Clash of the Titans

Clash of the Titans

Chapter Two

Cat and Mouse

I'm on the hunt

I'm after you…

And I'm hungry

Like the wolf

"Hungry Like the Wolf"

Duran Duran

The chase was on.

At the front of the line, the primary prey, was the mysterious girl with the hair of black fire and eyes of liquid gold. She ran aimlessly and without end, her boots with their way-too-high heels beating silently against the cracked concrete as she leapt nimbly over obstacles and maneuvered around rubble piles gracefully. The polluted air of the slums burned her lungs; she was already beginning to tire. This maze of deserted streets and dark alleyways that looked identical to the next never seemed to end. The girl could have been running in circles for all she knew. Yet, she would not give in, not tonight, not ever. The dark man was somewhere behind her, following her. She just knew he was there, and he would stop at nothing to get her.

Propelled by these thoughts, the girl leapt over another overturned trashcan and ran down another alley.

Second in line, the man in the middle, the first hunter, was the Stalker that cloaked himself in shadows. He walked after the girl without any particular hurry, hands in his deep pockets and coat flapping gently behind him. His dark purpose was scalded into his mind, written on the backs of his eyelids, inescapable. The girl was all he knew. She wouldn't get away this time. The maze and rubble of this deserted, dark section of the slums that she had fled into would be her own undoing. The dark man didn't know this place, but already it was becoming familiar to him. There was no escape, for the girl or for him.

Honing into that unnamable sense that pulsed in his brain and told him when the girl was near, the Stalker stepped nimbly over an overturned trashcan and walked down an alley, hot on the girl's trail.

But the line of hunters and hunted ended there, for the final player in the deadly game of cat and mouse was above both the dark man and the girl. On the rooftops of the demolished buildings that composed the "Rat's Maze," as he had called it when he was young, Reno leapt from building to building, never slipping, never stumbling, his agile legs allowing him to sail through the air with stunning ease. His red ponytail streamed behind him like a battle banner, and he had pushed his sunglasses up on his head to allow his night vision to work to its fullest potential. His electric nightstick was clutched loosely in his left hand while the right hovered in the air for balance as he ran across another rooftop, glanced in the alley below, and, seeing nothing, leapt across to the other rooftop.

What his colleagues and enemies alike were always shocked or surprised to find out was that Reno was stunningly agile despite his considerable height. Whereas long legs and lanky bodies tended to make most men gangly and clumsy, Reno was extremely coordinated, able to perform tight maneuvers that most of his fellow Turks couldn't. Even Elena and Rude had been a bit startled to find out that Reno was a "gymnast," as they had so charmingly put it. Reno had snorted disdainfully at the term. Just because he could do backflips, back handsprings, round offs, walkovers, and all sorts of other moves didn't make him a "gymnast." Gymnasts used their abilities for show. Reno used his for fighting. Major difference, boys and girls.

Anyways, gymnastic abilities or not, Reno employed this unique talent of his to leap effortlessly from rooftop to rooftop. He had played in this maze ever since he was a kid, when he and his fellow gang members used to gamble with their lives in a fiendish game of "hide and seek" in the Rat's Maze. Winners took all; losers ended up dead. Needless to say, Reno had learned the terrain of this deserted maze long ago to ensure his own survival against rival gangs up to playing deadly games with him and his hoodlum buddies.

Reno's worn boots crunched loudly against the loose rubble that was always present on the tops of the buildings, and for a moment, he nearly slipped and fell on his behind, but he regained his balance at the last moment with a seasoned practice that was a refugee from his dark adolescence. Sprinting to the right side of the rooftop, Reno poked his head over the edge and looked down. Another deserted alley. Dammit! Where they hell were they?

He had followed the Stalker for as long as he dared, staying far enough behind so as to avoid detection by the creature that had incited so much fear in him. Employing that tactic, however, had almost made him lose the trail of the dark man several times, and it hadn't taken long for Reno to realize that he couldn't stalk a Stalker on the ground. So he had taken to the rooftops using a dilapidated fire escape attached to one of the old apartment buildings. He found it was much easier to track the girl and the Stalker that way, and once he saw that the mysterious woman was headed towards the Rat's Maze, he couldn't believe his luck. Reno knew that labyrinth like the back of his hand, and chances were that the girl and the dark man didn't. He would have the advantage, and with a lot of skill and a bit of luck, he would be able to get to the girl before the Stalker could.

But once he had entered the maze, he had suddenly lost track of both the girl and the dark man. Shadows and darkness seemed to be their elements, and they brandished them proudly, using them as cover to hide behind. Reno had been in this maze for half an hour already, and he hadn't seen a sign of either of them.

Running along the edge of the building, Reno constantly checked the alleys beneath, searching for the moving figures of the girl or the Stalker. Seeing nothing but trash and more trash, he cursed under his breath and prepared to leap to the next building. But suddenly, his feet froze where they were, and the buzzing in his head rose up once again, but this time, it had a memory of the recent past as its companion.

Sitting on the bumper of the ambulance, Reno fingered his busted lip gingerly with his left hand, trying to ignore the throbbing pain all over his body. His right arm was in a crudely constructed sling, and he had a bandage tied around his inured thigh, blood from the bullet wound already seeping through the white linen. A group of SOLDIERS walked by, hardened and solid from their training and eager to do the job that the Turks had failed to do. One of them, a tall creature with spiky black hair and laughing blue eyes, gave Reno a half amused/half sympathetic look as he walked by, leading his squad.

"Are you alright, man?" he asked lightly, as if the two were old friends.

"@%$# off," Reno spat, not caring that talking to the leader in front of his colleagues in such a fashion might incite a brawl when he most definitely was in no condition for one.

The SOLDIER's dark brows drew together in a scowl, and he folded his arms across the fabric of his dark purple uniform. "Hey, Turk, I was just trying to be congenial. We all make mistakes, you know."

Reno just glared at him.

"Zack," a deep, authoritative voice suddenly spoke up. Reno's heart sank when he saw Tseng striding towards them, suit immaculate as always, not a hair out of place. The redheaded Turk lowered his head in shame. How humiliating! He didn't want Tseng to see him like this! Especially when Tseng had been the one who had trusted Reno to lead this mission, something that he had failed at, miserably.

Zack turned and looked at the approaching Turk Commander with a mixture of respect and apathy. Turks and SOLDIERS were not friends, but neither were they enemies. "Yes sir, Mr. Tseng?" he asked flatly.

Tseng looked at him coolly, dark Wutainese eyes revealing nothing. "I believe you have a mission to carry out."

Zack nodded. "Yes, sir, we do." With one last glance at the shameful Reno, he turned back to his squad. "Alright, everyone! Move out! Defense team, secure the perimeter! Attack team, come with me! Let's kick some ass!"

A chorus of affirmative cheers erupted from the SOLDIERS as they quickly strode away, leaving Reno alone with Tseng. Dozens of medics ran by, attending to the injured Turks and Shinra soldiers that had been under Reno's command. Red, white, and blue lights from the ambulances blazed brightly, bathing the entire scene with their fluorescent lights, but Reno saw none of it. He looked down at his scuffed shoes and avoided Tseng's gaze.

"Rude's in the hospital," Reno muttered.

"I know," Tseng replied calmly.

"He got shot in the stomach," Reno continued in a hollow voice, remembering the intense look of pain on his friend's face as the terrorist's bullet pierced his skin.

"I know," Tseng replied again. "He'll make it; Rude's a very strong man."

Reno nodded numbly, a few stray locks of hair tumbling around his face and into his Mako eyes. "It's all my fault, Tseng," he said flatly. "I was in command; I was responsible for their lives."

"Yes, you were," Tseng agreed, putting his hands in his pockets, the epitome of casualty, as if several of his fellow Turks weren't lying wounded…or worse…all around him. "What happened, Reno?"

The younger man hung his head. "I thought the warehouse was empty. I did a thorough check like I was supposed to. There was no one there, and all was quiet. I gave the signal to move in and…well, you can see what happened."

"The warehouse was empty?" Tseng echoed.

Reno nodded miserably, the cries of his allies still fresh in his ears. "Or, at least I thought was. Apparently I was wrong."

Tseng was silent for a few seconds as Reno dreaded what his superior would say to him. He wouldn't hold it against Tseng if he turned Reno back out onto the streets again. Reno was starting to think that that was where he belonged.

"Look at me, Reno," Tseng suddenly said. Reno reluctantly turned his gaze upwards and was surprised to see that his commander looked more amused than angry. "You checked the warehouse thoroughly?" he asked calmly.

Reno nodded. "Yes."

"Did you check it again?"

Reno hesitated. "No, but—"

Tseng shook his head firmly, black hair turned a deep bloody red by the ambulance lights. "No, buts, Reno. You should have checked it twice, maybe three times. That's where you went wrong. These terrorists are not the drug-addicted, alcohol-wasted thugs that you're used to. These guys are crafty and smart, understand? They know when and where to hide. Don't be fooled by appearances and you won't make this mistake again. A Malayan proverb states, 'Don't think there are no crocodiles just because the water is calm.' Remember that, you hear?"

Reno nodded respectfully. "Yes, sir. I'll remember."

And he did remember.

Spurred on by the extraordinarily vivid memory of his late mentor and the buzzing in the back of his head, Reno ran stealthily back to the right side of the rooftop, and looked down. For a moment, he wondered if he had just made the effort for nothing; the alley was just as empty as it was before, and he was losing time! Serves him right for living in the past instead of the present.

But then he saw movement in the darkness near the mouth of the alley, and suddenly, the mysterious girl emerged from the shadows and into a patch of moonlight. Her booted legs in their fishnet hose pumped steadily with long, nimble strides, but Reno could tell that she was already beginning to tire. Sweat glistened on her face, trickling down between her breasts. She wouldn't be able to go on much longer.

I can't believe it! I found her! That's another one for you, Tseng.

Heart pounding with excitement, Reno moved down the rooftop, matching the girl's pace as she ran down the alley below. She came upon an intersection, but instead of taking one of the side routes, she kept going straight, leaping to avoid overturned dumpsters. Reno quickly leapt to the next building, eyes trained on the girl and the girl alone. So far, he had seen no sign of the dark man, which he considered a blessing even though he knew it wouldn't last forever. The girl was obviously lost and in a slight panic. The Stalker would find her if she kept on going like this. But now that Reno had her in his sights, all he had to do was predict her path and intercept her before the dark man could catch her. The only problem would be that if the girl was choosing her paths at random, then Reno would be shit out of luck. He wasn't about to jump off the roof and into an alley and break both of his ankles just so he could get her attention. Come on, he wasn't that desperate.

Or was he?

Thankfully, after five more minutes of following the girl, he saw that she did indeed have a pattern to her routes. She would run straight for every two blocks, then take a left, then run straight for another two blocks, and hang a right. This pattern in mind, Reno quickly anticipated what street he could intercept her on and raced to the rooftop of the building, praying that the girl held true to her routine.

Leaping off the rooftop and onto the wasted fire escape with his nightstick clutched in his left hand, Reno pounded down the stairs, ignoring the squeaks and creaks of protest that the fire escape gave. The thing wouldn't break; it hadn't when he had climbed it ten years ago, and it sure as hell wouldn't now!

Reno was just landing on the trash-ridden concrete of the alley when the girl came blowing around the corner like the hounds of hell were after her. With her head turned around to check if the dark man was following her, she completely missed Reno standing in front of her and plowed right into his chest with a startled cry. She bounced back and would have fallen if Reno hadn't slung his right arm around her waist and crushed her to his body.

"Hey, baby," he said with a flirtatious grin. "Fancy seeing you here, huh?"

Shocked out of her mind, the girl looked up into a pair of glowing Mako blue eyes that shimmered beautifully in the dark, free from their shield of dark sunglasses. A strand of blood red hair suddenly flopped down into one of them, and moonlight glinted on the shiny surface of a pair of twin scars on his cheeks.

The girl's golden eyes widened with a mixture of shock, awe, and fear. "You!" she gasped, recognizing the man she had run into on the street, the one that had thought her to be a harlot. How had he managed to find her?

"Me," Reno agreed cheerfully, winking at the girl still crushed against his chest, her bare arms pinned between them. "Miss me, sweetheart?"

The girl's dark brows drew together in a scowl, and she jerked sharply against the protective circle of his arms. "What are you doing here?" she demanded. "Let me go!"

"Sure thing," Reno replied casually. "Just as soon as we get away from that dude who's stalking you."

The girl's mouth fell open. This man wasn't anything like had seemed! "You saw him!" she gasped, craning her neck slightly backwards so she could look into his face. "But how could you have managed such a thing?! How did you know he was following me?! Who are you?"

Something suddenly tugged at Reno's mind again. "Tell you later, baby," he said quickly, casting a nervous glance around him. "We need to get out of here."

The girl stiffened in his arms. "I don't have to go anywhere with you," she said flatly, eyes glittering in the darkness.

Reno stared down at her incredulously. "You're not going to tell me that you were doing fine are your own, are you? Give me a break. You were running around this place like a chocobo with its head cut off; I was watching you, sister. And if a totally retarded idiot like me could figure out the pattern you were running in, then I'm sure that the man who's after you can, too."

The girl shuddered, the fearful movement of her body making Reno shiver as well.

"Now, either you come with me or I turn you loose in this maze again," Reno said firmly as his heart continued to pound out of control. The demon yanking at his mind told him that the Stalker was close, very close. He didn't know what he would do if the girl refused to come with him…

The girl's eyebrows creased in distress, and she chanced another nervous glance behind her, not able to see the creature she knew was there. "Very well," she replied after a brief hesitation. "I shall come with you."

Reno resisted the urge to cry out in relief. "Glad to hear it," he said coolly, releasing his grip on the girl and ignoring the fact that his body ached to have her close to him, pressed up against him.

His head throbbed with pain as he grabbed the girl's left hand with his right. "This way," he muttered, and took off running down the alley, calling up mental pictures from his youth to act as a guide through the labyrinth that he was now in, and not above. To his surprise, the girl managed to keep up with his taxing pace, a considerable feat considering she was much shorter than him and wearing high heels. She matched Reno's loping stride without a problem, her hand in his cold and clammy with fear.

Making a point to ignore the painful jangling in his mind associated with the Stalker's presence, Reno's eyes darted from side to side as alleys and dark corners whizzed past them, searching for that one familiar pathway that would lead out of this maze. His footsteps echoed loudly in the deserted alley, deep and low in contrast to the girl's ringing staccato strides. Adrenaline pounded through his body, making his breaths come ragged in his chest as he and girl raced along, rats in a maze without an end.

Except there was an end, and Reno knew the way.

Tugging the girl down a side street, his eyes suddenly lit upon a crumbling wall of an old building. The wall was covered in graffiti that was a common sight here, but this wall had a special meaning for Reno. It had been dubbed the "Wall of Fire" or the "Gateway to Heaven" when Reno used to play his deadly games in this labyrinth. The Wall of Fire was where everything began and everything ended. If you couldn't make it back to the Wall during the night for a breather or two, you were in deep shit. The Wall was the safe point, the sacred shrine of the slum's gangs. You didn't defile the Wall; no one touched the Wall unless they earned it. Winners of game made their tags on the Wall in spray paint or blood; losers were left to rot in the Rat's Maze.

"This way," Reno urged breathlessly, pulling on the girl's hand as he ran towards the Wall. "I hid my car somewhere down here."

The girl didn't reply; she was too busy breathing.

The Wall grew rapidly closer until Reno could see the marks made on its crumbling surface, some of friends and enemies long gone – Dexter, Briar, Ezra, Sling, Rion, and there was his own name, written in black spray paint that stubbornly clung to the crumbling surface of the Wall – Reno. Beneath it were twelve markings, and as he ran past it, he couldn't help but feel an all-too-familiar flush of pride.

Twelve times I braved the Rat's Maze, he recalled. Twelve times I fought on my own, against my friends and enemies alike, and I emerged victorious. But not the thirteenth time. No, the thirteenth time there was a new rat in the maze. No, not a rat – a cat, a cat after mice. No, not even a cat. He was something more than that…a panther. Yes, a panther on the prowl, and his name was…

The pain in Reno's head suddenly crescendoed to an unbearable degree, making him grit his teeth in pain. He stumbled to a stop and would have fallen if the girl hadn't suddenly let out a loud gasp, squeezing his hand tightly and bringing him back down to earth. She, too, had frozen where she stood. Red dots danced before Reno's eyes, but he stubbornly clutched his nightstick tighter and whirled to see what had alarmed his mysterious companion.

His heart sank.

The Stalker stood at the mouth of the alley.