"Well, hi there, good morning to you two. Don't mind me, I'm just hanging around," said Reno, grinning mischievously, still holding his nightstick firmly in one hand, and leaning against the church door. Aeris sighed wearily, shaking her head.
"I'm sorry about this, Cloud. It's just bad timing on my part for those guys to show up at this moment. I can never predict when they'll show up here next," whispered Aeris, glancing quickly at Cloud.
Wondering what anyone from Shinra Incorporated, no less someone with as high importance as the Turks, could be doing here and why Aeris would be so concerned with them, Cloud slowly began to walk up to Reno, but Aeris quickly stopped him from going any further towards him, grabbing his arm as Cloud stopped at once.
"Cloud, don't fight here right now, it's only going to cause more trouble! Just don't let it get to you!" whispered Aeris, urgently, clearly still anxious.
Cloud just shrugged in response, seeing her point, and turning his back on Reno, he walked back over to Aeris, and stood beside her. Aeris spoke a little louder to him now, but still quietly, so that Reno wouldn't overhear her.
"Hey Cloud, I've just had an idea. There's something important I want to ask you…have you ever once been a bodyguard before in your tasks as a mercenary? After all, you did say earlier that you do a little bit of everything for a living, right?" asked Aeris, curiously. Cloud was rather taken aback, in surprise, not expecting her to say that of all things, but he nodded in response.
"(A bodyguard? Does this mean she wants to hire me as her bodyguard? To protect her against the Turks? Well, I guess I am the only one who can help her out right now. But why is it that my recent jobs have involved defying Shinra, though? First AVALANCHE, now this…and President Shinra knows my identity, so they'll be hunting me down anyway. In that case, I guess I don't have anything more to lose, by staying with AVALANCHE or by being Aeris' bodyguard…)" thought Cloud, as he spoke up in response.
"Yeah, that's right, I do all sorts of assignments, although I've never been a bodyguard before," replied Cloud, realising that Aeris was somehow involved in something really dangerous now, even though those thugs were gone. With the likes of Shinra and the Turks after her, the situation she was in now was far worse than the one before.
"Then in that case, I'm asking for your temporary services as a bodyguard, Cloud. I saw the way you fought on the train last night, so I know you can do it. I'd like you to help get me out of here safely, and take me home. I don't want to get into anymore confrontations with him and those other men," said Aeris, pointing over to Reno.
"Okay then, I'll be your bodyguard here for today only, after that I've gotta get going to somewhere else. But this is still going to cost you, if you expect to have my services, then there will have to be a payment for it," said Cloud, firmly.
Aeris stared thoughtfully for a moment, thinking carefully about it, and then a big smile lit up on her face as a thought came to her, one that she found particularly appealing.
"Well then, let's see what I can offer…I don't really have all that much money to pay you. Living here in the Slums can be pretty tough sometimes, and flower selling isn't exactly a successful business in Midgar. So instead of money, I've got another suggestion…how about if I go out with you on a date, on any place or day you like, to repay you for this assignment?" asked Aeris, grinning.
Cloud merely stared and gaped at her in surprise, his heart beating so hard in his chest that it was painful, but he nodded quickly, and then he walked towards Reno, his composure soon fully regained.
"Aeris, just stay back. I'll handle this by myself," said Cloud, firmly. Cloud walked up to Reno, who simply grinned arrogantly, and stepped forwards from the church door towards him, as Cloud spoke up.
"I don't know who you are, but…wait, you don't know me either? Oh yeah, I remember…I know you. I think I know who you are. That uniform…" said Cloud, thoughtfully, not making a whole lot of sense in his mumbling. Reno raised an eyebrow at Cloud's bizarre words, and snorted with scorn.
"Hey sis, this one here's a little weird. It's a freak and a nutter if I ever did see one, sis," joked Reno, sniggering. Four Shinra soldiers then came up from behind Reno through the church door, dressed in blue and white Shinra soldier uniforms as usual, and armed with the same standard guns.
"You just shut up! I know what you are, you're a damn Shinra spy! You're nothing more than one of their bloody lapdogs!" yelled Cloud. Reno's hand clenched tighter around the Nightstick, as he raised it, in silent warning.
"Reno, sir, want him permanently taken out of the equation?" asked a Shinra Soldier, with an obedient salute and his other hand clutched the handle of his gun.
Reno glanced at Cloud for a moment, noticing the large sword that was at Cloud's back in its metal locks, and noticed the Materia equipped into it, thinking the plan through, wondering what he should do with this guy.
"I haven't decided whether or not he should be brutally dealt with…yet," said Reno, with a casual shrug, looking menacingly at Cloud, who stood his ground.
"You're from the Turks, aren't you!? Isn't that right, huh!? Well, answer me, are you!?" demanded Cloud, sharply. Unfazed, Reno grinned and nodded.
"Oh, call us Shinra Administrative Department in Research and Development, please! That was our original title years ago, you know. It was that damn Heidegger who started calling us Turks for some stupid reason. God knows why…or am I not supposed to say something like that in church?" joked Reno, grinning. Behind him, the four Shinra soldiers all laughed out loud at Reno's joke.
Reno raised his Nightstick threateningly, which was as long as his arm. But Reno could handle the Nightstick with ease, as he was very tough, and he used it very often, using it as his main weapon.
The Nightstick was also charged with high voltages of electricity and was made to always be charged up; therefore it could give anyone a very serious electric shock, except for Reno, as he was in complete control of the Nightstick, the weapon designed not to harm its user, and Reno had long since fully mastered it in no time, which no one else had ever done. The Nightstick was one of Shinra's finest weapon creations.
"(I wonder…should I fry this guy to bits, or just shock his brains out? Or maybe I'll beat him to a pulp with the Nightstick while it's charged up at the same time. That would certainly have shocking results, heh, heh, heh…and then the girl will be ours at last, and after seeing me torture her little friend, there's no way she'll be brave enough to resist. Let's just see if this guy tries anything first, though…)" thought Reno, mischievously, as he prepared to strike Cloud with the Nightstick.
"Now all I came here for is the pretty girl over there, soldier-boy. So just move your ass out of here, and you won't get your head smashed in," said Reno, holding the Nightstick warningly in his hand.
"Sorry, pal, but no dice!!" snapped Cloud, angrily, as he withdrew his large sword with its metal locks, and held it tightly in his hands, prepared to strike. Reno frowned darkly, knowing now that there definitely would be a fight, alright.
"For your own safety, I suggest that you just stay out of this, if you want to walk away from this dump with your life and limbs still intact," said Reno, warningly, menacingly.
Cloud still calmly held his ground, unfazed, though he suspected that in this situation, he was outmatched, and if there was a battle between the two, it wouldn't be him who would have the upper hand.
"(This doesn't look good. Even First-Class SOLDIERS are outmatched by the highly powerful and feared combat skills of the Turks; no one in Shinra can outmatch them these days, and I very much doubt that AVALANCHE would either. Even if the Turks are very few and selective in number, each one of them is still highly dangerous. I doubt that I'll be able to beat Reno right now, but maybe I can buy enough time to think of a way for me and Aeris to escape…)" thought Cloud, as he spoke up.
"I don't think so, I really have no intention of leaving this place, right now. You're scaring my friend here. She told me that she isn't interested in travelling anywhere with you lot, so why don't you go piss off and just leave?" asked Cloud, coolly, watching with satisfaction as Reno's eyes narrowed.
"Do not even attempt to stop us from accomplishing our goal, we will have the girl in our custody, once and for all," said Reno, menacingly. Cloud snorted, still unfazed.
"Well then, that's just too bad, because you're just going to have to go through me to get to her, unless you're all too afraid to make a move! Well come on then, I'm waiting, so just shut up and attack!" snapped Cloud.
Reno smirked wickedly, and suddenly swung his nightstick at Cloud, aiming at his head, but Cloud spun around to the side just in time to dodge the blow, barely, and he raised his sword, and he swung it back at Reno.
But Reno was very fast on his feet, and he jumped back, and dodged Cloud's attack with clear ease, smirking confidently as he did so, clearly unconcerned, as Cloud's sword swung past him, and Reno avoided its blow without much effort.
Reno quickly swung the Nightstick straight at Cloud again, and this time, Cloud could do nothing to dodge in time, as the Nightstick struck him hard in the head, knocking him hard to the church floor. His head ached painfully, and he felt rather dazed indeed, as he tried to get back on his feet, but only stumbled and fell back to the floor.
Reno swung his Nightstick down at Cloud, and it slammed hard into his ribs, and there was a crack as some of them broke at once. Cloud yelled in clear pain, spitting out some slight blood from his mouth, as he stumbled back onto his feet.
Now standing back up firmly, Cloud quickly acted and swung his huge sword in a flash, aimed right at Reno, but Reno immediately reacted and swung his Nightstick to meet the incoming blow.
The Nightstick deflected the sword away from Reno at once with surprising ease, and Cloud was knocked backwards, but stayed on his feet, as Reno smirked with clear triumph, and raised his Nightstick in Cloud's direction.
"Right now, it looks as though we're in a different league all together, doesn't it? I must admit I was expecting more of a challenge than this, but I can't deny that I'm enjoying myself here nevertheless. Still won't give up?" questioned Reno, looking all too confident about the situation.
"No way…never…" muttered Cloud, sharply; gasping from the pain in his side from his broken ribs, and from how much his head was aching from the blow earlier.
"Well then, if you're that insistent on dying, then I guess I should just do you a favour and put you out of your misery once and for all. Allow me introduce one of my own special Nightstick techniques. It's a technique I like to call the Turk Light, because by the time's its done, the only light you'll be seeing is a light at the end of a long tunnel, courtesy of the Turks," said Reno, with a nasty grin, and as he held his raised Nightstick, the tip of it suddenly began to glow.
The glow at the tip of Reno's Nightstick suddenly formed into a small red meteor of energy, and was aimed straight at Cloud, whose eyes widened in shock and horror. Reno firmly pressed a button on his Nightstick, and the small red meteor of energy suddenly fired straight at Cloud, who could do nothing to avoid it in time, as it struck him with a loud bang, and sent him flying across the church hall, striking the church wall opposite the other end with the door, and he then slid off and collapsed to a heap on the floor.
There was a horrified scream from Aeris, and cheers from the Shinra soldiers as Reno smirked triumphantly, before he quickly charged up his Nightstick with full electricity, deciding to finish Cloud off now, as he ran forwards to where Cloud lay sprawled on the ground.
Reno charged towards Cloud, and as he neared him, he swung his Nightstick above his head and prepared to bring it down to finish Cloud off, as sparks of electricity surged from it at the same time.
Suddenly though, before Reno could deliver the final blow, Aeris quickly leaped out in front of them, and stood just before Cloud, her arms outstretched, blocking Reno from Cloud, and Reno halted and lowered his Nightstick at once, quickly discharging it.
It wasn't concern for Aeris that stopped him, it was the fact that Shinra strictly wanted her captured alive, and if he killed her, which would be much worse than failing to catch her, then he knew that his own life would be forfeit.
As Reno stood still, Aeris quickly knelt by Cloud, who had regained consciousness from being briefly knocked out by the attack earlier, and helped him back on his feet. At once, Cloud stumbled forwards towards Reno, in a maddening rage, his sword raised and ready to strike, but Aeris sprang in and stood between them both. She knew now that fighting Reno was only going to cause trouble and destruction to the church, not to mention serious injury to Cloud.
"Please Cloud, don't fight here! Both of you, you'll ruin the flowers, and the whole church itself too! Cloud, the exit is back there, please just get me out of here! Quick, follow me!" shouted Aeris, pointing to a door at the opposite end of the entrance, just nearby.
Cloud nodded, seeing her point, and tried to follow but almost collapsed, so Aeris put her arm around his waist to help support him from his injuries, and she walked as quickly as she could while supporting Cloud, who was clearly very bruised and injured from the fight with Reno.
They both quickly went through the other church door, immediately slamming it shut afterwards, and locking the door by placing a large wooden beam firmly in front of it, before Reno or the Shinra soldiers could go after them. This didn't bother Reno, who could easily smash the wooden beam, and the whole door, into pieces with his Nightstick.
It was Cloud who had him suspicious and surprised. Reno had recognized the strange glow in Cloud's eyes as the same characteristic of the members of SOLDIER when they were infused with Mako energy, and his skills definitely matched those of the First-Class SOLDIERS.
Reno even had to put quite a bit of effort into fighting him, he had to admit that Cloud had been a lot stronger than he'd first thought, and he suspected that Cloud was capable of doing even better. He simply had to figure out who the heck this Cloud guy was. Reno turned back to face his four troops, who all stood there awaiting his orders.
"Those were…Mako eyes…yeah alright, get back to work, back to work. Okay you guys, time to follow them and clean up the trash," ordered Reno, turning to face the three Shinra soldiers. They all nodded and saluted.
Sniggering mischievously, Reno walked straight across and all over the flowerbed, crushing all the flowers to shreds and wrecking them, and then he started to follow Aeris and Cloud, but suddenly ran back as a thought occurred to him.
"Oh, and for god's sake, show some proper respect in this place and don't step on the flowers, like the young lady said," ordered Reno, grinning. The Shinra soldiers looked incredulously at him, at the fact that Reno had already wrecked all the flowers by stepping on them.
"Hey Reno, you just stepped on all of them!" protested the first soldier, indignantly.
"They're all damn ruined!" said the second soldier.
"You're going to catch holy hell!" said the third soldier.
"Alright, that's it. Enough of you lot moaning, now just shut the hell up, or else. Now get going, and move out, we're not letting them get away that easily. First one to capture the girl gets promoted. Another promotion goes to the guy who kills the Ex-SOLDIER," said Reno, coolly.
The four Shinra soldiers all saluted and quickly followed Reno to the church door that Cloud and Aeris had escaped through, as Reno pulled out his Nightstick, and was preparing to smash the door down at once, before the other two could get far enough to escape their clutches.