Chapter Five
In the dark, mystical night one figure crept along the shadows at an alarming rate, their bare feet slapping the cold stones loudly. The rest of his body was covered in dark black, and normally he would also be wearing shoes but he had been in a hurry.
Panting he turned around the corner and waited, trying his best not to breathe - this only made him take deeper gulps. He tried to wipe the sweat from his forehead before realizing he had a mask on. Muttering her ripped it off, shoving it inot a large pocket. Sandy hair fell in long locks, framing his gentle face. Energetic green eyes seemed to glow from within, but not as a SOLDIERs eyes would glow - he was simply energetic.
He lay against the wall, wondering how he could have been seen. After breaking into the richest mans house he had stolen all the jewels he'd need for the rest of his life. But on his way out, the mans wife had come out to see what was happening.
That had been his downfall.
She was so beautiful, with golden hair that fell freely to her waist, and a pale, porcelain doll skin. She had a great body and a face of an angel. He simply could not resist it - he had foribly taken her.
While she had been moaning in deep pleasure the husband had come out, and, seeing the man raping his beloved wife, he called for the guards. Losing them was easy enough, but he could sense someone was still near him.
He finally managed to get a hold on his breathing level, confident he had lost the tracker.
Then a hand suddenly grabbed him around the neck and pulled him up on top of the building he had been leaning against a moment ago. His head came down, hitting the tiles hard and cracking a few.
Wincing he tried to roll away but a single, stable hand took him by the neck, choking the life out of him. He was raised to about the same height as the person, though they were far shorter than him. He was choking, trying to get a hold of his breath.
Their head cocked, and they stared at him curiously, as if measuring him ounce for ounce. Then he was dropped, and while his eyes were closed he could still hear the swish sound as they too dropped down, doing a roundhouse kick. The kick met him in the chest and he flew into the building behind him.
"Wh-who are you?" the thief questioned.
"I..." came a raspy, faked voice. "I am the Guardian." He fell into unconciousness.
*
Around here in Wutai the Guardian was a rather popular tale. He was a man who fought crime for vengeance, his wife having been killed years ago, murdered by an assassin.
From there he had learned to train himself, and learned great techniques from a wise old man. From here he moved into the city, delivering his message with every criminal fought. The police would find them tied up, sometimes with little messages such as 'Lose some wait, I'm tired of doing your work.'
To the police this so called 'Guardian' was simply a joke. It was then that they had decided to challenge the Guardian to a duel.
When the mystery fighter showed up he said he would not fight them one at a time. He demanded to fight them all at once or none at all. The polica force of Wutai were all experienced fighters, knowing in the martial arts. The fact one person claimed to be able to take them all one at once was ridiculous.
Yet they had gone through with it. His swiftness was unsurpassed, the moves being danced like a practiced art, each movement carrying a seed of life, their soul pouring into every step and punch or kick.
The Guardian had not taken a single hit. And he had never been challenged since then. However, today that would be changed.
Another interesting fact was that the Guardian wasn't even male.
*
Reno sat at the table, washing his mouth down with as much beer as he could fir in it and more. Elena near by sipped at her tea, as did Rude with his one beer.
The tavern was darker and dustier than most, and devoid of life. Cobwebs were in the corners, clutching to doors and chairs too. Only one drunkard was in here, and of course the barkeeper.
"This job is an insult to us!" Elena said under her breath, but loud enough for the other two Turks to hear anyway.
"Elena, as lame of a job as it may be it is still our job to do it. Don't forget - we're still being paid." Reno downed another mouthful after the sentence. They were currently on an escort mission. He tolerated almost anything - assassinations, massacres, treasure-finding, etc. But for the first time in his career he was on an escort mission.
Although it did have some importance in it he still felt a bit downplayed. They were to be watching the vice president of Hawking Enterprises, a young, rich man who lived at the edge of Wutai. This was to assure he did not try anything to ruin their Tainted Lifestream mission, and as Reeves had said it, it was a 'vital job that must be done by skilled individuals such as yourselves'.
Bullshit. He just doesn't have the balls to fire us, so he's looking for extra work we can do. No matter how non-vital the Turks were to the business they still mantained a highly 'respected' occupation, mostly by giving cold glances at everyone who came near them.
"Come on, let's get going." They all pitched in some money and walked out of the bar, the baking sun falling onto them like a sack of... well, Reno had a severe lack of imagination, so to him it was like a sack with a baking hot sun in it.
He began to whistle. Rude and Elena soon wanted to kill the immature Turk, the noise aggravating them to such a great degree Elena thought she could hear her mind dying.
Then at last the noise had stopped, cut off in a particularly high-pitched note. When the two turned around to Reno it wasn't hard to see the man was gone. Instead, shifting their gaze, they could see him chasing down a kid who was making off with his wallet.
Both followed in pursuit, as much as they didn't wish to, and when they caught up with Reno he was just now getting to the child in a closed valley.
Reno took a leap forwards and tripped the kid, spinning afterwards. In one hand he caught his wallet and with the other he pinned the small boy against the wall. "Damn I made that cool looking," he said with an arrogant smile.
The 'cool' effect was completely destroyed when a shadow dropped from a ledge, a foot connecting to Reno's face, destroying his face. Dropping to their hands the barrage of attacks that followed all connected with equal power and presicion. It wasn't just a fighting technique - it was an art, practiced to perfection.
Reno, laying against the wall, wiped the blood slipping from his mouth onto his sleeve. Slowly standing up he used the wall to keep balance. "And just who the hell do you think you are? Messing with a Turk can get a person killed, you know..."
The ninja-warrior's face, like their body, was completely covered except for her eyes. But it was still apparent they were smiling. "BITCH!" Reno charged forward with a fist swinging from overhead towards their face, but it went just an inch overhead as they ducked. The ninja was quite suprised when Reno was smart enough to drop down himself, her first kick going under him and second one above him.
The ninja stuck their foot to Reno's side and launched themself away from him, their legs kicking to the side so they were stuck onto opposite walls of the alley.
"Hmph. Amateur stuff."
Elena, standing away from the fight, wasn't quite too sure what she had just heard, but it sounded like a giggle. "Hey Rude." The mans attention swung from the fight to her. "Recognize her? Look at her eyes."
The buff man admired the ninja for a few moments. "She was in Cloud's little group." It was a plain statement, no emotion inside of it. Rude had always been the one to be the strong, silent type.
"Yeah, Yuffie Kisaragi. Her father owns this town, or something like that. Wonder what she's doing out her becoming a crime-fighter?" When the blonde received no response, she noticed Rude was once again silent. "What happened to the kid?"
She could have sword she saw a slight grin as his hand moved, the small boy held in his hand. His small, baby features were frightened and he was almost sure he was about to be killed.
"Hand the wallet over and leave." Rude dropped him, and when the child managed to get back up he tossed her the wallet, the bowed in gratitude before running off.
Behind them they could hear him screaming to everyone something about a fight between the Turks and the Guardian.
Reno ducked by one punch, a second only just dodged by pure luck, but the third caught him in the chest. His eyes widening in shock he flew into the wall, a few cracks appearing from the heavy impact. Luckily, dust also came with the impact, and the ninja was momentarily blinded.
Dropping from the wall their next punch hit the wall, forming a hole in it. Laughing, Reno leaped towards them and his punch slammed into her stomach. His elbow dropped onto their face and he brought his leg back, sending a powerful kick into their side.
The attacker was weakened, coughing on the ground and signs of blood seeping through the black attire. Crowds that had gathered in the alley were booing him, but he didn't matter.
"SO!" he yelled out in a clear voice, signalling all to be quiet. "WHO'S THIS PESKY LITTLE PERSON, THINKING THEY CAN DEFEAT ME?"
The members of the crowd glanced at one another, a bit unsure of what to say. If they were to say something like 'the Guardian of Wutai' they'd look stupid, having their best fighter defeated by a Turk.
"I'm your worst nightmare, bitch." The first words ever spoken by the Guardian in public sounded a bit off. Not quite as masculine as they had all hoped they would have been. But what followed was perfect. Reno's legs were both gripped tightly, and with the power that the Guardian rose he fell downwards, his head slamming the ground because of his height advantage over them.
Then Reno was flying through the air, slamming into the wall back-first. "You will no longer attack mere children, got it? If I catch you doing anything wrong again, then you'll die."
"Hey," he grumbled, "get back... here... already..." He fell backwards, passed out.
*
Cid could feel his body falling onto the wooden table, shifting the balance and forcing all its contents into the air, splashing across the room. He wasn't quite aware of it though, as his laughter rang throughout the room. "The PINEAPPLE did it?! HOLY SHIT! AHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA!"
Cid's face was now turning red from laughter mixed with the whole woozy drunk effect he was feeling. Shera was the coolest drunk person ever, he decided. Rather, he was drunk enough to decide so.
After a few more minutes of his hysterical laughing he stopped, putting a serious face on. "Okay... I got one here... Why did the chocobo cross the road?"
"WHO GIVES A DAMN?!" Shera blurted out, her glass of beer slipping from her hands as the two fell into eachother, unable to resist the laughter.
The others inside the bar had already moved as far away from the couple as they could. They had never before seen 'old people' drunk, and were now quite frightened of the prospect. It was like it was contagious - if they got any closer to the drunkards then they may begin to act stupid.
Though the barkeeper was also a bit frightened of the two he was making a fortune off of them, and they hadn't even noticed when he decided to raise the prices of their drinks.
After the mission had been said to be successful and Cid had returned to Junon with the remaining groups they had been greeted with a parade. People from all over the world had been gathering in Junon for the yearly festival as it was, and this mission had created such joy people had begun celebrating a week early.
People in the streets were running naked, cheering on top of eachothers shoulders, and some were even on the beta versions of ShinRa's hover-scooters (a few hundred had been signed up to test them).
The crowds were going mad at every glance of someone from ShinRa, but when they had seen President Reeve exit the main building it was pure ectasy. Reeve had to assign himself a dozen bodyguards just to insure none of the madmen came near him. People were stacked on top of eachother in fives or sixes, just so they could get a glance at him.
Cid was as happy as could be when he saw Shera among the crowd of people at the airport, smiling as she jumped in joy. The two had escaped the crowds and went to the closest bar to celebrate. Where they currently were - scaring even the drunk people.
Motioning for more beers to be sent to them (Cid had doubts he could walk those ten feet and stay concious) he pulled out another fifty gil for the waiter.
The waiter slowly came closer to the couple, until at last he threw the beer-glasses down, swiped the money from Cid, and dove away from the table. It may have looked pretty silly to some of the customers who had just come in, but the others had seen what happened when the waiter didn't move fast enough. One of the people had actually fainted when that had happened.
Taking careful aim to get the beer into his mouth, Cid accidently splashed the beer into his jacket. "Aw man!" Looking around for something to wipe the beer away he forgot what he was looking for and tried some of the beer.
"Hee hee hee... Look at those two mongooses!" Before Cid even turned to see what Shera was pointing at he erupted into laughter, spilling the remaining beer left onto the floor. When he did turn around he noticed a couple of the scientists wearing ShinRa pins approaching him.
"Aw shit! What are you fuckers doin' here? I'm a bit BUSAY!"
The first of the scientists - a short, scrawny man - mildly spoke up. "Well, um, sir, you see, uh..."
"SPIT IT OUT!" Shera screamed.
"Well... It seemed the mission wasn't, er, a total, uh, success." He added with hesitation, "Uh, sir."
Cid's head suddenly dropped, and the people inside the bar thought and hoped he had suddenly died from alchohol poisoning (they had bets on when it would happen). Just as the second scientist reached to tap his shoulder his head jerked upwards, smiling. "BET YA CAN'T SAY THAT THREE TIMES FAST!"
"...Sir, though we realize you're drunk, this is urgent. More important than you getting wasted." The captain suddeny smiled - this second scientist was a whole lot funner.
"Yeah yeah yeah. Just grab my arms and carry me or something." The two ShinRa workers exchanged worried glances before one grabbed his arms, dragging him from the chair. The second took his legs and they marched him towards the door.
Turning to Shera they both gave a bow before marching out with the drunkard.
As the door opened the sound that blasted through was most definitely not expected. Inside the bar it had been silent, save for Cid and Shera's mad hyena laughing of course. Outside a roaring cheer that just didn't seem to end with people going mad.
"Someone's birthday or somethin'?" Cid questioned with conspired eyes.
"Er, no..."
*
The two scientist realized Cid was far too drunk to explain everything to him in his current state, so they had taken him into a room to sleep for a few hours. Though he would still be suffering from an enormous hangover they had no choice.
So the pale-blonde haired man groggily sat up, before falling back down with a shooting pain in his side. "Daaamn... How much did I drink?"
"Too much. Now get up, we need to show this to you now." Cid didn't like being bossed around, but he vaguely remembered being told about something 'urgent'.
Rolling off of the 'bed' built into the wall he hit the ground hard. And naked. His body was completely naked but the chill from the cold floor was what woke him up. "SHIT! Give me some clothes you twisted son of bitches!"
Laughing the braver scientist through over some boxers and shorts. Pulling them on as quickly as he could Cid rushed over to see what the two men were talking about.
The pulled a television set down from the corner so that Cid could see it, and one fiddled with a remote for a few minutes. Suddenly the television erupted into color as it displayed the aftermath of the mission. It wasn't quite what Cid had been expecting.
The land was twisted, brown patches of burnt earth. The ground was literally smoking and the land had been formed into a solid sort of 'sea', meaning it was like a pile of waves put together with the most distorted type of earth that the Gods had in stock. No sign of grass was visible, and the ground mostly just resembled the color it did outside of Midgar. But far, far worse.
Life was neither born nor destroyed here. It seemed to be in a state that shouldn't have existed - life after death. The 'afterlife' was inappropiately named of course, because their could not be life after death. Such a state would defy the means of reality, and possibly have an effect great enough to destroy everything in existence.
But the state here had no name that could be given - it was birth, death, afterlife, destruction, beauty, and everything else that could be created. It was so distorted from reality it didn't even look realistic.
"What happened here...?" Cid asked through misty eyes. This had not at all been intended. They had wanted to help the Planet, not destroy it.
"This is a very complicated issue... Let's just say this all began three years ago. Sephiroth, killed by your group of friends..." The public had been told that ShinRa had destroyed Sephiroth and Jenova, so few people knew the truth. "...obviously fell into the lifestream along with his mother, Jenova. The combined effect of two such pure souls of evil should have simply meant nothing would happen.
"However, we believe Sephiroth must have had some good in him. Two souls, telepathically linked, should always remain in the same state of purity. Otherwise the effects may be drastic. In this case their link grew stronger, reaching out and grabbing other souls to become like themselves. As it was, all souls currently coursing through that area of the lifestream became Tainted.
"The problem only begins there, however. Up there was where we believed for the Promised Land to have existed... Meaning, the Ancients and other souls within the area all became a part of the link. This may not mean much right now, but let's show you a different area of the destruction..."
Fiddling with the remote once again, the picture changed. Here, the land was like liquid, still writhing around as if it were dying... Or giving birth, Cid told himself. Bodies were raising from the discolored land, screaming with agony before collapsing back into the stream of destruction.
They were creating life.
"You see... we sort of released those souls. That was okay though, because a soul with no body is useless. However, because we believe the Promised Land to be there, there was a lot of Elemental Energy."
Cid tried to recall everything he knew about magic at this point. Materia was in most cases Ancients' knowledge stored inside of stones that had been formed from Elemental Energy. He knew he could go more in depth on this and work out his theory, but he decided he would do that later.
"There is one materia that uses Elemental Energy. It is called Morph, and it can basically shift one creation of life or even inanimate objects into something it desires, or needs. So, you see... The land up there is being morphed... into bodies."
"Fucking hell..." Cid muttered.
"We're not quite sure what this means for the time being, but there is no doubt it will literally be Hell on the Planet. Imagine Sephiroth, Jenova, and every Ancient to have ever existed on the Planet all attacking. The pure evil with disrupt the Monsters way of life, and we may end up with having to deal with them as well. Do you understand all this?"
Cid didn't have to nod, or say anything. He just continued to stare at the television set.
*
Tifa began to wheel herself onwards, basking in the great beauty of wildlife out here in this great land. She felt so alive out here, so free of the bonds that tied her to life back in Kalm.
The town was connected by paths that all connected to Town Center, where all the shops were laid. The paths were like the one she had been found on - tall, beautiful trees and snake-like vines with beautiful shrubs dotted by magestic, colorful buds. A light mist sometimes hung around, but it was not the mysterious, bad omen mist - it was a sign of beauty.
This was her first day she would be allowed outside of the clinic, and she was both happy and nervous, so contradicted. She was a bit afraid that she would not be accepted by these magnificent people.
As she was nearing Town Center she could see a young boy and girl on the path. As she slowly approached she could see they were fighting, most definitely something she had not been expecting to see from a pacifist town.
They both had coal-black hair that swayed in the wind, their dark brown eyes energetic and alive, loving the battle. Unlike the few people she had seen from this village so far they had a tan, much like her own. While she had lived in Midgar she didn't have a tan, but, being from Nibelheim, she could naturally tan after short periods of time outside.
One boy had a stick, though it was apparently meant to be a sword (she noted a sword at the edge of the path), while the girl had a thick staff with intricate designs carved into it.
As they worked through their manoevers a voice sounded by Tifa's ear, making her jump. "Great fighters, aren't they?"
Turning around with alarmed eyes she threw a punch at the person but her fist couldn't reach, considering her current state. "AH! Sorry, I thought you were an attacker..." The commotion had made the two children realize she was there.
"No problem. My name is..." He shook his head. "Rain."
"I-I'm Tifa Lockhart. You and those children... You don't look like you're from here."
"That's cause we ain't." Said the boy as he through the stick to the side, wiping the sweat from his forehead. "Well, me 'n' Kia are, but my Grandpa there ain't."
The man nodded. Tifa began to peer closer at him. He really didn't look all that old. His face mantained a rather youthful appearence though his hair was all silver. "I came here a long time ago in search for adventure. I'm originally from Nibelheim though."
Tifa jumped back at this, as hard as it was in a wheelchair. "Y-You're from Nibelheim?!"
He posed a twisted grin, as the two children stood at the side, a bit confused and still breathing heavily. The boy couldn't take his eyes off of Tifa."
"Indeed. Though you wouldn't know me, as it is. I may explain that to you sometime later. As for now, where are you heading?"
"Town Center. I wanted to see what this town is like... Though I'll only be here for a few days I'd like to learn as much as I can. Think you could help me out?"
The man thought about this, glancing to his grandchildren. "The boy there is Ken. He can help you out - me and Kia are going out for a few hours to practice some techniques. Ask him anything you want - I can see you're a fighter so there is no need for us to hide anything from you."
"Thanks!" Rain nodded, before gesturing for Kia to follow him. Kia ran after him, giving a short goodbye. "So, Ken... You're a fighter?"
"Yeah! Me and my sis are real good, though most people around here don't like us fighting. You like fighting then?" Tifa smiled. This would be a lot of fun.
*
The day for the Turk Reno hadn't been good at all, and in just a couple of minutes it was going to be getting a whole lot worse for him. While his companions waited at the base of the hill he knocked on the door of the gigantic house.
For a few minutes nothing happened. When he was about to turn and leave the door suddenly began to open. A cop stepped out, wearing some sort of foreign clothing that Reno had never before seen. Unlike the cops of city-life this guy seemed to be wearing a dress, and had a sword at his side, ready to be drawn in an instant. Something about the man made it obvious he was a cop though.
"May I help you?"
Reno cringed. "No... I, uh, think I came at a bad time? I'll just be going then!" He smiled and began to back away, but the cop drew his sword and in an instant it was pricking the Turk's neck.
"What'd you come here for?!"
"N-Nothing! Honest! I'm a Turk!" Reno mentally slapped himself in the forehead. Mentioning his profession to a cop in Wutai probably wouldn't do a lot of good. "Look, I was sent here on a mission today! I mean, a GOOD mission! No killing! Honest!"
The cop warily put the sword away. "Sorry to be a pain in the ass for you, but you'll have to wait until later. Mr. and Mrs. Barker were robbed last night, and the thief took advantage of Mrs. Barker while at it. Since you're so suspicious I think I may have to take you in though."
"What?! NO! I didn't do anything wrong! Sure, I killed a few back in the day, maybe a couple of dozen, but hey - who didn't? I haven't committed a crime in like the last... well, ten minutes or so, BUT THAT WASN'T MY FAULT! And I REALLY paid for that one."
"I'll have to take you in for the night."
"HUH?! No no no! My fellow Turks down there can tell you I had nothing to do with this! So HA!"
"Oh? And where might they be?" Reno turned and looked around for them, before sighing and realizing they had left him here all alone.
Meanwhile at the cafe, Elena sipped on her tea. "Maybe we should've stayed there when that cop came out?"
Rude just shrugged, taking another sip from his beer.
Authors Notes: Jeeezus! That chapter shouldn't have taken so long. I just couldn't get past the fight between Reno and the 'Guardian' (bah, we all know who she is, right??) for some reason. Anyway. Bit of a longer chapter.
I like this a lot more than Death Is Only The Beginning. I describe more on this, make it clearer. And those of you who read DotB first may notice in some parts the conversations are pretty much exactly the same. That's cuz there were some things I liked in that fic.
Now... I have some seriously corny shit prepared for Rain *grins* And hopefully the next chapter should be out a lot sooner.
Plz R+R if you love me! Or if ya don't! C'Yaz!
PS Do italics show up or not? If they don't I suddenly feel reeeally st00pid.
In the dark, mystical night one figure crept along the shadows at an alarming rate, their bare feet slapping the cold stones loudly. The rest of his body was covered in dark black, and normally he would also be wearing shoes but he had been in a hurry.
Panting he turned around the corner and waited, trying his best not to breathe - this only made him take deeper gulps. He tried to wipe the sweat from his forehead before realizing he had a mask on. Muttering her ripped it off, shoving it inot a large pocket. Sandy hair fell in long locks, framing his gentle face. Energetic green eyes seemed to glow from within, but not as a SOLDIERs eyes would glow - he was simply energetic.
He lay against the wall, wondering how he could have been seen. After breaking into the richest mans house he had stolen all the jewels he'd need for the rest of his life. But on his way out, the mans wife had come out to see what was happening.
That had been his downfall.
She was so beautiful, with golden hair that fell freely to her waist, and a pale, porcelain doll skin. She had a great body and a face of an angel. He simply could not resist it - he had foribly taken her.
While she had been moaning in deep pleasure the husband had come out, and, seeing the man raping his beloved wife, he called for the guards. Losing them was easy enough, but he could sense someone was still near him.
He finally managed to get a hold on his breathing level, confident he had lost the tracker.
Then a hand suddenly grabbed him around the neck and pulled him up on top of the building he had been leaning against a moment ago. His head came down, hitting the tiles hard and cracking a few.
Wincing he tried to roll away but a single, stable hand took him by the neck, choking the life out of him. He was raised to about the same height as the person, though they were far shorter than him. He was choking, trying to get a hold of his breath.
Their head cocked, and they stared at him curiously, as if measuring him ounce for ounce. Then he was dropped, and while his eyes were closed he could still hear the swish sound as they too dropped down, doing a roundhouse kick. The kick met him in the chest and he flew into the building behind him.
"Wh-who are you?" the thief questioned.
"I..." came a raspy, faked voice. "I am the Guardian." He fell into unconciousness.
*
Around here in Wutai the Guardian was a rather popular tale. He was a man who fought crime for vengeance, his wife having been killed years ago, murdered by an assassin.
From there he had learned to train himself, and learned great techniques from a wise old man. From here he moved into the city, delivering his message with every criminal fought. The police would find them tied up, sometimes with little messages such as 'Lose some wait, I'm tired of doing your work.'
To the police this so called 'Guardian' was simply a joke. It was then that they had decided to challenge the Guardian to a duel.
When the mystery fighter showed up he said he would not fight them one at a time. He demanded to fight them all at once or none at all. The polica force of Wutai were all experienced fighters, knowing in the martial arts. The fact one person claimed to be able to take them all one at once was ridiculous.
Yet they had gone through with it. His swiftness was unsurpassed, the moves being danced like a practiced art, each movement carrying a seed of life, their soul pouring into every step and punch or kick.
The Guardian had not taken a single hit. And he had never been challenged since then. However, today that would be changed.
Another interesting fact was that the Guardian wasn't even male.
*
Reno sat at the table, washing his mouth down with as much beer as he could fir in it and more. Elena near by sipped at her tea, as did Rude with his one beer.
The tavern was darker and dustier than most, and devoid of life. Cobwebs were in the corners, clutching to doors and chairs too. Only one drunkard was in here, and of course the barkeeper.
"This job is an insult to us!" Elena said under her breath, but loud enough for the other two Turks to hear anyway.
"Elena, as lame of a job as it may be it is still our job to do it. Don't forget - we're still being paid." Reno downed another mouthful after the sentence. They were currently on an escort mission. He tolerated almost anything - assassinations, massacres, treasure-finding, etc. But for the first time in his career he was on an escort mission.
Although it did have some importance in it he still felt a bit downplayed. They were to be watching the vice president of Hawking Enterprises, a young, rich man who lived at the edge of Wutai. This was to assure he did not try anything to ruin their Tainted Lifestream mission, and as Reeves had said it, it was a 'vital job that must be done by skilled individuals such as yourselves'.
Bullshit. He just doesn't have the balls to fire us, so he's looking for extra work we can do. No matter how non-vital the Turks were to the business they still mantained a highly 'respected' occupation, mostly by giving cold glances at everyone who came near them.
"Come on, let's get going." They all pitched in some money and walked out of the bar, the baking sun falling onto them like a sack of... well, Reno had a severe lack of imagination, so to him it was like a sack with a baking hot sun in it.
He began to whistle. Rude and Elena soon wanted to kill the immature Turk, the noise aggravating them to such a great degree Elena thought she could hear her mind dying.
Then at last the noise had stopped, cut off in a particularly high-pitched note. When the two turned around to Reno it wasn't hard to see the man was gone. Instead, shifting their gaze, they could see him chasing down a kid who was making off with his wallet.
Both followed in pursuit, as much as they didn't wish to, and when they caught up with Reno he was just now getting to the child in a closed valley.
Reno took a leap forwards and tripped the kid, spinning afterwards. In one hand he caught his wallet and with the other he pinned the small boy against the wall. "Damn I made that cool looking," he said with an arrogant smile.
The 'cool' effect was completely destroyed when a shadow dropped from a ledge, a foot connecting to Reno's face, destroying his face. Dropping to their hands the barrage of attacks that followed all connected with equal power and presicion. It wasn't just a fighting technique - it was an art, practiced to perfection.
Reno, laying against the wall, wiped the blood slipping from his mouth onto his sleeve. Slowly standing up he used the wall to keep balance. "And just who the hell do you think you are? Messing with a Turk can get a person killed, you know..."
The ninja-warrior's face, like their body, was completely covered except for her eyes. But it was still apparent they were smiling. "BITCH!" Reno charged forward with a fist swinging from overhead towards their face, but it went just an inch overhead as they ducked. The ninja was quite suprised when Reno was smart enough to drop down himself, her first kick going under him and second one above him.
The ninja stuck their foot to Reno's side and launched themself away from him, their legs kicking to the side so they were stuck onto opposite walls of the alley.
"Hmph. Amateur stuff."
Elena, standing away from the fight, wasn't quite too sure what she had just heard, but it sounded like a giggle. "Hey Rude." The mans attention swung from the fight to her. "Recognize her? Look at her eyes."
The buff man admired the ninja for a few moments. "She was in Cloud's little group." It was a plain statement, no emotion inside of it. Rude had always been the one to be the strong, silent type.
"Yeah, Yuffie Kisaragi. Her father owns this town, or something like that. Wonder what she's doing out her becoming a crime-fighter?" When the blonde received no response, she noticed Rude was once again silent. "What happened to the kid?"
She could have sword she saw a slight grin as his hand moved, the small boy held in his hand. His small, baby features were frightened and he was almost sure he was about to be killed.
"Hand the wallet over and leave." Rude dropped him, and when the child managed to get back up he tossed her the wallet, the bowed in gratitude before running off.
Behind them they could hear him screaming to everyone something about a fight between the Turks and the Guardian.
Reno ducked by one punch, a second only just dodged by pure luck, but the third caught him in the chest. His eyes widening in shock he flew into the wall, a few cracks appearing from the heavy impact. Luckily, dust also came with the impact, and the ninja was momentarily blinded.
Dropping from the wall their next punch hit the wall, forming a hole in it. Laughing, Reno leaped towards them and his punch slammed into her stomach. His elbow dropped onto their face and he brought his leg back, sending a powerful kick into their side.
The attacker was weakened, coughing on the ground and signs of blood seeping through the black attire. Crowds that had gathered in the alley were booing him, but he didn't matter.
"SO!" he yelled out in a clear voice, signalling all to be quiet. "WHO'S THIS PESKY LITTLE PERSON, THINKING THEY CAN DEFEAT ME?"
The members of the crowd glanced at one another, a bit unsure of what to say. If they were to say something like 'the Guardian of Wutai' they'd look stupid, having their best fighter defeated by a Turk.
"I'm your worst nightmare, bitch." The first words ever spoken by the Guardian in public sounded a bit off. Not quite as masculine as they had all hoped they would have been. But what followed was perfect. Reno's legs were both gripped tightly, and with the power that the Guardian rose he fell downwards, his head slamming the ground because of his height advantage over them.
Then Reno was flying through the air, slamming into the wall back-first. "You will no longer attack mere children, got it? If I catch you doing anything wrong again, then you'll die."
"Hey," he grumbled, "get back... here... already..." He fell backwards, passed out.
*
Cid could feel his body falling onto the wooden table, shifting the balance and forcing all its contents into the air, splashing across the room. He wasn't quite aware of it though, as his laughter rang throughout the room. "The PINEAPPLE did it?! HOLY SHIT! AHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA!"
Cid's face was now turning red from laughter mixed with the whole woozy drunk effect he was feeling. Shera was the coolest drunk person ever, he decided. Rather, he was drunk enough to decide so.
After a few more minutes of his hysterical laughing he stopped, putting a serious face on. "Okay... I got one here... Why did the chocobo cross the road?"
"WHO GIVES A DAMN?!" Shera blurted out, her glass of beer slipping from her hands as the two fell into eachother, unable to resist the laughter.
The others inside the bar had already moved as far away from the couple as they could. They had never before seen 'old people' drunk, and were now quite frightened of the prospect. It was like it was contagious - if they got any closer to the drunkards then they may begin to act stupid.
Though the barkeeper was also a bit frightened of the two he was making a fortune off of them, and they hadn't even noticed when he decided to raise the prices of their drinks.
After the mission had been said to be successful and Cid had returned to Junon with the remaining groups they had been greeted with a parade. People from all over the world had been gathering in Junon for the yearly festival as it was, and this mission had created such joy people had begun celebrating a week early.
People in the streets were running naked, cheering on top of eachothers shoulders, and some were even on the beta versions of ShinRa's hover-scooters (a few hundred had been signed up to test them).
The crowds were going mad at every glance of someone from ShinRa, but when they had seen President Reeve exit the main building it was pure ectasy. Reeve had to assign himself a dozen bodyguards just to insure none of the madmen came near him. People were stacked on top of eachother in fives or sixes, just so they could get a glance at him.
Cid was as happy as could be when he saw Shera among the crowd of people at the airport, smiling as she jumped in joy. The two had escaped the crowds and went to the closest bar to celebrate. Where they currently were - scaring even the drunk people.
Motioning for more beers to be sent to them (Cid had doubts he could walk those ten feet and stay concious) he pulled out another fifty gil for the waiter.
The waiter slowly came closer to the couple, until at last he threw the beer-glasses down, swiped the money from Cid, and dove away from the table. It may have looked pretty silly to some of the customers who had just come in, but the others had seen what happened when the waiter didn't move fast enough. One of the people had actually fainted when that had happened.
Taking careful aim to get the beer into his mouth, Cid accidently splashed the beer into his jacket. "Aw man!" Looking around for something to wipe the beer away he forgot what he was looking for and tried some of the beer.
"Hee hee hee... Look at those two mongooses!" Before Cid even turned to see what Shera was pointing at he erupted into laughter, spilling the remaining beer left onto the floor. When he did turn around he noticed a couple of the scientists wearing ShinRa pins approaching him.
"Aw shit! What are you fuckers doin' here? I'm a bit BUSAY!"
The first of the scientists - a short, scrawny man - mildly spoke up. "Well, um, sir, you see, uh..."
"SPIT IT OUT!" Shera screamed.
"Well... It seemed the mission wasn't, er, a total, uh, success." He added with hesitation, "Uh, sir."
Cid's head suddenly dropped, and the people inside the bar thought and hoped he had suddenly died from alchohol poisoning (they had bets on when it would happen). Just as the second scientist reached to tap his shoulder his head jerked upwards, smiling. "BET YA CAN'T SAY THAT THREE TIMES FAST!"
"...Sir, though we realize you're drunk, this is urgent. More important than you getting wasted." The captain suddeny smiled - this second scientist was a whole lot funner.
"Yeah yeah yeah. Just grab my arms and carry me or something." The two ShinRa workers exchanged worried glances before one grabbed his arms, dragging him from the chair. The second took his legs and they marched him towards the door.
Turning to Shera they both gave a bow before marching out with the drunkard.
As the door opened the sound that blasted through was most definitely not expected. Inside the bar it had been silent, save for Cid and Shera's mad hyena laughing of course. Outside a roaring cheer that just didn't seem to end with people going mad.
"Someone's birthday or somethin'?" Cid questioned with conspired eyes.
"Er, no..."
*
The two scientist realized Cid was far too drunk to explain everything to him in his current state, so they had taken him into a room to sleep for a few hours. Though he would still be suffering from an enormous hangover they had no choice.
So the pale-blonde haired man groggily sat up, before falling back down with a shooting pain in his side. "Daaamn... How much did I drink?"
"Too much. Now get up, we need to show this to you now." Cid didn't like being bossed around, but he vaguely remembered being told about something 'urgent'.
Rolling off of the 'bed' built into the wall he hit the ground hard. And naked. His body was completely naked but the chill from the cold floor was what woke him up. "SHIT! Give me some clothes you twisted son of bitches!"
Laughing the braver scientist through over some boxers and shorts. Pulling them on as quickly as he could Cid rushed over to see what the two men were talking about.
The pulled a television set down from the corner so that Cid could see it, and one fiddled with a remote for a few minutes. Suddenly the television erupted into color as it displayed the aftermath of the mission. It wasn't quite what Cid had been expecting.
The land was twisted, brown patches of burnt earth. The ground was literally smoking and the land had been formed into a solid sort of 'sea', meaning it was like a pile of waves put together with the most distorted type of earth that the Gods had in stock. No sign of grass was visible, and the ground mostly just resembled the color it did outside of Midgar. But far, far worse.
Life was neither born nor destroyed here. It seemed to be in a state that shouldn't have existed - life after death. The 'afterlife' was inappropiately named of course, because their could not be life after death. Such a state would defy the means of reality, and possibly have an effect great enough to destroy everything in existence.
But the state here had no name that could be given - it was birth, death, afterlife, destruction, beauty, and everything else that could be created. It was so distorted from reality it didn't even look realistic.
"What happened here...?" Cid asked through misty eyes. This had not at all been intended. They had wanted to help the Planet, not destroy it.
"This is a very complicated issue... Let's just say this all began three years ago. Sephiroth, killed by your group of friends..." The public had been told that ShinRa had destroyed Sephiroth and Jenova, so few people knew the truth. "...obviously fell into the lifestream along with his mother, Jenova. The combined effect of two such pure souls of evil should have simply meant nothing would happen.
"However, we believe Sephiroth must have had some good in him. Two souls, telepathically linked, should always remain in the same state of purity. Otherwise the effects may be drastic. In this case their link grew stronger, reaching out and grabbing other souls to become like themselves. As it was, all souls currently coursing through that area of the lifestream became Tainted.
"The problem only begins there, however. Up there was where we believed for the Promised Land to have existed... Meaning, the Ancients and other souls within the area all became a part of the link. This may not mean much right now, but let's show you a different area of the destruction..."
Fiddling with the remote once again, the picture changed. Here, the land was like liquid, still writhing around as if it were dying... Or giving birth, Cid told himself. Bodies were raising from the discolored land, screaming with agony before collapsing back into the stream of destruction.
They were creating life.
"You see... we sort of released those souls. That was okay though, because a soul with no body is useless. However, because we believe the Promised Land to be there, there was a lot of Elemental Energy."
Cid tried to recall everything he knew about magic at this point. Materia was in most cases Ancients' knowledge stored inside of stones that had been formed from Elemental Energy. He knew he could go more in depth on this and work out his theory, but he decided he would do that later.
"There is one materia that uses Elemental Energy. It is called Morph, and it can basically shift one creation of life or even inanimate objects into something it desires, or needs. So, you see... The land up there is being morphed... into bodies."
"Fucking hell..." Cid muttered.
"We're not quite sure what this means for the time being, but there is no doubt it will literally be Hell on the Planet. Imagine Sephiroth, Jenova, and every Ancient to have ever existed on the Planet all attacking. The pure evil with disrupt the Monsters way of life, and we may end up with having to deal with them as well. Do you understand all this?"
Cid didn't have to nod, or say anything. He just continued to stare at the television set.
*
Tifa began to wheel herself onwards, basking in the great beauty of wildlife out here in this great land. She felt so alive out here, so free of the bonds that tied her to life back in Kalm.
The town was connected by paths that all connected to Town Center, where all the shops were laid. The paths were like the one she had been found on - tall, beautiful trees and snake-like vines with beautiful shrubs dotted by magestic, colorful buds. A light mist sometimes hung around, but it was not the mysterious, bad omen mist - it was a sign of beauty.
This was her first day she would be allowed outside of the clinic, and she was both happy and nervous, so contradicted. She was a bit afraid that she would not be accepted by these magnificent people.
As she was nearing Town Center she could see a young boy and girl on the path. As she slowly approached she could see they were fighting, most definitely something she had not been expecting to see from a pacifist town.
They both had coal-black hair that swayed in the wind, their dark brown eyes energetic and alive, loving the battle. Unlike the few people she had seen from this village so far they had a tan, much like her own. While she had lived in Midgar she didn't have a tan, but, being from Nibelheim, she could naturally tan after short periods of time outside.
One boy had a stick, though it was apparently meant to be a sword (she noted a sword at the edge of the path), while the girl had a thick staff with intricate designs carved into it.
As they worked through their manoevers a voice sounded by Tifa's ear, making her jump. "Great fighters, aren't they?"
Turning around with alarmed eyes she threw a punch at the person but her fist couldn't reach, considering her current state. "AH! Sorry, I thought you were an attacker..." The commotion had made the two children realize she was there.
"No problem. My name is..." He shook his head. "Rain."
"I-I'm Tifa Lockhart. You and those children... You don't look like you're from here."
"That's cause we ain't." Said the boy as he through the stick to the side, wiping the sweat from his forehead. "Well, me 'n' Kia are, but my Grandpa there ain't."
The man nodded. Tifa began to peer closer at him. He really didn't look all that old. His face mantained a rather youthful appearence though his hair was all silver. "I came here a long time ago in search for adventure. I'm originally from Nibelheim though."
Tifa jumped back at this, as hard as it was in a wheelchair. "Y-You're from Nibelheim?!"
He posed a twisted grin, as the two children stood at the side, a bit confused and still breathing heavily. The boy couldn't take his eyes off of Tifa."
"Indeed. Though you wouldn't know me, as it is. I may explain that to you sometime later. As for now, where are you heading?"
"Town Center. I wanted to see what this town is like... Though I'll only be here for a few days I'd like to learn as much as I can. Think you could help me out?"
The man thought about this, glancing to his grandchildren. "The boy there is Ken. He can help you out - me and Kia are going out for a few hours to practice some techniques. Ask him anything you want - I can see you're a fighter so there is no need for us to hide anything from you."
"Thanks!" Rain nodded, before gesturing for Kia to follow him. Kia ran after him, giving a short goodbye. "So, Ken... You're a fighter?"
"Yeah! Me and my sis are real good, though most people around here don't like us fighting. You like fighting then?" Tifa smiled. This would be a lot of fun.
*
The day for the Turk Reno hadn't been good at all, and in just a couple of minutes it was going to be getting a whole lot worse for him. While his companions waited at the base of the hill he knocked on the door of the gigantic house.
For a few minutes nothing happened. When he was about to turn and leave the door suddenly began to open. A cop stepped out, wearing some sort of foreign clothing that Reno had never before seen. Unlike the cops of city-life this guy seemed to be wearing a dress, and had a sword at his side, ready to be drawn in an instant. Something about the man made it obvious he was a cop though.
"May I help you?"
Reno cringed. "No... I, uh, think I came at a bad time? I'll just be going then!" He smiled and began to back away, but the cop drew his sword and in an instant it was pricking the Turk's neck.
"What'd you come here for?!"
"N-Nothing! Honest! I'm a Turk!" Reno mentally slapped himself in the forehead. Mentioning his profession to a cop in Wutai probably wouldn't do a lot of good. "Look, I was sent here on a mission today! I mean, a GOOD mission! No killing! Honest!"
The cop warily put the sword away. "Sorry to be a pain in the ass for you, but you'll have to wait until later. Mr. and Mrs. Barker were robbed last night, and the thief took advantage of Mrs. Barker while at it. Since you're so suspicious I think I may have to take you in though."
"What?! NO! I didn't do anything wrong! Sure, I killed a few back in the day, maybe a couple of dozen, but hey - who didn't? I haven't committed a crime in like the last... well, ten minutes or so, BUT THAT WASN'T MY FAULT! And I REALLY paid for that one."
"I'll have to take you in for the night."
"HUH?! No no no! My fellow Turks down there can tell you I had nothing to do with this! So HA!"
"Oh? And where might they be?" Reno turned and looked around for them, before sighing and realizing they had left him here all alone.
Meanwhile at the cafe, Elena sipped on her tea. "Maybe we should've stayed there when that cop came out?"
Rude just shrugged, taking another sip from his beer.
Authors Notes: Jeeezus! That chapter shouldn't have taken so long. I just couldn't get past the fight between Reno and the 'Guardian' (bah, we all know who she is, right??) for some reason. Anyway. Bit of a longer chapter.
I like this a lot more than Death Is Only The Beginning. I describe more on this, make it clearer. And those of you who read DotB first may notice in some parts the conversations are pretty much exactly the same. That's cuz there were some things I liked in that fic.
Now... I have some seriously corny shit prepared for Rain *grins* And hopefully the next chapter should be out a lot sooner.
Plz R+R if you love me! Or if ya don't! C'Yaz!
PS Do italics show up or not? If they don't I suddenly feel reeeally st00pid.