Before Crisis 2: The Crisis
CHAPTER 47 – THE MISSING PRESIDENT
January 13th [ ν ] - εγλ 0008, 4:50 PM
"He's not answering."
Reno slammed his PHS shut and turned to Rude, whose unblinking gaze was focused far ahead on the wrecked Shinra Building. Weapon's untimely attack had left the skinhead in complete shock, unable to process what had happened. The flash of the explosion had been brief, but large chunks of the Shinra Building were still falling to the ground after seven minutes.
"This can't be happening!" Reno cried, looking around in horror. "Rufus, if you're dead..."
Rude said nothing again, and the redhead looked up and followed his gaze. Moments later, he too fell silent. As Turks, the sight of ruined buildings was nothing special. But they felt very differently for the Shinra Building. Headquarters was much like a home to them and served as a place for all their memories when they were off-duty. The tough times they'd been through together; the times they got scolded by their superiors; the times they teased the girls and get teased back. Seeing the wreckage made Reno realize how much different his career would have been without the Shinra Building.
"Reno! Rude!"
They turned around and saw Elena from a distance, running towards them frantically. Her arms were flailing in the air as if their attention hadn't already been caught. Arriving to the platform of Midgar Station, she slowed down and doubled over in front of them, needing a moment to catch her breath.
"Hojo," she panted, pointing blindly at the space behind her. "I think I saw Hojo!"
The redhead glared at her. "Our headquarters' been shot by Weapon and you're worried about Hojo?!"
Elena's mouth stayed wide and she hesitated slightly, shaking her head. "No sir... you're right. This is all so terrible. Have you contacted the President... and all the execs?"
"Couldn't reach him..." Reno sighed and pulled out his PHS. "Let me try calling Heidegger."
Rude and Elena shared looks of concern as Reno waited for an answer.
"Yes?"
"Heidegger, what's going on?! Where are you? Is everyone okay?"
"Gya haa haa! Great news! We're still in one piece," Heidegger said. "The Sister Ray destroyed the barrier and Weapon!"
"But the President... where was he when Weapon attacked?"
"Gya haa haa! Don't worry about Rufus. There are other things to worry about."
Reno's eyes narrowed in disgust. Not only was Heidegger's laughter irritating as always, he could also sense deceit in his words. "Other things...?"
"Cloud and the others are in Midgar. Find them, and KILL THEM!"
"Why is Cloud in Midgar?"
"That Reeve is a traitor, I tell you! WE'LL HAVE ALL THEIR HEADS!"
Reno could practically feel spit flying out of his PHS. "What is Cloud doing in Midgar?" he asked again.
"Reeve said nothing else! Do your damn jobs, or Scarlet and I will have the Proud Clod clean you up. GYA HAA HAA HAA! Stay out of our way!"
The call ended abruptly, and Reno could have sworn he could still hear Heidegger's maniacal laughter. "Nothing seems to be makin' any sense..." he said to Rude and Elena. "Midgar's in ruins, the President's surely dead, and Heidi wants us to find AVALANCHE..."
"He's gone mad," Rude muttered.
"Something must have happened to Reeve, too..." Elena added with a sigh.
"Aaahhhh," Reno groaned and turned away from his colleagues. "Well... an order's an order, right?" He walked towards the edge of the platform and looked over his shoulder. "We're going to headquarters."
Suddenly, he jumped onto the train tracks. "Reno!" Elena squeaked in surprise. "What are you doing?!"
"The trains aren't running. We can get back faster this way."
She shook her head and followed Rude, who jumped down without the slightest hesitation. Looking to her left, she found that the tracks would lead them inside an underground tunnel, with bright lamps strapped along the wall. "It actually looks safer in there than out here," she said before joining her colleagues on the tracks. "So, uh, AVALANCHE is in Midgar? What are they here for?"
"Beats me..." Reno muttered, leading the way towards the tunnel. "No one knows what they're doing..."
"Maybe they came here to stop Shinra from firing the cannon," Rude guessed.
Elena let out a snort. "And how did that work out?"
"It's kinda weird," Reno said. "We've tried to kill them... more than once. And they've tried to kill us. And they're still makin' our lives miserable to this day. They're a pretty fucked up group, ya know? But I don't really hate 'em. I definitely did, at one point. But if you think about it... they're actually not so bad..."
Elena nodded in agreement. "They're not as cold-hearted as I once thought, that's for sure." She looked over to Rude for a second, wondering if he had anything to add. "Whatever they're doing," she went on, "They have some kind of plan. I just know. They're fighting to save the Planet, like all of us... just in a different way. Sure, they've done some bad things, but... we've done worse."
Reno stopped. "We've done worse?" he murmured, turning to her. "Care to elaborate?"
She rolled her eyes. "You blew up Sector 7, genius."
"Laney... I thought we went over this already. Can you not mention that?"
"I'm sorry."
Reno ignored her and kept walking. "AVALANCHE and Shinra share a common goal in stopping Sephiroth," Rude finally spoke up. "We may never know why they went against us in the Rocket Plan, but somehow, they clearly knew that it wouldn't have worked anyway."
"I still can't wrap my head around why they followed us to the Gelnika yesterday..." Reno exhaled.
"Yeah, what's up with that?" Elena asked curiously.
"Reeve had told them about it, surely," Rude answered. "Cid was also aware of all the weaponry that were in there."
"That reminds me." Reno stopped again and reached for his pocket. "Got a present for you, Laney."
"What's this?" Elena's eyes lit up with wonder as he handed her the item. "A bomb?"
"Ever heard of Mako S-Bomb 3000?" he asked, grinning. She shook her head.
"It has a blast yield of three tonnes," Rude answered with a smile of his own. "A blast radius of twenty-six yards."
"Wow, what the heck?" Elena exclaimed. "It's so light, too. Where'd you get it from?"
"The Gelnika, heh," Reno chuckled as he started walking again. "From yesterday's mission. Consider it your one-month-anniversary-as-a-Turk gift."
Rude nodded. "Use it wisely."
"Thanks guys," she laughed. "Though I'm... finding it difficult to put inside my pocket." She then remembered the goodies in her other pocket. "Hold on! I've got something for you guys, too."
"I was wondering what you've been chewing on..." Rude said as she pulled out the pouch of candy.
"Yep, it's candy. Want some?"
"I'm good," Reno said, focusing on the path ahead. "Didn't know you liked sweets."
"I can't help it sometimes. Rude?"
"I can't remember the last time I had candy," he mumbled impassionately. "But sure, toss me one."
Elena smiled. "What flavor?"
"Does it matter? They're all the same to me."
"Here, give me your hand." She walked up to him.
Rude grunted as the sweets were carelessly poured into his hand. "I asked for one, not ten..."
"Try it! It's good," Elena assured as she looked up, only to find Reno far ahead. "Hey, Reno! Wait up." Her voice echoed through the tunnel. When he didn't slow down, she ran towards him and shouted, "Are we even going the right way?"
"No shit," he yelled.
Catching up to him, she looked around her surroundings. "I wonder where these air ducts lead to."
"The Sector 8 Reactor. Another way to get to headquarters."
"Really..." she murmured, looking ahead once more. Her mouth dropped as something interesting caught her eye, and she quickly discovered that they were no longer alone. There were people ahead, but it was the red, feline-like beast that surprised her more than anything, its flamed tail illuminating the area.
She dashed forward to take a closer look. Soon enough, the humans turned out just as suspicious as the beast.
"Oh no! They're here!"
Sure enough, it was AVALANCHE; Cloud, Vincent, and Red XIII. Elena couldn't believe her eyes.
The three members of AVALANCHE turned around, not bothered by the female Turk's appearance. "What are we going to do?" she asked as Reno joined her side. "I think we can ignore our orders now."
"...Elena, don't act so weak," he grumbled.
She turned to him and opened her mouth to speak, but was cut off by Rude's cold voice.
"We're Turks, Elena," he said, stopping by her other side.
"...Yes sir. You're right."
The skinhead took a glimpse at Cloud first, and then Vincent. He touched his sunglasses and exhaled. "Come on, we've got work to do."
Reno wiped his forehead. "I'm not really up for it, but..."
"Our orders were to seek you out and... kill," Elena declared hesitantly. "Our company may be in turmoil, but an order's an order." She turned towards Rude and nodded. "That's the spirit of the Turks! Believe it!"
But their supposed enemies continued to stand there, not moving. Cloud stared her down nonchalantly, the awkward silence overwhelming everyone.
Why had their encounters always been so awkward? She couldn't take this any longer. "What are you doing!" she yelled. "Let's go!"
The swordsman responded with a shaking head. Elena gasped as he took a step back and mumbled, "No, let's not go."
"You showing pity!?" she cried out. "Don't take the Turks for fools!"
"Wait, Elena," Reno called out before she could step forward.
The blonde stared back at her colleague. "Reno! You're not violating the order... are you!?"
"Shinra's finished," he said firmly. "It's come down to this."
She turned to Rude to see if he would protest, but he simply looked down at his shoes. "Rude..."
"Elena, you were a great Turk!" Reno told her, and she felt her heart drop. Facing AVALANCHE once more, he took a step back and nodded to each of them. "Farewell. If we both survive... if we can save our lives..."
His voice faltered but there was nothing more he could say. Realizing that, he turned around and walked away from the enemy, fully expecting his colleagues to follow him.
"Remember the spirit of the Turks...!" Elena saluted to AVALANCHE before running off.
"Our mission's finished..." Rude murmured and followed suit.
There were many witnesses that saw the Weapon's fire strike the executive office, but no one knew exactly what happened in terms of who was missing or dead. To add to the trouble, the Turks couldn't confirm the safety of the rest of the staff because Shinra's management system had become a mess. Hundreds of Shinra personnel had given up days ago and left the company to be with their families, as soon as the estimated day of Meteor's impact was announced on the news.
The front entrance of the Shinra Building wasn't blocked off, but there was debris everywhere. Emergency respondents had shown up just as the Turks arrived, and the main lobby was quickly filling up with members from Shinra Rescue and Medical. Just watching the workers rushing about made Reno realize the urgency of the situation. He should have led Rude and Elena to sprint their way here, instead of taking a stroll along the train tracks.
"We'll need some supplies first," he said, looking at Elena. "Go to the storage room on Floor 2. There's a first aid kit and other healing supplies."
She nodded. "Yes sir."
Watching her run off, Reno and Rude turned towards the executive elevators. A large group of respondents had gathered there, waiting for the doors to open.
"There's no light," Rude noted, looking up at the glass structure. The elevators were not working.
"Well shit..." Reno pointed up the stairs towards Floor 3. "The staff elevators, then?"
Rude nodded and followed Reno. First and foremost, they felt they should confirm the safety of the President. They didn't believe a single word Heidegger had said about Rufus, that his well-being was of no concern following the Weapon's attack. If he was safe, surely he would have responded by now.
Reno sighed as he pushed the call button on the elevator panel. Surprisingly, he and Rude were the only ones here... the only ones to have realized that the executive elevators were broken. If that weren't the case, the others were most likely troubling themselves, climbing the stairs of doom to Floor 59.
But it seemed as though... that the stairs were the only way.
A long minute had passed and the Turks were still there, waiting. The power was on, but there was no sound past the elevator doors.
"This thing isn't moving," Reno groaned.
Rude observed a blinking light on the panel. "It looks like the emergency lock system was activated."
"They managed to get that working pretty well."
Reno and Rude sighed. They really didn't want to take the stairs. There had to be another way up.
"Reno, Rude. Take the stairs."
A voice behind them suddenly spoke. It was a voice that was all too familiar but they didn't turn around. Instead, Reno and Rude looked at each other blankly, as if to ask each other if they heard correctly. At the same time, they turned around and spotted him. A dark-suited man with long, black hair. A man who shouldn't be alive.
"Chief!"
"What's wrong?" Tseng asked, raising an eyebrow. He'd never seen his colleagues look so dumbfounded.
"You're alive..." Rude murmured, his voice faltering slightly.
"As you can see for yourselves. But now isn't the time to explain."
"Yeah..." Reno nodded multiple times. An explanation wasn't necessary; Tseng was alive! A huge grin crossed the redhead's face, and he realized that he'd never been happier to hand back the leadership role to his dear friend. He glanced at Rude and saw him holding back a smile.
"Tseng!"
A female voice rang out. The three turned around and found Elena running towards them. The youngest member of the Turks made no attempt to hide how happy she was to see Tseng. With a relieved cry, she went straight for him and threw her arms around him for a hug.
"Oh, come on, Elena," Reno whined, "You know I want to do that, too."
"No need to hold back," she said happily, releasing her hold on Tseng. "Go ahead and hug him!"
"I'll pass."
Tseng placed a firm hand on Elena's shoulder and looked at his three subordinates closely. "Come on. Time to get to work."
