of anger towards what he told Zack.
"On second thought, let's all go together, if my dick gets chopped off, my future plans for havin children with Yuffie is out of the question," said Reno, he clapped a hand to his mouth, realising what he said. Yuffie giggled, her cheeks turning rose. Cissnei smiled at the two of them.
"An item now are ye?" she asked them, Yuffie blushed even redder. Reno smiled.
"Yup, more than an item," said Reno, wrapping his arm around Yuffie, Yuffie snuggled up to him. Ducan grinned.
"Reno and Yuffie sittin' in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G, first comes love, then comes marriage, then comes Reno in a baby's carriage!" sang Ducan light-heartedly.
"Hey! Who ever said I was naming the child 'Reno'!" said Yuffie laughing.
"It's a great name, choose it!" joked Reno, Yuffie tapped his nose.
"Nuh uh! Yuffie Kisagari don't likey that name mister Reno Babeno Corneo!" said Yuffie childishly, but jokingly as well.
"More like Yuffie Corneo!" teased Marine, and Elaine and Cissnei giggled.
"WHAT! Yuffie Corneo?" said Yuffie astonishingly, she grinned evilly, "but I like what I'm hearing! I like it a lot!" said Yuffie, using quotation marks with her fingers on 'a lot'. Reno smiled at her, he kissed her forehead, which caused Ducan to start making stupid 'wooing' noises. Yuffie hushed him, but blushed all the time.
"So, Reno, are you actually thinking of marrying Yuffie?" Cissnei asked him. Reno looked confused.
"I dunno, it's a little too early to think about that," said Reno, though there was a gleam in his. Cissnei left it at that, but was suspicious about him.
Hours flew by and nothing was seen in Sector 7, Yuffie sighed irritably and moaned for the last five minutes until Zack suddenly gave up.
"Let's just go back to Sector 8, there's nothing in this godforsaken place, there'll be a better chance of finding more things back there than here, c'mon!" said Zack impatiently, Reno gave in and they made their way back to Sector 8, near the Turks' hideout, Elaine peered around for a sign of the others, but something else caught her eye, a figure was moving in the darkness along a barred wall. She patted Reno's shoulder for his attention, he looked back at her.
"Hey Reno, there's something, or someone lurking near that barred wall, should we check it out?" she asked nervously, Reno nodded and they all slowly stepped closer to the narrow opening in the barred wall, the gate covering the opening was opened. Reno held his breath, he could here the soft rustle of the bushes behind the wall, someone was there all right. Yuffie hid herself well behind him, she held her pistol tightly against her collarbone. Zack took his sword out in a organised position, he waited for an attack to be called out. Nothing, yet. The rustling grew more vigorously, Elaine's eyes grew big with worry, she clutched her rifle close to her, feeling it's cool metal brush against her neck. Suddenly the bushes rustled faster, a skin-head shot out from the opening and started shooting at them with his shotgun, the group dodged behind safe places, where they could lay low for a second to regain what they learnt and attack the enemy. The skin head prowled, grinning viciously as he searched for his prey, the shotgun fully loaded and ready to terminate anything that didn't appeal to him.
Yuffie breathed heavily, filling her pistol with bullets, she fixed the bullets in and wiped the oil from the opening of the gun. She waited until she was ready to target the skinhead. As she saw the tip of his boot peek a bit out from where she was hiding, she got up rapidly and started shooting him like a maniac, he dodged her bullets and gave one fire from his shotgun at Yuffie's shoulder, the aim was perfect and the bullet tore through Yuffie's flesh, impaling her shoulder blade. She screamed as it broke through her bone, blood leaking from every corner of the wound, it ran like a waterfall from her shoulder down her chest and stained her shirt scarlet. Reno, terrified, ran out from his hiding place and caught a badly wounded Yuffie by the arm, he balanced her in his arm as he held the pistol with his other hand, the skinhead smiled.
"One chick down, let's see what other pressies are available to shoot besides the redheaded f**ker in front of me!" he snarled, Reno gritted his teeth, holding the pistol so hard that his hands turned red. Zack then ran out from his hiding place and speared the skinhead through his stomach with his sword, Zack pushed the skinhead against the barred wall, the wires on the wall scratching the skinhead's face, Zack leaned in closer to the skin head, snatching his shotgun off him.
"So, f**ker, where's the rest of your posse? Seeing as you bloody f**king bastards show up in every f**king area and world!" Zack cursed angrily, the skinhead laughed.
"You lookin' for those beautiful dolls we kidnapped, you're searching in the wrong area, but hell am I gonna tell you!" said the skinhead, blood streaming from the inside of his mouth. "You will f**king tell me or I swear I'm gonna chop your shitty head off!" said Zack, pulling the thug's hair.
"Hell no, when the shit hits the fan, the shitter's gonna be the one to impale your bodies!" replied the skinhead. Zack, losing patience, slashed his sword across the neck of the skinhead, it got jammed halfway, the skinhead coughed and spluttered as the sword left him nearly headless, blood spurted from the opening and the veins tangled up in Zack's sword, the bone was cut a bit. Zack took out his sword and swung it one last time, he successfully left the skinhead headless, Zack picked up the bloody head, he struck the sword in the corpse's eyeballs, piecing each of them and pulling them out of their sockets, he chopped the even bloodier head in half and threw it aside.
"Maybe now the poor starving animals will have a good f**king feast out of you, you son of a bitch," said Zack cruelly, he walked over to a small pond and washed his bloody sword and hands. Reno looked at Zack, still holding Yuffie in his arms, Reno placed her leaning against a rock as he stripped his jacket off him and wrapped it around Yuffie. She smiled weakly, the place suddenly started spinning, she felt dizzy and then she fell back, unconscious. Reno picked her up carefully.
"I've got to bring her back to the hideout, she's not going to help us in this state, she'll easily get killed and I'm not gonna let that happen to Yuffie!" said Reno angrily, Zack nodded.
"Here, we'll all go back to the hideout and give Tseng a call, tell him we're leaving Yuffie at the hideout, then we meet up with him in Sector 4," said Zack, putting his bloodless sword into the opening in his belt that was fastened around his back. Reno agreed and followed Zack and the rest towards the hideout.
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"You feeling ok Yuff? You've had a really bad cut on your shoulder, but it's gonna be ok now."
Yuffie opened her eyes and squinted, she looked around the little room she was in, Reno was at her bedside, she smiled at him and winced as she moved her right arm, her shoulder hurt her.
"Reno…what happened? Where am I?" said Yuffie, feeling a little woozy.
"That bastard skinhead shot your shoulder with his shit shotgun, or even better, shitgun," said Reno trying to sound flippant. Yuffie giggled and tried to hug him with her left arm, he held her carefully as she embraced him. He almost felt like crying, seeing all the trouble she went through, with having getting injured badly in the same place twice and then now this. Yuffie lay back on the comfy pillows, she suddenly frowned.
"But what about the search for Kairi and Isabelle?" she asked worriedly. Reno bit his lip.
"Yuff…I'm sorry…but you can't come," said Reno.
"What? But-but I have to-"
"You can't Yuff! You're injured! You'll get killed-" Reno said firmly. Yuffie started getting tears in her eyes.
"For god's sake Yuff! Why are you crying?" he asked angrily, Yuffie hit him on the arm.
"Because if you go-"
"Yes?"
Yuffie let out a sob. "I'm afraid you'll never come back, and the others will come back with blood on their hands, the blood from your body-" Yuffie cried.
"Stop it! You're being stupid now," Reno snapped.
"Why? Because I care deeply for you Reno, this is a life or death situation and I won't be able to cope if I lose you!" Yuffie sobbed, she closed her eyes and let a fresh stream of tears run down her red cheeks. "I love you so much! Please," said Yuffie, hugging Reno tightly, ignoring the sharp pain stinging on her right shoulder. Reno hugged her back.
"I know, I do too Yuff, but I can't let you, I promise I'll come back, I promise, promise, promise!" said Reno, kissing Yuffie passionately, his mouth pressing against hers, his hands stroking her slender neck, feeling her collarbone and stroking the soft cotton of her bra, feeling the curve of her bosom as his finger stroked the soft cup. Yuffie gasped for breath and continued to kiss Reno, he felt her hot breath against his lip as they broke apart continuously, she fondled the collar on his shirt, fingering the buttons that held his blouse together, she unbuttoned three of them and stroked his exposed chest. Becoming lost in the sensation, Reno found himself feeling Yuffie's breasts underneath her soft shirt, she loved the feeling of his gentle fingers stroking the softness of her front. She pleaded for the rhythm to become less tense, as she beckoned Reno beside her, she gently stroked his cheek, her other hand running through his wild, lank hair, but she didn't mind how lank it was, it was the person inside she loved, she loved Reno. He pushed himself towards Yuffie, kissing her lovingly, deepening the kiss as his hands started removing the shirt, revealing the soft black bra, Yuffie felt herself tremble with the excitement, but all was well. He unbuckled the straps that supported her bosom, he felt her exposed busts, their firmness appealing to him, he loved the peachiness of her skin as he kissed her neck all the way down to her breasts, Yuffie moaned at the feeling. She placed her hands on his shoulders, digging her nails into them, Reno let out a little gasp. Becoming electrified, Reno stopped, his heart beating very fast, he looked at the time, Yuffie looked up at him, becoming disappointed by his sudden halt. "Sorry, Yuff, I have to go," he breathed, catching his breath as he fixed his shirt and combed back his hair with his fingers. Yuffie put on her shirt, but left the bra tangled in a heap on the bed. He gave her a big kiss before leaving, Yuffie then stopped him.
"Er…Reno?" she said hurriedly.
"Yeah?" he said, halfway out the door, Yuffie giggled foolishly.
"You might want to take something to cover your excitement…I mean…your tackle is…" her voice trailed off, Reno looked at her and looked down, he blushed and grabbed a cushion. "I'll tell them I was feeling cold…" he mumbled sheepishly and left the building. Yuffie smiled and lay her head back on the pillow, she then went into a deep sleep.
---
Reno arrived in Sector 4, he spotted Zack and the other group standing beside Tseng's group. Zack tapped his foot impatiently when he saw Reno. "Well it's about time you showed up," he answered irritably, he looked down at the cushion, luckily Reno had become less excited and didn't have to use the cushion, he instead held it beside him. "Why the hell did you bring that cushion with you Reno?" said Zack.
"Just in case I feel cold," answered Reno tranquilly, Zack nodded and Tseng looked at Reno with annoyed eyes.
"OK, now we can finally discuss things, are the others back yet?" Tseng asked, scrutinizing the far end of the area they were in. Suddenly the other groups came running up to them, they all stood in a circle around Tseng, Tifa looked at Reno.
"Where's Yuffie?" she asked threateningly and worriedly.
"If you damn did anything to her Reno, I swear I'm gonna shoot this straight through your crotch!" said Barrett, loading his gun.
"What? I didn't do anything to her, she's at the hideout, she got shot by some damn f**king skinhead, ask Cissnei or Zack if you don't believe me!" said Reno, feeling annoyed.
"Oh, sorry Reno," Tifa apologised, Reno shook his head.
"It's ok, so, Tseng, what were you gonna discuss?" said Reno looking at Tseng, Tseng cleared his throat.
"About the skinhead our group encountered, he only mentioned that we were searching the wrong place, but no other further information was said from him, he just dropped dead in his own pool of blood," said Tseng, Elena nodded.
"That's exactly what the f**ker we met told us too!" said Zack hotly. Sora looked at him.
"So you guys met one of those killers as well? I was with Tseng, that guy hardly said anything useful, so I think we leave Midgar and search Hollow Bastion! They might likely be there! Kairi used to live in Hollow Bastion y'know! That's probably where they took them!" said Sora pleadingly, wanting to get out of Midgar as soon as possible to find Kairi and Isabelle. Zack stood and thought over it. Tseng agreed immediately. "Very well, let's move out then!" he answered, getting ready to leave Sector 8. Sora grinned triumphantly, following Tseng, Ducan had to stop to tie his shoelace so Marine waited for him with Elaine and Reno. When they were ready, they followed Tseng out of Sector 8.
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Hollow Bastion's town was a bit shabbier than Sora remembered, the walls had been damaged by what looked like shootings, less people trailed the town's path and there was no sign of Donald's Uncle Scrooge anywhere, he had removed his shop from the town completely. "Probably he moved to Traverse Town," murmured Donald. Sora nodded obediently, but had a bad feeling about it. Why were less people appearing here each day?
"Hey Sora, I'm gonna go down to Merlin's house and check things out, either way, the town's just gotten stranger," said Leon, and he ran ahead through the abandoned town. Sora stood next to Tseng, he looked around. "Not a very big area," he said eventually, Sora shrugged.
"It wasn't like this before," Sora answered flatly, "I think they might've been here."
"You mean to say, we lost them?" said Elena disappointingly.
"No, I dunno, we'll just have to split up again and search the place," said Sora and he followed Tseng's group toward the Rising Falls. Reno's group had to search The Crystal Fissure and onwards from there, the crystals gleamed as they entered the small crack, the walls were shining dark blue, the sun had escaped through the small cracks in the walls, making the place a rainbow colour from the reflection of the crystals. Elaine smiled at the welcoming company, she then removed her daze from the crystals to the surrounding area. No sign of the enemies in the Crystal Fissure, they moved on. The sun disappeared over the tall blue rocky walls, shadowing the area. Cissnei kept a sharp eye out for anymore skinheads, the place was eerily quiet, the dryness of the place was noticeable, no drop of rain hit these grounds for over two weeks. Reno pursed his lips, listening to the silence of the place, nothing was heard, nothing was seen. Empty. Soundless. Silent.
After minutes of searching, nothing was seen, they doubted even the most dangerous killer would find this place a worthy hideout for them to lay low. Elaine sighed.
"For god's sake! We've been searching and searching but it only seems we were searching for nothing but air in this place! What a great threat to Hollow Bastion!" said Elaine sarcastically, Cissnei sniggered at her sarcasm.
"You've got a point there, Elaine," said Cissnei, "the others probably found something, but us, heh, we found absolutely nothing!"
"Absolutely zilch!" said Ducan happily, holding his M6 close to him and cradling it like his own child. He then accidentally fire it at the rocky wall, it blew it up, sending piles of large boulders flying down over their heads, Elaine screamed.
"DUCAN YOU IDIOT! LOOK WHAT YOU DID NOW!" she shouted frantically.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!" Ducan wailed pathetically.
Some of the boulders smashed against the other wall across from them, causing that wall to give way and more boulders to come rolling down towards them.
"Let's get out of here!" shouted Cissnei, running towards the Crystal Fissure with the others. Ducan dragged Marine towards the Crystal Fissure, a boulder caught hold of her boot, she fell to the ground. "Ducan!" she screamed.
"Marine! Hold on, I'm coming back for you!" said Ducan worriedly, he removed the boulder off her boot and tried to help pick her up, when suddenly more boulders came crashing towards them.
"Ducan…" Marine said, unable to say anymore, she hugged Ducan tightly, waiting for her demise. Ducan held her close.
"WAIT! DUCAN! MARINE! GET OUTTA THERE!" Elaine yelled, but it was too late, the opening in the Crystal Fissure was blocked by a large boulder, they heard loud bangs, and then silence when the boulders had lain on the dull ground. Elaine clapped a hand to her mouth, she couldn't believe it, she refused to believe it. Ducan and Marine…not coming back.
"Oh god, what will Aurora say when she finds out Marine's dead along with Ducan," Elaine whispered, tears appearing in her eyes and they rolled down her cheeks and dripped on the dark floor. Reno stood in the background, his eyes closed, he felt he was somehow responsible for their death. He banged his head on the wall.
"What the hell are you doing to yourself Reno?" Cissnei asked, Zack was silent, Reno stopped banging his head on the wall.
"I just can't believe I let this happen to them! Why didn't I help them?" he said angrily, Zack shook his head.
"There was nothing we could do, if we all stopped there like sitting ducks, neither of us would be coming back right?" said Zack forlornly.
"I guess so," said Reno, he still couldn't help feeling guilty when they entered the lonesome town once more. Tseng's group arrived in an hour, he looked puzzled at the short amount Reno had.
"Reno--where are--?" Aurora asked, not believing the obvious.
"A rockslide broke out when Ducan fired a shot at the rocky walls, boulders were falling everywhere, Marine got her boot stuck in one and Ducan went for her aid, but of them were most likely crushed underneath the boulders---" he said, pausing, "I'm sorry," he added sadly.
"Oh--!" she spat out, her tone changing to a miserable one, she let out a sob. "No wonder I felt as if part of me was missing, oh god, Marine, Ducan!" she sobbed, clinging onto Axel, who couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"You mean to say--hell no," said Axel quietly, frowning, he shook his head in disbelief. "No you're joking right? Ducan? No, no," said Axel, half-laughing, he then stopped when he seen the look on their faces. "I see…damn," said Axel sorrowfully.
The others appeared suddenly, blood shining on their clothes and faces, Barrett looked as though he was about to shoot someone in a minute. "Those motha f**kin skinheads will face hell once I'm through with them!" cursed Barrett, thank goodness Marlene and Denzel were at home where they couldn't hear Barrett.
"What? They were here too?" said Sora nervously.
"Yup, 'bout two or three of them where we were standing, shitting the place and everythin' with their bloody damn guns," said Geoffrey angrily, Tifa nodded.
"The skinheads that we killed said this before they died, "If you're searching for the two chicks we kidnapped, you're searching the wrong place, we've taken them to a place where even the dead would find pleasing," what the hell is that? Some kinda code?" said Tifa, flexing her blood-covered arms.
"I dunno, but maybe we should check in Traverse Town next-"
"No, Sora," said Rhianne.
"What? Why not?" Sora asked, feeling annoyed.
"Next place, Terrace." she answered agitatedly.