They Live!!!
Chapter 4: Plans and More Plans
Vincent was finally able to arrive at the most poverty-stricken spot in Sector 7, where he could clearly feel Sephiroth's strong aura. Carefully, he made his way through the crowds of people crowding the streets. There seemed to be a fiesta celebration there but he was not sure of the occasion on why the people are celebrating in the middle of a cold street. He looked up at one of the small buildings and proceeded to the door. He just entered and saw that the whole place was very messy and the hallway was small. There was this terrible stench of rotting wood coming from somewhere… He quickly walked to the stairs and went up, straight to the second floor. He followed the aura that he was feeling until he was able to arrive at one particular room. He carefully knocked with his right hand.
After a few moments, he heard heavy footsteps coming from inside the room approaching the door. The door opened all of a sudden and it somewhat surprised Vincent.
The two of them stared curiously at one another. "Eh?" Sephiroth felt somewhat perplexed. He could recognize him but could not remember his name.
Vincent forced a kind smile at the son of his beloved Lucrecia, "Uh… Pleasant evening. Remember me?" was his greeting.
Sephiroth just shrugged. "I'm not really sure… you're Vinny, right?" he asked.
Vincent was surprised. Nobody else had called him by that nickname but his friends… and Lucrecia. "Maybe Lucrecia told him about me." He thought before saying, "Well… Vincent, actually…"
Sephiroth raised his eyebrows at him and laughed rather embarrassingly, "Oh yeah… right... Vincent. Sorry. Almost forgot about your name." he told him.
Vincent looked past his shoulders and could see what's inside the room: a worn-out bed, tearing wallpaper, wooden floor planks, a leaking roof… and a very small space. He could not imagine Lucrecia being there with three other people and then they're all able to fit in such a room.
"You're here," Sephiroth began with an uneasy tone as he placed his hand behind his back. Vincent noticed his sudden action and turned to look at him again. "Yes… I am." Was all he said.
Sephiroth bit his lower lip. Worry could now be seen in his green Mako eyes. "Where's my mommy?" he asked in a rather child-like way that made Vincent smile a little. "I think he's turned into a momma's boy already…" he thought silently before replying, "Your mom's with me and the others in Tifa's house. It's several blocks away from here, so if you want to catch the next cab, maybe we could leave early so that you could see her again."
Sephiroth felt so relieved. "Oh thank you… I've been so worried about my mother ever since last night. I thought something bad happened to her already." He told him as he gave Vincent a hug.
Vincent felt rather uncomfortable being hugged by a guy. "Oh please… don't." he said with hesitation and shame as he gently pushed Sephiroth away and smiled weakly at him. Sephiroth just shrugged. "Oh… sorry. Got carried away." He told him as he smiled. "Thank you for helping my mom… but… what about Aerith and Rufus? Where are they?" he asked.
"Aerith is… with your mom…" Vincent began, but Sephiroth cut him off, "Oh good! So that means she's seen Cloud already. That's good to hear… erhm… what about Rufus?" he asked.
Vincent thought for a while before saying, "He's… in ShinRa."
Silence.
"What?" Sephiroth asked in disbelief.
"In exchange for Aerith's freedom and safety." Vincent told him.
"But…" Sephiroth began, but he was interrupted when his stomach just started rumbling. Vincent raised his eyebrows at him. Sephiroth smiled sheepishly at him. "Heheh. Sorry 'bout that. I haven't eaten for the past 24 hours because I was too worried about my mom." He explained.
Vincent just forced a smile at him, "I see… well then, let's get going now. Before we go to Tifa's house, I'll just treat you to dinner first. I haven't even had a bite myself because I had a hard time locating this place." He told him.
With that, Sephiroth went inside the room again and picked up his Masamune. "Gee, thanks." He said before heading over to Vincent again. "Mom's right. You're a nice guy." He told him frankly.
Vincent felt a little stunned, "Really?" he asked, feeling his cheeks getting warmer.
Sephiroth laughed in his usual "Mwahahahahaha!" as he slapped Vincent's back… quite hard, that Vincent almost fell off from the stairs as they were going down. "Uhm… anyway, where do you want to eat?" Vincent asked.
Sephiroth thought for a while before remembering something and his face lit up a little even though his eyes looked serious, "Does Tifa serve food in her 7th Heaven bar?" he asked.
"If you ask nicely, she'll feed you." Vincent replied with a slight smile on his face. He could sense something good in Sephiroth already… and he sensed that he could be friends with him. Very good friends.
Sephiroth shook his head. "Nah… I think I'll just have drinks there later… oh wait, what about in the Wall Market? There are restaurants there, right?" he asked.
"From what I can remember from my Turk days, yes. I haven't been there for a long time." Vincent told him. Sephiroth laughed gleefully, "Mwahahahaha! Cool! Let's have dinner there!" he declared.
"Hey, Cloud, where's Tifa?" Aerith asked as she entered their room.
Cloud turned around from the window where he was staring at the ShinRa Tower. "Oh. Hi, Aerith." He greeted with a smile on his face. "Tifa's in her bar, working." He continued.
Aerith felt a little dismayed. "Oh… I was wondering if I could talk to her or something…" she said softly.
"About what?" he asked. She just giggled. "Oh you know… girly stuff. Tee hee!" she told him playfully before she sat down on the bed. He watched her as she moved to the bed and sat down before he sat down on the windowpane. "I'm sorry if you can't leave the house, Aerith. You know how dangerous it is… you understand, don't you?" he asked.
She smiled sweetly. "Oh, Cloud. It's alright if I had to stay in this house all day as long as you are here to keep me company." She said.
He blushed at what she said. "R…really?" he asked rather softly.
"But can't I help in Tifa's bar?" she asked.
Cloud blinked and frowned slightly as he shook his head. "I'm sorry, but you can't." he told her before he scratched his head, "Why are you so restless anyway?" he asked rather frankly.
Aerith fell silent for a few seconds before saying, "It's just between me, Rufus, Sephiroth and Lucrecia." And she winked at him before she got up from the bed and went over to the door.
"Where are you going? I'm not yet finished with you!" Cloud called out, jumping onto her and grabbing her from behind. They both laughed happily as they spun around oh how sweet in circles until they both fell onto the bed, feeling dizzy, but they were still laughing.
"Oh Cloud, I missed you." She said softly as she gazed up dreamily at the ceiling. She could feel his strong grip on her stomach, like he doesn't have the intention to let her go.
He smiled softly as he smelled her hair, but he did not say anything back to her. Silently, he was just thinking, "I missed you too, Aerith… and I don't want you to go away again…"
"Damn!" Tifa cursed out loud as she stomped her way to the door and flipped the "Closed" sign to "Open". "How the bloody hell could I forget to flip the sign?! So that's why nobody's coming in for the past three hours ever since I opened!" she muttered to herself as she placed her hands on her hips before proceeding back to the counter.
The whole day, she had felt a little disturbed and stressed out because of mass panic… ShinRa is back and Barret is beginning to plot against its downfall once more.
The television set in her bar is switched on and is on the news channel. The news channel had been airing news about ShinRa and its new plans for the year now that it's back.
She thought twice upon getting herself a drink… "Maybe something light or else I might end up getting more drunk than the usual drunkards going to this place." She told herself silently before going to the refrigerator. As she did so, she heard the front door open. "Welcome. What do you want?" she asked mindlessly without even looking at the person who just entered. She just listened to the footsteps of the person and the creak of the stool as he seated himself. "Do you have anything strong?" he asked in his cool low voice bearing the accent of a Nibelheim-raised person like herself with the air of arrogance of a person from Sector 1 of Midgar.
"What kind?" she asked before facing him. Her eyes widened upon seeing such a handsome stranger. He had blonde hair and blue eyes almost similar to Cloud's, but this stranger's eyes seem to appear emotionless and quite blank.
Rufus ShinRa stared unbelievably at her and suddenly lost his words.
She forced a kind smile at him. "What kind?" she repeated.
He snapped out of his trance. "Maybe she doesn't recognize who I am… thank goodness I messed up my hair after leaving the Wall Market." He thought silently, minding his own blonde locks that weren't brushed back as usual. He raked his fingers through his hair before shrugging. "What's your specialty? I'd like to have it." He told her.
She thought for a while before saying, "Final Heaven?"
He frowned slightly. "Final Heaven?" he asked.
"Yes. Final Heaven." She told him.
He raised his eyebrows at her, "Never heard of that drink before in other bars…" he began.
"That's because I invented it and it's exclusive only here." She said simply before turning to a cupboard by the refrigerator to get the ingredients.
"Well then what's in it?" he asked.
She turned back slightly to him and winked. "Something strong, just like what you want." She replied before turning away again.
Rufus frowned at what she said. "Such a smart aleck you are." He muttered with a slight smile on his face.
She took it as a compliment and giggled as she started making the drink.
While waiting for his drink, he could hear her humming a tune… and it sounded like the music played during his Welcoming Ceremony in Junon. "I see you like that?" he asked.
"Like what?" she asked.
"The parade music played during Rufus's Welcoming Ceremony." He pointed out.
That triggered it. The way he pronounced his own name… it made Tifa realize that he is indeed that person. "So that's why there's a striking resemblance…" she thought silently before replying, "The news about his father's parade has been aired all throughout the stations, and since I heard his loud blaring music while his float passed by Sector 7 yesterday, it was simply too striking and annoying at the same time, so I try to think of other ways to prevent that music from getting stuck in my head by thinking of other parade music that I've heard of in the past. Fortunately, there's his son, Rufus and his welcoming tune. It sounds much better than his father's." she explained while shaking a small bottle of some alcoholic beverage that Rufus hasn't even heard of before. She poured its contents together with the other ingredients for Final Heaven.
He raised an eyebrow. "Oh really?" he asked, feeling somewhat perplexed on why a single person should like hearing his tune rather than his father's. "Well at least mine's better." He thought silently as he mindlessly turned his attention to the TV.
"Tomorrow the reconstruction for Mako reactors and a new set of laws and policies will be regulated and put into action. This is according to the President, whom we were able to interview just this afternoon after his lunch with some of the most important people in society…"
"Liar. Looks like Old Man found a way to control the media as well… Hmf…" he thought angrily to himself. He shook his head in annoyance before turning away from the TV and muttered, "Most important people in society? Bah. It's just the Don. Bloody hell…" he was interrupted when she spoke up, "What are your views about that issue?"
He was surprised by the question, but he still answered like it was no big deal… although his anger is clearly mirrored in his eyes. "Someone should assassinate President ShinRa so that his son would take over again. I think his son is much of a better ruler than him. Controlling the world with money… hmf." He flipped his hair.
"So you think that controlling the world with fear, as said by President Rufus, is the best way of getting things done?" she asked before turning her head to the side, looking at his reaction from her peripheral vision. "Honestly, sir, the salutation President is better combined with Rufus's name. Don't you think so?" she asked, meaning it as a compliment, and also as a means to see if it could trigger something further in him… like a positive reaction (i.e. a smile or his cheeks blushing… or just acting uncomfortably) which could prove to her further that this person is really Rufus ShinRa.
But Rufus still maintained his poker-faced expression. "Anyway, what Rufus had meant by controlling the world with fear is for the sake that people will be more disciplined and would follow orders from the council of leaders… especially the President." He told her.
"But if you were Rufus, would you do the same?" she asked.
"Definitely. Money can run out. Personality is forever. If he followed his father's footsteps, he'd get the same ugly results like what his father did… if he uses his own means, he'll achieve greater improvement in all aspects of society." He turned to the TV. "In my point of view, he never wanted to become like his Old Man…" he said softly.
Tifa bit her lower lip as she slowly bowed down her head.
Rufus just lowered his gaze to his hands before proceeding, "But if I were in Rufus's shoes and he'll become the President after his Old Man dies, I won't go into desperate measures already of disciplining the citizens and wiping out all the threats in the society all in one blow. Of course, I'd like immediate results, but you can't really hurry everything around here, can you? Because if I did rush everything, I would end up getting messier results… probably much messier than his Old Man's… So I'll probably result to changing a few systems around here in Midgar and around the Planet first… like propose the discontinued use of Mako Reactors to distribute energy and power all throughout the Planet. I'm sure there are other planetary fuels around there that cannot do much harm to the Planet and to the people… and definitely, I'll be revising the constitution and make new laws that will benefit not only my business and my family but also the other people. The skies in Midgar will be much clearer than what we have right now…" he looked up at her, observing her long dark hair, since she had her back to him. "…and while I'm Vice President, I'll make sure it starts happening now… but Old Man is stubborn so…" he trailed off when he realized what he had just said. He suddenly felt somewhat nervous as she slowly turned around to face him. She looked a little surprised; her crimson eyes staring wide-eyed at him. She was holding a wine goblet with this red liquid that smelled somewhat fruity and it has some ice in it too. She approached him with a blank look on her face, and Rufus stared cautiously at her, though his facial expression remained as emotionless as ever.
Tifa placed the goblet before him and then she bent down and leaned forward, resting her elbows on the counter as she stared directly into his blue eyes. She smiled gently at him, "Your secret's safe with me, President Rufus." She said softly.
He just stared at her for a few moments without saying anything before looking away from her, discontinuing the eye contact. He felt somewhat uncomfortable staring into other people's eyes, in fear that they might be able to see through his cold and selfish exterior and know that deep inside, he is a very sensitive person after all. With that, he took the goblet and sniffed it. It smelled so good that he had the immediate urge to drink it, but he only took around two sips before he got used to the taste and decided to drink up the rest. He stopped when he reached halfway and placed the goblet onto the table again. She was studying the look on his face and his reaction to the drink. "Slow down; it's too early to get drunk," she told him with a playful look on her face.
He frowned as he stared at the red liquid inside the goblet, "Are you sure this is strong stuff? It tastes sweet… almost fruity… like it's watermelon…" he described.
"That is strong stuff. Believe me. Once you finish it, it's like you'll be in the highest of the highest heaven ever imagined." She told him.
"Oh really?" he asked, unconvinced.
"Yes." Was all she said with a slight smile on her face.
He put down the goblet on the counter and just shrugged. "I think I'd like to save the side effects for later… right now, I'm easy. Whether I'll get knocked-out after finishing this or not…" he leaned forward. "So, what is your name?"
"Tifa Lockheart." She told him, holding out a hand.
Rufus shook it. "As you had previously discovered… Rufus ShinRa," he said in a low tone.
The bartender, upon releasing his hand, smiled. "It's good to have you back, Mr. President."
Before Rufus could reply, he heard a beeping sound from his pocket. "Pardon me," he said, holding up a hand. He turned around and took out his phone. Tifa curiously looked over his shoulder, and saw that before he could get to the SMS, his phone flashed a "Battery Empty" and died. "Oh… bloody hell. Oh well, I'm sure it's nothing important," he muttered before turning back to Tifa.
"He's not replying, sir," Reno told Tseng, who was pressing buttons on his PHS.
Tseng cursed in Wutaian as the recorded, The subscriber cannot be reached. Please try again, played on his handset. "Of all times for his phone to die…" he muttered.
"What are we going to do, sir?" Elena asked, looking at her watch. "How long does President ShinRa intend to be here, anyway?"
"Well… we'll be here for quite some time…" Tseng said, biting his thumb. "Problem is, the President will want to see the girl along with Vice President Rufus… so even if we find him, we'll have trouble making things up again…"
The Turks fell silent, deep in thought.
Suddenly, Reno laughed. "Hey, Rude… ya got Tifa's number, right?"
Rude blushed, but weakly nodded in reply.
"Why don't we give her a call? So that when we find Rufus, President ShinRa will be convinced that his son really did it."
Elena gasped. "Reno! You can't just call a girl and tell her to act like a prostitute?!"
"Well, it's for the presidential kid, right? I'm sure she'd do it for ShinRa…" Reno said, shrugging.
"Tifa isn't that kind of woman," Rude told him in a defensive way.
Silence.
"Okay, you, you and you! Go to Seventh Heaven and talk to her. This is our plan…" Tseng began while eyeing Rude, Reno and Elena with a sly smile on his face.
"I don't think I can finish this anymore, Tifa." Rufus muttered in a miserable manner as he shoved the goblet away from himself.
"Why not?" she asked, feeling a bit disappointed.
"Well… I might not be able to return to the Honeybee Inn. I think I have to return there before Old Man finds out that I just went off. The Turks can't ward him off forever off my arse. I've explained it to you earlier about the marrying thing, right?" He replied.
She chuckled lightly, "I see… well then," she took the goblet and downed the remaining contents in almost one gulp.
Rufus looked at her weirdly. "I see… you must have a high tolerance for alcohol…"
"(Hic) I should, I work with it," she answered.
Rufus frowned. "Oh no… you're completely arseholed, aren't you?" (AN: arseholed is a British term for "drunk")
She giggled. "No. I was just playing with you…" She looked up when she heard the doors open. "Oh, welcome back Vincent! And…?" she trailed off when she saw who he was with.
Rufus smiled slightly upon seeing them. "Well, well, well… Vincent and Sephiroth… How pleasant of you to join us." He told them as he got up and then shook hands with them, surprising Tifa with that kind of gesture that he has made in front of her.
"Hey, Rufus," Sephiroth greeted as he slapped his friend's back.
"Ow! Bloody hell…" Rufus reacted in annoyance.
Sephiroth just laughed. "Mwahahahaha! So, I thought you're in ShinRa again, but what are you doing in this place?" he asked before turning to Tifa and smiled slyly at her, "Hmm… flirting with the lady, eh?" he asked.
"It's not what you think, Sephiroth," Rufus muttered with a stiff look on his face as he flipped his hair.
"I almost did not recognize that you are Rufus ShinRa because of your hair." Vincent told him while staring at his hair.
Rufus just flipped his hair. "Well, it's necessary to style it this way if I'm running away from Old Man for a while. I thought of coming over here because I knew I'd find you blokes here."
"How perceptive of you…" Vincent muttered as he sat down. "Tifa, a cup of tea, please…"
"And crumpets. Mwaahahah!" Sephiroth said, poking Vincent at the ribs.
The man frowned. "Are you mocking me?"
"Yeah. You're almost addicted to tea and crumpets. I don't see what's so tasty about 'em…" he answered.
"Here's your tea! And some honey, since you're cutting down on your sugar!" Tifa said, serving Vincent tea.
"You're skinny and you're dieting?!" Rufus asked in disbelief.
Rufus surveyed Vincent's frame as he eyed him from head to toe, "Indeed… I could've sworn that you're even sexier than Tifa here." He joked with a serious look on his face.
Vincent breathed in deeply, forcing himself not to be annoyed and just sipped his tea.
"Mwahaha! If you keep that up, you might get sexier than my mommy!" Sephiroth added, chortling. Tifa giggled.
He slammed his cup on the table. "Stop this foolishness this instant. Let's just discuss our plans calmly and seriously, as gentlemen would…"
"Gentlemen?" Rufus asked with a look of curiosity on his face. It was pretty obvious to Vincent that he was making fun of him.
"Ladies and gentlemen." Sephiroth corrected.
Silence.
"For one second, I thought you were mocking me. My sincerest apologies…" Vincent began, but Sephiroth snickered, "Hey, I said ladies; not lady."
Silence.
"Bloody brilliant!" Vincent said sarcastically.
"Alright, alright… let's just get this over with before other people start coming in here." Tifa told them as she sat down on the counter.
"What are your plans?" Sephiroth asked, turning to Rufus as he sat down on one of the stools.
Rufus walked over to the door. "First of all, Old Man should…" he flipped the door sign to "Closed". "…die. If you think that's violent, then exiled." He told them.
Tifa got off from the counter and walked over to the door. "I think exiled…" she flipped the door sign to "Open". "…is the right thing to do." She told him.
Rufus just stared at her. He flipped the door sign again. "How do we go about exiling Old Man?"
"Tie him up, tar and feather him and ship him off to Wutai?" Sephiroth asked.
Tifa flipped the sign again to "Open". "No, Bone Village would be more appropriate for a person like him." She said.
"But Old Man isn't the only one that we should get rid of," Rufus said as he flipped the sign again.
Tifa raised an eyebrow at him, but before she could protest to his behavior towards the door sign, Sephiroth chimed in, "Oh yes. There's the Don and… Hojo."
Vincent twitched slightly upon hearing the last name to be mentioned. He took a sip of tea and then put down the cup. "Count me in when you're off to getting rid of Hojo." He told them.
Tifa flipped the door sign once again. "Why the bloody hell did President ShinRa, the Don and Hojo had to come back with you guys again when you were revived?" she asked.
"We don't know." Rufus replied as he flipped the door sign again.
"Will you stop flipping that?" she protested as she flipped the door sign once more.
Rufus just stared blankly at her before flipping it again.
"Oh I give up," Tifa just crossed her arms. "Who were those with you when you got revived?" she asked.
Rufus flipped his hair, "Myself, Sephiroth, Aerith, Tseng, Old Man, Lucrecia, Hojo and Don Corneo… also Palmer, Heidegger and Scarlet." He replied.
"Just those?" Vincent asked.
"That's what I know." Rufus said.
Silence.
Sephiroth started snickering, "Actually, there's another one…" he told them. All eyes turned to him before he proceeded. "…but it's not important anymore. The important thing is, I got rid of him. Mwahahahahahahaha." He told them.
Silence.
"Anyway, back to business," Rufus walked back to one of the stools and sat down. "But I think Old Man is easy to get rid of… if I can get his arse-kissing executives on my side." He told them.
"How?" Sephiroth asked.
Rufus sighed. "I don't know." He replied.
Silence.
"Brilliant." Vincent muttered.
"Splendid, Rufus, just splendid." Tifa said.
"But since we still cannot think of a little plan to get the executives to go on my side, we'll just think of ways to prevent Old Man's plans from being successful." Rufus said.
"And what are those plans?" Vincent asked.
"First of all, to find a suitable wife for me… but that's not important right now… so we'll go to the second: Rebuilding of Mako Reactors. Third is to expand the business. Fourth is to hire more SOLDIER members… Fifth is to make Don Corneo his business associate. Sixth is to finance all of Hojo's projects. Seventh is to make Sectors 1 and 2 the most beautiful ones in Midgar… and leave out all the other lower sectors, especially this one." Rufus said.
They were all silent for a few moments before Sephiroth pointed out, "Can I just kill him? You know, I can hear my Masamune talking to me and saying 'hey Seph! Feed me! I'm craving for fat men's blood! Hee hee!'" he said, imitating a squeaky voice.
Tifa laughed at his imitation.
Vincent and Rufus just raised an eyebrow at him.
"You are still weak. You're not as strong as before. If you ask me, I still feel a little shaken." Rufus told him.
Sephiroth felt a little dismayed. "You're right… and I think it will take us around two years before we could recover from this…" he mumbled.
Tifa thought for a while before finally saying, "Maybe me and the other AVALANCHE members can help."
Rufus and Sephiroth turned to her. "That would be greatly appreciated, Tifa." The former said with a serious look on his face.
"Hey, AVALANCHE has always been anti-ShinRa… but in this case, anti-President ShinRa." She said with a wink.
Vincent nodded. "Tifa and I will talk to Barret about this, you need not worry, Rufus." He reassured.
Rufus just nodded in reply before glancing at his watch. "Blimey, I have to go." He said before reaching for his wallet and pulled out 1000 Gil. "Keep the change." He told her simply before waving goodbye to Sephiroth and Vincent.
Tifa watched him as he exited and walked away from her bar, feeling somewhat stunned.
Sephiroth nudged Vincent with a silly smile on his face. Vincent wondered why.
With that, Tifa sighed heavily and bowed down her head. "I forgot to thank him." She said softly.
"What did you serve him anyway and he's paying you?" Vincent asked.
Sephiroth laughed at her, "I know what you did! Mwahahaha!"
POW!
….moments later, Vincent was nursing Sephiroth's black eye while Tifa was cleaning some glasses. Sephiroth growled at her, "I was gonna say that you served him a drink, Teef. So you're the green-minded one!"
Tifa stopped wiping a goblet with the washcloth that she was holding.
Vincent smiled weakly at her before turning to Sephiroth, "Uhm… stop it. Glass shards against your skin won't be too easy to take care of," he warned.
Tifa just proceeded to clean the goblet.
The door suddenly burst open and she just mindlessly said, "Pleasant evening." Without even looking at who those people are. Sephiroth and Vincent remembered that Rufus flipped the sign to "Closed" earlier, and Tifa was not even able to flip it back to "Open". What if those are goonies?
They turned to look at the newcomers, and then were surprised to find out that those were three of the Turks: Elena, Rude and Reno.
"…Turks?" Vincent asked.
Tifa looked up at her 'customers'. "Er… are you here for drinks?"
"Eh… not exactly…" Elena said, scratching her head as she was unsure of how to explain the situation to her. It's hard enough to make her cooperate, but dammit!... Does Sephiroth and that Valentine guy have to be here?!
"We have a favor to ask of you, Miss Lockheart," Reno said.
Tifa frowned. "What is it? Is it some Turk assignment you're asking help for?"
"Er… well… yes and no." Elena said.
"Hold on a moment, aren't you supposed to be guarding the Honeybee Inn since the President is there?" Tifa asked.
"How did you know---?!" Reno and Elena both exclaimed in unison.
"Your boss was here and he and Miss Lockheart…" Sephiroth just trailed off when Tifa waved her fist at him. He just snickered.
"Oh cool! You interacted!" Reno said happily.
"This will make it a lot easier!" Elena said, jumping up and down before rushing to Tifa. "You see President ShinRa wants Sir Rufus to find the girl of his dreams in the Honeybee Inn with the help of Don Corneo who made a deal with President ShinRa that he'll give one of his girls to Rufus so that Rufus will finally have his mind made up instead of him having a birthday party on the twenty-third of December and it's gonna be like a Cinderella party wherein all the young ladies of Midgar are invited so that Rufus can choose a bride for himself for his future but you know I don't really see the point of that but anyway, President ShinRa asked us where Rufus is and since Rufus is out here somewhere and not at the Honeybee Inn, Boss Tseng and the rest of us Turks just devised a plan wherein we switched on the TV in the #$% Room since the Don had that #$% Room reserved for Rufus and so the TV station's in the porn station and then have an imaginary girl invented but Rude made a booboo and now we have to find a girl with the same name as the one he mentioned and so Boss Tseng's left in the Honeybee Inn while we're out here looking for you because you're the girl that Rude had mentioned to President ShinRa and he said that you're the one inside the #$% Room with Sir Rufus doing some honky-honkies with him! Heeheeheehee!" Elena giggled.
Silence.
"I only understood the last part." Sephiroth said with a naughty smile on his face.
"Could you translate that for us?" Vincent asked, turning to Reno and Rude.
"Elena, you really talk too much." Reno muttered to her as he slapped her butt and laughed victoriously. "Okay… to make the long story short, we kinda told President ShinRa that Rufus's girlfriend goes by the name of Tifa." He told them.
Silence.
Elena pulled his hair, his yelp in pain breaking the silence.
Tifa stared unbelievably at the Turks.
Sephiroth laughed.
"But don't worry, the Tifa that we mentioned is the Daughter of the ambassador from Gongaga." Rude said weakly.
"But Gongaga doesn't have an ambassador and the name is not from Gongaga!" Sephiroth pointed out.
"You're not helping, Sephiroth," Tifa growled.
"Mwahahahahaha!" he laughed.
"And so we just decided to ask for your help… like pretend to be Rufus's girlfriend? We'll really be in trouble if President ShinRa finds out about it." Elena explained.
"Yeah… and Rufus will definitely be in deep shit too if his Old Man finds out about this." Reno said.
"So, what do you say? Are you willing to help us?" Elena asked.
Tifa stared unbelievably at them. "No!" she replied before walking out of the bar.
The whole room was silent for several moments.
"What now?" Rude asked.
"We kidnap her." Reno said with a mean smile on his face.
"Oh no, you don't!" Sephiroth said.
"What do you want us to do, disguise Mr. Valentine over here as Tifa, daughter of the ambassador of Gongaga?" Reno countered sarcastically.
"You know, that's not a bad idea…"
Vincent snarled. "Now's not the time to spout such nonsense."
Sephiroth just laughed at him.
"Well then what?" Elena asked, feeling panicky all of a sudden as she sat down on one of the stools. "We have to convince her somehow!" she continued.
"Why not just pick up a random girl out in the streets?" Sephiroth suggested.
"Rufus would definitely despise that." Vincent pointed out.
Silence.
"Then how?" Reno asked.
Rufus finally returned to the Honeybee Inn, just in time when President ShinRa arrived.
"Oh, hello, son!" President ShinRa greeted with a pleased smile on his face.
Rufus just ignored him.
"Heard you've already made up your mind, huh? Why didn't you tell me that you're seeing someone already?" he asked.
Rufus raised his eyebrows at his father before turning to Tseng. Tseng smiled uncomfortably at him. Rufus eyed him like, "What the bloody hell did you tell Old Man?!" before saying out loud to President ShinRa, "I'm exhausted. I'd like to go home now," and turned to Tseng. "We need to talk," he said before proceeding outside.
President ShinRa urged Tseng to follow. "I'll just pay the bills, the two of you go ahead to the limo." He instructed.
Rufus stepped outside with Tseng. As soon as they reached the limo, Rufus bellowed, "What the bloody hell did you just do?! And where are the other Turks?"
Tseng swallowed hard. "Erm… they're looking for your girlfriend, sir… eheh…" he said weakly.
"What bloody girlfriend are you talking about?" he demanded.
Tseng felt like shrinking as he explained to Rufus; and while he was explaining, Rufus also felt like the whole world just ended up on his shoulders. "You just made things worse!" Rufus snapped in annoyance before turning away. Anger and worry could be seen in his face while his back was turned against Tseng, but when he decided to face him again, he returned to his normal poker-faced expression. "Listen you…" he began, but was interrupted when President ShinRa arrived. "So, sonny boy! Where's that girlfriend of yours?" he asked.
Rufus shot dagger looks at Tseng before answering to his father, "She left. She had to go home." He lied.
Tseng felt somewhat relieved. "I thought he wouldn't play along! Thank goodness he's a good actor!" he thought silently. "Yes, your Excellency! That's why the other Turks are not here because they escorted her back to her house." He told the President with a slight smile on his face.
"I see… but I'd like to meet the girl!" President ShinRa said.
"Too bad, you can't." Rufus said with a sarcastic smile on his face before he got inside the limo, followed by President ShinRa who told him, "The two of you are going strong?"
"Stronger than ever, daddy." Rufus muttered with sarcasm.
As the car began to move, President ShinRa proposed a plan, "I know what… I'll still throw a big masquerade ball on the 23rd for you… and we'll also announce to the world that you and your girlfriend are already engaged! Isn't that wonderful, sonny boy?! Har har har har har har har!"
Rufus felt his heart sink as he stared warningly at Tseng who was seated facing him beside President ShinRa. Tseng just smiled sheepishly and laughed lightly, "Eheh…" and cleared his throat before deciding to just look outside the window.
"I would like to protest against that plan of yours, daddy," Rufus began, but President ShinRa's laughter turned into a vicious and angry growl, "NO! I am your father and I will do as I please! I want to meet your future wife, you hear?!" and then his facial expression softened again. "The Turks mentioned that you've been together with her ever since after I got assassinated by that Sephiroth, is that true?" he asked.
Rufus did not answer, but President ShinRa took it as a "yes" and laughed joyfully again. "Where did you meet her?"
"Oh you wouldn't wanna know," Rufus muttered glumly as he looked outside the window.
"Come on, I want to know!" President ShinRa urged. But Rufus did not answer anymore. President ShinRa cleared his throat and frowned at him, "Well then, who are her parents?" he asked.
Rufus still refused to answer. With that, President ShinRa just shrugged and looked away from him, "Fine. If you don't want to cooperate with me, I'll just have her tracked down." He declared.
Rufus's eyes widened upon hearing that, but thought twice upon reacting. "Oh never mind… there's no Tifa from Gongaga as far as I'm concerned… he'll end up searching for nothing." He was thinking quietly before President ShinRa spoke up again, "On the 23rd, I want her to be there."
It triggered something in Rufus. "Perfect," he thought with a secret smile on his face.