HugsforEden: I'm not ready either! But I will be right with you, going over everything again to edit and polish the chapters :P

Chapter 254

It took me a moment to understand what he was talking about, but then I remembered how Ollie had pretended to be my brother on the night I had met Jona in that bar. To Ollie's credit, he didn't seem fearful, but I knew that if he had, he had grounded reason to. Jona was insane, that much was clear.

"Get your filthy hands off–" I was already bounding forward, but Cloud was faster, snatching me by the arm to hold me back.

And maybe it was a good thing too, because instantly, Jona pressed his blade further into Ollie's skin, forcing his chin up higher. A single drop of blood swelled above the sharp edge of the knife before trickling down Ollie's neck.

I looked on in shocked horror as Jona forced Ollie a few steps down, where he halted and took in the scene. The silence was so heavy one could probably hear a mouse breathe, anticipation thick in the air.

"I am truly baffled," Jona started as his deranged gaze swept over the lobby. "That a merciless company such as Shinra would care about what happens to one of their many pawns. Just when I thought they could sink no lower. This sentiment is pathetic, not to mention sickening. Look at you all, laying down arms. Such weakness would have been unimaginable before. I spit on the remains of Shinra company."

"Let him go," Cloud demanded in my stead.

"Not just yet," Jona smiled coldly, making Rufus's well known smirks pale in comparison. "Rufus," he then added as he acknowledged the blonde that was now being surrounded by his Turks. Everyone moved in closer, making sure we could stick together once things turned bad – which I had no doubt they would. "What a disgrace you are, your father would die of shame. Teaming up with such a low-life –"

"Shut your mouth!" Barret suddenly roared, and two of Jona's men that had been standing by with guns raised visibly flinched and stumbled at the aggression in his rough voice. "I'm done listenin' to you, let the kid go and get your sorry ass down here so we can settle this like men."

"Men you say?" Jona answered calmly as he shifted his attention to Barret. "You're but half a man. But, fair enough." Without a care in the world, and with complete disregard for his own safety, Jona released Ollie and shoved him down the stairs, leaving himself completely vulnerable to attack.

No one moved a muscle however, though I felt Cloud tense up beside me, his hands gripping the heft of his sword a little tighter.

When Ollie reached us and he was safe, I quickly pulled him behind me to protect him from further harm.

"I'm fine," he whispered while I gave his hand a squeeze. "Not a word about this to Eva," he added on a mumble. "This guy is crazy."

I could only agree with that, and it seemed that I wasn't the only one. Tifa was watching Jona intently with a cock of her head, almost as if she couldn't believe he was the same species as her.

Jona appeared to be enjoying all the attention he was getting, and his smile widened, though it never reached his eyes and felt more than a little deranged. "So, before we settle this, and your lives are ended, I have a few questions." His voice was steady, flat and eerily calm. "I wanna know who killed Corneo."

Proudly, I raised my hand up in the air, making Ollie laugh.

A small smile played around Jona's cruel lips when his eyes fell on me. "Of course it was Miss-don't-tell-me-what-to-do. Well, then it's only fair that we take your leader's life as well," Jona concluded. "Don't you agree, Turk?" He directed his attention to Tseng, who stood patiently waiting for Jona to finish. "Isn't that how things work?"

"Certainly," Tseng replied politely. "But that doesn't mean we will let you do that without a fight."

"Admirable," Jona sneered. "But pointless. And who ended Ivar?"

Ollie cheered when I once again raised my hand. "Though the moron slipped in his own blood and cracked his skull, so this one isn't really on me."

"Details don't matter to Milla. You killed her brother and her husband, and you'll pay for that."

"That was Rufus, actually," I argued. I'd been there when it happened, in the back of that car. "He shot him in the face."

Jona was looking more irritable by the second, biting his tongue in anger. "And Wolf?"

"My bad." Reno's voice was casual as he claimed his kill, but he was watching Jona intently from beside me. There was something about Jona's composure that invoked caution, like a predator ready to pounce.

Still, the silver-haired young man smiled, but there was nothing warm about the way his lips curled. "So, even though Shinra is a joke, you still managed to wipe out almost the entire top of the food chain? I suppose I should be impressed after all."

"I'm not Shinra," I pointed out for what felt like the hundredth time.

"Yes, you are," Reno said to me.

"No, I'm not."

"She is," he told Jona, who stood watching our exchange with a cold look on his face.

"I'm not," I added to him.

"I don't give a shit!" Jona suddenly snapped, finally losing his composure. "I really hate it when a bitch doesn't know her place. When I get my hands on you, I'm gonna stick it to you like I promised I would, and make sure that mouth of yours is used for nothing but screaming."

"That's an awfully uncivilized thing to say," Tseng said in the silence that followed.

"So rude," I agreed, though I failed to suppress the unpleasant shiver that ran down my spine.

Still, it was nothing surprising, it was pretty obvious by now how Jona felt about women. It had been clear since our date that he didn't like women who had an opinion or thought for themselves. Nor did he appreciate it when he got denied a lay, apparently.

"And I really hate it when a guy threatens my girl," Reno said, suddenly sounding a lot less casual than moments before. His jaw was set as he looked up at Jona with challenge in his bright eyes. Eyes that didn't blink even once as he stared the man on the stairs down.

The unpleasant shiver lifted to be replaced with a pleasant one.

"Oh, you wanna have a go, pipsqueak?" Jona taunted.

Reno briefly glanced at Tseng, who subtly nodded his consent. "Yeah, I'll have a go, asshole."

"Let's go then." Jona spread his arms wide in invitation. "Man to pansy."

Behind me, Ollie's loud chuckle drifted over the crowd. "Yo, Jona called himself a pansy, everybody!" he hollered happily, and some of the WRO troopers joined in the laughter that followed.

Instead of responding to the taunt, Jona calmly began removing his weapons belt, tossing his guns aside and refitting his gloves. He clearly wanted a melee fight, a hand-to-hand with the man who'd humiliated him not long before, knocking him out and leaving him laying in a muddy pool of rain. His moves were slow and unhurried, like a man who didn't have a care in the world; a man who saw nothing but triumph in his future. How wrong he would be. I was already looking forward to the look on his face when Reno wiped the floor with him. The image of how Reno was about to break his smug face was more than a little exhilarating. Especially considering that part of the reason he was doing it was for me.

Reno pressed his sidearm into my hands and drew me from my daydream.

"Are you trying to defend my honor?" I whispered at him with a chuckle of my own.

"Told ya I can be romantic." He winked at me and handed me the rest of his weapons. "This little shit is the only one that's standing between us and Milla. He's gotta go. Lemme do this, babe."

"You got this," I told him while I tried to add his ammo and weapons to my own stash.

Then my eyes fell on Jona, who was in the middle of chucking down the contents of a transparent bottle with golden liquid in it. "Wait," I added to Reno and grabbed on to his arm to get his attention. "What's he drinking..?"

Jona tossed the now empty bottle aside with a smirk. "Hero drink," he answered my question. "Didn't think I'd take him on without a buff, did you? Last time, he took me by surprise. Didn't know he was a Turk."A strange kind of golden aura began to surround him, almost as if he were glowing. "Won't be making the same mistake again, I assure you. Worried?" he added at the appalled look on my face. This guy fought dirty, and he knew it. Thankfully, Reno grew up on the streets, and he was no stranger to fighting dirty. "Bet you wished you'd used one of your SOLDIERs instead, now don't you, Rufus?"

I had to hand it to Rufus; he didn't seem in the least impressed by Jona's foul play. If anything, there was a look of utter contempt on his face. "Reno's one of my best. I'd say your confidence is uncalled for. But, you'll find that out soon enough."

"One of your best, huh?" Jona taunted. "Considering you only have three Turks, that's not saying much." Then Jona pointed at Rufus with a cold look. "Tonight's the end of Shinra Inc. For good this time."

"Tamisa," Tseng said to Tammy without taking his eyes off of Jona. "Can you get the President out of here, please?"

She nodded firmly and was already taking Rufus by the elbow to guide him out. "Got it. Come with me, pretty boy."

"I'm not going anywhere with you," Rufus objected with a sneer that might have made any other person flinch. Not Tammy though, she was made of stronger stuff.

"You know, usually guys don't need persuading when I ask them to leave with me."

"Sir," Tseng said to him sternly. He'd given Rufus an order to withdraw once before, and I had no doubt he would do so again. "If we fail here tonight, someone will have to finish this. That is also your responsibility. Please go with her."

Rufus's cold eyes fell on Jona once more, narrowing them at him in warning, and then he let Tammy lead him outside. Although he slapped her hand off his arm as they went.

"Ollie," I muttered softly, but he'd heard me anyway.

"Yeah," he whispered back before he turned on the spot and left.

There was no need for me to elaborate; he knew what I wanted him to do. He was the only one skilled enough to take Jona out if things took a turn for the worst. Hero drinks were no laughing matter, even for a Turk. Ollie could kill him without warning, and from a safe distance.

He snuck away with Tammy and Rufus, blending into the crowd around us.

"Now," Jona began once everyone had settled down. "Kill everyone, but hands off the pipsqueak. He's my kill."

Suddenly the situation was a bit confusing; as if a shot had gone off like a starting signal, everyone began to move at the same time. The chaos had me lose sight of just about everything for a moment, my eyes not sure who or what to focus on first. People were shouting all around and bullets whizzed by me left and right. I saw Jona charge down the final few steps as Reno shot forward, but I lost sight of how they clashed in the frenzy.

"Move!" Cloud was suddenly by my side, pulling me from my temporary dazed state with a shove.

I rolled away on instinct, and not a moment too soon. A grenade exploded right where I had been standing seconds ago, and it once reminded me that having friends looking out for me was life saving. Especially when said friends were battle hardened people like myself.

"You good?" Cloud asked me as he swiftly got to his feet, having rolled away from the blast himself.

"Aw, are you worried about me, Cloud?" I grinned, earning me a roll of his eyes.

There was no time to linger on the sentiment however; the battle had picked up right where it left off. We split up, each running in a different direction.

Rude had once again snatched the same guy he'd been about to knock out before Jona showed up, and was now swinging him around by the ankles. When he let go, the man sailed across the room, right into Cid's spear.

Over by the far wall, I saw Tifa in a struggle with two men, both of whom were assaulting her at the same time, light reflecting off the knives in their hand each time they tried to slash her. She was deflecting them nicely with her wrists, hit by hit, until she landed a kick and there was only one left. There was no need for me to worry over her.

So instead, I leaped over debris and bodies, and slashed through some more enemies on my way to Tseng, who was also in hand-to-hand combat. Only he was being cornered by six. So I had to even the odds. Tseng's rivals didn't see me coming, and I drove Cloud's blade through one of their backs with such force the hilt almost exited on the other side of his body. Using this as leverage, I flung my legs outwards and kicked another in the back of the head. My first victim all but tore in half when I swung the sword around to take off the second's head.

It was fine, I was covered in blood anyway.

Tseng moved fast, his fists and feet a blur as he took out two more and then ducked to let me swing the blade over his crown to slash another across the chest.

"Mind the blood will you?" Tseng calmly said as he rose and snatched the last man by the wrist, twisting and cracking his spine on over hisknee. "Always so violent with you." He released the man with a thud and brushed a splatter of blood from his sleeve.

"You looked like you needed a hand."

"Hardly, but I appreciate the gesture. Remind me to repay the favor in the future." His eyes scanned the room around us, and a small smile played with his lips. "I believe the crowd is thinning."

He was right; there weren't many of the underground's men left standing. A few had taken refuge wherever they could find it, attempting to set up a long range attack. In the center of the room, another got floored by a bullet in the head. The WRO troopers had retreated outside and were now effectively taking down the remaining enemies. Many were still alive, but most of them were injured or dying. The room was filled with the moans and cries of the wounded strewn around on the once polished floor, bathing in the blood of their fallen partners in crime.

Fire summoned from Cloud's hand, tore through most of what remained of our opponents, setting them ablaze.

Tifa took it upon herself to take out the men hiding behind the cars, grabbing one by the back of the neck and slamming him onto the hood of the car rather savagely.

Then my eyes settled on the bottom of the staircase, which was visible now that the large lobby was mostly empty.

Reno was still fighting Jona, and my hope that he would have crushed the vile snake in seconds evaporated. He was clearly having trouble with the junked-up psycho, who moved faster than any normal human should. I took a reflexive step forward when Jona sent his knee into Reno's gut and flung him over his shoulder, but Reno was also fast, and rolled aside before Jona's powerful punch could deliver. What remained was a fist sized crater in the floor, but at least it hadn't been Reno's head.

As he rose to his feet swiftly, I noticed there was blood running from the corner of his mouth, and worry seeped into my heart. Now I did hurry forward, but his eyes flicked my way, freezing me in my tracks. His determined face said it all; he wanted me to back off.

I saw him gnash his teeth before he moved again, sending a flurry of punches and kicks at his doped up opponent, who managed to deflect most – but certainly not all of them.

My eyes shot up to the floors above, already looking for Ollie. I prayed to the Gods we wouldn't need his assistance, but Reno was such a stubborn bastard he might let this get out of hand before he admitted defeat.

"I got his back, Eden." Ollie spoke in my ear as if he knew what I was thinking. "No worries."

Relieved, I stepped closer to the fight, the others gathering around as well. Soon, we were all watching it unfold; Tifa biting her lip in worry, Barret looking ready to step in, and the Turks with an amount of confidence on their face that had me more than a little impressed. Even the few remaining underground goons had gathered up to watch, guns at the ready as they stood on the other side of the now half circle.

"How's he doing?" Cid flung his arm around my shoulders as he showed up beside me. He reeked of blood and battle, but I reckoned I didn't smell any better.

His javelin – the thing was now red – was casually dangling from his fingertips, dangerously close to my face.

Just then, Jona shoved Reno into the stairs, where he landed on his back with a grunt. But he didn't get time to recover, because Jona flew right after him and landed a hard kick to his gut. Reno recoiled with a guttural groan, clutching his midriff. The underground men whooped and laughed proudly. At this rate, a few cracked ribs would be the least of Reno's concern. He could rupture an organ and die from internal bleeding. And I wasn't the only one who thought so.

"Uh…" one of the troopers that had remained behind opted hesitantly while stealing a glance at Tseng, who remained eerily calm. "Shouldn't we like, do something? Your guy is getting trashed."

"If he requires assistance," Tseng replied without taking his eyes off of Reno, who had recovered and landed a swift strike to Jona's throat. "He will say so."

I knew Tseng better than to think he wasn't worried for his friend. The slight crease in his brow said it all, but he was a Turk, and he refused to let his emotions get the best of him. That, and he had utter faith in Reno. I felt differently. It wasn't that I didn't trust Reno's skills –he had proven many times over in the past that he was more than capable – but an opponent on Hero drink was not something to be taken lightly.

"Can't really ask for help when his teeth get knocked out of his mouth, can he?" I demanded of Tseng when Reno took another hit.

He managed to block a lot of Jona's fast strikes, and so did Jona, but the ones that impacted were effective. The only problem was that Jona's enhanced state made him practically invulnerable to pain and fatigue. He didn't seem bothered at all by the blows to his face and kidneys, or Reno's steel-nosed boot to the side of his knee. Jona's face was covered in blood, and it was almost impossible to tell where it all came from. His eyebrow was cut, his lip was cut, his nose was more than a little crooked. And still the son of a bitch continued to fight. Reno's evasive skills were impressive, but he wasn't buffed and this had become a battle of endurance.

Jona struck out again, but Reno nimbly flipped backwards out of reach. It happened too fast for me to properly follow, but as he rose he flung something at Jona, who quickly threw up his arms to shield his face. But he hadn't been fast enough. There had been an actual yelp of pain, and when he lowered his arms I saw why.

A piece of steel pipe was protruding from his left eye, adding to the mess that was his face. Ollie squealed into my ear piece, and began a rant about how the pirate crew was expanding, but I ignored him.

Reno only grinned at the deadly glare that Jona attempted to throw at him. "Sorry, finger slipped," he chuckled innocently.

"That was a low trick," Jona bristled, still eerily calm.

"You play dirty, so can I," Reno retorted, his demeanor going completely serious again.

He was breathing heavily, almost panting, but his features remained determined, his eyes steely as he watched his opponent intently. If he was tired, he wasn't showing it, but then again, that was the Turk way. Showing weakness was not part of his repertoire.

"Reno, want me to take the shot?" Ollie asked.

"Negative," Reno replied, clearly not finished with his fight.

Then to my horror, Jona slowly reached up and curled his fingers around the pipe. It looked like Reno had thrown the thing with a lot of force, because it took quite some effort on Jona's part to pull it out. With a wet squelch, he finally managed to yank it from his socket and tossed it aside.

"That's nasty," Reno commented before over to our right one of the goons bent over and emptied the contents of his stomach on the floor, clearly agreeing with that statement.

"That's nastier," I added while looking away.

"So, you've all come to gloat?" Jona said softly in the silence that followed. He looked around with his one stark eye before settling his attention back on Reno. "How long do you think you're going to last?"

"As long as it takes," Reno growled. "I ain't letting you walk outta here tonight."

Jona actually smiled, that deranged, depraved smile that I had begun to associate with him like a second nature. "All right then, pipsqueak."

Then he charged forward. I saw Reno tense before Jona barreled into him like a raging bull, bringing them both to the ground. Reno landed on his back in the rubble, instantly wrapping his long legs around Jona and delivering some mean punches with his elbow. Jona sat up on his knees, completely lifting Reno off the floor before slamming him back down savagely. Even though he was grunting from effort – probably pain – Reno didn't let go. Instead his knuckles collided with Jona's face, hitting him right in the damaged eye socket. This time, Jona did recoil, his hand flying up to his head in a reflex. It was all the time Reno needed to throw him up and over his head, where he landed on his back with a loud thud. Swiftly, Reno moved and grabbed hold of Jona's leg to flip him over onto his stomach. He was on him in less than a second, snatching him by the silver hair and slamming the man's already ruined face into the floor over and over again.

"Who – the hell – are ya – callin' – pipsqueak – motherf–!"

"Whooooo!" Ollie cheered happily. "Go get him, tiger!"

And he did.

He snuck an arm around Jona's neck and dragged him to his knees. Jona groaned while Reno applied more and more pressure to his throat, choking him from behind. Reno's fingers were still dug deep into the silver hair, keeping a firm hold on the now struggling man. The golden glow that Jona had been emitting began to shimmer, growing dimmer with every second. He clawed helplessly at Reno's arm, his attempts to get a grip growing weaker and weaker. The one bright eye began to turn upwards at the lack of oxygen, the life fading from his body. Then Reno jerked abruptly, and Jona's head twisted to the side with a resounding crack, his arms going limp by his sides.

"Don't mess with Turks," Reno felt the need to sneer into the now dead man's ear before tossing him to the side unceremoniously and getting to his feet. "Wanna get a piece of that?" he then added to the shocked looking henchmen standing to our right.

They froze for maybe a second, but then they dropped their weapons from their hands with a clatter and fled. I doubted they would get very far. Reeve's WRO was waiting for them.

As if on cue, the sound of gunshots filled the air, but no one was bothered by it anymore. We'd survived what might have been the most intense battle of our lives, though I'd had a few. And we weren't done yet.

Milla was still out there somewhere. She had clearly been hoping to capture Rufus to get a piece of him – though which piece I wasn't sure. Tammy was now taking him to safety, but Milla was a considerable threat, even now that her numbers had probably been brought down to about zero. We still needed to keep an eye on Rufus, and act while we had the advantage.

I had no doubt that before the night – or day – was over, Tseng would issue new orders to find her and take her down before she got the chance to retaliate. The bitch was in for a ride.

But first we had to get out of here and salvage whatever we could. I had to make sure that Charly was going to be all right, and Ollie had Eva to worry about. Who the hell was going to clean this mess up?

For now, I didn't care about the mess, I cared about the state of the man I'd come to love. Without hesitation, I walked over to him and wrapped my arms around his neck.

"Au." He winced as I did so and pressed myself into him, but he still returned the embrace. I wasn't sure whether he was being a joker again, but even if he was I didn't mind, because he was all right.

He was still slightly panting, his chest expanding with every heavy breath as I held him. His body was trembling, and I could only imagine how exhausted he was after tonight. It had been a challenge for all of us, but he had to go and make it even harder for himself. I smiled at the thought. We were so much alike in a sense.

"No ruptured spleens or anything?" I asked him once I let go.

He however, didn't let me go. "Thought people only got one spleen?"

"Keep being a smartass and you'll find out," I shot back, though I couldn't help but laugh.

"How 'bout ya take me home and uh…heal me with your magic?" The sly look on his face was a fairly obvious indication that he wasn't referring to the materia kind of magic, the incorrigible blackguard.

"Get a room!" Cid barked from across the lobby.

I hoped he was far enough away to not see me flush.