They searched around Wutai, and they went in a house beside the inn. They suddenly spotted Yuffie, but she seemed to be captured by some men.
"Hey, let GO!! I said LET GO!! HEY!! Who the heck do you think I am!? What are you doing!? Jerks!!" shouted Yuffie.
Cloud ran over to help her, but someone else appeared in the room at the other end. Cloud, Aeris and Tifa were stunned and flabbergasted to see who the man was.
"No…it can't be…" gasped Aeris, stunned.
"You…!" snarled Tifa, glaring viciously at the man.
"CORNEO!!" shouted Cloud, pointing a finger at the man.
The man turned and looked back at them. It was Don Corneo himself, from Wall market in Sector 6 in Midgar. Kotch and Scotch stood beside him, grinning mischievously.
"Hey, Tifa, isn't this the dude you interrogated back in Wall Market? And when Cloud dressed up like a girl?" asked Barret, curiously.
Cloud nodded bitterly, and so did Tifa, who still glared hard at the Don, while Don Corneo seemed to shudder at that memory, but he quickly recovered himself.
"I've finally got a new chick! Two for one, in fact!" announced Don Corneo, clearly quite pleased with himself.
"TWO!?" shouted Cloud.
Just then, a few more men walked into the room, with another prisoner. It was Elena.
"Hey, hey! Let go of me! You're going to regret this!! If you don't let me go, I promise that you'll pay!!" yelled Elena, enraged and struggling against her captors but could not break free.
"It's that female Turk," observed Vincent.
Kotch, Scotch and the other men all left the room, carrying Elena and Yuffie, and Don Corneo followed them. Cloud and the others quickly ran after him. Three Shinra soldiers had arrived, and they ran in front of Don Corneo.
"There he is! It's Corneo! Don't let him get away!" shouted a Shinra soldier.
"Attack!!" shouted another Shinra soldier.
They all ran towards Don Corneo, but Don Corneo dodged them all just in time, and ran out of the room. The Shinra soldiers attacked Cloud and the others instead.
"Shit! Perfect timing, ya Shinra bastards!" shouted Cid.
Cid ran up to one of the Shinra soldiers, raised his spear, and stabbed him with the sharp point of the spear, killing the Shinra soldier instantly.
Vincent raised his shotgun at the other Shinra soldier, and fired straight at him, the bullet hitting the Shinra soldier straight in the head, and killing him instantly.
The last Shinra soldier suddenly got out a grenade and threw it straight at them. Cid quickly knocked the grenade away from them with his spear, and the grenade hit the Shinra soldier and he exploded in a shower of blood, and the wall behind was completely wrecked as well.
Cloud and the others quickly ran out of the room, and out of the house. There was no sign of Don Corneo or his henchmen anywhere. They did, however, spot Rude and Reno looking outside the inn. They were obviously looking for Elena.
"Shit, not those damn guys again!" muttered Cid, cursing under his breath.
"Rude, I think they went this way! Corneo's somewhere around here, and he's got Elena," said Reno, grimly.
"Elena…" said Rude, quietly, clearly worried.
"That Corneo guy sure is very good at escaping, I'll give him credit for that. But he's still not good enough to lose the likes of us. Let's go, Rude. We'll give him a taste of what the Turks can do," said Reno.
Rude nodded, and he ran off and continued searching for Corneo and his goons. Noticing them, Reno turned to face Cloud and the others.
"Hey, you know, I sounded pretty good back there. But if Elena is in his hands, that's going to make things a little more difficult for us to take him out for good," said Reno.
"Corneo also took Yuffie from us. And without Yuffie, there's no way that we'll get our Materia back," said Cloud.
"Isn't this a little strange? The Turks and AVALANCHE working together…but don't misunderstand me. We have no intention whatsoever of joining you. But for now, we'll just agree not to bother each other. That's all," said Reno, coolly.
"That's fine with us. We have no absolutely no intention of co-operating with the Turks either. Now, exactly what direction did Corneo run off to?" asked Cloud, curiously.
"Nice attitude. Here's a clue. It's the place that stands out the most. That big mountain of rock statues. I think they call it Da-Chao," said Reno, and he ran off.
Cloud and the others followed him, and they came to some rock statues in the mountains of Wutai, known as the Da-Chao Mountains. Rude was already there, waiting for them. Reno walked up to him, and then he faced Cloud and the others.
"You're finally here. We're going to split up into two groups to search for them. If you find Corneo, do whatever you want to him. But don't endanger Elena, understood? Oh, and don't worry, if we find Corneo first, we won't do anything to that girl, Yuffie, either. Well…for now," said Reno, with a mischievous grin.
Reno and Rude then spilt up, and they started to look for Corneo, across the mountains of Wutai. Cloud didn't really care much about Yuffie's safety at the moment, considering that she had betrayed them, and stolen all of their Materia, but he really wanted his Materia back. Without them, he and the others really had no chance whatsoever against Sephiroth…
Cloud and the others took a different route across the mountains, and soon enough, before Reno and Rude, they found Don Corneo along with Kotch and Scotch, standing in front of a cliff edge, hundreds of feet above the ground.
Elena and Yuffie were trapped, hanging from a large stone statue nearby in mid-air. Don Corneo, Kotch and Scotch were watching them, clearly pleased with themselves, and giving the two bound girls sleazy looks.
"LET ME GO!!!" roared Yuffie, struggling against her bonds, but she was still held tightly to the stone statue, and if she had broke free, she would have fallen straight to her death, so at that realization, she quickly stopped struggling.
"Ho, ho, I think I've just found myself a new hobby! Now then…which girl shall it be? Should I go with…her?" wondered Don Corneo, thoughtfully, glancing at Elena.
"Hey, I'm one of the Turks! Do you really think that you can get away with this!?" shouted Elena, furiously. Don Corneo paid no attention to her, and he looked at Yuffie, thinking.
"Or maybe…HER?" said Don Corneo.
Yuffie groaned in disgust and revulsion.
"OH GOD!! If I knew that this was going to happen, I would have taken rope escape lessons more seriously!!" shouted Yuffie, frustrated. Kotch and Scotch both sniggered in response.
"I've made my choice! I have made up my mind! My companion for the night will be…the cheerful one!" announced Don Corneo, pointing to Yuffie.
Yuffie looked completely disgusted and revolted.
"EWWW, GROSS-NESS!! Don't mess with me, old man! You don't even have any Materia!" screamed Yuffie.
"Oh, and she's saucy too!" said Don Corneo, licking his lips.
"Alright, that's it!! Hold it right there, you scum! You're not going anywhere, Corneo! Release Yuffie and Elena!" shouted Cloud, suddenly arriving on the scene.
Cloud, Cid, Vincent, Aeris, Tifa, Barret, Red XIII and Cait Sith had all just arrived, and they all readied their weapons at once. Kotch and Scotch both raised their guns, and charged at them to deal with them.
Cait Sith quickly charged at Scotch, and punched him hard in the stomach with the stuffed Moogle's fist, knocking all the wind out of him, and the force of the punch was enough to send Scotch flying off the edge of the cliff, and he fell, screaming, to his death.
Kotch's eyes widened in surprise and horror, but before he could react, Tifa quickly charged at him and kicked him hard in the stomach, knocking all the wind out of him, and the force of the kick was also enough to send Kotch flying off the edge of the cliff as well, and he fell, screaming, to his own death like Scotch had just did before him.
Don Corneo stared at Cloud and the others in horror.
"…W-W-What's going on!? Who goes there…!?" shouted Don Corneo, clearly panicking.
"Oh man, thank GOD! It's Cloud! CLOUD! I promise I'll give you back all your Materia as long as you just get me out of this, please!" shouted Yuffie, desperately, terrified.
Cloud nodded back at her, in no doubt that she would keep her promise this time. All that was left now was to rescue her, and deal with the sick pervert that stood in front of them.
"Long time, no see. I remember you now…" said Don Corneo, slowly, as he stared at Cloud, and suddenly he seemed to be not worried in the least.
"Don't tell me you'd have forgotten," said Cloud, coldly.
"Maybe God would forgive an ugly bastard like you, but I sure as hell won't!!" shouted Cid, angrily, his fists clenched.
"I don't care what you're doing, so much as the idiotic way that you're doing it," said Vincent, coldly.
"Be quiet! None of you know how much I've suffered since then…it's a long story, but…" began Don Corneo, but Cid interrupted him, angrily.
"I really don't give a damn about your past! You're gonna let both those two girls go right now, or else I'm going to break your damn arms!" snapped Cid, reaching for his spear.
Don Corneo merely raised an eyebrow, looking amused.
"You guys are…serious? Good, good. This isn't a time for me to be fooling around either, you know. Why did you have to kill my little Aps?" asked Don Corneo, accusingly, pointing at Cloud.
Aps was the large sewer monster in the sewer below the Wall Market in Sector 6 in Midgar, and it had belonged to Don Corneo. When it showed up and tried to eat them, Cloud, Tifa and Aeris had battled and killed it, after Don Corneo had sent them down there through a trapdoor. Don Corneo now looked angry.
"I'm going to make you PAY with my new pet, so that you won't get in the way of my search for a bride! Rapps!! Come here at once!" shouted Don Corneo, as he did a loud whistle.
At this, Rapps suddenly appeared. Rapps was a huge, flying monster, with a purple tail, orange wings, a black beak, and a red body, which was like a bird's, only bigger and not feathery. Cloud and the others had no choice but to fight it.
Red light suddenly burst from the ground at Cloud's feet as he quickly raised his sword, ran up to Rapps, stabbed it with his sword, leaped in the air, and took his sword out of Rapps at the same time, giving Rapps a huge slash across its body, and badly wounding it. Rapps shrieked in agony, while Cloud landed back on the ground.
Getting angry, Rapps quickly flung its wings strongly and rapidly at them, causing a strong gust of wind to suddenly appear out of nowhere and blow Cloud, Cait Sith and Cid hard into some rocks near the cliff edge, giving them many injuries and bruises in the process.
Cid quickly got back up, raised his spear, and slashed it at Rapps, but Rapps quickly flew out of the way and avoided it, and was therefore not injured.
Cait Sith also got back up and ran up to Rapps, and tried to punch it with the robotic Moogle's large fists, but Rapps quickly flew out of the way again and was not injured.
Rapps quickly swooped down, and flew straight at them with incredible speed, ramming Cid and Cloud to the ground hard before they could react, and then Rapps flew back up into the air again. Cid and Cloud slowly got back up, both of them injured and bruised all over.
Rapps suddenly raised its tail, and swooped down at Cait Sith, and slashed its tail straight at Cait Sith, giving him a mark across his robotic body, and badly wounding him, as he fell to the ground, and was unable to even get back up.
Rapps quickly flung its wings strongly and rapidly at them, as another strong gust of wind appeared out of nowhere and struck Cid hard, sending him flying backwards into some hard rocks at the cliff edge, badly injuring him, as he was unable to even get back up.
Cloud saw that this was not looking too good, they were all already badly injured and barely able to fight back, while Rapps was incredibly fast and was completely unharmed, except for the sword wound that Cloud had inflicted on it earlier.
Grasping a Materia equipped to his sword, green light burst from the ground at Cloud's feet as a circle of magical energy appeared out of nowhere and fully healed himself, Cid and Cait Sith, and all of their injuries and bruises.
Rapps suddenly swooped down quickly again, and flew straight at Cloud and Cid, ramming them hard to the ground before they could react, and then Rapps quickly flew back up into the air again. Cloud and Cid slowly got back up, both of them with many bruises.
Red light suddenly burst from the ground at Cid's feet, as he quickly raised his spear, leaped into the air, and threw his spear straight down at Rapps. The spear went straight for Rapps, and slashed it across his side, giving it a large spear wound across its body. Rapps shrieked in agony, badly wounded, as Cid landed back on the ground, and caught his spear as it fell back down towards him.
Cloud raised his sword and rushed towards Rapps, slashing his sword at it, but despite being badly wounded, Rapps just managed to fly out of the way, and dodged Cloud's sword.
Rapps then raised its tail, swooped down at Cloud, and slashed its tail straight at Cloud, giving him a mark across his body, and badly wounding him, as he fell to the ground and was unable to even get back up.
Quickly grasping a Materia equipped to his megaphone, green light burst from the ground at Cait Sith's feet as a circle of magical energy appeared out of nowhere, and fully healed himself, Cloud and Cid, and all of their injuries, bruises and wounds that they had suffered against Rapps.
Rapps flapped its wings again, and a strong gust of wind appeared out of nowhere and struck Cid hard, sending him flying backwards into some hard rocks at the cliff edge, badly injuring him, as he was unable to even get back up.
Cloud raised his sword and ran towards Rapps, slashing his sword at it, but despite being badly wounded, Rapps just managed to fly out of the way, and dodged Cloud's sword.
Rapps suddenly swooped down quickly, and flew straight towards Cloud and Cait Sith, ramming them hard to the ground before they could react, and then Rapps quickly flew back up into the air again. Cloud and Cait Sith slowly got back up, both with many bruises.
Rapps then raised its tail, swooped down at Cloud, and slashed its tail straight at Cloud, giving him a mark across his body, and badly wounding him, as he fell to the ground and was unable to even get back up.
Despite being wounded, Cloud managed to raise his sword and ran towards Rapps, slashing his sword at it, and this time he caught it by surprise, slashing across its side, giving it another bloody sword wound. Rapps shrieked, and to the ground in pain, staining the ground with its dark blood, but it still wasn't quite dead just yet.
Cait Sith quickly ran up to Rapps, raised his stuffed Moogle's fist, and punched Rapps hard in the stomach, going straight through it, and putting a bloody hole in it. Cait Sith pulled his stuffed Moogle's fist back out, as Rapps shrieked in agony, and was then dead a few seconds later from its wound.
After Cloud, Cid and Cait Sith had healed all of their injuries with potions and Cure spells, Cloud and the others now started to move menacingly towards Don Corneo. Don Corneo was surprised and alarmed by the sudden turn of events. He was now extremely terrified, and shaking in terror.
"…W-Wait…! Wait just a second! Why do you think that I'm doing this…?" begged Don Corneo, frightened and terrified.
"SHUT UP!!" snapped Cloud, angrily.
"J-Just listen to me. It won't take very long. Why do you think bad guys like me would swallow his pride, and plead for his life? 1 - Because he's ready to die? 2 - Because he's sure to win? Or 3 - Because he's clueless?" questioned Don Corneo.
"Number 1. Because he's ready to die," said Cloud, coldly, taking a step forwards, with his hands clutched tightly around the hilt of his massive sword.
"Wrong!!" shouted Don Corneo, and he suddenly got out a remote control from his pocket, and he quickly pushed a button on it before they could react.
Elena and Yuffie were suddenly now hanging upside down on the side of the stone statue, which was hundreds of feet above the rocky ground far below.
"He makes me so mad!" shouted Yuffie, furiously.
"If I push this button, they'll fall upside down, and we'll have a couple of squashed tomatoes," said Don Corneo. An evil grin was now on his face, his confidence and composure regained.
"DAMN IT!!" shouted Cloud, sensing defeat.
"So this is how a loser lives," snarled Cid, angrily.
Vincent turned to face Don Corneo as well, with an angry and surprised look on his face. Don Corneo was laughing insanely now, clearly believing he would get the better of them.
"Ha, ha, ha, ha! Now you've got to give me your other women too, or else! Ha, ha, ha, ha! So I guess I'm the one laughing last!" said Don Corneo, nastily.
Suddenly, just then, Reno finally arrived on the scene, and there was a wicked, mischievous grin on his face, and his blue eyes glittered darkly.
"No…that would be us. No one dies tonight, Corneo. Except you…" said Reno, menacingly.
"W-What's going on…!? Who goes there…!?" shouted Don Corneo, clearly alarmed. Reno walked up to Don Corneo.
Everyone stared at him in amazement and awe, as Reno suddenly looked far more menacing and dangerous than anyone had ever seen him look.
"The Turks!" shouted Don Corneo, complete terror and fear breaking out into a sweat on his face at the sight of Reno.
"You knew that this was going to happen ever since you leaked that secret to AVALANCHE. We're going to take care of you…personally…" said Reno, darkly, a nasty sneer on his face.
"Damn it! Then those two are going to die as well!" shouted Don Corneo, clearly panicking.
Don Corneo was just about to push the button, when suddenly; Rude arrived on the scene, took out a shotgun from his pocket in a flash, and shot Don Corneo in the right side of his body. Rude's gunshot was so powerful that Don Corneo's rib bones had been smashed to pieces.
Don Corneo screamed in pure agony, blood quickly spreading from the wound, staining the ground around him and himself, and he dropped the control, and stumbled off the cliff, but he quickly lunged for the edge.
Don Corneo just managed to grab the end of the cliff edge, but he was in great agony, and probably couldn't hold on for much longer, his right side wounded badly and bleeding freely.
Rude walked over to Reno, his smoking shotgun still aimed at Don Corneo, but he didn't fire. Reno grinned as he and Rude slapped each other a high five.
"Good timing, Rude," said Reno, grinning, somewhat impressed like everyone else. Rude nodded, his face set.
"Let's get to work," said Rude, glancing down at Don Corneo, badly wounded and only his own hand on the cliff edge keeping him from certain death.
Reno nodded, and he walked over to the cliff edge, where Don Corneo was still holding onto it for his life, blood still flowing from his wound, and falling hundreds of feet to the ground way down below.
Reno stood right over him, and he had a menacing look on his face, as he looked down at Don Corneo.
"Alright, Corneo. Now…do you know what it is we do with people who constantly interfere with Shinra's business?" asked Reno, threateningly.
Don Corneo shook his head in response, very terrified.
"We ELIMINATE them…" replied Rude, coldly. Reno nodded.
"This will all be over with quick, Corneo, so listen up. Why do you think that cool, tough guys like me and Rude, went to all the trouble of teaming up with those guys over there just to get back at you? 1 – Because we were ready to die? 2 – Because we were sure of victory? Or, 3 – Because we were clueless?" asked Reno, with a hard and menacing look at Don Corneo.
"N-Number 2! Number 2!" shouted Don Corneo, desperately and urgently.
He was in great agony and pain from his wound, but he was still afraid of dying, and was desperate not to, just like anyone else would be in the very same situation.
"All three of them are wrong, Corneo…" replied Reno, coldly.
"N-No, wait! Stop!!" shouted Don Corneo, desperately, more terrified than ever, and for good reason.
Reno suddenly raised his right foot, and he slammed it down hard onto Don Corneo's hand. Reno's foot crushed Don Corneo's hand and finger bones to pieces, and blood poured from it.
Don Corneo screamed in great agony, and had to let go of the cliff edge. He screamed in extreme fear and agony as he fell hundreds of feet until finally he hit the hard ground, and was smashed to bits on the rocks below.
Don Corneo was now dead.
Reno turned back to face Cloud and the others, who were all looked both stunned and horrified at what they had just witnessed. Reno still had a mischievous grin on his face.
"The CORRECT answer was…" said Reno, slowly, glancing at Rude in anticipation.
"Because it's our job," answered Rude, nodding at Reno.
Reno nodded back at him. Elena looked at both Rude and Reno, and she was smiling gratefully at them with great delight and gratitude.
"Oh, thank you! Thank you both so very much! I NEVER thought that you guys would come to save me!" said Elena, very delighted.
"Elena, don't act so weak. You're a Turk," said Reno, sharply, glancing at her.
"Yes, sir!" said Elena, grateful all the same, still smiling.
Cloud and the others hesitated, before thanking both Reno and Rude for their help.
"I guess, thanks for today," said Cid, quietly.
"Yeah, we couldn't have done it without your help. Thank you," said Aeris, bowing to them in gratitude.
Cloud nodded in agreement, but Reno simply shrugged while Rude just nodded. Nevertheless, a strange, unexpected mutual agreement had risen between the Turks and AVALANCHE that day…
Suddenly, Reno's mobile phone ran. He picked it up, and then answered it.
"Yes, this is Reno speaking…yes, yes…I see…I'll get on it right away," said Reno. He put his phone away into his pocket.
"Was that Shinra?" asked Elena, curiously.
Reno nodded slowly, glancing at Cloud and the others.
"Yeah…they want us to find Cloud and his gang," said Reno.
Both Reno and Rude slowly turned to face Cloud and the others. Both the Turks and AVALANCHE looked clearly quite reluctant to start a fight with each other right at this moment, but they both readied themselves for battle all the same. Rude glanced at Reno.
"Are we on?" asked Rude, curiously.
There was a long silence. Finally, Reno paused and shook his head slowly.
"No…today we're off duty. For another two hours at least…" said Reno, checking his watch.
Cloud and the others relaxed, and nodded gratefully at Reno and Rude. Elena wasn't complaining about it, since she was also clearly grateful to Cloud and the others as well. Yuffie, however, was still looking extremely frustrated.
"Hey, that's really great and all, but who the heck cares about that!? GET ME DOWN!!!" screamed Yuffie.
****************************************************************
Some hours later, after both Yuffie and Elena were rescued from their ordeal, Elena, Reno, and Rude all continued their vacation at Wutai. Yuffie, Cloud and the others went back to Yuffie's house.
Yuffie soon gave all their Materia back to them without hesitation, as a sign of clear genuine gratitude from her, which certainly impressed everyone else to see her doing something so selfless for them. After she had finished giving back all their Materia, she crouched down on the floor, panting.
"Okay, perfect! Now the Materia is all back in its rightful place," said Yuffie, cheerfully, though tried out. Cloud frowned irritably as he looked at the Materia equipped on his sword.
"Hey, the placement of it is all messed up! It's all in the wrong order!" complained Cloud, annoyed.
Yuffie looked at him and sighed in exasperation.
"Huh? Oh, it will be alright. Don't be so picky! Anyway, that sure was close. Normally, I would have kicked their butts! Boom, wham, bang, pow!! That Don Corneo guy sure was a real pain, alright. I'd rather deal with my dad, Godo, any day than deal with that guy. Well, at least he's dead now, so we won't have to worry about him any more. Oh, and by the way, some of those guys from the Turks are good after all, huh? I'll have to thank them properly when we meet again. At least, after all that we got all of the Materia back. Now come on everybody, let's continue our journey!" said Yuffie, brightly, clearly enthusiastic.
Cloud and the others nodded to each other, and they all went out the house, leaving Yuffie behind and deliberately ignoring her, all of them still clearly angry with her. Yuffie sprang up from the floor, clearly taken aback.
"H-Hey, wait! Alright, alright, I'll give something useful to you guys! Hey, look! Come on, wait for me! No matter what anyone says, I'm going with you all! Come on, wait up!" shouted Yuffie, desperately.
Cloud sighed heavily, and he and the others stopped and waited as Yuffie quickly caught up with them, and she stopped just in front of them, her face set and determined.
Yuffie could easily tell from the looks they were giving her that they hadn't entirely forgiven her, and her insides were aflame with guilt.
"Look, I know now what I did to you guys was wrong, and I'll never do it ever again, I promise! You guys saved my life even when I ditched you and stole from you. That's something I can never thank you properly for, and I can't expect forgiveness from you guys either, but I owe my life to all of you, and no matter what you say, I'm going with you to pay you guys back once and for all, and I'm staying with you all until the end, no matter what," said Yuffie, and she was clearly being sincere.
Cloud and the others all stared back at her, wide-eyed and speechless, none of them had ever expected Yuffie Kisaragi of all people to say such things.
Finally, Cloud slowly stepped forwards.
"I can tell you really do mean those words, but still…how do we know for sure if we can trust you?" asked Cloud, curiously.
"That's something you'll just have to judge for yourselves, but I think there's something special I can give to you guys to really make it up to you. I promise you it will really come in handy in our journey," said Yuffie.
Cloud and the others slowly glanced at each other, exchanging looks of curiosity and bewilderment. Finally, Cloud looked back at Yuffie, who just stood there, watching him.
"Okay Yuffie, we'll trust your judgement this time, but this better be worth it, got it? Now what exactly is this thing you want to give to us?" asked Cloud, and the others listened too.
Yuffie just simply smirked mischievously in response.
"Why don't you guys found out for yourselves? Don't worry, its in Wutai, and trust me, you won't be disappointed. Just follow me and I'll get it for you," said Yuffie, and she ran off in the direction of the Pagoda of the Five Mighty Gods, the large temple in the middle of the once proud nation of Wutai.
Exchanging bewildered looks and brief words, Cloud and the others agreed and decided to follow Yuffie as they all ran off after her, and saw her enter through the doors of the Pagoda Temple itself, and they quickly ran in after her, none of them even remotely sure what to expect.