Crimson Fury
Shakai: sorry for the wait:cringe: but thanks for the reviews! 7 in one chapter. I know there is an email going round about stories being deleted for posting reviewer feedback, but I really love getting feedback when I review so I figured you guys would too. So,
Kiyenna: Thanks a lot! Heh, it rocked :makes Bill and Ted air guitar motion:
Thymine: I'm glad you thought it was interesting, and here is the next chapter, sorry it took a while.
Empress-Eerian-Sadow: umm heh, I've been playing Jak 2 too much, and Vincent is hot, plus he understands poor poor Reno. I hope this chapter isn't too boring, as it won't hold as much action as the others.
Kingleby: lol, your reviews are always VERY enthusiastic, I look forward to them very much, 'fraid I haven't played Shadow Hearts, but I have heard of it...Can't remember where though.
Ryu Thorne: Reno will be back to his cocky perverse self eventually, I just want to put him through a lot more emotional trauma before I get there. Thanks for the review, Reno is my fave charrie as well, and Chaos is just so awesome that them combined is kool :) I salute you back for writing such a fun-to-read review:salutes:
Soren Talen: wow, that was a nice review, made me feel all warm and tingly inside that someone likes it. I don't want to make you cry so I'll write a lot :) hope you enjoy this chapter.
Desbrina: sorry:cringes: here's the chapter now, it's pretty long so I hope it makes up for the wait.
Sorry to all those who reviewed chapters before this one, review again and I'll give you feedback.
Reno: Shakai owns a My Chemical Romance poster and a tin of hotdogs. Final Fantasy isn't on that list so she doesnt own it.
Vincent lay Reno silently on the couch in Reeve's office. He had carried him all the way here on his own, as everyone else was too afraid he would turn into that demon thing again. Turning around he glared at the rest of the group, who had effectively abandoned the young man. Reno groaned, awakening, and everyone in the room immediatley grabbed their breath.
"nngh, did anyone get the number of that chocobo cart?" He groaned, attempting to sit up. Vincent gently pushed him back down.
"You're still weak Reno. I know what you feel like after a transformation." Reno only comprehended half of what Vincent said.
"Transformation?" He asked pushing the pale hand away and sitting up on the sofa. Finally he noticed the other people in the room. They were all looking either bruised or exhausted staring at him with shock and wariness on their faces, from Tifa to Red to Rude to Elena to Yuffie to ...Tseng? Groaning, Reno buried his head in his hands, placing his eyes on his palms.
"You okay?" Yuffie asked, seated on the other arm furthest away from him of the sofa. Reno nodded, head still in his hands,
"Yeah, but I'm either dreaming or hallucinating." He took another look at the people gathered around, now their faces held concern. "Definitely hallucinating." He muttered. Tentatively Elena walked over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Why do you think that Re?" She asked in a motherly tone. Reno looked up at her.
"Because none of the AVALANCHE guys here have killed me, and that Tseng is stood over there." Reno flopped back down on the sofa and placed his hands over his eyes again. "Wake me up when I'm back in reality figment of my imagination Lena." Elena stared wide eyed as the red haired man fell back asleep. Silence reigned across the room.
"Would someone please tell me what happened? And why the hell Reno's like Vincent?" Tseng asked, his voice took the same ordering tone he used to his Turks back in Shinra's day. As one, AVALANCHE turned to Cloud to explain, whilst Elena looked down, and Rude remained indifferent.
"Okay, how much do you know after the Temple of Ancients?" The swordsman asked, Tseng closed his eyes a moment before answering.
"Nothing. The last thing I remember before waking and seeing him," here he shot a glare at Vincent, "Was Sephiroth laughing, over me and giving the key to you. I assume you defeated Sephiroth?" Cloud nodded, processing the information, whilst Elena gasped.
"You, you mean AVALANCHE didn't kill you?" Her cheeks began to grow a rosy colour, "And, we-I went after them looking for revenge. I'm sorry guys." She looked extremely ashamed, on the verge of tears. Yuffie moved forward and enveloped Elena in a hug.
"Bygones be bygones eh? Besides, you could never beat us anyway, and it was all good practice for when we whooped Seph! Nyuk Nyuk!" Elena nodded and Yuffie released her. All eyes went back to Cloud who cleared his throat.
"Well, we all thought you died, and it's a miracle you didn't, We continued our journey to track Sephiroth which led us to the land of the Cetra, where-where... We lost Aeris." He spoke sadly, her death still deeply affecting, looking around it was clear it affected them all.
"No... How?" Tseng choked. He looked pleadingly at Cloud, hoping that it wasnt true.
"Sephiroth. He then summoned Meteor, which was going to kill us all. We went all over the world, searching for a way to defeat him and stop it, Shinra was destroyed and we came to a stand off with Sephiroth at North Crator. We killed him and Holy was summoned which stopped Meteor from destroying the World. It destroyed Midgar though, where the Turks were."
"How did you survive that anyway?" Yuffie butted in, unable to quench her curiosity since they joined forces with the Turks." Tseng turned to Elena but it was Rude who answered.
"It was Reno. We were on Midgar streets before Meteor hit and we thought we were going to die, panic and fighting was everywhere, the plates were falling, everyone just wanted to live. Elena got swept away in the crowd and I had resigned myself to death. Only Reno kept fighting. He fears death more than us anyway. He climbed onto a ledge, and fired his gun. Told them that they were all going to die if they didn't calm down and used his Turk codes to let them all into Shinra's underground labs, then he went out and tried to save as many stragglers as he could, getting hit by debris as he did. He saved us all and almost died in the process." Rude folded his arms and remained silent again, each person wondered whether Rude actually spoke that much, and whether Reno actually cared about anyone other than his fellow Turks. Apparently so.
"Oh..." Tifa breathed, watching the "hero" sleep.
"Ok. After Meteor the Turks and AVALANCHE met near Junon, and after a strange set of occurrences we agreed to a truce. As we both wished to see Midgar restored. Reeve rebuilt Shinra without Mako or SOLDIER or anything like that, it was just helping the people who survived to have somewhere to live. Barret went back to Coral with his daughter and Cid went to Rocket Town and married Shera. The rest of us helped build Midgar, the Turks included. I don't know too much about it but Reeve asked Reno to investigate a mako leak on the Glacier. Elena, being Vice President of Neo Shinra rang him up to check progress and heard fighting." Cloud was interrupted by Reno moaning in his sleep, the group listened slowly as he began mumbling words.
"...srry, didn mean it, mum, mum...don't hate me. Hojo did it, sorry...sorry, Hojo!" He jerked awake. Gasping and clutching his left leg. Reno realised he was being stared at and took a few calming breaths, regaining his composure again. "...Hi?" He asked, hoping they would stop staring.
"Good timing Reno. We were explaining to Tseng what happened after the Temple of Ancients, but we don't know everything." Reno nodded, obviously not listening to a thing Cloud said. One word tugged his mind though,
"Tseng?" The Wutain ex Turk stepped forward into Reno's line of sight. "Holy shit!" Reno swore. "So earlier wasn't some really messed up dream? How the hell are you not dead!" He demanded.
A while later when Reno was informed of the mission Elena, Yuffie and Vincent had undertaken when he was in the hospital Cloud asked him the question everyone had been itching to know the answer to.
"What happened to you?" Reno sighed,
"The whole thing huh?" Cloud nodded, "Alrigh'. Everything went well, I'd got a few beers from Icicle Inn, the cute waitress gave me 20 discount." Cloud coughed loudly, "Right right, I headed up the glacier and got attacked by the dog and water squirter. Took me by surprise the bastards. I got Hydron with my rod then my PHS rang, Anubis was nowhere to be seen so I answered it, then the damn dog took me from behind. Woke up strapped to a table with that creep Hojo staring down at me like a shiteater. He did some pretty nasty shit to me, you all know how that freak is. He pulled out this weird poisoned gun eventually and jabbed it in my leg here." Reno paused and lifted his hospital gown slightly, revealing a jagged scar across his thigh. Nearly everyone's eyes widened,
"How did you survive that?" Red asked, who had remained silent up to now. Reno snorted.
"I didn't." Immediately there was an uproar in the room. Outbursts ranging, from "Impossible!" to "you okay?" Reno watched them all,
"Yeh, I'm okay Yuffie, Hojo obviously decided when I was...out of action, that he wasn't ready to relinquish his fun yet. I think he gave me some potion and voila I found myself strapped to his little fun table again. Something freaky happened though, I felt perfectly better, no, I felt better than better. Either he gave me uber super potion or it reacted differently to the poison, but I found I had more strength than I've ever had, and better senses. Although there's been this strange feeling in my head, like, I dunno..."
"Like there's a different presence in there." Vincent finished for him, Reno stared at him wide eyed.
"How? How did you know?" He gasped, Vincent just waved his claw.
"I think we'll discuss that after you finish your story." Reno nodded,
"So, since I knew I wasn't completely powerless I began questioning him, he told me about those goons with him, how he survived, basically the whole monologuing thing, because he told me...oh gods!" Reno jumped up off the couch, surprising the group.
"What is it Reno?" Tseng asked.
"Oh shit, Yuffie, please tell me you didn't let Hojo's goons take your materia?" Yuffie took her breath sharply, sensing the urgency in his voice she didn't question.
"We were attacked in Mideel. Later I found my materia gone..." Reno cursed again.
"What Reno?" Elena asked, he ignored her,
"Cloud! All your blood is either in you or on the battlefield, and not in Hydron's hands, right?" He was practically on top of the saviour of the World. Sadly, and slowly Cloud showed Reno a bruise on his arm, where a red pinprick could have been seen. Reno unleashed a stream of curses that even Cid would have winced at.
"What in Leviathan's name is wrong with you!" Yuffie yelled. Reno ceased storming and sat down on the couch, looking dejected.
"There was no Mako leak. Hojo had it planned from the beginning, to lure a Turk to him. He took my blood. He plans to resurect this evil, stronger than WEAPON, showed me this spell, needed my blood. Shit! How could I have let this happen." He punched the cushion in frustration.
"What evil Reno?" Rude asked quietly.
"It was on a parchment, some prophesy and ingredients to bring it back. Said it was called Jayd." At the last word Rude, Tseng, Vincent and Red XIII gasped aloud.
"You've heard of it?" Cloud asked, Tseng nodded,
"Hojo had a file on her, as Turk leaders we had access to it. He wished to use her instead of Jenova, but Jenova cells were all he could find. I suspect that's how you know Vincent." Vincent confirmed his suspicion.
"Grandpa told me stories about her, I thought it was myth though, I didn't think such evil existed." Red said in a hushed voice. That left Rude.
"When Re' was in the hospital, there was a woman, Jasla."
"I remember her!" Reno blurted, "Said some spooky shit." Tifa shushed him, wanting to know.
"She told me the story of Jayd, Jasla herself was around in the time of Jayd, she heard the prophesy from Shiva herself and was to wait until the one person who could destroy Jayd came about. Then she told me the Prophesy." He told them. Cloud folded his arms and put one hand on his chin, his "thinking pose".
"Ok, so there someone out there who can destroy Jayd and all we need to do is to find them and hope they will be able to kill her."
"Or we could go to the Glacier and stop Hojo before he summons her." Yuffie chirped in, Cloud nodded his acknowledgement.
"We could be too late. I think the best idea is to find this destined one. Rude, can you recite the prophesy?" Rude avoided telling them that he already knew the "destined one" and began repeating the Prophesy he had memorised.
"By the planets defence the gem shall come
the Jayd shall form what is unknown
all who face her fear or wrath
shall know the truth.
Nothing can quell this demons urge,
for those who try, their life is purged
Rage and terror form this land
For none can stop thine destructive hand
None but one, the aqua flame
The hunter shall soon become the hunted
And neither shall remain standing."
Noone spoke. Each absorbing the information in their own way. One voice broke the silence.
"Please tell me, ol' buddy ol' pal, that your friend did not mean me." Rude didn't move or say anything. "Oh that's great. effing great. Why won't life cut me a bit of slack. What the hell did I do to deserve this!" He whined, although as soon as he said it he knew it was the wrong thing. Tifa was glaring daggers at him
"What did you do to deserve this! I'll tell you what the hell you did Reno. You killed thousands of people! You were a heartless bastard who tried his best to stop us. Us whose lives were disrupted by you and your company! What did we do to deserve Aeris's death! Do you think we wanted to traipse over the world in search of a powerful madman, while you went and killed innocent people and tried to stop us. What did you do to deserve this? Ha, you deserve everything you got. Heartless bastard."
"I don't need this shit. Especially from you Lockheart. Are there any clothes around? I'm outta here." He stood abruptly and walked out of the room.
"Nice going Teef. This guy is meant to be the new Saviour of the World and you go and piss him off. I'm surprised he didn't turn demon on ya." Yuffie commented. Tifa glared.
"Tifa... I don't want to offend or anything, but how many people do you think died when the Mako reactors blew. Shinra had a member of his family and if Reno hadn't blown the plate he and them would have been killed and another Turk made to do it. He had no choice." Elena said sternly. Everyone expected Tifa to blow her top at Elena but instead she looked meek.
"I, didn't know. Should I go apologise?" Elena shook her head but Yuffie answered.
"Wouldn't he just go crazy at you this soon. I'll go talk to him and use my cheery ninja skills to cheer him up. Nyuk." She hopped out of the room leaving the rest to ponder her actions.
"Right. If we're going to stop Jayd, we'll need some transport. I'll ring Cid. Everyone else, get some rest and sort your equipment out. We set off tomorrow. I assume you're with us on this?" Cloud asked the remaining Turks who looked to Tseng.
"Reno's the main man in this. Of course we're involved."
Reno was sat on a rock outside Reeve's office, he had stolen a pair of pants and a jacket from Rude's tent nearby. They were far too big for him and hung loosely off his thin frame, just like his oversized Turk suit used to be. He stared into the darkness, lost in his own thoughts of the information that had been given to him. Tseng, his boss was not dead. He was alive and looking almost healthy. He himself was destined to destroy something that was stronger than WEAPON, and that "presence" which Vincent had called it had been getting stronger. He wasn't sure what to make of anything.
"Hey," A soft voice called out. "This side of the rock taken?" Reno shook his head and the Wutain ninja sat herself down. There was silence between the two as Reno became lost in his thoughts again.
"This must be a lot to take in huh." She said lightly. Reno shrugged.
"I'll get over it. Being all superpowerful and the "destined one" this should be a walk in the park." Yuffie frowned.
"Well, oh destined one. You're not walking in the park on your own. You've got the Turks and AVALANCHE backing you up, and that's a force to be reckoned with."
"Why are you trying to comfort me anyway?" Reno suddenly snapped, turning to face her, cerulean eyes ablaze. "I'm a murderer, the kind of guy your father warns you to stay away from, and on that subject, I thought you were all lovey dovey with Valentine?" Yuffie's eyes grew cold.
"You think I'm out here because I'm attracted to you! You are an obnoxious pig. I'm here because I figured you might need cheering up, or to talk to someone who won't judge you." She practically yelled at him, getting up off the rock and heading back inside.
"Wait." Reno called after her. "You're right. I do need someone to talk to, and usually the only female who volunterrily talks to me, with the exception of Elena, wants me out of my pants." Yuffie sighed and sat back on the rock.
"Okay, I'll stay, but only if you don't tell me again about your usual conversations with women." Reno laughed, it was rather hollow but a laugh all the same.
"Deal. And you're not allowed to talk about materia." Yuffie pretended to look upset.
"Well, there goes my conversation topic. You wanna tell me how you feel? Get it off your chest?" Reno sighed.
"I hate expectations, y'know. When I was a slum rat, I was expected to be a player and to be common. When I became a Turk, I was expected to be sophisticated and smooth. Now, I'm supposedly going to destroy evil and save the world. Everyone is going to expect me to act like chocobo head in there." Yuffie was shocked at the level of emotion and bitterness in his voice.
"Maybe people will expect you to do things differently. A hero can't kill people whenever they annoy him. And a hero shouldn't swear in public. But, you know what. Why can't you be the anti-hero instead. Don't change because other people expect you to. You're Reno. So act like Reno." Reno smiled,
"So this means I won't have to dye my hair yellow and use copious amounts of gel in the mornings?" The ninja laughed,
"Especially so. Although I don't think he gels it."
"No way is that "do" natural."
"I think it is."
"It's impossible!"
"But it is!"
"It defies the very law of gravity!"
"I'm telling you it's natural!"
"How much you wanna bet?"
"Bet you 50 gil."
"You can do better than that."
"Awright. 100Gil."
"Tch, is that it?"
"Fine then Mr I'm so confident. 1000Gil."
"Deal."
The pair were laughing and joking at this stage. Arguing good naturedly and Reno's previous bad mood almost forgotten.
"We going to ask if it is or not?" Yuffie asked. Reno gave her a trademark smirk and jumped off the rock, extending a hand to help her jump off, although he knew perfectly well that she could manage.
The two walked into Reeve's office with a smirk on each face. They ignored everyone else, from Tifa's outraged glare at the pair, to Elena's suggestive wink. They walked straight up to Cloud and Yuffie demanded with a now serious look on her face.
"Do you gel your hair in the mornings?" Cloud was obviously confused. He stumbled to answer when he noticed Yuffie furiously shaking her head and Reno nodding.
"er...Sometimes."
"Ahah!" Reno yelled. "I win! Fork it over!" Yuffie scowled.
"But his hair is like that everyday, so it is natural even when he doesnt wear gel. So I win!"
"Nu huh!" Reno countered. "I win!"
"No. I win!"
"No. I WIN!"
"It's me!"
"No, it's me!"
Cloud still looked confused so Tifa took him by the arm and led him gently away from the room. Everyone else looked on amused, but a half hour later when Reno and Yuffie were still arguing. They all left smirking.
Reno: Ok. I know this chapter had a lot of diaglogue.
Shakai: But I needed to fill in some blanks and cover up some plot holes with a floral tablecloth and twigs.
Reno:... You're strange you know that?
Kumagoro: PICO PICO!
Reno: what the hell!
Shakai: Isn't he cuuuute such a widdle cuutie. :hugs stuffed pink rabbit:
Kumagoro: shiny shiny shiny, review pico. KuMAgoro.
Reno: save me from this madhouse.
Yuffie: I WIN!
Reno: Review please. They're inspiration to all writers. Shakai included.