Author's note: Decided to do Episode Reno next and then the next chapter will take place afterwards within the same year before we enter another two year fast forward.
Ever since I've started on this, I've been wanting to do Episode Reno for a long time...Well, I've written a novelization based on the actual episode of the never-released-outside-Japan-game, but you know what I mean.
Anyway, here's another chapter.
I don't own Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy Type-0, Sailor Moon or Pokemon. I do own Arien, though.
Special Episode 2: Episode Reno.
One day, in April...
There had been reports of sightings of intruders within the ShinRa Company Building. Some say it was Militas Ultra. Others say they saw men in Black Coats.
Whether people were seeing things or not, the Turks were not taking any chances. So they sent in two of their best elite members to investigate.
Yet, their third highest ranking member, Reno, may be getting himself into more than what he is capable of...
2 Months and 3 Days Later ...
April 11th [5:15 PM]-Year-1992.
Materia Department Archives-ShinRa Building-Edge.
(~The Mako City-CRISIS CORE FINAL FANTSY VII~)
They had been searching for two hours, fifteen minutes, and 45 seconds and counting now, and despite finding evidence in broken glass and gunshot castings, Reno, one of the best elite Turks of the entire team and each day and year edging closer in getting promoted as Third in Command, was grumbling at the fact that he and his partner and best friend Rude, still haven't find anything related to either Militas Ultra besides the castings, or those mysterious men in the Black Coats who have a habit of appearing and vanishing whenever they wanted, though it had been two years since they were last seen.
On the other hand, given how Militas Ultra haven't been heard as much until two months ago with their attempted siege using a replica of an actual Zolom which had been extinct for about two or three centuries before Reno was even born. Hell, the redhead hasn't even heard of them until Tseng picked him up when he was fifteen after his parents died in an car accident that week earlier.
Having grown up fending for himself, Reno had always wanted a place to belong as despite the love his parents gave him, he had a fear of something would happen if he hanged around too much. What had happened to his mother and father broke him. Tseng had found him in the streets in the rain, soaking wet, hungry, and sobbing. The Wutaiian, having kept on eye on him for quite a few years, showed him kindness and offered his jacket to keep him dry before taking him to HQ where Reno was cleaned and fed and presented to Veld as a future candidate. He was put into training almost immediately and that was when he met the rest of the team, including Rude, the two becoming friends almost instantly.
Now nineteen years old, Reno was one step away in becoming Third in Command even though he admittedly felt he wasn't ready for that promotion, especially since that would mean if anything happened to Veld, Tseng would be promoted as Leader of the Turks and Reno would be promoted as the new Second in Command. At the moment that wasn't his top thoughts. Right now, he had a job to do with Rude-who was now twentytwo years old-and that was finding the intruder and see if they had stolen anything dangerous that would threaten the ShinRa Company.
"Ugh, how long've we been doing this?" Reno asked, exasperated as he and Rude were scanning the file cabinet that had many research and files on the creation and history of Materia. "This is the tenth floor we've been searching through and we still haven't found who broke into here."
"..."
The redhead rolled his eyes at his partner's silence, even though he didn't need him to talk on what he was thinking. The frown on the taller man's face despite the sunglasses was enough for Reno to translate. "Yeah, yeah, I know. 'Keep looking'."
Sighing again, Reno shook his head and kept looking, though it was half a minute later that he began to speak again, "Seriously, this kind of work is a real snooze." before smirking as he added, "I wanna get into some real action; a mission where something exciting happens."
"You mean like Militas Ultra trying to kill us?" Rude commented sarcastically.
"Yeeeeah, okay. Not that kind of mission, but you know what I mean." Reno sheepishly admitted. He then frowned thoughtfully about the said enemy organization. "Speakin' of Militas Ultra, wonder what their big problem is apart from tryin' to kill us and destroy the ShinRa Company? I mean, it's been two years since they first attacked, and we still hadn't figured out what the hell they want or what they're talkin' about. This whole 'Legendary Turks being alive' and 'Rebirth' crap is damn confusing."
(~End The Mako City~)
"...Something about those guys really doesn't add up." Rude agreed as he paused in his work, going through his head on his partner said. "Though they may be trying to brainwash all of us into giving up on our work."
"Maybe. Though they ain't doin' a good job at it." Reno shrugged. Somehow though, something inside him said that wasn't the case, that there was something else. Something that ran much, much deeper than that. He thought back of what Veld had said during the briefing of the assignment earlier.
Almost Three Hours earlier...
April 11th [3:00 PM]-Year-1992.
Turks Headquarters-ShinRa Building-Edge.
(~Sign-FINAL FANTASY VII: ADVENT CHILDREN COMPLETE~)
After being called in by Tseng to meet with Veld in the latter's office, Reno and Rude hadn't expected to see both the Director and the Second in Command, which usually meant that when they were in the same office, a very important and serious assignment was about to take place. Seeing them now made both younger men realise that something happened. Given Veld's grim expression, it was bad.
"There are intruders within the building." Veld began, in a strong tone of seriousness and business, and that meant that failure was out of question. "How or why they managed to enter without raising the alarm is extremely concerning."
"Militas Ultra?" Reno quired, his brow furrowing. If it was those dangerous morons, then he'd venture a guess that those guys are so well organized that they managed to slip through the security. While he wasn't an expert on technology and computers, the thought of them having experts to disable the security cameras and such made perfect sense, which meant that they were in very deep trouble.
"Unknown." The Director shook his head. "Many witnesses have been split into halves on what they saw earlier."
"Some say they had indeed seen brief sightings of Militas Ultra." Tseng spoke this time, and like his superior, his expression was grim, but much more blank as he'd been trained in. "However, others say that they have seen brief sightings of people in black coats."
Reno couldn't stop the shocked gasp that escaped from his lips or hide the expression that matched it as he went still, and his eyes widened. Those guys in the black coats finally made their appearence? After two years of not being seen? What the hell where they doing now, let alone here in the ShinRa Building? They were just as dangerous and confusing as Militas Ultra. He remembered seeing two of those jerks disappear in those black holes, and that was when he and Rosalind were on a mission in New Banora two years ago.
Even Rude's mouth dropped a little in shock, remembering how he and Reno found out that Jake and Arien had fought another in Costa Del Sol. It was sheer luck that both managed to escape Vexen's attacks before the man had retreated.
"Given how both are unpredictable, it could be either one, or perhaps both which we hope is not the case. But we cannot let that possilbility slip from our minds." The Wutaiian Turk continued, both he and Veld unfazed by the redhead's gasp.
"Duly noted." Reno nodded, quickly regaining his composure, fully agreeing that leaving the idea that both Militas Ultra and those guys in the black Coats were inside the building was a very bad idea and far too dangerous to leave out. "I take you want the two of us to find and identify the said intruders and search for clues related to them, right, sirs?"
Veld nodded, approvingly at the redhead's quick thinking. "That's correct. If you do see them, apprehend them immediately and if they do not come in quietly for interrogation, take them out." He ordered. "Start by searching every floor, as they are most likely still here and if we're not careful, they can very well reach our Floor. I've already put in extra security on the President and Board members, and if the situation gets too much, an evacuation is in order. Though I don't wish for that to happen."
"Yes, sir." Rude nodded.
"You got it, sir." Reno said.
April 11th [5:25 PM]-Year-1992.
Materia Department Archives-ShinRa Building-Edge.
"The other problem is that those weirdos in the black coats." Reno commented, bringing himself out of his memories. "I mean, seriously. Opening up those black holes or whatever the hell they are can't even make them human for cryin' out loud!"
"You thinking we won't be able to capture them?" Rude asked, frowning deeply and almost snappishly, which caught Reno by surprise a little.
The redhead shrugged, "Well, maybe we can if we chain them up or somethin'. I dunno." before groaning, "For all we know, they probably left already and we're stuck wastin' our time followin' an old trail of bread crumbs."
"If you have the time to complain, use it to work." The taller Turk rolled his eyes in annoyance behind his shades.
(~End Sign~)
"Well, somebody got up the wrong side the bed this mornin'." Reno remarked sarcastically. What was Rude's problem today? Normally Reno could read him and figure out what the problem was. But somehow today it was completely different. Was his best friend mad about something? Mad at him? Or maybe he was just as annoyed about not finding their targets as he was and Reno constantly talking today was making him less focused.
The redhead didn't have time to come up with an answer, as the alarm suddenly went off with red lights flashing, causing the two Turks to glance around, wondering what the hell was going on.
(~Don't be Afraid-Dissidia Final Fantasy~)
"The alarm!?" Reno exclaimed, shocked. To make things more complicated, two small four legged machines with a built in machine-gun, and redeye that was the camera and scanner entered the room which had the two Turks spun to face them. As Reno and Rude were wondering about the machines which were the Security Bots, they opened fire at the two men who reacted just in time to jump and leap out of the way to avoid in getting shot.
"The hell those bots firing at us for!?" Reno exclaimed. Something was wrong and his earlier thought about Militas Ultra disabling the security flared up again and this time was beginning to make sense and he didn't like it at all.
"Militas Ultra must have reprogrammed them if they have hackers this good!" Rude exclaimed, having a near close call in having a shot in his leg.
Reno yelped when he was nearly hit again, before commenting, "I was afraid you'd say that." and then glared at the hostile Robots while unclipping his EMR from his hooker on his belt and flicked his wrist to extend it, knowing there was only one thing to do. "Fine. If they're lookin' for a fight then they've got one!"
The taller Turk nodded in agreement, knowing that Reno was right. So the two Turks stood ready and when the Robots charged them, they were ready and moved out of the way before they attacked full on. Reno thrusted his weapon at it's sides with a good quick whack before ducking to avoid it's robotic arm intended to hit him back. He then rolled out of the way on the floor when it troddled to the side to fire more shots at him before Reno found the opening he'd been hoping for. Charging with a yell, he throttled at it's camera, shattering the glass with sparks of electricity sparking which allowed Reno to kick it expertly before he easily climbed on top of it despite it jerking to shake him off.
The Turk pulled the hatch on back of it off and while he wasn't an expert on how these things worked either, Reno made a guess and pulled hard on the cords, having watched briefly on the creation of these things in the Weapons and Machine Department in his earlier days as Turk. As he did, the machine sparked like mad and mentally hoped he didn't accidently roast himself. Thankfully, the robot gave one final jerk before collasping onto the floor, dead and destroyed. Though Reno still jumped off it and took a couple steps back, not wanting to take any chances.
He then turned to Rude who was giving his bot several powerful punches and only now smashed his fist right into the head of the robot and into it's core before he too wisely stepped away as the machine, without arms which the taller Turk teared off, fell down dead. Before Reno and his partner could say anything, they heard a crash coming from outside of the room, and the sound of something breaking in the hallway.
"Oh, great. More bots to worry about." Reno groaned.
"...Let's go." Rude gestured.
Reno shook his head, hurrying to follow his friend who'd already taken the lead. "No rest for the Turks, huh?"
But the redhead was force to stop when Rude held out an arm and when Reno blinked, he saw why, both sides of the Hallway and around the each corner, several Bots, out of control, were scanning the area before retreating, unseen for the time being.
"Damn, bots. They're all over this floor." Rude grunted in sheer frustration, and Reno shared that feeling.
Still, the redhead smirked, "Yeah, but they're slow as hell."
"You let your guard down, and you're a dead man." The taller Turk warned.
"I could take 'em all on myself, no sweat." Reno simply laughed, shrugging. He then became serious once again, and told his partner, "You take on those guys on the left, I'll go on the right. It's too risky to take 'em on together when they can cause more damage on either side if left on their own."
"You'll probably get bored." Rude pointed out, even though he did agree with the plan. As Reno said, if they did this together and take on one side at the time, it was risking more damage. Before Reno could make a comeback, the taller Turk ran off to take on his targets.
"Hey, what the hell's that s'posed to mean!?" Reno shouted, before groaning aloud and quickly headed into his destination. Rude's been acting weird all day. Its just been one thing after another. Reno couldn't help but wonder if his friend was mad about something.
He shook his head and focused more on his mission, especially when two more bots came into view. The red-haired Turk leaped and jumped so fast that the bots began to have trouble in keeping up with him. Reno smacked them with his EMR, plus a combination of his surpassed martial arts skills, and electricity from his weapon. He ran and then slid underneath one of them, narrowly avoiding in getting smashed by the robots' arms and then flared a Fire Spell from his EMR, which roasted them into the core and causing them to briefly explode. Reno extinguished the flames with a Blizzard Spell to avoid in causing damage in the hallway.
Reno repeated the process with three more Bots until he was convinced that he'd taken them al out on this side of the floor. He did make a quick sweep just in case and was sastified that he'd done the job, under the scale of ten minutes.
And he was proud of it. Reno wasn't known as the Fastest of the Turks for nothing.
(~End Don't be Afraid~)
"Ha! Piece of cake." Reno smirked to himself. "I could've even taken them out with my eyes closed."
No sooner he said this, Reno suddenly felt had a sharp, intensed pain in his head. Gasping and grunting in agony at the sudden splitting headache, like someone just thumped him extremely hard into his skull, Reno grasped his head with one hand, shutting his eyes, feeling dizzy, his chest squeezing and his breathing became ragged gasps, as though he was suffocating.
"Wha...what the hell's...goin' on?" Reno panted, and soon found himself leaning against the wall behind him, his vision darkening and he became fully unaware of everything happening around him. Strange, new and oddly familiar images entered his mind.
(~Organization XIII-KH: Birth By Sleep~)
Heaps of images ran through Reno's head and he had no idea what the hell was going on. It was in random. First was him chasing a shaddy character towards the Elevator, and Reno standing on top of the Elevator in the shaft, but was forced to fight more rouge robots before the elevator to ascend in dangerous speed. He was speaking to Veld and Tseng on the phone as he tried to open the hatch to get inside to safety or risk in being squashed flat.
Next showed him having succeeded in opening the hatch when another bot prevented him in doing so, and just as Reno fought it, he saw it was too late and all he could do was crouch down and brace himself for his end.
The next image then showed Reno somehow having survived, with the bot having been crushed halfway and jammed the elevator to a stop, just 20 inches from where Reno had crouched which saved his life.
"Heh, guess I owe him one." Reno heard himself say to himself.
Another image appeared and showed Reno and Rude in a Sector that was very familiar, having met up with Tseng as things went out of control in the streets. Up ahead was some guy in a SOLDIER 1st Class Uniform, having spiky black hair and bright blue eyes, rushing over towards where Cissnei was as the younger female Turk was cornered by two enemies.
"That man...it's..." Tseng trailed off, apparently knowing who the guy, whom Reno guessed was a year younger than the redhead himself, was.
"Hold on! I'm a comin'!" The young SOLDIER called out towards Cissnei.
"I know that outfit." Reno frowned, pouting. "He's a SOLDIER 1st Class."
"The one that's been recently promoted." Rude added.
Tseng nodded, confirming, "His name is Zack Fair."
"Can't let SOLDIER boy take our job." Reno grunted, and before his two co-workers could stop him, the redhead hurried over before somehow getting in front of the younger man and held out his weapon, forcing Zack to skid to a stop and turned to face the older teenager.
"Sorry, Slick, but Sector 8 is the jurisdicion of the Turks." Reno spoke in a somewhat deadly tone, giving the SOLDIER a warning glare, as Rude approached and stood on the other side of Zack. Tseng was behind the youngest man who looked at all three Turks in dismay.
"You can't be serious!" Zack exclaimed in dismay, before turning to the Wutaiian, half-pleading, "C'mon, Tseng! Do something!"
"Don't be concerned. She can handle herself." Rude spoke in a calm tone.
Zack turned to face back the girl, and, to his surprise and confusion, the girl had a shuriken out, and from what he just saw, the two enemy men were on the ground, dead.
"Reno, Rude. The other areas." Tseng spoke in full authority.
Reno shrugged, while resting his EMR on his left shoulder, answering casually, "No thanks to whoever did this to the security system, Midgar's crawling with a bunch of nasties."
"SOLDIER is suffering major difficulties." Rude added.
"I see." Tseng replied, before gazing sharply at the two younger Turks, ordering them, "Continue aiding Sector 8."
"Yeah yeah, whatever you say, Tseng." Reno waved his superior, before heading up towards the stairs to the next level of town.
"Make sure Reno doesn't hurt himself or gets himself killed." Tseng told Rude, "The elevator incident left the Director shaken."
"Yes sir." The taller Turk replied, before going after his partner.
(~End Organization XIII~)
He had no idea why, but the images stopped all together and Reno panted slowly, his vision coming back to normal, his awareness returning and beginning to gain his posture. Though he still felt very drained as though he'd been running for like three months and he felt slightly nauesous.
"What the hell was that about?" Reno muttered, blinking in major confusion. He had no idea how it was possible or why, but for some weird reason, those images felt extremely...familiar. It also left him...shaken. To think he saw himself practically at death's doorstep in that elevator shaft, it was absolutely terrifying.
His eyes then widened as he realised that this sort of thing happened before; the unusual dizzy spells and sudden unconsciousness. Reno'd seen it twice to other Turks; Rosalind and St. Andrew two years ago for example. Was this what they went through? He'd have to ask them both later for that. Either way, this wasn't good. Maybe Militas Ultra had something to do it. Or those guys in the black coats.
No. He can't worry about the sudden head issues or the wacky daydreams. Reno had a job to do.
His PHS's ringtone brought him back to full reality and he answered quickly by the second ring, flipping it open, "This is Reno."
"Are you alright?" It was Tseng.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Gonna check up on Rude shortly. Some rouge bots attacked us. We think Militas Ultra has some hackers or somethin' messing up with the system. It's the best thing we've come up with so far." The redhead responded.
(~Quickening-Dissidia Final Fantasy~)
"The Director is already speaking to him and he's fine. Right now, we need you to head to the Basement. Enemies are being tracked there as well as the rest of the building. Turks and SOLDIER are deploying those levels as we speak." Tseng informed him.
Reno frowned in concern. So he and Rude went up the wrong direction looking for the intruders? "Militas Ultra, or those whackos in the black coat? Or somethin' else entirely?"
"Possibly both." Tseng answered.
"Damn it!" Reno cursed, kicking the floor in frustration. He and his partner just botched their job. They'd been too slow. Veld was not going to like this. Reno was in for a reprimand, he was certain of it. And that, when it comes to Veld reprimanding the Turks who botched their job, it's never a pleasent experience. The Director of the Turks was downright scary when he's angry and severally disappointed.
Apparently Tseng sensed the younger man's unease, because he spoke again. "Calm down. None of us were to know nor had we known of this on time. The important thing is to get to the Basement ASAP. Militas Ultra have proven themselves more intelligent than we anticipated, especially since they are able to hack through our system. Balto and Cissnei are working to restore it as we speak, but it may take some time. Take out any more rouge security bots as well as the intruders. If you are able, bring one alive for interrogation. Otherwise eliminate them."
Reno sighed. Tseng was right; those Militas Ultra jerks were more clever than anyone in ShinRa had believed and that has proven to be quite dangerous. The Zolom Replica was one of those dangerous intelligent ideas.
"You got it." The redhead replied. The two then hung up, and Reno sighed again. Suddenly going into the elevator didn't bode well. Especially given Militas Ultra, and his stomach tied up in a knot as the image of what he'd seen made him very uneasy. What if he had to go through that? On the other hand, taking the stairs wasted precious time and he had to hurry.
(~End Quickening~)
Unfortunately, the lights flickered slightly which got the redhead's attention. That meant the power was being messed with as well.
"Stairs it is." Reno groaned, resigned. Without much further ado, he raced towards the nearest staircase in the emergancy door.
Along the way, he began to really worry about Rude.
April 11th [5:47 PM]-Year-1992.
Basement-ShinRa Building-Edge.
(~Axel and Saix-KH1.5 HD ReMix~)
Two figures in black coats stood waiting in the Basement of the ShinRa Building, while things were getting pretty chaotic in the upper floors. One of the figures, his coat hugging a bit too tightly on his arms but didn't seem to faze him, stood impatiently and groaned.
"A recon and observant mission in one hit? This job is more suited for Xaldin and Lexaeus." The figure, sounding very much like one of the Turks in the voice, groaned.
"Well, you are known as the assassin of the Organization." The other figure, sounding smooth yet dark and deadly calm, pointed out as he approached his companion from behind.
The other figure shook his head, which was covered in a hood as was his co-worker. "I still don't see what's so special about guys in those stupid looking suits. Are we still positive that one of them is supposedly my Heartless when our memories are completely different? Heartless don't take up human forms."
"I admit, it is unusual to compare you to him. You and I both know that Xemnas cannot be fully trusted, not with what he says."
"Yeah, well, it's not like we can quit or anythin'. If we leave, that'll brand us traitors, and he doesn't tolorate traitors. Once you're in, the only way out is to get our hearts back. But personally, I think this is a complete waste of time. It's not like these guys are gonna be venturing out to other worlds, right?"
The cold-stoned figure 'Hmm'ed before responding, "The best way to know for certain is to encounter them ourselves. You will be handling their ace, I will see to the strong one."
"Don't go and get beaten by him now." The other figure cautioned, grinning underneath his hood. Though once his companion went to the other side of the room, his grin faded and he groaned softly to himself in exasperation, "Why do I always get stuck with the icky jobs?"
(~End Axel and Saix~)
April 11th [5:57 PM]-Year-1992.
Stairwell-ShinRa Building-Edge.
(~Combat-CRISIS CORE FINAL FANTASY VII~)
Reno had just reached the door to the emergancy staircase when he skid to a stop as strange, white slim things appeared out of nowhere, blocking the Turk from accessing the door. On top of that, another Robot stood in the way, and scanned him as a threat as well, not knowing these were the Dusk Nobodies. Wasting no time, the redhead dodge-rolled out of the way when the Nobodies and the Robot attacked almost at the same time. When two of the Nobodies got up close and swiped at him, scratching him a little, the Turk responded by thrusting his EMR in quick reflex, destroying them instantly.
To another, he high-kicked it in the face where it flew to the wall and crashed into it, disappearing in defeat. Reno flicked his weapon and thrusted it in the air sideways, sending a large wave of electricity flying toward the rest of the Nobodies who stood no chance in escaping on time. Some of it hit the robot, but not enough to destroy it instantly like the white things. It flared up small cannon and fired a small missile at the Turk who grunted and summoned a barrier from the Barrier Materia on the guanlet on his wrist under his sleeve, which reflected it and it exploded in front of him. It didn't do damage, but he did winch and was pushed back slightly at the impact. When the smoke began to clear, he cried out in alarm and had to quickly dodge the gunshots that fired at him almost immediately afterwards.
Without further choice, Reno switched for his Fire Materia and blasted a ball of flame back at the machine, but the annoying piece of metal used a barrier itself, but because it was busy blocking the flames, the Turk saw this as his chance by running towards it and then leaped into the air and over it, before landing behind it and finished off the job by smashing it from behind. He pulled out his backup handgun and fired three shots into it, where it jerked and exploded briefly before falling into several pieces. Wasting no time, Reno saw this as his chance to turn to the door.
Unfortunately, there was a password lock on it, which means he needed a password in order to get in and since the power was going out, this was going to be a difficult job.
"Oh, you've gotta be kidding me!" Reno yelled in frustration. What else could go wrong today!? He could take the elevator, but the power may cut off, or even get hacked and then he's well and truly screwed. He was running out of optains.
Well, only one thing to do.
"So much for this week's pay." Reno groaned. Veld was going to murder him for this, but desperate times calls for desperate measures. He fired at the keyboard which sparked electricity, but it did open the door as Reno heard it bleep. Wasting no more time, he kicked harshly open before racing down ten floors towards the Basement, skipping two steps on his way down.
Unfortunately, Militas Ultra seemed to have a similiar idea, because when he neared the nineth level, the door at the exit of the hallway was busted open and a number of five Militas Ultra soldiers charged in, forcing Reno to stop before crouching low from halfway, to keep himself hidden and avoid in getting caught or killed. Thankfully, only one had a machine gun and the door closed, though Reno didn't like his odds here. He had to do this carefully, or he's good as dead. While he wasn't one for firearms, all Turks had that as a backup and he was thankful for having spare ammo on him.
He silently pulled it out and took aim at the shooter and shot him cleanly in the head, which, while it killed that guy, it alarmed the other four who glanced up to see where it came from.
Reno didn't waste time as he came out of his hiding and jumped onto the other staircase, smacking another with his EMR and kicked the third one, forcing him to drop his sword. The Turk spun quickly and blocked another while punching the fifth one in the face, causing him to stumble and fall and roll painfully down the stairs before he hit the wall and went limp, unconscious. Reno in the meantime struck the one he was busy with in the gut with his knee which had the enemy groan and forced to lower his guard which allowed Reno to finish him off and electrocuted him with his EMR. The man dropped to the ground, dead.
He turned his attention to the unconscious living one, and found a weak pulse, before Reno handcuffed the guy's wrists behind his back, and then checked the doorway for anymore of the intruders. There were two ShinRa soldiers, one injured on the arm and slumped against the wall, another regaining consciousness but both were still alive.
"Yo, you alright?" Reno asked as he checked on the non-injured soldier.
"M-Militas Ultra...attacked us without warning, sir." The soldier responded as Reno helped him up.
"I know." The Turk nodded, turning to the injured one, and despite wanting to help, there were more intruders to worry about, plus the one he handcuffed. So he turned to the non-injured soldier and commanded firmly, "Take the suspect in the stairwell to the holding cells, make sure he doesn't escape and take your buddy to medical to see to his injuries. Don't worry, I handcuffed him, so you can drag him, if you have to."
"Yes sir!" The ShinRa soldier saluted, before remembering, "Oh, and please, take this as gratitude." handing the Turk a bottle of green, glowing liquid.
An Hi-Potion. Well, Reno didn't want to use up his Mana and Hi-Potions were handy. He had no idea where the ShinRa soldier had it, but he decided to worry about that later. So after leaving the two soldiers to handle to their prisoner and get one them for a check-up, Reno returned to the stairwell and continued to make his way down to the Basement as fast as he could. Along the way, he dialed Veld's number to give him an update. Well he may have to pay for damages on this mission, at least he arrested a suspect for questioning later.
"Veld speaking."
"Sir, it's Reno. I managed to capture one of the intruders and got the soldiers to take him to the holding cells. It's Militas Ultra, alright." Reno reported while continuing to descend the stairs in a hurry. He was actually quite pleased with himself for this and he was getting excitement along the way as well. Maybe today wasn't so bad after all.
"Good work. But what about your assignment?"
"I'm heading to the basement as we speak." Reno replied. "Those guys barged in, so I took out four of 'em. Couldn't take the elevator due to the power going nuts."
'Reno...charging in again. He never changes.' Veld thought to himself, before saying, "Well since we have a suspect, take out the rest of the intruders in the Basement, but if you can, arrest another in case the one you caught doesn't speak willingly."
Reno grinned, "You got i-" before he was unexpectly knocked back and hit the wall behind him, and then had to roll out of the way, screaming, "Whoa!" when a deadly looking Nobody appeared, having been responsible for attacking him.
"Reno! What happened? Answer me!" Veld exclaimed, having heard the younger man's screams.
The redhead fumbled to pick up his phone which he dropped, wincing at the bruise he no doubt rechieved on his chest and back. But that annoying white thing almost sliced him in half as the Assassin Nobody attacked again, but Reno rolled out of the way to the opposite narrow end while the PHS was knocked off under the railing and fell into the rest of the way down to the bottom where it would be smashed into pieces.
Great, just great! Now Reno had to get a replacement and on top of that, he had no way to commucate with anyone right now, and Veld would most likely be panicking, as would Tseng and Rude.
"You're so DEAD!" Reno growled as he thrusted hard and fast at the Nobody who blocked most of his attacks, but as it swung it's own unusual weapon at him, the Turk ducked before giving it a low kick and then thrusted his EMR into it's chest when he found an opening, and zapping it with his weapon's electricity, destroying it.
(~End Combat~)
Too late, as Reno panted and failed to sense another one, he was knocked hard but another Assassin Nobody which forced Reno over the railing and, to his horror, he fell down into the rest of the eight-flight of stairs and towards the bottom as he screamed in panic. If he didn't catch another railing soon or if someone didn't catch him, he was good as dead!
Unfortunately, he had no way of grabbing any on time, and as Reno neared the bottom, he squeezed his eyes shut while bracing himself to be splattered flat like a human-pancake. This was end of him.
Or so he thought.
At near last second, someone caught Reno by the right arm while he accidently let go of his EMR which continued to fall the rest of the way. Reno was left dangling about at least four levels from the basement, and as he hesitatedly opened his eyes while wondering if he was dead or still alive, his stomach lurched when he saw how high up he was still was.
Who the hell just saved him?
"You're a dangerous man, you know that, right?" A familiar and very welcoming scolding voice said above him.
Reno looked up and saw, to his surprise and relief, it was Rude who, having entered the stairwell himself, obviously heard him screaming and saw him falling, because the taller Turk was now holding him by the arm.
"Rude!" Reno breathed in relief. He never felt so happy to see his best friend. His partner hauled him up over the railing and onto the resting platform between the stairs and in front of the exit which lead to the fourth floor hallway. The redhead sighed in relief to have his feet back on to the solid floor.
"You would've been splattered if I wasn't here to catch you." Rude continued, hiding his own relief for having saved the redhead on time.
Reno rolled his eyes, "It's not like I did it on purpose or anythin'. Those white monster things, which are our other problem right now by the way, knocked me and my phone over which I have to replace later on."
"They attacked you too?" The taller man asked, in a hint of shock and surprise.
"Ah, don't tell me they're all over the building?" Reno groaned in dismay.
"Along with Militas Ultra. Haven't got the chance to catch one yet."
Reno sighed. "Well, at least I did. He's probably in the holding cells already. Caught him on level nine, and managed to let the director know before I lost my phone." He then thought of something and asked, "How'd you get to this level before me? You didn't take the elevator, did you?"
"...Right before the lights flickered and I had to use the emergancy hatch, to get back out and use the stairs." Rude explained, looking away. "Then I was attacked...by one of those men in the black coats."
Hearing this made Reno gasp in shock. "He knocked me into the hallway and blocked it off. I just arrived here when I heard you screaming." Rude continued, before admitting, "I should've payed attention to that headache episode."
"W-wait. That wouldn't happen to be when I was...on top of you, would it?" Reno hesitatedly asked.
"What do yo-" The taller Turk cut himself off, as realization kicked in. "You had that headache episode too?"
(~Discovery in Sadness-DIRGE OF CERBERUS: FINAL FANTASY VII~)
"Yeah." The younger man nodded. "I couldn't figure out what the hell it was, or why it looked familiar. But as I tried to figure it out, I realised that that's probably the same headache episode or whatever Rosalind and St. Andrew got two years ago."
"Maybe it's because of Militas Ultra not being fully human themselves, or they have a new kind of dangerous technology to do so to everyone." Rude surmised.
Reno shrugged awkwardly, "I was thinkin' that would be the case." before asking as another realisation hit him, "But if you were in the elevator too, why didn't you get me out in that vision?" as he glared at his friend before he blinked in confusion and shock. Why did he glare at him like that? It wasn't as though it actually happened.
"...I was trapped too. In that dream, none of the buttons would work." Rude replied, actually sounding guilty when he took became quickly confused. Something strange was going on and he didn't like it one bit.
The two Turks were silent for a few tensed moments, before Reno spoke again, "No...I...I'm sorry. I don't know why I was suddenly angry with you like that. I mean, it's not like it ever happened, but that doesn't make me feel less of a jerk." though something inside his heart was telling him that it did happen, and that just made him even more confused.
"Well, at least you didn't take the elevator or that Militas Ultra didn't hack it as well." Rude lightly teased.
"Oh, sure. I pour my heart out to you and you make fun of makin' me a nervous wreck." Reno commented sarcastically.
"Isn't that your line? Work is fun once it's over?"
"Okay, that's enough outta you." Reno glared again, this time this making more sense. "You really are in a cranky mood today."
(~End Discovery in Sadness~)
Sighing again, Reno then said, "Anyway, let's head over to the Basement and take out those morons. We've wasted enough time as it is."
April 11th [6:24 PM]-Year-1992.
Basement-ShinRa Building-Edge.
By the time Reno and Rude arrived in the Basement, it was all but chaotic. Everything was a mess, and it looked like a War Zone. The ShinRa army had been deployed here as well and were busy fighting both Militas Ultra soldiers and the Nobodies. Strangely enough, Militas Ultra were being attacked by the Nobodies as well, being swiped and slashed at. It was a battle on all three sides of everything.
What the hell was going on?
Before either Turk could even speak or even react, a flash caught their attention from their right and when Reno and Rude looked, there was a huge flare of fire heading straight towards them.
"Look out!" Reno shouted, pushing Rude over to the side, but it wasn't enough as both men were still blown away and flown to the opposite ends of the room, crashing onto the hard, concrete floor. Reno winched, having hit his head on the floor and was certain a small lump was growing..
"Reno!" Rude shouted, while also wincing at the harsh landing.
The redhead looked up and saw another flare of fire come towards him. Fortunately, with what little Mana he had left, Reno quickly summoned a Barrier Spell to block it and protect himself. When the flames extinguished themselves and faded, as did the barrier, Reno and Rude looked up to see a figure in those black coats, standing there as he clapped mockingly at the redhaired Turk. The coat seemed to be pretty tight on him, Reno thought. But what he and Rude heard next sent them into shock.
(~Organization XIII-KH2~)
"Bravo! I can see why they said you're top of the level of the Turks, or whatever they call it." The figure said...in a voice that sounded far too much like Reno's. "I gotta admit, though, it's super crazy that you look just like me."
Crap. Even this guy's quirkiness was too much like Reno's, and what the hell did that punk mean, he 'look just like' him?
"What the hell are you on about?" Reno demanded, standing up and glared. On the way down to the basement, he was thankful that his EMR survived the fall while his phone was, unfortunately, in pieces beyond repair. "You morons in the black coats aren't makin' any damn sense!"
As though realising his mistake, the figure replied, mockingly, "Oh, sorry. I forgot that I had my hood on. Well, maybe this will clear things up." before he slid his hood down to reveal his face.
When the man did, Reno and Rude were both in complete shock, as were everyone else in the room who took notice before continuing to fight. This man...he looked about the same age as Reno, and looked almost exactly like him; bright, red crimson hair, though a bit more tamed and brushed back, but still pretty spiky. He had emerald eyes compared to Reno's tortoise blue, and his tattoos were underneath his eyes like teardrops rather than the sides of his upper cheekbones. He could pass on as Reno's twin brother.
"W-who the hell are you?" Reno stuttered, absolutely shocked. Now he understood why those jerks mentioned he looked just like one of their own. Because the guy was identical to himself!
"Me? Oh, my name's Axel? Got it memorized?" Axel replied, while tapping the side of his head as he said his catch-phrase.
Reno only glared hard at his 'twin', grunting, "Yeah, that's the name I won't be forgettin'. 'Cuz I'm gonna get through with you!" and stood in a fighting stance, ready to fight his opponent. (~End Organization XIII~)
"Hmph." Axel scoffed. "You may be the Fastest of the Turks..."
(~13th Dilemma-KH2.5 HD ReMix~)
The redhaired Nobody stretched out his arms and fire flared out from his hands, forming crimsion hilt and sharp bladed Chakrams as he holds a tight grip on the leather hilts in the middle, and gazed at the soldier again.
"But I'm the Assassin of the Organization!" Axel finished, grinning like mad which again looked too much like how Reno would get excited on missions.
"STOP STEALIN' MY STYLE!" Reno yelled, furiously before he charged with a growl, striking hard at the other redhead who stood ready and blocked the Turk's attack with the Chakrams. Rude made to help but was blocked by both the Dusk Nobodies and Militas Ultra who came to attack him, so the taller Turk had no choice but to fight them and let his partner battle his 'clone' alone.
The two redheads struggled to overpower each other before Axel grinned sinisterly and simply vanished, much to Reno's shock. He then sensed movement and dodge-rolled out of the way when Axel had reappeared at another part of the room and tossed his Chakrams like frisbees at the Turk who narrowly missed those sharp shurikens. Reno had to keep running out of the way when Axel blasted more fire at him before the latter sped forward to strike him down. But Reno was faster and kept dodging before he charged up his EMR and blasted a bolt of Lightning at the Assassin who was briefly electrocuted, allowing Reno to charge and thrust his weapon down onto him, sending the human-formed Nobody back.
Axel jumped out of the way to avoid more of Reno's attacks and returned the favor and tossed his weapons again. While one sliced through Reno's right sleeve and cutting a scratch on his arm which had Reno hiss in pain, he blocked the other with his EMR by smacking it back before ducking to avoid the other one. Axel expertly caught them when they returned to him. Both redheads charged each other again and against each other which created sparked as the weapons clanged and banged, both Reno and Axel attempting to defeat each other and neither one were willing to back down. When Reno managed to kick Axel into the stomach and sending him flying backwards, the latter flipped backwards and landed on the ground in a crouch, wincing at the unexpected kick he retrieved.
Well, two can play at that game.
"Burn, baby!" Axel laughed and slammed his hands onto the ground, causing a burst of fire to erupt around him and then race outward towards Reno who couldn't dodge this time and was knocked back and slammed onto the ground. But the Turk salchow jumped back upward before counter-attacking and despite his Mana running low, he sent out a Blizzard Spell from his EMR after quickly switching Materia while dodging more of Axel's furry of dancing flames attacks.
Axel quickly his Chakrams to block the attack, though he shuddered at the freezing cold of the Ice Magic before blocking more of Reno's attacks, though he was having slight difficulty because, despite being human and only relying on Materia to use magic, Reno was admittedly and shockingly fast. So the Nobody jumped though Reno did kick him on the side which made the other redhead nearly lose focus, but the assassin vanished again and this time appeared behind Reno who spun around and blocked Axel's attempts to stab him with both of those scary weapons. Reno had to admit, this guy was scaredly tough and extremely dangerous. So he dropped low and dodge-rolled to the side to avoid in being stabbed or sliced or even burnt to crisp, but it was getting rather difficult to keep up with this guy.
"Get back!" Axel shouted as he drew himself back before flaring up his chakrams on fire and then tossed them towards the Turk.
Reno casted Barrier to protect himself, but he could feel the heat and saw the Chakrams attempting to back their way through. So he had to duck when the barrier failed and narrowly missed in having his head sliced off before screaming when Axel appeared behind him and thrusting him forward, causing the Turk to fly across the room and crash onto the ground, skidding to a stop. He rolled out of the way to avoid more of Axel's attacks before blocking another and charged up his EMR, sending a shockwave from the tip of the weapon and onto Axel's, which also contacted with his hands and made the assassin scream in pain this time, allowing Reno to roll to safety.
The Turk quickly gulped down the Hi-Potion the ShinRa soldier gave him earlier and felt it's healing magic work despite the liquid's bitter taste. He wished he had an Elixir to reboost his mana, though and he was close in frying his EMR. Plus a gun was useless in this fight. He was forced to leaped out of the way when Axel sent out another wave of fire at him, and the way things were going, that guy was going to burn the ShinRa building to the ground. Reno had to stop him soon, or the Company was history and Militas Ultra would win the war. Fortunately that dilemma was sovled for him, because when Axel, having recovered, made to attack again, he was suddenly flown to the side by a powerful punch caused by Rude who managed to defeat his opponents and now had the chance to help his partner.
"Great timing, partner!" Reno phrased as he ran up to his friend's side.
"Couldn't let you handle this punk by yourself." Rude replied calmly.
Reno grinned, "I'll take that as a compliment. Now, let's finish this moron off, shall we?"
His friend nodded, as the two Turks gazed at Axel who glared back at the sudden cheating. The redhaired enemy tossed his Chakrams again, but Reno and Rude dodged it and while Axel retrieved them and made to attack the two Turks again, both of them blocked his attacks in a huge fury of punches, kicks, slashes, whacks and fire. Reno successfully kicked Axel in the face, while Rude punched the Nobody in the chest, which sent him flying backwards again, crashing onto the ground. But Axel wasn't finished yet, despite getting weaker, and he flared up fire pillars, sending them towards the two Turks.
Reno and Rude flared up another Ice Materia together this time to freeze the attack before going into opposite directions as steam filled the air, creating a haze that looked like they were in a sauna. Axel grunted angrily as he tried to figure out where the Turks had gone two, only to realise too late that Reno and Rude were now on both sides of him as they powered up their most powerful team-work attack, trapping him. Rude brought his gloved fist onto the floor beneath him while at the same time Reno loose with a fantastic arc of lightning that shot from his weapon and encased Axel. At that moment, the shockwave from Rude's attack reached Axel and the redhaired assassin caught by the simultaneous attacks. His body jerked as it was seized, caught in an electrified landslide.
When the attacks subsided, Axel fell stiffly onto one knee as his weapons dismissed themselves.
(~End 13th Dilemma~)
The two Turks stood near their foe, as Reno grinned at Rude and gave him a thumbs up before turning back to Axel, asking mocking, "What was that you were sayin' about bein' the Assassin?"
"Hn...You got me." Axel admitted, ignoring Reno's mockery, panting before he stood up with difficulty. Thankfully those finishing moves weren't enough to kill him, but it was going to take a while to recover.
"Had enough, or did you want more?" Reno smirked, tapping his EMR on his shoulder.
Axel was about to answer, when his co-worker appeared behind him, this time with his hood down, showing off his blue hair, amber eyes with a large cross scar on his face, and pointy ears which reminded Reno of Xigbar. Seeing this arrival and with Rude remembering him as the one he fought earlier, the Turks quickly stood in a fighting stance, just in case.
"Axel. Let us leave." The blue-haired man told Axel.
"And get our butts handed by the superior, Saix?" Axel inquired, half-sarcastically while half looking back at his companion known as Saix.
Saix scoffed. "I was informed to tell you."
A pause.
"Whatever." Axel shrugged nonchalantly. He turned back to the Turks and grinned, mainly at Reno who glared back. "Heh. You guys sure make a good team. I gotta admit, you're pretty good with that electro-stick thingamajig. Next time we meet, though, I'll be far stronger."
"Not if I take you down." Reno warned coldly.
Axel smirked. "It's funny. Never thought I'd meet a guy who's almost exactly like me. Guess that's what make us...human." Before Reno could ask what he meant, Axel and Saix both vanished in a mist of chains and darkness which had Reno grunt and Rude gasp in shock at the sight he'd never seen before.
"...Who the hell are those whackos?" Reno asked, more to himself than anyone else, even as he and Rude noticed Tseng, other members of the army and some medics racing in as the power had returned to normal, and Militas Ultra soldiers were either dead or one or two critically injured a moment later.
"Are you two alright?" The Wutaiian Turk inquired.
"Yeah, we're fine. Nothin' we couldn't handle. Right, partner?" Reno shrugged nonchalantly with a smirk and Rude just nodded.
"Then why didn't you respond to Veld or my calls?" Tseng asked, sternly.
Reno, remembering his PHS, cringed before answering, "Those stupid white things that attacked us during the crisis made me lose it and now it's in pieces. Gonna have'ta require a new one. Good news is, we confirmed that it was both Militas Ultra and those punks in the black coats. Bad news is, the latter guys disappeared on us."
"I see." The Turk Lieutenant nodded. "I was informed that you at least managed to capture a suspect for interrogation. Balto and I will be speaking with him as soon as the mess is cleaned up. Well done, the both of you."
April 11th [7:30PM]-Year-1992.
Turks Lounge-ShinRa Building-Edge.
Having been dismissed for the night after things were cleaned up and given a few days off by Veld, Reno and Rude had retreated to the Turks' lounge where the redhead slumped himself onto one of the sofas, laying down with his hands clampsed behind his head while using the armrest as a pillow, staring up at the ceiling.
"Man, what a day." Reno sighed, having had his shower and felt more human again. "So much happened and all things considered, we finally caught one of those Militas jerks."
"Even though there's a chance he won't say anything beyond what the enemy kept on saying in random." Rude pointed out, gazing out of the window that overlooked the entire city, as it was well into dark as the city lights lit up, and a quarter moon was out.
"Well, he'd better. Otherwise we're back to square one in tryin' to figure out what the hell Militas Ultra really wants." Reno grumbled, before frowning even further. "Come to think of it, we never really got to find out the true motive of those guys in the black coats, or why that Axel guy looks and sounds just like me."
(~Understanding One Another*Roxas's Theme Coded Version-KH2.5 HD ReMix*~)
Rude grunted softly. "That only proves how dangerous both of the Organization are."
"Especially those things none of us had seen before." Reno agreed, thoughtfully. "On the other hand, how they appeared is just like how those two guys appeared. Maybe they were experimented on or somethin'. But...what the hell would that mean in them talking about me? I don't even remember doing anywhere near whacko scientists and I don't even have any needle scars or whatever. The only thing I saw whacky in my head today was...the elevator, me, know and-"
"That Zack guy." Rude chorused with Reno who glanced up in surprise, while the former continued, "But it's like you say, Reno. You have to go with the flow."
Reno thought about it, then figured that his friend was right on that part, and just sighed. "What's done is done, huh..."
"Feel like doing another flashy job? You'd have to request Veld and Tseng for another mission."
"Nah. I don't feel like it." Reno waved off. "Plus, we'd been given a few days off, so why waste our precious time on it?"
Rude quirked an eyebrow behind his Sunglasses. "...You sure you haven't changed a little?"
"I ain't changed a bit." Reno smirked, almost manically. "It's just that you can't always get what you want, so sometimes it's best to let bygones be bygones."
"Somethings you're hard to tell." Rude groaned.
This made Reno frown as he asked, "Are you still mad...? Partners shouldn't hide things from each other."
"Hmph. I'm just peachy." Rude replied.
But Reno shook his head, "No, it's more than that." That's when Reno suddenly found the answer on his own, and smirked, "Your usual pair of shades, Rude."
Rude was shocked at what Reno just said, and was unable to hide that expression or cover it with confusion. "Wha-!?"
"You're having them repaired, right?" Reno asked as he smirked and took a good look at the pair of shades his partner was wearing. It was a different pair compared to what Rude normally wore, but still black.
"But, how… I haven't told anyone." Rude was baffled at this discovery. His usual pair was broken since yesterday, and he was a lover for shades, and if one of his shades were broken, he gets into a sourmood.
And this Reno somehow knew. "How many years have we been a team? You're wearing a spare pair. No wonder I thought there was something strange about you today."
He then looked at his annoyed partner and asked, "Come on, you gonna stand around and pout forever?"
"...Sometimes I wish I can read people like you can." Rude admitted.
Reno just chuckled, "Yeah, well, everybody has different skills. That's one of the reasons why me and you were made Turks, right? If we hadn't, then I don't think we'd even have met."
After a moment of silence, Rude finally smirked and placed an arm around Reno's shoulders, "Then we wouldn't have become partners." before he teasingly added, "Though I think I can live without your obnoxious attitude."
"Hey!" Reno pouted mockingly, before the two shared a laugh as Reno had his arm over his best friend's shoulders. For one thing the two men knew, even though life wasn't easy in the Turks...
They wouldn't trade each other for the world.
(~End Understanding One Another*Roxas's Theme Coded Version*~)
April 11th [?]-Year-1992.
Throne Room-World that Never Was.
(~Organization XIII-KH2~)
Upon returning to the Castle that Never Was, Axel and Saix met before Xemnas and the rest of the current members of Organization, giving out their report on what triggered in Edge today and how Axel fought against Reno and then Rude which resulted the redhaired Nobody's loss. Even though he didn't feel any fear as he needed a Heart to do so, Axel wasn't looking forward in facing his punishment.
"...Just as I suspected. The Turks are stronger than they look. Especially those two together." Xemnas thought, deeply.
"Did you really know that Reno guy is just like me, but with a heart and different skills?" Axel inquired carefully with a frown. "Because I certainly don't remember ever living in Midgar or Edge."
"So you think both he and you are different people?" Xigbar mocked, before scoffing, "As if! That kid's definitely your Heartless, Flamesilocks. There's no getting out of that truth."
"No." Xemnas corrected, causing the other Nobodies to gaze at him. "Reno of the Turks is most certainly not Axel's Nobody. Today only proves that he and the other Turks are indeed fully human, but oblivious to their own destiny and their past. However, Reno's existance is quite astonishing. Similiar to Axel's existance, I'm quite sure."
Axel folded his arms while Saix glanced at his ally questionly, before the former asked, "So you're sayin' that me and that Turk are connected somehow, even though we were both born in two different worlds?"
"Indeed. However, that connection is not with the heart of you two, but the heart of two others in the Realm of Light, who have yet to begin their own goals." Xemnas explained.
A pause.
"We will continue to monitor ShinRa in secret as well as continue your goals in defeating Heartless, find new members and a wielder of the Keyblade to begin construction of our Kingdom Hearts." The Superior concluded.
Axel was relieved to hear that he wasn't about to get dusked anytime soon. But as the other Nobodies teleported out to their dorms, the redhaired Nobody couldn't help but think about Reno, the full human with a heart yet was identical to him. What was their connection? What was Xemnas talking about?
"Reno...Who ARE you?" Axel whispered to himself.
TO BE CONTINUED IN CHAPTER 6.
A/N: That's Episode Reno done, yet the main story continues in the next chapter. How it will turn out, I do have a bit of an idea, but let's wait and see. I was meant to finish this yesterday, but things went crazy and I had a family dinner to attend.
Anyway, until the next chapter(after I get a new computer), see you real soon!