Well I hit the deadline pretty close. Luckily I got to Cless quickly this time, so he is the editor once again. In case of confusion, this starts immediately after the last chapter. I have nothing else I feel that is important to add, so Happy New Year! Read on...
Withdrawal From Sanctuary
Written by: Viewing Pleasure ; Edited by: Cless Alvein
Rufus, why was he condemning me to my death so soon, especially after he offered me the opportunity of seeing the comatose bodies of our saviors? Was it possible that this command had come from somewhere higher up?
"Hurry up! I think I heard the elevator over in this direction!" The persistent fools were already on my tail.
My eyes fell on the nearby ventilation shaft, and I hastily got to work by grabbing a nearby wrench and beating the grate in. Just as the guards rounded the corner I dove headfirst into the opening.
"We can't let him get away! Quickly, quickly! Get to the Engineering Control Center!"
Hand over hand I crawled through the vents, getting increasingly closer to my escape every moment. A rat a few feet in front of me scattered at the sound of my approach, a small piece of meat enclosed safely between its teeth; a rat, a rat, was I the same as the lowly rodent?
Through a grating below me I could hear a great many voices conversing, "But, sir, I'm not allowed to—"
"Just do it!" It was Jimmy's voice; after everything I'd done for the creep he was trying to bring me to my death. I glared with enmity at the back of his head when he went running past down below.
Suddenly the ventilation shaft grew unbearably hot and my palms felt like at any moment that the meat upon them would simply fall off. The bastards were trying to roast me! Soon enough I'd be nothing more than ashes.
"Give it up, Reno! It doesn't have to end this way." It was Jimmy yet again.
"Yeah, it'd be better ended with a bullet to his head." A Soldier replied with a chuckle escaping his lips.
I edged forward in the vent.
"Hey, Jimmy, why are we chasing him anyway?"
"Outside sources, I wasn't told anymore than that."
"Do you think it has anything to do with the appearance of those creatures?"
Oh, the sickening heat! I wished they would make it stop!
"Well—" suddenly Jimmy stopped speaking and seemed to be listening to something, "—Turn the heat back down, Rufus is calling us to his office."
For some odd reason the Soldiers checked their weapons to make sure the safety was off and headed out towards the elevator.
My head clanged against the metal just as the engineer adjusted the heat; I clung to my consciousness as the welcome and refreshing cool air blew over me. The vent around me, however, was still searing hot, making my range of motion very constricted. I began moving ever so slowly.
"—The papers say they're just normal beasts like we've always had." A brown haired man was looking for a tool of some sort. He cracked his head on the headlight of the caravan, obscenities ensued.
"But don't you think that's a little, well, too easy to say for sure? Do they have any proof?" Beside the man with brown hair was a bald man; his blue uniform was smothered with grease and sweat. The way he talked gave me the impression that he was a very annoying individual.
"Of course not, you idiot! All they care about is holding the real truth from the good, working citizens like us!" The two mechanics were fumbling about, trying to bring the caravan from today's mission back to an adequate condition; the thing was already falling apart piece by piece, I don't see why they bothered.
"We better get back to work, wouldn't want Rufus' lapdog to find us goofing off."
"You got that right; one time I was trying to make a date with that cute girl from engineering, and he made me work overtime that whole night without pay."
"You mean Cindy?" What was the bald man talking about?
"What?" Even the brown haired fellow was a bit confused.
"The girl you were talking to! Cindy right?"
"See, that's your problem, you stray away from the topic too much. Let's just get this thing finished."
"Just tell me, was it Cindy?"
"Yes, for God's sake, now stop talking!"
I snickered for a moment before pulling myself through the vent; it seemed to be tightening in on me. Just ahead was a little opening.
…
No footsteps or voices, I dropped down through the hole and hid behind a few boxes nearby. It seemed they were being shipped to…I couldn't read the name; it was too faded.
"Hey, Mac! Where are these things headed to?" The voice was heading in my direction.
"Oh! Rufus says they're headed to Icicle Inn!"
"Icicle Inn? Why there?" The worker was beginning to lift the crate nearest to my head.
"Don't know! But it's supposed to be very important!"
"Alright!" As he picked up the crate completely, I backed myself into a corner to avoid his sight.
Icicle Inn, that was a place very close to the crater. With a careful step, I followed behind the buff man carrying the crates. I took the chance to slip inside the truck when he looked away to wave at a fellow co-worker.
In a few moments, I heard his voice shout, "That's all of them, Mac! Get a move on!"
The engine revved before the truck took off.
I cursed myself for having boarded the vehicle; Rude and the others were now alone to face the wrath of the Soldiers. Hopefully my friends would be safe, but judging by the strange actions of my pursuers I couldn't be sure.
Upon resting my head on a crate, I began to doze off; my eyes were heavy and begged for sleep. Even my hands asked for some rest, they were aching and I could already feel the blisters.
"Pree—I'm sorry I couldn't have that cup of coffee with you. I won't be able to keep my promise for a long time—" The truck had been driving for quite some time now.
Suddenly, the vehicle came to a screeching halt, and it seemed to veer sideways as if the truck was about ready to flip end over end. I jumped to my feet and rushed over to open up the back. It gave way as I pushed upward against it with all my strength.
Just as I had suspected, the truck was just about ready to go tumbling. I leapt from the back, making a very hard landing on my chest; my ribs crushed in on my lungs momentarily, causing the life-supporting oxygen to escape through my lips. When I got to my feet, and I could breathe again, I looked around to see what caused the vehicle to act as it did; a car was now safely off to the side of the road, a couple men in black suits emerging from the doors. If I wasn't one already I would've suspected them to be Turks; four people in all exited the car.
"How annoying, wasn't this guy supposed to be assassinated earlier today?" Dreadlocks covered his head; his eyes were shaded by dark sunglasses, forbidding me from seeing anything but his skin.
"Yes, but apparently Rufus' Soldiers aren't quite apt enough for something like this." This one, a female by the sound of her voice, was busy punching something into a small rectangular device in a concise fashion. She flipped a few blonde locks away from her eyes and went right back to the gadget in her hands.
"Let's kill him—" A larger man than the other three, his voice sounded similar to a drum's deafening boom. His hair was sickeningly off-white; it stuck out like a sore thumb on the giant.
The last of four wasn't paying very much attention to what the others were doing, his eyes were focused on a flock of birds flying past threw the sky; as they dove and lost altitude, he followed them without missing a beat. "We're not to kill him, boss's orders."
"Shoot. I figured I was going to get to murder someone today." I didn't like the giant very much at this time.
"Who are you all and what are you doing here, yo?" A chill swept down my spine as they fully turned their attention to me.
"Mercenaries, I suppose, but you needn't worry yourself with that." The girl was still hitting away at those buttons on that piece of equipment firmly grasped between her palms.
"You've got to be kidding me, only two of you look like they could last ten minutes in a fight."
"I'm more of the medic, so don't mind me. It's just Verdugo and Fum you have to worry about."
"'Fum'?" Who was she referring to exactly?
"You know, 'Fee Fye Fo Fum'?"
My eyes wandered to the giant. Enthusiasm disappeared from my bones as the relevance dawned on me. "I see, yo…" Verdugo appeared to be the man with dreadlocks; funny, he didn't look Spanish as his name suggested.
"Verdugo is called so because of his nickname from the people of the desert, El Verdugo Deprimente, which basically translates into The Dismal Executioner." The girl was a mind-reader to have known my curiosity in his name.
"Alright, yo, why are you so intent on killing me? I know none of you are with Shinra, and I know for damn sure you aren't with Soldier."
The man who had been paying great attention to the birds in the sky looked at me with a smile despite the words coming from his mouth, "Your life's price has been paid, in full I might add—"
"—And you'll never find out who our employer is, so you might as well give up."
I glared towards the giant who had somehow finished his comrade's statement. "I knew this was all too easy…" My heart was pounding so fast that I thought it would explode at any moment, the fear was too great and the tension was rising.
"Prepare yourself!" the giant shouted with determination as both he and Verdugo drew the weapons meant to slaughter me. The blade Verdugo had was fairly long and would've made the Ex-Soldier's buster sword pale in comparison; it was covered with a dry layer of blood regardless of how well taken care of it appeared. Fum, however, didn't carry a sword; in his hands he wielded a large axe. The carnage visible on it was even worse than the blade I described only moments ago.
I drew the nightstick from my side; the fight wouldn't be an easy one. "Alright, let's get this massacre over with, yo."
Verdugo rushed towards me, his blade held out far in front of him clasped between both his hands, and when he got close enough he swung with enough strength to sever my head completely. I dodged to get out of the way, but in doing so I opened myself up to Fum's own attack. His beastly looking axe created a gash in my leg so long that the pain was tremendous. "B-bastard!" I staggered backwards, struggling to keep my body standing upright.
"Your blood, it calls to me! It shall not call in vain!" The giant swung again, nearly lobbing off my right arm. As he missed, my nightstick cracked against his skull, but this bothered Fum only slightly; he picked me up by my feet and threw me into the overturned truck still lying in the street.
Rushing to my feet, I awaited their next assault. "So, as merely a curiosity, how much am I worth?"
"Five million Gil, you should feel proud." A grin emerged on the medic's face.
"Five million, are you serious? Wow, I can see why you're all so eager to kill me, yo." A smile of my own complemented hers.
"At least you don't lose your sense of humor in the face of death!" Fum rushed at me with that gigantic axe of his; fear swept through me each time I laid my eyes on it.
I rolled out the way, brushing off a bit of dirt from my shoulder, "Nah, I'd know death if I saw it, and you're not death. I've fought things twice as tough as the both of you, yo!"
"Like what!" Verdugo spit in my direction, failing in his attempt to hit me with it.
"Ever heard of Cloud Strife? Compared to him, you two are nothing but a nuisance."
"Cloud Strife…fastidio condenado!" Again, Verdugo didn't appear Spanish in any way, yet he spoke it fluently.
"Excuse me?"
"He's a damned nuisance." The blonde medic was one hell of a translator.
"And that would be the only part where I agree with you, yo, but he does come in handy every once and awhile."
Both Fum and Verdugo stood their ground for a moment as if strategizing their moves to come.
"Why does someone want me dead?"
"All we know is that someone wants you and your friends out of the way." The strange fellow with red hair whom had been watching the birds suddenly put his two hands together and started chanting some sort of mantra, a spell perhaps.
In the next instant, a strange heat consumed my body and burned my already blistered hands. The spontaneous fire disappeared only moments afterwards, but the pain continued for much longer. "A skilled magic caster, I haven't seen one of those since—"
"Since…?" the red haired mage urged me to continue.
"Her name isn't important to you lowlifes! Let's get this over with, yo!" My feet pushed me forward as I raised the nightstick behind my head in preparation to swing it. Fum, the eerie giant, grabbed my arm in mid-swing and tossed me aside as if I were a doll; the mage had a good bodyguard that was for sure.
The medic seemed to be even more intent with the object in her hands, as her eyes stared questioningly at it.
"Something the matter, yo, you seem worried?" the false kindness was merely my way of mocking the enemy.
She glared at me with a set of fiery eyes, "I hope you find it funny that your friend Cloud Strife has destroyed my family!"
Her three companions dropped their guards immediately and turned to face their friend.
"¡Fastidio condenado!" the words reached my ears for the second time and they ironically came from the very same lips.
The Ex-Soldier had slaughtered her family, why?
"We should head back—"
"No! We have to finish the job!" The medic shouted at the mage with tears streaming from her eyes; a reddish complexion was already forming around her sockets.
I hung my head with guilt; strange considering their problems had nothing to do with my own. "Your friend is right you should go home, yo."
Her eyes shot back towards me, but before she could protest I finished, "You can always find me again later, and when that time comes I won't resist a fight. Family is family, no job should ever change that; they're what gave you life, which should be worth something more than money."
The group of four stared at me with what seemed like respect before entering their car. An engine roared and they drove off…then nothing more. I clutched my arms as wind as cold as ice brushed up against me. "If I get a cold from this someone's going to pay, yo."
Another gust of wind pushed me onward.
………………………………………………………………………
"Reno, where in the hell are you, you should be here by now?" I took one last puff of my cigarette before rubbing it out. A couple of Soldiers flew past my office in a fit of panic. "What are they up to?"
"President Rufus, there's someone here to speak with you; should I send them in?" The soothing voice of my receptionist was like music to my ears.
"Yes, Mary, send them in. Oh, and make sure that bodies of Ms. Yuffie, Mr. Barret, and Mr. Cid get sent to critical care posthaste."
"Yes sir."
Moments later the door opened; my eyes fell with disbelief on the person entering my office.
"Yes, President Rufus—I bet you quite enjoy that title." The figure moved closer to my desk, grabbing a file into his grasp.
"What are you doing here! You're supposed to be dead!"
"You thought old Hojo was gone for good, now didn't you?"
"Who is it that is trying to fool—?"
"Fool! You're the only fool here! My science is too strong to be kept concealed by the Lifestream!"
I pressed the intercom button on my desk, fear erupting from my voice, "Mary, get security in here now!"
"What's the matter, President Rufus, afraid of death?" Hojo laughed and pulled out a handgun, effectively destroying the intercom on my desk.
"This can't be happening…"
"Oh, but it is! And when you look for someone to blame look in the mirror! You've had a hand in killing Sephiroth twice now!"
"But it was the Ex-Soldier who—!"
"No, President Rufus, he wouldn't have been able to do a thing without your assistance! Where he's going next is also thanks to you…"
"And just where would that be?" I was uncomfortable sitting in the chair so unprotected.
"Nibelheim, which as you know is now called the City of Mercenaries."
"I never told him to go there!"
"But you did!" He threw the file he had been reading onto my desk with force, "Right there! Don't insult my intelligence, President Rufus! You have video cameras everywhere; there's a good chance that the conversations that go on in here get written down and sent to you! Those papers right there clearly state that Cloud Strife came to you with a problem and you replied by telling him that most solutions to problems could now be found in Nibelheim. Proof enough for you? It is for me…"
"What do you have to gain from all this?" My hands gripped the chair tightly as Hojo pointed his gun directly at my face.
"I can return Sephiroth back to glorious life once Strife and the others are out of the way."
Relief came to my bones as three Soldiers entered the room, but it disappeared just as quickly when I realized their guns were pointed at me. "We couldn't get Reno, sir! He was too quick for us!" James Peterson, the most loyal person to Shinra I knew, what was he doing?
"That's okay, Soldier, he'll be dealt with soon enough."
"Hojo, how come my men are answering to you!"
"Silly Rufus, they've simply realized which is the winning side. On the count of three, I would like you all to fire on Mr. President Rufus here."
The three Soldier recruits aimed their rifles.
"So, you're trying to kill Reno are you?" My words had somehow regained their strength.
"That is correct, President Rufus. With him gone, Cloud will be easier to get rid of."
"He won't go so easily…" I carefully typed a note to the emergency room on my computer, a note that would allow them to let Rude leave. What about Elena and Tseng, would they walk into Hojo's trap?
"Three—"
I sent the note, quickly starting on another memo, this time addressed to Tseng's cell-phone; since Elena was always with him, I figured she wouldn't need one for herself.
"Two…do you have any last words, President Rufus?"
"As a matter of fact I do." my hand reached for the gun inside the compartment of my desk.
"Please hurry up so we can end this."
"Die!" I pulled the handgun out and fired a round at fire-extinguisher beside the three Soldiers; a thick white cloud hindered their sight. As I got up from my desk Hojo, the only person other than me not blinded by the gas, fired his gun as best he could; pain erupted in my right arm.
It was a miracle that I actually managed to escape from the room considering there were two more Soldiers just outside the door. Mary was dead, her lifeless head upon the desk.
"Don't just stand there, fools, get him!" Hojo pointed a frantic finger at me as he began firing once again.
Blood running from the wound on my arm, I dashed through another set of doors which opened up into a long hallway; at the other end was an elevator to the parking garage where my motorcycle awaited me.
"There he is, quickly now!" I didn't care who the voice came from, I was too busy wishing their bullets would miss me.
My hand beat against the parking garage button. A stray shot caught me in the stomach just as the doors were closing. "D-damn!" The elevator descended at a steady rate. When the doors open, I collapsed into the arms of someone whose presence calmed me greatly.
"Boss, we have to get out of here immediately! I got your message only moments ago; Elena is trying to hold them off from the car!"
"Tseng, I'm so glad to see you…yes, we must move swiftly, lest Hojo find us again."
"Hojo!" I'd left his name out of the note.
"I'll explain later, now let's go!"
When Elena saw both Tseng and I approaching she took the driver's seat and pushed the accelerator the instant we entered the vehicle. My eyes caught Rude spread out on the back seat; at least the Turks were still loyal to me.
………………………………………………………………………
So where was I supposed to go now? I was wanted by mercenaries, Shinra Inc. wasn't safe anymore, and I was all alone with barely any money to my name.
"I suppose I could head to Junon Harbor, yo. How far is that from here?" My head lowered as I tried to remember the distance. From the appearance of the land I was near where the Mythril Mines used to be before they were blown up to make way for the truck routes, the swamp just before the deceased mines had dried up long before that. If I simply followed the truck route I would come upon Fort Condor; it had been abandoned during the time the three Sephiroth children appeared.
"But what's past Fort Condor? I hate traveling on foot, when I'm in a car I don't have to worry about these things." Then I remembered, there was a crater-like body of water surrounded by mountainous peaks, the river leaking from the left of the odd creation was all that would separate me from Junon. I would have to hike quite a ways and then pass through the river before I could reach my destination.
My feet trudged along the road. "I hate walking, yo…"
That's it for now. The names of the mage and the medic will be revealed soon. I hope you all enjoyed this little New Years treat of mine. Yes, Cloud has showed up, but only in conversation; I still plan to keep him far from the main plot of the story. Anyway, I'll try to get to work on the next chapter as soon as I possibly can. Please review, I'm curious to know what you all thought.