The Last of an Elite

Chapter Thirty-Eight: You Saved My Life

By InterfaceLeader

-~-~-~-

Reno was woken by the incessant tuneless noise of his PHS. Rolling over in the bed, he discovered another body. Peering at it with bleary eyes he ascertained it was a fairly good looking woman.

The PHS continued to beep. He groaned and sat up, massaging his temples with his fingers. It felt like someone had drilled into his brain and then buried a chainsaw in there. He wasn't in his room, thankfully. He had made a rule not to take anybody else back to his apartment after a group of disgruntled ex-lovers had mailed him two-hundred mail bombs, one after the other.

The PHS continued to beep. He wondered where he had ended up, it looked like a girls room, at least if the vanity table lined with make-up was any clue. Was it hers? Reno looked at the sleeping woman and tried to remember. A fuzzy memory of her asking if he had a place to go, his reply that he did… Where had he taken her?

The PHS continued to beep. He looked round the room, wondering why any woman would need a punch bag. Surely if he'd come here he'd had the keys? He had plenty of girlfriends, but he couldn't place the room at all. There were stuffed teddy-bears scattered across the room; presumably they'd been on the bed before he and the woman had turned up. None of his girls had a teddy collection surely?

The PHS continued to beep. He finally spotted his jacket, lying in a heap at the doorway of the room. The noise was coming from his pocket. Whoever it was must be very persistent, Reno thought fuzzily. He should go and answer it, but nausea and pain were battling through his body and he didn't really want to move.

The PHS continued to beep. The woman beside him was beginning to stir. Reno shook his head and promptly regretted it. Nausea forced him out of bed and he staggered to the door, hoping desperately to find a bathroom. Where the hell was he anyway? Everything was too girly, he was certain he'd never been here before. It must belong to the woman.

The PHS continued to beep. Reno gave up and answered it.

"Yeah?"

"….Reno? Where are you?" Rude's deep voice seemed terribly loud; Reno felt his brain hammer against his skull in disapproval.

"I dunno…"

"…… it's three in the afternoon…… Heidegger needs you…"

"Heidegger," Reno moaned "Can go screw a chicken for all I care right now. "

"It's urgent." Rude said flatly. "He needs you to go to Junon……… arrange transport for the Huge materia……… get it to Rocket Town ……… Help me load the rocket………and fire it at Meteor."

Reno stared at a pastel blue wall blankly. He was really going to puke in a minute. He had the hangover to end all hangovers, he hadn't a clue where he was, Hojo had been messing with his brain, an anonymous woman was about to wake up and start demanding information and now he had to be a rocket scientist.

"Rude, I officially hate my life."

"…… You're hungover."

"I'm not hungover. I'm dying. My head's about to fall off and roll across the floor."

"…… You're hungover. I'll meet you in Rocket Town in around three hours.…… Call me before you get there." Rude ended the call.

Reno groaned and looked around for the rest of his clothes. His trousers were under a big button eyed bear. He stared at it. It stared back.

"I hate my life," he told it. The bear, unsurprisingly, didn't reply. Then he noticed the little tag of cardboard in it's ear. Pulling his trousers out from underneath it, he turned it round towards him and read the tag.

NAME BEAR: Elena.

You are a warm and sensitive person whose good nature means you are loved by everyone. Be careful not to let others exploit your willingness to help.

Send all your friends a NAME BEAR! A personalised gift that really stands out!

"She's going to kill me." Reno said to no one. "She's going to chop out my insides and throw my mutilated corpse off the top of the Shin-ra building. "

-~-~-~-

Marlene sat by the window, watching a long line of birds wing their way across the sky.

"Where are they all going?" she asked Elmyra.

Elmyra glanced out the window, and smiled. "They're going to the land around Costa del Sol and North Corel. It means winter is coming."

Marlene's eyes lit up. "Will there be snow? I've read about snow!"

"I wouldn't count on it." Tseng said from the far side of the room. "It's going to get hotter before it gets colder."

Marlene frowned and looked at the angry red and orange ball of rock that sat in the centre of the sky. "My Papa's going to fix that."

"… Good luck to him." Tseng said.

-~-~-~-

Reno stomped along the tunnel that connected Junon to the underwater reactor in a foul mood. The guards that were with him shot him nervous looks as they followed him, they had rarely seen the Turk in such a temper. Carry Armor trailed at the back, it's crossbeam nearly filling the width of the tunnel. The deep rich blue sea, swarming with beautiful exotic fish covered in gleaming multicoloured reflective scales, was lost on the group.

The submarine bay was less impressive; the metal pipes and walls corroded quickly in the damp atmosphere, the pressure was high, the air thick and turgid. Reno felt his headache worsen and sighed.

"No rest for the wicked… let's get moving. Huge Materia on submarine, hopefully that's simple enough that you can't mess it up. Get loading."

"Yes sir!" The guards swarmed in different directions, some to the submarine and some to operate the loading device. Reno watched them work, and found himself wondering what Elena would say when she got home that night. She couldn't prove it was him right?

The mechanical loading device ground it's way past, it's rusty metal clamp clenched tight around the Huge Materia. It screeched to the end of it's path, and then slowly lowered itself down into the submarine.

Footsteps sounded behind him and Reno frowned. Typical late arrivals, missing out on all the work.

"What are you doing? Help load." he turned.

"Cloud!?" He gaped at the three figures stood there. Cloud, Tifa and Cid. Avalanche had managed to turn up in time after all. And they'd brought Cloud back from the dead.

"You know I don't work for cheap!" Cid said cheerfully around his cigarette.

"Looks like we barely made it." Tifa glared at Reno.

"Either give it to us or else." Cloud didn't need to heft his massive sword or flex a wiry muscle. His eyes, impossibly bright, met Reno's without flinching. He had changed, that undercurrent of insecurity and confusion had gone, had burned away into nothing. "...which is it gonna be?"

"Unfortunately, I don't have time to deal with you." Reno signalled to the Carry Armor waiting patiently in the shadows. "My priority is the Huge Materia!"

Without waiting to see what happened next he took off, darting round the submarine and yelling at the guard stood at the door. "What're you waiting for!? Set sail!"

The guard saluted "Yes si-"

"Shut up and move!" Reno winced as a piece of metal flew overhead, accompanied by the crackling light of an lightening-3 spell. The guard nodded and slammed the hatch shut. Engines roared, and the submarine bubbled swiftly below the water.

There was a crunching sound, and Reno looked up to see one of Carry Armor's arms burying itself into the far wall. He shook his head and raced down the walkway. The second submarine was in dock, several guards standing by it, watching the battle between Avalanche and Carry Armor with obvious interest.

"Are you all completely out of it?" Reno jumped into the midst of them, grabbing one by the front of his uniform. "Get moving before they do!"

At that point an ear-splitting roar echoed through the submarine bay, and all the lights flickered and went out. The dense blackness lasted barely a second before it was lit up with a burning diffuse purple light; the submarine bay had twisted into a vertigo inducing illusion, somehow becoming a huge space without changing at all. Carry Armor stood at the far end, spot lit and looking tiny all by itself in the changed space.

A second roar, loud enough to shake loose debris from the ceiling that was both where it had always been and miles above them. Dust showered around the guards and Reno as they stood on the submarine. As one they looked up.

The dragon that soared into view was like nothing any of them had seen before. It resembled the red dragons of Nibelheim the way a thousand year old redwood resembled a stunted twig. It was enormous, it's massive wings stretching out like a dark canopy above them, it was graceful, wheeling through the air to position itself over Carry Armor. It's skin was like metal, a burnished silver plate that rippled as it flew. It's head was shaped like that of an eagle, and as it's mouth opened every guard threw themselves to the submarine and clung to it for dear life. The only exception was the one Reno was still holding, as Reno was still gaping up at the dragon, stunned.

"Bahamut" he whispered in shock. The guard he was holding whimpered.

A powerful light began to form in Bahumut's open mouth, collecting together into a ball so bright it hurt the eyes. For a moment the God held it, everything below lit up as clear as day.

Then he released it, the white hot beam flashing down into Carry Armor with the very air burning up around it. The floor crashed into pieces, and shock waves rippled out from the point of impact. The water surged up around the submarine, which swung crazily about in the swell. Reno and the guard staggered sideways, teetered for a second on the edge, and then fell overboard.

-~-~-~-

The two Soldiers slept, slumped on the floor where they had fallen. Hojo would have dragged them to one side of the lab, but the combination of heavy-set, muscular bodies and chunky armour made them too heavy for him.

He worked feverishly, ignoring the blood and Mako that splashed onto his skin, the screams of the animals as he dismembered them, and the exhaustion and pain that blurred his own vision.

He was thinking of Cloud, Red XIII and Valentine. Hojo knew that Cloud had thrown off Jenova's control. The cells he had injected into himself gave him a weak link with his son, and his son's puppets. Cloud was free and he was strong.

Red XIII was different. He had only managed a minor investigation into the beast, but it was enough to know that it had a stronger bond with the Planet than any human. Who knew what secret sources of power it could draw on?

And then there was Valentine. Hojo slashed downwards with a scalpel, the force of the blow spraying blood into his face. He had caught the merest glimpse of him at the North Crater; as Avalanche had been forced aboard the Highwind after the Planet had released it's Weapon. It had been enough. With the Mako storm tearing at his cloak and hair, alternate searing light and dancing shadows flashing over his face, and the eyes that blazed with a demonic fire, Hojo knew he was looking at an avenger. Somehow Valentine had managed to control the demons Hojo had placed in him. Somehow Valentine had been able to remain sane, after thirty years trapped in a nightmare with only his demons for company. Somehow Valentine was able to come after him and Sephiroth.

"With my own hand I made him stronger!" Hojo snarled. "They were meant to break his mind and spirit, and instead he draws on them! But I'll show him. I'll show them all! The Planet will crumble to dust, my son will become God over all, and nothing will be allowed to stop that!"

-~-~-~-

Reno surfaced, spitting a mouthful of foul-tasting water out. For a moment he doggy paddled, trying to recover from the shock of the cold water. From the yells on the submarine he knew Avalanche had finished off Carry Armor and were trying to steal the vehicle. His first impulse was to get back on the submarine and stop them. Then he realised the guard that had fallen with him hadn't surfaced. He debated with himself for a second, and then shook his head and dived back under.

Peering through the murky depths, he saw the guard's thrashing figure and swam towards it. He had just reached the drowning man when the sound of the submarine motor throbbed through the water. Reno grabbed his arm, feeling the water swell around them as the submarine started to submerge.

Of all the guards I could've fallen overboard with, I get the one that can't swim. Reno surfaced again, supporting the guard as he spluttered and gasped. And I let Avalanche steal a sub so as to save his sorry life. Boy this day just gets better and better.

"S-sir!" the guard coughed up some more water. Reno swam back to the dock and pushed the guard onto it, before climbing out himself.

"Th-thank you sir!" The guard tried to salute, but was caught halfway with a fit of retching. Reno sighed and looked at the empty submarine bay whilst water ran out of his hair and shirt and onto the floor.

"Do you think they'll catch up with the Huge Materia?" The guard recovered slightly.

"Yeah." Reno replied. "Those guys are too good for their own good…"

"What should we do? Should we go after them?"

"No point. They're long gone."

"… but … isn't that our only chance to stop Meteor?" the Guard sounded fearful.

"I don't know. Let's get back up to Junon so I can make a report to Heidegger... And tell Scarlet her stupid robot was as useful as an ice materia in a blizzard." Reno started walking towards the exit.

"Sir!" the guard jumped to his feet. "Wait!"

"What? Make it good." Reno turned impatiently back.

"I just… uh… You saved my life, and well… I wouldn't have expected you to… thanks." the guard robbed his foot on the ground, embarrassed.

"I'll throw you back in if you don't hurry up!"

"Yes sir! Sorry sir!"

-~-~-~-

A/N: That came out different to how I was expecting ^^ It was meant to include some more from Rude and Tseng, but it was getting long so that will come in the next chapter.

I recently found a document that outlines the timeline of FF7, and it's proved incredibly useful. Thus I'd like to credit Maou whose document can be found at http://www.rpgamer.com/games/ff/ff7/info/JenovaProject.txt