Disclaimer: All Final Fantasy 7 characters, places and things all belong to Squaresoft and other involved companies. I own none of them. This fanfic is purely for the fun and enjoyment of others and myself. I make no money from it.
SHARDS COLLIDE
CHAPTER 18
Aeris gasped in alarm as she quickly blocked yet another strike from Reno's nightstick. She and Tifa had been hard pressed the entire battle. Once Reno had revealed himself to the two women, both knew they had little chance of escaping the lightning fast Turk so each agreed to fight their way out. However, this proved to be easier said then done. Reno had two Shinra troopers fighting along side him and, although Aeris and Tifa each could take out both of these guards, the two women found in completely impossible since Reno would constantly intrude just before they could effectively take them out. This gave the Shinra troopers more then enough time to recover and retaliate with their automatics. Ultimately, it was a losing fight for both females as Reno had the better tactics and manpower.
Aeris breaths came in gasps as she wiped a shaking hand across her sweaty brow. She was beyond exhaustion, crouching low in a defensive stance while Reno continued to simply stand there with a huge grin on his face. Aeris glared at the man with scorn. She desperately wished she had had more time to train so that she could be more use to extended fights like this one. However, it didn't seem like it would have made much of a difference in the long run as she stole a glance at her companion. Tifa was beat. She also sagged low as she continued to dodge the wild bursts of firepower from her attackers while at the same time, moving fast enough to get the upper hand over them. The only problem was that any time she came too close to them, Reno always seemed to be there to throw her back to step one.
Aeris knew the situation was grim yet she also knew she would never give up. She wouldn't give the man that kind of pleasure.
"I never though you would hold out this long." Reno replied dryly, still with the smug grin plastered over his face. "You impress me Ancient. I never would have expected you to be able to fight like this. But still…" He leaned down close so that he was directly facing her. "It's no use against me. You're tired, battered, fatigued beyond your limits. Why don't you just give up and accept your fate. You belong to Shinra, now and forever."
Suddenly a burst of adrenaline rushed forth through Aeris veins as she rose up faster then a speeding bullet and swung her staff directly in Reno's face. "NEVER!"
This caught the Turk completely off guard, and Reno fell to one knee as he tried to recover from the blow. He angrily shook his head while swearing at his sloppiness.
Aeris didn't waste a minute. She ran forth once more and swung her staff again. Reno snapped his head up quickly and rolled back from the second strike. Aeris grit her teeth but continued her attack. She lunged in to strike him again. Unfortunately, Reno was now prepared for it. He dodged deftly to the side as the staff passed by him. He then spun back forward, sidelining the young woman and knocking her to the ground flat on her back.
Aeris groaned in pain from the sudden impact that had assaulted her. Reno looked down at her crumbled form then kicked her roughly in the side. "Heh, serves you right you piece of $hit! That's what you get for thinking you can catch me off guard."
Reno looked to his side to see Tifa was similarly having a rough time. Tifa side flipped away from one guard's barrage of bullets then ran up to the second guard while he was still trying to take aim. Before he could do anything, Tifa lunged into the air and delivered a swift roundhouse air kick straight into the man's face knocking him utterly unconscious.
"$hit!" Reno swore as he rushed towards the brunette haired Avalanche member. Tifa quickly dodged all the bullets the other guard fired at her but she could tell she needed to take him out quick. Her muscles were being pushed far beyond endurance and she knew that if she was off by even a second she would fail. Her body was completely drained from overstrain and she knew that if she made even on mistake she would pay for it with her life. She couldn't let her concentration brake. As long as the threat remained, she knew she had to fight with her all or Shinra would win and her friends and companions would suffer for her failure.
She ran faster towards the man, dodging right and left as she evaded his every shot. She could tell the man was growing more and more nervous with every second. Tifa could almost smell the victory in the palm of her hands. Then suddenly a flurry of movement landed in front of her and a black staff quickly rammed across her face. Tifa staggered back, but didn't let herself fall into confusion. She then ran forth again towards her new opponent. She struck with a flurry of attacks, swinging high then low then mid then low again, trying desperately to connect. Unfortunately, Reno read her every move and avoided each one accordingly.
Tifa grit her teeth then swung a kick his way. Reno skillfully caught her leg then brought his nightstick down on it hard. Tifa cried out in pain as she felt the bones in her leg break. She stumbled back then started to fall. Unfortunately, Reno wasn't finished. He rushed in quickly, delivering a hard punch to the gut. Tifa grunted out in surprised shock, then everything became dim as darkness invaded her vision.
Reno smirked in amusement as the young woman's limp body tumbled away from his fist and fell unceremoniously to the cold hard ground.
The last remaining Shinra troop ran up to Reno in a flash.
"Sir you're bleeding. Are you alright?"
Reno's eyes widened slightly then he slowly brought his hand up to his bottom lip only to find blood on his fingertips as he brought it away. He immediately shot a glaring look towards Aeris limp form.
"I'm fine." He said, still staring at the unconscious woman. "That little $hit simply pegged one on me. Heh, she's gonna regret that."
Reno shifted and began walking towards her when suddenly a hand grasped his shoulder.
Reno spun his head towards the guard, glaring daggers at him. The man gulped visibly but remained firm.
"Sir, remember, we are still under orders to bring her in relatively unharmed."
Reno continued to glare at the man a bit longer then ripped his shoulder away from the man's grasp and walked a few feet in the opposite direction. "Fine! Whatever! So what's our status with the others? How are our guys doing?"
The soldier sighed inwardly at the change in subject. "Sir I'll check on that right away!"
Reno nodded sagely. "Yeah, you do that."
He then walked a few more feet over to the corner staring out at the wrecked city. 'Such a waste of $hit this place is.' Reno mused to himself as he lit a cigarette and perched it onto the edge of his lips. He squinted his eyes as he looked up at the bright lights of mako fumes as they were slowly being drained into the city via the sector 6 reactor. Reno lightly rubbed the stub of hair that made up his sideburns, thinking intently. 'But this is all these folks got left to live on… Are we really right to…' Reno quickly shook his head, clearing away the troubling thoughts. '$hit man! I'm starting to go soft, think'in about all this stupid crap. 'Course we're right. We got the power so therefor we got the right to do whatever the hell we want with it.' A small grin played across his face as he thought of how easily it was to round up a few people and make them do whatever he wanted them to. It was always something of a sport for Reno to use his power to control others. He loved the thrill of being able to do whatever he wanted and not have to pay for it later. It was definitely a change from the way things were in his past.
Once again he shook his head, this time to clear away the troubling thoughts of painful memories of his past. He rhythmically messaged the bridge of his nose. He took another puff from his cigarette then flicked it away from between his two fingers and stomped it out with his boot.
"Sir! I've just made contact with both parties."
Reno shot the man an annoyed look. "It's about fu#king time! What did they say?"
"Good news sir. Rude and the main Squad of Shinra soldiers have got Avalanche beat to a pulp atop the Sector 7 tower and Tseng's succeeded in his contact with Zack. He's positive the mercenary is on his way there right now."
Reno smiled wickedly. "Excellent. So all we're wait'n for now is for that blonde haired runt to show up. Alright, start tying up our prisoners and put them in the caravan. I'll wake up the others so they can give you a hand."
The remaining soldier saluted smartly. "Yes sir."
He immediately got to work while Reno walked over the area looked at the downed men lying around him. He walked over to the man Tifa had recently knocked out and kicked him in the arm roughly. "Wake up you pathetic fu#k! You got work to do!"
****
Cloud ran as fast as he could down the alleyway. A gnawing feeling etched itself more and more into his very core as he got closer and closer. Something was wrong. He could feel it. Whatever was going on was more then just a common street fight. He just 'knew' it was connected to him in some way. He knew he had to be there.
Cloud rounded a corner and suddenly his world stopped. His eyes were shot wide as he saw the horrifying scene up ahead. Tifa and Aeris were both being bound and carried into a nearby caravan with the title 'Shinra' labeled on it. He resisted the urge to simply surge for as he instead sat back and listened to what they had to say.
"Hurry it up already!" He could hear Reno's voice yell out. There were four of them in all. One of them, a Shinra guard, was still lying face down on the ground, presumably dead.
Reno walked around a bit more. "The sooner we find the last mercenary, the sooner we complete our mission."
Suddenly Cloud knew there was no more time to waste. If he was going to save Tifa and Aeris, it had to be now while they were still slightly disoriented.
Cloud quickly jumped from cover, his sword gleaming brightly in his hands. "Hold it right there Turk!"
Reno turned around slowly with a huge grin on his face. "Well, well, well… Speak of the devil. Long time no see Merc. You still sore from that last beating I gave you?"
Cloud's expression darkened only slightly as he held his gaze on the red haired man whom he only fought once before. "Release your hostages now and I will let you live." He said simply.
Reno chuckled once more. "Of course. Well you can have them… Provided you can beat me!"
Suddenly, in a flurry of movement, Reno yanked out a small orb and swung his arm as a small green light was thrown from it.
Cloud knew exactly what it was and dodged the projectile with equal speed. "You know what they say Turk! Can't try the same trick twice. Now you'll have to face me on equal ground. Are you man enough for that?"
Cloud hopped down from his perch to face the red haired Turk up front.
The smug grin never left Reno's face. He leaned close towards on of the soldiers. "Take off. Deliver our hostages to our forces over by the Sector 7 tower. I'll meet up with you momentarily."
Cloud jumped forth like a speeding bullet. "No you don't!" He yelled, charged towards the caravan. Reno quickly intervened and jumped in front of him. Cloud was unheeded. He swung his sword with all the speed he could muster, planning to take the Turk out in one strike.
However, Reno was a master at speed, as he easily dodged the attack then came in low with his own. Cloud raised his leg above the attack Reno had tried to deliver with his nightstick. He quickly swung down again with his buster sword but once again Reno evaded the strike.
In no time at all the two men were lost in a flurry of movements. Swings and strikes were barely dodged and barely delivered as both men lost themselves to the sea of war. Neither one would spare any thought of anything else but their skill and focus towards defeating the other.
Cloud delivered a swift horizontal strike. Reno ducked quickly then raised his nightstick intending to shock him right below the rib cage. Unfortunately for him, Cloud spun to the side, evading his strike. As he completed his spin, he let his blade follow with him and he struck low right behind the Turk's kneecap.
Reno hollered out in pain then spun to his left, falling to the ground on his right knee.
"Damn…" Reno said, smiling devilishly at Cloud. "You've gotten a tad bit better. I'll grant you that. But it's still not enough."
Cloud noticed all to late what Reno was doing. His eyes narrowed at the sight of the Turk using false conversation while behind his back, healing his wound with a cure materia. Cloud roared in anger, determined to not let the man finish his spell. Unfortunately, it was too late. Reno back-flipped out of the way as he swung. Reno chuckled, still slightly favoring his right leg. "Well it's been fun but I've gotta go. If you want to save your friends meet me at the Sector 7 towers. That is… If you've got the guts to face me again!"
Cloud quickly looked to his side where the caravan originally had been only to see that it was no longer there or anywhere as far as the eye could see.
Reno smiled back at the confused mercenary. "Heh, I figured you'd be too preoccupied with me to notice them take off."
Cloud's anger rose even higher. "You bastard!" Cloud lunged forth, swinging his buster sword once more only to miss yet again.
"Heh, save it for the tower kid." Reno said with a smirk on his face. "We'll face off again there. I'll be waiting for you."
And with that, Reno disappeared into the shadows. Cloud balled up his fists in anger then turned back around towards the way he had come. 'I've got to get to sector 7. If anything happens to either one of them I'll…'
Suddenly the sounds of footsteps interrupted Cloud's thoughts. He quickly spun around, raising his buster sword in preparation to attack this knew intruder. However Recognition overruled nerves as he quickly lowered his sword just as fast.
"I take it you've recovered well enough from the fall?"
A huge grin formed on Cloud's face at the familiar voice. "Zack!"
The dark haired mercenary clapped his hand on his best friend's shoulder in a gesture of friendship and relief.
"It's good to see you're ok buddy!" Zack said, releasing his hand from Cloud's shoulder.
Cloud's mood darkened lightly at the comment. "That depends on how you look at it. They've got Aeris and Tifa. They told me to meet them at the Sector 7 tower."
Zack too assumed a serious expression. "Yeah I know. One of the Turks confronted me too. I guess that's our next objective then."
Cloud looked at Zack skeptically. "Yeah but how are we going to get there? I know how to get to sector 7 but I don't know the way to the tower."
Zack flashed Cloud one of his ever-famous grins. "But I do. Come on follow me. Time's running short."
Cloud nodded his head and followed his best friend, keeping silent about the gnawing question that now haunted his mind. 'Since when did Zack know so much about how to get from place to place in Midgar?'
::::::::::To Be Continued::::::::::
Author's note: Thanks for reading and please stay tuned for chapter 19.