Twighlight Perfection
Chapter 30: Changes in latitudes changes in attitudes, nothing remains quite the same.
"So now what?" Sephiroth nodded mentally in approval, James had asked the right question for once They were all back together again, but what were they supposed to do? Meteor was in the sky, and as Melkore had discovered (by accident but he wasn't about to say that) that North Crater was currently protected by some kind of invisible shield. So the clock was running, but they couldn't do anything to attack their main target.
"We are going to keep fighting. Since we can't hurt Jenova, we might as well make some headway against Shinra, at least they're more reasonable in the long run. If we can hit Shinra hard and fast enough, we might get them to make peace so we can focus on Jenova." "So we hit them in two places or in four?" Whatever Mirri lacked in discipline she made up for her natural "sneaky bastard" mindset.
Zack had made a better second in command in a large war, but Mirri excelled in this kind of small "war" based on getting the most out of limited forces. She had no limiting morals, and plenty of common sense. Of course that didn't keep Sephiroth from shooting Mirri a censuring glance, just because she could put facts together that perfectly didn't mean she should expect others to.
Sephiroth took a moment to clear his throat before he spoke. "As I was about to say, a few things are obvious. If we're going to shock them into submission we need to split into groups. If we can hit two places at once it would be impressive, but if we can pull off three or four synchronized attacks, it should put some real fear into Shinra. Since I've been out of the loop recently, I'm more then willing to let anyone who has an idea suggest a target." Mirri calmly reached over and tapped Melkore on the shoulder.
"You said that they would have to shut a reactor off to get the Huge Materia. Why was there no power loss in Junon yet the Mako Cannon was loaded?" Melkore turned to look at Mirri and frowned at her with true loathing. "I suppose you already know the answer, that's the only reason you would ask a question like that." Mirri smiled innocently, about as innocently and about as convincingly as a cat who had just coughed up enough feathers to stuff a pillow.
"Well now that you mention it, I have had an idea, but not much chance to check it. While we were in Junon that first time, James found out that the water was being electrified. Shinra wouldn't be running a current through that water unless they had something to hide, so I wondered what it was. Now, I think Shinra has a second reactor in Junon, an underwater reactor. We know that Shinra has been using Junon as an army base, they almost might be using it for a naval one, at least for subs.
They could be built, commissioned, and put into use without anyone knowing about them. So, with that in mind, this underwater reactor is probably used for military purposes, it most likely can be switched over to civilian use. Right now, they're probably trying to get the Huge Materia out of that reactor, and I'm going to stop them."
"You realize that could be wrong, and there might not be a second reactor?" Mirri shrugged and flexed her hands, like a tigress stretching her paws. "Then I'll just go raise some more hell in the Junon base before I pull out. Either way, Junon makes for a good target, Aeris you want to come?"
Aeris gave a timid nod and Mirri went on only pausing to lean back in satisfaction. "Great, I'll be able to see how much you've managed to learn from informal training with Sephiroth and Alex, if it isn't enough, I'll chip in." Mirri went from sitting relaxed on the floor of the Valar's meeting room to lying spread across the floor (James got up to make more room for her) to signify that she was removed from the conversation. At least she did after giving one last piece of advice. "And Melkore, don't even think about it."
With that, Mirri finished leaning back, she was done talking, the rest of the world could get bent. "The Nibelheim reactor." Sephiroth said it more bitterly then he had intended, but there was no way to keep bitterness out of his voice. "It doesn't really do much, I saw it in that report before I left for it five years ago.
Shinra probably wouldn't mind killing the plant to get its Huge Materia. I'm going to stop them." "Defending a Caern that was never your own from the Weave, quite honorable, I'll join you." Alex was in human form, because if he had been in lupine form he would have been laying down and he wanted his body language to show full attention for the meeting.
Melkore unstrapped his guitar and put it on the table pointing it at a ninth person who wasn't present. "Shinra just MIGHT be stupid enough to try and get the Huge Materia out of Rocket Town. But if they're going to use my town's power source as fodder for my weapon, then I will personally use them for weapons testing!" A pair of bright red eyes were willing to add their power to Melkore's blue ones. "Sounds like fun, I'll come, too!"
The two remaining members looked across the table at each other. "Then we're working together." "We need a target." Surprisingly, as Vincent and Niro were examining their partners, Sephiroth had the answer. "You two go to Midgar, and prep for the next phase of the assault. I trust black opps and infiltration shouldn't have much problem getting inside a city. Once you're in, do whatever you want so long as it spreads some chaos. If you still can't think of something, just blow up another reactor." Vincent and Niro both smiled grimly.
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"Ah, Junon, the more of this town that we destroy the better." "Are you sure we don't need to worry about stealth more?" As if in response to Aeris' words Mirri only straightened up and spoke in a louder voice. "Aeris, Aeris, Aeris. You still believe that everyone in the world has a soul... Human beings are neither born with a soul, nor are they universally handed out for free. A soul is something you cry, sweat, and bleed for. You get one only on the day you can stand in the middle of the crowd and declare that you are nothing more or less than you. You will not be pushed, filed, indexed, stamped, briefed, debriefed or numbered, your life is your own. There's no universal way to gain a soul, but you can be sure there are ways to keep people from getting them. In places like here and Midgar, you find souls about as often as you find morals, watch."
Mirri stopped walking and stood perfectly still before yelling out her next words at the top of her lungs. "DON'T YOU JUST LOVE THE WAY MAKO REACTORS EXPLODE? WAY MORE ROMANTIC THEN A SUNSET!" She stopped, took a moment to look both ways and started walking again and speaking in a normal tone of voice to a flabbergasted Aeris.
"Now I just got the attention of, maybe, five people. And all five of them looked because, like Melkore, they thought that we were going to start having intercourse with each other. Everyone else doesn't care. Living in these huge cities is dehumanizing, and working for Shinra is doubly so. At some point most people just give themselves up, and knuckle under.
They become part of the system they work for, they turn into cogs of the machine. Those are the kinds of people who live in this city Aeris. They're the Paroles living off the BLS, the silent, as in dumb, as in stupid, majority. They're not even outer members of the party, the savages actually allow their women to wear revealing clothing and call each other something other than 'Comrade' can you believe it? There's no reason to be afraid of what they'll do to us, they can see us, but they can't understand us so they try to ignore us."
Mirri turned around and found (as she partly expected) that Aeris was lagging behind her. She was gaping at Mirri unable to make words, so Mirri would have to speak for her. She put on her best sing song "damsel in distress" voice and even swayed whimsically. "Oh, how could you ever say something so cruel?" She then deepened her own voice to achieve one appropriate for an over dramatic villain, and moved her right hand around her cheek as if twirling a nonexistent mustache. "Oh yes! You see, Shinra has already done most of the work, for they have made machines of men, and now my dear lady, I will break machines!"
Once again Mirri swayed her voice become high pitched and piteous. "Such heartless cruelty! It makes you no better then those we fight!" Mirri stabilized herself at once, and deepened her voice to her "evil" persona. "You are wrong my dear lady, it makes us worse! For we willingly lower ourselves, and seek to make ourselves even lower!"
Mirri returned to her more relaxed stance and spoke in her normal tone of voice. "Whoever wins, wins, that's what matters most and it will become evident if you look at history. Melkore wasn't able to drop us inside the city, but we aren't going to use stealth because there's no point. We're going to walk into a Shinra base and we'll kill anyone who gets in our way. Of course I use 'we' loosely because I can never be sure when you're going to have a sudden attack of dramatic heroism and start to feel sympathy for the people who are trying to kill you!"
Mirri stopped in mid motion, just stopped, it was decidedly unnatural feat to witness, apparently the 0 to 100 acceleration worked in reverse as well. After stopping in mid tirade, she stepped back, stepped forward, and ran a hand down the streak of white that split her hair. "Excuse me, you have to suit your message to your audience, and I'm doing the right thing in the wrong way which is just as inappropriate as doing the wrong thing the right way."
Aeris felt her eyes widen in surprise as she quickly searched her memory to see if she could remember any other times that Mirri had admitted to being at fault, she came up totally blank. "Let's go find a restaurant and talk." Finally Aeris managed to get words out through her surprise. "What about the mission?"
Mirri twisted into a perfect 90 degree turn pointing straight into the commercial section (such as it was) of Junon. She flashed Aeris a smile with the side of her face that Aeris could see at that moment. "Bugger the mission. Like James says, 'if you're not having fun, it isn't worth doing.' Come on, let's be about it." Aeris suddenly discovered what it's like to be a kitten helplessly lifted by it's mother's jaws that held it by its neck in a painless, but powerful grip as the mother carried the kitten to the litterbox.
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Going up the Nibelheim mountains on foot (or paw) was slow work. Not necessarily hard work, but slow work. Alex was taking his time about it to balance out the fact that Sephiroth wasn't able to leap impossible distances straight up. Sephiroth climbed slowly, mapping out the mountain in his mind and blasting handholds where there were none available.
/Correct me if I'm wrong, but it would appear that humans are coming into season.\ Sephiroth clenched his teeth closed, and wished that like Alex he could mentally project his voice. The only good thing about not being able to was the fact that you didn't say things before you had time to clearly think them out. That was a very good thing when dealing with Alex, because in certain situations, you had to phrase your responses very carefully.
Or to be more exact it took you a while to get over your own shock. "Why do you say that?" Sephiroth's probing fingers detected another hand hold and he quickly progressed up to it, before starting to search for another one even higher up. Alex was somewhere up above Sephiroth looking down, Sephiroth could only get a very vague feeling for where the lycanthrope was from his mental voice.
/Because everywhere in the pack that I look I see its members looking at each other and suddenly discovering that the parts fit. Of course knowing Black Furies, she probably won't get with cubs until she's killed off all the possible menaces to them.\ You couldn't teach James military discipline, you couldn't teach Alex human ideas concerning what was "right" by dictum of society. With the quick seizing of another handhold, Sephiroth launched himself skyward, barely catching the ledge Alex was occupying.
"Alex, humans aren't like other animals, we don't have seasons." Alex's lupine face wasn't particularly expressive, but his mental voice made the smirk quite clear. /I know, Vincent explained it all to me in detail. Rather than say you don't have seasons, I think it would be more appropriate to say that you're in season every full cycle of the moon. I'd say the group has been together about that long. Knowing that Children of Gaia are not nearly as hard to mate with as Black Furies, I would expect cubs in... nine cycles of the moon for you humans?\ With a mental chuckle, Alex vaulted another couple dozen yards.
Sephiroth momentarily wondered where he could get a silver knife as he began to reach for another handhold. Whatever the thing would cost, he knew it would be worth it in the long run.
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The Valar put down at the edge of Rocket Town, and James and Melkore stepped out. Melkore needed only one glance at the rubble that was left of his house to become pissed off enough for killing people to seem like a wonderful idea. Granted, James pointed out with his traditional honestly (which Melkore was sure would take years (if not decades) off his lifespan)) that he had been the one who had taken the ceiling off the house.
Still everything else was Shinra, the shattered windows, the smashed door, the pile of rubble blocking said door, the way the house leaned to the side as if it was going to fall over at any moment. "TIMBER!" James' shrill cry broke through the air, and a moment later his announcement proved true. As if the house had been waiting just for Melkore to return to it, it breathed its last.
It leaned, toppled, and went from a badly damaged house to a pile of rubble. Melkore took one look at it, discovered that he couldn't even get the curses out of his mouth. In a final irony, there was one piece of the house that was still technically "standing", his workshop. The roof had been sliced off, the walls had broken free and collapsed, and the original first floor had been buried under it. The thing had fallen to the foundation of Melkore's house, and stood, alone, but it still "stood" as a monument to… whatever.
"Wow! I think my book is right where I left it!" James walked through the doorway (that was still standing, though none of the wall was) and made his way though the rubble. It didn't take him long at all find and hold up his treasure. A golden book with a bullet hole in either side of it. That just proved what had always been a theory of Melkore's, God had a very weird sense of humor, and probably did some hallucinogenic drugs.
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"You didn't tell him." Niro was surprised as he said those words, and it did show in his voice (slightly at least) as he spoke to Vincent. Vincent for his part spoke with less emotion then Niro usually did. That was very weird considering the vampire had been giddy as a school boy about going to Midgar. "What was there to gain from it?"
Niro checked his guns as Vincent did the same. If Niro was a smart person he would have broke the conversation off right then, but apparently he had caught James' curiosity, it was probably passed on by osmosis. "He's your fucking son, why didn't you tell Sephiroth?" Vincent gave Niro a glare that would have dissuaded most men, but Niro stared him down.
"He's your son. You should have told him, if I understand anything about how human culture and families work, I understand that." Vincent went from checking Casull to checking Quicksilver, but Niro waited him out, and finally Vincent answered.
"What's the point of telling him? I don't know the words to tell him, and it wouldn't help anything. What should I tell him? Tell him that I killed his mother? Tell him that it's my fault he never had a father or a family? There are things people weren't meant to know, and this is one of them. So long as he thinks, so long as he knows, that Hojo is his father, then he'll have a ready supply of rage to use against both Shinra and Jenova. I see no reason to alter things." Niro finally acquiesced and stepped back. "Fine then, it's your decision. Now let's go deal with a problem we can fight."
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The dinner was small but that was fine for Mirri's purposes. Seated in a booth at the far end, she was quite sure of their relative privacy, and any one who tried to pay too much attention would make themselves quite visible. She had planned this conversation on the way to their current location, or at least her part of it. "Coal mining isn't the only business that Corel used to do." Aeris raised her eyebrows in surprise at Mirri's non sequitur.
"We also used to be known for metalsmithing, making steel and other metallic goods. There's a famous saying from that particular business which I think applies quite well now. 'Strike when the iron is hot.' It is neither 'strike while the iron is stone cold' nor 'let's heat the iron till it becomes a molten piece of slag' it's necessary to find a medium between them. So let's talk. I believe the last time we were passing through this city I asked you this question, what do you like in life, and what do you hate?"
Aeris shuddered at Mirri's mention to the last time she had asked her that question. Mirri had almost killed her by mistake (it was hard to tell if it had been hers or Mirri's) before she had asked her. It might have not been that long ago measured by days, but a lot had changed since then.
The idea of lycanthropy had gone from an abstract principle to a reality, not to mention other things. "I'd like to live in a world where wars like this one don't happen." Mirri ordered a glass of water, tilting her head to the side so that Aeris couldn't see her roll her eyes. When she returned her attention to Aeris she put on her best big sister voice.
"There's a slight problem with big, broad statements like that one. They can be translated in more then one way. For example, I could say that I like the same things you do. Because my dream world involves waking up to a chorus of servants singing my praises. Then in my official duties as empress of the universe, I raise taxes, kick ugly, lecherous, misogynistic, and/or, idiotic people into mud puddles. That should last me till noon and then I'll take the rest of the day off to either grab a quick nap, or possibly sleep with James because he's actually jumped through most of the hoops I set up for any man I might consider getting involved with.
Of course there would be no war because everyone would be too scared of me personally giving them and their families the hook to rebel. Somehow, I'm guessing that's not the vision of world unity which you have Aeris. Am I right?" Aeris managed not to choke on the sip of water she had taken as Mirri has started speaking, that was a good sign.
Aeris was, however, caught in mid swallow and coughed up some of the water she was drinking as she muttered a quick, "YES!" Mirri took a serene drink from her glass of water, it was actually pretty good, it must have been imported. "Which is why you have to remember that it's not your goals or your motives that matter, it's your actions. So whenever you pick up a weapon, you need to ask yourself what you plan to do with it. Who do you plan to hurt, how badly do you plan to hurt them, and why are you going to hurt them. Those questions and the six 'P's of combat are all you need to know to kick ass."
"Six 'P's?" Mirri took a long drink from her water to avoid having to give any answer other than a half obscured "I'll tell you later." Once Mirri had knocked back her water in one long gulp she got on with her question. "So Aeris, when you pick up your staff, who are you going to hurt, how badly are you going to hurt them, and why are you going to hurt them?
They're easy questions for me to answer. I'm going to hurt any one I feel like, as badly as I feel like, and I'll do it because I feel like it. Though something tells me the path of amoral sadism isn't for you. I'd suggest you use James' personal mantra every time he's about to go into combat. 'Who am I going to hurt?' The people that I'm fighting. 'How badly am I going to hurt them?' As badly as the situation demands and not a bit more or less. 'Why am I going to hurt them?' Because they're trying to hurt me!"
Aeris looked like she might finally have understood something that Mirri said for the first time. "Okay..." Mirri drummed her finger on the table in irritation, it was much easier to predict ambition then principles. One of them was scientific and logical, the other one wasn't. So you didn't have much choice but make doubly sure that someone with principles understood what they were getting into.
"Aeris, what are you going to do with that staff?" Aeris looked at the staff that she had leaned across her side of the booth, it had a strap around so she didn't have to carry it in her hands. "I need this staff, need to hurt people as well as heal with it." That was progress in Mirri's book. A shield without a sword was a very flimsy defense.
"Okay that's better. Now say it with a passion. Say it, and remember what Shinra has done to you. Sephiroth told me, so let's do a little recap shall we? Say it and remember that Shinra killed your father when all he ever did was try to help people. Say it and remember that they treated your mother like an animal. Say it and remember that they would have treated you like an animal if they had a chance."
Fear was once again dancing in Aeris eye's as he looked down at her staff as if it was a viper coiled and ready to strike. Mirri had been a firm belief that if you were going to stab someone, you should drive your blade in up to the hilt. "Say it and remember everything they did to Sephiroth."
That broke the chocobo's back and a couple of its other bones, Mirri had always considered herself a master at reading people, and now was no exception. As soon as she had said her last sentence, Aeris had finally stopped looking fearfully at the staff but turned and met Mirri's gaze. "Mirri, I'll never be as strong as you. But I promise you, I won't back down, I won't sit this one out."
Mirri chuckled as she signaled a waiter and pointed to her empty glass of water. Once the waiter had departed to get another one, she returned her attention to Aeris. "This world is not decided by who has more strength, what matters is how you use the strength you have. 'Give me a large enough lever and I will move the world!' Cats have their muscles arranged in such a manor that they can defeat much more 'powerful' by which I mean larger, animals and so to a certain extent, do wolves. Ready to hunt?" Aeris picked up her staff and strapped it across her back, no answer in words could have been more concrete.
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/How do we get across this/ Alex and Sephiroth shared a quick glance at each other as they studied the problem. "Well the good news is it probably means that Shinra hasn't been here either..." The catwalk that Sephiroth had sliced apart five years ago was still out. It was the only way to go further into the reactor, and so one way or another they had to get across it. "Think we can jump it going out?"
It wasn't that far a fall from the catwalk above to the part of the lower catwalk that was still attached, but... /Not sure, but we can worry about that then.\ Sephiroth stepped over the railing and Alex leapt over it.
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"Hi we're here for..." Mirri didn't bother to finish the sentence, she knocked the two guards heads' together and let them drop limp to the floor. If (and it was a big if) they had been looking at Mirri's eyes, they might have been realized that they possessed a mako glow and taken it as a warning. As it was, they hadn't so they didn't, and now they wouldn't be regaining consciousness for quite a while.
Mirri casually stepped over (and on) the two guards before walking straight through the front door of the military base. Two guards were in the corridor standing at attention. Poor saps, they had guns but unlike the two out front they weren't holstered, even if their holders weren't exactly ready for action. Before either man could use their weapon they both dropped dead, a salvo of blades embedded in their chests.
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As Mirri walked down that hallway Aeris followed behind, which was why she saw it first. Saw the door swing open and the guard rush out with his gun ready and trained on Mirri. Part of Aeris wanted shout out to Mirri and warn her, but she couldn't find the words.
So she acted, she didn't remember if it was something that Sephiroth had taught her, or something Alex had. Either way she dropped her staff as she suddenly felt power flow through her body and knew that she no longer needed that piece of wood. She had intended it to be a single well placed and simple blow to knock the gun off target. It didn't turn out that way however. Instead the blow struck the guard's neck, and with such force that it dropped him to the ground.
Before he hit the ground, several blades struck him in the chest, but the words that followed only confirmed what Aeris somehow already knew. "Well done Aeris that's what we call a popped cherry, your first confirmed kill of an enemy in combat. Those blades were safety shots, his windpipe is crushed like a tin can."
Looking down, at the dead body Aeris could see that Mirri was right. The man's throat had been mangled, all Mirri had done was speed his passing from the world. Aeris surly hadn't hit him that hard had she? Looking around she suddenly noticed that everything seemed much smaller, even Mirri. "Gaia, forgive me." She thought the words since she could no longer seem to get them out of her throat.
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"Hold it right there!" James practically radiated enjoyment at the situation. They had their foes "cold" as Mirri would say. Granted this was kind of odd considering she also used the expression "stay frosty" which meant "stay alert". So for some reason catching your foes cold meant the exact opposite of catching them frosty, but that was neither here nor there. Kind of like how a fat and slim chance were the same, except that there was a bell curve explanation for that...
"You touch my town's reactor, I'll shoot you full of holes!" The female Turk who had chased James through Icicle Village was with the group of SOLDIERS. She was currently looking at James as if she had seen a ghost, yet James was still wearing his hat. If James hadn't been wearing his hat, then maybe, (maybe) the freaked out looks he was getting would make sense.
Of course, the odds were somewhat uneven regardless of who had caught who by surprise. There were only James and Melkore of against a score of SOLDIERS and a Turk. "Who do you think you are?" Melkore stroked his guitar in a familiar manner, James had seen Mirri depict the "pumping" of a shotgun with those motions countless times. Granted it looked sort of absurd on a guitar, but still, it conveyed a similar meaning.
"My name is Dr. Melkore Morningstar, and unless you step away from that reactor switch, I'll kill you all!" The female Turk pulled out her pistol as she glared at the two of them. "How do you plan to do that?" Melkore tapped his guitar trustingly. "Simple, this thing has a MEGA BASS BOOST built into it, and I've just turned it on! If I start playing I'll literarily 'bring the house down', right on top of us! Of course it won't actually kill us, but I can tell you that James is gonna be the first one to get out, and you don't want to see a pissed off Firecat!"
Everyone flinched, particularly those SOLDIERS who had seen the bodies of their comrades lying in pieces and heard Hojo describe the monster that had done it. Elena looked down her gun's barrel for a moment, and then gave up. "Men let's pull out. A dangerous terrorist is threatening to kill himself, and we should take that threat seriously. We're here to get the Huge Materia, not to destroy the reactor, if we can't do one without the other then we won't do either, this reactor is too important to Shinra. Let's go."
The SOLDIERS holstered their weapons and walked out without looking back. Once they were all gone James burst with the enthusiasm he had been holding in for record (for him at least) amounts of time. "So, could you really destroy this place with your guitar? I mean, I've heard of death metal, but that would be really impressive!"
Melkore rubbed his hair self-consciously, something James had never seen him do before. "Actually, I was bluffing." Oh. As soon as Melkore admitted to his mistake however, a bright flash of insight struck him. "But that doesn't mean it's impossible! Let's head back to my workshop and get to work!"
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Finding the elevator had been trial and error, Mirri was willing to admit that, but from then on, things had gone off like a charm. Up to this point at least. "Hey Catwarrior, nice to see you, and you've brought a friend! Now remember, since the world's about to end it's the last chance for indulging in any repressed fantasies!"
Reno, nightstick in hand, cigarette dangling from his lips, and a wicked looking rifle strapped across his back, was overseeing the nearby proceedings. A group of Shinra guards was busily loading one of those Shinra subs Mirri had expected would exist down here. In fact, there were two of them in the sub dock, and the larger one was being loaded. Mirri took one look at Reno and paused to carefully plan her response.
"When did you start smoking again? At least after you quit you were only offensive to four senses."
"I quit when the 'immortal' General died. Well, he's back and trying to kill me, and the world's about to end. I don't see how a few more nails're gonna shut my coffin any sooner. Now, about those fantasies..?"
"Come to think of it, I always wondered what your liver looked like after all the abuse you've given it. Care to find out?" Reno scratched his chin in irritation, and smiled at Mirri as he tilted his glasses forward so that they would cover his eyes. "You should have been a Turk, you're great when it comes to playing the game. But you have just one small problem, you could never understand the value of homefield advantage."
Reno reached over and flipped a switch by the loading docks. Before Mirri could react, she suddenly found herself pulled from the ground and a moment later with bone jarring force she slammed into something hard and metallic. "It's an electromagnet, we normally use it for loading the subs and construction, but how does this use grab you?"
Mirri would have killed Reno right then and their with her blades, but they were currently in the grip of the electromagnet. Nor could Mirri move the rest of her body; because of the blades she was wearing and her second skeleton she was unable to move.
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Aeris felt a cold hand squeeze her heart, it was just her and Reno now, and she didn't have her staff. Things had come full circle to that time back in the church, and there was no one left to rescue her but herself. She had come too far to go back however, she didn't need her staff, she was Garou. Reno seemed too pleased with his defeat of Mirri to even think that Aeris was a threat, now was the time. There was no backing down, no problem grasping the strands of silver light, nor was there anything unconscious about the act. She grabbed hold of it and transformed.
Reno had seen a lot of things in his days on the beat. He had seen explosives go off so close to him that it was only by sheer luck (not to mention body armor and enhancements) that he hadn't been crippled for life, there had been times when bullets whizzed by him so closely that they could have styled his hair. Thus he wasn't quite as freaked out about the prospect of normal looking girl suddenly transforming into giant lupine killing machine as most people would have been.
So it was with the utmost aplomb that he spun around, bent himself double and took of like a shot. Still, against something that was built to be quadrupedal, only Reno's past saved him from becoming so much wolf chow (that was possibly an overstatement on both counts) as Aeris barreled down on him. He dropped his nightstick, and ran for all he was worth, a formula he had used countless times before. Bars the world over had seen Reno ducking, twisting, and turning to avoid stronger and more sober foes. This was no exception, Reno had always known what was the better part of valor, and anyone who had been watching would have been quite amused.
In fact, Mirri, even from her annoyingly helpless position, found the situation immensely gratifying. Reno barely managed to avoid the flashing talons and fangs of the monster which pursued him. With the joy of a condemned man sneaking past Saint Peter, he jumped onto the loaded submarine, got a good firm grip, and slammed down the sub's hatch closed his last words echoing out behind him. "DAMMIT, DOESN'T ANYBODY NORMAL WORK WITH SEPHIROTH?"
A few seconds later the sub was under way, and Aeris realized that even in Crinos form there was nothing she could do about it. So instead she calmly padded over on all fours to the lever Reno had used, and easily used her muzzle to pull it back to it's original position. Mirri had made considerably more graceful landings, but just like all the other ones she had made she was able to walk away from it.
She stood up, brushed herself off, fired her blades to get them out of her gloves. "Good going wolf girl, I'd say nine out of ten, you missed a point for not relieving Reno of the seat of his pants." Aeris was busily shifting back to a fully human form (thankfully Alex had long since performed the right of dedication on the clothing so that it would melt into her body when she shifted and return when she needed it) and cast a half irritated, half sheepish look at Mirri. "Your approval shames me. You're making me feel inhuman"
Mirri did a few quick tests to make sure her entire body was still intact and not drastically damaged, as she suspected it was just fine. Then she turned her attention to Aeris. "Sorry, I'm used to working with James, and the ship of his inhumanity set sail long before I met him. You can correct me any time I push you too hard. Now let's go get Reno!" Aeris looked out at the situation hopelessly as the sub Reno was on vanished from view beneath the waves. "But he's already got away..." Mirri was rushing past Aeris before she cold elaborate on her comments.
"In a chocobo's eye he has! I took a course on all things maritime while I was becoming a SOLDIER. Shinra hasn't upgraded much since the war, that's a Mark III Sea Lion submersible. It was one of the most impressive subs we had because it's so highly automated. Between the two of us we should be able to handle it well enough."
Aeris followed after Mirri catching her breath as best she could. "So Mirri, what didn't you study when you were becoming a SOLDIER?" "Theology." "I didn't..." "I know, like I said I'm used to working with James."
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"Tseng." The former Turk looked at the former General and shrugged. "You were expecting Hojo?" With that, Jenova's newest pawn turned his attention away from Sephiroth and Alex and back to the empty tank he stood before. "Hojo wouldn't come this far Sephiroth, the man is a fool. He spends too much time filling his ears with his own praises to hear anything else. Jenova has her uses for him because he is a very well positioned fool, but soon power in this world will mean nothing.
This world will be smashed to dust by that huge rock in the sky, and then Jenova will take those of us who believe in her to another world, which we'll go about destroying sooner or later as well... and so on to infinity. Like you always suggested, Strife is really nothing but a piece to be moved about by her will, you are capable of so much more. You are, after all, the son of Jenova."
Sephiroth got a good firm grip on Alex, who was more then ready to rip Tseng limb from limb. "No, I'll deal with him." /Then kill him now Silver Fang, there is nothing to be gained from exchanging words with those who belong to the Wyrm!\ Sephiroth kept a firm grip and said only one more word to Alex "no" and said it with such force that he would have expected it to hold back the tide, let alone one enraged Garou.
Alex relented and Sephiroth turned his attention to Tseng. "I'm not Jenova's son." Tseng shrugged again and tapped on the tank creating a small ringing sound in the room. "Technicalities are technicalities. Do you even know he name of your mother? Has your father ever told you?" Sephiroth a felt a very strong desire to loosen his grip on Alex's neck. "I know everything I need to know about myself. Evidently you don't or you wouldn't have risked my wrath.
Tseng seemed more amused then frightened. "You say you exist only to kill, then you would do Jenova proud. You come from a long line of killers Sephiroth. Just ask your father as the crimson glory of death flows through his body. He was a fool to even try to save your mother, because all you Valentines can bring to this world is death. It's folly to ask a tiger to try and heal when he has only been taught the art of slaughter. You should embrace those who would respect you for your strength rather then hate you for it."
"Your words are meaningless. Fighting the infection in my veins makes me far stronger than you could ever hope the bitch queen to make you. I don't draw my significance from mindless slaughter, that's Mirri's game, and I'd rather let her play it. Nonetheless, I'm starting to get sick of the sound of your voice. Either do something or shut up."
Tseng smirked, drew his katana, and leapt. The ring of steel on steel echoed through the reactor for the second time in five years as Sephiroth parried Tseng's wild strike and struck him with an open palm, sending him flying across the reactor. Tseng landed with an audible "thud", rolling to his feet just in time to meet Sephiroth's leaping slash, although he was still jarred by the force of the impact. He leapt over Sephiroth's head, aiming a thrust at the General's back. Sephiroth didn't bother parrying, he just spun into a crouch and brought his sword across diagonally, then snapped his arms to his side and thrust, impaling a pipe that Tseng had just somersaulted over. As he straightened up, he spotted Tseng dashing along the catwalk, trying to reach the core. Sephiroth gauged the distance and launched himself across the gap, stabbing Masamune deep into the wall just in front of Tseng, who backpedaled momentarily, then, realizing his opportunity, brought his sword down viciously, if a moment too late.
Sephiroth executed a draw cut that was extraordinary for the same reason that it was unorthodox: he slashed through the wall, meeting Tseng's blade on its way down and sending it and its wielder flying in different directions.
Sephiroth sprinted to Tseng's crumpled form and raised Masamune, but before he could separate his opponent's head from his shoulders, Tseng pressed his hands to the wall, then seemed to compress, sinking into the wall. Before his face melted into the steel, he snarled, "Jenova's gifts have only begun to manifest! If you will not serve her, she will make me stronger than you ever were!" As his words trailed away, Sephiroth and Alex were left in an empty reactor. Sephiroth, either frustrated or going for a long shot (even he wasn't sure), drove Masamune to the hilt into the wall that Tseng had passed through.
/Alpha, I think you should see this…\ Alex's mental 'voice' broke through Sephiroth's thoughts.
"Hmm?" Alex gestured to small piece of paper stuck with a very familiar substance to the glass tank. "Dear Sephiroth: The first rule of combat is that if you can cheat, do it. I took the precaution of placing enough plastic explosives at various key structural sections of the reactor to reduce it to rubble when they go off. You'll have about ten seconds by the time you finish reading this. Have a pleasant afterlife, for as long as it lasts. --- Tseng. PS: Nine seconds."
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"Praying Mantis, this is Black Window, you have exactly five seconds to turn off your engines and pump the water out of your ballast tanks. Failure to comply will result in your instant termination." Reno was not piloting the sub, he was just standing around. However, at that announcement he grabbed the pilot's shoulder in a gesture of fake camaraderie. "I'd suggest we do what the lady says."
The SOLDIER looked up in surprise. "But sir! The President told us to bring this huge materia back or die trying!" Reno devoutly wished he had his nightstick at that moment, but he had left it back in Junon. "First off don't call me "sir" damn it, I work for a living! Secondly, if you want to try dying be my guest. We should consider ourselves lucky that Catwarrior is even giving us a chance to surrender, usually she just kills.
Now, if you don't stop this sub, I'll kill you before Catwarrior has a chance to. Believe me, there's nothing heroic about dieing of a punctured lung, it's slow, and it's painful. So do any of you want to be heroes?" As Reno said those words he drew his rifle, and pointed it around the submarine speculatively. All of the men had heard the stories of what kind of spectacular havoc even a single Turk could wreak. The order was followed.
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Niro walked down the streets of Upper Midgar calmly. "It's set." A pool of shadows took the form of Vincent Valentine, face already smiling as he held up a small metal box. "All right then, let's light her up!" Vincent pressed the button.
The city rocked as the Shinra number 3 mako reactor went up in a pillar of flames. People instantly broke into a panic and raced this way and that, taking no notice of the two who knew where they were going. Or to be exact, Vincent knew where he was going, straight towards Shinra HQ. His attention of course was focused on a vehicle outside the tower rather then anyone inside it. "That's president Shinra's car."
The stretch limousine that was the very definition of opulence was at the moment defenseless. The squad of guards who had been there had left, and it left Niro and Vincent alone with it. Of course, attaching explosives to it would be pointless (because it would be swept for such with a fine toothed comb before Rufus got into it), and the windows were bulletproof. But the car was not protected against what was about to happen. "I've wanted to do this all my life."
Vincent pulled out Quicksilver, and got to work. "I can't believe you did that." "I thought about using my claw, but I always used my gun in my dreams." By the time the guards would return to the car the damage had be done. A horizontal line scratched in the chassis ran straight all along the left side of the car.
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Elsewhere in the world another reactor was about to explode. Sephiroth tossed the note aside not bothering to read the postscript. "Run." Alex didn't bother for further information, he turned and ran. With a sufficient running start from inside the reactor's main chamber (and a touch of Gnosis) he easily cleared the section where Sephiroth had damaged the catwalk. Another leap straight up and he was out even as the reactor went up in flames behind him.
Sephiroth followed suit, cleared the section were the catwalk was missing and grabbed onto the ladder. He shot up it with incredible speed and even that almost wasn't enough. He barely managed to jump from the reactor as a section of it plummeted towards where he had been standing a few moments ago. He got back up again and kept running, another piece of debris that was lodged between him and freedom was blown a apart by a bolt of lighting Sephiroth cast without even breaking his stride.
Then he was out, and even as the reactor vented flames after him he knew it had no chance to take his life. He hit the ground, harder this time, and rolled over to where Alex was lying equally prone. Apparently he had shifted the moment he had left the reactor to activate his regeneration. "You weren't surprised when he said Vincent was my father."
The sound of Alex gasping for breath was highly reminiscent of a canine (or lupine) painting in the heat of summer. "Yes, Silver Fang." "You knew ahead of time." "Yes, Silver Fang.' "Since when?" "Since Second Junon, Silver Fang." "Does Vincent know?" "Since Second Junon, Silver Fang." "We're going to have a long discussion next time I see him." "Of course, Silver Fang."
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"Have a fun walk back to Midgar!" Mirri waved to Reno as he stood on the beach outside Junon. Below in the submarine Aeris pushed two necessary buttons at the verbal signal. The torpedoes launched at close to point blank range against a stationary target. It did not take long at all till Reno's submarine was submerged in a much more permanent manor. "Oh and thanks for helping me load the Huge Materia Reno. Hate and stabbings!" With that Mirri delivered a kiss to the palm of her right hand, and slapped the air with it, which from the way it made Reno swoon for a moment was clearly just as good as a kiss to him.
Then Mirri pulled the hatch close and soon the sub's engines kicked in taking them out of sight as they dipped below the surface. The men who were with Reno looked at him oddly as he took the time to pump his arm in victory. "Hate and stabbing, she so digs me! The line between love and hate is paper thin, and even thinner with Catwarrior! Thank you huge giant rock in the sky, thank you giant all consuming war that's burning this world to ash! You've brought me that much closer to making a base camp at Catwarrior's feet and working my way up!"
Sadly those men with Reno did not have romantic attachments (assuming you could even say Reno had that) to the people who were trying to kill them and found themselves helplessly fixated on reality. "Sir, don't we now have to walk back to Midgar like she said?" Reno reached into his blue suit and pulled out a radio. "You sorry bastards have to. I'm calling in a helicopter for myself."
End chapter 30
OWAN: Okay, a bit late (as in VERY late), but I have a very good excuse. I'm in college. Between classes, my computer dieing so much I want to name it Hyatt, and various personal stuff, I've had little time to work on this. Hope you people are grateful.
FN: If you hadn't noticed yet I've decided to make Corel the "Britain" of FF7. This is reflected in Mirri's choice of media to cite when making her point to Aeris. For those of you who didn't notice it, The Prisoner, the Honor Harrington works by David Weber (okay David Weber may be American but the Harringtonverse has a clear pro-British slant) and 1984 by George Orwell. You may notice more along similar lines later. On the other side of the world, Vincent's actions are a reference to a commercial for Golden Eye Rogue Agent, except it was a plane exploding. Oh and the chapter was long enough as is, but here's a quick addition taking place (or at least set) at the end of chapter 22.
Aeris: I see dead people, (Looks into TV and at Vincent as he's sneaking out of room) and they're everywhere!
Sephiroth: (Cleaning nails with mini-Masamune) Another day another genocide.
Aeris: Cheerful aren't we?
Sephiroth: (Looks around room and then back at Aeris) Well now that you've had your emotional virginity raped away, how about we go kick some ass?
Aeris: No I'm going to angst till Hojo is about to do away my regular kind of virginity then I'll go berserk and do as much good as harm, then I'll be all badass out of combat and kick Melkore around for a bit, and maybe after a short shoujo-ai-ish interaction with Mirri I'll get my act together and we can finally connect emotionally.
Sephiroth: (Goes back to cleaning nails) Take your time.
(Shot of Reno watching them through crack in the wall)
Reno: Yes! Finally a slash pairing that I can spread around the office and be taken seriously!
Elena: What am I chop liver?
Reno: (Looks how beat up she is) Yes.
(Reno is tapped on shoulder, turns around and finds Mirri standing behind him)
Mirri: Gathering lilies for your grave Reno?
Reno: To answer that question let me say, RUN AWAY!
(Reno runs off so fast the notebook he was holding is left hanging in mid air)
I'd like to credit of it, but most of it goes to the people who made FMA Conquers' of Shamabala and one fan who wrote a delightful five minute plot summary of it, that includes Al and Ed saying Aeris and Sephiroth's lines up to "ready to kick some ass" and from there my mind ran with it. After all the expression "Well now that you've had your emotional virginity raped away, how about we go kick some ass?" is a perfect Anime expression it works just about any anime. Wolfwood could say it to Vash, Alucard could say it to Seras, the possibilities are endless. Oh, and points to whoever gets the double joke in Mirri's line.
FN2: After an intensive match of Rock Paper Scissors over IM (done through a third party) my editor bested me and so the following scene became deleted (to wind up right here) rather than actually happening since he said it was too unbelievable even for this fic.
OWAN2: And if you think I'm spell-checking this, you're out of your nip-fogged mind.
Faced with something new, Reno did what he always did, he turned to that trusty friend he kept well strapped to his hip. Not a 9MM pistol he had that in a holster attached to his ankle, it was a bottle of liquor that he found solace in. His current one had been specialy prepared by himself since no one else seeemed to be able to grasp the concept that 100 proof meant that it was only 50 liquor. What the other 50 was he didn't know, and didn't really care.
He took a very deep swig of it and faced the monstrosity charging towards him with shoulders straight. He reached into a pocket, and pulled out a zippo. He flicked it to life, and then exhaled. A monsterous blast of flame left his lips straight for Aeris, who's claws suddenly started leaving deep gouges in the floor in a vain attempt to stop.
Reno closed the lighter, and spoke his breath still wafting of what was probably was 140 proof liquor with 60 karoseen thrown in for fun. "I was saving this for Sephiroth first, but opprotunity knocks only so often. After all Hojo said that barring silver bullets flame was the next best option to use aginst werewolves. Granted I hear it also works well on vampires, so its a two-fer! Mircat you won't go spoiling my little secret will you? I mean you're going to be haning around here for quite a while."
Mirri from her vantage point could see something that Reno couldn't. "I won't, but if I was you I'd get a running start." Then the flames finally died away and Reno saw what conditon Aeris was in. Her fur was schorced black but, she was otherwise apperently unhurt. This Reno was slightly dumfounded at. "Dam! Even among the occult Sephiroth has all the freaks!" Aeris got her paws back under her and once more raced for Reno determined to proect her packmate. Reno for his part knew better than to waste good money after bad beer, turned and ran.