ShinRa
By: GQ and Zhakeena
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Chapter Thirteen: The Man Behind
"Where is the President? Doesn't she know that we have a meeting scheduled at this hour? She's already 15 minutes late!" Scarlet remarked with an annoyed look at her face as she pounded an angry fist on the conference room table.
"And your point is?" Heidegger asked rather boredly.
"My point is, she hasn't been late before." She protested.
Reeve remained seated with a serious look on his face as he went over his report, marking important points with his pen. Scarlet turned to him, "Do you know where she is?" she asked.
"I have no idea." Reeve replied.
"If you want to know where she went, ask Reno." Heidegger told her.
"And where is Reno? He's not here, right? I'm sure he's somewhere out again… Kyah! In a bar in Sector 5 or 7…" she muttered before pounding an angry fist on the table, "He is under you, why don't you try punishing him for going against the rules?" she asked. Heidegger was surprised at her, "Well he is a Turk, and a very good one! He's just out there patrolling the place." He said.
Reeve looked at them. "Are you going to discuss with President ShinRa about the funds?" he asked, wanting to change the subject.
"What funds?" Heidegger asked.
"Stupid! Stop acting as if you're blind or deaf and you don't know anything about ShinRa's funds?!" Scarlet demanded impatiently.
Heidegger just frowned at her as she got up and placed her hands on her hips, "It's very obvious that we're going bankrupt already." She announced.
"Bankrupt?" he asked in disbelief.
"Look at this," Reeve handed him his report on Urban Development projects. "That's just part of it. President ShinRa gave me enough funds for railroad projects and improvisation of roads in the lower sectors… but they just disappeared!" he pointed out in disbelief.
Heidegger and Scarlet studied the report with looks of awe on their faces. "Kyah! That's what's happening to my Weapons Department too! I'm supposed to be finished with five weapons for mass destruction already, but up to now I still haven't finished a single one of those!" the latter said. "Gyah! And lower-ranking Soldiers are complaining about getting the lowest pay!" the former pointed out.
"Oh I know what you mean… and I'm also getting not enough pay for my work!" she stated flatly.
"That's what we called this meeting for, right? We'll discuss with President ShinRa if she is aware of what's happening in our Company." Reeve told them.
Scarlet gasped, making them wonder. She stared at the report that Reeve had handed to her, "What if… what if one of us here is the culprit?" They all fell silent as she and Reeve eyed Heidegger suspiciously.
"Gyah! Don't look at me! Why would I even steal money from the President because I'm so afraid of her! Besides, I'm loyal to her grandfather and to her dad no matter what happens! I may be too old right now, but I've always treated her like my own daughter because whenever Reno is not around to take care of her, she always goes to me! I pity the poor child when she's all alone. She…" Heidegger lowered his gaze to the floor with a solemn smile on his face, "…she got her mother's eyes… and I feel somewhat guilty for hating Miss Lockheart way back. Looking back from when we used to hate her, I feel so guilty about it… and it's only now that I realized how well she had meant for us here in ShinRa… and that everything improved when she came into President Rufus's life… and then he died…" he stopped as he felt himself nearing tears. "Gyah! What am I saying! I'm getting too sentimental here! Gyahahah!" he laughed weakly as he wiped his tears away, preventing them from falling.
Scarlet sniffed too. "Kyahahah… don't be ridiculous, Heidegger… sniff… Kyah…" she sat down and laughed shamefully. "To be honest with you men… I'm blaming Reno for everything…" she said through clenched teeth and with a bitter smile on her face. "He's been acting too… edgy… and he seems to distance himself from the rest of us… he even killed his own best friend! What is wrong with that asshole? Is he on drugs or something?" she asked in annoyance.
"I've noticed it too… he behaves… rather differently compared to way back before." Reeve pointed out.
Heidegger slowly looked up at him upon hearing that. "Oh my dear stars…" he began. "What's wrong?" Reeve asked.
Heidegger took a deep breath before shaking his head in refusal to answer, "N…never mind… it could be another thing…" he muttered.
Reeve and Scarlet just stared at him curiously before the latter reacted, "Kyah! Don't tell me you know something about it?!"
"But I did not…" Heidegger trailed off. He almost said it.
Scarlet got up and went to him, collaring him angrily, "You did not what? Come on! Say it! Do you have anything to do with any of the shit going on around here in ShinRa?!" she snarled. Reeve rushed over to her and pulled her away from Heidegger, "Hey, stop it. Enough, Scarlet," he said. Scarlet straightened herself up as she squirmed away from his grasp. "Kyah! If I ever find out that you were the one who plotted President Rufus's death and Miss Lockheart's demise, I'm going to…" she began, but Heidegger interrupted her, "Since when did you start caring for Miss Lockheart while we all know how much you hated her…"
"Alright, alright! Stop it now, you two!" Reeve snapped impatiently. He took a deep breath before proceeding, "We have to talk about this as calmly as possible… and as private as possible. Just the three of us, alright? I know how loyal the two of you are to the ShinRas, and so am I. So let's help solve this problem by discussing this and being honest with one another, okay?" he turned to Heidegger with a probing look on his face, "Now, Heidegger, tell us what you know. Who knows, it could be the key for our success again!" he urged.
Heidegger scanned the looks on his companions' faces. Scarlet was still eyeing him angrily but Reeve seems to be calm about it. He swallowed hard. He felt so nervous as he began, "S…since Professor Hojo is dead… I guess… no one will threat me anymore…"
Reeve and Scarlet stared unbelievably at him. "Hojo?" the latter asked.
Heidegger nodded before he got up, "…he was performing experiments before regarding brainwashing… and he wanted to test it on a human subject. We both discussed this over a bottle of vodka several years ago…. And I jokingly told him, 'Try using one of my Turks… like Reno, perhaps?' and I guess he took it seriously…"
"Brainwashing?" Reeve asked.
"Not the type where you forget things. It works like this: once the formula is injected into your system or you drink it, it will be present in your bloodstream for several years unimaginable! It will modify things in your consciousness and sub-consciousness, making you… act differently compared to how you've always acted. The effects are not immediate and will only take place several years after it has been injected into your system. I thought the experiment was a flop because it was already years and I still notice a lot of the same stuff on Reno… until one time he just stopped drinking too much! And it was the time when President Rufus found the contract signed by his father and Tifa's... was it grandfather or father; I'm not sure… oh never mind… Oh, that's all I know!!!" Heidegger explained with an uneasy look on his face.
Scarlet wanted to faint, but she just pulled herself together as she sat down. "Kyah!!! And you've kept this for so long?! How could you… how could you do this?!" she screeched in panic.
"GYAH! Stop blaming me! I was afraid of Hojo! He threatened that if I told anybody else, he'd kill me!" Heidegger reasoned.
"Kyah! He's defenseless against your fat belly!" Scarlet snapped.
"Gyah!"
"Kyah!"
"Gyah!"
"Kyah!!!" Scarlet screamed.
"Okay, enough already!" Reeve stomped his foot impatiently on the floor. When the two stared unbelievably at him, he smiled sheepishly. "I'm sorry." He muttered. "But anyway, can't we discuss this more calmly?" he asked.
"What's there to be calm about this damn situation, you stupid Urban Development Dork?!" Scarlet demanded impatiently.
"Gyah! Yeah! We're in a state of calamity! Rufus is dead; his daughter's here with her mother… and honestly speaking, I don't think the girl really has what it takes to lead us!" he pointed out.
Reeve sat down beside Scarlet with a frown on his face, "Well… no. As long as Reno is the one guiding her, she won't be as good as any ShinRas before her, unfortunately…"
The woman in red puffed her cheeks. "Well, what do any of you intend to do about it?"
The other two frowned. "Gyah… why, you have a plan?"
Scarlet thought for a while before finally announcing, "We'll look for Miss Lockheart."
Reeve raised his hand at her, "Oh, correction. Mrs. ShinRa." He pointed out.
"Idiot. She's obviously in hiding. She wouldn't use that name," Scarlet snapped back. "So, we look for a Tifa Lockheart."
"Why don't we just get the list of all the Tifas in Midgar from the Statistics Office?" Heidegger suggested.
"That's a good idea… but we should move carefully and not let Reno know about this." Reeve told him with a pleased smile on his face.
"And what are we going to do once we locate the First Lady?" Heidegger asked.
"First of all, the two of you must apologize for being a bunch of dweebs. Second, we apologize for the misfortune that had happened to her." Reeve said with a serious look on his face.
Heidegger and Scarlet 'gyahed' and 'kyahed' at the mention of them being dweebs, but they grudgingly agreed to the parts of Reeve's plan. "Then what?"
"Then," Reeve continued, "we tell her everything that had happened, is happening and will be happening in ShinRa. In time, we'll figure out how to get Reno out of here."
"That's not going to be easy," Heidegger told him.
"Why not?" Scarlet asked.
Heidegger bowed down his head while shaking in dismay, rubbing his forehead with his hands. "Gyah… I'm always away going around checking the security of all our territories that I have no time warding him off on what's right or wrong." he sighed before looking up at them again, "I sort of told him that he can take charge of things here regarding the Peace Keepings Division… and I guess the SOLDIERs liked him… so…"
"Kyah… so you're saying that SOLDIER is on his side?" Scarlet asked.
Heidegger shrugged. "Not sure…" he said softly.
Scarlet shook her head. "This is so… bad!!!" she got up and walked out of the conference room, leaving Reeve and Heidegger there with troubled looks on their faces.
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"Careful, ma'am," Rufus said as he offered his hand to Tiffany, helping her go down the chopper a few moments after it landed on a helipad in the ShinRa Mansion.
"What is this place full of weeds?" she asked curiously.
"This is the ShinRa Mansion, ma'am… and the only helipad in Nibelheim is in this place. Don't you know?" Rufus asked.
Tiffany looked up at the tall edifice before shrugging. "Never really took a good look at this big place. Reno said it's just a big piece of trash to be left alone for the decomposers." She replied as she followed Cloud and Aerith towards the gate so that they could get out of the Mansion's territory. "Well, the gate is locked." Cloud declared.
Tiffany frowned slightly. "Oh that's easy," she muttered before pulling out her shotgun and shooting at the lock, almost succeeding to blow the gate off its hinges. She went ahead and almost left Cloud, Aerith and Rufus, who were still quite shocked.
"Whoa. She might be better than you, Ruffy," Aerith whispered to him.
"Please hurry up. I'm getting quite impatient with you people whispering to each other like that," Tiffany said. She was already well into the town and was tapping her foot.
The three adults quickened their pace and went after her, "Ma'am," Rufus began.
"Yes?" she asked mindlessly as she took a glance around her surroundings. The people on the streets began to whisper about her and stare curiously at her, wondering what on earth is she doing in Nibelheim at an unannounced instant such as that. "I think it's best for you to just stay in one place while Cloud, Aerith and I will just look around Nibelheim for you," he told her.
"And where will I stay here?" Tiffany asked.
"You can stay at our old house here." Cloud presented.
Tiffany thought for a while before protesting, "But I want to find my mother myself…" she began, but Rufus held up his hand to her—like he forgot that he is disguised as a Turk. Cloud and Aerith noticed this gesture, realizing that he had just brought out the father in him, but they just kept quiet.
"Miss Tiffany, I don't want anything bad happening to you… and I'm sure your mother would wish the same if she was here. So please, let us just keep you in one place and we'll do the searching for you." Rufus explained.
"Rufford is right, President ShinRa. Your mom and dad could only wish for your safety if they were here." Cloud pointed out.
Aerith approached her and offered a friendly hand to her. "Let's go, Miss Tiffany. I'll take you to our old house." She said. Tiffany looked at Rufus, as if searching for answers in his eyes, but he just stared blankly at her. She bowed down her head and took Aerith's hand with a sad smile on her face. "Thank you, Mrs. Strife," she said.
"Oh you can call me Auntie Aerith… and that's Uncle Cloud over there." Aerith said with a sweet smile on her face while giggling.
Tiffany chuckled lightly. "Alright then…" she said as she followed Aerith's lead, leaving Cloud and Rufus there.
"Are we going to wait for you here?" Cloud called out to his wife. "No, you go on ahead. I can find my way." She answered.
With that, Cloud and Rufus turned away and stared strangely at the town. Everyone was still gossiping.
"So what now?" Cloud muttered while eyeing the crowd.
"We ask the folks around here." Rufus muttered back before approaching one of the crowds. "Pardon me, madams," he began with a stiff tone.
The middle-aged women all stopped talking at once and turned to look at him with some sort of admiration. Cloud just shook his head in disbelief, "I can't believe this guy didn't end up like his father…" he thought silently.
"Yes, sir?" one of the ladies asked with a rather flirty look on her face.
Rufus just acted casually, "Have you noticed anything unusual here lately?" he asked.
"Like… having a handsome man like you around?" the lady asked. The others giggled. Then one of them answered, "And the fact that the President is here."
"Aside from those?" Cloud asked, stepping forward.
The ladies eyed him for a while before smiling at him, "Nothing, really." They replied simply.
"But I think there was some commotion by the well earlier today. It's this very poised woman fighting with this drunk. Since we didn't want any trouble, we just stayed away and pretended not to have seen anything." One of the ladies told them.
Rufus and Cloud's eyes widened in surprise. "A very poised woman fighting with a drunk?" the latter asked. "Tell me how this woman looks like?" the former instructed.
"What do you mean?" one of the ladies asked, raising an eyebrow at him, like feeling jealous or something.
"Are you dames a bunch of airheads or what? It's a simple question! How does she look like?!" Rufus demanded impatiently. Cloud held him back, "Hey, calm down," he warned before smiling apologetically at the alarmed ladies. "Does she have long hair…and what is she wearing?" he asked.
"She has long hair, definitely… and she was wearing a hat. She's wearing white…"
"It was black!" one of the ladies said.
"Well I think it's white!" the other one argued.
"What-evah." Rufus snapped. "And the drunk?" he asked.
"A redhead." The ladies all answered in unison.
Rufus felt his knees getting weak. "Bloody hell…" he thought silently before he started to walk away. Cloud went after him, "Rufus!" he called out.
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Tiffany and Aerith finally arrived at the house where Cliff was staying. Aerith opened the door and took a peek inside. "Surprisingly, the door isn't locked," she muttered.
"Is that such a bad thing?" Tiffany asked curiously.
"Who's there?" Cliff called out from the kitchen. Aerith's face lit up, "Cliff!" she called out.
Cliff arrived from the kitchen, looking surprised at the fact that his mother is there. "Mom!" he greeted as he ran to her, but stopped in his tracks when he realized that the President is standing behind his mother. "Oh… your Excellency." He greeted as he bowed down with an embarrassed smile on his face.
"Tiffany." She corrected promptly.
He took a deep breath, gathering enough guts to say her name. "T…Tiffany… right. Heheh." He repeated with a sheepish grin. Aerith just rolled her eyes with a look of disbelief on her face. "Please come in, Tiffany," she said as she stood aside, letting her enter the house. "Make yourself comfortable." She told her.
Tiffany stepped inside and Aerith shut the door.
"Get her something to drink. She'll be staying here until your father and… Rufford finds your Auntie Tifa." Aerith instructed her son. She almost said Rufus. Cliff rushed back to the kitchen to get a glass of water. Tiffany sat down on one of the couches and looked around at her current surroundings. "I wish my dad's alive…" she said softly.
Aerith blinked and sat down beside her. "Why do you say so?" she asked.
"Well… I'm about to meet my mother… I hope…" Tiffany sighed heavily before smiling sadly at Aerith. Suddenly she isn't afraid to express what she really feels deep inside. "I grew up without my parents and looking at you and Cliff, I somewhat envy him for having parents such as you and Uncle Cloud. Growing up without parents made me feel as if I'm an orphan and strangers are taking care of me. I feel so incomplete. And now that I know where my mother is and maybe I'll be reunited with her in a moment, but I still feel like life is incomplete because I don't have a father…" she explained.
Aerith smiled softly at her and embraced her gently. "Poor child…" she thought to herself before saying, "Life is full of surprises. Who knows, your father could just be around here somewhere doing everything he can to protect you… but you'll just have to wait for the right moment to see her again."
Tiffany didn't exactly know what that meant so she just nodded. Cliff returned from the kitchen with a glass of water and handed it to Tiffany once she withdrew from Aerith. "Thank you," she said softly as she took the glass and began to drink.
Aerith got up. "Well, I'll be leaving you two for a while to make sure that your father and Rufford are still in the right track of finding Tifa." She told her son before proceeding to the door. "You make sure she's okay, alright?" she asked before stepping out of the house.
Tiffany and Cliff just sat still on the couch, staring at the floor and not knowing what to do. The latter turned to her and smiled kindly. "H…hi." He greeted shyly. She somewhat felt disturbed because of the way he was looking at her. She just smiled rather uncomfortably at him. "H…hi." She greeted back.
Cliff felt like a dork. He wanted to smack himself. "Damn… say something nice…" he was scolding himself silently. Tiffany put the glass down on the coffee table before looking at him again. "So… nice day, huh?" she asked.
"Yeah." He told her.
Silence.
"Your face is red." She pointed out.
He felt his face getting warmer. "Oh… because it's a humid day… heheh." He said rather uncomfortably.
She raised an eyebrow and she smiled slyly. "Oh, really? I don't feel that air is humid. I'm wearing a three-layered suit but I don't feel so warm." She said with a probing tone.
Silence.
"I think I'll just go see what's in the kitchen. Would you like something to eat? I can cook for you if you want to," he told her as he instantly got up and went over to the kitchen.
She watched him quietly as he walked away from her. She just smiled softly. "Well… he seems nice…" she thought to herself.
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Reno slowly opened his eyes and realized that he had fallen asleep on some dusty floor. "Oh shit!" he cussed in disgust before sneezing continuously for five times. He rubbed his nose as he remained seated on the floor and pulled out a hanky from his pocket. He blew his nose and then sneezed again. "Gah…" he muttered.
Silence.
He looked around at the cluttered room where he was. "Where am I?" he thought to himself… and he stopped looking around when his eyes landed on a woman lying on the same floor all tied up and bloody. Her white clothes looked soiled and her hair was messy. She was also drenched in sweat. "What the--?!" he reacted in shock as he scampered away from the unconscious woman. He began to feel nervous as he recognized her face. "T…Tifa?!" he slowly crawled back to where she is, staring in horror at her. He checked if she was still breathing. He sighed in relief to find out that she's alive. Gently, he began to shake her in an attempt to wake her up, "Hey, Miss Lockheart!" he began.
But she wouldn't open her eyes or even move further than when he was shaking her to wake her up. "What happened to her?" he thought silently to himself. Then, he froze when he felt someone grab his shoulder from behind. "You're making a big mistake. She is Mrs. ShinRa now. Oh well, I guess my potion works too well that you couldn't even remember…"
Reno instantly turned around, shoving off the hand in the process. He backed off, staring in awe at Professor Hojo. "You!!! I thought you're dead?!" he demanded in shock.
Hojo just smirked at him. Reno noticed that he hasn't changed so much… except that he aged. He now had white streaks on his hair and his face had a lot of wrinkles… and his left arm was gone. Instead, it was replaced by a gun-arm similar to Barret's, but the color was golden like Vincent's claw. "Hahahahaha! Well, a mad scientist like me should always be prepared when such sudden deaths would occur… even if Cloud Strife was able to defeat me back then, well, now look who's back!" Hojo told him with a proud look on his face.
Reno made a face. "I don't get it. So you're a zombie now?" he asked casually.
"Shut up. You're ignorant of science anyway so it's no use explaining to you now what I did to myself from way back." Hojo sneered.
"Hey, I graduated from ShinRa Military School with flying colors and even if I don't look so decent right now, I'm still smart!" Reno snapped impatiently, not liking the way Hojo would degrade him.
"But you're not a science major, are you?" Hojo sneered.
"What-ever! What are you doing back here anyway?" Reno argued in annoyance, feeling more confused. But he was guessing that Hojo must have experimented with himself too and he must've come up with a formula for reviving people and then he also used it on himself so that he wouldn't die easily. Hojo just smiled slyly at him before turning to Tifa who was still unconscious on the floor. "You did a very good job, Reno. Thank you for bringing the First Lady to me." He told him. Reno's eyes widened. "What?" he asked in shock.
"Oh, you might be asking what happened to her? Well, you were the one who knocked her out. You're really one of the best Turks ShinRa has ever had… that's why you're the one that I decided to use for my plans…" Hojo began, but he trailed off when Reno instantly got onto his feet and charged at him, collaring him angrily. "What have you made me do!? What did you do to me!!! You turned me into a maniac!!!" Reno snarled angrily.
Hojo just laughed at him. "Well you are a maniac, are you not?" he asked Reno attempted to punch him but he instantly got hold of his hand and twisted his wrist. Reno cried out in pain. "Argh!!! Let go of me, damn you!!!" he cried out.
Hojo pushed him away from himself, watching in pleasure as he landed on the hard ground. He began to explain, "It was easy to make you drink the potion that I've created so that you would follow my orders. All I had to do was to ask General Heidegger for a Turk to participate in my experiment. I thought that it would be a flop but… here you are now! And Miss Lockheart too! Hahahahaha!" He smiled proudly even as Reno glared angrily at him. "It lasted for more than 15 years! I can't believe it! And it only wore off now after you brought the First Lady here! Very good, Reno, very good!" Hojo continued.
Reno turned his gaze to Tifa and looked pitifully at her. "What else… what else did I do while I was… under your control?" he asked Hojo with a regretful look on his face as he clutched his aching wrist gently.
"Let's see… hmm… you've been stealing money from ShinRa and hiding it all here. You don't know I'm using them for my own good… that's why I was able to replace my rotting arm over here. Hahaha! Oh yes, and you even killed your own buddy, Rude! Hahahahaha!" Hojo said mockingly.
Reno's mouth dropped open, not knowing what to do. "R…Rude?! I killed Rude?!" he demanded in disgust.
"Oh yes. Everything went perfectly as I have planned it. I wanted Rufus dead, but he died on his own before I could even make you lay a finger on him by contaminating him with an incurable disease. I wanted Tifa to go away so I made you drive her away… but she attempted to escape with Elena and Rude together with Tiffany, so I had to make you kill her companions…"
"I killed Elena too?!" Reno exclaimed in shock. He felt his heart sinking. He wanted to cry.
"No. She escaped with Tifa. Now I don't know where they are, but who cares? As long as we have such a weak President, I can have all the money I want and I can continue with the JENOVA project too." Hojo told him. Reno felt sick of himself. "How long have I been under your control?" he asked in disgust.
"Ever since before Tifa married Rufus." Hojo said with a sly smile on his face.
Reno felt so disgusted at Hojo. He wanted to kill him, but how? He didn't have any weapons… and Hojo seems more dangerous at present than he was before. "Madder than ever… Yeah… Hojo's a madder scientist than before…" he thought silently to himself before turning back to Tifa. "I've got to get her out of here." He thought.
"Oh yes. There's no use helping her now. You injured her pretty badly and she is losing too much blood. She'll die in a little while… but I still tied her up so that if ever she wakes up and still has the energy to fight back, she won't be able to move. Without her in my way, I can gain control of Tiffany completely and not get blamed for all the bad things happening around!" Hojo told Reno with a playful grin before proceeding to the door to leave the room. "You bastard!!! You're using me for your dirty work! What are people going to say about me?!" Reno shouted in annoyance.
"Since when did you care about people saying things about you? Anyway, I'd better make another potion for you to drink so that you could go back to working for me. Hahahahaha!" with that, Hojo left. He shut the door and even locked it. Reno struggled to stand up and slowly dragged himself going to the door. He tried to open the door but it was locked from outside. "Dammit…" he muttered before walking back to Tifa again. He stared at his wrist again in annoyance. "Damn… here goes…" and he twisted it again back to its original position. He cried out in pain which echoed in the whole room.
"You alright?" he froze when he heard Tifa's voice. He turned to her again and knelt down before her. "Miss Lockheart?" he asked… and corrected himself, "…Mrs. ShinRa?"
She swallowed hard and gazed around the room, but she couldn't sit up. She felt so weak. She wearily looked up at him but before she could say anything else, Reno began to tell her, "I'm so sorry about what happened but… let me explain! I wasn't the one who…"
She just smiled weakly. "I know… I heard everything…" she said softly.
Reno felt relieved. "Oh… good! I thought I'll be having a hard time explaining things to you the way I had a hard time comprehending what Hojo did to me!" he told her as he fell on a sitting position and began to undo the ropes binding her hands and feet. "That bastard Hojo…" Reno muttered. He noticed that Tifa was going to close her eyes again, but he instantly snapped at her, "No, no, no, no, no! No you don't! Don't close your eyes!!!" he cried out in panic. She just gazed wearily at him. "But I'm tired… I want to sleep…" she said weakly.
"No. You're not going to sleep until we get out of here!" he told her before he got up and rushed to the window. He saw that the ShinRa chopper was parked outside. His eyes widened. "Jackpot!" he cheered before running back to Tifa. "ShinRa's here!" he told her.
She didn't answer. She felt so dizzy. He ran back to the window. And checked if he could open it. To his surprise, it opened. "Yeah!" he cheered softly. "Looks like Hojo lacks skills in keeping prisoners the way Turks do. Heheheh…" he thought victoriously to himself before rushing back to her and carefully lifted her up, carrying her out of the room through the window. Luckily the room was located in the first floor. Cautiously, he took her to the chopper and settled her on one of the backseats. "Hang on in there, ma'am. I'm taking you back to ShinRa where you belong so that we could get help." He told her. She just smiled weakly. "Thank you, Reno…" she told him wearily, struggling to keep awake. She felt so numb and so cold.
Reno went over to the pilot's seat and started the engine.
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Just as Cloud, Rufus and Aerith were about to reach the ShinRa Mansion to inspect, they heard the sound of the chopper and then moments later, saw it rising up into the skies and took off going to the direction where Midgar is located.
"Bloody hell!?" Rufus cried out in annoyance.
Cloud frowned, seeing that it was being piloted by Reno. "Looks like he escaped with our chopper." He muttered.
Rufus instantly ran towards the mansion and got inside. "Rufus, wait!" Aerith called out.
As soon as they got inside the mansion, they instantly searched the first floor. Rufus came to a room that was locked and decided to just blow the door off with his shotgun.
They stepped inside the room and saw that it was dusty and there were a lot of covered furniture. When Rufus turned to the floor, he saw loose ropes with bloodstains… and the floor also had blood on it. His eyes widened as he knelt down and touched the ropes and the blood. "Tifa…" he said softly.
"Relax, Rufus… we'll go back to Midgar immediately." Cloud told him reassuringly.
"What is Reno going to do with Tifa?!" Rufus demanded in anger as he got up frantically. "Calm down, Rufus, there's no use panicking. Let's just get back to Midgar as soon as possible. We'll just take the train; besides, you've had a railroad constructed from Midgar to Nibelheim when you were still the President, right? It's a one-way trip from here to there." Aerith told him.
Rufus took a deep breath. "Alright… come on, let's get out of this hell hole…" he muttered as he led the way.
-to be continued...
GQ's note: The 14th chapter is coming up... soon... I swear... XD