So Close
Warning: I don't own any of the characters or even the plot. It's a remake of a movie I saw called "So Close". I changed some of the pairings in the movie so there won't be any Yuri of the sort in it.
A/N: This chapter starts a few days after the last one (FINALLY REST). Between those few days Vincent and Yuffie find Cid and ask for his help and of course he agrees. And so the story goes on…
Chapter 14: The Break-in
"Cid," Vincent called. The dark alley they were in masked where the technician was but Vincent could make out where the man stood by the infamous cigarette he was smoking. Cid pulled the lit cigarette from his mouth and smirked, slightly shaking in response.
"What?" The man yelled back, slightly annoyed. The dark haired man emerged from out of his corner and slowly inched toward his partner.
"When Yuffie gives us the signal, I want you to keep an eye on her 'others' and tell me everywhere they go," Vincent commanded. At this Cid slightly nodded and opened his mouth again.
"But, what if this doesn't work? What if the brat ain't good enough? What the hell are we supposed to do if she, or hell, even we get caught?"
Vincent brought his hand back to himself and placed it onto his belt. "Then we go for plan B,"
"And what the hell is that?"
"That is—"
"HEY YOU BOYS!" Yuffie interrupted, grinning as cocky and as exuberant as ever. "See you guys on the other side of the tunnel," She winked. She then jumped out of the small van parked in an alleyway not far from the Shinra Building and pointed towards her watch. "But before I take my leave, lets synchronize our watches and pray to Leviathan," The young woman grinned. "Just incase… you know,"
"Thanks for the encouragement, brat," Cid muffled pulling out his watch with Vincent following. Yuffie smiled and nodded.
"Twenty-one hundred hours on the dot, ready?" Yuffie asked. She then brought her watch out, made of materia looking things and a hint of an outline of a chocobo on the side. "Hit it." They're watches clicked and Yuffie saluted to them, then jumped down into the open sewer shaft beside her. Vincent watched her petit figure vanish into the darkness and walked into place.
"Cid," He nodded sitting in one of the chairs inside the van. Everything was there, the computers, technology, and a picture of Tifa. Vincent glanced at the picture and looked down in slight sorrow. He didn't know her at all, but she seemed as if she held a sad yet content heart every time he had met her. The picture was her in a black dress leaning against a tree. The sun was bright and made her facial structure standout, and the flower she held in her hand, a purple lily, completed her appearance. Her smile though, was faint but clear. Vincent looked back once more to see a darker object in the back, a coffin. He didn't dare ask for anymore information, Vincent just turned around in his chair and awaited his partner to place his rear down and start typing.
Cid jumped into the van and threw his cigarette out. "Well, I don't know about you, vamp, but I'm ready to kick some ShinRa ass," Vincent turned his head to his partner and shook his head.
"Just stick with the technicalities, Yuffie will do the, 'ShinRa ass kicking',"
Cid laughed then turned his attention to his monitor.
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After using his swift ninja skills to make it across the camera's and triggers in the sewer system, Yuffie finally arrived at her destination. "Whew, they need some A/C in those vents," Yuffie laughed. ((But back on track)) The short hair woman thought. Clicking her watch she alerted her teammates that she was in place.
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Aerith sighed as she looked at her watch. She was supposed to be on vacation but she knew her boss to be one of those business loving people who liked to keep everything up-to-date, and she was one of those people who liked to meet up with people's expectations. End of story. She laughed as she flipped down her laptop, another day done. She didn't mind clocking out since she wasn't supposed to be there in the first place, so the young twenty-year-old placed her laptop in her satchel and walked slowly out of her office. Smiling, Aerith opened her little cubical door and looked around. ((Hm. There are many guards here today I wonder what Mr. Shinra is planning.)) With that thought out of her system she slightly giggled and then looked around once again to see if the coast was clear. It was. With her grace, she slid out of her office and walked slowly down the empty hallway.
"What are you doing here?" A deep voice asked. Aerith's body jolted up in shock and turned around. The deep voice belonged none other to Nanaki, a wolf with fire red mane. Aerith sweat dropped and held her hands up, caught in action.
"Okay, okay, I'm caught," She laughed in a sing-song voice. The red beast sighed and walked on all of his fours towards her. "Please don't tell Mr. Shinra, I just wanted to help the company out, I didn't even clock in," The wolf shook his head and pointed with his nose the exit.
"You should go, I hear there's something that's going to happen soon, and it's not pretty," The wolf sighed. Aerith smiled and thanked Nanaki.
"You know, I really haven't met you in person before. I'm Aerith Gainsborough. I've seen you around here for sometime and well I was too into my work to even introduce myself, since I'm the head secretary here, I'm sorry." Aerith rambled. The wolf slightly laughed and nodded.
"Red XIII, pleasure to meet you, but everyone knows me as Nanaki. But besides the point, a lady shouldn't be in here without her guard up, there are dangerous parts in the world that not even a mere animal like me could trust, no less a human female. You best be on your way before any other security staff finds out you're here. I believe that Rufus ShinRa himself wanted no one in the building besides us low-paid officers, not that I'm paid that is.
"Now that that is done with, I will lead you to the exit myself. My nose can detect the slightest human scent, so that you may not be caught and lose your cherished job. Now shall we be on our way?"
Aerith smiled at the intellectualness of the red wolf and nodded in agreement. "I hear that you are one of that dreadful man's, Hojo's experiments are you not? Excuse me for prying into business that is not my own," Aerith frowned. The wolf glanced up at the woman and then looked strait again.
"No need to worry, my affair is my own, but since you are, I believe, a trustworthy person I will give you my reply. Yes, I am unfortunate enough to be, but because of my well mannered being Hojo has allowed me freedom from my capsule to protect this… ShinRa for only a limited amount of time," Nanaki replied softly. Aerith glanced downward at the wild wolf and frowned.
"You mean you have no freedom?" Aerith asked in a saddened tone. The four paws of the wolf paused in its tempo at her question and alert ears pricked upward.
"We are not alone,"
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"Ready? In position, it's—" Yuffie was interrupted by the sound of her ear piece.
"Hey, we got a bit of a problem," The voice of Cid yelled. Yuffie growled in frustration and plopped down into a sitting position inside the ventilation.
"What is it this time? You do something, old man?" Yuffie huffed back.
"Apparently," The voice of Vincent was heard, "There are two life forms right above you and they seem not to be moving,"
"Guards?" Yuffie questioned. Her voice echoed throughout the shaft and a cold breeze was given to her in return. Yuffie quickly covered her mouth in fear she might have been found out.
"I'm zooming in on them… no, a woman and a… wolf." Vincent stated.
"Yuffie, just get yer ass out of there and kick the hell out of them, at this rate we aren't going to get anything done," Cid bellowed. Yuffie growled and then nodded in agreement.
"Okay, okay, make me invisible and I'll go up there. Hmph. This will take me five seconds," Yuffie then heard a growl from above her and sweat dropped. "Make that ten," Yuffie then crawled over to the vent opening and kicked the blockade off. "Hiya!" Yuffie yelled, she then jumped into the air and landing perfectly onto the marble flooring. "Who's going first?" Yuffie laughed.
Aerith gasped in shock startled by the young woman's entrance and looked down at Nanaki in panic. Nanaki grinned slowly and curled out his claws.
"I guess that's you, dog-boy," With that the battle started.
-------
"Check one, everyone on that floor is invisible, now do yer thing, brat," Cid laughed. Leaning back on his chair he pulled out a cigarette and placed it into his mouth. "Victory for us, huh?" Vincent examined to two fighters and said nothing more.
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"Hm," Hojo smirked. Looking up at his control system he saw that his computer detected a hacker. "Intruder alert, huh?" The alarms went off in the computer room and Rufus glanced up to see what the noise was.
"And what in pray tell is that noise?" He growled. Hojo turned around and smirked.
"It's just what the doctor ordered. An anti-hacking device, this is one of my better experiments. This system pinpoints the hacker and reverses the effects it causes to our computer system… to theirs," Hojo explained. Rufus smiled at this and looked towards Sephiroth in the nearby corner. "And when all their hope is lost, they will die a dreadful death,"
"Good," Rufus smirked.
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Nanaki leaped at the ninja with speed that Yuffie could barely react to. Yuffie responded by ducking down and bringing out her tiny shurikens just in time to dodge another deadly leap. A shuriken was thrown and the young woman arched her back to evade another leap. The shuriken sliced the wolf's already wounded eye and continued on hitting the ceiling. Nanaki ignored the wound and pranced, claws spread wide, at the ninja. Yuffie smirked and back flipped away from his attack.
"Too fast for you, huh?" Yuffie grinned. Just as soon as she recovered her balance the wolf slashed his flaming tail at her and slashed her arm. Yuffie looked down at her flesh wound and growled. ((He'll pay))
The ninja then flipped open a pouch from her short pocket and pulled out a short looking knife, a kunai. "Hiya!" Yuffie yelled throwing her kunai with perfect aim. The kunai pierced one of Nanaki's legs and the wolf collapsed. ((I've always been better with kunais rather than shurikens. At least with shurikens the opponent has a better chance of survival))
Nanaki looked at his wound and pulled out the knifed object with his teeth. His one eye glared at the woman and he then spat out the kunai. Aerith looked at the wolf in horror as she saw the blood pouring from his limb.
((How could anyone hurt this poor animal? He didn't do anything to anyone… I- I can't forgive this little girl, no matter how young she is)) Aerith thought as she tore her green eyes away from the scene unfolding in front of her. A mere staff lay upfront of her, a steel looking pipe to be precise, which enticed Aerith to stir with anticipation to help Nanaki. The spacious lobby they were combating in became smaller and smaller as the two fought, Aerith frowned and knew what she had to do feeling her world become smaller and the staff larger. Grabbing the staff in front of her she sighed. "For Nanaki," Aerith assured herself. She took a glance at her shoes and smiled. ((Not the best for fighting, but these high heels will have to do)) With that on her mind, she charged.
Yuffie growled, this was taking more than her ten seconds she was planning for, she had to end this now. Yuffie jumped into the air and grabbed two shirikens. Counting the seconds she was in the air, she then threw the two shurikens at Nanaki and gracefully landed onto the floor with her back turned at her enemy. In the near distance she heard a slight howl and a dropping of a weapon.
Blinking in confusion, the ninja turned around and in took a deep breath. The woman who had seemed helpless before blocked one of her shurikens, the other landed the beast's side. Nanaki fell in defeat.
"That would have killed him, the other shuriken I mean," Aerith stated in a melancholy tone of voice. Amazingly her staff did not break from the sharp shuriken. "How could you hurt this poor animal?" Aerith asked looking down at him. Yuffie 'hmphed' and crossed her arms.
"If you guys weren't here in the first place then I would have already be doing what I was supposed to be doing in the first place without any of you guys gettin' hurt," Yuffie explained placing her hands on her hips. Yuffie then cocked her eyebrow up and laughed. "You expect to fight me… with that measly staff? You've got to be kidding me!" Yuffie laughed.
Aerith growled and positioned the staff in a fighting stance. "We'll see who's the one laughing at the end, and I'm not a fan of laughing," Yuffie laughed her infamous laugh then flipped her pouch open.
"You have two options, one is to scram, and the other is to fight me and feel what it's like to lose," Yuffie explained confidently. ((I can't lose, Tifa's revenge is on the line… but I can't kill her too)). The brunette raised her staff and charged. Yuffie smiled and threw her kunai.
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Yuffie sighed as she left the lobby. Unfortunately for the woman, her shoes weren't as stable as they looked…
As the woman charged Yuffie threw her kunai. As the kunai flew through the air with grace Yuffie grinned and waited for the results. ((Just one hit)) Yuffie thought. But Aerith blocked it with ease. "WHAT!" Yuffie yelled. Taken off guard she pulled out another kunai but to her amazement there were none left. ((Oh chocobo feathers…)) Yuffie thought widening her eyes. But as the woman took another step in her charge her heel gave way and she fell back… knocking herself out with her own weapon.
((That's going to leave a bruise in the morning. –sigh- That's why I never attempted to wear high heels)) Yuffie sweat dropped. With that Yuffie continued her journey.
Yuffie jumped down into the ventilation again and continued her works. "Ready boys, let's begin at plan A," Yuffie called in.
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Vincent nodded and typed into the computer. "Full body scan, activated," Vincent said as the computer scanned Yuffie's image. "Decoy A is in place," Vincent then dragged the copied image of Yuffie on the ninth floor and pressed enter. "You're on,"
Cid recovered from his laughing fit and regained his composure. "So you think this will work out?" Cid grinned. Vincent looked at the image of Yuffie and watched as she jumped out of the vent and onto the top of the elevator. The image of the real Yuffie then brought a bomb out of her bag and pressed clay onto it. Watching her slim form jump from one elevator to the next placing the bombs on the chords, the dark man cracked a small smile, one that was not noticeable to the normal eye.
"We'll wait and see," Vincent replied making sure everything was in place.
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"She's here!" A guard said as he looked at the security monitor. Bringing up his walky-talky the guard yelled, "Everyone one the lower level floors to the elevators now, she's on the forty-ninth floor!" The guards all on the lower floors raced to the elevator and pressed for the floor of destination.
Yuffie felt the elevator's beginning to shake and advance upward. ((Yep, right on schedule)) The ninja then jumped from one moving platform to the next until she reached the third and final one. ((Here we go!)) Yuffie thought as she jumped into another open vent. Quickly taking off her bag, Yuffie brought out the detonator and pressed the button.
"What? What the hell?" The guard which was overlooking the security cameras yelled. "Hello? Hello?" The cameras in the elevators became static. "Shit!" He yelled.
Yuffie didn't look back as she heard all three elevators crash onto the ground level and crawled away. ((More deaths… but I will avenge you Tifa Kisaragi)) Yuffie thought wholeheartedly.
"You're on the forty-first level, there are eight guards above you, and nine guards are advancing up the stairs" Vincent said though Yuffie's earpiece. "Make that twelve,"
"EVERYBODY STAY IN POSITION!" The guard yelled through the walky-talky. "The Angel is out there somewhere,"
Yuffie in took a deep breath of air and loaded her guns. ((I've never liked using guns, I've always thought of them as a dishonorable way to kill a person… but I guess when you have to get the job done)) Yuffie sighed. ((On cue…)) "Cid, it's your turn," Yuffie quietly ordered.
In the van Cid nodded and added more decoy-Yuffie's.
"What? Now she's in section C, those on level forty through forty-eight get your asses to section C!" The guard directed. The men all nodded all in their levels and raced to their destination.
Yuffie jumped out of the vent onto the forty-first level and smiled at the outcome, no one was in sight, the way she liked it. The ninja raced to section B, which was the opposite staircase of section C, and readied her guns. Cid then placed in more decoy copies of the ninja.
"What the--? SECTION A! Those who are left go to section A!"
Yuffie grinned as she saw three unsuspecting patrolmen near section B heading towards section A.
"Guys, she's behind you," The guard yelled as he saw the decoy Yuffie on the monitor pull her guns out on the men.
The three men turn around but there was no one there. "No one's there," A guard yelled. But the real Yuffie appeared before the turned around men from behind them and slid on the floor, shooting her bullets at them and hitting their thighs. The guards all yelled in pain and Yuffie advanced onward.
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"We're in their system now," Hojo smirked as he looked into his computer. "Now it's time to play with them, a little cat and mouse game," With that said Hojo sat down in his chair and began typing. "First off we destroy the virus,"
"This had better work," Rufus yawned. "I trust you,"
Sephiroth grinned on the other side of the room at his words and glanced down at his sword. Rufus brought his attention to the silver haired man and smiled. He knew he was safe, and after this massacre he would take a vacation at Costa del Sol and enjoy the finer things in life, like having more workers dig up more Mako for his own pleasure and not to mention power.
A slight laughter escaped the blonde haired man's lips and then he glanced back up at the big screen Hojo was working on.
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"What the hell?" Cid yelled as he pointed to his computer monitor. "The decoys? Where the f--- are they?" Vincent glanced at his screen and then to Cid's.
"It would appear that we have some sort of interference," Vincent stated. Cid growled and his computer once more and looked at Vincent.
"Well no shit Sherlock, but I want to know who the f--- this scum is messing with a masterpiece like this," Vincent shook his head at Cid's words and then watched out for the real Yuffie.
"Hey you guys!" Yuffie yelled from the speaker placed nicely onto the desk. "This place is swarming with guards, help me out would ya?" Her voice sounded alarmed and needy, not a well-shown trait of the Yuffie Kisaragi.
"We've got your back," Vincent replied calmly.
"You better! And how can you act so calm! Get your vampire butt moving!" Yuffie screeched as bullets were heard in the background.
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"Send some of the lower level guards down to the ground floor, we need some cleaning up to do," Hojo ordered. A red haired Turk, a bald haired Turk, and a short dark brown haired Turk all nodded in unison and walked out of the room.
Hojo grinned as he saw the young Angel cornered. His plan was working. Typing onto his computer, the mad scientist dragged his mouse over the group of men hiding around Section E and dematerialized them. "Now take the bait," He whispered.
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Vincent studied his monitor looking for an escape route but there was none. ((Hm. She could always do that…)) He thought hesitantly. "Yuffie, there's a window by you," He stated.
Hearing Vincent back on her earpiece, she smiled and nodded. "Gotcha," Yuffie then turned around on her pillar and shot two more patrolmen before turning around again. Yuffie sprinted quickly across the way and shot a few bullets at the window glass. The glass did not break, but the bullet holes there made the glass more venerable to break. Yuffie hastily placed her guns into their holsters and pressed her belt bucket ejecting two ropes on each side of her landing right above the window, just in time for her to collide with the window at full force. With a jump and a flying kick, the glass burst and Yuffie went flying off, heading one more floor down. As she descended she brought out her guns again and shot the next level's window, doing the same she did to escape.
Bringing back her rope, Yuffie began to run again. "Where to now?" Yuffie asked.
Vincent looked around on that level and stated, "Section E looks clear,"
"Section E?" Yuffie repeated trying to remember the map she studied of the building. With determination back in her stormy eyes, the ninja nodded and replied, "I'm on it,"
After running across a few hallways, Yuffie reached the door which lead to Section E, but unaware to her gunned men were standing right behind it. Carefully running towards the door, Yuffie glanced down noticing something move and noticed they were shadows. "Son of Materia!" Yuffie yelled before jumping out of the door's way and men's accessibility to fire.
Gunfire was shot from the door, loads of them. Yuffie growled and was yet again behind another pillar on the defensive. "WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO DO?" Yuffie screamed in between shots, "KILL ME?"
Vincent studied the monitor realizing that there were in fact many of guards which were in section E whom were not there before. "No one was there a second ago," Vincent quietly stated to himself. Cid looked at his monitor again and growled.
"What the hell, I still don't know there the f---"
The men were rudely interrupted. "Incoming," Vincent stated as he looked at the monitor which viewed the outside of the van. There were about five to six patrolmen outside with guns locked and loaded ready to fire when ordered.
Cid glared at the van's backdoor for a second foreshadowing on what he and his counterpart should do. "Are they from our branch?" Cid asked bringing out his favorite spear which he brought with him always incase if an incident like this ever happened. Vincent examined the monitor and shook his head.
"It may appear that these men are not from our branch, but of Reeve's," Vincent confirmed. Cid grinned and brought up his spear.
"Well then it's time I had a little bit of fun," Cid laughed. ((Well, I don't give a shit if they're from our branch or not, I'm in the mood to kick some ass today and like it or not I'm gonna kick someone's ass))
Vincent brought out his rookie cop gun and loaded it following Cid's lead. "The computers seems to be malfunctioning, and I doubt Yuffie will want our help any time soon. I might as well help you out," He then grabbed a red cloak and placed it on himself.
Cid shook his head and pointed to the roof. "Nope, you're going to help that little brat, I can try and get the computers back online again after I'm done with these f-------. For the meantime make yourself useful and help the girl get her revenge and your damned name clear. And what the hell's up with the cloak? It makes you look more like a vampire then you already do,"
With that said Vincent placed his gun back into its holster and slightly smirked not answering back. Cid turned around and then with a loud huff he kicked the door open surprising the officers, and swung his spear around knocking away their weapons. The blonde man then jumped out of the vehicle ready to 'kick some ShinRa ass.' Taking one look behind him he saw his friend was already gone. Smirking to himself he then yelled, "Any of you f------- ready to meet your maker? 'Cause I as hell ain't gonna see him first,"
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Yuffie growled, she was getting nowhere again and she didn't like it one bit. The communication wasn't working, her partners were trying to kill her, and everywhere she heads to she meets up with more and more guards, like they knew she was going to be there. Yuffie sighed and ran to the nearest set of stairs hoping for the best.
As the ninja reached the stairs she kicked down the door and ran into the railing, and looked up to see if there were anybody there. Thankfully no one was there. Sighing, Yuffie ran up the stairs, she was so close to her destination she could hardly breathe, or maybe that was just the heat getting to her. ((Darn, they need A/C in here. There was like more A/C in those vents than in here!)) Yuffie thought as she reached the next upper level.
As she advanced further doors from above and below her burst open. ((Freaking materia, these people won't stop coming!)) Yuffie thought frantically. Her gun was already out of ammo and the other only had one more bullet, plus she was getting a little frustrated with the never-ending po-po's who always manage to find her. Yuffie quickly placed her back onto the wall to avoid confrontation and looked above her seeing someone's foot on the staircase. With her last bullet she shot his foot and placed her back against the wall again. The man who was shot collapsed and fell down the stairs knocking him out. The other men backed away to avoid being shot and looked for the young Angel.
As one man was looking for her, Yuffie spotted his head and held her gun like a boomerang. ((Ready or not)) Yuffie thought encouraging herself. She then threw her gun at the man and gave him a bruise on his cheek.
"Son of a, she's down there!" He yelled pulling his gun out and pointing it at her. Yuffie growled and threw her other gun at him, knocking him out this time.
((Shit, thought I was screwed back there)) With that thought bullets were shot at her.
"She's weaponless, now's our chance!" One man yelled from below her running up the staircase. Yuffie frowned at that comment and placed her hands on her belt yet again using her rope for help. Ejecting it, the rope shot through one man's abdominals and pierced his body. He looked down at the wound and then at Yuffie, before he could do anything about it, Yuffie pulled the rope making him fall over the rail and pulling Yuffie upward to the level he was at before catching his gun in the process. As she landed her rope jerked and stopped the man from fully falling down those decades of levels. The man who was pierced pleaded for Yuffie not to let go, but with a smile she shot the rope off with his weapon and pulled it back.
Now fully loaded with a weapon again, Yuffie shot the few officers on the lower levels of the staircase then duck-rolled to a safe spot to avoid being shot herself. After a few seconds of catching her breath and praying, Yuffie threw her gun high up and used her rope one more time. The men looked at the gun and before they could react to Yuffie's action, Yuffie caught her gun and kicked their legs making them lose their balance and drop their weapons.
Finally discarding her rope, Yuffie grabbed the ejected end and wrapped it around her arm and hand. "Alright, who's going first?" Yuffie then unraveled her whip and swung it mercilessly with the sharp hook at the end. "Hiya!" Yuffie yelled as she entangled one man and threw him off the railing. "And second?" She yelled enthusiastically and all caught up in the moment.
Slicing and dicing the men, Yuffie finally brought her weapon back and roundhouse kicked them, knocking them out in pain. "That's what you get for not paying attention," (a/n: Seung Mi-Na rocks!)
Yuffie placed the bloodied rope back in its proper place and continued onward up the flight of stairs.
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"Well, well, it seems that we have a new pet to play with," Hojo smirked. "What?"
Rufus took note to Hojo's voice change and glanced over to him. "What is it?"
Hojo zoomed in on the newcomer and growled. "It's nothing, just an old experiment I haven't seen in a long time," He slightly laughed.
"Is this old experiment going to cause any troubles?" Rufus asked glaring at the image which appeared on the large screen. He watched as the man shot all his men with ease and poise without fazing. The short black haired man dressed in black easily advanced up the stairs shooting only necessary targets and knocking out the rest with his golden claw.
"… No," Hojo replied hesitantly. Rufus took his eyes off the dark man on the screen and glanced at the scientist.
"No? Why do I have the feeling that this is now going to get messy?"
"It won't," Hojo spat, "Not with my son here. Sephiroth will take care of the experiment gone bad," Hojo smirked typing a few more things on the computer. "Won't you?"
Sephiroth glanced up and looked at the man in black. The redness of his eyes didn't scare him one bit, but he had a feeling he would be a good opponent to fight against. "Nothing will get past me, I assure you," Sephiroth calmly replied standing up. The tall man then walked out of the room his most treasured sword close to him.
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((One more floor)) Yuffie thought as she raced up another flight of stairs. ((One more… and then I'll kill him. I'll murder the man who ruined my life and then the man who took my sister away from me…)) Still enticed in her thoughts Yuffie took no notice to the top floor door opening.
"There she is!" They yelled. Snapping out of her thoughts, Yuffie gasped and watched as a gun was pulled out ready to shot.
Gasping Yuffie ducked and a shot echoed the whole stairwell. Opening her grey eyes Yuffie saw only red. ((Is this blood in my eyes? Am I shot? What about Tifa? No this can't be right! I'm not dead!)) "I'm NOT DEAD!" Yuffie yelled standing up. As she stood up she saw the red was only cloth, a raggedy old cloak to be exact, of raggedy old cloak of Vincent Valentine. It was his shot she heard, and his shot had shot right through both of the men instantly killing them.
Turning around Vincent looked at the young ninja in slight relief and turned around to continue. "You're hurt," He noted. Yuffie looked down at her pulsating arm and smiled brushing it off. The wound was slightly healed due to the fact she just got it recently from the red wolf, but it was passing none-the-less. "We'd best be going," He stated coolly. Yuffie smiled and softly sighed in relief and happiness.
"Thanks," Yuffie whispered. ((Hm, I wonder what's up with the cloak. But besides the matter, Vincent, he saved me. Gawd, I feel so vulnerable when he's around and that's not good since I'm about to—))
"That's the reason you almost got killed, you were too engrossed in your mind problems to even notice the enemy coming," Vincent stated walking slowly up the stairs.
"It's not my fault!" Yuffie growled. ((Then again he can be a jackass sometimes.)) Yuffie concluded. Yuffie then concentrated on Vincent's back to keep from straying away onto her thoughts as the two reached the door. "And nice cape," Yuffie muttered. The both of them then came to an abrupt stop.
"Through this door," Vincent began.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know. The sooner we get started the sooner you get your name cleared and junk, and my revenge," Yuffie interrupted taking her eyes off of his back. "Just do me a favor, when I see this Sephiorth person stay out of my way,"
Yuffie then brushed passed the dark gunslinger and opened the door, her door of light.
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Vincent loaded his gun again, he had shot too many people today and he vowed not to take in any part of the killing. Was is all for the sake of clearing his name or was it something more? Vincent slightly frowned and shot a few more people. It couldn't be just for his name, it had to be for something more. Justice? Revenge? Hope? Love? No. Cross out that last one.
As the guards surrounded him Vincent shot them one by one and walked away. The men fell to the floor as Vincent left their presence. Taking a glance off to a nearby window the gunslinger was slightly taken aback. ((Hojo…))
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Hojo frowned in displeasure, the woman was already on the top floor and same with Vincent, his old experiment. The scientist took his eyes of the screen and moved his glassed to take a better look at his workers.
((Hm. They're all like bugs.)) Hojo thought. ((All caught up in my web. Haha. And when I'm done with this ShinRa matter, I'll be most trusted and then I'll be able to use my science on this company. And take down all who oppose me.)) Grinning like a banshee, the mad scientist turned around from looking at his little helpers and continued concentrating on his work. Rufus looked over to Hojo and sighed.
((He's more of an idiot than I would have ever expected. This Hojo thinks he can play me for a fool. When he's done I'll just shoo him away like the rat he is. But his son… that will be a slight problem)) Rufus thought engrossed in his evil thoughts.
Gunfire burst through the window shocking everyone in their thoughts and doings. Instantly the few bodyguards who were left covered Rufus and took him away out through the back door. Hojo turned around from his broken screen and growled. The scientist then met eyes with Vincent, the shooter, and for a brief second they connected. Vincent then broke the eye contact and jumped through the broken window. Hojo stood still and watched as every one was in chaos, and waited for his adversary to meet him once again.
Vincent shot everyone in sight, excluding the one he was going to save for last, Hojo. Shooting them all in their non vital parts of their body, Vincent soon finished all of them off.
Hojo clapped. "Perfect aim," He laughed, "Such poise, such experience. Are you sure you're still a rookie?" The man joked. Vincent placed his gun back into its holster and walked up gracefully to the man. "I'm glad one thing actually works right on you, I thought you were just one of those malfunctioning experiments who were a failure to my projects,"
Vincents face neither fathered nor flinched at his words. "Hojo," He greeted. Hojo laughed yet again and pulled out a gun.
"Valentine," He smirked. "Any last words?" He asked deviously, then added, "I hear the woman, the lead Angel, just before she died had a precious last word," Vincent glared past the gun and at the so-called man. "Yuffie,"
With that one word Vincent brought his hand to his gun which was neatly placed beside him.
"'Yuffie!'" Hojo imitated. "What a sad ending for her though, no life what so ever, but I'm sure if I had the chance I would have made her life more interesting."
"Did you know," Hojo once again spoke, "That the lead Angel, she, was in Nibelheim when I created you who you are right now?" Vincent blinked cautiously yet remained tied to no interest.
"Mister, why are you out here all alone?" A little girl asked. She wore a blue dress and had beautiful wine eyes.
"She was also there when my son, Sephiroth destroyed that town… not to mention all my creations and experiments," Hojo growled.
"I'll keep you company until my friends get back from eating dinner," She smiled brightly, such a beautiful smile, and mysterious. "My name's…"
"Unfortunately for her she didn't die," Hojo laughed. "Oh well, she's dead now. But unfortunately enough for me I never got to use my experiments on younger specimens like her. I would have used her but Lucrecia—"
"Don't speak her name," Vincent angrily stated.
"Yet another default," Hojo sighed. "Emotions. I thought changing your body around would devoid you of them and also taking your precious love away, but I suppose it was not enough,"
"…"
"That's better, now where was I? Oh yes. So how is my failure doing these days? With your one arm and horrific features that is,"
"…"
"Hm. I suppose that's good. So unfortunate for you," Hojo laughed clicking the gun.
"Do you know a man named Cloud? He's one year older than me and has hair that sticks up, kind of like a chocobo's," She said after a long moment of silence between the two.
"No…" The younger Vincent stated. The young girl looked up and smiled.
"Well I'm actually waiting for him," She smiled brighter. "Who are you waiting for?"
((No one… not anymore)) Vincent thought.
"No. So unfortunate for you." Vincent then pulled out his gun with his lighting fast agility and pulled the trigger to the already loaded gun shooting the man's head.
Hojo then collapsed.
-------
"And where do you think you're going, Missy?" A rugged voice asked with a little humor lingering in it.
((His voice sounds familiar… like I've meet him before)) The turned around ninja back flipped onto a nearby wall and flipped frontward in the air landing to where the voice originated from to see who he was. He had familiar red, flaming hair, a white complexion, and two scars on his face both on each side of his cheeks. The only thing that looked unfamiliar was the rod that he carried held firmly in his left hand.
"Hey! You're the guy I met at Beto's!" Yuffie yelled pointing at him. The man gave her a bizarre look and laughed.
"Beto's? You go there? Please, that's such an old club, you'd see me somewhere like Seventh Heaven or one of Don Corneo's, bless him, night clubs,"
"Oh, well I thought I mashed with you there, hm. So, who are you again? You look vaguely familiar," Yuffie questioned. The man sweat dropped and brought out his Turk card. "Reno… Valentino? Hey, that rhymes,"
"Hey, hey, hey," Reno frowned. "Don't ever diss my name,"
"Well at least mine's better than yours,"
"Yuffie Kisaragi? Nah, I'd still vote for mine," Reno yawned. At his words Yuffie twitched her eyebrow and brought out her last kunai.
"I'm not going to ask how you know my name," The man then sweat dropped again but Yuffie still continued ignoring the man's gestures, "but if this quarrel were under any other circumstances I'd fight with you, but it's not, so let's just fight and get this over with,"
Reno smirked and placed his rod in his other hand ready to fight. "Then lets get his over with," Reno suggested.
"Just what I was thinking," She smirked. The two then fought.
-------
Not looking back at the corpse of the madman, Vincent gracefully ran out of the emptied looking room and searched for his main target.
"Hiya!" He heard Yuffie yell in the distance. "Take that you hippie!"
"Hippie?" Vincent heard. He knew instantly who the voice belonged to. Reno.
"That's right! You heard correct—" Yuffie's voice was interrupted by her loud scream. Vincent took this as a note and ran quickly towards her voice while scanning the lobby he passed trying to spot out anymore enemies.
((The other side)) Vincent concluded noting where the ninja was. Vincent at last reached the walkway leading to the other side only to be stopped by a kick to the hand, in which was where his gun recited. The gun fell out of Vincent's hand as he blocked the kick with his other arm, the clawed one, and looked for who might've been the one who kicked him. To his surprise it was Rude with a static Reeve behind him.
"Valentine, we would have never thought of you turning on us, you, a rookie to who just transferred. We had high expectation for you," Reeve stated. Rude just stood still and brought his leg back slowly and carefully from Vincent's defensive state.
Vincent looked strait into Reeve's eyes and stared intently into them, "And I would have never expected you to work for such a man like ShinRa, also setting up a team member,"
"You knew too much," Reeve stated in a deeper tone of voice. With a sigh he continued on his explanation, "I'm a paid man, and I live in a rundown, overpopulated city. I just only follow orders,"
"…" Vincent just started back at him in reply. Rude then intervened with the silence and began to fight.
-------
"My materia!" Yuffie yelled watching as her materia fall off the edge of the ledge. Yuffie looked up at the man who had knocked her down and growled. "I was saving those," Yuffie spat, she then spun-kick on the ground and tripped the man onto his face. Revenge is sweet when it's cold. Speaking of which, "There's one!" Yuffie happily called out. Running over to her materia, the ninja was instantly stopped by Reno yanking her foot down. "Ack!"
"Oh no, you're not going no where," Reno muffled looking up from the ground to Yuffie, not even caring about his grammar.
"I'm going somewhere alright, I'm gonna kick your ass, that's where!" Yuffie growled yanking her foot away from him. Reno let go of her foot and jumped up following her every move. Reno swung his pipe at Yuffie a few times but Yuffie evaded the swings with ease. "Oh com'mon, the red dog I fought earlier was a better opponent than you!" Yuffie taunted. At this Reno glared and swung harder, but yet again it was to no avail to the fast ninja. Yuffie instantly stopped her running and roundhouse kicked him into the wall with such force he broke through, knocking him out.
Yuffie 'hmphed' and bent down holding her leg in slight pain. ((Ouch, I guess he just wasn't just all sticks and bones after all)) Yuffie thought. She then regained herself and grabbed her fallen materia, all that's left of them that is, and continued on.
-------
"This place," Yuffie commented as she entered another room. It looked like it belonged to someone in the high ranks, most likely the younger ShinRa himself. The room was decorated in a fashion similar to the Wutainese fashion, with bamboo everything and traditional weapons everywhere. But what caught Yuffie's eyes made her gawk in impression. "These… kunais and shurikens, they're… perfect," Yuffie breathlessly stated. They were all polished up, shined, and even perfectly angled and sharpened. Yuffie was sure if she were to use one of them, the slightest throw would cause a serious injury. The ninja smirked and brought up a shuriken to her face. ((Beauti… ful?))
A reflection.
Silver hair, pale skin, something shiney beside him, HIM? A man? Tall. Dressed in black. No, it couldn't be. The reflection she saw on the flawless weapon couldn't be who she thought it could've been. Yuffie instantly repositioned the shuriken into a throwing position and turned around hurling it. As the shuriken flew away from her touch, the target disappeared.
"Sephiroth!" Yuffie yelled. The room was quiet. But Yuffie knew better, she knew that she wasn't the only Angel in the room.
