A/N: After such a long time, Cloud finally makes a formal appearance-much different from those quick glimpses of him in fight scenes in the previous chapters. This time around, he's actually going to be involved and things are heating up.
Words of warning to those of you who detest violence and feel uncomfortable reading it. There's a part here that contains graphic violence, so if you're one of those pre-mentioned people, I suggest you skip the part with the basement.
Chapter 48: Capture
Normal POV
DAY 19
It was really common knowledge that Cloud never answered his phone, but this time around, Rufus was really hoping the young man would have the sense to answer his phone call. For once, couldn't a miracle happen? It kept ringing on the other line and still no answer. Sure enough, another one of his calls was sent straight to Cloud's voice mail.
Rufus sighed. Why was he being so difficult? Ending the call, he quickly dialed the landline number for Seventh Heaven. The line still kept ringing, and the only difference was that, this time, someone actually picked up.
"Hello, Strife Delivery Service. You name it, we deliver." Tifa Lockhart. Of course.
"Ah, Tifa. Greetings. Is Cloud in?"
"May I ask whose calling?"
"It's Rufus Shin-Ra... I was wondering if Cloud were around, I've been meaning to speak to him." He stated his purpose, randomly doodling on a blank sheet of paper.
"Okay... Hold on."
vVvVv
"Cloud!" Tifa called as she descended the staircase straight from the blonde's study. "Someone's on the phone for you." She said, seeing him sitting on the dining table, an untouched sandwich on a plate.
"Who is it?" Cloud asked nonchalantly.
"It's Shin-Ra. I thought you wanted to talk to him." Tifa reasoned when Cloud gave her a dry look.
"Tell him I'm not here..." He said, and then turned back to his uneventful staring at his food—as if he expected the piled wheat bread to actually move into his mouth.
Tifa folded her arms across her chest. "Cloud," she sighed heavily. "He already knows you're here. You might as well just talk to him. He's waiting on the phone upstairs."
Cloud snorted. He was not in the mood to discuss Rufus's Remnant search developments. Jenova had been handed over to Shin-Ra to be disposed of, and Cloud trusted that they had done their part of the job, and knew that even if the Remnants were still scurrying about, they were undoubtedly forced into hiding. So why did Rufus suddenly call him out of the blue? Very unlikely that he just called to chat.
"Cloud," Tifa grumbled, still waiting for him to stand up.
Without another word, Cloud sighed, stood up, and trudged his way upstairs; fully intending that Rufus suffer long waiting hours as much as Tifa had forced a heavy burden on his shoulders to actually talk to the president.
vVvVv
"It's me..." Cloud remarked gruffly, not in the mood for polite talk.
"Cloud... I think you'd be pleased to know we have interesting developments going on."
"And those would be?" Cloud reached for a chair and sat back.
"We have found the Remnants' locations and I was wondering if we could ask for your assistance in capturing them. One of my Turks had reported that they're staying in Bone Village... not very far from their former base."
That statement had the blonde thinking. Was it really worth it? To put an end to the remnants of Sephiroth had been his initial goal since the brothers had first attacked him out in the plains. Strangely though, after finding out Ria's treachery and the Remnants' escape, Cloud hadn't cared about them ever since they found Jenova's remains and handed it over to Shin-Ra. Rufus never told him that she had been destroyed, but Cloud was counting on it, and he already went as far as to trusting the company that had once been their enemy.
What was he thinking? Of course it was worth it...
"Capturing them? Why not just dispose of them?" Cloud suggested flatly.
Rufus sighed on the other line. "Cloud, I have a proposal for you... And if you're willing, you could be a part of it."
"What proposal? And capturing the Remnants mean you want them breathing. Why do you want them alive?" The blonde approached the statement slowly, his voice already being stained with slight agitation.
"My company and I resolved to help rebuild our world. And I have found a wonderful use for those Remnants. Those two, well, they'll be easy to use, and not much after that, we'll dispose of them, but Kadaj... he can be a vital instrument to our well thought-of plan." Rufus remarked slyly.
Okay, now Cloud was suspicious. "What are you going on about?"
"It may not sound reasonable at first, but just hear me out, and I think you'll be able to understand." There was a long pause. And then: "Sephiroth will come back..."
"What?!" Cloud nearly shouted, getting to his feet on instinct upon hearing the Nightmare's name pass through Rufus' lips. "You're not serious!" He snarled through gritted teeth.
"Cloud! Hear me out! There's a logical explanation," Rufus chided, but...
"I guess you really have lost your sanity. Bringing him back can only happen in Kadaj's wildest dreams. Why would you want someone like him back? What about all those children infected with the stigma?" Cloud could've broken the phone in his grip.
"It may sound crazy, yes, but I've found a way to make him of great use to us. Because this Sephiroth will now be under my control. He is not the original, but a mere replica that is designed to copy the attributes of the original. His authenticity is still in question, and I would need Kadaj's whole being to complete him," Rufus explained almost exuberantly.
"It's still too dangerous! How could you go as far as to put the people's lives in jeopardy again? You and I know it's never easy if he exists!" Cloud interjected, seeing Rufus' point but clearly detecting a defective flaw that could result to another catastrophe.
"You don't understand... Give this a chance, Cloud. It could be our only way to fully restore the planet. The original can never come back now. Jenova is already gone..." Rufus tried to reason, but there was really no stopping Cloud.
"How long until he's completed?" The blonde asked blatantly.
"Probably a week or so if I get the Remnants now. My scientists are working on him in our new building," Rufus answered, ignoring Cloud's rudeness.
"This'd better work. I'm putting it into probation. If it's not working out, I'll dismantle your newly formed clone bit by bit, and no one will stop me. I won't let the planet get in contact with danger again."
Cloud spoke with such determination that it was even enough to send shivers running down Rufus' spine to hear the dangerous note in the ex-SOLDIER's voice—even if it was through the phone. He hadn't much to say and was about to ask Cloud something when the line suddenly went dead. And just like that, their conversation made an abrupt ending.
vVvVv
Rufus sat in his office chair, quite agitated and uneasy. He had to do this quick so the Remnants could be submitted to experimentation and it would be all over; his genius plan would be complete. The reports about Ria's stabilized health improvement was very uplifting and Rufus knew he wanted this done faster. If anyone else knew the cure to the stigma, Kadaj would, and he just needed to transmit the Remnant's thoughts into the replica and the whole thing would be kicked into action.
All of a sudden, his phone rang. He picked it up to find out that it was Reno.
"Sir, one of them just got home. Kadaj and Loz are already inside the house. Should we strike now?" Reno inquired.
Rufus sighed. "Strike them at will and be quick enough that they don't have the chance to slay anyone of you."
"Yes sir!"
Rufus hung up, and closed his eyes as he reclined against the chair. His Turks better do this correctly before Cloud should decide to stop them in their plans.
vVvVv
Kadaj had gone upstairs to his room and flopped down face first on his mattress. Another day had gone by without doing anything. It was near two in the afternoon already and things weren't looking very good. Yazoo had just returned with a bag of food, and Loz must still be sitting on one of the couches. This dead town was about as useful as being useless. Kadaj sighed at his train of thought. Shin-Ra was still after them. Why couldn't that damned company just leave them alone?
The sound of the front door being banged open got Kadaj to his feet. Slowly, he opened the door overlooking the upstairs hall and crept outside, hiding in a corner. The view was barely visible and he slowly took out his sword, using the blades as a mirror to see what was going on. Shin-Ra soldiers. He should've known, and idly wondered if they'd seen Loz yet.
Disappearing in a cloud of black mist, Kadaj went down the stairs silently, smirking with slight amusement as some of the soldiers' stance wavered at the change of atmosphere. His mist form had always sent ominous messages to intruders... and he loved it.
Three soldiers in black uniforms carrying guns were in the dining room, and Loz wasn't there. Neither was Yazoo. They weren't in their room because surely, they would have heard the commotion and might have gone out too.
Kadaj decided to check the basement, and knew without a doubt that Shin-Ra could be down there as well. Once again, the change in the air was evident, a few soldiers shifted about, eyes darting.
"You feel that?" One of them asked the other.
"Yeah... It sure is colder in here." The second one replied, hesitantly kicking over a tower of boxes.
"I don't like it. Have you checked everything?" The first one asked, glancing behind his back occasionally.
"Not yet. We're not supposed to leave our post remember?"
At this moment, Kadaj spotted a flash of silver behind one of closets situated in a dark corner of the room. It really was a good thing that the lights here were crappy. The basement was cramped with certain objects, but none of them hindered Kadaj as he made his quiet way to Yazoo who had Velvet Nightmare cocked and ready to take down the two men if they ever neared him. Yazoo felt it too; a cold but familiar chill in the air that practically screamed 'Kadaj'... And when the coolness had gotten stronger almost as if it was next to him, Yazoo now knew without a doubt that this was his little brother.
"Kadaj..." he whispered in a very very low voice.
The Remnant leader materialized from air, hidden perfectly next to him. "Where's Loz?" The younger asked.
"Somewhere outside, I think..."
They were forced to shut up when the two soldiers came nearer toward them. Kadaj and Yazoo shared a look that said Kadaj would be the one to take this kill. They just couldn't afford being discovered because of Velvet Nightmare...yet. They both waited and when he was near enough, Yazoo grabbed the first soldier and covered his mouth, keeping a firm arm around the man's chest and pressing hard, cutting off his ability to breathe, and the second one was already headless, blood spilling from the base of his neck as his fallen body made its unhappy grave among the dust bunnies on the floor.
Yazoo loosened his hold on the man when Kadaj came and was quick enough to slit the soldier's throat, effectively shutting him up. The brothers then hastily exited the basement and slowly peeked around the area, seeing more soldiers than before had entered their little haven.
"Loz?" Yazoo spoke lowly, seeing the man creeping through the back door.
And it all happened in a blur. Loz had attacked one of them and so triggered a loud open fire that riddled the kitchen full of bullet holes. Yazoo and Kadaj joined in the fight, the youngest dismantling a band of soldiers at his descent. Yazoo, firing an ominous round of bullets that killed almost all of the soldiers situated in the dining room, but more kept coming.
They fought as best as they could, but alas, even in perfect condition, everyone had a certain flaw. Yazoo hadn't seen it coming and was painfully reeling back when he made contact with an electric rod's crackling shaft. It hurt like hell nonetheless, and it proved to be much distraction for a certain Shin-Ra soldier to hit him hard across the head. Yazoo managed to strike back—snapping the man's neck, and watching as he fell to the floor, robbed of his life.
Unbeknownst to the long-haired Remnant that a drug-induced dart had embedded itself into the back of his neck already, and it proved to be his subtle downfall. Yazoo still had time to flinch and slap the area where he had been shot before another dart had found its way to him and he was out on the floor.
Loz had seen what happened and made his way to his fallen brother, but that proved to be all he could do before he himself was taken down just as easily, for he went by instinct and failed to consider strategy. Kadaj, however, had held up longer compared to his two brothers. Soldiers rushed at him and he slashed his sword through the air with quick accuracy, killing every soldier within distance of his dual-bladed sword. Men from all sides kept him busy, and he easily went by instinct instead of wits. Bullets rained and a number of them managed to graze his arm. Kadaj hissed at the contact, slashing his sword in a clean arch across the air, beheading the shooter, but more came and he tried in vain to escape.
Kadaj leaped into the dining table and was toppled down by a three soldiers, sending the Remnant harshly to the floor, and he rolled away just in time, narrowly missing an electric rod from taking a shot at his head.
"Hey! They want him alive!" One of the men yelled.
"I wasn't gonna kill him!" The second one yelled back.
The Remnant didn't pay attention, but ran across the room towards the living room and for the first time, noticed his brothers' absence. Where were they? Distracted, he didn't have time to dodge and a solid punch was dealt to the back of his head. Quick as lightning, he aimed to kill the man, but his minor injury became a stumbling block to his goal, and it proved to be enough for the soldier to brutally stab him with the syringe that would no doubt put him to unconsciousness.
