Alright, there are a couple new additions I'd like to make. A friend of mine has asked to read and edit my chapters from now on, so I hope that his additions will greatly improve the story. So from now on, whenever heedits a chapter I will see to it that he gets proper thanks.
Now, I'm sad to say it, but three reviews is a new record for me, which means I plan to continue this story. The edits Cless Alvein(my editor now) made somehow got lost, so I had to redo them by memory, darn OpenOffice program. Anyway, there's some action in this chapter, so I'm hoping you'll all enjoy that. Happy Reading...
Messengers of Evil
Written by: Viewing Pleasure--Editedby: Cless Alvein
"They want to what! That's crazy…it has to be a misunderstanding."
I shook my head at how naïve his thoughts were; Shinra was capable of destroying the world if they wanted to, they and the people working within could do anything once they set their minds to it. If they failed they kept trying; their stubbornness was like hell itself to face. "I didn't misunderstand anything, yo, I heard them myself the day I walked past the unauthorized room; you know the one. Apparently I haven't been up to their standards lately…so they plan to have me killed.
"…Well…I guess we'll have to show them who's boss when the time comes, huh?"
"Yeah, Rude, I guess, yo."
"You…guess? That doesn't sound like the Reno I know. Where's your confidence?"
Was I ready to tell him about the crater, the place my thoughts constantly chased after? My devil, my Grim Reaper, my death, my hell, it was all waiting for me there. In my dreams, I had seen my body mutilated in hundreds—if not thousands—of different ways in that crater. One particular nightmare placed me standing before a shadowy figure with a long slender claw facing outwards toward me; long silvery hair seemed to flow from behind where its head belonged…except, I knew it wasn't Sephiroth, it was too heart-stopping, too cold, too…too inhuman. The scraggly looking finger would reach out to my face, and thoughts of how I would scream if it touched me came freely. It would feel like I would go crazy if it was placed anywhere on my skin. Then just before it reached my right cheek I would…
"…Ahem…"
"Oh, sorry, yo, I was off in la-la-land for a minute there."
"Sounds like a real fine place; is the rent any good?"
"Oh yeah, perfect, yo, it even comes with a pool."
"But you still haven't answered my question…if what you say is true I can't have you, excuse me for saying, breaking down when your time finally comes. I won't let them hurt you…neither will Tseng or Elena."
"Thanks, yo. I'll stop being so pessimistic and start psyching my ego up so when we fail I can feel even worse."
"That wasn't my…oh forget I said anything…"
We both grinned and managed to chuckle a bit; strange how someone can laugh at death. But I was scared, frightened beyond anything I'd ever felt before. My heart felt like it would pop at any moment, sending my life spiraling with it into the deep abyss. Sweat emerged onto my palms, creating a sort of oily consistency across the skin. It even seemed harder to breathe in and out regularly, almost as if my lungs were refusing the air as a shopper might refuse his or her change after paying the clerk too much Gil.
The elevator made its ever familiar "Bing!" as we reached our stop. I glanced over at Rude, and he looked right back at me. With a curt nod, I exited the elevator first, Rude not far behind, and began to head towards the exit of Shinra Corporation out onto the helo-pads. A few annoying office nerds stared at us like we had both grown an extra head or something similarly surprising. Rude took a threatening step toward them, scaring them enough into returning to their own jobs. We didn't like to feel like sideshow freaks at a carnival when he had to cross through this particular part of Shinra Co.
"Reno! Reno! Is that you!" A female shouted to me from behind, causing a sigh to escape my lips.
I faced Rude long enough to tell him to go on without me, "Tell the pilot to prepare for take-off, I won't be long." He glanced at the girl approaching from behind me and began heading for the door again…he didn't want to speak to her anymore than I did.
"Hey, Pree…um, I'm kind of on a mission, so I don't really have time to talk right now."
A look of great displeasure and disappointment spread across her face, making me feel like a real zero, "Oh…I see…sorry for bothering you." Her full name was Priella Ino, but everyone preferred to call her Pree; it made things easier in conversation. I wanted to apologize immediately for making her so down, however it was really her fault; lately she'd been too clingy. Maybe she had some sort of crush on me, maybe she didn't, but whenever I was around her we seemed to get into some sort of romantic situation. Like the one time where we'd gone out for a walk and ended up at her house by the end of the night…she'd wanted something to happen that I could not commit myself too…I didn't like her as anything but a friend.
"Wait a minute, I'm sorry. Maybe we can get together later for a cup of coffee or something, I promise."
A smile seemed to tug at the corners of her mouth as she replied, "Alright, but don't forget, you promised me!"
And then I thought, what would happen if Shinra knew about my friendship with Pree? If I ran away might they use her against me? I couldn't let that happen, I just couldn't…
"You…you better get moving now, Reno. Rude's been waiting for a good few minutes now."
"You're right, I'll see you later." A long and awkward moment of silence arose and then completely disappeared as a large explosion erupted from the helo-pad. My eyes widened, and in a state of panic I ran forward and threw the door open to see if Rude was okay.
My throat ached as I shouted at the top of my lungs, "Rude! Rude! Where are you! Rude! Answer me, yo!"
"I'm right here…you don't have to yell so loud…" a voice mumbled from beneath a bit of rubble, causing me to feel much more at-ease. I tossed countless chunks of cement out of the way before I finally began to see any of his body. My fingers were scratched and burned like a paper-cut after having touched the rough aftermath of whatever had blown up on the helo-pad.
"What happened, yo? I couldn't see anything from inside."
"The idiot pilot lit a cigarette next to one of the fuel tanks and blew himself up…he's not dead, but he's going to need medical attention immediately." As he said this, Pree was already emerging from the door with two surgeons behind her. That pilot was going to be in the Burn Ward for a long time without a doubt.
"They always say smoking can kill you; I guess he's the proof yo." This time Rude didn't laugh, though I knew he was dying to on the inside.
It was one of those things where if you laughed you felt guilty, almost as if you had hurt the person yourself; pain and death was everywhere in the world, and anyone who was dumb enough to cause it to themselves deserved to be laughed at…but that wasn't true, for everyone who gets hurt or dies in some way did cause it to happen. Maybe they stopped their diet for a single day and had a major coronary a few days later, or else they forgot to check their tires and on the drive through town a flat tire caused them to slide directly into oncoming traffic…fate was as cruel as death itself. But fate gave us chances, chances to save ourselves, but despite his generosity he also made them the hardest things to discern from the norm.
We boarded the helicopter—which was fine except for a few scratches—and after pressing a few buttons I started to fly us out of Midgar with a strange calm.
Rude was dusting off his sleeves again; the third time today.
"So do you have any idea where the heck we're supposed to wait for the caravan?"
"Not really, no. All we were told was that we were supposed to look out for a green signal…" It was then that my eyes glimpsed a small light with a greenish hue down below being waved around frantically, obviously trying to catch our attention.
"I guess that's our cue, yo."
Rude, appearing tense, locked his eyes on the sky almost as if he was looking for something. The clouds were dark and a thunderous clap could be heard in the distance. A forced laugh escaped my lips, "We always get the crappy jobs, yo."
Cssshhht!
The radio sprung to life, causing the both of us to jump in surprise, "Rude or Reno, come in, do you read me? Over…"
"We read you loud and clear, Tseng," I landed the helicopter safely before the technician who'd flagged us down, "You guys almost ready, yo? Over."
"Almost…Elena is having problems with the gate officer; he won't let us out unless the boss authorizes it. She's told him a million times this is for a mission given to us by Rufus himself, but the fool won't even listen. The two of you can start scouting ahead; I'll contact you when we're on our way. Over and out…"
Now the small device returned to a dull sequence of crackling. "Well you heard him, yo, let's get going." A sigh escaped my lips before I took my first step out towards the fields surrounding Midgar. I broke into a short sprint with Rude close on my tail; I was heading directly for the summit of a nearby hill, there I could get a sneak peek at what we could expect for this mission.
The heel of my left foot froze for a moment and I was nearly sent flying over the top of the hill. "That was a close one, yo; I guess I should be more careful…" Suddenly I couldn't hear anything, not even Rude's breathing. My eyes widened as they spotted dark wraiths everywhere, hundreds, no thousands, no…I couldn't even count them all; they were making screeching howls that could pierce my eardrums alone.
My hand released the radio, allowing it to hit the dirt with a clatter, and a voice erupted from it, "Reno! We're coming, what's your situation?"
"…"
"Reno! What's going on!"
It took everything I had to begin moving again; the creatures sent fear rushing up my spine just looking at them. Their claws were sharp and formed in odd angles, covered with what appeared to be mud; they had glowing eyes, and a head that twitched around in all sorts of strange positions. A sort of bluish air emerged from their mouths like a human on a cold winter's day. The wraiths walked on two feet, but they would hobble occasionally on three or four of their dark appendages. Where their head was located there was no mouth, instead it was located down where you would find their neck. The teeth would shimmer as a steady trickle of drool would run down randomly.
I looked up to Rude and in his eyes I saw great fear; he was going through exactly the same helplessness that I was.
Tseng had given up on contacting us; he probably figured we were in danger and needed immediate rescue. But suddenly, as if to prove my thoughts wrong, it sprung to life one last time, this time Elena's voice reached my ears, "We're coming guys, hang on!"
Now my hand reached instantly for the radio and I shouted back, "No, stay back! Go back to base and wait for us!" It was too late, just as I was saying that Elena and Tseng cleared the hill in the caravan. I hadn't been quick enough in telling them what was going on.
The wraiths cocked their heads toward the caravan, obviously sensing the Lifestream energy within, and began their attack in an almost surreal fashion. Their bodies stuck low to the ground as they crawled on all-fours with great speed.
Both Rude and I scattered for the caravan and I could just see Tseng trying to get it into reverse; he was having problems. "Hold them off! I won't be able to get us out of here in time!" He commanded, ducking his head under the dashboard to see what the problem was. Elena was yelling something into the caravan's phone; I couldn't hear what she was saying exactly.
I swallowed roughly, a lump forming in my throat, and I drew my usual weapon, the nightstick; Rude followed in a similar way.
The demonic creatures were getting even closer, so close I could almost see exactly where their head started and ended. One leapt directly for Rude's torso, swinging its right claw with the accuracy of a murderer.
This wasn't right, there weren't supposed to be this many wraiths. Where the hell had they all come from!
"Reno! Look out!" He gave a swift kick to the wraith before him.
Rude had warned me just in time, but I had to act fast. Ducking my head, I dodged the first blow, but the next time it swung it connected directly with my arm. I could feel the flesh tear against the sharp claws and a trickle of blood began to run downwards. My nightstick cracked directly into the wraith's skull, causing it to stumble backwards in a cry of rage.
"I've almost got it guys! Keep at it!"
Was I going to survive long enough for those words to have any importance? Any longer and both Rude and I would be dead.
Three more wraiths closed in on me. That was four…four.
"Reno…if I don't make it…give the boss a good punch for me when he tries to have you assassinated."
I was silent to Rude's words; it was more likely that I was going to die before he did.
Another wraith jumped at me, extending a claw towards my face, but I blocked it with the nightstick. My weapon battered against its back, bringing a heart-warming CRACK to my ears.
Five more joined the previous four…nine wraiths. But wait, six more were approaching too; that made fifteen? Fifteen! Rude had his own fair share of these creatures too. I could fight four of these things maybe but not fifteen at once.
The wraith that had been hit in the back with my nightstick was somehow staving off the pain of the broken bones and rejoined its brethren.
"There's way too many of these damn things, yo!"
"I know, and they won't stay down!" Rude shouted in quick reply. He was wrestling with a wraith that had somehow managed to knock him to the ground and was now trying to eat his face off. In a moment Rude had tossed the creature aside and was now trying to subdue it by repeatedly bashing it with his own nightstick. A bit of crimson spattered from the wound he was creating and painted Rude's face with dots of red…the wraith did move, but he was now more careful about getting closer to Rude.
"That taught the little demon who's the boss, yo!"
Rude grinned.
My mouth slowly went from smile to a look of shock as one of the wraiths cut him directly across the chest, appearing to go into him pretty deep. He collapsed to the ground and clutched at his chest like a man having a heart-attack.
I rushed over to Rude and swung my nightstick at the creature that had damaged him; it scampered backwards in defense. "Are you okay, yo? Hang on! We'll get you out of here, we'll get out of here…we'll get you…"
"Reno! What are you doing out there!" Tseng's voice reached my ears.
I wanted to give up, these creatures were invincible. Returning to my feet, I kicked at a wraith trying to close in. It reeled back and clutched at its face with clawed hands. Before I eased up, I shattered its skull, its arm, its nose-less face, and its back leg.
What was Tseng doing! He should've had the caravan started up by now!
The wraith moved itself behind the others, waiting for its wounds to stop hurting, and the others neared closer.
"Hang on for just a bit more!" It was too late, no matter what Tseng said now it was over.
As all of the wraiths jumped at me all at once, the annoying sound of a motorbike seemed to grow louder and louder ever second. That sound…it was…it was.
"Thank God! They're here!"
A shuriken flew by and turned in a circular motion, taking out a majority of the wraiths in one round. It landed steadily in the hands of the thrower, a familiar ninja friend of the Ex-Soldier. At her sides were two others: the AVALANCHE rebel with the gun-arm and the smoker with the spear…but there was no Ex-Soldier. What was that motorbike I had heard? It hadn't been in my mind…had it?
I don't know how long it will take me to complete the next installment, but please take note that I won't always get another chapter finished in such a short amount of time. As always, please review, it's what keeps me going; even if you've already reviewed before.