ShinRa
By: General Quistis & Zhakeena
General Quistis's Note: Uhm… I'm so sorry for the very long delay, but at least the 12th chapter is here! I know Reno is very out of character in this one (almost like he's crazy) because of his morbidity, but there's a reason behind that. I'll let you know later on. ;) looks around for Zhakeena Oh yes, I wrote this chapter alone… all by myself… without my cousin's help! Wheee!!!!! o' turns glum again But I'll make her write some parts of the 13th chapter with me. Thanks also to my very good friend in this place, Kage, for offering to help in this fic.
And now, the show must go on… so…
It's show time!
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Chapter 12: The Girl in Black
"Who's there?" Barret called out from inside the house.
Vincent looked up from the newspaper that he was reading when he heard the knocking on the door.
"It's me, Cliff!" the familiar voice called out from outside.
Barret smiled slyly. "Gosh, I thought he'd forgotten about his stereo and scooter. I could just sell them if he just completely forgotten about those…" he muttered.
Vincent just rolled his eyes and proceeded to read. "Told you he'd come back to get them." He said.
Barret opened the door and he saw the young man panting hard but still trying hard to smile cheerfully, but in his eyes, worry could be clearly seen. "Hey, what's wrong? Been runnin' from the feds?" he asked.
Cliff stepped inside, still panting. "I… I just came from Midgar… and Mrs. ShinRa's with me… but I lost her… I don't know where she went!" he explained.
Barret raised an eyebrow. "Mrs. ShinRa?" he asked.
Vincent put down the newspaper and got up from the sofa. "He meant Tifa! Don't you remember that she married Rufus?" he asked as he approached Cliff. "What is Tifa doing here in Nibelheim?" he demanded.
"She wanted to visit Mister Rufus's grave but she just found out that it's empty…" Cliff explained.
"I thought that the foo' already met up with her? Doesn't she know that the blonde guy just had a make-over and quit using damn gel to make his hair fall to his face instead of brushing it back?" Barret asked with a confused look on his face.
"You know the plan, Mister Barret. Mister Rufus has a strategy." Cliff reasoned with a silly look on his face. "Look, we gotta look for her. Nobody should recognize her for now!" he continued with a serious look on his face.
Barret rolled his eyes and then turned to Vincent. "I don't even know why we're helping that ShinRa brat… but since Tifa's our old friend, let's get goin'." He said with a weak smile before stepping out of the house.
"Who's gonna guard the house?" Cliff asked as Vincent followed Barret.
"Yuffie went to the market to buy some food, Cid's out making rounds. They should be back in no time; but since you're here, you guard the house." Barret instructed before he completely got out of the house.
Cliff made a disgusted face before he shut the door. "Great. It's always me. I always end up guarding the house… oh well, at least this is the last time I'd be doing this. Good thing mom and dad decided to just move out of this dormitory." He muttered glumly before he sat down and got the newspaper that Vincent Valentine was reading moments ago. He flipped to the second page and saw an article there about Tiffany ShinRa and her upcoming 18th birthday celebration…
And he turned to her picture on the right side of the page and then read the caption, "A very rare smile from the ShinRa President."
He raised his eyebrows as he turned back to the picture. She was smiling. "Must be a candid shot," he thought.
Everybody knew that she seldom smiled; if she did, it would look mean and unbearable to look at.
But even so, he loved her smile.
Ever since he was a little boy, he's been seeing her pictures everywhere. He asked his father, Cloud, who she is, and that's when he said that she was Mister Rufus's daughter.
Rufus, the one they're helping.
Cliff chuckled lightly when he even recalled Barret telling him, "Why, you like that gal? Gotta warn you, though… don't be a darn foo' to fall in-love with a ShinRa. You'll end up dying in the end just like Tifa."
He recalled crying that day. He put down the newspaper. "Well, I was only 6 at that time…" he realized.
Then, another flashback returned to him; just after Barret had told him that, Rufus approached him and sat down beside him, patting his back. "What's the matter, Cliff? Did that big ol' bear say something mean against you again?"
The little boy sniffed, nodding his head.
Rufus just smiled calmly at him and gave him a reassuring pat on the shoulder. "Don't listen to him. I'm sure Tiffany will like you." He said reassuringly.
Cliff smiled at the memory and shook his head in disbelief. Rufus had been like a second father to him and he was the one who taught him how to use and fire a rifle and a shotgun and he was also the one who insisted on sending him to school and paid for everything, not even listening to Cloud and Aerith when they protested against letting Rufus pay for everything regarding Cliff's education. "At least let us pay for our share, Rufus," Cliff recalled hearing his mother telling Rufus that.
"No." was all Rufus had replied.
Cliff looked at the picture on the newspaper again and stared at it for couple of minutes before another flashback began to return to his mind… When it did so, his eyes grew wide in astonishment.
Cliff just got out of the school building and was about to go home when he passed by the cemetery. In front of the gate of the cemetery, he saw a black limousine parked diagonally, blocking the entire driveway. He was about to let it be but he stopped walking when a blonde little girl caught his attention. She was calling his attention. "Excuse me," she said.
Cliff turned to the little girl. She was a little bit shorter than he is. He did not speak.
The little girl was in all-black and he thought that she was a witch, but he dismissed the idea when he realized that she could be a passenger of the limo. She smiled at him. "I can't seem to find my manservant. Have you seen a redhead guy that's tall and looks like this?" she imitated a drunken face which made him laugh. "Haha! No, I haven't. Why?" he asked.
She giggled. "I've been running away from him ever since this morning when we arrived here in Nibelheim to visit my papa's burial site…I can't find him and I'm supposed to be heading home now. Today's my papa's death anniversary that's why we're here…" she explained with a mixed expression of sadness and gladness on her face.
Cliff thought for a while. "Who's your papa?" he asked.
Before she could answer, they heard a man's voice from somewhere.
"Tiffany!"
Cliff saw the man and it somewhat scared him that he ran away when the little girl was not looking.
He sighed, looking at the picture. "Okay… so that was her…" he muttered glumly.
Remembering the past and every picture he had seen of her on the newspapers, he realized that the reason why he really wanted to join SOLDIER is to be within ShinRa's grap… meaning, be able to be with Tiffany even if it's just a somewhat an outside factor. "But she goes to Junon, right?" he thought. Unless he gets to work in ShinRa main HQ in Midgar… He just laughed at himself, feeling so silly. "Crap… talk about having a dream like that…" he muttered miserably before he went over to the kitchen to get himself a glass of water.
Tifa stopped running when she could not take it anymore. Where would she go anyway? She felt so tired and all she wanted to do was fall to the ground and just sleep… forever. She was panting hard already as she leaned against an electric post, trying to catch her breath. No matter how hard she wanted to let out more of her tears, it would seem to her that her tear ducts had given up on her already after all those years of suffering alone without her Rufus and her daughter. Angrily, she pounded an angry fist against the electric post, causing it to slightly lean backward from its normal position. She saw some lights fluctuate from inside the homes within the area because of what she did. "Bloody hell…" she cursed before she caught sight of the well.
Several memories from the past flooded her mind when she saw the well…
Shrugging them off her thoughts, she retained composure before proceeding to the well. Slowly, she climbed up onto it just like how she did before when she was still younger. By the time she reached the top, she felt the cool Nibelheim breeze blow against her face. But she did not smile. She took a good look at the view from the top, and then sat down comfortably on the lid of the well. She remembered that she used to go there to relax, and at present, she just wanted to do the same.
"Ma'am, what are you doing up there? It's dangerous!" Tifa frowned when she heard the voice coming from down on the street. She did not remember that she did not have her sunglasses on, so she wondered why the person suddenly looked afraid and intimidated by her when she glared coldly at him. "Why? Is it illegal to climb up here and take a look at Nibelheim?" she demanded rather stiffly…
She reminded herself of her late husband.
The man stared curiously into her eyes… and examined her features and her clothes. She looked like a rich woman… and he has seen her before. "Hey, you're the woman from the train!" the man told her.
Tifa narrowed her eyes at him before she felt her heart skip a beat. "Bloody hell… it's Reno…" she thought in sudden panic. A strong breeze that came from the north suddenly blew off her wide-brimmed hat, exposing more of her facial features when the afternoon sun shed its gaze onto it…
Reno's eyes widened upon seeing her. It was like seeing a ghost. "You… you're dead!" he pointed out.
She just sat still and looked away. She was tired. If he would kill her, then may she die immediately so that she could join her husband already.
"Tifa Lockheart…" Reno said rather grudgingly with a smile on his face.
She got up and gazed down at him with a stuck-up look on her face… a look that he has never seen in her before. "ShinRa. Tifa ShinRa." She said arrogantly before flipping her hair. She wondered if her skills from her youth are still intact… because she thought of jumping off from that high place… in her high heels.
He just smiled mockingly at her. "You were never even a ShinRa to me… not ever! And you will never be a ShinRa!" he sneered at her.
"What, may I ask, are you doing in this place? Aren't you supposed to be in hell?" she asked snottily, feeling annoyed at what he said. She wanted to beat the crap out of him already, but she knew she must wait.
Reno laughed at what she said. "You're beginning to sound like your dead husband." He said airily.
"Dead because of you!" she jumped off, surprising him. She landed perfectly on the ground before him, her hands clenched into very tight fists. "Bloody thanks to you, my life became miserable." She told him stiffly with a slight grin on her face. "No more Miss Nice Girl." She told him.
"Hah. The whole world will know that you faked your death to get away with your crime of killing your husband." He told her mockingly.
"Lord knows I didn't do anything. You were the one who killed him. And to make things worse, you took away the only memory of him left to me!" she told him angrily.
He just smiled at her. "And what, I ask, is that?" he asked.
She did not answer anymore. She just attacked him.
Reno was not anticipating an attack because he thought she would not be able to move fast and well with her clothes and her heels. But he realized that he had underestimated her because she has been able to hit him five times already despite his dodging.
"If I know, you killed Rufus!" she snapped at him. "I did not! He died naturally of some sickness, whatsoever that was! Because he's a spoiled over-protected rich brat that's why his immune system cannot take it! Hahahahaha!" He mocked rather joyfully.
"Shut up, shut up, shut up!" she yelled angrily before reaching the borderline of her limit break.
"Damn. Dolphin Blow!" Reno thought. He got his weapon (which looks like an electrical rod) and prepared to meet her attack with it in defense. "So you just pretended to have died… where is Elena?" he demanded.
She ignored the question and just attacked him.
Rufus was just seated on the front porch with Cloud when Tiffany finally got out of the house. "Rufford," he began.
Rufus turned to her. "Yes, ma'am?" he asked.
"I think I know where she went." She told him.
Rufus's face lit up a little. "Oh? Where?"
"Nibelheim. It's where my father is buried. Maybe she wants to go there." She told him before going to the limo, but she realized that the tire is still flat. "Bloody hell! I thought we had a spare tire?!" she demanded from the driver rather angrily.
Cloud nudged Rufus, "She sure acts like you," he told him.
Rufus just flipped his hair with a proud smile on his face. "But with the graces of her mother." He answered as he got up and dusted his pants. Tiffany was marching to him with a frustrated look on her face. "Have a chopper sent here this instant. We're going to Nibelheim. I have to see her." She told him.
"Yes, ma'am." He told her before grabbing his mobile phone from his pocket and started dialing some numbers.
Tiffany waited rather impatiently, crossing her arms and tapping her right foot on the ground. She looked very worried and her heart was racing so fast, she could not even breathe properly.
"I think you should go inside for a moment while we are waiting for the helicopter to arrive." Cloud advised as he led her back inside the house again.
Aerith was in the kitchen with Elena, helping her bake some cookies. "Cloud?" she called out, wanting to make sure.
"Could you bring in here a glass of water? Miss ShinRa needs one." He called back as he let her sit down on the couch. "Now, calm down for a while. You need to reserve your energy for later." He told her.
She just took a deep breath, held it for ten seconds and then exhaled slowly. She leaned back on the couch. "I'm worried about my mother… what if Reno follows her and…" she trailed off when the phone began to ring.
Cloud instantly picked it up, "Yes?"
"Dad?" It was Cliff's voice.
Cloud frowned. His son sounded worried. "Yes, son?" he asked.
"Dad, Mrs. ShinRa is here in Nibelheim… and while we were on the train, that Reno guy was there too. He's got blank checks but I got them all here. Shall I have them delivered to Uncle Rufus?" Cliff asked.
"Blank checks? Reno?! W…wait a sec, where are you?" Cloud demanded as he got up.
"I'm here in Nibelheim at our old home where Uncle Vincent and Uncle Barret live. Mrs. ShinRa and I went over to the cemetery but when the caretaker told her that Uncle Rufus's body is missing, she freaked out and ran off. I couldn't catch her coz she's so darn fast, so I just went here. Uncle Barret and Uncle Vincent already went out to look for her and I can't leave because they asked me to guard the house." Cliff explained rather frantically.
Cloud scratched his head. "So Tifa has seen Reno already?" he asked.
"Yeah and I think she wants to kill him!" Cliff said.
At the mention of the name "Reno", Tiffany instantly looked at Cloud. "Who's that?" she asked.
Cloud held at hand at her, telling her to wait. Cliff proceeded, "Dad, if Reno finds out that she's alive, he might kill her for real!"
Cloud bit her lip for a moment of silence before telling him, "Hang on in there. Tiffany is heading for Nibelheim to look for her." And then hung up.
"What the bloody hell is going on?" Tiffany asked in confusion and worry.
"Reno is after your mother." Cloud told her.
"What?!" she demanded.
Aerith walked in and stared curiously at them. "What is going on in here?" she asked as she handed the glass of water to Tiffany. Tiffany took it and took a few sips before putting it down on the coffee table.
"Long story… but…" Cloud turned to face Tiffany, "If you will give me the permission, I could go with you. Reno is a dangerous person and it is only now that you have realized all the bad things he has done to your family. Your mother and father had been wanting to protect you from that bad guy and since I am their friend, I would like to help you." He told her reassuringly.
She just swallowed hard as she nodded while listening to the faint sound of the chopper landing on the helipad a few blocks away from them. "Let's go." She said.
Aerith bit her lip before grabbing Cloud's hand. "Wait. Let me come with you too." she said.
Cloud turned to Tiffany, but she just nodded. "Yes, yes. She may come with us. Let's go." She said before leading the way outside.
Tifa just kept on dodging Reno's attacks, although she was already having a hard time. "You are so stubborn, you know that?!" he demanded.
She did not answer; she just decided to fight back more. She gave him a strong blow on the face, sending him flying to the nearest wall.
She thought she was going to collapse to the ground because of fatigue, but she still managed to keep her balance intact. She was already panting hard and could not breathe well. She just eyed Reno with a disgusted look on her face while he was struggling to stand up… but she did not want to give him a chance, so she marched up to him with angry fists. "I'm going to murder him…" she was thinking angrily as she prepared to punch him again, making sure that his head would hit the brick wall hard enough to shatter his skull.
Reno just sneered at her, his back aching too much from the way he hit the hard wall. He instantly grabbed his gun from the secret pocket of his blazer. "Forgot I had these. A Turk must never leave home without this." He muttered victoriously to himself before aiming the weapon stealthily at her.
But she was not afraid of it. She still proceeded, even if she knows that it could kill her.
And he fired.
She instantly dodged the first bullet; …and the second, and the third… but when he fired consecutively again, she got hit on the right shoulder. She cringed in pain but she still managed to come near him. She used her left fist to punch his head, causing him to fall sideways to the ground with her.
She still struggled to fight him, her blood spilling onto his face.
Impatient, he clenched his other fist and gave her a blow on her stomach. He pushed her away from him, causing her to fall to the hard ground. He instantly got up, watching her struggle as he stepped slightly on her neck. "I could just kill you right now… but I'm wondering how you managed to still live such an extravagant life despite you being away from ShinRa. Obviously you have your own moolah, but where are you keeping it? I need to know… because you stole my blank checks. So maybe I could get your money instead of looking for them." He told her.
She just eyed him angrily. "What happened to you?" she asked softly. She could feel herself getting weaker by the moment.
He just sneered at her before he removed his foot from her neck and just stomped on her stomach, causing her to vomit some blood. She struggled for some time, not saying anything. Her thoughts lingered some place else, but she could not determine where. All she could see was red and white…
"ShinRa…" she mouthed softly.
Her husband's words whirled around her thoughts. "Old man tried to control the world with money…"
She narrowed her eyes before finally closing them. And as she slowly lost her consciousness, the words were lingering around her thoughts: "But I do things differently: I control the world with fear…"
I control the world with fear.
I control the world with fear.
I control the world with fear.
I control the world with fear.
I control the world with fear…
Fear.
"Fear… is… power…" she whispered hoarsely.
Reno watched heartlessly as her breathing slowed down. Her pale face was splattered with her own blood and her clothes torn and tattered. Her white gloves were dirty and also had bloodstains on them.
Carefully, he lifted her up and carried her away…
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