Sharon Shinra sat at a table with a few of her friends eating her lunch. They were all immersed in conversation about how boring their parents were. Apparently Cindy, one of Sharon's friends, got grounded by her absolutely boring parents. Sharon decided to chime in on the conversation. Her parents took the cake when it came to boringness.
"Listen, at least you get away from your parents from time to time. My mom is always hovering over me, and my dad when he's not working he's at home making a stupid joke. The only one that really cares about me in my family is my oldest brother. He came all the way down from Junon to see me. My parents hate him though. They won't tell me why. It's all bull shit, though. He's the only sane one in our family." Sharon explained
"But isn't your dad the head of the big energy corporation?" one of the girls asked
"Yeah, that's why he's always working. He never has any time at all." Sharon rolled her eyes
"You must get whatever you want though!" another girl said, "Ya'll have money out the ass!"
"You would think that, wouldn't you? However, I am far from pampered. I have to buy most of my stuff myself. It's horrible." The blond Sharon spoke
Another girl sat down at the table looking awfully pleased with herself. She was wearing jeans and a tight shirt and she had dark black hair but the most prominent thing was the smile she was wearing on her face.
"Hey, guys. Listen up." The girl said
"What is it, Blair?" Sharon asked
"I got some good stuff. We still have time. We can go into the girls locker room and snort it up before the bell rings." Blair nodded
"I'm there." Cindy smiled
"Me too." Sharon chimed in
"What about you?" Blair looked at the red haired girl at the table
"C'mon, Jess." Cindy nudged
"Nah, I don't think so. I'll catch ya'll later." Jess got up from the table and went out the doors of the cafeteria
"More for us then." Blair smirked
The three met in the girl's locker room. Sharon hated the locker room. The faucets hardly ever turned off all the way so there was a constant dripping from both the showers and the sink. It smelled horrible, too. However, it was the most secluded place in the school. Blair took a small hand mirror out of her purse and set it on the table. She then took out a bag of white powder. She then proceeded in putting the power on the mirror and separating it out into lines. When she was finished she took the small straw out of her purse while the other two examined the powder.
"Hey this looks like really good shit." Remarked Cindy, "Where'd you get it?"
"A guy from downtown. His names Leonard."
"I'm not too concerned about where you got it. All I want to know is how good I'm about to feel." Said Sharon, snatching the straw out of Blair's hand
Sharon put the straw down next to the power and then put the other end in her nose. She snorted a line and then stood straight up again. She smiled for a moment but then her expression changed drastically. She started feeling woozy, she got a headache, she couldn't see straight. She felt pain. It was the strangest kind of pain she had ever felt. She fell down on the floor, blood running from her nose. Blair went to her knees and started shaking her head.
"Oh shit. This isn't happening."
She had to jump away when Sharon puked on the floor right next to her.
"What the hell's going on?!" Cindy exclaimed
"She's overdosing! Quick, call an ambulance!"
Cindy ran from the locker room to go get her cell phone from her back leaving Blair all alone with the overdosing Sharon Shinra.
Reno opened the door to Don Corneo's mansion. The neon lights flowed out into the Wall Market streets. Reno walked in and looked around the place. Rude followed him in, shut the door, and then looked, puzzled, at his partner.
"What's your problem?" He asked as Reno was looking up at the ceiling of the mansion
"There's something about this place that gives me the creeps." Reno said, still gazing towards the heavens
"Why's that?" Rude asked, taking a cigarette from his pocket, "You got a light?"
Reno reached into his own pocket to reveal a silver lighter. He flipped the top off of it and lit Rude's cigarette before taking one from his own pack and lighting that one as well.
"I dunno why." Reno continued, "But there's just something so... so..." Reno struggled with the correct word
"So..." Rude mocked blowing a smoke ring at Reno's face
Reno coughed a bit from the smoke and then snapped his fingers.
"Kinky." He grinned
"What?" Rude didn't understand
"This places seems so kinky. That's why I don't like it." Reno explained
"Oh. I see." Rude nodded, "I thought you were the fetish type."
Reno shot his companion a glance. They have been cracking jokes about each other's sex life for too long this morning. It was getting to feel kind of icky. That's why Reno chose not to retaliate against Rude's sickening comment. They stood in the hall of Don Corneo's mansion, taking drags of their cigarettes, before they saw him on the top floor.
"Don Corneo. We have returned." Reno called to him
"Ah-ha! You're back! Welcome!" the Don greeted
The fat man with a Mohawk bounded down the stairs in his purple robe.
"So, how did it go, boys?" the Don asked when he got down to their floor
"It went pretty smoothly. They all know you're not to be messed with. If they all don't pay within a week give us another call. We'll make sure they do." Reno nodded
"Splendid!" The Don smiled
Reno shifted his feet nervously. It wasn't that the Don scared him, there were few things that could frighten Reno, but rather the Don sickened him. But not in the way a pile of dog shit does. No, more along the lines of a mental sickness. He though the Don was messed up in the head. He wanted to get out of that creepy place. It was all too tacky and kinky for him. Rude saw Reno's discomfort and stepped forward.
"Listen, Don, out business here is done. I would appreciate it if we could get our money and go. My friend and I have worked up quite an appetite."
"Oh! If you're hungry you have to eat here! I'll tell the cook to make something." Don Corneo urged
"Nah, that's okay. We gotta' eat on the run anyway. We have another client we need to see. Maybe some other time, Don." Rude began to walk toward the door
"Alright. If those scoundrels don't pay you'll be sure to hear from me." The Don said as they exited the mansion
Once outside Reno slammed the door shut. He didn't want to go back in there if a million dollars were awaiting him on the other side. He shook his head as if trying to shake off the filth that seemed to cling to him in that tacky place. He flicked his cigarette to the ground and stepped on it to put it out.
"Alright. Our job down here is done. Let's get out of the slums. This place is starting to give me the creeps."
Reno and Rude stood on the platform near the Train Graveyard. They finally heard the horn of the train and the clacking of the wheels. When the rusty old locomotive came to a halt the two boarded and took a seat. Reno lit himself another cigarette and leaned his head back on the window to rest. Rude took off his sunglasses and rubbed his eyes. He glanced at Reno.
"I thought you grew up in the slums." He said
"Wha?" Reno lifted his head up
"Well, all day you didn't seem to comfortable in the slums. It gave you the creeps. I thought you grew up in the slums."
"I did. Just not the Midgar slums. These slums are like a whole different world." Reno took a long drag of his cigarette
"Then where did you grow up?" Rude questioned as he put his glasses back on
"Junon slums. They don't even compete with the Midgar in levels of fucked up-ness but they were a pretty bad place for a kid to grow up."
"What was it like?"
This was the first time Reno and Rude had really had a conversation about one or the other's background. They really didn't go into the subject that much.
"Well... in Junon the big thing was fishing. Well, it wasn't if you lived in the real city. Junon is really an industrial place. However, the slums were a whole different story. Fishing was life down there. I knew some people that had been fishing so long they could tell you which way a fish was gonna' move when you dropped your line into the water."
"No shit." Rude remarked
"Anyway, my father was a fisherman. However, I never took to well to fishing. I still don't eat fish. So I took part in the other big industry of the Junon slums: thievery."
"I see you haven't changed your ways any." Rude smirked
"Anyway, people started realizing I was a thief so I was outcast. Now, you think living in the slums is bad you should try living it as an outcast. The slums themselves are outcasts... it sucks to be the outcast of the outcasts. So, when I got old enough I decided I was going to do one of two things. I was either going to hitch a ride on a ship and go across the way to Costa del Sol or I was going to find myself a better life in Midgar. I chose the wrong one and headed off to Midgar. And that's where I am to this day." Reno finished his story
Rude was more enlightened about his partner by the end of the train ride.
After Reno and Rude got off the train they had found themselves a nice little outdoor café. The weather was still a mix of overcast and smog from the reactors around the city but there was no rain yet. They sat at their table drinking beers and waiting for their food. They talked little. Rude had found something to occupy his mind more than Reno's constant blathering. Off to the right he spotted a blond woman in a sleek red dress. She was stunning. Reno, noticing Rude not paying attention to much of anything followed his gaze and saw the broad. He just smiled and took a drink of his beer. He had finally nailed Rude down a type.
Scarlet sat in her uncomfortable metal chair outside the café. She was puffing on her cigarette when she noticed a guy looking at her from across the way. He tipped his beer bottle toward her before taking another drink. Scarlet just shook her head when the guy wasn't looking. It really was a burden on her to be admired by men wherever she went. After a few minutes more people joined her. Two of the men sat on either side of her as another two sat across from her at the table. One was dressed in a nice suit and carried a cane. He looked like a pimp. He took Scarlet's hand and patted it.
"Miss Scarlet. Always a pleasure." The man said
"Uh-huh. Hi Leonard." She pulled her hand away, "I'm not here to talk. I'm here to conduct business."
"But of course." Leonard spoke in a smarmy tone
He grabbed a briefcase from his side and opened it revealing many small bags filled with white powder.
"You have an awful lot of it here this time, Leonard." Scarlet remarked
"Well, I know how you and your boss like to buy in bulk." Leonard nodded
Scarlet reached into the case and pulled out one of the bags. She made it hop up and down in her palm for a few seconds before Leonard started talking again.
"Well don't you want to try it? Make sure it's good?" Leonard rubbed the metal figure on the top of his cane
Scarlet rolled her eyes at Leonard. He always was a bit strange. She then handed the powder to one of the men on her side. The man grabbed the bag from her hand and pulled out his own briefcase. He opened it up and began doing something inside it. Leonard sat with a puzzled expression.
"What are you doing?" he asked
"This is our analyst. He's just running some tests with some equipment we brought along to make sure this stuff is good."
"You've bought from me before, Scarlet. You know I wouldn't cheat you." Leonard almost seemed hurt
"You know the business. You can't be too careful nowadays." Scarlet took a drag from her cigarette
There was a beeping noise heard from inside the case. Leonard's eyebrows perked up at this. The man sitting next to Scarlet leaned over and whispered something in her ear. Her face grimaced as the information was told to her. She shook her head and crushed the cigarette in the ashtray.
"You wouldn't cheat us, eh?" Scarlet interrogated
"I don't understand." Leonard spoke
"This stuff is crap! It's horrible! I bet if anyone took this they..."
Leonard and his own bodyguard jumping out of their chairs cut off Scarlet's sentence. Both of them pulled Beretta's from inside their coats. Leonard never took his eyes off Scarlet as he closed his briefcase and put it under his arm.
"Well if you won't buy it, I'll find some dumb shmuck who will! Now, if you'll excuse me, you have to die now."
Rude watched some sort of meeting transpiring over at the blond's table. Rude assumed she was there on business. This kind of took away his hopes of making a pass at her after the other men left. However, when the man opposite her at the table jumped up and pulled a gun, Rude noticed.
"Shit!" he remarked
"What?" Reno asked letting his head lean over the top of the chair and, in turn, becoming upside down so he could see behind him.
He saw the same event as Rude had. He jumped from his chair as well and pulled his staff.
"People don't ever rest in Midgar, do they?" He muttered as he ran after Rude who had already started off running toward the other table.
"You don't want to shoot me Leonard. It won't look good out in public with all these people around." Scarlet said
"Well I doubt they'll catch me. I'm slippery like that." Leonard proclaimed as he pulled back the hammer on his gun
Without warning he fired the gun and shot Scarlet's analyst in the head. His blood and brains splattered all over the white, plaster wall behind him. The man on the other side trembled as he assumed Leonard was coming for him next. Scarlet's eyes were locked with Leonard's. He had gone too far and she would get out of this somehow and take him down. Leonard stared back, smoking gun in his hand, smiling like a madman. However, both stares were interrupted when a gloved fist hit Leonard square in the jaw. Leonard staggered back, gun still in his hand, reeling from the blow. He looked up to see a bald man, dressed in black, in a fighting stance and running at him again. Leonard raised the gun to fire at him but the man grabbed his hand and twisted it upward so when he fired, the bullet flew up into the sky. He then kicked Leonard in the crotch. Leonard's hand went limp and dropped the gun onto the ground. His assailant landed one more blow on his face and he was knocked out and flopped limply on the ground. Leonard's lackey, however, was meeting a worse fate.
A red haired man had gotten the jump on him from the side just seconds after the first man took down his boss. He was slapped in the face with something, he wasn't sure what, but as he was he felt a surge of electricity flow through his body. It was so painful he dropped his gun and fell to the ground, screaming in pain. His attacker hit him a few more times with the electricity until he couldn't take it anymore and he passed out.
Scarlet stood by as these two men took down Leonard and his enforcer. When the two had successfully put the two goons out of commission she ordered the other man at her side.
"Get Leonard out of here and taken care of." She told him
He went over and heaved Leonard onto his shoulders and carried him to the trunk of their car. Scarlet then turned her attention to Reno and Rude.
"Who are you?" she interrogated
"Uh... Friendly neighbors?" Reno shrugged
"All my neighbors have names. Do you?" Scarlet asked
"My names Rude." The bald man spoke up. He then pointed to the red haired one, "That's Reno."
Well Rude, Reno. I have to thank you. I was going to find it difficult to get out of such a bind."
"I'm sure someone around here would have helped you the same way." Reno took out a cigarette
"Nonsense. In Midgar the number one rule is to never meddle in anyone's affairs. Ask anyone here, they wouldn't remember seeing what just transpired."
"How convenient." Rude took a cancer stick from Reno's pack
"They all just want to stay out of court as a witnesses. They all have records." Scarlet shrugged as the two men lit their cigs, "You two fight well."
"We have to in our business." Rude spoke
Scarlet laughed a bit, "What are you? Hitmen?"
"We prefer the term Elite Freelance Urban Life Deprivers." Reno smiled
"Well, do you have a number I can reach you at?" Scarlet questioned
Reno took out a piece of paper and a pen and scribbled a number down on it. He then handed it to the woman.
"You can call me anytime."
Scarlet snatched the paper, "It's not for me. I know someone who may have some work for you. We'll keep in touch."
Scarlet's lackey rejoined the group. She turned to him again. "I want the other one, too."
"Yes ma'am." He said
Suddenly they all heard a strange sound. They all looked around to see where it had come from until their eyes fixed on Leonard's goon lying on the ground, blood protruding from his skull.
"I didn't do that." Reno pointed
Rude walked over to the body and looked at the wound. It was as if he had been shot. It was very peculiar. He looked up into the sky, thinking. He then thought of an answer. He shook his head.
"That other guy shot his gun into the air." Rude spoke plainly, "What goes up... must come down..."
Scarlet smirked, "Just when I thought I had seen it all. I'll see you two around."
"I sure hope so." Reno grinned
"Let's make this quick. I don't have a lot of time for this O'Brien." Paul voiced his displeasure
"You think I don't have anything better to do?" the detective complained, "There was a homicide over on the other side of town I have to get to."
"Well then what do you have for me?" Paul asked
"I found someone who wants to set up a meeting with you."
"Good. When? Where?" Paul was anxious
"Not today. He wants to see how things go in the next two days. He'll tell me to tell you when and where."
"Good. But, O'Brien..." Paul started
"Yeah?"
"Does this guy have credibility? I mean, this isn't some guy shooting Heroin that just happened to see President Shinra or something is it? This info is hot, right?"
"Hot off the presses." O'Brien sighed
"Good... Good..."
Paul was coming ever closer to his goal. Hopefully there won't be too many more problems standing in his way
The helicopter landed on the pad on the Shinra building. Tseng tied his hair back in a ponytail before he stepped out so it wouldn't fly everywhere from the wind. When he did step out he was greeted by Scarlet. She nodded to him as he neared her.
"How was your trip to the Saucer." She asked
"Rather uneventful." Tseng rolled his eyes
"Are you still looking for someone to put on the mayor situation?" she questioned
"Yeah. Why?" he took his keycard from his coat pocket and opened the door to the inside of the building.
"I found two Elite Freelance Urban Life Deprivers that need some work. They seem right for the Turks."
"Elite Free... what now?" Tseng stumbled over the long name
"Just call this number if you need some extra men on the job. They're good, I've seen them in action."
"Do I want to speculate what kind of action?" Tseng smirked
Scarlet gave him a sarcastic smile before walking off somewhere else in the building.
Rufus looked at the clip of his gun. Fully loaded. He snapped the magazine into place and put the gun in his shoulder holster.
"You good?" the President asked
"Yeah, I'm okay." Rufus replied
The two were sitting in the back of the President's limo. They were outside a warehouse and they were expecting to be less than welcome.
"Now, if things go bad I want you to press Panic on this." The President handed him a small plastic circle on a key ring.
Rufus examined the key ring accessory. It had four buttons on it: Trunk, Unlock, Lock, and Panic.
"This is for your car, Dad." He gave him a look like "What the hell?"
"It'll send a signal to me here in the car and a few other people that are scattered around this area watching out for you. If it goes as planned you won't have to do much more than smile." Vincent nodded
Vincent looked a Rufus and slapped him lightly on the cheek.
"You'll do fine, kid."
The President's cell phone rang. He pulled it out of his pocket and flipped open the front of it.
"Hello?"
It was his wife's voice on the other end.
"Vincent?"
"Yeah, honey. What's wrong?" Vincent's brow furrowed
"It's about Sharon."
"What about her?"
"She's in the hospital... she overdosed on drugs."
Rage built up in the President's eyes. He slapped the front of the phone back into place and flung it against the divider between the driver's seat and the backseat. The driver, taking this as a sign to mean roll the wall down, did so.
"Yes, Mr. President?"
Rufus looked at his father, as his face grew red with anger.
"Drive us to the hospital, Frank."