To her it was like watching her body perform actions she had no idea what she as doing. Her fingers gripped the short blonde hair and held the body up. A fist struck against the female Turk's jaw. The Turk fell to the ground, bound by the various ropes wrapped around her body. The one who struck her glanced over to the other Turk. He was already wounded and couldn't do much, but take the torture that was soon to befall unto him.
"Just tell us where Mother is and you won't have to take this," one of three brother's spoke smugly. Who it was, she wasn't sure.
The Turk remained silent, he wouldn't betray the President. He would die before he let that happen. A grunt escaped his lips as he was punched in the nose. Then, came a kick to the gut. He lied on the ground. He thought himself pathetic for not being able to do anything, but he took it all. He took all of the torture from the girl.
"Stop it!" She screamed at herself as she watched her body hurt Tseng. "Why are you doing this!? Stop!" She tried to tackle herself to the ground, but she only went through her body. Tears streamed down her face as she couldn't do anything, but watch.
"Rufus…? You're alive?" Verna whispered. She tried desperately to reach out towards him but she couldn't.
"Do you remember the first time we met?" Rufus questioned beneath his cloth. "It was on the ship going to Costa del Sol from Junon. Heidegger gripped you roughly after Sephiroth snuck on board. Your helmet fell off and revealed that you weren't one of my men. You fled after that. Our actual formal introduction was at Rocket City after you hit Palmer with a truck."
"I remember," Verna's soul tried to talk to him, but he couldn't hear her as he tried desperately to break through.
"What ever happened to Dark Nation?" Rufus spoke. "Surely he's still alive? Did you give him up?"
"No!" Verna's soul walked over to him, "I wouldn't do that! He's still at Seventh Heaven, Tifa's bar. If only I didn't go outside."
Rufus sighed and he closed his eyes, "What about when Shin-Ra's building exploded? How did you react to that? Reeve told me that you were a mess at first, but you quickly got over it and started giving him orders. He said that you weren't going to let my company fall and that you were going to take care of Heidegger and Scarlet. I'm sorry you had to go through that."
Verna's hand twitched. Her eyes flashed to their normal hue. A hoarse sound whispered his name. Rufus's head shot up as he looked at her with a small dash of hope. Just as quickly as Verna broke through whatever magic that the remnant placed on her, her trance fell back over.
"I'm glad you're not lost," Rufus sighed as he realized he'd have to make painful memories make way.
"When I was in the explosion I really thought I was going to die. I fell to the ground from the impact, but something caught my eye. It was a mark my Father left to signal an escape route was there. I pressed it and I fell into darkness. I started laughing, though I'm not really sure why. Multiple bones were broken, but I still laughed until I fell face first into a new room. There was medicine and I took it without thinking. It made my vision blurry and I couldn't think straight. I had to put in a code to get out of the room. I tried almost every number combination that would be important to my father. Then, without thinking, I put in my birthday. The door opened, and there was Rude and Reno. I blacked out after that."
"You father must have cared a lot for you," Verna watched him silently. She had nearly given up getting back control over her body and would just let it happen. Now, she would just have to be content with listening to him.
"I see you did a good job of watching him, Verna," Kadaj spoke as he entered the incomplete building. "Good job. Now make sure no one gets past. I need to speak to the President alone."
Verna nodded her head slowly as she stood by the entrance. Kadaj walked past her and gripped the wheel chair as he moved the President to an elevator. As the gates closed and the elevator was out of eyeshot, Verna smirked to herself.
"Can't do that, you freak," Verna moved some hair out of her face as she quickly ran out of the building. Memories shooting past her.
"It seems like none of this is working," Rufus sighed and shifted in his wheel chair, standing up. Verna's body grabbed onto him and tried to force him down. He gripped her hands, "Sorry."
His head slammed against hers. A gasp escaped his lips from the mind-splitting pain that erupted form his skull. Verna fell to the ground as he fell to his wheel chair. He groaned as he placed a hand on his head, cursing himself for not just using his gun's end to do that. Weakly, he watched Verna for any motion, she was out cold.
"Might have over done it," he leaned against his chair and waited for her to wake up.
It took only a minute or two, before she stirred. A groan past her lips as she sat up clutching her head. Her eyes no longer resembled Sephiroth's, but they remained closed. The pain was throbbing from where Rufus hit her.
"Did you really have to do that?" Verna whined as she peaked over her knees at him, a red mark apparent on her forehead that most likely would turn into a bruise.
"It was the only way I could think of," Rufus smirked down at Verna. "It's nice to see you again."
Verna blinked realizing this was actually the first time she's talked to him since the explosion. A weak smile formed on her face, only to be interrupted by the trebling over her bottom lip. Realizing that she was on the edge of tears, she quickly got up and threw herself at the man in the wheel chair. Her arms wrapped their way around his neck as she gripped him into a hug. She buried her face in his shoulder to hide the tears flowing from her eyes.
Two strong arms wrapped around her back and held her firmly against him. A small smile was on his face. He closed his eyes and inhaled her scent, welcoming the familiar and yet distant feeling of being with her once more, but it wasn't complete.
Rufus placed his hands on Verna's shoulders and pushed her back. A hand traced its way from the small on her back to the back of her head, before applying force. Her head moved closer and eventually their lips met. She smiled against the kiss as their lips moved in harmony. Though, they had to break for air.
"We can't be seen like this," Rufus whispered against Verna's lips. "If any of the remnants come back, then they'll know that you're back. If that happens…" he trailed off. "You have to act like you're still under their control. Follow their orders, until there's something we can do about the situation."
"Reno, Rude!" Verna hollered out to the two Turks that were currently walking to the monument in Edge.
They turned around with their eyebrows raised. Reno grinned, "And what are you doing here?"
"That's a long story," Verna shook her head. "Thing is, Rufus wanted us to get everyone out of here and take out the remnants before things get messy."
"Glad you two had a reunion," Reno grinned and started hurrying off to the monument Shin-Ra built to put their claim on Edge. "Hurry up!"
Verna nodded and ran after the pair. Her eyes narrowed seeing people screaming and running for their lives. A yelp burst through her mouth as a shadow creeper leapt out of the ground in front of her. She fell backwards and stared up at the creature with fear. Her arm shot up in front of her to shield her face from the fiend leaping at her.
A snarl pierced the air and the pain never befell onto Verna. Her eyes opened and a smile graced her face. She quickly stood up and nodded her thanks to the panther that took out the monster. She glanced around seeing Reno and Rude talking with the two remnants, they'd take care of them. She redirected her vision towards the circle of children.
One after the other, Verna head butted the kids, much like how Rufus did her. After the kid fell to the ground, she slapped their face a couple of times to get them to wake up. Her attempts proved slow, too slow.
Clouds started to rotate, like something that would happen with a twister. Verna staggered backwards with Dark Nation by her side. Looking up at the sky she gulped as a monster was being summoned; Bahamut Sin.
"Damn it," Verna cursed as she saw it flying into the air, a ball of energy forming in its mouth. "Crap!" Looking around she grabbed the nearest kid and began running away.
"Is it after us!?" She heard Reno questioning his partner.
"I'm not looking!"
Verna glanced back, only to be thrown through the air. The kid she had fell out of her arms as she hit the pavement. Her skin ripped as the gravel rubbed against it roughly. Blood smeared below her from the scrapes that appeared. Her eyes clenched shut as she felt the pain racking her entire people until she slid to a halt. Once she felt her body stop sliding, she opened her eye and leaned up.
The monument was in ruins. Bahamut Sin was snarling above it, looking for something, but Verna couldn't be sure what it was. Kids were on the ground, seemingly unconscious. It didn't look like there were any fatalities. Then, her ears picked up on a kid screaming.
"Son of a bitch!"
"Denzel!?" Verna shouted as she quickly stood up, blood flowing down her face. She glanced over at the approaching summoned monster, "Shi—! Titan!" She thrust her arm forward and the red materia started glowing. A giant came forth and looked back at his master, "Nice to see you again, buddy. Now stop the kid from getting killed."
It nodded at her and lifted a large piece of debris before slamming it towards the dragon. In response, Bahamut started to retreat towards a construction site. Verna's eyes got a glimpse of several people chasing after it; AVALANCHE. They'd take care of it, she was sure. The only issue was the Shadow Creepers.
"Titan!" She hollered after her summon, "Protect the people from these monsters!" Verna picked up a long pipe of metal from the debris. "You too, Dark Nation."
With force, Verna swung her arm towards the head of a Shadow Creeper. It screeched and slid backwards. Quickly, it ran forward and attempted to bite her. Verna raised the pipe and fell backwards, barely holding its fangs at bay. She grunted and tried to press forward, but the monster was quickly overpowering her.
"Ah!" She gasped as her geostigma was starting to act out. Her vision grew blurry and her arms started to emit less force against the Shadow Creeper. Her eyes glanced around the area for help, but it was useless.
A bright light flashed, followed by an explosion. Verna's heart stopped, that's where Rufus was. A new force of will ignited from within her. She managed to push the monster off of her. With a sudden whack from her pipe, the creature turned to smoke.
She turned around quickly and began running to where the explosion took place.
"Rufus!" She screamed as she saw him falling.
His gun was shooting at Kadaj. The bullets missed. One managed to graze a small box. Kadaj grabbed the box and landed on the ground. He glared over past Verna, seeing a motorcycle heading his way. He ran, leaving the falling president. Still, two nets shot out and caught him.
Verna sighed in relief and fell to all fours. She panted from over exhausting her body. A liquid ran down her leg and made a black puddle next to her. She grimaced as the stigma's attack. A sharp pain exploded from it. She screamed and pathetically clutched her leg.
"Verna!" Someone shouted, but she couldn't make out who. Footsteps ran next to her and she felt someone hold her up. "Someone get my medicine!" They sounded panicked.
"Sir, you're all out."
"Then find some elsewhere!" He shouted, but there is a silence. "We have to help her."
"Sir," it was an entirely new voice. "I'm sorry, but we have to go after those three remnants and stop them before Sephiroth comes back."
Another silence.
"Fine," he gritted his teeth together and held Verna closer to him. "Just hurry up!"
"Sir…." It was a female's voice this time. She seemed hesitant leaving someone, who usually has his emotions together, losing it.
"Just go!" He shouted and picked up the nearing unconscious girl. He began walking. "Hang in there, Verna."