4
"Watch it, Reno!" Elena shrieked. She was way too excited with this mission. It was fine when she was back in the bar, but they were trying to take on Shinra here. It wasn't as though any Shinra people were hanging around here, he thought, glancing around the reactor. It seemed weird that the only guards on patrol were the automated ones. He'd expected to see SOLDIER or something lined up and waiting for them, but there was nothing, not even a live security guard, just robots. Not that he was complaining. The good thing about robots were that you could get them down with one good Bolt spell, and it just so happened that he'd happened to stock his nightstick with a Lightening Materia before he'd left.
"Yes, I see it Elena!" he snapped, quickly casting one more Bolt spell. The robot, partially hidden in down the hall, sparked and collapsed. "God, take a tranquilizer or something. You're way too high strung."
"R-u-u-u-de!" She was whining again. He had no idea what Rude saw in her. She may have her own business and all, but it wasn't like it was even a good one.
"Reno, shut the hell up." Rude grunted, trying to bust open the lock on the security doors. "I need an extra person for this."
Elena sided over to him, sticking her tongue out at Reno. "I'll help"
"Real mature, Elena." He got to the end of the table. There were three switches. "That's it? We just have to push these in? You'd think the Shinra wanted us to blow up their reactor."
"Just try and push this thing down, okay? On the count of three. One...two...three!"
With a low beep, the doors opened. Reno looked around both ways. Nothing. "This is way too quiet."
"You're being paranoid. You watching way too many late night movies, you know. Just be glad that things are going well for us now." Elena whistled cheerfully. "There isn't much farther now."
"You're going to jinx it by talking about it like this."
"Don't be superstitious! God!" Elena smiled happily as Reno retreated into sullen silence. "We're almost to the end. I hope that Tseng's doing alright. It was nice of him to go and set up the bomb for us. Are we supposed to wait here for him?"
"No. He said to go on ahead." Rude glanced down the corner. "All clear."
Klaxons went off suddenly. They ducked behind the door. "What the hell happened?!" Reno shouted over the noise.
"You think they got Tseng?" Elena whispered fearfully.
"Jessie!" Reno yelled angrily. "That bitch set us up! I knew she was gonna-"
"Shh!" Rude said roughly. They fell silent and tried to watch the action.
...No action....
"Nothing's happening..." Elena whined. "Maybe the alarm went off as an accident or something. I think we can go. I really want to get home before the evening rush."
"Hang on, I think I see Tseng-"
"Get back!" Rude whispered suddenly. They fall back against the wall. Reno pushed forward to see.
Two men were in the foreground, both seeming completely oblivious to the action around them. One he recognized. Reeve Andrews, head of Weapons Research and Development . The other was someone he didn't know, but the suit spoke for itself. He was obviously Mafia affiliated. But what would someone like him be doing here? Shinra tolerated Mafia factions, so long as none of them started to infringe on their own power but the two groups weren't exactly buddies.
"Mr. Valentine?" Reeve spoke cautiously. "I hope you were able to get in alright? No trouble with security?"
A bored sigh came from Mr. Valentine. "Get to the point."
"The Don hasn't filled you in? Damn... I told them Corneo wasn't-"
"I don't have all night."
"Avalanche is here." Elena whimpered at this. Rude put his hand over her mouth and she quieted. "The Don said you have a personal interest in this group, and he wants to cement his relationship with Shinra. However, keep in mind that you are not an employee of Shinra Incorporated. Certain actions that may be permissible with your family are not here."
He smirked. "I understand, Andrews. Get on with it. What am I supposed to do?"
Reeve sneered. "That's Mr. Andrews to you. There's a man downstairs who the President wants. He must be taken alive, do you understand? Any slipups are not going to be dealt with lightly."
"I know..."
"You may want to take an alternate route back to the Headquarters. We're releasing a guard to take care of the rest of AVALANCHE. It's a weapon I've been wanting to try out for a while. The new cyber-SOLDIER!" The executive was suddenly boyishly enthusiastic. "All of the other execs have finally given their okay for the release. If all goes well...you'd probably want to avoid coming back up here. It'll wipe out any intruders, and you're not registered on the computers. We only care about their leader. He must be kept alive."
"Psycho killer robots..? Figures Shinra would come up with something like that." Reno muttered.
"Of course." Valentine sighed, loosening his tie. "What should I expect when I make it to this man you want so badly? How armed is he?"
"Well... Scarlet would know better than I would...But I'd just be prepared for him being dangerous. Best to be on the safe side."
Vincent raised an eyebrow. Reno snickered to himself. Both men turned to the hallway. "Did you hear something?"
Vincent looked at critically, sweeping over the area. "I didn't hear a thing."
"Really?" Reeve seemed personally offended by Valentine's omission. "Well... I suppose I should be going. I prefer to watch these weapons tests from afar. Much less messy that way. Report back to Scarlet when you're done. And remember-"
"I know... Bring him back alive." He smirked watching the exec walk briskly away. He reached for his holster, then glance at the hallway where AVALANCHE was hiding. Elena was breathing way too loudly. They were going to get caught, just like Tseng was...
There was a huge metallic bang from down the stairs. Vincent cursed and started running in the opposite direction. Rude peered down the hall. "He's gone."
"What was that?" Elena whispered sharply. "They're going after Tseng, aren't they? We've got to go help him! We can't just sit here and let the Shinra get him!"
"We can't do that." Reno said coldly. "We've got to get outta here. We'll figure out what to do about Tseng later."
"What?! You can't be serious!"
"Look, do you think Tseng would want us to be captured along with him? You heard that guy; they don't have any plans on keeping us alive. We need to get away before that robot soldier gets up here. Deal with it." He said roughly, pushing past the couple. "Well, lookee here..."
A huge robot lumbered down the hall, screeching loudly. It stopped once its sensors caught sight of Reno and immediately fired off a machine gun. He jumped out of the way to avoid it. "Rude! Cover me, alright?"
Rude shot a round, aiming for the head of the robot, but missing as it turned around after Reno. Behind him, he could see Elena throw something. He got to the floor as it exploded behind him. God, did she ever think?! Tossing a grenade around like that... He shook his head, trying to make that ringing stop. "Watch what you're doing Elena!"
"Sorry!" She chirped, already throwing another one. He covered his ears, and tried to outrun the spray of bullets the robot was sending out. Giving up on him, it turned around to face Elena and Rude. Perfect. He scanned the back of the robot, looking for any sort of vulnerable spot. He could try and make it short circuit with his nightstick.
Bingo. There was a small opening, giving off sparks erratically. Elena's grenades must have been on the mark then. That was a surprise. He ran forward and jammed it in, flicking the power switch up to the maximum. The robot jerked back then slumped forward, deactivated. He pulled his nightstick out and whipped at his forehead. "That wasn't so bad. Guess Reeve's loosing his touch."
"Umm...Reno?" Elena piped up. "What's that weird...ticking sound?"
"Oh, shit."
"Get down!"
The robot blew up in fiery explosion of metal and wires. Reno felt the floor crumble out from under him and reached around for something to hang on to. His hands came upon the remains of a staircase railing. He coughed, waiting for the dust to clear. Elena was shrieking like a moron. "Reno! Reno, are you alright? Where are you!?"
"I'm right here!" he looked up. The group was separated by a large chasm. He didn't want to look down, since he was pretty sure that he would be able to see clear to the slums. From the looks of the railing, it wasn't going to hold for long. "Umm...a little help here?"
Rude shook his head, holding Elena back. "I don't think there's anything we can do."
"Dammit!" he strained to see if there was anything else to grab on to. Nothing. It was hopeless. "You guys should go find some other way out then... Don't let them do anything to Tseng! If you do, I'll come back and haunt you forever." He grinned wryly.
Rude gave a ghost of a smile, which only emphasized how pale he was looking. "Good luck then."
"Yeah. Right back at ya."
The rail shrieked and snapped. Reno suddenly realized that for the first time in a very long time, he really was afraid.
