Chapter 2
After walking for several minutes without saying anything, Reno turned to Lisa and asked, "So why do you think Hojo would want to abduct your friend...what was his name again?"
"Josh," she replied. "and I think that Hojo may want him because...well. Josh is half Ancient."
'Ancient,' thought Reno, 'I haven't heard that word since I was ordered to kidnap that girl, Aeris. Had I cared about what Hojo would do to her I would have never done it. But I was getting paid for it and I didn't ask questions. Come to think of it, I carried a lot of orders out without asking what the consequences may be.' He pondered as a lump of guilt grew in his heart. '"I never once asked..." he said under his breath. He looked down at his hands, and for the first time, he saw them covered with the blood of dozens of innocent people.
"Did you say something, Reno?" Lisa asked with a concerned look on her face.
"Hmm...Oh nothin'." He said snapping out of it. "uhh...come on were almost there."
Rounding a corner into a dark alleyway Reno seemed to look around for something. "When the Shinra building collapsed, Hojos lab went with it, but if he's still in Midgar, he'd be here."
"Where's here?" She asked a bit confused. "This is just an alleyway, and a dead end at that."
"Found it!" Reno said with an accomplished tone to his voice. "An alleyway it is...But things aren't always what they seem." Lisa was a bit dumbfounded when Reno pushed a single brick into the wall, opening a door to a stairwell. "Hojo always did have a backup lab."
"Wow" she said, walking towards the doorway, "I'm impressed."
Reno stooped her short, putting his arm in her path. "Don't go rushing in, Hojo may be a psycho, but he's no idiot." Reno whipped out his Electro rod, witch was concealed in his jacket, and lead the way in. It was very dark. The walls were slick with algae and a rat scurried along on a pipe overhead. The smell of mildew and rubbing alcohol filled the air, it was difficult to breathe without gagging. The faint silhouette of a door ahead caught Reno's keen eyes. "This way." He whispered. Lisa nodded and followed close behind.
Reno approached the entryway with extreme caution, listening carefully for any sounds that might indicate life, or danger. He couldn't hear anything, except for the faint rattling of chains. Like someone trying to break free. Peering into the room through a tiny crack in the door's opening, he saw a young man chained to the wall. His long black hair was soaked with sweat and his mouth had been duct taped. He looked as if he had been struggling for hours. There was no sign of Hojo. Turning to Lisa he gave her a quick thumbs up, indicating 'we found him.'
Lisa couldn't contain herself, she ran past Reno practically pushing him out of the way and flung the door wide open. When her eyes made contact with the man chained to the wall, she yelled with a huge ray of relief in her voice, "JOSH!" The man picked his head up, but upon seeing his friend, his eyes showed panic.
He tried to stand up, but the chains clasped around his wrists restrained his efforts. Yelling something unknown at the two, the tape over his mouth made it impossible to understand. Lisa ran over to Josh as Reno cautiously surveyed the area, no Hojo. 'This is far to easy,' he thought a bit unsatisfied with the situation.
Lisa pealed the tape of her friends mouth expecting a happy 'hello' but instead was meat with "GET OUT OF HERE!!! IT'S A TRAP!!!" But his warning came to late. The door from which they came in slammed shut and locked on its own. They had nowhere to run.
A maniacal laughter emanated from the corner of the room, in the dark shadows. A glimmer of a pair of glasses and the silhouette of a white lab coat confirmed it. It was Hojo. "Isn't this nice," he said almost in a hiss. "More test subjects." With that, he reached over and pulled a switch, sending a huge electrical current through the floor. The sum of 10,000 volts ripped through the three of them, rendering Lisa and Josh unconscious in an instant. Reno, being slightly tougher than the two, fell to his knees facing the psycho.
"You...son of a..." that was it, Reno's eyes rolled back in his head as he collapsed onto the floor. Falling, falling...suddenly all went black.
***********************************************************************
"Reno.....Reno.....Reno.....RENO!" He heard Lisa frantically calling his name as he regained consciousness. He was strapped to what looked to be an operating table, leather straps held his body down, a IV bag hung just overhead as it pumped him full of an awkward purple fluid. Turning back to the voice, he saw Lisa chained to the wall by Josh, both of which had woken up just recently. The bright light that shown down on him hurt his eyes badly. He wished he could reach the shades on his forehead. He was about to ask Lisa what the hell was going on when Hojo entered the room.
"So how is my little experiment going. Hmmm?" He said with a demented grin on his face.
"What the hell are you doing to me you fucking psycho!" Reno retorted angrily. The fluid pumping into his arm felt like battery acid, and the pain was quickly running throughout the rest of his body.
"My my, no need for such harsh language," Hojo said, "I'm simply altering you, I'm not going to kill you." He looked at Lisa. "Oddly enough the cells didn't seem to have any effect on the girl. Very strange. yes it is."
"Cells?" Reno pondered.
"Yes Mr. Reno, JENOVA Cells." he said examining the now almost empty IV bag. "I thought since you were a Turk and all, the cells would have an interesting effect on you."
"What do you mean 'effect'?" Reno demanded with a cynical tone to his voice.
"Well, let me put it this way." he said with a sadistic grin, " I believe you already met my last experiment...a Mr.Valintine I think it was."
"What?!" Yelled Reno. "Your not gong to turn me into some vampiric freak!"
"I believe its to late for complaints, now isn't it Mr. Reno." he said pointing to the now empty IV bag.
"You son of a bitch, I'm gonna fucking kill you!!!" Reno threatened. "I...Ahhhhhhh!!!" his string of insults were cut short by a surge of pain that ripped through his stomach and chest. Gasping for air, he almost passed out again.
"Reno!" Lisa called helplessly from the far side of the room.
"My sweet child, your yelling will not do any good, he's out cold again." Hojo said confidently.
But Reno wasn't unconscious, he was faking it. As Hojo walked past him, Reno skillfully slipped a scalpel out of his lab coat. Growing up in the slums of Midgar had taught him how to become a master pit pocket. He started to cut away at the leather straps that bound him.
The over confidant Hojo casually strolled up to the pair chained to the wall and bent down by Josh. "Now what to do with you. You are a very rare specimen, perhaps I should preserve you for a few decades while I run some tests." He looked over to Lisa, "And you, most interesting how the cells didn't have any effect on you. I will have to study your genetic makeup to decipher how this is possible." Lisa fiercely spat in the Professors face.
While wiping it away from his face with a cloth, he stood up, "You'll pay for that later." He said as he smirked. "I wonder how your friend is doing." He mocked, turning around to check on the unconscious man...But all he saw was when he turned was a deep, hateful pair of cerulean eyes glaring at him from no more than two feet away.
Before the Professor could say or do anything, Reno, quick as lightning slashed the scalpel clean across Hojo's throat, slicing him from ear to ear. The Professor, still with the shocked look on his face, hit the floor in a bloody heap.
Without saying anything, Reno walked over to the two. He garbed the chains that held Lisa and with a quick tug, ripped them clean out of the wall. Turning toward Josh, he did the same with his restraints. "Lets go." Was all he said as he turned and headed toward the now open entryway. Neither Josh nor Lisa dare utter a word, they just silently followed, leaving the still bleeding Professor behind them.
* What will become of Reno? Find out in the next chapter..
After walking for several minutes without saying anything, Reno turned to Lisa and asked, "So why do you think Hojo would want to abduct your friend...what was his name again?"
"Josh," she replied. "and I think that Hojo may want him because...well. Josh is half Ancient."
'Ancient,' thought Reno, 'I haven't heard that word since I was ordered to kidnap that girl, Aeris. Had I cared about what Hojo would do to her I would have never done it. But I was getting paid for it and I didn't ask questions. Come to think of it, I carried a lot of orders out without asking what the consequences may be.' He pondered as a lump of guilt grew in his heart. '"I never once asked..." he said under his breath. He looked down at his hands, and for the first time, he saw them covered with the blood of dozens of innocent people.
"Did you say something, Reno?" Lisa asked with a concerned look on her face.
"Hmm...Oh nothin'." He said snapping out of it. "uhh...come on were almost there."
Rounding a corner into a dark alleyway Reno seemed to look around for something. "When the Shinra building collapsed, Hojos lab went with it, but if he's still in Midgar, he'd be here."
"Where's here?" She asked a bit confused. "This is just an alleyway, and a dead end at that."
"Found it!" Reno said with an accomplished tone to his voice. "An alleyway it is...But things aren't always what they seem." Lisa was a bit dumbfounded when Reno pushed a single brick into the wall, opening a door to a stairwell. "Hojo always did have a backup lab."
"Wow" she said, walking towards the doorway, "I'm impressed."
Reno stooped her short, putting his arm in her path. "Don't go rushing in, Hojo may be a psycho, but he's no idiot." Reno whipped out his Electro rod, witch was concealed in his jacket, and lead the way in. It was very dark. The walls were slick with algae and a rat scurried along on a pipe overhead. The smell of mildew and rubbing alcohol filled the air, it was difficult to breathe without gagging. The faint silhouette of a door ahead caught Reno's keen eyes. "This way." He whispered. Lisa nodded and followed close behind.
Reno approached the entryway with extreme caution, listening carefully for any sounds that might indicate life, or danger. He couldn't hear anything, except for the faint rattling of chains. Like someone trying to break free. Peering into the room through a tiny crack in the door's opening, he saw a young man chained to the wall. His long black hair was soaked with sweat and his mouth had been duct taped. He looked as if he had been struggling for hours. There was no sign of Hojo. Turning to Lisa he gave her a quick thumbs up, indicating 'we found him.'
Lisa couldn't contain herself, she ran past Reno practically pushing him out of the way and flung the door wide open. When her eyes made contact with the man chained to the wall, she yelled with a huge ray of relief in her voice, "JOSH!" The man picked his head up, but upon seeing his friend, his eyes showed panic.
He tried to stand up, but the chains clasped around his wrists restrained his efforts. Yelling something unknown at the two, the tape over his mouth made it impossible to understand. Lisa ran over to Josh as Reno cautiously surveyed the area, no Hojo. 'This is far to easy,' he thought a bit unsatisfied with the situation.
Lisa pealed the tape of her friends mouth expecting a happy 'hello' but instead was meat with "GET OUT OF HERE!!! IT'S A TRAP!!!" But his warning came to late. The door from which they came in slammed shut and locked on its own. They had nowhere to run.
A maniacal laughter emanated from the corner of the room, in the dark shadows. A glimmer of a pair of glasses and the silhouette of a white lab coat confirmed it. It was Hojo. "Isn't this nice," he said almost in a hiss. "More test subjects." With that, he reached over and pulled a switch, sending a huge electrical current through the floor. The sum of 10,000 volts ripped through the three of them, rendering Lisa and Josh unconscious in an instant. Reno, being slightly tougher than the two, fell to his knees facing the psycho.
"You...son of a..." that was it, Reno's eyes rolled back in his head as he collapsed onto the floor. Falling, falling...suddenly all went black.
***********************************************************************
"Reno.....Reno.....Reno.....RENO!" He heard Lisa frantically calling his name as he regained consciousness. He was strapped to what looked to be an operating table, leather straps held his body down, a IV bag hung just overhead as it pumped him full of an awkward purple fluid. Turning back to the voice, he saw Lisa chained to the wall by Josh, both of which had woken up just recently. The bright light that shown down on him hurt his eyes badly. He wished he could reach the shades on his forehead. He was about to ask Lisa what the hell was going on when Hojo entered the room.
"So how is my little experiment going. Hmmm?" He said with a demented grin on his face.
"What the hell are you doing to me you fucking psycho!" Reno retorted angrily. The fluid pumping into his arm felt like battery acid, and the pain was quickly running throughout the rest of his body.
"My my, no need for such harsh language," Hojo said, "I'm simply altering you, I'm not going to kill you." He looked at Lisa. "Oddly enough the cells didn't seem to have any effect on the girl. Very strange. yes it is."
"Cells?" Reno pondered.
"Yes Mr. Reno, JENOVA Cells." he said examining the now almost empty IV bag. "I thought since you were a Turk and all, the cells would have an interesting effect on you."
"What do you mean 'effect'?" Reno demanded with a cynical tone to his voice.
"Well, let me put it this way." he said with a sadistic grin, " I believe you already met my last experiment...a Mr.Valintine I think it was."
"What?!" Yelled Reno. "Your not gong to turn me into some vampiric freak!"
"I believe its to late for complaints, now isn't it Mr. Reno." he said pointing to the now empty IV bag.
"You son of a bitch, I'm gonna fucking kill you!!!" Reno threatened. "I...Ahhhhhhh!!!" his string of insults were cut short by a surge of pain that ripped through his stomach and chest. Gasping for air, he almost passed out again.
"Reno!" Lisa called helplessly from the far side of the room.
"My sweet child, your yelling will not do any good, he's out cold again." Hojo said confidently.
But Reno wasn't unconscious, he was faking it. As Hojo walked past him, Reno skillfully slipped a scalpel out of his lab coat. Growing up in the slums of Midgar had taught him how to become a master pit pocket. He started to cut away at the leather straps that bound him.
The over confidant Hojo casually strolled up to the pair chained to the wall and bent down by Josh. "Now what to do with you. You are a very rare specimen, perhaps I should preserve you for a few decades while I run some tests." He looked over to Lisa, "And you, most interesting how the cells didn't have any effect on you. I will have to study your genetic makeup to decipher how this is possible." Lisa fiercely spat in the Professors face.
While wiping it away from his face with a cloth, he stood up, "You'll pay for that later." He said as he smirked. "I wonder how your friend is doing." He mocked, turning around to check on the unconscious man...But all he saw was when he turned was a deep, hateful pair of cerulean eyes glaring at him from no more than two feet away.
Before the Professor could say or do anything, Reno, quick as lightning slashed the scalpel clean across Hojo's throat, slicing him from ear to ear. The Professor, still with the shocked look on his face, hit the floor in a bloody heap.
Without saying anything, Reno walked over to the two. He garbed the chains that held Lisa and with a quick tug, ripped them clean out of the wall. Turning toward Josh, he did the same with his restraints. "Lets go." Was all he said as he turned and headed toward the now open entryway. Neither Josh nor Lisa dare utter a word, they just silently followed, leaving the still bleeding Professor behind them.
* What will become of Reno? Find out in the next chapter..