Rude sat on the plane, lazily watching the speckled ground below him. He was never fond of undercover missions; he preferred a straight fight, face to face.
Even
worse than the undercover mission itself was the
outfits that Tseng had picked out for him. He looked down at his outfit –
loose, beige cargo shorts, a white ribbed tank top, the blue sneakers...and a
hat. A hat.He knew he looked ridiculous. Tall,
hulking Shinra employees just did not look right in
grungy clothes.
Earlier that morning, Reno had stopped by his
house to pick him up. Carpooling that day had been Reno's idea. When Rude
asked him for his reason, Reno had just laughed. "And
miss you all dressed up like a hippy? Not a chance!"
Even Tseng had trouble hiding his smile when the pair walked in. It was one
thing seeing Rude without his trusty sunglasses plastered to his face. It was
another thing seeing him dressed up like a teenager. After a few quick instructions, and Tseng had sent Rude on his way.
Rude looked back out at the sky, squinting. "I miss my sunglasses..."
Elena had been getting dressed when she heard a knock at the door. "Just a minute!"
she called.
Opening the door, she saw Roth standing there. "You ready to
go?"
"Sure am!"
Roth waited as Elena closed the door behind her. "So...what's this guy's name,
anyway?"
Elena thought. 'Rude? No, how many Rudes are out
there? Not many...um, um, um...' she desperately searched her mind for a
suitable name.
"His name is Rudy."
'Rudy?? He's gonna kill
you...' Elena thought, warily.
"Rudy, huh? Well, I hope he brought some good stuff
with him."
"You can count on it."
They walked through the town and waited at the southern entrance. As Elena
looked across the distant land, Roth glanced behind him, making sure Rohan was in his spot.
Rude had been walking for a while, and his hand was starting to get tired from
dragging the bag of arms and ammo. Shifting the duffle bag on
his shoulder that contained some more 'Tseng approved clothes', he passed the
gun bag to his other hand and continued walking.
After a while, he could see two figures in the distance. 'That has to be them,'
he thought. Sure enough, once he got a little closer, he saw Elena wave
brightly as she shouted out, "Hi, Rudy!!"
? Did she just call me 'Rudy'?' He winced at the horrible name.
Swallowing whatever pride he retained while wearing the absurd outfit, he waved
back.
He walked up to them, and the other person stepped up and reached out his hand.
"Hello, Rudy. I'm Roth. Pleasure to meet you. Let's
see what you've brought..."
Rude bent down and to open up the bag. Roth seized the opportunity and pulled
out the hypodermic needle out of his coat pocket. He plunged it into Rude's back, as Rohan
simultaneously fired a tranquillizer dart at Elena. The two Turks blacked out
instantly and slithered to the ground.
In a few minutes, a small buggy had driven up. Tossing the two bodies into the
back, Roth and drove back to AGP headquarters, ready to do some interrogating.
Rude slowly opened his eyes, still very groggy from the shot Roth had given
him. Looking around, he tried to make out where he was through blurry eyes.
Some type of cell maybe? It had to be. There were three cement walls, one wall
made out of strong metal bars, a small sink and toilet, another person...'Is
that Elena? No, it's not...it's...oh no...it can't
be...oh please, don't let it be...'
The person in the corner sniffed and looked up. Rude cleared his throat. "Are
you Rene Shinra?"
The emotionally drained girl looked blankly at her new cell mate, and then
burst into tears. Rude pressed his temples and sighed.
"..."
