The House of Strife II: Rebirth

By GQ and Zhak

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Chapter Two: Rufus

Rufus checked his watch and saw that it was already 6 in the evening. "Where are the children?" he thought to himself. He scheduled a family weekend for Junon but his two youngest children aren't home yet. Tifa just sat still on the chair facing his desk with a worried look on her face.

Rufus wanted to treat his family for dinner in a seafood restaurant by the Junon Harbor at 7 in the evening in celebration of Tifa expecting another baby. It was only her first month of pregnancy.

"Maybe Marlene forgot to fetch them." He stated flatly.

"If she did, then the children could've called us already." She said.

Rufus looked at her and shook his head in dismay before getting his mobile phone and dialed Theodore's number, but the computer-operated voice from the network just said, "the number you have dialed does not exist." He raised an eyebrow. "Strange…" He tried Lavinia's number next. The operator said the same thing.

Slate (the eldest son and the heir), looking boredly around the room, told him, "Maybe their batteries conked out or something. Doesn't Marlene have a phone?"

Rufus shook his head. "Barret should have bought her one… I'll make it a point next time. Speaking of which…" he dialed Barret's number.

"Hello?"

"Wallace? This is Rufus ShinRa."

"What is it? I'm busy!"

"I just want to ask if your daughter is home already. And if she is, may I please speak with her?"

Barret paused. "Naw. She ain't home yet. I'm beginnin' to worry myself. I jus' left home ta look for her."

Tifa noticed the look on Rufus' face. "Rufus? Is Marlene home?"

Rufus was silent for a few moments before speaking up again. "I… see. Call me as soon as you find her. I'll send a search party as well."

"Thanks. Owe ya one, Prez." Barret hung up.

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The celebration was cancelled. Rufus spent his evening in his 70th floor office, waiting for calls from the troops he dispatched.

Tifa worriedly looked at him. "Rufus? Any word from your troops yet?"

Rufus shook his head. "Tifa, I'll handle things in here. You'd better rest. You can't afford stressing yourself like this."

"I see." She paused as she looked down at the huge city below through the window. "Morrigan and Slate also went out to search for them too, you know."

"What about Samara?"

"I'm worried about her. She kept telling me, 'I don't feel him anymore'. But she wouldn't explain anything…"

Rufus frowned. Samara is Theodore's twin. If her intuition meant anything at all… "I'll take care of things, Tifa, don't worry."

She nodded before she left the office.

Rufus sighed as he resumed trying to track down his children by the computer… in vain. He stopped typing when the phone rang. "Yes? What is it?"

"Sir? This is Flight Gamma, the party you sent to search Sector 2. Your son Theodore was here… we found his bag on the sidewalk."

Rufus stood up swiftly. "Sector 2? Where in Sector 2?!" he demanded angrily.

"In front of the old Strife residence, your Excellency."

He slammed the phone down. "Dammit! Leave my children alone!" he said to no one in particular as he went out of the office and pressed the down button on the elevator controls.

Heidegger and Palmer, who were waiting for the President outside to report something about the searches, jumped back when he emerged from the office and trailed behind him. "Gyah! President Rufus! Where are you going?!"

"I'm going to Sector 2!" he announced angrily.

"Unescorted?!" Palmer exclaimed.

Tifa emerged from one of the rooms and said in concern, "Rufus, what are you planning to do? The searches aren't over yet!"

"I'm going to Sector 2…" he repeated. The elevator doors opened. He closed the doors before the three of them could get in.

"Mr. President! Wait!" Heidegger pressed the down button repeatedly. After a few moments of waiting, the other elevator opened. They rushed in.

"What has gotten into him?!" Tifa exclaimed.

Reaching the first floor, Rufus immediately rushed towards the storage room. Employees all around jumped when they saw him. They had never seen the President with that kind of determination… unescorted, even.

In the storage room, he gathered all the cans of fuel he could and rushed out again. He took the stairs to the basement, got his car and dumped the cans in the passenger seat. He zoomed off in his car, heading towards the general direction of Sector 2.

He barely saw Heidegger, Palmer and Tifa hop in a vehicle of their own and follow him.

"Bastard!" Rufus shouted as soon as he got down from his car and in front of the house. Carrying the cans of fuel with him, he went in the yard and started pouring fuel over the plants and on the walls.

The other car stopped, and out ran Heidegger, Palmer and Tifa. "Rufus!" she screamed. She caught up to him and grabbed his wrist as he splashed fuel. "Stop that! You're acting irrational!"

"Let me be, Tifa!" he broke free of her grasp and ran inside the house.

"Gyah!" Heidegger ran after him. Palmer had to accompany Tifa in the house.

"Mr. President! Please stop!" he pleaded. Rufus didn't listen. Like a madman he splashed more cans in the living room, the kitchen, and every room on the first floor.

"No! This house killed my children! This is my revenge!" he shouted. Tifa gasped. "Rufus! What are you saying?!"

"That's right, Tifa! Now get out of here!" he fumbled in his jacket for a lighter. He took it out of his pocket and prepared to light it up when a grayish blue hand grabbed his wrist.

He looked and saw Sora looking up at him with forlorn eyes. "Argh!" he dropped the lighter.

Heidegger and Palmer took this opportunity to grab him by the arms to stop him. "Mr. President! Please calm down!!!" Palmer squealed.

Rufus started kicking around wildly. "Let me go, pigs!" he growled.

He stopped when Heidegger and Palmer froze. They were staring at Tifa. He looked at her… and froze too.

Tifa swallowed as she saw them stare at her. "What's… wrong?" she stammered.

The three men couldn't answer. They were stunned by the sight they saw… Sora was next to her, a palm pressed to her abdomen. Turning to Rufus, he smiled… sinisterly.

The President snapped from his trance and ran to Tifa. "Don't touch her!" he yelled.

"What?!" Tifa said in surprise. Before she knew it, Rufus was grabbing her wrist and making her run out of the house.

"Mr. President!" yelled Heidegger and Palmer in unison. They chased after the couple, but they stopped in their tracks when the front door closed on its own.

The couple outside stopped, too, when the door closed. "… Rufus?" Tifa whispered fearfully.

They shrank back in terror when they heard Heidegger and Palmer screaming bloody murder.

"What do we do?!?!?" Tifa screamed.

Rufus took her wrist again and ran towards the car. "Tifa, get in!" he yelled.

She hopped in the front passenger seat as Rufus started the car. They zoomed off towards Sector 1.

"Oh my god! Rufus!" Tifa screamed.

"What?!" Rufus yelled. His eyes caught a glimpse of the rear-view mirror… and saw a pair of ghastly hands creeping over his shoulder. A head peeked from behind the seat. "Ou-a-a-a-a-a-a"

"ARGH!" Rufus lost control of the car. They collided against an electric post. The couple's foreheads violently hit the front of the glass and they lost consciousness.

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Tifa regained consciousness a few minutes later. Flinching from the collision, she touched her forehead and felt blood. "Oh… my baby…?!"

She felt her abdomen. She didn't feel anything painful from down there. She sighed in relief. She owed it to a miracle that her baby survived.

She looked over to Rufus. He was still unconscious. She saw that he was in a worse condition than her. "Rufus?" her voice cracked. He didn't respond.

"I'd… better… call… somebody…" she whispered as she took out a phone and began dialing.

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