Chapter 6
Reno and I stumbled back into the office several hours later. Neither entirely sober, but not quite drunk either. After a particularly rowdy chorus of 'O Christmas tree' he, or I noticed the shape my office was in. Stuff was everywhere, books papers. Scrawled randomly over the walls were the words "Beware it is at hand" written in something that looked suspiciously like blood.
I felt Reno tap my shoulder.
"What?" He pointed over to my desk, which had an extremely large katana stabbed into it.
"Shit... the Masamune... he's back."
"Who's back?"
"Sephiroth."
********
"That's the guy?!" I asked, looking at a large projected image. "That's Sephiroth... Holy shit I saw that guy just last night." I received several odd stares from the gathered executives.
"Sephiroth is dead, or at least he was." Elena commented.
"What I want to know is why he doesn't know who Sephiroth is... I mean, hell he only tried to destroy the planet a few years ago." Reno asked, looking around the room.
"I knew about Sephiroth but I've never seen him." I replied.
"Interesting, so Sephiroth is back, again." Michael Shinra looked anything other than interested. "What is your suggestion?"
"Me?" A man I'd heard Reno call Palmer stated.
"Well, you are my director of defense aren't you....?"
"Yes I am." A proud tone crept into Palmers voice and I saw Michael roll his eyes. "I suggest that we sit tight and wait for someone to kill him, it's all we can do."
"You would think that." Michael looked to me and the rest of the Turks. "Your view of the situation is?"
"There is not much we can do, Sephiroth will be just as powerful as he was, if not more so." Tseng replied.
"I see, you are all dismissed." He motioned with his hand, "Tseng, remain a moment." I filed out of the room with the rest of the executives and joined Reno, Elena and Rude in waiting for Tseng. I could make out a faint one sided conversation, but only made out the words.
"Watch David, if Sephiroth is contacting him he must be important." Without seeing Tseng I knew his response, a slight nod. The double doors were closed directly beside Tseng and audibly locked as the paranoid president of Shinra Inc, locked himself inside the conference room.
Tseng immediately turned. "You are not permitted to go anywhere unless accompanied by one or all of the Turks."
"Great so if I wanna take a piss I have to have someone hold my hand the whole time." I heard Reno stifle a snicker.
"Let's go." Tseng muttered.
"Whoa, hey, where we going?" I asked from behind Reno.
"A safe house."
"What for?"
"Sephiroth is back, you are a contact of his, and whether that's good or bad we don't yet know." Tseng replied.
"Yeah, and the last person he 'contacted' ended up with the Masamune sticking out of their back like a weather vane." Reno added.
"Bring on the safe house." I replied enthusiastically.
********
"This is it?" I was standing in the doorway of a four bedroom bungalow. I leaned over and whispered to Reno. "There's five of us and only four rooms."
"No shit Sherlock." Reno cleared his throat. "Alright, there's an extra person, so I've devised a way to find out who gets pegged with sharing a bed. I am putting two bolt and three ice materia in this hubcap." He pried a hubcap off of Rude's car.
"..." Rude didn't look overly pleased with this.
"I'll put it back okay." Reno tried to calm him. He placed the materia in the hubcap and walked around while everyone took one. "Newbie's first."
"Bolt." I said aloud. Well, I was sharing a bed; all that would be decided now was who with.
"Ice." Rude down, a relief.
"Same." I wasn't sharing with Elena, the only one I wouldn't have minded...
"I've got an ice." Tseng stated. Reno dropped the hubcap and kicked across the front lawn.
"Godammit!" he wandered off and kept cursing.
"This is going to be a long night." I mumbled.
********
"You stay on that half, I'll stay on this half, that's your blanket and this is mine got it?" Reno asked.
"Yeah, I got it."
"You roll across this line." He pointed at a strip of duct tape he'd placed in the middle of the bed, "and I will electrocute you so bad your fingernails will change color." He waved his electro mag rod at me.
"And if you end up on my half I'll just stab you." I replied, patting my combat knife.
"Alright then, good night." He switched of the lamp.
********
I woke up in an unfamiliar room, and then remembered, I walked groggily out into the living room where Tseng sat in a large chair, dressed in a blue t- shirt and grey sweat pants, completely absorbed in a book. Reno was standing in the kitchen, cooking something that smelled remotely like food. He was still wearing his suit pants and his white dress shirt was completely unbuttoned.
Elena was busy restocking the cupboards, the only Turk still in uniform with Rude no where to be seen.
"Put you uniform on the couch, it has to be dry cleaned, um; find something in the laundry room to wear in the meantime." Elena stated without turning.
"To hell with that, you take this sit down and eat." Reno scooped a bunch of beige colored slop into a bowl and handed it to me.
"The hell is this?" I asked.
"Reno's Magic Porridge." He announced happily.
"What's in it?"
"It's oatmeal and brown sugar, what do you take me for?" He sat down on the couch and dug the remote out of the cushions. "Let's see what's on the T.V." He started quickly flipping through the channels. "Crap, crap, crap, crap..." He looked up at the ceiling. "Alright, I can take a hint, I'll go out and get drunk."
"I'm going, nothing else to do around here..." I stood up and followed him out the door.
********
"So David, tell us about the rest of Black Ops." Reno slurred. We'd been back an hour and had eaten almost every edible thing in the building.
"Well, Roarke is okay, really bossy though, Adom, he's just a normal guy, like Odin over there." I pointed at an empty corner. "Oops... guess he's over there now..."
"Right..."
"Uh huh, it's hot in here; I need a drink... um." I slumped over. Out cold.
********
I woke up under a coffee table, with the worst headache I'd ever had in my life.
"Aww man." I got up and staggered into the bathroom, slashed some cold water on my face and walked back out into the living room. The rest of the Turks were sitting around a small card table.
"Well, good afternoon." Reno stated loudly.
"After...wha?" I was still a little groggy.
"It is 1:30 am Midgar standard." Tseng replied, throwing two cards on top of the pile. "Two queens."
"Your too good at this, I'm getting nothing from you." Rude added a card to the pile.
"King."
"And you too... alright my turn, two aces."
"...cheat." Rude stated.
"Fuck you! You always seem to get away with it but I never do, see, a damned four."
"I don't know how I got talked into this." Elena pushed her chair back and walked into the kitchen.
"Hey, while you're up get me a beer." Reno yelled after her. "Play for Elena." He motioned to the empty seat.
"What are we playing?"
"Cheat."
"I have no idea how to play this."
"Good." Elena walked back in and sat down behind Tseng. "You have to play a two now, if you have four of them play four, if you don't have any you cheat... How it works is..." Somewhere in the building a phone rang. Tseng found and answered it.
"Hello, yes sir, no sir, we've been here all day. Alright, you want us to look in on it? Alright." He hung the phone up and placed it within easy reach.
"What's up?" I asked.
"Sephiroth is up, Palmer's dead, he was in your office,"
"Odin knows why." Reno interrupted.
"Masamune right through his back." Tseng continued, completely ignoring Reno.
"Holy shit." I just sat there.
"Oh big loss, Palmers dead, poor us, good riddance and thank you Sephiroth your my new hero."
What the hell is going on here? I tried to make sense of what was happening.
"Hey, I'm hungry." Reno commented, snapping me back to reality.
"Three two's" I put three cards on the pile.
"Cheat." Reno called out.
"Nope."
"Fuck you to then."
Reno and I stumbled back into the office several hours later. Neither entirely sober, but not quite drunk either. After a particularly rowdy chorus of 'O Christmas tree' he, or I noticed the shape my office was in. Stuff was everywhere, books papers. Scrawled randomly over the walls were the words "Beware it is at hand" written in something that looked suspiciously like blood.
I felt Reno tap my shoulder.
"What?" He pointed over to my desk, which had an extremely large katana stabbed into it.
"Shit... the Masamune... he's back."
"Who's back?"
"Sephiroth."
********
"That's the guy?!" I asked, looking at a large projected image. "That's Sephiroth... Holy shit I saw that guy just last night." I received several odd stares from the gathered executives.
"Sephiroth is dead, or at least he was." Elena commented.
"What I want to know is why he doesn't know who Sephiroth is... I mean, hell he only tried to destroy the planet a few years ago." Reno asked, looking around the room.
"I knew about Sephiroth but I've never seen him." I replied.
"Interesting, so Sephiroth is back, again." Michael Shinra looked anything other than interested. "What is your suggestion?"
"Me?" A man I'd heard Reno call Palmer stated.
"Well, you are my director of defense aren't you....?"
"Yes I am." A proud tone crept into Palmers voice and I saw Michael roll his eyes. "I suggest that we sit tight and wait for someone to kill him, it's all we can do."
"You would think that." Michael looked to me and the rest of the Turks. "Your view of the situation is?"
"There is not much we can do, Sephiroth will be just as powerful as he was, if not more so." Tseng replied.
"I see, you are all dismissed." He motioned with his hand, "Tseng, remain a moment." I filed out of the room with the rest of the executives and joined Reno, Elena and Rude in waiting for Tseng. I could make out a faint one sided conversation, but only made out the words.
"Watch David, if Sephiroth is contacting him he must be important." Without seeing Tseng I knew his response, a slight nod. The double doors were closed directly beside Tseng and audibly locked as the paranoid president of Shinra Inc, locked himself inside the conference room.
Tseng immediately turned. "You are not permitted to go anywhere unless accompanied by one or all of the Turks."
"Great so if I wanna take a piss I have to have someone hold my hand the whole time." I heard Reno stifle a snicker.
"Let's go." Tseng muttered.
"Whoa, hey, where we going?" I asked from behind Reno.
"A safe house."
"What for?"
"Sephiroth is back, you are a contact of his, and whether that's good or bad we don't yet know." Tseng replied.
"Yeah, and the last person he 'contacted' ended up with the Masamune sticking out of their back like a weather vane." Reno added.
"Bring on the safe house." I replied enthusiastically.
********
"This is it?" I was standing in the doorway of a four bedroom bungalow. I leaned over and whispered to Reno. "There's five of us and only four rooms."
"No shit Sherlock." Reno cleared his throat. "Alright, there's an extra person, so I've devised a way to find out who gets pegged with sharing a bed. I am putting two bolt and three ice materia in this hubcap." He pried a hubcap off of Rude's car.
"..." Rude didn't look overly pleased with this.
"I'll put it back okay." Reno tried to calm him. He placed the materia in the hubcap and walked around while everyone took one. "Newbie's first."
"Bolt." I said aloud. Well, I was sharing a bed; all that would be decided now was who with.
"Ice." Rude down, a relief.
"Same." I wasn't sharing with Elena, the only one I wouldn't have minded...
"I've got an ice." Tseng stated. Reno dropped the hubcap and kicked across the front lawn.
"Godammit!" he wandered off and kept cursing.
"This is going to be a long night." I mumbled.
********
"You stay on that half, I'll stay on this half, that's your blanket and this is mine got it?" Reno asked.
"Yeah, I got it."
"You roll across this line." He pointed at a strip of duct tape he'd placed in the middle of the bed, "and I will electrocute you so bad your fingernails will change color." He waved his electro mag rod at me.
"And if you end up on my half I'll just stab you." I replied, patting my combat knife.
"Alright then, good night." He switched of the lamp.
********
I woke up in an unfamiliar room, and then remembered, I walked groggily out into the living room where Tseng sat in a large chair, dressed in a blue t- shirt and grey sweat pants, completely absorbed in a book. Reno was standing in the kitchen, cooking something that smelled remotely like food. He was still wearing his suit pants and his white dress shirt was completely unbuttoned.
Elena was busy restocking the cupboards, the only Turk still in uniform with Rude no where to be seen.
"Put you uniform on the couch, it has to be dry cleaned, um; find something in the laundry room to wear in the meantime." Elena stated without turning.
"To hell with that, you take this sit down and eat." Reno scooped a bunch of beige colored slop into a bowl and handed it to me.
"The hell is this?" I asked.
"Reno's Magic Porridge." He announced happily.
"What's in it?"
"It's oatmeal and brown sugar, what do you take me for?" He sat down on the couch and dug the remote out of the cushions. "Let's see what's on the T.V." He started quickly flipping through the channels. "Crap, crap, crap, crap..." He looked up at the ceiling. "Alright, I can take a hint, I'll go out and get drunk."
"I'm going, nothing else to do around here..." I stood up and followed him out the door.
********
"So David, tell us about the rest of Black Ops." Reno slurred. We'd been back an hour and had eaten almost every edible thing in the building.
"Well, Roarke is okay, really bossy though, Adom, he's just a normal guy, like Odin over there." I pointed at an empty corner. "Oops... guess he's over there now..."
"Right..."
"Uh huh, it's hot in here; I need a drink... um." I slumped over. Out cold.
********
I woke up under a coffee table, with the worst headache I'd ever had in my life.
"Aww man." I got up and staggered into the bathroom, slashed some cold water on my face and walked back out into the living room. The rest of the Turks were sitting around a small card table.
"Well, good afternoon." Reno stated loudly.
"After...wha?" I was still a little groggy.
"It is 1:30 am Midgar standard." Tseng replied, throwing two cards on top of the pile. "Two queens."
"Your too good at this, I'm getting nothing from you." Rude added a card to the pile.
"King."
"And you too... alright my turn, two aces."
"...cheat." Rude stated.
"Fuck you! You always seem to get away with it but I never do, see, a damned four."
"I don't know how I got talked into this." Elena pushed her chair back and walked into the kitchen.
"Hey, while you're up get me a beer." Reno yelled after her. "Play for Elena." He motioned to the empty seat.
"What are we playing?"
"Cheat."
"I have no idea how to play this."
"Good." Elena walked back in and sat down behind Tseng. "You have to play a two now, if you have four of them play four, if you don't have any you cheat... How it works is..." Somewhere in the building a phone rang. Tseng found and answered it.
"Hello, yes sir, no sir, we've been here all day. Alright, you want us to look in on it? Alright." He hung the phone up and placed it within easy reach.
"What's up?" I asked.
"Sephiroth is up, Palmer's dead, he was in your office,"
"Odin knows why." Reno interrupted.
"Masamune right through his back." Tseng continued, completely ignoring Reno.
"Holy shit." I just sat there.
"Oh big loss, Palmers dead, poor us, good riddance and thank you Sephiroth your my new hero."
What the hell is going on here? I tried to make sense of what was happening.
"Hey, I'm hungry." Reno commented, snapping me back to reality.
"Three two's" I put three cards on the pile.
"Cheat." Reno called out.
"Nope."
"Fuck you to then."