"Kyah! President Rufus is really nowhere to be found!!!" Scarlet was already panicking as she got out of Rufus's office. Heidegger was following closely behind her. "Gyah! What if he's just stuck somewhere?" he asked.

"Why would he even be stuck somewhere?" she asked ridiculously.

"Maybe he's just in his room, ma'am." Elena suggested with a weak smile on her face.

"Kyah! We've already checked his room. I tried calling his mobile phone but it's switched off!" Scarlet pointed out impatiently.

"What if he's stuck inside a gutter or a vent or…" Reno began to theorize, but Scarlet and Heidegger glared warningly at him. He just shut up and cleared his throat before turning to Elena. "Let's just search in the parking lot. Maybe he's just there." He told her before he grabbed her hand and led the way, leaving Heidegger and Scarlet together.

"Gyahahahaha! What if he went back to Midgar?" he asked.

"I called up the people in charge there and he's not there." Scarlet stopped walking and sighed heavily. "That does it, Heidegger. Go and tell your SOLDIERs to go and search for him!" she commanded.

"Gyah… yeah, sure. Though I really have this feeling that he has been kidnapped by AVALANCHE!" he replied with a frown on his face.

She was silent for a while before replying, "Hmm… come to think of it… that slut was in a hurry to leave…" she gasped as her eyes widened. "NO! Don't tell me she's got President Rufus in her grasp right now?! KYAH!!!!!" the more she panicked.

He stared unbelievably at her, "Aw, c'mon, Scarlet! Stop making a big fuss about that woman! So what if President Rufus desires…" he trailed off when he saw her glaring angrily at him. "Gyah…" he turned away with a glum look on his face.

She clenched her fists. "…d…desires? You mean… he desires that slut?" she asked.

"Well I once… asked him what he thinks of the whole AVALANCHE thing… and he instantly asked about her name… I asked him why he's interested. He just flipped his hair and changed the subject." Heidegger explained.

Scarlet's face turned bright red in anger. "How can you be so sure?!" she demanded.

He turned to face her again with a weak smile on his face. "Gyah… just an instinct. I mean, he's a man, right? I'd do the same: ask about her and…" he blinked. "Oh my, Scarlet. What's wrong with your face? It's so red!" he told her with a look of awe on his face.

"KYAH!!!!!" she screeched angrily before she turned away, her eyebrow raised as she placed her hands on her hips. "KYAH! Haha! I knew it… I saw him looking at her and he couldn't get his eyes off her… and don't mind me asking, Heidegger, but what happened when he told her of their execution?" she asked.

He frowned slightly at her. "Huh?" he responded with a clueless look on his face.

She turned to him with a forced sweet smile on her face, "You were with him, right?" she asked with a tone that seemed to falter.

He thought for a while before he finally understood the situation. To insult her and further provoke her anger, he answered, "Oh he told her that if she doesn't sleep with him, he'd definitely push through with the execution. So she slept with him. But he wasn't satisfied so he asked for her to be executed. GYahahahahahaha!!!!!" he laughed heartily.

Scarlet was awestruck that she was not able to say anything. "He… he did what?!" she had managed to say after a few moments of silence.

He laughed mockingly at her, "Kidding! Gyahahahahahahaha! Gyah! Really now, Scarlet!? Gyahahahahaha! If I were really President Rufus, I'd take the girl and marry her… instead of getting attracted to a woman like you! Gyahahahahaha!!!!!" he insulted.

Scarlet gave him her deadliest glare….

            Hojo was already eating his dinner with Palmer and Rude in the dining area of the ShinRa HQ in Junon when Heidegger entered with a sore face.

"What happened to you?" Palmer asked in awe.

Heidegger uttered a curse before he sat down and slouched on his seat, "Scarlet should really cut her nails." He told them.

Palmer and Hojo exchanged blank glances at each other before the latter turned to Heidegger and asked, "She slapped your face, I reckon?"

"Isn't it obvious?!" Heidegger cried out impatiently before he reached for Rude's plate and grabbed a handful of mashed potatoes with his hand and shoved it inside his mouth, chewing like an uncivilized creature.

Rude did not move.

Hojo just stared seriously at Heidegger. "You've found the rabbit?" he asked.

"Huh?" Heidegger asked, glancing at him.

Hojo's eyes widened for a moment before he cleared his throat. "Have you found Rufus yet?" he asked, trying to maintain a calm exterior.

"I think AVALANCHE kidnapped him." Heidegger replied with a miserable look on his face.

Hojo just kept quiet. "Hmf… I'll just be in my laboratory," he told them before he got up, not wanting to finish his meal anymore. The moment he left, Heidegger spoke up to Palmer, "I tell you, this situation's really worsening… what if Sephiroth attacks and we can't handle him?"

"You mean we can't do anything without President Rufus?" Palmer asked with a worried look on his face.

"Well… I…" Heidegger stammered. He did not want to appear dumb when in front of battle… even though he is the General, he still lacked a lot of skills. He just sat up straight and pounded on the table, "Well, we can do it even without President Rufus's command!" he reassured.

Rude just rolled his eyes behind his dark glasses.

            Four in the morning; they arrived in Icicle Inn three hours ago. It was pretty hard to rent rooms where they could spend the night because of their current situation. Luckily, because of the little money they have, they were able to rent some rooms. However, some of them had to share.

Cloud and Tifa were in one room… with the bunny rabbit.

Yuffie, Red XIII and Cid Highwind were altogether in one room; while Vincent was with Barret and Cait Sith.

Cloud still couldn't sleep. Somehow, he felt so disturbed… like an enemy is just around the corner, ready to attack. He was on the floor, since Tifa didn't want him to sleep on the bed beside her. Instead, the rabbit was beside her.

Yet he did not think that it was unfair because it's colder when you're on the bed… for some reason he couldn't understand. "Maybe the heater system's under the floor…" he was thinking quietly.

He heard Tifa move.

Then he felt something land on his chest. Cloud adjusted his vision in the dimness of the room and saw the strange bunny rabbit seated on his chest and staring hard at him. He raised his eyebrows at the bunny rabbit. "Did she push you off the bed or did you jump down?" he asked.

The rabbit wiggled its nose.

Cloud smiled slightly for a moment, and then he mentally slapped himself. "Dammit. Don't tell me you're beginning to like this rodent here?!" he was scolding himself quietly.

The rabbit began to sniff him. He frowned at it and grabbed it by its ears, sending it back to Tifa… but he just threw it over on the bed.

The rabbit landed on her chest and it stiffened. Tifa sleepily opened her eyes and smiled at the rabbit, "Oh, hey Ruffy," she said sweetly before she grabbed it and kissed it and then placed it beside her, hugging it. And she fell asleep again.

Cloud wondered what the rabbit was doing, so he slowly sat up and observed it. Its eyes were wide and it wasn't moving. He frowned as he stared deep into the rabbit's blue eyes.

The rabbit turned to him. Cloud made a face and then lied back down again, sighing with a confused look on his face. After thinking things through, he got up and grabbed the rabbit. The rabbit tried to squirm away from him, but he was holding on to it tightly as he got out of the room and made his way down the hallway of the hotel and knocked on the door of the bedroom where Vincent is located.

The rabbit scratched his hand with its claws. He winced in pain but still managed to hold on to it. After a few moments, Vincent Valentine opened the door. He didn't look sleepy at all. "What's the matter?" he asked.

"There really is something wrong with this rabbit," Cloud told him as he raised it close to Vincent's face. The rabbit sniffed Vincent's nose and then bit it.

"OW!" Vincent reacted before he grabbed it and stared unbelievably at it. "I have a feeling that this is one of Hojo's experiments…" he said softly as he examined it. His eyes narrowed at it, "It's a boy." He said.

Cloud raised his eyebrows. "How did you know?" he asked.

"Its got the male reproductive organ of a male rabbit." Vincent pointed out with a blank look on his face.

The rabbit began to squirm away from Vincent's grasp, but he still held on to it. "Can I see?" Cloud asked, wanting to be sure.

Vincent lifted the rabbit carefully for Cloud to see. To their surprise, the rabbit's ears turned very red and twitched violently. Before Cloud could see, it managed to get out of Vincent's grasp and attacked Cloud's face by scratching it. Then, it hopped out into the hallways.

"What the hell's with that rabbit?!" Cloud growled as he chased after it, not caring if his face felt sore because of the scratches; however, he was silently thankful that its claws aren't sharp enough.

"Maybe it's insulted that you're staring at his… thing," Vincent answered awkwardly as he followed Cloud.

"What's wrong with looking at an animal's dick?!" Cloud demanded in confusion.

Vincent raised his eyebrows at him, "Come on, Cloud, I'm sure you wouldn't want another guy staring at yours?" he asked inquiringly.

Cloud just raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, maybe we should've let Tifa stare at it for us." He muttered before deciding to go after the rabbit. He frowned. "Where is it going anyway?"

Somehow, the rabbit managed to hop high enough to press the down button of the elevator. By the time Cloud and Vincent reached him, the elevator doors opened.

The bunny rabbit looked up at them determinedly.

"I… think it wants to ride the elevator," Vincent said.

"Oh no, he won't! He's going back to Tifa. If she wakes up and finds him gone, she might freak out and blame me for it." Cloud declared before he tried to pick up the rabbit, but it hopped away from him, going further inside the elevator.

The rabbit's right ear bent a bit, pointing to one specific button: (L). The Lobby. Frowning, Vincent pressed the L button before he stepped inside and took Cloud with him. "Vincent, what the…" Cloud began but Vincent signaled him to stop talking. He froze.

The elevator door closed and began to move down.

After waiting for a few moments, it opened and the rabbit led the way out of it, going to the receptionist's desk. The receptionist had fallen asleep on her job, but the PC was still open. The rabbit climbed up the receptionist's lap and the quickly climbed up on the computer table.

To Cloud and Vincent's amazement, the rabbit knew how to function a mouse… and the keyboard. It opened a word processing program and then turned back to the two men who were watching it in amazement.

Cloud and Vincent moved closer to the computer as the rabbit began to type:

I AM RUFUS

Silence.

"Well, Tifa did name him after Rufus, right?" Cloud asked absentmindedly.

The rabbit seemed to shake its head in disagreement and Vincent could tell that it was beginning to become impatient as it began to type again with its paws:

I AM RUFUS SHINRA… DAMMIT!

Cloud and Vincent stared dumbly at the screen. Rufus' ears twitched in annoyance.  Cloud smiled, pleased, "Hojo must've done something good to that rabbit! It can type…" he began.

"And it cusses too," Vincent said with a sarcastic smile, finally getting the situation. He saw the rabbit pound its left paw on the desk and began to type again:

YOU ARE SUCH A MORON, CLOUD STRIFE!

Cloud froze. "?! I think it is Rufus!!!" he said in shock.

The rabbit calmed down a bit before typing more stuff:

CAN YOU HELP ME?

Cloud felt rather confused. "Rufus ShinRa would ask help from AVALANCHE? That is so… not him. Maybe that rabbit's been brainwashed by Hojo and made it think that it's Rufus," he told Vincent.

"No… I think… that is really Rufus." Vincent said while staring down at one particular part of the desk. Cloud looked down on the table and saw an evening tabloid with the headlines, "ShinRa President: MISSING!"

"Ooooh…" Cloud and Vincent said in unison. "I get it now! Hojo must have done something to Rufus… And Mr. President here escaped… and then he found his way to Scarlet and Tifa!" Cloud concluded.

YOU ARE A GENIUS

"Are you sarcastic?! Because you know, I learned how to cook rabbit stew from Sephiroth from way back in SOLDIER days." Cloud pointed out with a loud voice.

The receptionist had awoken from her slumber because of his loud voice, but Vincent cast some sleep on her, so she fell asleep again. This time, she fell towards the floor and landed on it with a thud, but she was still sleeping rather soundly.

"We have to hurry. There could be surveillance cameras here. If someone sees us, they'll think we're crazy coz we're talking to a rabbit." He told Cloud.

THERE ARE NO SURVEILLANCE CAMERAS HERE. THIS HOTEL IS SO LOW-CLASSED, JUST LOOK AT THE ROOM WHERE YOU PLACED ME AND TIFA!

"You mean, you, Tifa… and me." Cloud corrected with a sly smile on his face, wanting to anger the rabbit. It's nice to take advantage of little ones, isn't it?

SHUT UP. JUST GO TO HOJO AND GET THE REVERSE POTION SO THAT I CAN BE HUMAN AGAIN.

"Reverse potion?" Vincent asked.

"But you're harmless as a rabbit so why bother turning you back into a human again? And how would you think Tifa would react if she finds out that her beloved little Ruffy's gone?" Cloud asked.

OH PISH POSH, STRIFE! WHO CARES ABOUT HER FEELINGS? SHE CAN JUST BLAME YOU FOR THE DISAPPEARANCE OF HER RUFFY AND  KILL YOU… AND I CAN BUY HER ANOTHER BUNNY RABBIT AS A GIFT FOR HER NEXT BIRTHDAY AND THAT IS IN….?

"May 3." Vincent replied.

Cloud nudged him with a frown on his face, "Vincent, don't! He might do something stupid!" he warned in a whisper.

IF YOU HELP ME TURN BACK INTO A HUMAN, I WILL TELL YOU HOW TO BRING YOUR SWEETHEART BACK HERE.

Cloud froze.

AERITH.

Cloud looked at him skeptically. "You… a president-turned-rabbit… would know how to revive…" he trailed off. The lump in his throat was worsening.

He could have sworn that Rufus' innocent rabbit face smirked.

YOU'LL FIND THE MOST INTERESTING THINGS IN HOJO'S LAB. LIKE REVIVAL FORMULAS.

"But how will I get… get Aerith from below the lake where I…" Cloud trailed off when Rufus began to type again.

YOU BURIED HER IN A LAKE?! YOU MORON! SHE'LL BE FISH FOOD!

Cloud frowned at him. "So it's useless even if you give me the revival formula," he told him.

IT WILL BE HARD BUT IT'S STILL POSSIBLE.

Vincent thought for a while before replying, "What if she's alive, but her eyes are missing and parts of her face are… already rotting…" he trailed off when he saw Cloud staring frustratingly at him. "Never mind…" Vincent said, crossing his arms.

Cloud turned back to Rufus. "What do you mean it's still possible?" he asked.

TRUST ME, OKAY? I WON'T SAY ANYTHING ELSE UNTIL YOU GET ME THE REVERSE POTION. NOW GO!

"We'll do it, if you promise to help us against Sephiroth too." Vincent told him conditionally.

The rabbit did not move for a while, and then began to type again.

SURE.

==============================================