Guest: Sorry, it won't be about a girl from the real world transported into the game. Unfortunately, that's not my cup of tea. In my stories, the ff universe is the real world :) It will be a sequel to this story, and have all the OCs from this one, like Eden, Ollie and Charly. If you have some good ideas about a girl transported to the game verse, why not try and give a shot at writing your own story? It could be great!
HugsforEden: Well, that makes two of us! This story definitely is my life, after all this time XD I couldn't kill Tseng, my heart would break and I'll be sent to hell probably :P
Cloud-gazer: Welcome back! I missed you! You wrote up 1,5 pages of reviews there XD Looks like you went on a ride with those chapters! I still update every week, I was planning on updating yesterday, but I figured I'd let you go on your review rampage and catch up before I did :P All this Jack drama you went through must have been frustrating haha. Looks like I managed to surprise you once again, yay! Reno and Eden growing closer, how cute, isn't it...but then! Did you really expect that things would go smoothly? Constant Vigilance! Tammy will be my OC for the first spin-off, so I hope you're excited about that!
Chapter 249
Driving a bike was a whole lot more comfortable than this makeshift convertible, and though Rude didn't seem to be bothered by it much – considering his straight face – Reno had decided to join me in the backseat after all.
Right when I thought about how frustrating it was that it would be a while before we arrived in Junon, I felt my phone vibrate against my thigh. How the thing had managed to stay put in its strap was beyond me, but I was glad it had.
"Cloud," I answered after conjuring up my phone from underneath my dress.
"Tell Rude to step on it," Cloud replied in his usual tone.
"Trust me, he's stepping on it," I said loudly as the wind battered my face from all sides, blowing my hair around.
"We're waiting for you outside Edge," Cloud explained. "Cid's here with the Shera to get us to Junon. Hurry." He hung up before I could reply and I put the phone away again, feeling a lot more hopeful.
"We got ourselves a ride, boys!" I said happily. "We're flying to Junon."
"Could've sworn we were already flying," Reno mused. He was half lying across the seat, trying to stay out of the wind as much as possible, but his tie was flapping around like a fish on dry land. "Kinda bumpy though."
When I looked his way, I noticed he was taking in the state of me, which to be fair, wasn't nice. It seemed I was incapable of having a dress survive more than one night, and there was blood smeared all over me. Thankfully, not my own. I wore a utility belt around my hips, which was a total mismatch to my outfit. How he had managed to keep his white shirt so clean, I had no idea of, but by now I was used to the fact that I was the one who always ended up bathing in someone's blood. Rude looked equally immaculate, and for a second I asked myself if their clothes were somehow armored or else magically enhanced.
"Is it Cid?" Reno added as he sat up, his hair blowing wildly in the wind. When I nodded, he smirked. "It's sweet havin' friends, ain't it?"
"You know what's sweet?" Rude suddenly chimed in. "Having windows."
Reno grinned at his partner's sudden reaction, while I felt guilty. Though, I had only removed the front window, Reno was responsible for the back.
"I'm sorry, Rude." I leaned in between the seats to get closer so I didn't have to talk so loud, though the wind was even worse there. Poor Rude. "Promise I'll buy you new windows."
Reno's face appeared next to mine. "Risk of the job, man."
Rude grumbled something I didn't catch due to the wind, but maybe it was for the best. It didn't sound very friendly.
The shadow of mountains in the dark loomed up in the distance, and as we got closer we noticed the bright lights coming from the Shera waiting for us just outside of Edge.
Tifa was waiting for us by the open ramp, ready to take us inside. Rude drove his SUV inside, where Cloud's bike was standing to the side. The man himself was nowhere to be seen, but I figured he was probably inside the ship with Cid.
We exited the car just as the ramp closed, and followed Tifa onto the deck.
Cloud was looking over building plans of the Shinra HQ in Junon, and didn't waste any time on formalities or greetings.
"There's no time to wait for the WRO," he opted while Cid was already starting up the engines. "We take off now. Rude, Reno, show me where Rufus will be."
"There's been no communication," Reno replied, sounding all business.
"Which probably means he's moved someplace he can't get a signal," Rude added.
"Like the basement?" It was the fist thing that popped into my head.
"Could be," Reno glanced at me and then at Cloud, who didn't seem too happy with that news.
"So we have no clue where he is," he stated calmly, crossing his arms over his chest. As he spoke, the ship took flight, already bringing us on our way to Junon. We'd be there in less than fifteen minutes, and we had absolutely no game plan.
"And so we do what we always do," I suggested and met Cloud's eyes. They were steel and determination. "We go in guns blazin'."
"And blades swinging," Cloud added, his mind already steps ahead.
Reno smirked at that. "I'm game."
As we stood on the deck, the green field between Edge and Junon flying away below us, Cloud pointed at something through the large window. "Who's that?"
"Hell if I know!" Cid called in reply, a little louder than was necessary.
I moved over to the window to see what Cloud had spotted, and it took me a moment to do the same. A matte, army green muscle car was speeding along the fields, barely distinguishable against the grass below. It was fast, for now staying well ahead of us. I had a vague idea that I'd seen the car somewhere before, but I couldn't remember where – Yes, I could. I'd seen it parked outside the Shinra building in Edge after Tammy and I had gotten lunch together to talk details. It seemed Charly had wasted no time putting her to work. This was no ordinary job, and I hoped she was up for the task.
"It's Tammy," I informed the others, watching the car speed along in the Shera's bright lights. Clouds of dust rose up behind her as she made a clear beeline for Junon. "Looks like Charly's sent help."
A small frown appeared on Cloud's stoic face. "Do we know her?"
"No, but I know she's capable." None of the others had met Tammy yet, not even Ollie. Reno, Tseng and Charly had, and I knew that Charly had a good eye for talent. He wouldn't send her here if he didn't deem her ready.
"She's Foxy's replacement." Reno suddenly appeared next to me, hooking an arm around my waist. "Charles thinks Eden's getting too old for this shit."
"And he also thinks a guy's equipment don't work no mo' at thirty," I sniped back at him. "How old were you again?"
He scoffed like that was the most ridiculous idea on the planet. I certainly hoped it was. "The hell are ya talkin' about?" He was about to say more, but Cid interrupted us.
"Takin' her down!" he yelled, and did just that, causing me to almost stumble into Cloud.
We were still some distance away from Junon, but landing too close might give away our arrival, which was the last thing we wanted. Going in guns blazing was only a matter of speech, and we needed the element of surprise.
Down on the grass, Tammy noticed our descend and came to a stand still near the beach, sand flying every which way behind her, illuminated red in her taillights. Having her here with us brought me mixed feelings. She surely had some skills, and she was smart, but I didn't want her to get hurt. This battle was going to be far from meager, and I had no idea whether she could keep up. I supposed this was the ultimate test.
When Cid had landed us and we exited the ship to greet her, the night had become chilly. The wind had picked up and not for the first time that evening, my hair whipped around my face.
Reno remained behind with Rude and Tifa to ransack Cid's weaponry –much to the man's dismay– while Cloud and I approached the tall girl observing us from a distance.
Tammy was leaning back against her green car, arms and ankles crossed. Like mine, her red hair was dancing around her face, obscuring it further from view in the darkness. The eager gleam in her green eyes became apparent as we came closer. It was a feeling I knew all too well. After all, I was feeling it too. I always did when a battle was at hand.
She didn't push away from the car when we reached her; instead I saw her looking Cloud up and down with those keen eyes that were now gleaming with interest. A hum of appreciation drifted towards us on the wind. "Is being eye candy a requirement when being hired by Shinra?"
"Dunno," I smiled in greeting. "Wouldn't exactly call Hojo 'eye candy'. More like 'eye sore'." Still, she had a point.
"You up for this?" Cloud came straight to the point, not even bothering with introductions. His eyes were boring into her as he watched her observe him.
Tammy didn't seem impressed, she simply looked back at him, unmoving. "That would depend on what you had in mind, blondie. Does it involve hands?"
I wanted to clear my throat, feeling a little awkward at her straightforwardness. She'd acted brazen before, but I was fairly sure that Cloud wouldn't appreciate such behavior. In fact, it wasn't the first time I'd wondered whether he was even human. The guy could at least attempt a grinnow or then.
"Cut the crap," he said in an impatient tone instead. "If this is a game to you then get back in your car and go home."
Instead of replying right away, Tammy assessed him a little longer, a lingering smile on her face. Then she chuckled and shook her head. "Okay…" she breathed with a lopsided grin. "Glad we cleared that up." She clapped her hands and pushed away from the car, her good mood seemingly unwavering. "Shall we head inside then?"
Cloud looked at her a little longer and then nodded once. "Go get geared up. We move out in fifteen." With that, he turned back to the ship and left us there.
"You know," she said to me. "Charly mentioned he was kinda boring, but does the man even know how to laugh?"
"Never seen him do it," I replied casually, trying hard to recall a time when I had. I couldn't.
"Party-pooper," she then added. "Tell me the red-head's here, at least he's fun." She followed after Cloud without waiting for a reply, making me shake my head in amusement. She sure was a special case.
Back inside the Shera we ran into the Turks, who'd taken the term 'gearing up' to a whole new level. Rude was sporting a seriously heavy looking shotgun, something that looked a little out of place in his hands. There were belts strapped around his thighs containing several sharp looking throwing knives in addition to guns in shoulder straps. Reno had taken it even a step further; he'd once again strapped a lethal looking blade to his upper arm, and a rifle to his back. He too was wearing shoulder straps and thigh straps, and his EMR was dangling from his left wrist. But my eyes were mostly drawn to the belt packed with grenades that ran across his chest, the black standing out against the white of his shirt. The both of them wore ammo belts around their hips and fingerless gloves with metal studs on the knuckles. The image was rather striking, even if all the gear stood out against their nice clothes underneath. They always looked badass, no matter what they wore. There was simply something about the way they carried themselves.
"Holy shit," Tammy commented when we ran into them in the hallway, on our way to the weapons room. "Gotta get me some of that." I wasn't entirely sure if she was talking about the weapons or the 'man-candy', but it had to be one of those two. Or both. "If there's any left, that is," she added, not really answering my silent question.
Reno chuckled as she pushed past them, already hurrying into the room. "More than ya need." Then he looked at me. "Looks like we got another weapon-crazy merc on the team, Foxy."
"Oh man!" Tammy's excited voice drifted over from inside. "This is paradise! I've died and gone to heaven!" I heard her rummage around, touching everything she could get her hands on. "This isn't considered stealing, right? If so, I wasn't here."
"Yup," Reno added to himself. "Definitely weapon-crazy."
"Look who's talking," I said to him as I looked him up and down again. "Can you even walk?"
"Don't touch that, that's mine!" Cid's rough voice rang. "Get your own shit."
When I looked over Rude's shoulder, I saw Cid standing by a rack of javelins with one of them in each of his hands. There were at least ten different kinds stacked against the wall, from bladed ones to tridents to spiked ones. Tammy was watching them with interest, though apparently Cid was having none of it. After all, javelins were his weapons of choice. I scanned the room to see what other fancy things he had holed up in there, and I felt like a kid in a candy store when I saw every inch of the walls was covered in weapons. There were tables standing around the room piled with more weapons; blades, guns, grenades, even cross and hand bows. There was a row of different types of arrows on another table. They had different colored nocks, and some were loaded with what suspiciously looked like poison or explosives. Had I ever learned how to use a bow, I'd loved to have gotten my hands on these babies.
"Hey, Cid," I called over to him while he twirled a barbed wired javelin around in his hand. "Got something for me to wear?" My dress had definitely seen better days –not to mention fighting in it was rather unpractical– and I wished there was at least some kind of uniform for me to wear.
Cid looked at me with a scowl on his face. "This place look like a warehouse to you? Go naked, see if I care."
"Yeah, thanks a lot, Mister Sunshine," I shot back, though I couldn't help but appreciate him. He came across as moody and irritable, but it was only his way of expressing himself. Exactly the way Cloud came across as stoic and uncaring. We all knew better. He cared too much sometimes.
"Hey, asshole," Reno called back at him, though not in an unfriendly way. "Keep dreamin'." Then he addressed me in a quieter voice. "Don't forget to grab an ear piece. See ya in a few?"
I nodded and was about to go gear up, but I couldn't resist wrapping my fingers around his upper arm before I stepped inside, a gesture that happened unintentionally. We were going into battle, and anything could happen. As much as I didn't want to think about it, he'd been seriously hurt not long ago, and he could get hurt again. I could die and never see him again. A part of me wished we'd have a few minutes alone before we had to head out, but I knew there wasn't time. This was all the comfort I could offer myself and him, in case he felt the same way.
His muscles subtly flexed under my touch, reminding me how strong he was. As we both moved in the opposite direction, his fingers brushed along my waist, a confirmation that he knew how I was feeling.
After I had taken some time to at least wash the blood off my body, Tammy and I had loaded ourselves up –looking just as bad as the Turks– and hurried outside where the others were waiting for us. Rude had gotten behind the wheel of his man-made convertible, with Reno in the passenger seat, his feet propped up on the dash so that they were sticking out. His phone was pressed to his ear, and I imagined he was once again trying to reach Rufus, or maybe Tseng.
Cid was in the back seat, his arm hanging out the window. When I followed Tammy to her car and we passed him by, he suddenly banged the side of the door. "Get those asses movin', we've been sittin' here for ten minutes waitin' for ya'll to get dolled up."
Cloud was already astride his bike, looking all tough with his arms crossed over his chest, silently waiting for us. I knew he was eager to get going, this much we had in common.
As Tammy got in her car –which made a lot of ruckus when the door opened, making me worry it would fall apart– Rude and Cloud started up their engines. Cloud's roaring, Rude's purring contentedly. When I got in the passenger seat I was worried for a moment that Tammy's car was so beat down that it wouldn't start, but with a twist of her key the muscle car came alive, the engine growling like a beast ready to give chase. Then the back door opened and Tifa slid herself into the backseat. She wasn't wearing any weapons other than a pair of studded gloves, but I knew her to be lethal even without them. This was starting to feel like a strange kind of girls' night out.
Tammy smiled as she met Tifa's eyes through the rear view mirror and stepped on the gas. The car shot off, the engine howling aggressively. "Yeehaw!" she catcalled as the car picked up speed rapidly.
Rude was in hot pursuit, his state of the art SUV having no trouble keeping up. Before long he was driving beside us, and then Cloud joined, taking up position between the two cars and taking the lead. He was a leader by heart, even if he didn't want to be.
"Shit, I love this!" Tammy cheered happily, pushing her foot down even further. "This gets my juices flowing."
She was going to be a handful if I were to be training her, but somehow I didn't mind in the least. Her good spirits amused me and I was already looking forward to us working together.
After some time, I noticed that Tifa had been silent, but it only took me a second to understand why. The very thing she had worked so hard to build, and rebuild, after the sector seven plate was dropped, was destroyed. I leaned around in my seat and reached out to put a hand to her knee. Her eyes met mine and I could see the sadness in their depths.
"You okay?" I asked her, though I already knew the answer to that.
Still, she nodded, though a little subdued. "We'll get back at them for this. I won't let them hurt any more innocent people. Enough is enough." She clenched her jaw, and I saw her fists ball on her knees.
"They'll pay," I agreed.
"Charly told me that Cloud's your guy?" Tammy asked Tifa through the mirror. "He's got a lot of pent up frustration, you know. He seriously needs to get laid."
Tifa gasped loudly from the backseat, and I chuckled at her response, thinking she'd finally met someone who liked getting into other people's business the way she always did. Though a lot less subtle. It was also obvious to me that Tammy was trying to make Tifa feel better, and I was grateful for it. I was never very adept at it.
"Don't worry, Tifa," I reassured her. "It's nothing personal, Tammy lacks a brain-to-mouth filter."
"Anyway," Tammy grinned. "I think I should have another talk with Tseng about me joining Shinra, with all that candy wandering around. I'm so done being single."
"All the Turks are taken though." Tifa's face appeared between the two front seats, and this was indeed beginning to feel more and more like a girls' night out.
I inwardly wondered if the guys were having such weird conversations in the other car. With Reno and Cid together, it wouldn't be surprising. Cid was missing that filter too. Then I it dawned on me that Tifa had suggested that Reno was also taken, and the thought was a little stunning, though far from unpleasant.
"Rufus is still available," I suggested with a smirk, thinking the spoiled asshole would have his hands full with Tammy if they were ever to meet in person.
"Rufus Shinra? Guess that ain't too bad, as far as leftovers go." Tammy shrugged her shoulders and Tifa shook her head in that motherly way of hers. I grinned, thinking Rufus wouldn't appreciate being called 'a leftover', but it only made me appreciate Tammy even more.
Together we sped along the shoreline, getting ever closer to the sparkling Junon lights on the horizon. Tammy's car swayed across the rough terrain, creaking and squeaking, but it cut through the night like a bullet, following after Cloud's trail of dust.
As we got closer to the city, Cloud slowed down, eventually coming to a standstill right outside the harbor. As I had expected, Tammy hit the breaks at the very last second, sending sand, dirt and grass flying everywhere. The more time I spent with her, the more it became clear to me that she was a thrill seeker, and where I loved battle, I was by no means an adrenaline junkie. Hopefully, this trait of hers wouldn't get her into trouble. I knew all about that, and she might actually be worse than me. It was still too early to see whether she would let this side of her guide her, or if it was simply for fun. Time would tell.
Rude's car joined the group, and we all stepped out into the chilly night. Tammy's car shook excessively when we slammed the doors, and she offered me a proud grin. Our clothes billowed around us when we gathered in the small circle of headlights. Tammy reached into her pocket and started tying her hair, preventing it from blowing around her face any longer.
"What kinda shitty rust bucket are you drivin'?" Cid barked at her.
"Hey, don't dis my Frog," Tammy replied indignantly as she fixed her dark red hair.
"Frog?" I asked her and I stole a glance at said car over my shoulder. Sure, it was green, but what kind of name was that for a car?
"Yeah!" she replied happily. "It even quacks!"
"Ducks quack, Tammy," I pointed out matter-of-factly.
"Yeah, but they're not green…"
"Listen up," Cloud started, effectively breaking up the pointless conversation. Everyone fell silent and we all focused on him, waiting for him to continue. It was funny how he always managed to get our attention, even when he had no rank or even business with Shinra. Even the Turks quietly agreed with his initiative. "We're on our own for now. Back-up is coming, but we can't wait. Any news on Rufus?" he then asked the Turks, and Reno shook his head.
"Nope, not a word. Can't reach him." He seemed troubled, as was to be expected.
Rufus knew how to take care of himself, but if the underworld had managed to get him by surprise, there was no way of knowing what had happened. Still, I doubted very much that such a thing were possible. There was security all over the building, surely Rufus would be alarmed as soon as they'd stepped foot inside.
"I'm sure he's fine," Tifa said kindly, trying to reassure him. "He's not alone in there."
"Nine lives," Rude added and looked at his partner knowingly. Reno nodded once, firmly accepting Rude's confirmation.
Between them, there was no need for many words. They'd been working together for so long they sometimes needed no words at all. A simple glance was enough to have an entire silent conversation, one knowing exactly what the other was thinking. It seemed that this time was no different. I envied their bond a little. Though Ollie and I shared something similar, it was nowhere near as developed as theirs. Or maybe I only imagined it wasn't.
"Let's go," Cloud informed us, and led the way into the city.
