Jade, Wine, and Turk training
By Kimetara
Multi-part
Disclaimer: FFVII belongs to Squaresoft, not me.
Chapter 14: And it all comes out...
"One of those tools control the Mako in the bloodstream of all the members of SOLDIER." Simone stopped, his eyes fixated on the floor.
Jason put his feet up on the couch. "Yeah. It turned out the Professor put some new crap in the Mako we all sucked up like sponges. That way, if ever needed, the Professor would've been able to turn all of SOLDIER on Shinra." The blond laughed harshly. "His way of keeping Shinra in the palm of his hand."
Reno started, before slowly lifting and staring down at the crook of his right arm. When Reno had become a Turk, he'd been injected with Mako to give him enhanced abilities...
"Don't worry, Turk," Jason's voice came scornfully to Reno's ears. He'd seen Reno's motion. "Old president Shinra knew what was going on. He didn't allow the professor to do to his precious Turks what he did to us."
"So I've don't got this crap that Hojo pulled on you," Reno commented, wanting it confirmed.
Jason glanced over at the redhead. "You do. Professor Hojo mixed it in with all the Mako Shinra got a hold of. But you didn't spend years soaking it up, you got one quick injection and boom!" Jason snapped his fingers, "that's it. So it's not nearly as strong in you as it is in us."
Reno raised an eyebrow, before shrugging. It was good enough for him.
"You can imagine Hojo's glee when he discovered that instrument." Isa began her narration once more. "He thought he finally had the key to understanding what the Professor had hidden for so long."
"You guys know how Mako works?" Reno cocked his head.
Isa shook hers. "Not anymore than he does already. What he wanted...was Cloud Strife."
Reno snorted. It figured. Whenever there was trouble, Strife was somehow involved – his very name emphasized the fact.
"Hojo figured that after all of Cloud Strife's adventures and encounters with Mako, he'd be able to give Hojo the information...or at the very least, direct him to another that would," Isa continued, ignoring Reno's input. "And if Cloud Strife hadn't fallen into the Lifestream multiple times, Hojo would have been right. However, as Cloud Strife did fall into the Lifestream, the amount of the solution the Professor had submerged him in before had diluted, therefore rendering Hojo's tool useless at far distances. The less amount of poison you have, the closer you can be to the device without feeling pain...of course, it doesn't matter for us," she smiled bitterly, before taking a deep breath.
"So Hojo did the next best thing...he summoned as many members of SOLDIER that were able to come, and ever since then has been having us work on capturing all the members of AVALANCHE."
"Yeah, Hojo figured that at least one of the 'Saviors of the Planet' would have the info he's been looking for," Jason added.
"Hojo's desperate," Isa mused. "He has become consumed by his desire for knowledge, and AVALANCHE is the only way left he can think of to satisfy his craving...all of the Professor's documents have been destroyed by the new Shinra."
*Again, typical Strife. The one thing that almost kills him ends up saving his ass, but landing all his friends in trouble.* Reno barely refrained from rolling his eyes at the irony. "So that's why you guys want Tifa."
"Not us. Hojo." Simone sighed, turning his gaze to the window.
Jason watched the Wutain sympathetically before nodding. "I could almost feel sorry for the girl. Hojo's probably gonna pull a lot of shit on her."
Reno exhaled slowly. This news was a bit unsettling...
Isa turned her steely gaze on the redhead. "I warn you, don't get attached to her." Isa's eyes shifted. "That's why we don't refer to anybody by their first names. It's too personal of a revelation."
Jason turned to him as well. "That's right. And Turk...Hojo may have spoken against harming the girl, but he mentioned nothing about your condition," he finished meaningfully, his hand slowly inching toward the hilt of his blade.
"Yeah yeah, I know. I am a Turk," Reno scoffed.
Jason grinned. "Yeah, I figured. Turks – the cold-blooded bastards of Shinra."
Reno grinned back. "You got it."
~~~~~
Tifa, despite being kidnapped again, couldn't help but smile as she stepped out of the shower. It was a relief, feeling clean again.
As she dried herself off, the long-haired female looked through the clothes the dresser held, finally deciding on a nice pair of stretch jeans (the most comfortable sort, in her opinion) and a short-sleeved, V-necked white sweater.
Once dressed, Tifa noticed a bottle of conditioner near the shower and quickly used it. Three days of no brushing had made her hair – mid thigh in length – torture to brush through.
*Hmmm...my favorite conditioner too...* Glancing around, Tifa was unsurprised to see her favorite color hairtie on the dresser, which she swiftly utilized.
That done, Tifa calmly walked over and opened the door.
Matt jumped when he saw the door opening, handling his gun nervously. He'd heard stories of this women; everybody had heard legends of the "Planet Saviors" – particularly the leader who fought Sephiroth and won, the "hero of the Planet," the Cetra who sacrificed herself, the "Planet's Angel," and this woman...the "heroine of the Planet."
Needless to say, he was more than a little apprehensive.
The moment the door opened, Matt had his gun trained on the fighter, thankful he's seen her already or he was sure he'd have ended up forgetting everything. She, unquestionably, a very beautiful female.
A very beautiful, very unworried female. And to Matt, nothing was more unnerving than somebody calmly staring down the barrel of a gun.
Tifa placed a hand on her hip and raised an eyebrow. "I suppose you're the one guarding me?" *If this is it, then I could just escape right now.*
"Kinda sorta," Matt replied, hiding his nervousness pretty well, considering. "Actually, I'm just the one to give off the warning if you try anything."
*Well, there goes that...* Tifa sighed. Even if she could get past him, or, heaven forbid, kill him, there was no way she'd be able to get far with those three after her...especially not with Reno helping them. "I see. Mind if I leave the door open? I like the chilly air."
"That's fine," Matt answered, relieved she wouldn't be causing problems.
"Thank you," Tifa spoke graciously, then turned back inside, where she tried out the bed. It was much, much more comfortable than the inside of that truck...
Stretching out on the cool linen, Tifa curled up and fell asleep. She didn't even notice the trailer beginning to move.
~~~~~
"...we have yet to find the use for the blue Huge Materia..." the professor droned. Nanaki listened politely, waiting for the right moment to make his escape.
"Nanaki!" Alexander, the Canyon's welcomer, rushed up the stairs. "Nanaki, you've received a letter!"
*Finally!* Nanaki turned to the confused looking professor. "If you'll excuse me, I need to see what my mail contains."
"Oh, of course," answered the professor, quickly turning to find another person to bore...er, enlighten, with the progress of his study. "Alexander, would you like to..."
"Uh, I'm sorry, but I need to open Nanaki's mail for him," Alexander hastily refused.
"Oh...oh well. No matter, then." The professor turned and left the room.
Both Nanaki and Alexander let out a huge sigh. "My, I was beginning to think he was NEVER going to stop," Nanaki commented, scratching behind his ear.
"I know what you mean," Alexander agreed, before brightening. "But hey! Look, it's a letter from Mr. Wallace!"
"Ah. Please, open it," Nanaki requested, although he had a feeling he already knew what the letter contained.
"Sure." Alexander readily complied. "Well, waddaya know, it's a wedding invite!"
"Yes, as I expected. That's fine, Alexander. Why don't you take a break now?"
"Okay, thanks Nanaki!" Alexander grinned, then walked out.
Nanaki padded over to the open letter and began reading. *Hmmm...so they want to be married here? That's fine, I always knew Elmyra loved the sky in Cosmo Canyon...*
Unexpectedly, all of Nanaki's hair bristled, and he let out a snarl. Quickly, Nanaki shook himself, trying to rid himself of this feeling of foreboding...
AN: Hmmm...what do you think? A bit too surreal, perhaps? Ah well, it's how the story wrote itself. (Yes, I swear, this thing is writing all on it's own...I usually have little to no idea of what's coming up in the next chapter. But that's alright, it makes it more fun to write!) Oh yes, and one of my favorite chapters so far is coming up next. ^_^ R&R!