Hey, thanks for reading another chapter.
Once you're finished with reading, it would be pretty awesome if you reviewed!
By the way, this chapter has some major changes from the game, but I'll explain more after you read.
Chapter Four: Cid the PilotThe sun slowly rose up from behind the mountains that the group had just passed through. Vincent was sitting in front of the fireplace, which had been set ablaze the previous night, though he and Cait Sith had put it out once the sun was beginning to rise and they no longer needed it. For Vincent, most of the night was silent, he and Cloud talked very little, mostly only the short conversation they had once everyone had gone to sleep, and Yuffie sat silently, across from Vincent, who wasn't sure if she was frightened or shy around him. Either way, he was just thankful the usually energetic ninja was silent for a welcomed change. However, unfortunately for Vincent, Cait Sith was quite the talker.
"So then the cougar says-" Cait Sith said, telling another one of his jokes to the very uninterested Vincent, who instead was glancing over at the girl's tent, noticing someone was beginning to stir. "-And the butcher killed the dog!" Cait Sith exclaimed laughing gaily as he finished while Vincent only kept his keen eyes on the girl's tent, guessing who it was.
Tifa, Vincent guessed, judging by the figure of the one who was now awake. He noticed that once he woke up his keen eyes and skills had only sharpened after the experiments Hojo had done on him. He wasn't very comfortable with that thought, knowing that Hojo can create such powerful monsters like himself, though he pushed the thought out of his mind for now. Then he noticed that she was changing, and, being a gentleman, he respectively looked away, and back at Cait Sith.
"Do ya get it Vinny?!" Cait Sith exclaimed, still hollering with laughter, making Vincent wonder how anyone could sleep with all his noise.
"Don't call me that," Vincent coldly and strictly told the odd creature.
"Uhh, s-sure," Cait Sith replied, his humor completely diminished.
"Good," Vincent softly muttered, and turned back to the girl's tent once he noticed Tifa stepping out of it.
"Good morning, Tifa!" Cait Sith exclaimed, his humor completely returned.
"Good morning," Tifa smiled, then looked at Vincent. "Good morning, Vincent. Did you get any sleep last night?"
"No," Vincent replied, seeming uninterested in the conversation.
"Well, tonight you're going to get some sleep," Tifa told him. "I hope we spend the night at an inn… I just can't wait to sleep in an actual bed again… and take a nice warm bath…"
Vincent nodded in understanding, though still completely sounding uncaring about what she was talking about. Tifa then sighed and sat down, thinking Vincent wouldn't say anything, however, then Vincent said, "Yes. You have been traveling for quite some time."
"Yeah," Tifa said with a small smile. "It must have been at least two months by now…"
"On the run from Shinra for two months," Vincent mused. "And yet you still haven't been killed… you all should be proud."
"Don't think they haven't tried!" Cait Sith suddenly exclaimed. "Like every other day, Shinra is sendin' out more men to come and get us!"
Tifa giggled a little, and then commented, "Yeah, I couldn't have said it any better than that. For example, just a couple days ago, the Turks found us near Gongaga."
"The Turks?" Vincent asked, surprised that the group could survive an attack from the Turks. He knew they were powerful, but in all seriousness, he thought that he alone could probably kill them all in his sleep if he really wanted. They were definitely a powerful group, but there's too much silliness, too much playfulness to be a truly powerful group, the type of group that could defeat the Turks.
"Yup," Tifa said with pride. "Of course, it wasn't all of them, just two."
"I'm surprised you could defeat the Turks," Vincent told her, and he received a frown from her. He wasn't too surprised by that, several people disliked Vincent for his straight-forwardness and how he was always so serious. He couldn't count how many times Lucrecia had said, "Why do you always have to be so serious, Vincent?" in those days so long ago.
"Well, I'm actually not so sure how much we really hurt them…" Tifa said, thinking back to the day. "But they did retreat."
"Did they sneak up on you at all?" Vincent asked, remembering back when he was a Turk and he would track people for hours, possibly even days depending on the target, before actually making a move.
"No, it actually seemed that they were waiting for us," Tifa told him. "In fact, we could hear them talking before they actually realized that we were even there."
Vincent looked perplexed at Tifa, for he was finding all this extremely unorthodox, as he could remember when a Turk could have lost his job or even been killed depending on the importance of the mission for being so foolish like that. But, regardless of the importance, that Turk would certainly be in trouble, and would have to face extreme consequences.
"Yeah," Tifa said, answering the confused look on Vincent's face, which most people probably wouldn't even detect, as it seemed all expressions had vanished long ago from Vincent's face. "I guess the Turks have laid back quite a bit since you were one, Vincent."
"I suppose so…" Vincent softly murmured.
"But they're still pretty tough," Cait Sith commented. "It's just that…"
"They're too cocky," Vincent finished for him, surprising both woken team members.
"Yeah, that's it exactly," Tifa nodded in a surprising shock. "How did you know that?"
"I've dealt with many people like that," Vincent replied. "However, none of them were ever Turks… Usually they were gang members or terrorists."
"I see…" Tifa muttered softly, dreadfully and carefully speaking the words. "People you'd have to… kill…"
"Yes," Vincent nodded, seeming not to even notice how dreadful she sounded. However, despite what it seemed, Vincent easily detected the dread, he simply didn't take it into much consideration. A lot of people reacted that way back when Vincent was a Turk. Lucrecia probably had one of the worse reactions to it, she would hardly ever speak about it and seemed like she just wanted to completely ignore the fact that he was a Turk… which was probably for the better anyway.
Vincent thought back to his days as a Turk. Even though he had been doing terrible things, it was a pretty good job for him. He was doing something that he was pretty good at, got a very good paycheck, and, best of all, he often worked alone. Vincent had always been better when he worked alone. Shinra knew this and usually, unless the mission was extremely important or difficult, would let him work alone. And now more than ever he wanted to be alone, especially with this group. Tifa and Nanaki were all right, and Cloud seemed ok, though he was perhaps too loving towards Aeris for Vincent's liking, but the rest seemed all far to hyperactive and gleeful for Vincent.
After a long, awkward silence, Cait Sith finally said, "Maybe you should start making breakfast, Tifa. The smell will probably wake the others up."
"That's not a bad idea," Tifa replied. "We should get an early start to Rocket Town; I really wanna get some new weapons and armor. Plus I want to find any information on Sephiroth and Shinra. And I have a feeling that this town will be full of information on at least Shinra. Or, if we're really lucky, we can get some revenge on some Shinra officials."
Vincent slightly nodded, fully understanding her lust for vengeance; however, she couldn't understand nearly how much he desired his own revenge on Hojo.
Everyone had finished Tifa's breakfast, except for Vincent who hadn't eaten (this was beginning to worry the group, but none of them told him, because none of them really wanted to get into an argument with such a dark, mysterious figure.). Just as Cait Sith had thought, the intoxicating aroma of Tifa's delicious food did in fact awake the other members of the group. They were all hungry, Vincent began to wonder if they were ever not hungry, but Tifa's meal filled them up just as well as it had the previous night.
"Good meal, Tifa," Cloud, who sat between Tifa and Aeris, told her.
"Thanks, Cloud," Tifa said with a slight blush that no one, except Vincent, seemed to notice.
"And now that we're finished," Cloud announced, standing up and looking down at the group, except for Vincent, who was all ready standing with his arms crossed over his chest. "We should head to Rocket Town. If that place still has any association with Shinra, I have a feeling that some high officials will be over there, since they probably know that Sephiroth was at Nibelheim and heading this direction."
"Yes," Red XIII agreed. "We should hurry, however, I suggest we go in two different groups. In case there are Shinra officials there and we get caught."
"Yeah," Tifa said. "Plus if the Turks are there, they'd have to separate to get both teams, and then we could take them down easier."
"Aight," Barret exclaimed, leaping up ungracefully from his spot around the campfire. "I'll be in charge o' the second group!"
"Ok," Cloud nodded, then scanned over the group. "How about… Aeris, Cait Sith, and…" Cloud glanced over the group and his eyes rested on Vincent for a quick moment. Cloud knew that if Vincent were to go with Barret, he would only be getting a hard time from the bulky, gun-armed man, which really gave Cloud no other option. "… Vincent come with me. Then, Yuffie, Red XIII, and Tifa can go with you, Barret."
"Ok," Barret nodded, then glared at Vincent. "N' keep a sharp eye on 'im, Cloud."
Cloud silently sighed and rolled his eyes, then said, "Ok, now lets go."
"How shall we get in?" Vincent patiently asked. "If you're correct and there are Shinra officials, it wouldn't be wise to simply walk in the main entrance."
"Yeah…" Cloud mumbled softly, then glanced at the town once again. "It doesn't seem that they're working on the rocket… my group can sneak in there…"
"What 'bout my group?" Barret impatiently asked.
"I'm trying to think…" Cloud murmured, eyeing the town for possible entrances. "Maybe you guys can just slowly walk around the town, and sneak in between some of the homes. You guys can play support, if you happen to notice any Shinra officials, call us, and we'll call you if we see the same."
"Aight," Barret replied.
"And be sure to turn your PHS on vibrate," Cloud said as he tossed the second PHS to Barret. "Incase we need to call you." Barret nodded, doing as he was told. "All right, guys," Cloud announced, turning towards Rocket Town. "Let's go."
It didn't take long for them to reach Rocket Town, nor did it take long for Cloud's team to sneak around the back to the rocket. The rocket was humungous, much larger than they had suspected, however, it was very obvious that the device was several years old and needed repairs. The metal was beginning to rust in several spots and there were countless wires falling from the rocket and down to the earth. Not to mention the rocket itself was tilted away from the town, making Vincent wonder what had happened to make it lean at such an angle.
"This is pretty cool…" Cloud muttered as he glanced up and down the rocket.
"A Shinra rocket…" Vincent uttered, looking over the rocket with the most interest he had yet shown the group of having. "Space exploration… I can't believe how far they had come…"
"Wow… I can't believe its still here…" Cait Sith told them as he too eyed the rocket keenly. "The schedule was that the rocket was supposed to launch off a couple years ago. I would think that someone would have done something with it by now."
"Cloud," Vincent said, his keen eyes looking up a ladder which lead to an entrance into the rocket.
"What is it?" Cloud asked. Vincent didn't answer, so Cloud followed his gaze up and maybe did notice something, but he couldn't quite tell what it was. He also thought that he may have heard some movement, but he wasn't too sure.
"What is it?" Aeris asked, following the men's gaze and squinting as hard as she could. "I can't see anything."
"There's someone up there," Cloud told her. "We should go up there, if it's Shinra, we have to stop them before they can alert anyone else."
"Okey dokey," Cait Sith said and walked over to the ladder.
"Wait…" Cloud muttered then turned to Vincent. "This is too risky. I'll climb up first, Vincent, you use you're sniper rifle to cover me, all right?"
Vincent nodded and walked a little ways away. Then he took out his sniper rifle and lied down on the ground, aiming his rifle up above. He could certainly see something bluish-purple, he thought it might be a Shinra SOLDIER uniform, identical to the one Cloud wore, but he couldn't be sure.
The gunslinger then nodded to Cloud, who began his climb, he went as quickly as he could while still being as quiet as he could, and succeeded with ease. He reached the top without whoever was up there noticing. Next went Aeris and then Cait Sith, all being as silent as they could and reaching the top without alarming whoever was there. Then Vincent began his climb, and he was perhaps the quickest and quietest of them all, and he never alarmed whoever was inside.
"There's only one person in there," Cloud whispered to his group. "I'm certain, but I can't tell if he's from Shinra or not."
The others nodded and slowly followed Cloud inside the rocket, and discovered that the person who was inside wasn't a soldier, but was a civilian. He had pale blond hair, with goggles right above his dull blue eyes. He wore a white shirt covered by a blue pilot coat, and wore slightly baggy brown pants.
"Damn it, Shera!" hollered the man suddenly. "I told you to-!" he jumped up and spun around, and instantly stopped his yelling once he saw the four standing there. "Who the hell are you?" he asked, then looked over Cloud. "… Are you with Shinra?"
"Uhh, no," Cloud replied. "We're-"
"I don't give a rat's ass!" the man interrupted, motioning for them to go away. "Get off of my goddamn rocket!"
"Um, sorry, we were just looking around, sir…" Aeris muttered.
"Sir?! Don't talk to me like I'm some old man," the man told them. "My name is Cid Highwind, and don't you forget it, kiddy!"
"What do you want with Shinra?" Cloud asked, trying to find out all he could about Shinra's plans.
"The president's comin'," Cid told him excitedly, seeming very happy to be on the subject. "I'm hopin' they'll tell me that they're restarting the space program."
"The president?!" Cait Sith exclaimed.
"Yeah," Cid nodded, then looked down at his wristwatch. "He should be arrivin' pretty soon. I just wanted to do some last minute repairs on the ship."
Vincent glanced over the ship and thought it needed a whole lot more than last minute repairs, but didn't bother to say anything.
"Yeah," Cid nodded with a smirk, then glared at the team. "Now get the hell off my rocket!"
"Just one more thing," Cloud commented. "Are there any Shinra officials around?"
"A couple," Cid replied with a shrug. "I thought you were one of 'em, wearin' that SOLDIER uniform and all. They said they're lookin' for some people, them terrorists, I forget it's like AVALANCHE or something, and Sephiroth."
"Oh really?" Cloud muttered. "Well, I guess we should be leaving then."
"Hold on a minute," Cid stopped him, grabbing the ex-SOLDIER's uniform. "I'm all done here… I'll take you to my house, Shera can make us some tea."
"Why?" Cait Sith asked.
"You seem to know a lot about Shinra," Cid told them. "I also happen to know a lot about Shinra. Let's talk a little."
"Yeah, all right," Cloud nodded, always glad to hear more information about their enemy. "Let's go to your house, Cid."
"Damn straight," the pilot said, then lead the group off the rocket and into town.
"Damn," Barret murmured from the alley his team was hiding in. "There aren't too many Shinra people, but I dunno how much longer I'll be able to jes sit 'ere and wait."
"Well, we're going to have to," Red XIII told Barret. "Do you see anyone notable, like the president, or the Turks?"
Barret snuck forward a little and peeked around, then snuck back. "Nope, I don't see anyone, they're probably all at the inn or sumthin' I imagine. Though there are jes some troopers."
"Man, I hate this!" Yuffie whined. "Can't we go and fight yet?!"
"Calm down, Yuffie," Tifa told the young ninja. "You know Cloud, we'll get into a fight soon enough."
"The sooner the better, if ya ask me," Barret muttered. "I'm wit' the brat on this one. I dunno if I'll be able to stand this much longer."
"Shh," Red XIII muttered, his eyes watching someone outside. "Look…"
Barret and the others followed Red XIII's gaze and saw Tseng looking around, then waved to someone, and then the president appeared on the scene, along with some of the other Shinra officials.
"The president!" Barret exclaimed, raising his gun-arm. "'Bout time."
"Wait Barret," Red XIII immediately told him. "Look… they're going up to a house…"
"Let's call Cloud," Tifa told them. "Then we'll decide what to do."
"Aw fine!" Barret exclaimed, digging into his pocket and taking out the PHS. "Damn it, we have the perfect opportunity to take care o' all this right now…"
Barret grumbled as he dialed the numbers for Cloud's PHS.
"Damn it, Shera!" Cid yelled at the slightly younger, fairly attractive woman. "Ya gotta make some tea for the damn guests!"
Cid had just come in from working on a small aircraft that he calls the 'Tiny Bronco'. He ordered Shera to make Cloud, Aeris, Vincent, and Cait Sith some tea before he went out, however, Shera instead told them about why she works for him and why the rocket ship is destroyed. She told how Cid saved her life by canceling the launch, and ruining his hopes and dreams, which is why she doesn't mind him yelling at her and working for him so much.
Being with them bothered Vincent very much. He had been raised to always treat a woman with respect and use proper language around them. Cid, meanwhile, seemed to go against all of Vincent's teachings, not that Vincent cared very much. However people want to deal with each other was their own business, and it seemed to be working fine for them anyway. At first Vincent thought they might be married, but noticed that neither of them were wearing a wedding ring, so he dismissed the thought.
"No, it's all right," Aeris politely told the pilot. "We don't want any tea…"
"Fine, whatever," Cid said, taking a seat and resting his feet at his kitchen table. "Any word from the president, Shera?"
"Not yet, Cid," Shera patiently replied.
"Goddamn kids, can't keep a damn schedule," Cid muttered, looking down at his watch.
Suddenly Cloud made a small jump, and felt into his pocket, then said, "Uhh, I'm gonna step outside real fast, ok?" Cloud then went out the back way.
"I think I'll go with him," Aeris told them, and the followed him outside.
"What's that all about?" Cid asked, standing up. "They better not be thinkin' about takin' my damn-"
"He's been ill lately," Vincent interrupted the pilot.
"Uhh, yeah!" Cait Sith exclaimed. "Real sick. It just comes and goes, ya know?"
"Huh, I guess," Cid replied, sitting back down.
After a minute, Cloud and Aeris came back inside, Cloud looking pale at his other two teammates. "Did you heave up, kid?" Cid asked.
"Huh?" Cloud asked.
"Vinny, here-" Cid began.
"Vincent," the frightening man sternly said, though not moving his eyes to the pilot. He couldn't help but wonder why everyone seemed to be using that nickname for him. He had no problem with Vince or Valentine, and yet they all seem to choose to call him Vinny.
"Told me that you were sick," Cid continued, seeming unaffected by Vincent.
"Oh, uhh no, I didn't throw up," Cloud answered sheepishly. "But, I am feeling kinda sick, I think we should head out guys."
Just then there was a pounding at the door, and Cid instantly sprang up and answered it, while Cloud and the others and leaned back and felt for their weapons. Behind the door was Palmer, the pudgy leader of Space Exploration at Shinra Headquarters.
"Palmer!" Cid exclaimed, for a second it seemed that he would hug the fat man, but instead he slapped his flabby shoulder. "About time you showed up!"
"Yeah," the fat man said, looking over at the tea Shera was making. "The president's outside, he wants to talk to you, Cid."
"That's more like it!" Cid exclaimed excitedly. "You can sit in here and Shera'll make you some tea."
"All right," Palmer said, sitting in the spot where Cid was while the pilot dashed outside.
The team calmed down a little since it seemed Palmer couldn't remember them from the Shinra Headquarters. Which was very surprising, however, at the moment, they didn't care much.
Cloud turned back to the group and whispered, "We should check outside and see what they're talking about…"
The team nodded and they all snuck to the door and slightly opened it, but only enough to hear what they were talking about, not enough to see anything.
"Startin' up the space program again?" Cid asked, sounding more gleeful than he had yet shown the group. "It's 'bout time, in a couple years, I don't think the rocket will be able to-"
"We're not restarting the space program," the president interrupted, completely ignoring the fact that Cid's cheerful face quickly sunk. "We're hunting Sephiroth, but it seems we've been heading in the wrong direction, he's heading towards the Temple of the Ancients, so we'll need to borrow the Tiny Bronco."
The pilot was silent for a moment and stared at the president dumbstruck, as if he couldn't believe what he had just heard. "What?!" Cid suddenly hollered. "You goddamn kid! Why the hell would I give you my goddamn ship?! That's all I have after you damn Shinra-"
"Umm, Cloud," Shera said from behind them, the team turned and was surprised to no longer see Palmer there. "I think that man is trying to steal the Tiny Bronco…"
"What?!" Cloud exclaimed. "We have to stop him!"
Cloud, followed immediately by Vincent, Aeris, and Cait Sith, dashed to the back, to see Palmer in the pilot's seat of the plane, trying to start it up, while mumbling something. "I'm supposed to be a Shinra official… not some mechanic…" he grumbled.
"What are you doing?!" Aeris cried.
"Wha-" Palmer started, then came to a great realization. "Now I remember you! You're the people from the headquarters when Sephiroth-"
"Enough talk!" Vincent exclaimed. "Get out of that airship this instant."
"And what if I don't?" Palmer snickered.
Instead of speaking, Vincent took out his peacemaker and aimed it towards the Shinra official. "Holy-!" Palmer started just as a bullet hit him directly in the shoulder, causing his fat body to tip out of the plane. "Shit!" Palmer then turned to run when Cloud drew his sword and charged at the fat official.
"Stop right there!" called a voice from on top of Cid's house. The man leapt down and they discovered that it was Reno and Rude jumped down right next to him. "We're taking this ship, Cloud."
"Over my dead body!" Cloud shouted, facing the two Turks with his blade held out, ready for a fight.
"Are you… the Turks?" Vincent asked, his right eyebrow raised in interest. The bald one seemed like he would be, but the other seemed like some slacker who just happened to be dressed like a Turk. His entire suit was wrinkled, his undershirt untucked, and the jacket unclipped, and his flaming red hair messy atop his head. It was highly unorthodox and he was amazed the Shinra would allow this man to continue to disgrace the Turks like this.
"Yeah, of course," Reno smirked, taking out his staff. "And you must be the legend himself. Vincent Valentine, it's truly an honor."
"What are you talking about?" Vincent demanded.
"We heard all about you when we were training to become Turks," Reno explained. "You were one of the best… they always told us you were dead… what exactly did happen to you, Valentine? Something with Hojo, that's all-"
"Silence!" Vincent shouted and fired a shot and the cocky young Turk.
Reno dived to the right, however, the bullet still grazed across his arm, causing blood flow. "Bastard!" Reno shouted, then aimed the end of his staff at Vincent like a pointer stick. "I'll get you for that!" Reno then charged and was about to slam Vincent with his staff, however, Vincent easily leapt out of the way, and fired another shot at Reno's back. "Shit!" Reno bellowed. "Rude cure me!"
Instantly, Reno's companion cured the cocky Turk and the blood at once stopped flowing. Now, Cloud charged at red-haired Turk, and sliced his sword at the younger Turk, but Reno used his staff to defend himself, then leapt to the side, and jabbed Cloud with it, using its electrical current to shock Cloud. Cait Sith shot a fire spell at Reno, causing the attack to cease, giving Cloud some time to get away. "Damnit!" Cloud cried, but instantly the worried Aeris cured him.
While this had happened, Rude dashed after Vincent, and slammed his fist into Vincent's side. Vincent was amazed by how powerful the Turk was, however, the injury was nothing that threatened Vincent in any way whatsoever. Instead, Vincent aimed his gun at the dark skinned Turk and opened fire, shooting him three times in the stomach, once in his right arm, and a fifth in his left leg.
Rude stumbled backwards, and desperately struggled to use his cure spell, however, Vincent didn't give him the chance. The minute Rude tried to cure himself, Vincent used his bolt materia, and the lightening injured the Turk even further. However, as Vincent was about to cast another spell, the Turk dived behind the plane, and managed to heal himself.
Just then, Cloud slashed again at Reno, who was distracted by his teammate's severe injuries, and this time managed to slash Reno on his stomach, and just then Aeris used a fire spell on Reno while Cait Sith used an earth spell on the cocky Turk. "Shit!" Reno cried, and then dove backwards, barely dodging another strike from Cloud's sword. "Screw you!" Reno cried and used an ice 2 spell on Cloud, causing him to be incased in an icicle for a moment, as Aeris frantically tried to cure him.
Vincent knew that he couldn't get Rude at the moment, because, though he could see vulnerable parts of the Turk behind the plane, he didn't want to risk shooting the airship and rendering it useless. So instead, Vincent turned to the weakened Reno, put his gun in its holster, as he was low on ammunition, and dived on the Turk, with his bronze claw digging into his chest. "Damn it!" Reno hollered once more, jabbing his staff into Vincent's chest and using the electrical charge.
Vincent, however, didn't seem to notice the pain, and instead grabbed Reno by the neck with his claw arm, and dug into his skin, causing massive blood to flow from his neck. However, just then, Rude came up and punched Vincent in the back of his neck, causing Vincent to stumble forward and lose his grip on Reno, who then used a cure spell on himself and the two jumped backwards.
"Damn it," Reno muttered.
"Tseng is gonna be mad again," Rude told the younger Turk.
"Well, next time we'll get ya," Reno said, and then dashed off, and Rude instantly following him.
Just then, they heard a cry emerge from the town center, and instantly they all turned and charged, Vincent not yet cured from his wounds in that battle.
"Shit!" Barret yelled from the alley. It seemed that Tseng and Elena figured out where they were hiding and had opened fire on them. Barret was the only one with a long range weapon that didn't require him to jump out, and it seemed that their gunfire was never-ending (as though they had timed it perfectly, while one fired the other reloaded), which didn't give any of them a chance to charge out and attack, or use a spell on them.
"Where's Cloud?!" Yuffie cried, completely annoyed that she hadn't yet had the chance to leap out and throw her weapon.
"He'll be here soon," Tifa assured the ninja, I hope… Tifa added to herself.
"I don't think he's comin' soon 'nough!" growled Barret. "I dunno how much longer I'm gonna be able ta keep this shit up!"
Just then, the bullets were no longer directed at them, however, they could still hear gunfire. "Cloud! Finally!" Tifa exclaimed, the team all jumping from their hiding spots and charging at the two Turks, seeing their other teammates all there, including Cid, who they haven't meet yet, who was simply standing there and watching the fight.
"President!" Tseng yelled, turning back to the president who was younger than Tseng by a few years. "I believe it's time for you to fall back. Leave this to us and the troops!"
"Very well," the president said, looking over Cloud. "I guess I'll never see you again, hmm?"
"I'll be the one to kill you, yet!" Cloud shouted as a helicopter came down and the president jumped on.
"We'll see about that…" the president said and then broke out in laughter which Cloud could barely hear over the roar of the helicopter.
Vincent aimed his gun up at the president and was about to fire when Tseng shot at his underarm. "There'll be none of that," Tseng coolly said.
Vincent grabbed his new wound, however, it didn't ache him too painfully, so he chose to ignore it for now. "More Turks?" Vincent asked. "I trust you'll put up more of a battle than the others."
"Yes, of course," Tseng responded with a smirk.
"You defeated Reno and Rude?!" Elena cried. "Sir, I'm not as good as them yet!"
"Elena…" Tseng muttered, shaking his head. "You talk too much."
"Uhh, sorry sir…" Elena muttered, looking down at her feet.
"Though she might not be as good as them quite yet," Tseng told them. "I assure you, I'll make up for it."
"You'd best," Vincent said. "The Turks have fallen a long way since I last remember it."
"We'll see about that, Valentine," Tseng glared, instantly pulling up his gun and blasting at the ex-Turk.
Vincent dived out of the way and behind one of the homes, and the others in his team followed. Barret's team, however, had come out of their alleyway, leaving them open to bullets. Though Barret did instantly begin firing, his bullets seemed to wild and often missed, while the Turk's bullets were more accurate and precise.
Tseng first fired at the only threat, Barret, and blasted at his gun arm, which caused it to explode, and Barret stumbled back, hollering in pain, "Shit! Tifa help me!"
Tifa was about to cast a cure spell, when Elena fired a shot, hitting Tifa in her right shoulder. Tifa stumbled backwards, but the bullet hadn't struck anything major, and had, in fact, simply grazed her shoulder. "You'll have to do a lot better than that to get me!" Tifa exclaimed as she charged at the female Turk.
Elena instantly fired at Tifa as she charged, who, despite how much she wanted to reach the newest Turk, knew that she wouldn't make it all the way at this rate, so she dived down and hide behind a home. Next, Red XIII used a fire 2 spell on Tseng, who barely seemed effected by it, and Yuffie threw her boomerang at Tseng, however, the Turk leader easily slipped out of the way, and then fired at the boomerang, causing it to fall in its spot.
"No!" Yuffie cried, now being forced to run up and grab her weapon.
However, then Cloud leapt from his spot and slashed Tseng in the back, and Vincent fired the last two of his bullets at Elena, and then had to put in another clip. Aeris jumped out and healed Barret, who had nearly passed out from the immense pain, while Cait Sith used an earth spell on Elena.
"We're surrounded, sir!" Elena exclaimed, standing up from the quake attack.
"We're not out yet!" Tseng shouted, whipping Cloud with his pistol, causing the swordsman to stumble backward, then firing a shot at Cloud's chest.
"Damnit!" Barret yelled, who had no means of attacking at the moment. His weapon was useless for now and he held only a fire materia, but he was never very good at using materia. "They're too good!"
Just then, they heard an engine fire up, and they saw the Tiny Bronco take off from behind the pilot's house. "Get on, assholes!" Cid hollered as the team jumped on and grab the wings of the plane. Vincent was just about to jump on when he saw Tifa, and knew that, from her position, she wouldn't be able to make it onto the plane, and if she were left here alone, she wouldn't last two seconds against the Turks.
So, instead, Vincent stayed and started firing at the two Turks, who were shooting at the plane. Tifa took this opportunity to jump from her spot, while she was there, she had enough time to cure herself, and charged at Elena, and punched her in the face as hard as she could. The female Turk literally flew backwards, and was slammed into the side of a house.
Tseng, fired one last shot at the plane, which managed to hit the engine, which almost instantly burst into flames and smoke. "Now," Tseng smirked, replacing his clip with a new one and facing Vincent. "I can take care of you!"
In response, Vincent instantly began firing at the Turk leader. Tseng immediately fired back and the two started their gun fight, each leaping and running from side to side to avoid each other's bullets. Vincent knew this was futile, for he could probably never hit the barely injured Turk leader and Vincent's aches were starting to catch up to him, he could feel himself getting weaker, but he had a plan.
He allowed the Turk leader to continue his firing at Vincent, and then Tseng ran
out of bullets and began changing his clip, and this was the moment when Vincent charged. The former Turk slashed at Tseng's face with his claws, instantly causing deep cuts that would later prove to become scars. Tseng stumbled backwards, dropping the clip, however, he used the pistol and charged, smashing the pistol into Vincent's face. Vincent stumbled back slightly, and turned his attention back to Tseng just in time to see the man put another clip into his gun, and start firing at Vincent's stomach.
Tifa, meanwhile, continued pummeling Elena with everything she had, not giving the newest Turk a second to fight back. However, Tifa eventually did begin to slow down and Elena instantly, mimicking Tseng, used her pistol to whip Tifa across her cheek. Tifa stumbled back slightly, but then swerved around and punched Elena in her stomach as hard as she could, and Tifa saw the young Turk cough up some blood.
Elena stumbled backwards, once again against the building, and Tifa punched her face, not only causing great pain to her face, but to the back of her head as well, as it bashed against the side of the building, causing the newest Turk to instantly fall unconscious.
Then Tifa turned and saw Vincent getting shot in his stomach by the Turk leader, and Vincent having nothing to do except wait for certain death. Tifa couldn't allow that to happen, so she charged at the leader of the Turks, grabbed him by the neck, and hurled him down to the ground.
Vincent saw this as he felt blood welling up in his throat, and actually did cough an unsafe amount once the attack was halted. Vincent completely lost feeling in his stomach, and he felt there with his hands, only to discover it absolutely covered with his blood. Vincent's mind was beginning to slow due to the loss of blood, giving him almost a high feeling, and then he saw the Turk leader grasp Tifa's ankle and pull her down to the ground next to him. He then rolled on top of her, rose his pistol high, and whipped her with it as he had done to Vincent.
Vincent, his vision beginning to get a little blurry due to the blood loss, leapt at Tseng and tore him off of Tifa, and once again slashed him with his bronze claw, except this time in the chest. Vincent bellowed in pain as the Turk leader fired the last shot of his clip into Vincent's chest, a shot that, especially at Vincent's health, would kill a normal man… but Vincent was hardly normal. The ex-Turk managed to stay alive due to a reason not even he himself knew, even with all the mako and countless other chemicals which were put into Vincent, he doubted that anyone could survive such pain, he had never felt such pain ever in his life.
Rage filled Vincent's mind. In his state, his mind was beginning to deteriorate, almost making it primitive, all he could fully comprehend were two things: this man had caused him much pain and that he needed to kill this man. Vincent turned his claw into a fist, and bashed it into the Turk's head, and then repeated the process, until Tseng managed to build his strength up and roll over, now him being on top of Vincent.
However, instead of using that opportunity to injury, or maybe even kill Vincent, he leapt off, and pistol-whipped Tifa, who was sneaking up behind him, and she too stumbled to the ground. Tseng charged for Elena, hoisted her up over his shoulder, and pulled out his phone and called for a helicopter, which appeared in seconds.
"You got off easy this time," Tseng told them as they both started to stand. "Next time, you're both finished."
The helicopter then took off, and the minute it was out of sight, Vincent stumbled to the ground. His vision was now completely blurry and he could make little sense of what was happening. The last thing he heard before passing out was Tifa crying his name.
Tifa turned to the ex-Turk who had not only just saved her life, but had stumbled to the ground. She then saw how terrible his wounds were and just how much blood he had lost. All around the gunslinger the ground was stained a color red that matched his eyes. The martial artist knew that Vincent was incredibly powerful and could take a lot of damage before passing out, but she had no idea Vincent could take this much pain and still survive.
"Vincent!" Tifa cried. She knew that if she didn't do something, Vincent would die on the spot, and he had just saved her life, if he hadn't stayed behind with her, she surely would have been murdered or captured by the Turks. Tifa used several cures on Vincent until he started to stop bleeding, however, she was still worried; he was still unconscious and was probably suffering internally, something that only time could heal, not cure spells.
She tore off his shirt and saw all the scars; countless scars riddled his chest and arms. There were also strange scars that were clearly not from battles, one for example was a large Y shaped scar, similar to an autopsy scar, as well as a long incision on both arms below his bicep muscles. There were so many Tifa nearly fell back in horror, however, she had to save him, for he had saved her. The new wounds were still very clear, and so she used a piece of his shirt, which had been ripped off, and began covering his cuts, wrapping the cloth around him and tying it securely.
After she had done all she could, people started coming out of their homes, including Shera, who rushed up to help her. "Oh my goodness!" Shera exclaimed, pausing for a moment to cover her mouth, the she looked over at Tifa. "Is he all right?"
"I… I don't know," Tifa said, she felt like crying, she had known him for such a short amount of time and yet he had done so much for her. "I think he will get better though…"
"Me too," Shera lied to Tifa. Shera, being an astronomer, had never had much experience with fighting and death, however, she had been alive during the Shinra Wutai War, and pretty much everyone during that time had seen some action, the fighting in that war took place all across the planet. Although she was young, she could remember seeing people who had been killed and looked a whole lot better than Vincent did right then. "You put those bandages on very well, now all he can do is sleep until his wounds heal…"
"Yeah…" Tifa muttered, then sprang up. "We have to find him a place to rest!"
"I'll help you carry him to the inn," Shera proposed. They did so and Tifa immediately took him up to a room, tossing whatever gil she had in her pocket on the counter. "Are you with the others?" Shera asked. "Cloud and those people?"
"Yeah," Tifa nodded, not thinking at the moment why she would know Cloud.
"I'll go look for them," the kind woman said with a kind smile. "I'm certain they'll be back for you two."
"Yes, thank you very much," Tifa told her, who then left the room.
Tifa looked down at Vincent, and she felt like wrapping her arms around him and just crying into his chest (which, she noticed, was very handsome, practically statuesque), but she knew that would only cause him more pain. Looking down at him, this man who had nearly given his life for her, Tifa felt so useless. She couldn't do anything to help him now, she could only sit here and wait for him to wake up.
Then she saw him twitch and thought that Vincent might be waking up, however, he started sweating, and muttered "Lucrecia… Hojo no…" and then she understood, he was having a nightmare.
Yeah, this is a lot different from what it was like in the game, I know, but let me explain. Firstly, the president is coming and there would be added security. Plus, Shinra knows that AVALANCHE and Sephiroth were nearby, so that would involve the Turks. At least, I would think so.
Anyways, tell me what you think!
And yeah, I know this chapter was really long, but please, REVIEW!!!