Sephiroth: Son of a Bitch Must Pay


It took a moment for his words to sink in.

She's there.

Aerith.

Hojo had her.

A thousand questions went through my mind. Where had Reno been? Why hadn't I been told earlier? How long had she been there? I wanted to put my hands around the boy's throat and squeeze the answers from him…but then I noticed his pallor, the needle in my wastebasket, and realized he'd been taken in, too.

Without a word, I opened the linen closet and grabbed a pair of towels, then thrust them at him. His eyes went round in confusion. As I turned away to go to my room, I snapped, "Clean yourself up. You have five minutes."

I heard him swear behind me as the door shut. He caught it just before it could slam, mindful of the noise he made, and it clicked softly into place. Almost immediately, I heard water running in the sink. Excellent. He looked like hell; the Mako probably hadn't helped him feel any better.

But we couldn't afford to waste any more time. I headed for my bedroom, where I had already laid out my clothes for the evening. I had just gotten out of the shower myself when Reno broke into my apartment. Though at first I was furious, upon reflection I was grateful. If he had been fifteen minutes later, I would have been gone. Aerith would have had to endure exactly what I'd been trying to protect her from all this time. Hojo would have—

No, I won't even let my thoughts go there. It's bad enough to tell this now.

Reno opened the bathroom door just as I finished dressing. He appeared to feel a little better, his arm properly bandaged, though he still had the haunted look of someone who had narrowly escaped torture. Of course, that's exactly what had happened. I didn't have the luxury of worrying about him at the moment, however. Aerith needed to be saved, and I had no intention of letting her down.

It was too bad everything had to be rushed; I would have liked to have a few more moments to plan. What I decided to do in the end was a bit more spectacular than I normally came up with. I donned my armor as I thought. When I picked up Masamune, it was with no little regret. This should have been a peaceful evening with Aerith, no weapons, no ShinRa. Instead, I found my hand being forced at last. As it was, I couldn't believe I was even contemplating this kind of rescue.

"Reno," I said, not looking at him as I fastened my gloves. I could hear him jump. He was still on edge; Hojo had a way of doing that to a man. I knew, I knew what he did to me, I saw right through his manipulation and his threats, and yet I still could never break free. I let him bully me all my life, and probably would have let him forever, but now…now Aerith was involved. I couldn't forgive Hojo for that.

"Yeah?" He replied, somehow finding strength. I give him points for keeping his voice calm. Reno wasn't a bad kid, he just had problems with authority. I prayed to whatever gods would listen that he'd follow my orders this time.

"We are going to get her out. It will be easy to break her out of the lab, but the hard part is getting her out of the building. That's where you come in. Is the helicopter still here?"

"Yeah, I brought it back after the last job." His eyes went round. "Fuckin' no fucking way."

I nodded. "It's our only way out of here. You will fly it."

We both knew that once that helicopter left the landing pad, we would no longer be considered welcome in Midgar. That was fine with me; I hated this place anyway, and I'd been trying to think up ways to get Aerith out of the city. But what would Reno think? What would he do?

He stared at me while I snapped the last of my armor in place and fastened the belt around my coat. I caught a glimpse of my face in the mirror as I grabbed a pack and began filling it with supplies. No wonder he still looked white; I didn't recognize myself. My eyes met his in the reflection. He was afraid, which made me glad. If he wasn't, I'd either worry that he would get himself killed for his overconfidence or suspect a trap. "Well?" I prompted.

His eyes hardened and his mouth became a thin line. "Sure," he muttered. "I just fly the damn thing."

Right answer.

I finished packing and went to the door of my apartment without another glance backward. "Then let's go."

We made it up to the floor beneath the lab without meeting any resistance. Of course there wouldn't be any; no one probably knew that Reno had escaped, and my involvement with Aerith was probably not common knowledge. I told him my plan as we ran: we would stay together until we reached the lab, and then we'd separate. I would get Aerith and go up the back way to the top of the Tower, while he would go on and get the chopper ready. I put a lot of faith in him. Too much was riding on this for either of us to fail.

The doors to the lab were just ahead when the first alarms sounded. Perplexed, we actually stopped and looked at each other. Had his disappearance warranted such an alert? Then the announcement came:

"Attention! Intruders on the 69th floor! All available personnel, please respond!"

So ShinRa had bigger problems at the moment. Silently, I thanked whoever had the balls to break into the Tower, and blessed them for their perfect timing. I wondered briefly if anyone was trying to reach me at that moment. "Can you get past them?" I asked, already heading for the doors.

"Do I have a choice?" he shot back. When I spared one last glance for him, he was running for the stairs to the next level. I wished him well, then entered the lab. The specimen holding cells were in the next room, but this was where Hojo did his planning and research. I wouldn't have cared what the computers said, except one screen caught my eye with the word, "Cetra". I had to look.

It never ceases to amaze me, the things that man was capable of dreaming up. I found myself looking at an experiment outline, in which he was going to try to create a "perfect specimen"…one with Cetra qualities, yet who would live for a very long time. A breeding program, for two very different species, both of which were extremely rare.

Aerith and a beast?

This was too much. Hojo had gone too far. I might have let him live; I might have run away and forgotten all about him, but he signed his own execution orders the moment he touched Aerith. My anger got the better of me. With a snarl, I smashed the monitor with a fist, toppling it to the floor, and ran to the next area.

He was there, in Aerith's holding cell. I arrived in time to see him backhand her across the face, demanding to know what had happened. The bloody bodies piling out of the supply closet were just a nuisance. I saw Aerith scramble back, her bottom lip split and bleeding. She looked frightened and defiant, kicking her legs out to keep him from getting any closer to her. The red beast in the next cell yowled, adding to the confusion.

I shouted something—knowing my state of mind, it was probably a war cry—and drew my sword. Not even the triplethick glass of Hojo's cells could stand up to my strength and Masamune's bite. The blade sheared through the glass wall and just missed taking Hojo's head off. More's the pity.

He bolted out the shattered far wall, self-preservation stronger in him than the desire to keep his specimen. It's the only thing that kept him alive then, for my first priority was Aerith. She clambered to her feet and fell into my arms. As I comforted her, I looked up to see Hojo glance back at us just before he disappeared out the door of the lab. A silent promise passed between us then: the next time we met, only one would walk away alive.

"I knew you'd come, Seph," Aerith cried, burying her face against my chest. "Gods, Seph, it's really you."

I held her tightly for a heartbeat more. I would have stayed like that with her forever, but we had no time. "Rith, come on, we need to go. Can you walk?"

She nodded, but swayed when I tried to step away. Her eyes were unfocused. He had probably drugged her to keep her from fighting him. Gods, but I hated him. "I—I don't feel so good…"

I caught her, cursing Hojo and ShinRa, and picked her up. "I'll carry you. It's okay," I soothed, "I'm not going to leave you behind." I stepped out of the cell and went to the exit that led to the back stairs. They led only to the President's office, for Hojo to communicate with him and to show off his latest experiments.

"Erm, excuse me, but would you be so kind as to free me, as well?"

The voice was cultured, elegant, with a clipped accent. I looked about for the source, to find the beast in the other cell regarding me with one green eye. "Pardon?"

I'd never seen an animal with a facial expression before, but he certainly had one. He looked worried. "You see, I'm not exactly here of my own accord. I'd like to go with you, if it's not too much trouble." He stood, and placed a paw on the wall. "I figured out how the control panel works, but…well, it's kind of difficult to operate it from within."

I almost refused. This was the creature that Hojo wanted to—to—

"Seph," I heard Aerith say faintly, "He's a friend. He didn't want to be here, either." She struggled to focus. "He wouldn't have—" she shuddered, and the beast did, too.

It was enough. I hit the buttons to open the door, and the animal gracefully leapt out. "Thank you, sir. Aerith, are you all right?"

"I'm fine, Red."

He looked relieved. I would have liked to continue the conversation, but we had places to be. "Come on, we're going up this way. We need to get to the roof."

"Announcement," the PA system came to life again, "Will all silver-haired rescuers please proceed to the helipad on the 70th floor? Please avoid incompetent SOLDIERS and intruders on the main stairs if at all possible. Thank you very much and have a nice fucking ShinRa day!"

"Reno," I said wearily in response to Red's nonplussed expression.

"Right." He gave a sharp nod and followed at my heels. The passage was narrow, but we were able to bypass the rest of the 69th floor. With any luck, the intruders were after something else. Just ahead, at the top of the stairs, we could see the end of the passage. It was the back of one of the bookcases in President Shinra's office. An explosion shook the tower from somewhere beneath us. SOLDIERS must have finally reached the lab, for we heard shouting and fighting. I prayed that the other intruders would keep them busy until we had a chance to escape.

The bookcase slid aside to reveal the President's office. Aerith gasped in horror at the sight.

The President's corpse sat in his chair. The apparent cause of death was, to my best guess, the electromag rod protruding from between his third and fourth ribs. Reno spun about, startled, then his usual cocky grin spread across his face. "Hiya." He brandished the late President's cigarette case. "I got the keys to the chopper."

Red growled suspiciously, but waited to see what I would do. I liked the beast already. Aerith, however, had gone paler than ever and stared at the horrible scene. Would it have killed Reno to look a little less pleased with himself while surrounded by carnage? Regardless of how satisfying it was to see the fat bastard gutted with a glorified cattle prod, I thought Aerith would pass out.

I glanced at the dead man. "Very good," I said slowly. "Ah, Reno, that wouldn't be your electromag rod embedded in the President's chest, now, would it?"

He feigned shock. "Why, so it is! Geez, and I've been looking for this thing everywhere, I swear!" He grinned and yanked it out with a malicious twist. It made a disgusting crunch, eliciting another gasp from Aerith. "Silly me, I'm so forgetful."

I was not amused. Granted, I hated President Shinra almost as much as I hated Hojo, but we needed to get moving. I started toward the door to the helipad. "You killed the President," I remarked as he joined me.

"Aww, come on! Just 'cause it's my mag rod, everyone points fingers at me…" he griped under his breath as we ran outside. Red jumped up and helped me bundle Aerith into a seat. While I made sure she was buckled in securely, Reno got the engine started. The blades picked up speed. It looked like we were going to get away without a problem.

Three shots hit the body of the helicopter. Aerith and Red both jumped; neither of them were used to being in the middle of a firefight. I looked toward the source of the shots.

Tseng stood in the doorway we'd just come through, grimacing. Reno and I saw him lower his standard-issue Death Penalty. Beside him, Rude held back a furious-looking Rufus ShinRa. Rufus shouted something, but Tseng shook his head and pointed at us. Reno grinned even more widely and waved, flipping them off.

Tseng, who did not look amused, raised his gun once more and fired a single shot. Bless my Wutaian friend; he aimed perfectly through an open window panel. Without hitting the windshield—something that would hinder our progress immensely—he made sure the bullet would speed harmlessly past Reno to embed itself in the far wall. The redheaded Turk cursed and rubbed his ear. He'd probably felt the heat from that one. Without any further hesitation, he turned the nose of the copter away from Shinra and got us out of there.

I looked back to see Red licking Aerith's hand worriedly. She was still pale, but she managed a soft smile for me. "We're going to be all right," I said, reaching back to take her other hand. "We got away from ShinRa."

Relief filled her eyes. "Thank you. I thought…I wondered if I'd ever see you again."

I wanted to go back to her. Her grip on my hand told of how frightened she truly was, though her face did a good job of hiding much of it. Instead, I said, "Rest, Aerith. We have a long trip ahead of us."

She nodded and relaxed a little, closing her eyes. Red looked concerned and whined a bit, like a dog. She opened her eyes barely and smiled at him, patting him on the nose. "I'm okay, Red. Really."

He didn't seem convinced, but he curled up on his seat with his head on his paws. The tip of his tail burned, I noticed now, with some kind of flame. Later, I'd ask Red about himself, but we needed to figure out where we were going.

"Plot me a course to Kalm," Reno said suddenly, as if reading my thoughts. "We have a full tank of fuel. It should get us there."

I nodded and called up the navigation system on the shipboard computer. There was a long ride ahead of us, and we needed to put as much space between us and ShinRa as possible.