A/N: Wrote this while listening to Rammstein, so please excuse the violence. Needless to say this story will have a lot of twists and turns and betrayals and conspiracies that will eventually lead to a Tifa&Loz pairing, so bear with me. If you like you can review too, and that would certainly make me happy and eager to write more. Enjoy.
Disclaimer: Square Enix owns everything.
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'Yazoo! Wait for me!' Loz shouted, dashing after the motorbike that sped off toward the dilapidated Shinra Company Headquarters.
Yazoo whipped his head back to glance over his shoulder at his older brother. For a moment, his face looked impatient…eager to get to Kadaj. Loz was running with lightning speed enhanced by the materia, his harsh features tensed from the physical exertion.
He was getting closer…closer…almost there. Yazoo didn't slow down, confident in the knowledge Loz would catch up as he always did. With a slow, darkened smile, he increased his speed and rode toward the tunnel exit, where the ebbing daylight gathered in a shimmering haze.
It happened so quickly that his mind could not register it for an instant, yet time seemed to stand still for Yazoo.
He felt a ball of incandescent light expand before his eyes, then surround him, and pierce through him with a thousand scorching beams, entrancing him and luring him forward. Light whose cacophonous symphony rose in a deafening crescendo of pain, instantly numbed him. Yazoo closed his eyes against it and suffered no more…
The massive deafening explosion knocked Loz back, slamming his leather-clad body to the tunnel wall with a bone-shattering force. The ceiling cracked at once under the pressure, debris began falling down as the ground vibrated and the tunnel shook with a loud rumble.
Loz estimated he had maybe about five seconds to get out of there before the tunnel collapsed upon him. Though still disoriented, his mind whirling and head throbbing from the blast, Loz scrambled to his feet and whirled to sprint out of the tunnel.
He acted out of sheer survival instinct, materia boosted adrenalin lending him the speed to make it out of the collapsing tunnel just in time. Loz flung himself to the ground as a second, smaller blast erupted behind him and destroyed the tunnel completely in a shower of concrete and metal.
For several moments, Loz laid still and motionless, and when he gathered enough strength to struggle up from the ground, his first impulse was to run back into the burning rubble and search for Yazoo.
He took one step forward…and grimaced at the sharp pain that stabbed his thigh. He clenched his teeth and glanced down, but could not see much from the warm trail of blood running down his begrimed face and blinding him in one eye, trickling into his mouth.
What seemed like a large shard of metal was embedded into his thigh. Black leather sheathed fingers closed firmly around the metal fragment that impaled his thigh and with a deep grunt, Loz jerked it free, dropping it to the gravel and ash strewn asphalt ground with a clutter. Blood instantly poured out, drenching the dark leather and sticking it to his flesh with a strong, nauseating metallic scent.
It was only then Loz realized it was the blade of Yazoo's gun that had punctured his flesh and remained anchored there welding almost to the bone like a terrible grosquerie. The blood-spattered gun blade was the only thing left of Yazoo.
The sight of his brother engulfed in ravenous flames still burning his vision, twisting his harsh-featured face with rage and tears; Loz pressed his gloved hand crudely into his wound in order to somewhat stop the bleeding, and limped toward the burning wreckage.
Crimson-orange flames and thick black fumes rose higher as Loz approached, as if to warn him off. Ashes and dust flew on the afternoon breeze and clung to his blood-specked hair and lips. Mako-blue gaze scanned the burning remains, but it was difficult to see through the intense haze of the smoke.
"YAZOO!" Loz roared in furious despair, his voice trailing off into a cough, staggering backward as the blistering heat seared his face and his lungs, choking his breath. He did not dare get any closer to the flames.
"Yazoo…" Loz choked, throwing his head back, howling his anguish to the leaden blue skies with a soul-rending cry.
He stood there, broken and bleeding for several moments, face turned heavenward, toward the gossamer flurry of ashes that fell from the burning wreckage with a gentle flutter, and caressed his tear-spilled, soot-stained cheeks.
Then, the rain came.
The tiny droplets of icy water touched his eyelashes, trickled down his blood-caked lips. Rain brought a silent promise of deliverance, even as it brought more pain. But most of all, rain brought fear. Raw, unadulterated fear…
"We go together." Loz whispered, his body tensing up. Let rain wash away his tears, purify and erase his existence and his memories.
Every cell in his body resisted, screaming in defiance of his surrender, holding onto the physical coil like the tainted essence that clung to him like a relentless, persistent lover caught forever in throes of passion, forcefully coaxing the unknowable darkness of the alien calamity itself in him.
A powerful, parasitic existence made of blood and rage it seemed, a dominant organism that overpowered the helpless host, seething inside his skull and soul, quashing the urge to self-destruct.
Once again, the survival instinct won out, compelling Loz to flee the punishing rain and take shelter from its bittersweet promise of reunion with his dead brothers in the life stream.
And so, Loz limped all the way down to the dilapidated church and took refuge within. His strength was swiftly ebbing as he crawled inside. There, slumping against an alcove, he clasped the blood-spattered gun blade to him, breathing heavily, listlessly watching the water cascade down from an ashen-blue sky shading slowly to a clear, bright sapphire.
The delicate perfume of the flowers mingled with the fresh scent of rain and teased his nostrils, and Loz tried not to retch.
His head was pounding, his thoughts consequently jumbled, his ears ringing from the explosion still. To make matters worse, his wound wasn't looking so good either, the mangled flesh where the gun blade had speared him and tore the major femural artery and ripped the tendons was swollen, weeping blood and pus, tiny fragments of metal and bits of dirt still clinging to it. Blood loss did not appear to be a problem for Loz, who was gifted with an unnatural stamina; he would probably last for quite a while longer without losing consciousness and withstand the stinging pain. What worried him was that at this rate, a raging infection was inevitable, and would soon fester and enter his blood stream, spreading fast and shutting down the organs, bringing a slow, agonizing death.
If only he had a restore materia… Loz briefly remembered Yazoo offering him the shimmering green orb of healing in case of emergency, but he had arrogantly refused it, confident in his superior physical powers. He had dug his own grave, and now he had to suffer for his foolishness.
He couldn't just curl up and die, if anything, his pride wouldn't allow the shame of wasting away like a neglected cripple in some filthy hovel, hiding from big brother and his damned eco-warriors. There had to be a way to obtain the materia…
Loz forced himself to think; he recalled fighting that girl in this very church, then discovering that chest full of materia when he was about to finish her off, then transporting the whole stock to the Forgotten City. It was highly unlikely that the stash would still be there after the raid. No…There had to be some backstreet store in these slums somewhere that dealt in the trade of materia. He had no funds, but that hardly presented a problem, as Loz made it a habit of acquiring what he wanted through brute force.
He would deal with it all as soon as this damned rain stopped. Groggily, he rested his head against the wall…A black shadow fell across him the instant he closed his eyes, catching him off guard. Loz reacted swiftly, but not fast enough, snatching the gun blade.
"Get up!" Snarled a feminine voice with pure contempt, and Loz snapped his flickering blue gaze up to the blonde Turk aiming a revolver point-blank at his head. He made a feeble attempt to counterattack, but his injuries allowed him only limited movement and speed, resigning him to a bitter end.
Elena delivered a forceful blow to his head with her boot, and kicked the gun blade out of his reach, then kicked him ferociously, slamming her boot into his smug face out of sheer spite for all those weeks of torment she had endured at the hands of this fiend. Loz spat blood, clenching his fist, feeling his body grow cold and tremble with impotent anger. He heard the dull, metallic sound of her gun cocked and ready to blast his brains out.
I can't die like this…
Loz felt an unfamiliar rush of uninhibited power possess his body, eliminate his weariness and revitalize every cell, and course through his bloodstream like a spreading, creeping disease.
I will not die…
He was there…inside him, and together they stared at the young woman with unbridled malice that shook the her to the core and chilled her soul.
"Don't try anything stupid!" Elena growled, slightly taken aback for an instant by the malevolent power that surged through the fallen remnant, manifesting itself as a fleeting, spectral vision of a far superior and menacing being that flashed across her mind's eye.
Oh God…Sephiroth…Impossible…
That split second of panic and hesitation gave Loz the chance to spring to his feet, ignoring the blinding pain and the hindering wound. Empowered by this new-found surge of energy, Loz hurled his entire weight into the off-balanced Turk like an unstoppable battering ram, balling his large hand into a steely fist and smashing it into her soft face. The momentum flung her to the floor, and blood spurted out of her nose instantly in a scarlet stream, staining his knuckles. Loz heard the gratifying sound of bones cracking as he slammed his fist again into her angular jaw, she lifted her arms instinctively to parry the blows that descended on her like the hammer of an angry god.
Elena moaned, laying immobilized on the ground, barely able to register the flash of pain as she struggled to breathe. The bastard had got her good…
A sadistic grin split across his sanguine lips, his pupils dilating with the thrill of violence tinting his vision. The grin vanished immediately when she just lay there in an unresponsive catatonic state, unable to fight back. Loz frowned, there was no honour or sport in mindlessly attacking a helpless foe.
"That's quite enough!" A deep male voice demanded.
Panting heavily, Loz lifted his head up to see Rufus Shinra and the rest of the Turks aiming their weapons at him, faces distorted with scorn and disgust. A moment later he was violently hauled to his feet and immobilized, as one of them tended to the unconscious Turk on the floor.
Loz struggled against the restraining arms firmly clamped around him, his strength failed him this time, fading fast as someone forcefully angled his head, exposing the unguarded neck, and injected him with a heavy dose of tranquilizer.
"Yazoo…Kadaj…" He moaned, his eyesight blurred, his mouth grew numb, his muscles stiffening, and the last thing he saw was the crimson outline of a female making her way toward him, before the black waves of oblivion crashed against his mind and obliterated his world into total darkness…
"Lovely, isn't he? A perfect freak." Scarlet curled a vicious smile, grabbing a handful of cropped silver hair and tilting the head back, examining the vermilion streaked, coldly alluring face.
"You're right about the freak part." Rufus said, coming up behind Scarlet. "I find him altogether distasteful." His expressionless gaze settled on the eldest and the only surviving remnant, grudgingly intrigued by the man's ghastly physical abilities. His interest was entirely different from Scarlet's morbid fascination however; Rufus respected anyone who refused to give up and die, who had the guts to fight any physical punishment; and this remnant was a survivor of the highest order. He wondered if this was due to the Jenova cells or the man's own innate ability to persevere.
"We should not tarry here any longer." Rufus turned to Reno. "Have the chopper ready, we are leaving."
"It's ready sir, we are waiting for you."
"Yes yes, give us a minute would you? Take this lovely specimen to our new headquarters, I will join you there later." Scarlet dismissed, tossing her blonde head.
"You are coming with me, Scarlet. Never forget I'm the one who gives the orders here." Rufus trained his frosty gaze on the red-clad woman. "And that you're supposed to be dead. You have no choice but to obey me. Now do so!" He drawled the last part with a dark intensity.
"Rufus, you could use a dose of that tranquilizer yourself." Scarlet grumbled, and headed for the chopper outside the derelict church.
The young Shinra President gritted his teeth, wondering why he was still putting up with her insufferable ways, and followed the woman out.
Tseng carefully slipped the gun blade into a sterile plastic bag, and cast a hasty glance at the pool of crystal clear water where the flowerbed had been before, vaguely recalling the memory of Aeris tending to the white and yellow blooms with such tender care…He shook his head and walked out, slamming the church doors closed behind him.
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