"Missed me!" Reno taunts, sliding under Cloud's sword with ease. I follow him to the control panel, ducking past a round Rude shoots to block Cloud from pursuing us.
"You're next, asshole!" the gunman shouts, firing back at the chopper. Reno laughs.
"Sorry, losers! Gotta play for keeps today. No time to dick around."
"Well, maybe in a little later," I tease, catching Reno's weapon when he tosses it to me to focus on typing in the code Tseng gave us earlier.
"Don't tempt me, Kat," he laughs, glancing up when an automated voice comes from the panel.
"Plate separation authorized. Awaiting confirmation."
"Yeah, yeah. Coming right up," he murmurs.
"Hey!" I shout, raising my gun when Cloud begins to race toward us. He hardly seems to care when I squeeze off a few shots that just barely miss. When Reno reaches for the confirmation button, I shove his rod back into his hand.
"Oh no you don't!" he cries, whipping around to parry a swing from Cloud's enormous sword. "Not while I'm working!"
The soldier stumbles from the force of the blow, sliding back several feet. Something changes in Reno's eyes and I suppress a laugh. Oh, this is about to get fun. I knew working with my best friend could never be less than interesting.
"Press it!" Cloud dares.
"Shall I do the honors?" I ask, knowing full well what Reno has in mind.
"Nah. Let's get rid of these sorry fuckers before we blow the joint."
Cloud's friends join him, watching us. This time, I can't help but snicker at the tone of Reno's voice, the same one he always used to taunt the slum rats before we stole their stuff for ourselves.
"Now, now… You ain't got shit on us. No one gets in the way of Reno and the Turks."
"Not Kat and the Turks?" I tease under my breath. He scoffs, shooting me a sly glance.
"You are the Turks, Sweetheart, and I'm the leading man."
With that, he sparks the materia on his rod and shoots toward the trio in a flash of blue light. I step back, freeing my knife from its sheath on my hip before running at the girl. She rolls away from me, fists raised. I quirk an eyebrow, listening to the gunman cry out when Reno gets a good shock on him. Cloud stumbles back as the woman sizes me up.
"Careful, he's quick!" the soldier warns.
"And her?"
"Why don't you see for yourself?" I ask, voice calm despite my pounding heart.
Pressing her lips together, she swings one of her red boots toward my face, following with two quick punches. Fortunately, she misses as I duck under the kick and her fists. I take a quick breath before swinging at her with the knife, using my forearm to stop her next kick and get a good cut into her leg. She grits her teeth, bouncing back and staring at me hard with her soft brown eyes. Raising an eyebrow, I size her up. Damn, what a rack. Bet she's the apple of every slum man's eye.
She hurries to hit me again, but this time, I catch her arms and try to pull her down with them. Fuck, she's strong. With a cry, she pulls free and gets a solid hit on my jaw, knocking me backward onto the ground. I roll out of the way of her next hit, getting onto one knee and firing off two shots. My face stings. One misses, but the other lands on her collarbone. She grits her teeth, stretching out a palm and washing her body over with swirling green light the erases the blood off her skin. Of course she has materia.
Gritting my teeth, I rush back at her, sending a wall of fire to burn her stupid shiny hair. She kicks me through the flames, spinning around and slamming her other leg into my stomach. I land on the ground, wheezing and staring up at the underbelly of the plate. Holy shit. She dives into the air once more and I ready my dagger, prepared to get her good when she least expects it, but then she freezes, engulfed in a golden pyramid of light. Across the platform, Reno shoots me a wink before rushing toward Cloud in another burst of light, mowing him over.
The soldier rolls to his feet and I sprint toward Reno, skidding to a stop before him and throwing up a glimmering magic shield to block a spray of bullets from the gunman's arm. My friend laughs, nudging me playfully with his elbow. The woman falls to the ground with a cry, landing on her knees as Reno's spell wears off. The trio slow, waiting for us to make the next move. Reno lifts his chin.
"So… Heard you gave Rude a beating." When did they send Rude after them?
"Had to," Cloud retorts.
"No choice, huh?" Reno laughs to himself. "I guess I ain't got one neither."
With that, he rushes right back toward the soldier, rod sparking as he tries to paralyze Cloud. Much to my surprise, the woman comes right back for me, relentless. I wipe the blood flowing from my nose on the back of my sleeve and draw my gun, firing three shots in the time it takes her to close the gap. I block her flurry of attacks until the end, where she throws me into the air as if I'm weightless and slams me back onto ground with a scream. I land on my stomach, choking and gasping for air as I drag myself onto my hands and knees. She waits at the ready to see if I'll get up again. Suddenly, an idea sparks and I groan, letting my hands slip and drop me to the ground like I've passed out.
Without missing a beat, she turns to help Cloud and the gunman fight Reno. I scramble to my feet the second her back is turned, raising my blade and running at her. You're gonna pay for that! The instant I'm about to bury my dagger in her back, she swings a leg around and sends me flying into the center support of the pillar. My back slams against the wall before I fall, my entire body screaming in agony from the beating. Still, I can't say this doesn't feel good. It hurts like hell, but it feels good. I drag myself to my feet, scorching the gunman when he tries to unleash another round of bullets at Reno, who backs off a step or two.
"Stubborn little shitbirds, ain'tcha?" Reno mutters, looking up sharply when Rude swoops the chopper in close. I hurry to get to his side.
"Prepping for bombing run, how copy?" Rude announces.
"Say what?!" Reno hisses, backing away as Rude comes in closer. He scoffs as the undercarriage of the chopper opens, grabbing my arm and sprinting to the other end of the platform. "I see you're doing whatever the hell you want!"
"Guess you're rubbing off on him," I tease, heaving myself over a fenced cluster of boxes for cover.
He follows, laughing. We press our backs to the fence, feeling the rumble of the bombs hitting the ground. Unfortunately, the trio is still shouting at each other, in one piece. Reno scoffs, using the edge of his sleeve to swipe at a bloody smudge across my face.
"Hangin' in there?"
I raise an eyebrow at his own cuts and bruises. "I could ask you the same."
"Hm. Assholes." With a cocky smile, he grabs the chains of the fence. "Let's finish this."
He launches himself over, leaving me to climb on my own. Huffing, I follow his lead, shielding my face from the flames. To my surprise, Cloud runs at me now, bright eyes narrowed and sword held at the ready. Across the platform, Reno kicks the shit out of the woman. I can't help but laugh, dodging a slash from Cloud's sword and firing a shot into his shoulder to slow him down. Can't fight him with a fucking shiv.
"Re!" I call, running past him. Somehow, he knows what I mean, tossing me his sparking rod and taking catching the sad little knife I throw his way. He's a hell of a lot better at hand to hand than I am—I'm sure he'll be okay.
Turning back to Cloud, I parry his heavy swings with the electromag rod, watching the bright blue sparks fly and grinning at the feeling of finally being useful. I push back harder than ever, driven by adrenaline and being fed up with getting kicked around by his lady friend. All I need to do is touch him with the damn thing…
Quickly, I parry a flurry of blows and roll past him, though not quite fast enough to shock him. It's slow going, and it's frustrating, but he doesn't get a single hit on me before I manage to jam the rod into his arm and spark it, stunning him enough to give Reno his rod back.
He catches it in the blink of an eye, launching the woman into the air and smacking her around with his weapon before throwing her back toward the ground. She lands with a groan, slowly dragging herself upward. Oh no you don't. Reno gives me a single pat on the back he runs past, ready to take on Cloud. I press my boot to her enormous chest and force her to lay down with a smug smile. She starts to say something, but I hit her head hard with the butt of my gun before she can.
"Bitch," I huff, turning back to Avalanche. Just as I do, the helicopter bursts into flames, spiraling out of control. Fuck.
"Rude!" Reno shouts, turning to watch the chopper tumble toward the platform.
"Reno, look out!" I cry, rushing toward him. I muster up all my strength and ram into him, just barely knocking us out of the way of the blast as the helicopter lands and explodes into a spray of flames and debris.
"#%^&*^…" he groans, pushing himself upright. A chunk of metal clatters across the ground. I recognize it as the door we jumped out of the get here.
"Those sons of bitches," I grumble, forcing myself to my feet and offering him a hand. He takes it, nearly pulling me back down the ground. Unsteadily, he turns to the rubble. My heart begins to ache with realization. Is Rude okay?
"Shit…" Reno hisses, bending over to pick up a pair of shattered sunglasses. Sweat streaks down his face, carrying his blood with it.
Startled, I jump when a hand clamps down on my shoulder. I turn back, relieved to see Rude looking down at us. Reno puffs out a short laugh.
"Clipped your wings, huh?"
"I was planning to join you anyway," Rude replies, pulling a new pair of glasses from his pocket and sliding them onto his face.
"Any landing you can walk away from…" I laugh, shaking my head and staring at the flames of our ride. Rude hums in response and his partner lifts the rod off his shoulder.
"C'mon. Let's teach those pricks a lesson."
"About what happens when they mess with the Turks?" I finish, offering him a smile. He laughs, pushing me forward playfully.
"Now you're catchin' on, Kat!"
Rude turns to Avalanche, eyes set on their gunman. With the woman still lying on the ground, I stand back, firing off shots when I can, standing in front of the control panel so that no one can attempt to reverse the coding and stop the blowing of the plate. But all those people—No, now's not the time to think like that. We have orders. I have to prove that I can do this.
No matter how many times I land a shot on Cloud, he refuses to slow down. As much as Reno insists on being alright, his little show back at the crash told me otherwise. Now, his fighting proves him wrong as well. He's not entirely useless, but he's taking more hits, letting the soldier get the best of him. Across the platform, the woman starts to get up, healing herself with a spell and hurrying to help the gunman deal with Rude. To stop her, Rude slams a fist into the ground, sending forth a shockwave that stuns the pair. I manage to get a few shots on the big guy, but the girl keeps healing him.
With a scowl, she turns to me. I huff. Fucking annoying. She runs at me for the third time, ready to strike. Ready to end this shitshow, I prepare to shoot her through the head only to be thrown to the side when Rude knocks into me, shoved away by the enormous gunman on Avalanche's side. He falls on top of me, pinning me to the ground. For fuck's sake. From my vantage point, I see Reno hit the floor, gasping for air as he rod rolls out of his reach.
"Get off of me!" I grit, trying to lift myself. It's nearly impossible with Rude, a man who is twice my size, using me as a mattress.
Slowly, he gets to his feet, but when he tries to head to the control panel, the gunman knocks him to ground. A few feet away, the woman pounds on the keyboard, desperate.
"How do we stop it?" Cloud demands, raising his sword to Reno's throat. I aim my gun at the blonde's hand, ready to shoot the sword from his grasp if I have to. I won't kill him unless I have to; Reno called it.
"Who knows?" Reno laughs, wheezing before falling onto his back with a groan. And out go the lights.
Sighing, I look to Rude for help. He doesn't move, eyes directed on the gunman whose arm is pressed to his head. I guess it's all on me then. Before they can stop me, I run around the side of the pillar and hit the girl with my gun a second time before pressing the button for confirmation, turning back to dare any of them to kill me now that the deed's done.
"Plate separation initiated," the automated voice announces. "Commencing separation sequence."
"We have to stop it!" the woman cries, clutching her head where I hit her.
"Go for it," I shrug, walking past them to get to Rude now that he's free. In the distance, I can hear a helicopter approaching. "You call for help?"
"Yeah." He stands, heading toward Reno and heaving him over his shoulder. "Tseng's coming."
"Good."
The chopper pulls up close and the door slides open. I climb on first, moving past the soldier inside to let him help pull Reno in. I pause upon seeing Aerith, the Ancient Shinra's been keeping an eye on for so long. She offers a small smile. I frown back, pushing the soldier further in.
"You keeping an eye on her?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"Then sit. Reno goes on your other side."
"Yes, ma'am."
Rude enters the cockpit and Tseng leaves it, hardly sparing me a glance. "Sit down up front in case he needs something."
I obey, though I'm focused on watching Tseng step outside with Aerith in tow. He pushes her onto her hands and knees in the doorway of the chopper, making sure her friends can see.
"You'll have a hard time disarming that one," he calls over the blades. "It'll blow the second some idiot touches it."
"Please, stop it!" the woman begs, running closer.
"Hm. Only a Shinra executive can set up or disarm the Emergency Plate Release System."
"Shut yer hole!" the gunman shouts, raising his arm to fire.
"I wouldn't do that," Tseng warns, raising an eyebrow. I sink further into my seat, glancing back at Reno. He's out cold, dripping blood and sweat all over his wrinkled uniform. They got him good. "You just might make me injure our special guest."
"Aerith!" the woman cries. Aerith looks up, smiling softly.
"Oh, you know each other?" Tseng glances down at the Ancient, eyebrow raised. "How nice you could see each other one last time. You should thank me."
"What are you doing with her?" Cloud demands. I yawn, shooting Rude a bored look. He sends it right back, impatient. We just want to leave and get Reno patched up.
"Haven't decided. Our orders were to find and capture the Ancient. It's taken us a long time, but now we can finally report this to the President."
"Tifa!" Aerith shouts, stretching an arm out to the woman. "Don't worry! She's alright!" Irritated, Tseng jerks her upright by her collar and strikes her across the face. Rude grabs my shoulder when my temper sparks and I turn to yell at him. Don't ruin the show. Instead, I roll my eyes and sink back into my seat.
"Fuckin' uncalled for," I mutter.
"You have a minute or so," Tseng continues, motioning for the soldier to pull Aerith back inside. "Think you can escape in time?"
With that, I swap places with Tseng and slam the door shut, glaring at the red mark on the Ancient's face with disgust. I know it was for show, but… It makes me feel sick. Left with no seating, I hang where I was when Reno and Rude were flying, though I make sure Tseng can tell I'm pissed.
"What happened to Reno?" he asks, pulling us back toward the Shinra building as the plate's pillar begins to ripple with fiery explosions. I refuse to look back, shrugging.
"Picked a fight with Cloud."
"Hm." Tseng glances over his shoulder at his second in command before looking forward again. "He'll be alright after a few days in the infirmary."
"And Aerith?"
"She's Hojo's now."
"Right." Sighing, I lay my head on Rude's shoulder and let my eyes close. After that beating, I'm gonna need a long night's rest.