Cloud-Gazer: Hehehe, glad you liked the fight scene! I'll totally take it as a compliment! Did you hope it was over? It's not over. I do hope you like the next part as much as the last haha. Comic relief is needed, I think! I don't want the story to be too serious, it's heavy enough at times as it is, right? Haha, I can see it happening in my head when Rude hits him over the head and the way he responds after that, it makes me laugh. Might sound really dumb having to laugh over my own writing, but I do - a lot XD I laugh over Ollie's antics a lot as well haha. So, let's move on and hope you like the next one as much as the last!
Chapter 228
"Rufus!" I almost ran into him when we made it outside.
He stood in the middle of the dark back-alley, waiting for us. At least, I presumed he was. Dark Nation was patiently sitting by his heel, it's eyes glowing in the night.
Rufus was casually holding his brutal double barreled gun by his side, his finger loosely on the trigger. "I see you've managed to salvage Rude," he said to the three of us as we filed outside and Reno slammed the steel door shut behind us with a loud bang. We walked over to Rufus, Rude slightly limping. "Very good."
Then the door was flung open, the metal banging against the wall behind it. Out stepped the man that had been playing with magic, a mean look on his already stern face. Though admittedly, the broken nose I gifted him somewhat ruined the image. The door slammed shut behind him as it rebounded off the concrete.
"Little shitheads," he said with a hiss, clearly having lost his sense of humor. "You don't know who you're –" He froze when his sights set on Rufus and his calm face. "Oh, great," the man said cheerfully. "It's King shithead himself."
Rufus narrowed his eyes in macabre amusement, one corner of his mouth curling into a cold smirk. "Sic him, boy," he then said calmly.
Dark Nation shot away from beside him, sailing passed us with a growl. The massive beast sank its deadly teeth into the man's throat and tore him down to the ground with him, ripping and tearing at every inch.
"Holy sh–!" I latched onto Reno's arm in shock, gripping onto him tightly. The man screamed in agony as he was slowly dismembered. "Ugh..." I turned my head away when a piece of liver landed on the ground near my feet with a splat. "Couldn't have just shot the guy..." I mumbled.
Reno grinned awkwardly, seemingly unsure whether to laugh or be disgusted by what he was seeing. My eyes landed on Rude, who stood swaying on the spot, looking extremely pale.
"Rude!" I let go of Reno and hurried over to him, but he hit the ground before I got to him.
There was a sudden sound of roaring engines and screeching tires, and at least seven black SUVs came speeding our way. They came to a halt beside the building, and men piled out of the open doors. Some carried knives, others chains or axes. There were more than a few guns. Still, I was unarmed and only Rufus was packing. Rude seemed to be okay for now, he was at least breathing, so I took a stance beside Reno, protecting Rude's body with our own. Rufus joined my other side, his gaze cold and detached. Though I knew that no matter how much of an asshole he was, he cared for Rude and would keep him safe. He glanced at me sideways before properly looking down at me.
"You look absolutely ravishing," he commented, his eyes roaming over my poorly covered form. "Or rather, ravished."
For a moment, I had forgotten what I was wearing, and inwardly cursed at the amount of skin I was showing, especially after being manhandled all night. I looked away from him in discomfort, eyes trained on the enemies standing before us. They were swinging their weapons and grinning at us patiently, waiting for someone to make the first move.
"Keep your eyes ahead if you want to keep them at all," I warned him, knowing he would ignore it anyway. The pig. He even had the audacity to softly laugh, the sound rumbling deep in his chest. What part of this was actually amusing to him?
"Yo, the Turks are back in town, everybody," a voice suddenly chipped from behind us.
I didn't have to look to recognize Ollie's bright tones, but I did anyway. With him were Cloud, and Tseng, and all three of them were armed to the teeth. I wanted to mention that he was not a Turk, and neither was Cloud, but as I saw him strutting towards us, shoulder to shoulder with the two men, I couldn't deny he carried himself like one. When I looked back at the group of men standing before us, I could tell they were starting to panic, a few of them backing up and shooting nervous glances at each other. Suddenly, they weren't in the majority anymore. Considering the level of skill they were facing, I'd actually say they were in a definite minority. I looked sideways at Reno, who offered me a thrilled smile. It couldn't be more obvious he loved violence. I wanted to reach out and caress his bruised face, wipe the blood away, but he was a warrior who needed his war-paint. I smiled back at him and readied my fists, excited to get started.
While Reno, Rufus and I were still shielding Rude from harm, Cloud wasted no time going in for the kill. He charged with an angry cry, the tip of his sword dragging across the concrete and creating a trail of sparks. At his sudden assault, the group flinched like a school of fish. A knife came flying our way, but Rufus shot it out of the air with a single bullet.
The appearance of our friends to save Rude made me emotional, and it was only when Tseng came flying past that I was reminded that I wasn't some mushy girl, but a fighter.
Suddenly, the night was filled with sounds of battle; shouts, insults, guns going off. After assessing and deciding Rude was safe with Rufus and Reno protecting him, I vaulted into the chaos. Right into the middle of it, which was my favorite place to be. The pavement below my feet was rough and cold, and I found out the hard way that kicking someone in the face with bare feet wasn't the same as doing so with shoes. I duly noted the fact and grit my teeth.
A few of the men broke free from the main group towards a safe distance, from where they could start shooting. Cloud moved fast, slashing down his opponent and shielding us to deflect a load of bullets coming our way. Tseng, in the meantime, was in hand-to-hand combat with three men at the same time. He was wearing brass knuckles on both his fists, with which he parried the chains that were being swung at him. There was that certain type of grace to his movements that displayed he originated from Wutai, and even though he was carrying a gun in a shoulder holster, he seemed to think it dishonorable to use it during a melee fight. Rufus clearly disagreed, as he shot a man coming at him full in the face, sending his victim flying back nine feet across the pavement. I was just in the process of taking someone down with me when the loud shot echoed, and not for the first time in my life, I was sprayed with warm blood. I elbowed my opponent in the chest before throwing Rufus a disbelieving leer.
More shots blasted through the night as Ollie had opened assault on the men firing at us, while Cloud kept shielding us from the projectiles. Two of the gunmen were hit, but then one of Tseng's opponents broke free from combat to launch himself at Cloud's back. There was a flash of steel when he brought up his knife, but I intercepted him and snatched onto his wrist, twisting it behind his back. He yelped, but refused to let go of the weapon. Twisting his arm up higher only made his voice rise with it, so I rammed my knee into his side to bring him down. Suddenly Reno appeared out of nowhere, having left Rude to be protected by Rufus – whom I knew would keep him safe– and ripped the knife from the man's hand before plunging it into his back. When I looked at him I saw his eyes were set on Tseng, who was now facing four people on his own.
"Why the hell is he even packin' if he ain't gonna use it?" I barely had time to register Reno's words before he was gone, already by Tseng's side to back him up.
Cloud's deflective skills had brought down four more enemies, but they kept him too busy to move closer. Rufus was still off to the side protecting Rude, and we were in his line of fire. Dark Nation was prowling around Rude as he sat on the ground, growling dangerously. Ollie was circling around, trying to get a good shot, but careful not to get out in the open.
The group was definitely getting smaller, but Tseng, Reno and I were up against seven, which were hardly more than a nuisance –had I not been bruised, tired and unarmed. There was a sudden violent crack in the air, and I almost tripped over a body when I jumped back at the bolt of lightning that struck close by. Cloud was trying to get them with magic, but they kept him too preoccupied to focus properly. He was up against six gunmen, who seemed even more pissed at the sudden change in weather.
With a bit of effort, I maneuvered the two men I was fighting closer to the group of five that Reno and Tseng were up against, and then dipped under Reno's swing to snatch the gun from Tseng's holster. He barely had time to register before I opened fire on the gunmen. Once two were down, Cloud was able to take a little more risk, though they were still some distance away. He bolted, rolling across the pavement to prevent getting shot, while at the same time Tseng shot me an outraged look.
"Stop being honorable," I snapped before he could say anything. "You're a goddamn Turk." As I said it, a heavy looking chain came swinging at my face, but Tseng caught it around his knuckles and gave a tug, instantly taking the goon down with a punch to the back of the neck.
"The Gods have nothing to do with that," was his reply, while beside us Reno tackled a rather brawny looking man to the ground.
Cloud was swinging his blade around some distance away, and while I landed a few punches and a painful kick to another goon, Ollie shot another one in the neck. His target went down without a sound, and now we focused on the final couple of targets. More lightning struck, making me yell at Cloud in outrage, but his deadpan face told me he didn't really give a damn how I felt about it.
"Show off," I mumbled under my breath.
He'd made quick work of the gunmen, who where littered on the ground around his feet, a small pool of blood forming around them. No matter what I sometimes thought of him, he was a sight to behold and a force to be reckoned with. The three remaining men were looking more than a little panicked by now, especially when Cloud and Ollie moved in on the group, closing them in from all sides.
When I glanced at Reno beside me, we shared a conceited smirk. There was something altogether satisfying about beating the living daylight out of a group of assholes. However, the excitement soon evaporated, when sounds of more revving car engines and screeching tires woke up the night. My face fell, and everyone's eyes focused on the direction of the sound. The three scared looking men didn't seem all that scared anymore, in fact, they were the ones with the conceited smiles now. Just because I could, and I didn't like their faces nor the way they were checking me out, I punched the closest one on the nose and he tumbled into the other two, who caught him before he fell. Judging by their furious looks, they wanted to retaliate, but they also knew that now wasn't the time. Yet.
I glanced back over my shoulder to look at Rufus, who was calmly waiting for the situation to unfold, hands hanging casually at his sides. His pet was still guarding Rude, who was still not looking too good. Rufus' eyes met mine for a moment, but they gave nothing away about his thoughts, so I faced forward again.
The cars came closer, and before long, four more goon-packed vehicles appeared around the corner of the warehouse, coming to a standstill a couple of yards from us. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't excited to get more fighting done, but something told me we shouldn't underestimate this organization. All remained quiet for a moment, almost as if they were weighing us from the safety of their cars.
On my left, Cloud ran his hand down his sword and defused it, handing me a piece of his precious blade without a word. I accepted it without a word, but readjusted my grip to get a feel of the foreign weapon. Swords weren't my forte, but it was better than nothing. I handed the gun I stole from Tseng over to Reno on my right, who also accepted without a word.
"Go on and say it," I said when I felt Ollie step up behind me to look over my shoulder.
"I want out," he replied, which was exactly what I had expected him to say.
"You're not even in yet," Tseng calmly pointed out to him from his position on Reno's right side.
"I know, but I want out."
"I'm disappointed in ya, man," Reno chuckled. "Thought you were an all-action kinda guy."
"Look sharp," Cloud cut off the joking mood when the car doors opened and lots of legs appeared. He didn't need to tell us twice, in fact, I doubted he needed to tell us at all.
We'd all snapped back to attention at the sight before us. About twenty more enemies for us to defeat, and we couldn't even be sure that was the last of them.
The men slammed the car doors shut and slowly strolled over to us, looking completely in control. Which truthfully, was granted, considering the fact they were all packing. This was going to be one hell of a fight.
"I love you, Eden." The hint of fear in Ollie's voice was difficult to ignore as his whispers reached my ear.
A sudden intense feeling of anticipation came over me, but I refused to give in to it. "Shut up, dumbass," I whispered back. There was no reason to feel defeated, and we'd been through worse and more hopeless battles before. Still, I loved him too, and I did so with all my heart. "We'll be fine."
"To the one in charge of this little band of losers," one of the men said, the only one who wasn't carrying a gun. "I'd like a word. Man to man."
At first I thought about Cloud, who always seemed to be the cool and collected one, but then I remembered Rufus. He always thought he ruled the world, so he might as well take the stand. But when I risked another subtle look over my shoulder, I noticed that he was gone. Along with his pet and Rude. My initial thought was that the coward had fled, but then I told myself that I ought to give the guy at least a little bit of credit. He'd taken Rude out of here, and for that we should be grateful. I softly nudged Reno in the arm and tilted my head ever so slightly, indicating the spot where Rufus and Rude had been only a minute ago. He caught on, and braved a quick look of his own. He only gave me a fleeting look of understanding before focusing his attention back on the enemy. I could tell his mind was working fast, but I knew that he knew Rufus better than I did, so I was fairly sure that he wasn't worried about his disappearance.
I wondered who else would step forward now that Rufus was gone, and the obvious choice would be Tseng. Only then did I realize what that would mean, that chances of the underworld finding out that Shinra was behind this would increase significantly. Maybe that was the reason that Rufus had vanished. It suddenly made a whole lot more sense. So, back to –
"What do you want?" Cloud demanded as he stepped forward. Tseng had made no indication of doing so, telling me that all of us had come to a silent understanding; Shinra was not here.
"So you're the lead merc, huh?" The man stepped into the headlights that were illuminating the scene. His young face was blank, probably hardened from years of leading a life without compassion. "You see," he started when Cloud didn't respond. "You people caused me a lotta trouble. I gotta go home to my wife and explain to her why her brother is lying dead on his kitchen floor. I don't appreciate that. You slaughtered a small army here tonight, and it's a nuisance. I gotta find new people, business will be impacted… a lotta trouble. So here's the deal. You're gonna get down on your knees, and you're gonna eat a fuckin' bullet." His face was still blank, but there was a certain threat on his features that made me feel a little anxious.
"This is a pretty one-sided conversation," Cloud pointed out cockily, seemingly unimpressed.
I admired his guts, but Cloud wasn't easily intimidated. There were few things that scared him anymore, and not for the first time I was glad to call him my friend.
"Oh," the man laughed, the first show of emotion on his face. "You got something to say? There's something you wanna say that's gonna make this better for me?"
"That's right," Cloud simply said. "Walk away."
For a moment, the man looked genuinely taken aback, clearly not used to be handled so indifferently, but it faded as soon as it had appeared. "Walk away?" Then his face turned dark, his brow knitting together in anger. "Fine, I'll walk away." As soon as he said it, he turned on the spot, and the atmosphere shifted.
The men around him needed no further instructions, and they raised their guns at us. The tension rose and we only had a split second to prepare for the next battle. Then we scattered as the guns went off, bullets flying around like hail during a storm. I was grateful to Cloud for lending me one of his blades, at least it gave me the opportunity to block the assault and protect Ollie, who was running beside me. Reno and Tseng had bolted the other way, while Cloud rushed towards the men head on, giving them three targets instead of one group. Our enemies seemed to be too ignorant to realize they should be concentrating their fire. Instead, they spread up, and by doing so made it easier for us to evade. I was worried about the Turks, who didn't have any means to shield themselves, but Cloud had positioned himself in between them and the line of fire, keeping them from harm.
I missed my guns more than ever, but at least I had a weapon now, and while I deflected bullet after bullet, my body acting on its own by reflex, I thought of how to get us out of this sticky situation. The predicament we were in was far from ideal, regardless of the fact we were all highly trained individuals. A few bullets ricocheted off the steel of Cloud's blades, hitting a few of the men in the gut and bringing them down. Ollie and Reno were firing back, but at this rate we'd be in trouble sooner or later. The leader of their group had sought refuge inside one of the cars, and the idea arose that he should be taken out first, cutting off the head of the snake, as they say.
I veered off to the left and some of the men followed my movements. Ollie was left completely exposed, but he knew me well enough to understand I wouldn't run off aimlessly, and he hurried over to join the Turks. My blade swirled through the air in graceful arches as I moved closer to the targets, and I was now close enough to see the panic blooming on their faces. I slashed out, nearly cutting two of them in half with the large sword. Ignoring the rest, who stumbled a little due to my close proximity, I rolled across the pavement towards the car. Bullets impacted into the side of the vehicle, leaving a trail of holes that got closer to me with each shot.
Quickly, I yanked the back door open and leaped inside. I was met by the barrel of a gun, staring right at me. My hand moved on its own, slapping it aside and away from my head. It went off with a bang, the sound deafening in the small space of the back seat. The man slapped me in the face, but I caught his wrist to secure him from doing so again. Then a hand wrapped around my ankle and I was almost dragged from the car, but I kicked out and pushed myself in further, all but climbing on top of my initial target. When I twisted onto my back, a man's face appeared in the open door, ready to reach out and grab me. The man underneath me wrapped an arm around my neck, trying to incapacitate me. His hold was strong, but I ignored it for now, instead seizing his other hand and aiming the gun at the invader's face. The man holding me tried to struggle, to tear his hand out of my grip, but with a lot of effort, I squeezed the trigger with his finger and the gun fired. There was another deafening bang, and the man outside got blasted away, falling backwards and out of sight.
There was no time to admire my move unfortunately, because I was being choked. To make matters worse, the car's driver had turned around in his seat to help his boss. His hands reached for me, but I kicked him in the face with my heel, careful not to hurt my toes again. He fell back and clutched his face in agony. The momentarily forgotten gun moved dangerously close to my face, but I shoved the man's arm away, placed my feet against the car roof, and started pushing with everything I had. I exerted so much force that the roof started bending outwards under my feet, and for a moment I worried my feet might actually break through.
With distant horror, I saw that my dress had almost ridden up to the point where I was staring at my underwear, but the heavy groans that were being uttered in my ear distracted me from that fact. The roof caved in more, but finally the man gave me enough room to lift my head and throw it back with force. I had no idea which part of his face was struck, but I didn't care. Swiftly, I peeled the gun from his hand and shot the driver, who was just about to scramble for me again, having recovered from his facial injury. This was one injury he wasn't going to recover from however.
Then the car door suddenly opened and a massive double barreled gun appeared, and before I knew it, I had to clutch my ears at the tremendous blow that echoed through the car. At first I as sure I was a goner, but when I opened my eyes and found the smoking barrel staring back at me, I realized the pressure around my neck had lifted. A little shocked, I watched Rufus' face appear in the door, a self-satisfied smirk on his features.
"Hello, Eden," he said with no subtle amount of tease. His eyes roamed over my form. "Love the view."
With a gasp, I hurriedly shoved my dress back down to cover my thighs, which wasn't a sight I wanted to share with the likes of Rufus, of all people. To add to the horror, Rufus then proceeded to climb into the car, crawling over me and shutting the door behind him.
It was getting a little cozy on the back seat, a little too cozy for my liking, as I was being sandwiched between the dead guy I was half lying on, and Rufus, who seemed to grasp every opportunity he got to get too close for comfort. His clothes were a little ruffled, something I wasn't used to seeing in his case, but I already knew he wasn't averse to getting his hands dirty in battle.
I threw my hands out in front of me to push him away, but he never cared for my wishes anyway, so he simply stared down at me. This was the most awkward position I had ever been in, but he didn't seem to be bothered by it in the least. The dead guy's belt was poking into my back, and Rufus' added weight wasn't helping. Outside, the fight was still going strong. People were yelling and shooting, and I distinctly heard Ollie whoop over something, followed by Cloud's warning to look out.
"I'm not used to you looking so lewd," Rufus said calmly, making me grit my teeth. "The spray of blood on your face is somewhat of a turn-on."
"Really?!" I demanded of him, feeling more than a little scandalized. "You have to do this now?" Our friends were in danger out there, not to mention he was pinning me down on a corpse. This may be some kind of perverted thrill for him, but I was far from amused.
Somewhere along the way, his hand had ended up on my thigh, his fingers sneaking up under the hem of what remained of my dress. "Would you rather I wait till later?" There was that arrogant grin again, something that ticked me off. He leaned down, bringing his face closer to mine, a sparkle of amusement in his eyes. The asshole was enjoying himself a little too much.
I reached up, and fumbled with the door handle, managing to pop it open before things got too awkward. The dead guy's upper body tumbled out when the door swung open, and I shoved him out all the way, his body landing on the ground with a thump. Rufus chuckled when I tried to scramble out to make my escape, but he grabbed me by the hips and dragged me back in. To my surprise, he let me go to close the door, and sat back on the seat. I looked at him in question, wondering what he was still sitting here for.
"Go drive the car," he simply said in response to my frown.
I glanced at the dead driver, and then through the windshield, seeing the fight commence outside. Right away, I knew what he was thinking. He may be perverted, but he was intelligent, there was no denying that. Still, I wasn't about to let him push me around. "Drive it yourself, asshole."
"I don't drive," he simply replied, as if that settled it. He hadn't said 'can't' but to him it probably made no difference.
After another annoyed grumble, I started climbing between the front seats to take the wheel. It only took me a second to realize that this was exactly what he had been hoping for, since he once again got a full view. The chuckle that sounded from behind me was enough proof that I had been right. Resisting the urge to kick him in the face, I kicked the dead driver out instead and started the car.
As soon as I did, everything that had happened over the passed two minutes was pushed from my mind and I once again reveled in the thrill of battle. It may not be the most elegant way of handling things, but I was long past caring about that. As soon as I made for the first armed target, Rufus appeared between the seats, clearly wanting to enjoy the sight.
Ollie cheered loudly when I smashed into the first target, flinging the man to the side like a discarded doll. Right away, the scene changed. Some of the men turned to take aim at the car, but now they were losing the battle fast. Without guidance from their leader, there was no one to tell them what to do, and they scattered. Cloud moved, slashing his blade around, taking them down one by one. Ollie and Reno were shooting the ones I'd hit to keep them from getting up again. Tseng was on the move, raining down blows on the distracted enemies.
The car spun again and again, the engine howling as I pushed it to its limit. Rufus was still the epitome of calm while adrenaline rushed through my veins, and he kept commenting on everything I did, albeit with a compliment or a sneer. I almost lost control of the car once, and Tseng had to jump out of the way to prevent getting hit. A body smashed into the windshield, cracking it on impact. I hit the brakes, bringing the car to a screeching halt, flinging the man a few feet across the pavement, where Reno ended his life with a single bullet.
I killed the car engine and all went quiet.
"Wherever did you learn to drive?" Rufus spoke from beside me, leaning in from between the seats. Instead of granting him any form of response, not even a rude one, I simply got out of the car and slammed the door behind me as if he wasn't even there. His tenacious behavior was becoming annoying.
"Seriously," Ollie opted. "We're out here doing the hard work and you're sneaking off for a joyride." His voice was whiny, but I knew it was only an act. "That's so awesome, dude," he added with a grin.
I grinned back at him proudly as Rufus got out of the car. "I left Rude back at the helicopter with Dark Nation to guard him," he explained. "I suggest we hurry and get him to the infirmary."
Tseng, who was still looking immaculate – though I had no clue how, considering the state of my own clothes– nodded at us in appreciation. "Thank you for your assistance," he said to Cloud, Ollie and myself. "I presume we will be seeing more of each other in the near future." With Charly now having taken up office in the Shinra building, I knew that I would be visiting the place more often, especially if he were to work with Shinra from now on. He was bound to send us on missions for them, that is, if he agreed with their motifs. "Reno, come," he added while Rufus got in the back seat. Then he opened the car door and got behind the wheel.
Reno was already moving, but he couldn't resist saying goodbye in his own cheeky way. "Nice mini-skirt," he whispered in my ear as he came up behind me, resting his hand on my hip for a second. A tiny moan threatened to escape me, but I managed to swallow it down. "Thanks a bunch for helpin' us out," he then added more loudly as he walked over to the passenger seat. "I won't forget it." Even though he looked the same as always, I noticed there was a certain heaviness in his eyes, a shadow that obscured the usual sparkle he had. I worried that maybe he was still feeling bad, but maybe he was simply tired. Of course he was tired.
As soon as he got in, Tseng moved out, and ten seconds later they were out of sight.
"It's settled," Ollie sighed as the three of us stood watching the drive off. "I'm gonna be a Turk."
