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Next chapter! ^^ Whoa, each chapter keeps getting longer n longer... x.x; Oh wells! Please read!
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Chapter Four
"What should we do with her?"
"Just let her be. She'll wake up."
"The boss said to leave her in here anyway."
"But she looks so cute when she's asleep...Heh heh..."
"Reno shut up!"
"Geeze.... I was only joking..."
"....."
"(Gawd she's hot...)"
"RENO!!"
"Sorry!!"
Yuffie opened one of her eyes wearily, not all the way. She didn't want them to know that she was awake yet. Maybe she could get some information out of them without asking.
"Well. In any case, I'm gonna see what Rufus will say!" Elena said, and scampered off. Rude followed her silently.
Then Yuffie saw Reno look her way. She quickly closed her eyes.
Reno smirked and walked over to her. She was in one of the jail cells on floor 67 in the ShinRa HQ. Reno opened the cell's door and closed it behind him. Yuffie heard his steps nearing and she begged he didn't see her. Then he kneeled down next to her.
"I know you're awake, Yuff." He said softly in her ear.
Her eyes snapped open. He was gazing back at her with beautiful aquamarine eyes.
'SNAP OUTTA IT, YUFFIE!' she thought to herself. 'He's the enemy!!!'
Then his hand dropped to her cheek in a caress. Her face went pink, and she could tell, too. He smirked.
"Eh? Have something for me, don't ya?" He asked, his smirk growing slightly.
Yuffie suddenly jerked away, looking purely disgusted.
"Jerk! You stay away from me!" she screeched.
"Not if I don't want to." Reno replied, standing up.
"Well you can't have me, so back off!" Yuffie intersected. "Damn man-whore.."
'There.' she thought. 'Good idea. Covering up your feelings with more rejects. Good, good. You're always doing this!! Stop it for once! But he's the enemy! So?!' Yuffie was getting annoyed by the two voices arguing in her head.
"What are you going to do with me, anyhow?" Yuffie asked him, breaking the silence.
He smirked. "Lets just say it's undecided yet." He said. Reno caught the frown on Yuffie's face and then continued. "Oh but I bet you'd like to hear that you're going to be used as bait to get Wutai! Hmm?"
Yuffie turned red with anger. "WHAT?!" Then she glared menacingly at him. "If you even dare..." she began, but trailed off as Reno reached under his jacket for his nightstick.
"Glad we have an agreement." He chuckled. Yuffie growled angrily and stalked to the other side of the room, and faced the wall away from him.
A few minutes of silence later, they heard footsteps comming their way. Reno stepped out of the cell. Yuffie just looked over he shoulder curiously, and then went back to glaring at the wall, knowing pretty well who it was.
"So, what did the boss say?" Reno asked, leaning against the doorway.
"He said we should take her to his office. I think we should comply." Rude answered.
"Okay." Reno said.
"Come on, we don't want to make him mad."
"Where's El?" Reno asked, standing up straight.
"Back at the office. Rufus needed to talk to her about something, don't know what." Rude answered.
"Hmm.." Reno thought about this for a moment, and then stepped out of the doorway and closed the jail cell's door.
"Shimatta.." Yuffie cursed under her breath.
Reno snickered. "Heh. I know THAT wutain word." he mocked.
"Hey, dude, I said we needed to bring her with us." Rude said.
"She's too much trouble." Reno whined.
"Just do it." Rude half-begged, aggrivated.
"Fine Fine." Reno answered. He opened the door again and walked into the cell.
Yuffie swirled around and dodged out of the way. Reno lept out at her, trying to grab her by her arms. She jumped out of the way quickly and darted for the door. But Rude was blocking her path.
"Where do you think you're going?" Rude asked, looking down at her.
Reno came up behind Yuffie and recliped the handcuffs over her wrists. Yuffie grumbled as she was lead to Rufus' office by the two turks.
"So!!" Barret began. "I got an idea for a way we can spring the kid!"
"What's that?" Cloud asked.
"We can get more people to be involved in AVALANCHE and then break into the ShinRa building!" Barret proclaimed. "Damn foo's won't be able to even react!!!"
"Yeah, but I think that is rather foolish." Red said.
Barret looked at Red critically.
"What do ya mean, foo'?!" he asked indignantly.
"Even if we had such numbers, in the situation ShinRa and ourselves are now... That'll almost be impossible." Red explained, swishing his tail impatiently.
Barret cursed under his breath.
"Then...what do we do?" Tifa asked, waiting for an answer.
"Teef..." Cloud began.
Tifa turned to him curiously. "Something bad's going to happen, and you know it!" She said, waving her arms out to emphasize her point even further. "It's going to be a bad thing, too! And..." she trailed off, looking into his eyes, and then slowly averting her gaze around the room, "If something bad DOES happen... What will we do then?"
There was a long silence around the room.
"Tifa, we can't go back after Yuffie yet again... I hate to say that and yet it's a relief." Cloud started. "But if we keep chasing after to un-capture people sooner or later ShinRa's going to have reached their goal and we'd be stuck in the dust. We have to move on and hopefully meet up with her later."
Tifa nodded solemnly, but she didn't speak.
"Well, what we should worry about is," Vincent said, stepping up from the shadows he was hidden in. "why ShinRa wants to get Yuffie so badly. I mean, Don Corneo wouldn't just kidnap her for revenge. He wouldn't do that unless there were people to back him up."
"Vince's right." Cid said, taking a drag of his cigarette. "They're up to something big. So the first thing we do is find out what. And more importantly, why the fuck there is a whole bunch of reports of SOLDIERs in Wutai lately."
"Where did you hear that?" Tifa asked.
"On the news back in Rocket Town before you guys even called me up on this wacky adventure." Cid answered. "Since we were so close to Wutai, the news probably thought it could be a danger to us, too."
"Well, maybe we should ask the damn spy!" Barret said, glaring and turning his head over to glance at Reeve.
Reeve was sitting at the infirmary table with all the others, but his head was low and his eyes were fixed on something that wasn't really there. He hadn't said a word for the longest time and was acting like he was off in some other world.
"Well, foo'!" Barret slammed his mighty fist on the desk. Again, all of their glasses shook. Tifa had to hold hers to keep it from falling off the table.
Reeve slowly looked up at them all, suddenly back. His eyes showed no emotion whatsoever, but there was a somewhat quaver in his voice as he spoke. "They...the ShinRa...they said that they were going to relive the war against Wutai..."
"Yeah, you already told us that." Cloud said, scratching the back of his head.
"But... They said there was some sort of energy in that materia cave." Reeve countered.
"NO WAY! THEY CAN'T SUCK THE MAKO OUTTA THERE!!!!" Barret roared.
"Sh, Barret!" Cloud hissed. Barret glared coldly at him.
"If there's a force comming from the Mime Materia cave... That's usually meaning something bad's going to happen." Red said.
"What do you expect to happen?" Cid asked.
"I don't know..." Red said thoughtfully.
"If only Aeris was back." Cloud said. All of the others' heads snapped up at the mention of their lost friend. Aeris had died the summer just before and there were all hit very strongly about it. Tifa in particular, because they were such good friends. And Cloud, too, because she had known his friend, Zack, long ago.
"Cloud...she's gone..." Tifa tried to say as calmly as possible.
"But...maybe she could know what was happening..." Clouod trailed off.
"It's true, if she were back we would all be happier, but we can't redo the past. What's done is done. That's all there is to it." Vincent said.
"Then...what do we do?" Tifa asked.
"Then, we go to the cave." Cloud said, standing up, and twirled his sword in the air triumphantly at finding a plan.
"But...How is that helping our situation???" Barret asked.
Cid laughed. "Who the fuck cares?! HEY PILOT WE'RE TAKING OFF!!! FLY THIS PLANE'S ASS TO THE WUTAIN MIME MATERIA CAVE -NOW-!!!" he hollored.
In a few minutes the Highwind's engine began to roar and soon they took off to Wutai.
"I just damn well hope you find what you're lookin' for, spike." Barret said, and ran out of the infirmary.
"Don't worry." Cloud said, shaking his head and grinning. "I will."
"Hurry up!" Reno said, and pushed Yuffie ahead.
Yuffie grumbled and muttered something under her breath in wutain that, even if Reno could translate what she was saying, woulndn't have come out clear enough to be understood.
Rude sighed and shook his head. "Quit whining both of you.." he mumbled.
Yuffie, on the other hand, didn't really care. She was trying to go as slow as she could, trying to devise a plan so she could spring herself. Sure enough AVALANCHE would help her out on this one too? But...they would of gotten her by now, right? Then... Had they just given up on her? Was she too much of a burden?
She didn't have too much time to think because they had reached Rufus' office. Reno opened the door and quietly stepped in, forcing Yuffie with him, with Rude following them.
"So." Rufus said, bringing his clenched hands up to his chin and resting his elbows against his desk. "This is the Kisaragi? I thought she'd be more...how can I say this...?" he paused, waving his hand in a small circle in the air as if he was trying to fish out the word out of thin air. When he found the world he snapped his fingers. "Elegent!..." Then he paused again, looking slightly disappointed. "But... You're not. What a shame." he said, and laughed harshly. Yuffie glared at him. "I was thinking of a terrific headline for the newspaper!" Then he brought his hands out as if he was putting up the letters on a sign. " 'ELEGENT PRINCESS KISARAGI MURDERED IN DEFENCE AGAINST WUTAI' but.... I gues not..." he said, and chuckled evily, leaning back in his chair.
If Rufus wasn't his boss, Reno would of slapped him silly. 'So what?' he thought to himself. 'It's a girl, duh. She does take care of herself better then some of those bums on the street.'
"What do you want us to do with her, boss?" Elena asked Rufus.
"I want you to keep her captive until nesecary." Rufus said. "But, I also want you to intersect AVALANCHE... And also deliver the message to Lord Godo Kisaragi...." he paused. "Now, how can you all do that at once?" he asked them, as if he didn't know the answer himself.
"We could always take the kid with us." Reno said.
"That could be a problem." Rufus said. "What if she tries to escape?"
"Three against one? Not going to work." Elena said.
Yuffie muttered something about skills and then went back to being silent when she caught Rufus' glare.
"So." Reno started, striding over to Rufus' desk while twirling his nightstick idly. "We go to Wutai and tell Godo Kisaragi, and then leave. Of course, AVALANCHE will be there, so we'll just fight until we see an equal opportunity to leave."
"But what if they try to capture the girl?" Rufus asked, glancing over at Yuffie.
Reno thought for a second.
"We could always make her friends think something else." Rude suggested.
Reno turned to Rude. "Brilliant idea, my stone-faced friend!" he said, his ever-so present smirk returning to his lips.
"But what could that be?" Elena asked, turning to look at him.
"Oh... I think I've got something in mind." Reno said with a twinkle in his eyes.
Yuffie felt uneasy about her whole situation and wondered if she'd ever live through any of this...
AVALANCHE were now traveling towards the hidden Mime Materia cave out in Eastern Wutai, but they had to go on foot. There was no way they could land the Highwind anywhere near there. They had to leave it back at the last bridge.
As they were walking, Tifa could notice a strange aura surrounding the area. Everytime she took a step closer to the cave, she could feel it somewhat get stronger. It was like it was telling her to leave that place now and save her own skin.
She quickly shook her head, not wanting to think of the possiblities of what could happen if the aura was right. She looked over at Cloud, who was traveling right beside her. It was like something was wrong with him too. There was a little hint of fear in his eyes, but she couldn't blame him. No one knew what was in that cave.
But what was on the almost top of her thoughts was where Yuffie was. She couldn't help thinking about all the possibilites where she could be. Or what ShinRa could be doing to her. Then the most painful thought brushed through her.
What if Yuffie was already dead...?
Then, without warning, Cloud dropped to his knees. Everyone stopped almost immediantly and turned to stare at him. His hands slowly rose to his ears and he then clutched his head, eyes shut tight as if he was concentrating really hard.
Then he started screaming.
"NO!!!!! STOP!!! GET OUT OF MY HEAD!!!!" he cried, shaking his head like mad. Tifa looked horror-streaked and she rushed to his side. She tried to pull his hands away from his head, but he pushed her away almost harshly. She fell to the ground beside him and stared at him, praying that he would go back to normal. "NOOOOOO!!!!!!!" Cloud kept screaming, and now he was attempting to rip his spikey hair out.
"CLOUD! STOP!!" Barret yelled, and tried to confront him but Cloud then looked up. His mako-colored eyes were now red and blood-shot. He was extremely angry.
Everyone stepped back. Cloud got up and raised his sword. He looked over to Tifa with murder in his eyes. He walked over to her, and then prepared to slash down. Before he could, though, Red jumped and pinned him down.
"Cloud, snap out of it!" Red said, trying to keep the struggling ex-SOLDIER from killing Tifa. But soon Cloud's struggles diminished, and then he stopped. He opened his eyes again, and they were back to the soft, mako-color as usual.
"Oh...my...god..."He moaned. He reached his hand to his forehead and tried to recollect what had just happened. Red got off of him, still unsure though, and stepped back. Cloud then stood up and put his sword away. He looked over at the others.
"Oh, no.." Reeve began. He knew damn straight what had just happened.
"Sephiroth..." Cloud began, but he couldn't finish. He was too weak to go on with his sentence.
"Hush, Cloud." Tifa said. "We'll find out what's in that cave. You can stay here."
"No! I'm comming!" Cloud protested.
"Fuck no you aren't!!" Cid cursed. "You just fucking tried to kill Tifa!!!"
"But I have to! I want to know what just made me do that!" Cloud tried to reason with them.
"It is most unfortunate of this, but..." Vincent started, walking over to the group. "Let him do as he pleases. He has every right to find out the reason why he was being controlled."
The others hesitated, then nodded their heads in agreement. Then they began again on their tred.
They all walked into the cave. It was still its usual yellowish glow, and a dull spot in the glow where the materia used to have been. After they filed into the cave, they all looked around for any changed and what could be of any importance.
But there was nothing.
"That's so strange..." Tifa said, looking around. "I could of sword I felt an evil aura as we walked toward this cave. But now it's gone..."
"Well, what could hat mean?!" Barret asked.
"Even if the aura is gone, I feel like we're all in really grave danger.." Red explained. "Like something's out there.... waiting for the right moment to strike..."
Just then, somehing appeared. The mime materia had just appeared in its original spot, glowing magnificently as if it was never even touched. They all gasped.
"Wait a minute.... THAT's not the mime materia!!" Cid gasped.
He was right. At first it had looked like it, because this materia was clear. It was just illuminating the yellow glow from its surroundings. Then it stopped. All the glowing stopped. The whole cave went dull, with the only light was from either the outside entrance or the deep crevises deep inside the cave.
'Thought I couldn't come back huh?'
"Ack! Did you guys hear that?!" Cloud said, and got into a fighting stance.
Everyone followed his lead and got in their own fighting stances.
"Yeah, I sure as hell heard it!" Barret exclaimed.
'Thought I was dead! Ha! What a laugh! I am a god! YOU CAN NOT KILL A GOD!!!!'
Then the cave walls disappeared. They were now outside again, same place though. The sky's clouds turned dark. A crack of lighting striked the ground far off at a distance in the ocean. It was like the sun had disappeared.
But the crystal-clear materia was still in its place, shining brightly now. It rose up into the air and hung lightly as if it were controlled by puppet strings.
"THAT'S AERIS' MATERIA!!!" Cloud gasped, trying to yell to the others over the great rumble of the thunder and lightning around them. It was now starting to rain heavily. It was then that the strange aura had returned.
It was the ancient's materia, no doubt.
The white materia.
Just then a bolt of raw lightning cracked the materia and then an explosion occured. Everyone had to shield their eyes from the blinding white light the explosion had created.
Then the heat of the light disappeared. Tifa and the others slowly took their hands and arms away from their eyes to peer at what had just happened.
Now, instead of the materia, there was a dark, shadowed figure. One that. by now, most people would rather they had an endless nightmare then to see again. It was just like and endless nightmare, if anything, but this time it was real.
The figure looked up. Cold, mako eyes. Long, silver hair. The most sinister look anyone could ever hold. His cold smile, almost harsh, shone brightly. His eyes twinkled with an evil mirth. His clothing just added the fear. He wore big, white shoulder pads with three holes on each. A long, black cape on his back, and a black trenchcoat with the center cut out, held together by two, X-crossed beltstraps. He also wore big, black leather booths with silver chains as shoelaces. And, in his hand, was the long, six-footed sword. The same weapon that had killed millions of people durring the war. The same weapon that killed so many innocent lives of humans and monsters alike.
The same sword that killed Aeris.
Sephiroth. This was definently Sephiroth. As solid as ever. He was not a hollographic, fake vision, not a ghost, nor spirit. He was real. He had came back to life.
"Sephiroth..." Cloud growled through his gritted teeth. Nobody else had anything to say. Well, of course they did, but, they couldn't find the strength to say anything.
"Surprised?" Sephiroth asked. He raised his arms slightly to show that he could really move, and then he stretched each of his fingers out. "Ah.. yes. It's been almost a year, hasn't it, Cloud?" He then looked down at his masamune, the six-foot long sword. "I was hoping to crash the party. Sorry, but I will destroy ShinRa. I don't need any of your help. But, I'm going to destroy the planet with it! Ha ha ha ha ha ha!!" he finished in his maniacal laughter, facing the heavens with his sword drawn up into the air.
"SEPHIROTH!" Cloud yelled angrily. Sephiroth stopped and looked at Cloud curiously, not sure what the sudden outburst meant. "I'll take you with my bare hands! How DARE you come back after all that you've done! Can't you just STAY dead? Well, when I'm finished with you, I'll be sure to let you rot in...hell...forever." he finished, emphasizing the last few words with great dignity.
"I doubt it, shadow." Sephiroth said, smiling evily at his new nick name for Cloud.
Cloud raised his sword threatenly. "Get this through your skull! I. ..AM. ..NOT. ..YOUR. .....SHADOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!" and with that said, or yelled, he lunged at Sephiroth.
Sephiroth quickly raised his sword in defense, and they both struggled for a few minutes. The rest of AVALANCHE watched in awe, praying silently that Cloud would win. Just then Cloud pushed Sephiroth's sword out of the way with great might, and before he could do anything, Sephiroth lashed out at him. Cloud dodged to the side, and then slashed at Sephiroth. Sephiroth nearly fell over trying to dodge Cloud's sword, and then Cloud raised his sword again, and then, glaring at Sephiroth, he started slicing at him continuously. His omnislash limit break. Sephiroth raised his sword in attempt-defense yet again, but this time he couldn't save himself. Before Cloud could get any more blows to him, he jumped out of the line of fire.
"HAHAHAHAHA! YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE LAST OF ME, CLOUD STRIFE!" Sephiroth beamed, and then disappeared in a crack of lightning, leaving the AVALANCHE members speachless.
After a long times silence, Reeve spoke up.
"What are we going to do now?" he asked.
"The only thing we can do." Cloud said, looking up and turning towards the direction of Wutai.
"What's that?" Red asked.
"Go to Wutai to warn Godo about ShinRa." Cloud answered. He then turned to tred on to Wutai, and the others got up and followed him. As they walked, the thunder and lightning storm still rumbled in the background, as if there was no end to it.
It was another rainy day in the big city. Cars rolled on through the streets, and some of the stores were starting to close. It was around ten o' clock PM, and most of the people were going home. Except for the party animals of the city. Ever since Midgar had been destroyed the city had grown strongly. All of the residents of Midgar found it safter to go to Wutai for home, for it still had a lot of land left to spare. Now, most of the bare, singed land from the war was covered in the northern region. But still, the city DID, afterall, have some faults...
"Damnit! When will it ever stop raining here?!" Reno complained.
"Oh, stop complaining, we're not going to be here long." Elena scolded. "We just have to 'talk' to Lord Godo and then leave."
"Don't forget about the rebels. They'll most likely show up." Reno said.
"Like that'll be much more of a problem." Rude said.
Just then the rain started to pour even harder then ever.
"Okay, let's just get there quick before we all drown!" Yuffie screeched, running to get cover under a nearby booth.
Reno sighed and walked over to her, grabbed her by the wrist, and began to pull her along.
"Hey, wait.." Elena began. They all stopped and turned to look at her.
"Is something wrong?" Rude asked.
"Yes... That's not all Rufus told us to do." Elena answered.
"Damnit! She's right!" Reno said, getting angry. "We have to see how that reactor over by the Mime Materia cave is going... They were supposed to start construction yesterday."
"MORE in the rain?! Gawd...!!" Yuffie whimpered. She hated getting wet.
"Just follow us, brat." Reno said, dragging her along.
"As if I had a choice..." Yuffie muttered. She hated being ordered around.
Then they walked up to a slightly large mansion. It shone elegantly like a holy castle against the lightning's flicker in the background.
"So, this is the Kisaragi manor?" Reno said, turning to Yuffie. "Do you live here too?" he asked.
"No, I live on my own." Yuffie confirmed.
"Ah.. I see. A loner." He observed. "Hate your dad or somethin?" he asked.
"No. We just have...some... differences..."Yuffie said slowly.
Reno snickered. "Come on, let's go inside." he said.
He started off into the manor, followed by the other two turks and dragging along Yuffie, who was now even more persistant than ever to leave. Reno figured she didn't really want to see Godo in a sense that was almost humorly. As they made up their was towards the door, Reno turned back towards Yuffie.
"Okay, brat. I'm going to let you lead us in now. But..." he trailed off, reaching for his nightstick in his pocket and letting go of her wrist with his other hand. "...If you even dare try to sneak away or pull anything funny, you'll get a punishment."
Yuffie gulped silently. They weren't really going to kill her, were they? Well, if they were, then she'd have to do what they told her to. She grumbled and then walked up to the guards, the turks in her wake.
The guards moved aside as she walked in, and also let the turks by, but not without any glares of disgust.
Soon they made it to Godo's quarters. Reno couldn't help notice that the whole manor was so nicely kept. The perfect place for a lord to resign.
Yuffie slowly opened the door Godo's office. Godo looked up immediantly. His jaw almost dropped. Yuffie was covered in so many scrapes and scratches that he was worried about what she had been up to.
"Yuffie... What is it that you want?" Godo asked, putting down the letter he was writing and turning his swivel chair to face her.
Reno stepped forward, and Godo recognized him in an instant.
"SHINRA!!" Godo proclaimed, standing up from his chair.
"Indeed." Reno replied, smirking. Yuffie decided this was her chance, and she then took a couple steps to the side in a run, but Reno lunged and grabbed her by the wrist. He quickly fished out his nightstick and brought it to her temple.
"STOP!! PLEASE STOP!!" Godo pleaded. "What do you want from me?!!" he asked.
"All we want is your country." Reno growled. He then pulled Yuffie against him so she was also facing Godo. He lowered the nighstick to her chest in a better attempt to keep her from escaping. "Let this be a warning. Surrender now, or you'll loose your daughter and we'll have to force another war." replied coldly. Then he ran out of the room, followed by the other turks.
"YUFFIE!!!!" Godo cried. Then he dropped to his knees and did something most people would never see a grown man do. Cried.
The turks were now running at top speed towards the exit of the city. It would be a longer trip back because, since the manor was against the Da Chou moutains, and they had to go to the southwestern exit, rather than the southeastern exit that they had came through, so they could catch their helicopter ride back to Neo Midgar.
But then a shout rang back behind them. They all stopped short and swirled around, Yuffie being forced to by Reno's strong grip.
"STOP RIGHT THERE, SHINRA!" Barret exclaimed, bringing up his gunarm to fire. The rest of AVALANCHE were with him, including Reeve also.
"So, I knew you guys would show up." Reno said calmly.
"LET HER GO!!!" Tifa screamed.
"If you even dare try to strike at us then you might as well say bye to your friend!" Elena exclaimed.
"What do you mean?!" Cloud asked.
Then Reno grabbed Yuffie so her back was facing him yet again against his chest, his nightstick raised to her chest, finger hovering over a button. Then AVALANCHE went silent.
"You wouldn't fucking dare!!" Cid proclaimed.
"Wanna bet?" Reno questioned. Then he pressed one of the buttons and soon enough Yuffie felt a large, long, ever-lasting jolt of electricity surging through her. She screamed in pain as Reno kept his finger on the button, not letting go.
"STOP STOP STOP STOP OH MY GOD STOP!!!" Tifa cried.
Reno let go of the button and Yuffie fell limply into his arms. He wasn't smirking when he looked at her. Rude and Elena noticed as well as the others that it looked like not even he liked what he just did. 'Of course, why would I want to do that??' Reno thought to himself. 'I gotta stop shocking her or I'll waste such a perfect body. Heh heh..'
AVALANCHE could only stare at them. Then Cloud stepped forward.
"What are you going to do with her??" he asked.
"Well, it's not like this wasn't her plan." Reno replied.
"...What do you mean?" Cloud asked, hesitently.
"It was her idea as part of a plan." Reno said. "Surely I wouldn't do that on PURPOSE to another...." he trailed off, looked over to his other comrades, then down at Yuffie, then back to AVALANCHE with his smirk now restored. "...Turk?" he finished.
If it was possible, all of AVALANCHE's jaws would of dropped.
"You can't be serious!!" Reeve exclaimed. "Rufus would never--"
"IT'S PRESIDENT TO YOU!" Elena exclaimed.
"And yes, he would." Reno said. "You see, with all of her ninja and stealing skills, she'd be almost perfect for the job." he paused for a moment. "Like age is really a problem?" he asked.
"You monsters..." Vincent said coldly, giving no mercy in his words. "Turning a completely innocent girl into another one of ShinRa's toys..."
"Hell, she asked for it. So be it." Reno said.
"SHE'D NEVER ASK TO BE A PART OF YOU DAMN SHINRA!!!!" Barret uproared.
"Well, that's what you think." Reno said. Just then a helicopter lowered down towards them on the rainy street. Elena and Rude climbed on the rope latter up to the helicopter. Reno took one glance at AVALANCHE, and then carried Yuffie up to the copter with great agility using one hand on the rope.
Cid cursed.
"Well, how are we going to break it to Godo that his daughter switched sides?" Red asked.
"Shit..." Barret began.
"You guys. I don't think Yuffie really wanted to go with them." Tifa said. She turned to the others. "I mean...what could of drived her to make such a decision??"
They all paused. There was nothing they wanted to say on the subject. Then they all started to head to the Kisaragi Manor to explain to Godo the news...
"Ungh.... Where am I...?" Yuffie asked, openning her eyes, squinting into the darkness. She could make out a blurry, red and blue figure in front of her, looking down at her. Slowly everything came to focus, but the ache in her head didn't. She groaned and stirred weakly, trying to get out of the figure's grasp.
Reno didn't let go. "No no no, you're not going anywhere." Reno said.
Yuffie looked at him questionably.
"Unless you want to jump for your life. We're in a helicopter." Reno finished.
"I would never want to join the turks." Yuffie said. Even though she had lost most of her consiousness, she could still have heard their conversation with AVALANCHE just a few minutes ago.
"Maybe I could make you change your mind?" Reno asked her. Yuffie struggled agian, but he still didn't let go of her.
"Persistent, isn't she?" Rude snickered.
"Shut up..." Yuffie growled. Then she tried to stand up again, but this time a searing pain went through her head and she groaned and sulked back to her former position.
Reno sighed heavily. "Stop it, you're just going to keep hurting yourself." he said.
"Like you'd care?!" Yuffie exclaimed.
"Oh, Yuffie, believe this," Elena said, with an amused look on her face. Reno's head snapped over to her, glaring. "You should of seen the look on his face after he shocked you!" she tried to keep from giggling.
"What do you mean???" Yuffie asked, looking at Elena as if she held the secret to curing the mini virus with an item.
"...Elena..." Reno growled through clenched teeth.
But she didn't stop. "It was if he didn't even want to do it!" She said. "Oooooh! I think he likes you!"
"Elena, that's quite enough." Rude said, glaring at her. Elena then stopped, not wanting to cause any more trouble.
But Yuffie didn't buy it. "Yeah, right. Like I'm going to fall for such a trick." she said.
"Aw, common, Yuff.." Reno said, and pulled her against his chest. Yuffie thought he was going to shock her yet again, but instead she felt his arms wrap around her sides and he lowered his lips to her ear and brushed it. Yuffie immediantly turned red. "It's not a trick..." he whispered into her ear. Just then Yuffie jerked away and across the helicpter, several feet away from Reno.
The others snickered silenlty. Yuffie made no eye contact whatsoever with Reno for the remainder of the ride.
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Eeek! People are actually reading my stories! THANK YOU!!!!! Oh, and please, please, PLEASE read and review! I wanna know what people think about this! Thanx! ~Yuffie-Chan/MousieChan
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Next chapter! ^^ Whoa, each chapter keeps getting longer n longer... x.x; Oh wells! Please read!
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Chapter Four
"What should we do with her?"
"Just let her be. She'll wake up."
"The boss said to leave her in here anyway."
"But she looks so cute when she's asleep...Heh heh..."
"Reno shut up!"
"Geeze.... I was only joking..."
"....."
"(Gawd she's hot...)"
"RENO!!"
"Sorry!!"
Yuffie opened one of her eyes wearily, not all the way. She didn't want them to know that she was awake yet. Maybe she could get some information out of them without asking.
"Well. In any case, I'm gonna see what Rufus will say!" Elena said, and scampered off. Rude followed her silently.
Then Yuffie saw Reno look her way. She quickly closed her eyes.
Reno smirked and walked over to her. She was in one of the jail cells on floor 67 in the ShinRa HQ. Reno opened the cell's door and closed it behind him. Yuffie heard his steps nearing and she begged he didn't see her. Then he kneeled down next to her.
"I know you're awake, Yuff." He said softly in her ear.
Her eyes snapped open. He was gazing back at her with beautiful aquamarine eyes.
'SNAP OUTTA IT, YUFFIE!' she thought to herself. 'He's the enemy!!!'
Then his hand dropped to her cheek in a caress. Her face went pink, and she could tell, too. He smirked.
"Eh? Have something for me, don't ya?" He asked, his smirk growing slightly.
Yuffie suddenly jerked away, looking purely disgusted.
"Jerk! You stay away from me!" she screeched.
"Not if I don't want to." Reno replied, standing up.
"Well you can't have me, so back off!" Yuffie intersected. "Damn man-whore.."
'There.' she thought. 'Good idea. Covering up your feelings with more rejects. Good, good. You're always doing this!! Stop it for once! But he's the enemy! So?!' Yuffie was getting annoyed by the two voices arguing in her head.
"What are you going to do with me, anyhow?" Yuffie asked him, breaking the silence.
He smirked. "Lets just say it's undecided yet." He said. Reno caught the frown on Yuffie's face and then continued. "Oh but I bet you'd like to hear that you're going to be used as bait to get Wutai! Hmm?"
Yuffie turned red with anger. "WHAT?!" Then she glared menacingly at him. "If you even dare..." she began, but trailed off as Reno reached under his jacket for his nightstick.
"Glad we have an agreement." He chuckled. Yuffie growled angrily and stalked to the other side of the room, and faced the wall away from him.
A few minutes of silence later, they heard footsteps comming their way. Reno stepped out of the cell. Yuffie just looked over he shoulder curiously, and then went back to glaring at the wall, knowing pretty well who it was.
"So, what did the boss say?" Reno asked, leaning against the doorway.
"He said we should take her to his office. I think we should comply." Rude answered.
"Okay." Reno said.
"Come on, we don't want to make him mad."
"Where's El?" Reno asked, standing up straight.
"Back at the office. Rufus needed to talk to her about something, don't know what." Rude answered.
"Hmm.." Reno thought about this for a moment, and then stepped out of the doorway and closed the jail cell's door.
"Shimatta.." Yuffie cursed under her breath.
Reno snickered. "Heh. I know THAT wutain word." he mocked.
"Hey, dude, I said we needed to bring her with us." Rude said.
"She's too much trouble." Reno whined.
"Just do it." Rude half-begged, aggrivated.
"Fine Fine." Reno answered. He opened the door again and walked into the cell.
Yuffie swirled around and dodged out of the way. Reno lept out at her, trying to grab her by her arms. She jumped out of the way quickly and darted for the door. But Rude was blocking her path.
"Where do you think you're going?" Rude asked, looking down at her.
Reno came up behind Yuffie and recliped the handcuffs over her wrists. Yuffie grumbled as she was lead to Rufus' office by the two turks.
"So!!" Barret began. "I got an idea for a way we can spring the kid!"
"What's that?" Cloud asked.
"We can get more people to be involved in AVALANCHE and then break into the ShinRa building!" Barret proclaimed. "Damn foo's won't be able to even react!!!"
"Yeah, but I think that is rather foolish." Red said.
Barret looked at Red critically.
"What do ya mean, foo'?!" he asked indignantly.
"Even if we had such numbers, in the situation ShinRa and ourselves are now... That'll almost be impossible." Red explained, swishing his tail impatiently.
Barret cursed under his breath.
"Then...what do we do?" Tifa asked, waiting for an answer.
"Teef..." Cloud began.
Tifa turned to him curiously. "Something bad's going to happen, and you know it!" She said, waving her arms out to emphasize her point even further. "It's going to be a bad thing, too! And..." she trailed off, looking into his eyes, and then slowly averting her gaze around the room, "If something bad DOES happen... What will we do then?"
There was a long silence around the room.
"Tifa, we can't go back after Yuffie yet again... I hate to say that and yet it's a relief." Cloud started. "But if we keep chasing after to un-capture people sooner or later ShinRa's going to have reached their goal and we'd be stuck in the dust. We have to move on and hopefully meet up with her later."
Tifa nodded solemnly, but she didn't speak.
"Well, what we should worry about is," Vincent said, stepping up from the shadows he was hidden in. "why ShinRa wants to get Yuffie so badly. I mean, Don Corneo wouldn't just kidnap her for revenge. He wouldn't do that unless there were people to back him up."
"Vince's right." Cid said, taking a drag of his cigarette. "They're up to something big. So the first thing we do is find out what. And more importantly, why the fuck there is a whole bunch of reports of SOLDIERs in Wutai lately."
"Where did you hear that?" Tifa asked.
"On the news back in Rocket Town before you guys even called me up on this wacky adventure." Cid answered. "Since we were so close to Wutai, the news probably thought it could be a danger to us, too."
"Well, maybe we should ask the damn spy!" Barret said, glaring and turning his head over to glance at Reeve.
Reeve was sitting at the infirmary table with all the others, but his head was low and his eyes were fixed on something that wasn't really there. He hadn't said a word for the longest time and was acting like he was off in some other world.
"Well, foo'!" Barret slammed his mighty fist on the desk. Again, all of their glasses shook. Tifa had to hold hers to keep it from falling off the table.
Reeve slowly looked up at them all, suddenly back. His eyes showed no emotion whatsoever, but there was a somewhat quaver in his voice as he spoke. "They...the ShinRa...they said that they were going to relive the war against Wutai..."
"Yeah, you already told us that." Cloud said, scratching the back of his head.
"But... They said there was some sort of energy in that materia cave." Reeve countered.
"NO WAY! THEY CAN'T SUCK THE MAKO OUTTA THERE!!!!" Barret roared.
"Sh, Barret!" Cloud hissed. Barret glared coldly at him.
"If there's a force comming from the Mime Materia cave... That's usually meaning something bad's going to happen." Red said.
"What do you expect to happen?" Cid asked.
"I don't know..." Red said thoughtfully.
"If only Aeris was back." Cloud said. All of the others' heads snapped up at the mention of their lost friend. Aeris had died the summer just before and there were all hit very strongly about it. Tifa in particular, because they were such good friends. And Cloud, too, because she had known his friend, Zack, long ago.
"Cloud...she's gone..." Tifa tried to say as calmly as possible.
"But...maybe she could know what was happening..." Clouod trailed off.
"It's true, if she were back we would all be happier, but we can't redo the past. What's done is done. That's all there is to it." Vincent said.
"Then...what do we do?" Tifa asked.
"Then, we go to the cave." Cloud said, standing up, and twirled his sword in the air triumphantly at finding a plan.
"But...How is that helping our situation???" Barret asked.
Cid laughed. "Who the fuck cares?! HEY PILOT WE'RE TAKING OFF!!! FLY THIS PLANE'S ASS TO THE WUTAIN MIME MATERIA CAVE -NOW-!!!" he hollored.
In a few minutes the Highwind's engine began to roar and soon they took off to Wutai.
"I just damn well hope you find what you're lookin' for, spike." Barret said, and ran out of the infirmary.
"Don't worry." Cloud said, shaking his head and grinning. "I will."
"Hurry up!" Reno said, and pushed Yuffie ahead.
Yuffie grumbled and muttered something under her breath in wutain that, even if Reno could translate what she was saying, woulndn't have come out clear enough to be understood.
Rude sighed and shook his head. "Quit whining both of you.." he mumbled.
Yuffie, on the other hand, didn't really care. She was trying to go as slow as she could, trying to devise a plan so she could spring herself. Sure enough AVALANCHE would help her out on this one too? But...they would of gotten her by now, right? Then... Had they just given up on her? Was she too much of a burden?
She didn't have too much time to think because they had reached Rufus' office. Reno opened the door and quietly stepped in, forcing Yuffie with him, with Rude following them.
"So." Rufus said, bringing his clenched hands up to his chin and resting his elbows against his desk. "This is the Kisaragi? I thought she'd be more...how can I say this...?" he paused, waving his hand in a small circle in the air as if he was trying to fish out the word out of thin air. When he found the world he snapped his fingers. "Elegent!..." Then he paused again, looking slightly disappointed. "But... You're not. What a shame." he said, and laughed harshly. Yuffie glared at him. "I was thinking of a terrific headline for the newspaper!" Then he brought his hands out as if he was putting up the letters on a sign. " 'ELEGENT PRINCESS KISARAGI MURDERED IN DEFENCE AGAINST WUTAI' but.... I gues not..." he said, and chuckled evily, leaning back in his chair.
If Rufus wasn't his boss, Reno would of slapped him silly. 'So what?' he thought to himself. 'It's a girl, duh. She does take care of herself better then some of those bums on the street.'
"What do you want us to do with her, boss?" Elena asked Rufus.
"I want you to keep her captive until nesecary." Rufus said. "But, I also want you to intersect AVALANCHE... And also deliver the message to Lord Godo Kisaragi...." he paused. "Now, how can you all do that at once?" he asked them, as if he didn't know the answer himself.
"We could always take the kid with us." Reno said.
"That could be a problem." Rufus said. "What if she tries to escape?"
"Three against one? Not going to work." Elena said.
Yuffie muttered something about skills and then went back to being silent when she caught Rufus' glare.
"So." Reno started, striding over to Rufus' desk while twirling his nightstick idly. "We go to Wutai and tell Godo Kisaragi, and then leave. Of course, AVALANCHE will be there, so we'll just fight until we see an equal opportunity to leave."
"But what if they try to capture the girl?" Rufus asked, glancing over at Yuffie.
Reno thought for a second.
"We could always make her friends think something else." Rude suggested.
Reno turned to Rude. "Brilliant idea, my stone-faced friend!" he said, his ever-so present smirk returning to his lips.
"But what could that be?" Elena asked, turning to look at him.
"Oh... I think I've got something in mind." Reno said with a twinkle in his eyes.
Yuffie felt uneasy about her whole situation and wondered if she'd ever live through any of this...
AVALANCHE were now traveling towards the hidden Mime Materia cave out in Eastern Wutai, but they had to go on foot. There was no way they could land the Highwind anywhere near there. They had to leave it back at the last bridge.
As they were walking, Tifa could notice a strange aura surrounding the area. Everytime she took a step closer to the cave, she could feel it somewhat get stronger. It was like it was telling her to leave that place now and save her own skin.
She quickly shook her head, not wanting to think of the possiblities of what could happen if the aura was right. She looked over at Cloud, who was traveling right beside her. It was like something was wrong with him too. There was a little hint of fear in his eyes, but she couldn't blame him. No one knew what was in that cave.
But what was on the almost top of her thoughts was where Yuffie was. She couldn't help thinking about all the possibilites where she could be. Or what ShinRa could be doing to her. Then the most painful thought brushed through her.
What if Yuffie was already dead...?
Then, without warning, Cloud dropped to his knees. Everyone stopped almost immediantly and turned to stare at him. His hands slowly rose to his ears and he then clutched his head, eyes shut tight as if he was concentrating really hard.
Then he started screaming.
"NO!!!!! STOP!!! GET OUT OF MY HEAD!!!!" he cried, shaking his head like mad. Tifa looked horror-streaked and she rushed to his side. She tried to pull his hands away from his head, but he pushed her away almost harshly. She fell to the ground beside him and stared at him, praying that he would go back to normal. "NOOOOOO!!!!!!!" Cloud kept screaming, and now he was attempting to rip his spikey hair out.
"CLOUD! STOP!!" Barret yelled, and tried to confront him but Cloud then looked up. His mako-colored eyes were now red and blood-shot. He was extremely angry.
Everyone stepped back. Cloud got up and raised his sword. He looked over to Tifa with murder in his eyes. He walked over to her, and then prepared to slash down. Before he could, though, Red jumped and pinned him down.
"Cloud, snap out of it!" Red said, trying to keep the struggling ex-SOLDIER from killing Tifa. But soon Cloud's struggles diminished, and then he stopped. He opened his eyes again, and they were back to the soft, mako-color as usual.
"Oh...my...god..."He moaned. He reached his hand to his forehead and tried to recollect what had just happened. Red got off of him, still unsure though, and stepped back. Cloud then stood up and put his sword away. He looked over at the others.
"Oh, no.." Reeve began. He knew damn straight what had just happened.
"Sephiroth..." Cloud began, but he couldn't finish. He was too weak to go on with his sentence.
"Hush, Cloud." Tifa said. "We'll find out what's in that cave. You can stay here."
"No! I'm comming!" Cloud protested.
"Fuck no you aren't!!" Cid cursed. "You just fucking tried to kill Tifa!!!"
"But I have to! I want to know what just made me do that!" Cloud tried to reason with them.
"It is most unfortunate of this, but..." Vincent started, walking over to the group. "Let him do as he pleases. He has every right to find out the reason why he was being controlled."
The others hesitated, then nodded their heads in agreement. Then they began again on their tred.
They all walked into the cave. It was still its usual yellowish glow, and a dull spot in the glow where the materia used to have been. After they filed into the cave, they all looked around for any changed and what could be of any importance.
But there was nothing.
"That's so strange..." Tifa said, looking around. "I could of sword I felt an evil aura as we walked toward this cave. But now it's gone..."
"Well, what could hat mean?!" Barret asked.
"Even if the aura is gone, I feel like we're all in really grave danger.." Red explained. "Like something's out there.... waiting for the right moment to strike..."
Just then, somehing appeared. The mime materia had just appeared in its original spot, glowing magnificently as if it was never even touched. They all gasped.
"Wait a minute.... THAT's not the mime materia!!" Cid gasped.
He was right. At first it had looked like it, because this materia was clear. It was just illuminating the yellow glow from its surroundings. Then it stopped. All the glowing stopped. The whole cave went dull, with the only light was from either the outside entrance or the deep crevises deep inside the cave.
'Thought I couldn't come back huh?'
"Ack! Did you guys hear that?!" Cloud said, and got into a fighting stance.
Everyone followed his lead and got in their own fighting stances.
"Yeah, I sure as hell heard it!" Barret exclaimed.
'Thought I was dead! Ha! What a laugh! I am a god! YOU CAN NOT KILL A GOD!!!!'
Then the cave walls disappeared. They were now outside again, same place though. The sky's clouds turned dark. A crack of lighting striked the ground far off at a distance in the ocean. It was like the sun had disappeared.
But the crystal-clear materia was still in its place, shining brightly now. It rose up into the air and hung lightly as if it were controlled by puppet strings.
"THAT'S AERIS' MATERIA!!!" Cloud gasped, trying to yell to the others over the great rumble of the thunder and lightning around them. It was now starting to rain heavily. It was then that the strange aura had returned.
It was the ancient's materia, no doubt.
The white materia.
Just then a bolt of raw lightning cracked the materia and then an explosion occured. Everyone had to shield their eyes from the blinding white light the explosion had created.
Then the heat of the light disappeared. Tifa and the others slowly took their hands and arms away from their eyes to peer at what had just happened.
Now, instead of the materia, there was a dark, shadowed figure. One that. by now, most people would rather they had an endless nightmare then to see again. It was just like and endless nightmare, if anything, but this time it was real.
The figure looked up. Cold, mako eyes. Long, silver hair. The most sinister look anyone could ever hold. His cold smile, almost harsh, shone brightly. His eyes twinkled with an evil mirth. His clothing just added the fear. He wore big, white shoulder pads with three holes on each. A long, black cape on his back, and a black trenchcoat with the center cut out, held together by two, X-crossed beltstraps. He also wore big, black leather booths with silver chains as shoelaces. And, in his hand, was the long, six-footed sword. The same weapon that had killed millions of people durring the war. The same weapon that killed so many innocent lives of humans and monsters alike.
The same sword that killed Aeris.
Sephiroth. This was definently Sephiroth. As solid as ever. He was not a hollographic, fake vision, not a ghost, nor spirit. He was real. He had came back to life.
"Sephiroth..." Cloud growled through his gritted teeth. Nobody else had anything to say. Well, of course they did, but, they couldn't find the strength to say anything.
"Surprised?" Sephiroth asked. He raised his arms slightly to show that he could really move, and then he stretched each of his fingers out. "Ah.. yes. It's been almost a year, hasn't it, Cloud?" He then looked down at his masamune, the six-foot long sword. "I was hoping to crash the party. Sorry, but I will destroy ShinRa. I don't need any of your help. But, I'm going to destroy the planet with it! Ha ha ha ha ha ha!!" he finished in his maniacal laughter, facing the heavens with his sword drawn up into the air.
"SEPHIROTH!" Cloud yelled angrily. Sephiroth stopped and looked at Cloud curiously, not sure what the sudden outburst meant. "I'll take you with my bare hands! How DARE you come back after all that you've done! Can't you just STAY dead? Well, when I'm finished with you, I'll be sure to let you rot in...hell...forever." he finished, emphasizing the last few words with great dignity.
"I doubt it, shadow." Sephiroth said, smiling evily at his new nick name for Cloud.
Cloud raised his sword threatenly. "Get this through your skull! I. ..AM. ..NOT. ..YOUR. .....SHADOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!" and with that said, or yelled, he lunged at Sephiroth.
Sephiroth quickly raised his sword in defense, and they both struggled for a few minutes. The rest of AVALANCHE watched in awe, praying silently that Cloud would win. Just then Cloud pushed Sephiroth's sword out of the way with great might, and before he could do anything, Sephiroth lashed out at him. Cloud dodged to the side, and then slashed at Sephiroth. Sephiroth nearly fell over trying to dodge Cloud's sword, and then Cloud raised his sword again, and then, glaring at Sephiroth, he started slicing at him continuously. His omnislash limit break. Sephiroth raised his sword in attempt-defense yet again, but this time he couldn't save himself. Before Cloud could get any more blows to him, he jumped out of the line of fire.
"HAHAHAHAHA! YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE LAST OF ME, CLOUD STRIFE!" Sephiroth beamed, and then disappeared in a crack of lightning, leaving the AVALANCHE members speachless.
After a long times silence, Reeve spoke up.
"What are we going to do now?" he asked.
"The only thing we can do." Cloud said, looking up and turning towards the direction of Wutai.
"What's that?" Red asked.
"Go to Wutai to warn Godo about ShinRa." Cloud answered. He then turned to tred on to Wutai, and the others got up and followed him. As they walked, the thunder and lightning storm still rumbled in the background, as if there was no end to it.
It was another rainy day in the big city. Cars rolled on through the streets, and some of the stores were starting to close. It was around ten o' clock PM, and most of the people were going home. Except for the party animals of the city. Ever since Midgar had been destroyed the city had grown strongly. All of the residents of Midgar found it safter to go to Wutai for home, for it still had a lot of land left to spare. Now, most of the bare, singed land from the war was covered in the northern region. But still, the city DID, afterall, have some faults...
"Damnit! When will it ever stop raining here?!" Reno complained.
"Oh, stop complaining, we're not going to be here long." Elena scolded. "We just have to 'talk' to Lord Godo and then leave."
"Don't forget about the rebels. They'll most likely show up." Reno said.
"Like that'll be much more of a problem." Rude said.
Just then the rain started to pour even harder then ever.
"Okay, let's just get there quick before we all drown!" Yuffie screeched, running to get cover under a nearby booth.
Reno sighed and walked over to her, grabbed her by the wrist, and began to pull her along.
"Hey, wait.." Elena began. They all stopped and turned to look at her.
"Is something wrong?" Rude asked.
"Yes... That's not all Rufus told us to do." Elena answered.
"Damnit! She's right!" Reno said, getting angry. "We have to see how that reactor over by the Mime Materia cave is going... They were supposed to start construction yesterday."
"MORE in the rain?! Gawd...!!" Yuffie whimpered. She hated getting wet.
"Just follow us, brat." Reno said, dragging her along.
"As if I had a choice..." Yuffie muttered. She hated being ordered around.
Then they walked up to a slightly large mansion. It shone elegantly like a holy castle against the lightning's flicker in the background.
"So, this is the Kisaragi manor?" Reno said, turning to Yuffie. "Do you live here too?" he asked.
"No, I live on my own." Yuffie confirmed.
"Ah.. I see. A loner." He observed. "Hate your dad or somethin?" he asked.
"No. We just have...some... differences..."Yuffie said slowly.
Reno snickered. "Come on, let's go inside." he said.
He started off into the manor, followed by the other two turks and dragging along Yuffie, who was now even more persistant than ever to leave. Reno figured she didn't really want to see Godo in a sense that was almost humorly. As they made up their was towards the door, Reno turned back towards Yuffie.
"Okay, brat. I'm going to let you lead us in now. But..." he trailed off, reaching for his nightstick in his pocket and letting go of her wrist with his other hand. "...If you even dare try to sneak away or pull anything funny, you'll get a punishment."
Yuffie gulped silently. They weren't really going to kill her, were they? Well, if they were, then she'd have to do what they told her to. She grumbled and then walked up to the guards, the turks in her wake.
The guards moved aside as she walked in, and also let the turks by, but not without any glares of disgust.
Soon they made it to Godo's quarters. Reno couldn't help notice that the whole manor was so nicely kept. The perfect place for a lord to resign.
Yuffie slowly opened the door Godo's office. Godo looked up immediantly. His jaw almost dropped. Yuffie was covered in so many scrapes and scratches that he was worried about what she had been up to.
"Yuffie... What is it that you want?" Godo asked, putting down the letter he was writing and turning his swivel chair to face her.
Reno stepped forward, and Godo recognized him in an instant.
"SHINRA!!" Godo proclaimed, standing up from his chair.
"Indeed." Reno replied, smirking. Yuffie decided this was her chance, and she then took a couple steps to the side in a run, but Reno lunged and grabbed her by the wrist. He quickly fished out his nightstick and brought it to her temple.
"STOP!! PLEASE STOP!!" Godo pleaded. "What do you want from me?!!" he asked.
"All we want is your country." Reno growled. He then pulled Yuffie against him so she was also facing Godo. He lowered the nighstick to her chest in a better attempt to keep her from escaping. "Let this be a warning. Surrender now, or you'll loose your daughter and we'll have to force another war." replied coldly. Then he ran out of the room, followed by the other turks.
"YUFFIE!!!!" Godo cried. Then he dropped to his knees and did something most people would never see a grown man do. Cried.
The turks were now running at top speed towards the exit of the city. It would be a longer trip back because, since the manor was against the Da Chou moutains, and they had to go to the southwestern exit, rather than the southeastern exit that they had came through, so they could catch their helicopter ride back to Neo Midgar.
But then a shout rang back behind them. They all stopped short and swirled around, Yuffie being forced to by Reno's strong grip.
"STOP RIGHT THERE, SHINRA!" Barret exclaimed, bringing up his gunarm to fire. The rest of AVALANCHE were with him, including Reeve also.
"So, I knew you guys would show up." Reno said calmly.
"LET HER GO!!!" Tifa screamed.
"If you even dare try to strike at us then you might as well say bye to your friend!" Elena exclaimed.
"What do you mean?!" Cloud asked.
Then Reno grabbed Yuffie so her back was facing him yet again against his chest, his nightstick raised to her chest, finger hovering over a button. Then AVALANCHE went silent.
"You wouldn't fucking dare!!" Cid proclaimed.
"Wanna bet?" Reno questioned. Then he pressed one of the buttons and soon enough Yuffie felt a large, long, ever-lasting jolt of electricity surging through her. She screamed in pain as Reno kept his finger on the button, not letting go.
"STOP STOP STOP STOP OH MY GOD STOP!!!" Tifa cried.
Reno let go of the button and Yuffie fell limply into his arms. He wasn't smirking when he looked at her. Rude and Elena noticed as well as the others that it looked like not even he liked what he just did. 'Of course, why would I want to do that??' Reno thought to himself. 'I gotta stop shocking her or I'll waste such a perfect body. Heh heh..'
AVALANCHE could only stare at them. Then Cloud stepped forward.
"What are you going to do with her??" he asked.
"Well, it's not like this wasn't her plan." Reno replied.
"...What do you mean?" Cloud asked, hesitently.
"It was her idea as part of a plan." Reno said. "Surely I wouldn't do that on PURPOSE to another...." he trailed off, looked over to his other comrades, then down at Yuffie, then back to AVALANCHE with his smirk now restored. "...Turk?" he finished.
If it was possible, all of AVALANCHE's jaws would of dropped.
"You can't be serious!!" Reeve exclaimed. "Rufus would never--"
"IT'S PRESIDENT TO YOU!" Elena exclaimed.
"And yes, he would." Reno said. "You see, with all of her ninja and stealing skills, she'd be almost perfect for the job." he paused for a moment. "Like age is really a problem?" he asked.
"You monsters..." Vincent said coldly, giving no mercy in his words. "Turning a completely innocent girl into another one of ShinRa's toys..."
"Hell, she asked for it. So be it." Reno said.
"SHE'D NEVER ASK TO BE A PART OF YOU DAMN SHINRA!!!!" Barret uproared.
"Well, that's what you think." Reno said. Just then a helicopter lowered down towards them on the rainy street. Elena and Rude climbed on the rope latter up to the helicopter. Reno took one glance at AVALANCHE, and then carried Yuffie up to the copter with great agility using one hand on the rope.
Cid cursed.
"Well, how are we going to break it to Godo that his daughter switched sides?" Red asked.
"Shit..." Barret began.
"You guys. I don't think Yuffie really wanted to go with them." Tifa said. She turned to the others. "I mean...what could of drived her to make such a decision??"
They all paused. There was nothing they wanted to say on the subject. Then they all started to head to the Kisaragi Manor to explain to Godo the news...
"Ungh.... Where am I...?" Yuffie asked, openning her eyes, squinting into the darkness. She could make out a blurry, red and blue figure in front of her, looking down at her. Slowly everything came to focus, but the ache in her head didn't. She groaned and stirred weakly, trying to get out of the figure's grasp.
Reno didn't let go. "No no no, you're not going anywhere." Reno said.
Yuffie looked at him questionably.
"Unless you want to jump for your life. We're in a helicopter." Reno finished.
"I would never want to join the turks." Yuffie said. Even though she had lost most of her consiousness, she could still have heard their conversation with AVALANCHE just a few minutes ago.
"Maybe I could make you change your mind?" Reno asked her. Yuffie struggled agian, but he still didn't let go of her.
"Persistent, isn't she?" Rude snickered.
"Shut up..." Yuffie growled. Then she tried to stand up again, but this time a searing pain went through her head and she groaned and sulked back to her former position.
Reno sighed heavily. "Stop it, you're just going to keep hurting yourself." he said.
"Like you'd care?!" Yuffie exclaimed.
"Oh, Yuffie, believe this," Elena said, with an amused look on her face. Reno's head snapped over to her, glaring. "You should of seen the look on his face after he shocked you!" she tried to keep from giggling.
"What do you mean???" Yuffie asked, looking at Elena as if she held the secret to curing the mini virus with an item.
"...Elena..." Reno growled through clenched teeth.
But she didn't stop. "It was if he didn't even want to do it!" She said. "Oooooh! I think he likes you!"
"Elena, that's quite enough." Rude said, glaring at her. Elena then stopped, not wanting to cause any more trouble.
But Yuffie didn't buy it. "Yeah, right. Like I'm going to fall for such a trick." she said.
"Aw, common, Yuff.." Reno said, and pulled her against his chest. Yuffie thought he was going to shock her yet again, but instead she felt his arms wrap around her sides and he lowered his lips to her ear and brushed it. Yuffie immediantly turned red. "It's not a trick..." he whispered into her ear. Just then Yuffie jerked away and across the helicpter, several feet away from Reno.
The others snickered silenlty. Yuffie made no eye contact whatsoever with Reno for the remainder of the ride.
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Eeek! People are actually reading my stories! THANK YOU!!!!! Oh, and please, please, PLEASE read and review! I wanna know what people think about this! Thanx! ~Yuffie-Chan/MousieChan
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