Chapter 1
At the far corner of some narrow side street stood Fate, one of the many bars dedicated solely to the nightlife in Midgar. A flight of stone steps led down to the main entrance, where a broad, impressive bouncer stood watch.
All lights had been dimmed greatly, if only to attract everyone's attention to the entertainment up on stage. Some young singer in a skin-tight, glittery dress basked under the spotlight with a hand-held microphone. She sung some sentimental love song in an sweet voice, smiling or winking many times to her admiring onlookers.
Not surprisingly, most of her audience comprised of men: lonely bachelors for a night out; bitter husbands on the run from their nagging wives; even old men who fancied themselves still as young as before. They smoke and drank, some murmured about any pointless topic, others simply enjoyed this pleasing sight (or the music, whichever they preferred).
The huge bar spread itself down the middle of the hall, with many high stools outlining its shiny, wooden counter. Plenty of customers lounged around for drinks or a friendly chat. The old bartender, a respectable gentleman nearly 60 years old, bustled about like a bumble bee. He served up the alcoholic beverages, replaced filled ashtrays, and hustled the waitresses to work faster.
Indeed, nightlife thrived so wonderfully at Fate. An sancuarie for anyone seeking respite from the mountainous troubles outside, be they work, debt, women, or lack there of.
One particular young man sat slouched back against the bar counter, swirling what little remained of his drink around in a glass. He was of medium height, gaunt, and lazily dressed in looses slacks, and an untucked shirt. He had an amazing shock of red hair, with a thin, long pigtail dangling behind. One neat scar marked each cheekbone, not only accentuating the leanness of his face, but also the cynicism in his cerulian (greenish-blue) eyes.
Another man sat on the stool on his right. This man lay slumped over the counter, his bald head tiredly buried in both arms. He appeared taller, older than his lean companion, certainly more muscular. Yet despite the noisy bustling around him, the weary man never lifted his head. He was either drunk or asleep. Probably both.
The red-haired man glanced a moment at his bald companion, then turned his narrow eyes back to the dazzling singer on stage. He coolly finished off his drink, while one foot beat along with the sweet music.
"Hey Reno, wanna' refill?" asked the bartender instinctively.
Reno just nodded and went back to his thoughts. Since Shin-ra's collapse 6 months ago, him and Rude had been scouting around for work all over Midgar. Fortunately they had gotten jobs as bodyguards just recently for an old-rich-guy, in sector 3. But he was an old man and he was gonna kick off any day now. So this job would be a temporary one. Just then, his thoughts were cut off by...
"Hey there, sweet thang!!" cut in an arrogant, gruff voice.
A young woman, no older than 21, was being harangued by a hulk of a man towering over her. He had a dirty black beard, and wore a beaten leather jacket torn at one elbow. Some sort of fashion statement, perhaps?. An insolent smile stretched across his ugly face, showing off the wide gap between his two front teeth.
Two other men, evidently his companions, lingered behind. they chuckled like idiots or passed on a rude comment amongst themselves. They all reeked of sweat and alcohol.
"I been watching you from across the room over there," he announced with a cocky motion of the hand, "Never seen you here before but damn! You look hot!"
All three men exploded into coarse laughter, the drunken leader giving her another meaningful wink.
The poor girl looked so overwhelmed by her own sorrow, she didn't even acknowledge the behemoth's' drunken blabber. Despite the rain cloud that seemed to hang over her head, she seemed like a very attractive young woman. She had golden hair and brown, almost garnet eyes.
"Name's Wallice," introduced the bulky man. He grinned more stupidly as he shifted his impressive weight to the side, "but everyone calls me King Wally, leader of the Fire Fang Gang. We own the whole sector! And you are...?"
She casually looked over towards him and said, "sorry, not interested." Then went back to her drink.
With almost a surprised look, the giant grabbed her arm tightly. "I like women who play hard to get." He said with a drunken slur.
"Ow! Let go of me!" cried the girl. She squirmed in this painful grip, "I just said I'm not interested! Let go!!'
"Hey, babe! you better show respect to our King!" demanded one of the drunkards.
"Yeah! No one refuses King Wally!" laughed another.
"Let go! Let go, I say!" resisted the girl.
"Say pal," called Reno's cool voice suddenly
Everyone looked at him, the stupid drunkards with a hateful glare, the girl in surprise. Reno sat slouched in his high-stool, at complete ease with this situation. A somewhat crooked smile twisted his lips as he addressed Wallice.
Rude, however, remained slumped over the counter.
"What the hell do YOU want, little man?" thundered the brawny man. He flung the poor woman aside, and faced the intruder in full view, with both fists propped against his hips.
"The lady just said she wasn't interested," Reno remarked cuttingly, "Now obviously, if she had wanted an ape for company, she'd have went to the zoo. At least the ones over there smell better."
All three drunkards gaped stupidly at the insult until at last Wallice understood. He bared his teeth in a raging fury.
"C'MERE, YOU GODDAMN...," he roared out.
The drunkard hurled one huge fist straight for Reno's face. However, not only had Reno anticipated the attack, but had already decided the counter-move. In the blink of an eye, he gracefully flipped back onto the counter, just as Wallice savagely punched the stool instead. No sooner had Reno touched onto the counter, than he grabbed hold of a heavy ashtray nearby and swung it clear into the shocked assailant's face. The blow knocked a tooth out of Wallice as it sent him flying to the side, right into an empty table.
The violent commotion brought the entire hall to a confused halt. The woman, who had been singing an encore, stumbled over her words. The music stopped. Many customers turned their heads around towards the ruckus. Even the entrance guard peeked inside to get a look.
Reno stood on top of the bar counter, hardly bothered by the odd stares he received from every direction. The scornful smile had changed to a most cold frown. His deep cerulian eyes were narrowed in cool indifference.
The girl looked on in anxious concern. Surprisingly, Rude remained slumped over the counter, right by Reno's feet. Nothing it seemed could awaken him.
For a moment, Wallice's two drunken companions stared at their fallen leader. He lay thrashed against the floor, the broken table and chairs all heaped on top of him. A blind rage suddenly seized them.
"Asshole! Yer gonna pay!!" swore one man.
"No one does that to Fire Fang!!" thundered the other.
"With a cheesy name like that, I'm not surprised," remarked Reno coolly.
This second insult would not go by unanswered. They both lunged straight for him, roaring at the top of their voices for vengeance. With such easy nimbleness, Reno dodged the double attack by cartwheeling aside along the counter.
Reno, on the other hand, landed on the ground again, unharmed.
During the entire brawl, Rude hadn't lifted his head once.
Reno stood the victor in cool composure. Everyone gawked in amazement at the spectacle. Some simply watched on, others muttered faint exclamations like "cool!" or "What happened?"
In any case, Reno carelessly flicked his long pigtail back. He seemed quite bored by the drunkards pathetic attempts.
"Honestly! Ganging up on a poor man like me," he drew out lazily, "You guys are lucky I'm in such a generous mood, otherwise I would've killed you."
The silly squabble thus concluded, Reno returned to the bar counter. However, he stopped short when Wallice suddenly scrambled back up to his feet in a perfect fit of rage. To him, this fight hadn't finished yet.
He savagely grabbed hold of the nearest chair, screaming out, C'mere, you scrawny little punk-ass!! I'll kill ya!! I'll kill ya!!"
Reno turned his head around. He only dignified the threat with a composed, rather indifferent expression, then turned away again. Not at ll bothered, he stood at the bar counter to finish up his drink.
That was the final snub. Wallice charged straight at Reno, swinging the hair around in a mad passion.
The old bartender, who hadn't dared speak all this time, suddenly intervened from behind the counter.
"Hey!! Hey!! Wallice!!" the old man cried out in alarm, "Don't go messing around THOSE guys!!! They're damn TURKS!!!!"
Wallice instantly halted, and stood agape at the warning. The news spread like wild fire from mouth to mouth. The more cautious people backed away; others crowded around for a closer look. Faint mutterings broke out. Indeed, that one word "Turks" had caused a noticeable stir amongst the shocked spectators.
Nevertheless, Reno remained at the bar counter with his back to the crowd. The girl stood by his side, very intrigued by this news. Rude stayed slumped over as always.
Wallice stared another moment before suddenly exploding into the coarsest, most loud bout of laughter.
"Turks?! HAH! Gimme a break, old man!!" he roared all over the hall, "Turks ain't nothing no more!! Just a buncha wussy, push-over bums without a job!!"
Reno merely picked up his glass again in perfect easiness.
"Turks! Whadda joke!!" the drunkard spat out, glaring more venomously at Reno, "Yeah! Not so hot now that you can't hide yer ass behind ShinRa, huh? Yeah, on top of the world....doing anything you want, then bam! Suddenly, you jes' low-life worms!! Huh! You must be the worst piece of shit on the whole damn planet!!"
Amidst this insolent laughter, Reno gulped down the rest of his drink without the least care. He didn't need to look behind. He could discern the spectators' nervous stares change to hateful glares.
Wallice hurtled a few more drunken oaths, encouraged onwards by two or three other spectators. Reno, calm as ever, took the last sip of his drink
The drunken man did not need to be a genius, or even sober to realize he had just been insulted.
He instantly resumed his mad charge with the wooden chair, shouting, "I'll friggin' rip ya ta...."
Everything ended in a flash, far too quick for anyone to expect. Before the aggressive drunkard could even finish the threat, Rude suddenly sprang off the stool for a swift rebuff. In one powerful sweep, he kicked the chair out of Wallice's two hands. Without pausing, Rude swung himself around once to deliver one mighty elbow clean into the man's ugly face, thereby sending him flying back into another table. Wallice did not get up again.
Reno stood in his same spot, totally indifferent to what had just passed. the girl blinked in surprise, while all separators lingered in silent awe. Indeed, no one (except perhaps Reno) had expected this sleeping man to leap up like that, much less for him to be such an effective ally.
Imposingly tall with stern brown eyes, Rude studied the unconscious Wallice another moment, then turned away in sour resentment.
"Bad enough you wake me up with that silly hollering," he muttered tiredly, "..but to go on and insult the Turks?" With that, he laid back down on the bar and resumed his nap.
Both the bouncer and bartender were quite upset with the disturbance, not to mention the broken chairs and tables. But neither one would dare ask the two Turks to leave, they were too scared to.
Reno, casually lit a cigarette and leaned back on the stool as if nothing had come to pass. Rude silently sat, sleeping away. Wallices buddies quickly dragged him out to get medical attention. And the girl, who was the cause of all this, quietly got up and occupied the empty stool to the right of Reno.
"Thank you," she said quietly, "I don't know what would have happened if you didn't come along."
"No problem," he said calmly, after taking another drag of his cigarette. "I mean I'm a flirt and all, but he went a bit to far." After a short pause he continued. What are you doing in a depressing place like this anyway? Something wrong?"
"You can say that." She said as her face showed the trouble in her mind. "A very good friend of mine Josh was abducted a short while ago. There was no ransom note or very many clues. But..." she faltered. "Josh was looking into finding some information on a guy named Sepheroth who killed his brother. He didn't find much, but he stumbled across the name Hojo, and that's the last i heard of it."
On hearing those two names, Reno practically fell outa his chair. His cool demeanor went flying out the window. "Did you just say Hojo?!"
"Yes."
"That twisted, sick, son-of-a-bitch worked for Shin-ra!!!"
The girl promptly jumped out of her chair. "You know him then?!" She said wide-eyed.
"You could say that."
"If you help me find him, and get some answers as to where Josh might be, I'll give you 500gil! That's all I have but I'll get you more if you -."
"No that's ok, keep your money. If i get a chance to pummel that freak, It'll be worth it. And I think I may know where he is too." He said cracking his knuckles.
"You do?! You will?! Thank you so much. When can we go?" She said excitedly.
"No time like the present." He stood up, putting his old, blue Turk jacket back on. "I think we should let Rude out of this though, he had a rough day."
"Whatever you say...umm... what is your name anyway?"
"Reno. You?"
"Lisa, nice to meet you."
"Likewise. Well let's go...Hey bartender, put the drinks on my tab." He said on the way out. He exited the bar, leaving Rude behind and with Lisa right behind him.
At the far corner of some narrow side street stood Fate, one of the many bars dedicated solely to the nightlife in Midgar. A flight of stone steps led down to the main entrance, where a broad, impressive bouncer stood watch.
All lights had been dimmed greatly, if only to attract everyone's attention to the entertainment up on stage. Some young singer in a skin-tight, glittery dress basked under the spotlight with a hand-held microphone. She sung some sentimental love song in an sweet voice, smiling or winking many times to her admiring onlookers.
Not surprisingly, most of her audience comprised of men: lonely bachelors for a night out; bitter husbands on the run from their nagging wives; even old men who fancied themselves still as young as before. They smoke and drank, some murmured about any pointless topic, others simply enjoyed this pleasing sight (or the music, whichever they preferred).
The huge bar spread itself down the middle of the hall, with many high stools outlining its shiny, wooden counter. Plenty of customers lounged around for drinks or a friendly chat. The old bartender, a respectable gentleman nearly 60 years old, bustled about like a bumble bee. He served up the alcoholic beverages, replaced filled ashtrays, and hustled the waitresses to work faster.
Indeed, nightlife thrived so wonderfully at Fate. An sancuarie for anyone seeking respite from the mountainous troubles outside, be they work, debt, women, or lack there of.
One particular young man sat slouched back against the bar counter, swirling what little remained of his drink around in a glass. He was of medium height, gaunt, and lazily dressed in looses slacks, and an untucked shirt. He had an amazing shock of red hair, with a thin, long pigtail dangling behind. One neat scar marked each cheekbone, not only accentuating the leanness of his face, but also the cynicism in his cerulian (greenish-blue) eyes.
Another man sat on the stool on his right. This man lay slumped over the counter, his bald head tiredly buried in both arms. He appeared taller, older than his lean companion, certainly more muscular. Yet despite the noisy bustling around him, the weary man never lifted his head. He was either drunk or asleep. Probably both.
The red-haired man glanced a moment at his bald companion, then turned his narrow eyes back to the dazzling singer on stage. He coolly finished off his drink, while one foot beat along with the sweet music.
"Hey Reno, wanna' refill?" asked the bartender instinctively.
Reno just nodded and went back to his thoughts. Since Shin-ra's collapse 6 months ago, him and Rude had been scouting around for work all over Midgar. Fortunately they had gotten jobs as bodyguards just recently for an old-rich-guy, in sector 3. But he was an old man and he was gonna kick off any day now. So this job would be a temporary one. Just then, his thoughts were cut off by...
"Hey there, sweet thang!!" cut in an arrogant, gruff voice.
A young woman, no older than 21, was being harangued by a hulk of a man towering over her. He had a dirty black beard, and wore a beaten leather jacket torn at one elbow. Some sort of fashion statement, perhaps?. An insolent smile stretched across his ugly face, showing off the wide gap between his two front teeth.
Two other men, evidently his companions, lingered behind. they chuckled like idiots or passed on a rude comment amongst themselves. They all reeked of sweat and alcohol.
"I been watching you from across the room over there," he announced with a cocky motion of the hand, "Never seen you here before but damn! You look hot!"
All three men exploded into coarse laughter, the drunken leader giving her another meaningful wink.
The poor girl looked so overwhelmed by her own sorrow, she didn't even acknowledge the behemoth's' drunken blabber. Despite the rain cloud that seemed to hang over her head, she seemed like a very attractive young woman. She had golden hair and brown, almost garnet eyes.
"Name's Wallice," introduced the bulky man. He grinned more stupidly as he shifted his impressive weight to the side, "but everyone calls me King Wally, leader of the Fire Fang Gang. We own the whole sector! And you are...?"
She casually looked over towards him and said, "sorry, not interested." Then went back to her drink.
With almost a surprised look, the giant grabbed her arm tightly. "I like women who play hard to get." He said with a drunken slur.
"Ow! Let go of me!" cried the girl. She squirmed in this painful grip, "I just said I'm not interested! Let go!!'
"Hey, babe! you better show respect to our King!" demanded one of the drunkards.
"Yeah! No one refuses King Wally!" laughed another.
"Let go! Let go, I say!" resisted the girl.
"Say pal," called Reno's cool voice suddenly
Everyone looked at him, the stupid drunkards with a hateful glare, the girl in surprise. Reno sat slouched in his high-stool, at complete ease with this situation. A somewhat crooked smile twisted his lips as he addressed Wallice.
Rude, however, remained slumped over the counter.
"What the hell do YOU want, little man?" thundered the brawny man. He flung the poor woman aside, and faced the intruder in full view, with both fists propped against his hips.
"The lady just said she wasn't interested," Reno remarked cuttingly, "Now obviously, if she had wanted an ape for company, she'd have went to the zoo. At least the ones over there smell better."
All three drunkards gaped stupidly at the insult until at last Wallice understood. He bared his teeth in a raging fury.
"C'MERE, YOU GODDAMN...," he roared out.
The drunkard hurled one huge fist straight for Reno's face. However, not only had Reno anticipated the attack, but had already decided the counter-move. In the blink of an eye, he gracefully flipped back onto the counter, just as Wallice savagely punched the stool instead. No sooner had Reno touched onto the counter, than he grabbed hold of a heavy ashtray nearby and swung it clear into the shocked assailant's face. The blow knocked a tooth out of Wallice as it sent him flying to the side, right into an empty table.
The violent commotion brought the entire hall to a confused halt. The woman, who had been singing an encore, stumbled over her words. The music stopped. Many customers turned their heads around towards the ruckus. Even the entrance guard peeked inside to get a look.
Reno stood on top of the bar counter, hardly bothered by the odd stares he received from every direction. The scornful smile had changed to a most cold frown. His deep cerulian eyes were narrowed in cool indifference.
The girl looked on in anxious concern. Surprisingly, Rude remained slumped over the counter, right by Reno's feet. Nothing it seemed could awaken him.
For a moment, Wallice's two drunken companions stared at their fallen leader. He lay thrashed against the floor, the broken table and chairs all heaped on top of him. A blind rage suddenly seized them.
"Asshole! Yer gonna pay!!" swore one man.
"No one does that to Fire Fang!!" thundered the other.
"With a cheesy name like that, I'm not surprised," remarked Reno coolly.
This second insult would not go by unanswered. They both lunged straight for him, roaring at the top of their voices for vengeance. With such easy nimbleness, Reno dodged the double attack by cartwheeling aside along the counter.
Reno, on the other hand, landed on the ground again, unharmed.
During the entire brawl, Rude hadn't lifted his head once.
Reno stood the victor in cool composure. Everyone gawked in amazement at the spectacle. Some simply watched on, others muttered faint exclamations like "cool!" or "What happened?"
In any case, Reno carelessly flicked his long pigtail back. He seemed quite bored by the drunkards pathetic attempts.
"Honestly! Ganging up on a poor man like me," he drew out lazily, "You guys are lucky I'm in such a generous mood, otherwise I would've killed you."
The silly squabble thus concluded, Reno returned to the bar counter. However, he stopped short when Wallice suddenly scrambled back up to his feet in a perfect fit of rage. To him, this fight hadn't finished yet.
He savagely grabbed hold of the nearest chair, screaming out, C'mere, you scrawny little punk-ass!! I'll kill ya!! I'll kill ya!!"
Reno turned his head around. He only dignified the threat with a composed, rather indifferent expression, then turned away again. Not at ll bothered, he stood at the bar counter to finish up his drink.
That was the final snub. Wallice charged straight at Reno, swinging the hair around in a mad passion.
The old bartender, who hadn't dared speak all this time, suddenly intervened from behind the counter.
"Hey!! Hey!! Wallice!!" the old man cried out in alarm, "Don't go messing around THOSE guys!!! They're damn TURKS!!!!"
Wallice instantly halted, and stood agape at the warning. The news spread like wild fire from mouth to mouth. The more cautious people backed away; others crowded around for a closer look. Faint mutterings broke out. Indeed, that one word "Turks" had caused a noticeable stir amongst the shocked spectators.
Nevertheless, Reno remained at the bar counter with his back to the crowd. The girl stood by his side, very intrigued by this news. Rude stayed slumped over as always.
Wallice stared another moment before suddenly exploding into the coarsest, most loud bout of laughter.
"Turks?! HAH! Gimme a break, old man!!" he roared all over the hall, "Turks ain't nothing no more!! Just a buncha wussy, push-over bums without a job!!"
Reno merely picked up his glass again in perfect easiness.
"Turks! Whadda joke!!" the drunkard spat out, glaring more venomously at Reno, "Yeah! Not so hot now that you can't hide yer ass behind ShinRa, huh? Yeah, on top of the world....doing anything you want, then bam! Suddenly, you jes' low-life worms!! Huh! You must be the worst piece of shit on the whole damn planet!!"
Amidst this insolent laughter, Reno gulped down the rest of his drink without the least care. He didn't need to look behind. He could discern the spectators' nervous stares change to hateful glares.
Wallice hurtled a few more drunken oaths, encouraged onwards by two or three other spectators. Reno, calm as ever, took the last sip of his drink
The drunken man did not need to be a genius, or even sober to realize he had just been insulted.
He instantly resumed his mad charge with the wooden chair, shouting, "I'll friggin' rip ya ta...."
Everything ended in a flash, far too quick for anyone to expect. Before the aggressive drunkard could even finish the threat, Rude suddenly sprang off the stool for a swift rebuff. In one powerful sweep, he kicked the chair out of Wallice's two hands. Without pausing, Rude swung himself around once to deliver one mighty elbow clean into the man's ugly face, thereby sending him flying back into another table. Wallice did not get up again.
Reno stood in his same spot, totally indifferent to what had just passed. the girl blinked in surprise, while all separators lingered in silent awe. Indeed, no one (except perhaps Reno) had expected this sleeping man to leap up like that, much less for him to be such an effective ally.
Imposingly tall with stern brown eyes, Rude studied the unconscious Wallice another moment, then turned away in sour resentment.
"Bad enough you wake me up with that silly hollering," he muttered tiredly, "..but to go on and insult the Turks?" With that, he laid back down on the bar and resumed his nap.
Both the bouncer and bartender were quite upset with the disturbance, not to mention the broken chairs and tables. But neither one would dare ask the two Turks to leave, they were too scared to.
Reno, casually lit a cigarette and leaned back on the stool as if nothing had come to pass. Rude silently sat, sleeping away. Wallices buddies quickly dragged him out to get medical attention. And the girl, who was the cause of all this, quietly got up and occupied the empty stool to the right of Reno.
"Thank you," she said quietly, "I don't know what would have happened if you didn't come along."
"No problem," he said calmly, after taking another drag of his cigarette. "I mean I'm a flirt and all, but he went a bit to far." After a short pause he continued. What are you doing in a depressing place like this anyway? Something wrong?"
"You can say that." She said as her face showed the trouble in her mind. "A very good friend of mine Josh was abducted a short while ago. There was no ransom note or very many clues. But..." she faltered. "Josh was looking into finding some information on a guy named Sepheroth who killed his brother. He didn't find much, but he stumbled across the name Hojo, and that's the last i heard of it."
On hearing those two names, Reno practically fell outa his chair. His cool demeanor went flying out the window. "Did you just say Hojo?!"
"Yes."
"That twisted, sick, son-of-a-bitch worked for Shin-ra!!!"
The girl promptly jumped out of her chair. "You know him then?!" She said wide-eyed.
"You could say that."
"If you help me find him, and get some answers as to where Josh might be, I'll give you 500gil! That's all I have but I'll get you more if you -."
"No that's ok, keep your money. If i get a chance to pummel that freak, It'll be worth it. And I think I may know where he is too." He said cracking his knuckles.
"You do?! You will?! Thank you so much. When can we go?" She said excitedly.
"No time like the present." He stood up, putting his old, blue Turk jacket back on. "I think we should let Rude out of this though, he had a rough day."
"Whatever you say...umm... what is your name anyway?"
"Reno. You?"
"Lisa, nice to meet you."
"Likewise. Well let's go...Hey bartender, put the drinks on my tab." He said on the way out. He exited the bar, leaving Rude behind and with Lisa right behind him.