Ragnar stared in surprise at these four for a bit longer. After all, he had never seen them before. But taking in their physicality…his memory did begin to register what Cloud had told him. Memories about people in dark suits who had caused no end of trouble for Cloud and crew, and were some of the better agents for Shinra. As for the man himself, he didn't waste much time. He drew Event Horizon and aimed it in front of him, leveling a cold glare at the four that had approached.
"And here I thought, after our bit in Edge, that we were past all this…" Cloud darkly and sarcastically stated.
Reno shrugged. "A job's a job, Cloud. We didn't pick a fight earlier because we didn't have any reason to. Now, today, I'm afraid to say that both you and junior over there are part of our job."
Ragnar frowned. "Look, I'm not a junior. I'm 21 years-"
"What do you want?" Cloud cut off, demanding an answer from the man before him.
"I'm not really at liberty to say." Reno responded, stepping forward slightly. "All you've got to know is that it involves knocking you two off, and it involves taking an interest in the grave robbery that you two have been doing."
On hearing that…Cloud's eyes widened a moment, before narrowing dangerously.
"You touch her…I'll kill you."
Ragnar looked around a moment, taking this in, before it managed to click. When it did, and he realized that this was what they wanted…he found himself confused. How did they know about Aerith? Why were they suddenly wanting her? How did they even know she would come back to life? He didn't know. All he knew was, that if they wanted her…they'd have to go through him. Immediately, he drew his own sword, and aimed it in front of him.
"Me too!" He immediately chimed in.
Reno leveled a frown at the younger man. "What are you, his dog or something?" He asked incredulously. But that was only a moment, before he motioned behind him. "Rude…I guess it's you and me against the big guy. Ladies…if you don't mind putting junior down for a nap…"
The moment after saying this, Reno immediately began to move to one side. Rude soon joined him, finishing pulling off his gloves as he did so and placing them calmly inside his suit coat. Elena and the unknown Turk broke off and began to approach Ragnar from the other side. The two men began to break from each other, keeping their blades out, as the two of them split apart and took their targets.
"Watch yourself." Cloud cautioned without looking away. "Elena's no pushover, and I have no idea how good the new one is."
"Thanks for the warning." Ragnar replied as the Turks began to work their way in between them.
Cloud was not feeling too good. He and the others had beaten three of the Turks before, but just barely. And now, there were four of them. Alone, he could probably handle Rude and Reno. But together…he might be a bit pushed. Now wasn't the time to stack himself up against the respective power of Kadaj and his boys and compare their success with the Turks to his. He had just better do it. Rude was already cracking his neck and getting ready. Grinning and waving his nightstick like a rapier, Reno began to step in front of him with it outstretched and aimed for the ex-mercenary.
"Just like old times, eh Cloud?" Reno asked. Then, without waiting for a reply, he ignited his stick and sent a wave of electricity against him.
The ex-mercenary had always counted on fighting Reno again in the end, and as a result his sword had an insulated handle on it. Therefore, he was able to simply raise his weapon up in a guard, and let the electricity snap against it harmlessly. But soon, he was forced to step back and swing his head to one side as Rude advanced and took a swing at his head. The fist hit only air, but Reno used the opportunity to advance and swing his electrificed nightstick at the opposing fighter. Wielding it like a sword, Reno slashed at Cloud twice. Without even separating blades, Cloud raised up and deflected both hits, before being forced to duck to avoid a sweeping kick to the face from Rude. The large man immediately swung out of this move and dropped down, however, swinging his leg out for Cloud's feet instead. Quickly, the man leapt over the blow, and then brought his blade around to intercept Reno's nightstick before he could drive it forward again. Putting his power into it, Cloud swept his weapon to one side and held in a clash, giving him enough leverage to rear back and swing up his foot, smashing it into Rude's chin as he did so. The man staggered back in response.
Reno, however, was rather good with teamwork. Wielding his nightstick with only one hand, he quickly advanced and used his rapier maneuvers again, putting Cloud away from Rude before he could follow up. He jabbed at the man three times with lightning succession, and skilled and strong as Cloud was it took him all he had to be able to deflect the three blows as he advanced with his own massive sword. On the forth, however, Reno managed to lash out and give Cloud a painful jolt to one of his legs. The result made the man yelp, and made one of his limbs numb. He immediately faltered, and looked up to see that Rude had recovered by now, and was rushing in for another blow.
However, Cloud wasn't out of tricks yet. Quickly, he removed one hand from his handle and grabbed for the secondary one on top. As Rude and Reno closed in from two different sides, he split the blades apart. The smaller one rose up and deflected Rude's punch with the flat of the blade, while the larger was swung around and smacked Reno's own weapon away from a finishing thrust. Then, painful and unbalanced as it was to do so with only one good leg, Cloud managed to thrust himself forward in a spinning move. As he did, his blades pulled off from the two Turks just long enough for him to get in between them, and as he spun around greeted both with a respective elbow to the head.
Normally, the strength of the blow would have been strong enough to send both sprawling. As it was, it only stunned both of them long enough to let Cloud slip in between and to their opposite side. Cloud lacked the proper leverage after getting his leg blasted numb. What more, on passing through them, he nearly stumbled and fell himself, with his one leg almost useless. Somehow, he managed to stagger around and face them again. But by then, both were ready and advancing again.
Having no other choice, Cloud bit down and prepared to continue the fight.
"Ladies…I really don't want to have to rough either of you up."
In response, the two Turks looked to each other incredulously, and then turned back to Ragnar. The youth was a bit nervous. He wasn't used to fighting two opponents like this at once, and after softening a bit for another female it was catching him a bit off guard to fight two women now.
"What?" Elena harshly retorted. "You think just because you're a guy and you have a big sword like Cloud back there that automatically means we're pushovers?"
Ragnar, a bit surprised at this response, blinked a moment and hesitated. "Well…not exactly, but-"
Elena, however, had already been incensed. Eyes blazing in anger, she aimed her weapon down at Ragnar. But she didn't shoot. Instead, to the shock of the young man, who hadn't seen the materia orb before now, a sparkle came out from the side of her weapon before a ball of fire materialized in front of her. Almost as soon as it generated, however, it went flying for the youth. Ragnar was shocked, and as a result of his surprise he was barely able to guard his blade in front of him before the ball of fire hit and erupted.
The impact was like an actually eruption, and force actually shot through Ragnar's limbs. Combined with his inability to ready himself properly, the power was too great on him. It wrenched his limbs a moments as the blast hit, before his sword was knocked clean out of his grasp by the power. It swung away to the side for a few moments before striking one of the corridor walls. It immediately embedded its blade partially in, and then stayed there.
The youth and Elena alike both turned to the sword, both a bit surprised at what had happened. Ragnar's face soon slumped as he realized he had lost his sword again for lack of a good grip, just like back at the first battle. But then, he spun back around to the Turk. She was still a bit surprised at her own force, and he used that. Immediately, he leapt forward and performed a quick disarming maneuver Cloud had shown him. He smacked the palm of one of his hands behind Elena's hand while hitting the other against the tendons of her wrist. The woman snapped back around, and was just in time to see her gun go flying from her grasp.
Elena's eyes widened a moment, before she angrily looked up to Ragnar. "Hey!" She snapped…before she cocked back and belted him in the face.
Ragnar, stunned at how much power the small woman had, staggered back a bit with his eyes somewhat crossed. His nose had nearly been smashed in by that blow, and even now he felt a bit of blood trickling out of the ends of them. He shook his head once to clear the cobwebs, and blinked a bit as he staggered on his feet and looked forward. He was just in time to see Elena dip both hands into her pockets…and emerge with brass knuckles on either one. Ragnar paled a bit before the woman came forward and began to unload on him.
Ragnar quickly swung his head to either side to avoid Elena's first two jabs, backing up as he did so, before she swung a hook at his head that he was forced to duck underneath. That turned out to be a bad move, for she added a knee kick into it when he did that, striking him in the chin. The blow caught him hard and forced him back up, where Elena was able to sweep around and do a flying roundhouse into Ragnar's face. The power was so great that he was sent flying backward and smashed against the corridor wall, just to the left of his protruding blade. He blinked once or twice, trying to clear the pain and dazzling effects of being hit…before he noticed that Elena was already on him again. He quickly spun out of the way…just in time to avoid having his face smashed in as her fist came forward. Just the same, he was stunned to see her bash in part of a metal pipe on a corridor.
Luckily, she seemed to be the same way. She had barely done so before giving a yelp and pulling her fist back in pain. She cradled it against herself for a moment, giving an expression of pain at her miss. Using that moment, Ragnar spun once more against the wall, this time reaching out, seizing Ragnarok, and yanking it from the conduit. Elena had just adjusted to her miss and looked up when Ragnar was taking the advantage. Soon, she was the one paling and backing up as Ragnar came forward, slicing his blade at her twice, forcing her to duck and shift out of the way, before she quickly dipped in to avoid a stabbing motion by the great sword. However, once Ragnar stabbed, she used the opportunity to duck in and strike the back of her hand against his face.
The blow was strong and jarred Ragnar's head one way, with the body spinning that way as well. Yet as it did, he managed to yank up his sword again and swing it in a special maneuver for Elena's face. She noticed this, and barely managed to disengage herself from Ragnar before the blade went sweeping by. However, there was some resistance this time…
Both opponents backed away from each other quickly, struggling to recover. Yet as they both separated, and Ragnar cleared his senses and brandished his blade again, Elena blinked once and looked in front of her.
Slowly fluttering down to the ground was a fistful of blonde hair that Ragnar had managed to cut off on his last move.
Elena stared at this a moment, before going red as a beet. She turned her attention down to the youth, who paled again. She looked rather mad at this point…mad enough to unsettle him. Before he could defend himself…she suddenly lunged forward. Disregarding his sword, she reared back and gave him a kick in the face. She quickly gave him another and another, sending more blood flying from his nose and forcing him back.
However, as she came up for a fourth one, Ragnar regained enough of his bearings to swing his sword around and jab it into the ground momentarily. His arms free, he reached out and seized Elena's foot as it came for him. She was shocked at the move, as Ragnar held her. But he only did so a moment…before twisting the foot the wrong way as hard as he could. It wasn't enough to break, but Elena's scream of pain soon testified to the sprain that he managed to give her. She brought her leg back and struggled to hobble on it a moment, before sneering and driving her hand forward next.
That was another bad move, for Ragnar used the pause to bring Ragnarok back up and shield himself with the flat of the blade. All Elena got for her effort was another bruised fist as she smashed into the substance stronger and harder than steel, which also proceeded to burn the foreign flesh that had touched it. Yelling, she recoiled her arm again. However, Ragnar was on her now. Quickly, he dropped Ragnarok again and seized her arm. With a quick movement, he ran up behind her, bringing her own injured arm around her neck and behind her as she did. He seized her other arm and pinned it as well. Soon, he had Elena restrained.
The fiery woman immediately began to cry out and fight back, and it took Ragnar quite a bit of his hard-won strength to restrain her. Even then, he wasn't sure what to do. He didn't want to kill her if he could avoid it…but he wondered if he would feel the same way if it wasn't a woman. And if so, knowing that she had come to kill him, perhaps it would be best to just cut off the carotid to her brain for about ten seconds… And yet, if he didn't have to kill her now, he didn't want to have to, man or woman…
Yet while he was debating this, he hadn't noticed what was going on around him. The first thing that shook him out of his daze was an angry Elena shouting. "Are you going to shoot him or what!"
"Got it."
Ragnar looked up to see what this response meant…but it was a bit too late. Suddenly, he felt a sharp prick hit him right smack dab in the middle of his left jugular, despite how much he had been struggling with Elena. He could only remember the world melting into blackness after that…before he released Elena completely and collapsed to the ground unconscious.
Something's wrong.
Aerith didn't have to have any special powers to know that there was a problem. The sound of explosions and fighting was all she had to hear. She had only been alive again for about half a day, and yet already fighting had found its way back into her life. Unfortunately, she couldn't hear what exactly was going on, and couldn't understand the voices or the specifics. She only knew that not far away a battle was being waged.
With that in mind…she knew she couldn't stand still.
Grunting and straining, Aerith began to put her hands beneath her to try and push up. Sitting up was a skill she had just remastered, and she knew walking was going to be much harder. But she had no choice. Cloud and Ragnar were out there, and she couldn't let them fight alone. She wasn't sure what good she'd be now…but she had to try something. She had a feeling she could still use her powers of healing if she could only get there. But first…she had to get on her feet and try to walk…
Cloud intercepted Reno's nightstick with the heavier Event, and managed to sweep it out of the way. However, that didn't shield him from Rude leaping in and finally managing to take advantage of the situation. Unlike other people who relied on their fists, Rude prided himself on actually taking off any protection and enhancements before he got his hands into a fight. Cloud was soon reminded of just how strong his blows were by taking one to the face, sending him staggering back.
Once more, Cloud nearly lost his balance. One of his legs was still very useless. And now as he was pushed back, the Turks moved in again. Cloud moved quickly, but almost in a panic move by now. His Event sword managed to deflect another jab by Reno, and he sliced out with Horizon as Rude closed. The larger man had been a bit too confident on his approach, and had got back just in time. Still, he looked down to himself to see both lapels of his jacket sliced, and saw that his tie was now in two pieces.
Using that moment, Cloud brought Horizon around and grabbed Reno's nightstick in a pincer. Immediately, he swung his blade up and overhead, and wrenched it to one side. With this much power, Reno was unable to break free again. However, as both men clashed, and as Cloud grit his teeth and glared at the red-haired man, Reno merely grinned back. Both of Cloud's arms were occupied…but one of his was free. He reminded Cloud of that fact by punching him in the face. His blow didn't have nearly the strength of Rude, but it was enough to send the man sprawling backward again. This time, he couldn't keep his balance. He tumbled to the ground and landed on his back.
Reno, still grinning, swung his nightstick up and dove in for the kill. However, Reno wasn't nearly as durable as Cloud was, and the ex-mercenary wasn't out yet. As Reno closed in, Cloud lashed out with his one good leg and smashed the closing Turk in the face. Reno gave out a cry and stumbled back as blood flew from his nostrils, not only stunned but actually forced back from the move. Cloud didn't waste any time, nor could he. Rude had recovered, and was preparing an ax-kick down on his head. Cloud quickly tightened his grip on both swords and rolled to the right, just in time to miss Rude's blow from coming down. It proceeded to dent in the grating where Cloud had been a moment earlier, and unlike Elena he didn't react with pain. At least…not until Cloud used his missed move to lash out with Horizon and give him a gash across one of his ankles. Grunting in pain, the biggest expression the stoic man would let out, Rude recoiled.
Reno was recovering at this point, shaking his head and getting back to his feet. But so was Cloud. His numb leg finally felt enough power on it to launch a new move. Suddenly, he rocked himselfinto a forward somersault. As he landed back on his feet, he pushed up with both at once and lunged at the red-haired Turk. Just as Reno was beginning to focus again, Cloud greeted him with a powerful headbutt to his face. Crying out a curse, Reno staggered back again, his arms flailing wildly, as he headed for the ground. But Cloud once again used this to his advantage. He watched as the Turk's nightstick came up, loosely held, and responded by swinging his sword out and striking it. True to his intention, the weapon went flying out of his grasp and smashing into the wall, right before Reno fell to the ground.
Cloud exhaled once and prepared himself for more action. The odds were getting more even now, luckily. He might just be able to pull this off if he could hold out. Reno lost his main weapon, and Rude was wounded. He didn't want to have to kill these guys if he could avoid it, but he had to think of a way to disable them quickly or-
The ex-mercenary's train of thought was cut off as he felt a sharp prick lodge itself in his neck. For a moment, he was baffled, puzzled as to what kind of attack that was. However, he was a bit more durable than Ragnar, and was able to stay up long enough to realize too late that something had hit him with a dart. He dropped Horizon almost immediately…his grip already weakening…and reached up to his neck and grabbed. Sure enough, his hand enclosed around a small cylinder. He readily yanked it out, although he knew it was too late. He began to grow wobbly again, and the world began to swirl.
Cloud turned around and looked behind him. Although reality was spinning, he was just in time to see the fourth Turk lower her gun. Now, more than ever, in his dazzled senses, she looked like Aerith…and it nearly confused his own fading consciousness. Unfortunately, that was all he could see. A moment later he tipped back and collapsed to the ground, and fully went under as he let Event fall uselessly to the side.
Reno grabbed his face and groaned as he started to get back to his feet. As his hand went over his mouth, he began to curse to himself. He turned to the side and spat once, and was unhappy to see some blood come out with it. Grumbling, he began to stumble as he got his legs beneath it.
"Damn…he almost took a tooth this time."
Rude himself was still wincing about his leg. With a frown, he stumbled back and leaned against the corridor wall, keeping his hidden vision down on the fallen Cloud. He still didn't trust him to be out so easily. As he leaned against it, he reached into his jacket and pulled out the severed remains of his tie. The gash on his leg was too deep to let clot on its own. With a wince, he yanked his foot up and placed it against his other leg. He pulled back his already wet suit leg to reveal the bloody gash underneath, and he began to tie the piece of cloth around it.
"So?" He asked in response to Reno.
The red-haired Turk was on his feet, but still trying to get his balance. "So?" He echoed back. "So I've never had a cavity before in my life. I take pride in my teeth. I'd like to die with all the original ones still in my head."
"Neither of you told me he was going to be that hard!"
Both male Turks turned and looked at Elena, who was hobbling on one leg and angrily pulling her brass knuckles off of another hand. The moment she did, she winced and cradled it gently.
Reno snorted. "That hard? Elena, what do you think this is? A street fighting game?"
Elena didn't answer, just continued to wince and hold her hand. "Damnit…I think I broke my knuckles…"
Reno suppressed a snicker at this, and ignored the daggers that accompanied it from Elena. After that, however, he turned to Krystea. She was already popping open Valentine again, and reloading it with fresh darts. "Well…looks like you're the big winner this round, Krystea." He addressed. "First time fighting these guys, and you got 'em both."
Krystea smiled in a bit of embarrassment. "Well…it wasn't that hard with you all distracting them. If I had just been me, it probably would have gone much differently."
Reno waved that off with a snicker. "Hey, almost is only a score in horseshoes and hand grenades. I'll take whatever wins we can get." He answered back. After saying this, he turned his attention to his opponent. Cloud was still down and out, naturally. Reno looked at him a moment, but then managed to start walking over to his fallen body. He was able to walk a bit better as he did so, although he was still rather dizzy. Once he reached his side, he bent down and squatted next to him.
"I think I will miss our little spats, Cloud." He addressed him. "Much pain as they were, there's no real challenge around anymore. However…I'm afraid, like I said before, that you're a part of this job."
With that said, Reno reached into his suitcoat. A moment later, he found something that had been contained in a special pocket inside, and pulled it out. It was about the size of two fists, and had a rather complicated set of controls on it attached to a special set of soda-can shaped cylinders. One didn't have to be a genius to look at it, or a specialist, to realize that it was some sort of bomb. Once it was out, Reno proceeded to pull a special tab off of the back of it. On doing so, some sort of white cream began to expand. He quickly turned it over and pressed it against the ground after doing so, giving the special adhesive something to anchor on to. It now was adhereing about one foot from Cloud's head.
That done, Reno reached out and pressed a few buttons. He set it for about ten minutes. That was more than enough time to search the craft and then get out of here before it went off. Luckily for Cloud, he wouldn't feel a thing from this range, and wouldn't have to live through the crash. Then again, seeing as the darts were supposed to work for eight hours, it really didn't matter…
"…You!"
Reno's head immediately snapped up at that, and he froze just after setting the bomb.
Now there's something I never thought I'd hear again…
Reno proceeded to slowly rise from where he was, and turned around to look and see who had spoken. The other Turks were already doing so. Rude turned and looked…and stiffened a moment before he actually willingly removed his sunglasses, wanting to make sure he was seeing this for real. Elena herself gasped a bit before staggering back, thinking she was seeing a ghost. And as for Krystea…she turned and looked, and was immediately frozen. Her mouth hung open slightly as she stared at her, and her eyes were wide as saucers.
Aerith, dressed from head to toe in a white robe, was standing in the doorway of the conference room and staring out at the situation.
Reno stared silently a moment longer before he managed to give out a snort. "Well…as I live and draw breath…someone who's supposed to be dead and not breathing."
Aerith glared back at Reno a moment, still remembering what had happened years ago when they first met each other. It wasn't exactly the most fond of memories. However, after a moment, she turned and looked down to the ground. She soon saw, to her horror, that both Cloud and Ragnar were already down. She wheeled back up and glared at Reno soon after. "What did you do to them?" She demanded.
Reno and the others continued to stare at her. True, they hadn't seen her die before, but they had hung around enough with Cloud to believe that she was deceased. So either Cloud was the most inept person at checking whether or not someone was dead, or they were staring at a ghost, or somehow people could heal from being stabbed through the heart. All of those seemed unlikely. Reno had thought he'd never see the troublesome little Cetra again. Apparently, he was wrong… Yet after this, he managed to snap out of it, and looked back down to the fallen warriors.
"Oh, them?" He addressed aloud. "They're still alive. They won't be in another, oh…nine minutes, thirteen seconds, but they are for now." He looked back up to Aerith soon after. "Now, I hate to interrupt our reunion in such a brash manner…but I'm afraid we've got some old habits that are dying hard. It seems I say this every time we run into each other…but get to the chopper."
Aerith was confused. She didn't know what to think. Suddenly, the Turks were on board here, people she thought she'd never see again. Cloud and Ragnar were down and out. What was going on? Were they poisoned, and that's why they only had so much time? Or was there something else? Had Reno rigged this place up to explode? It made sense… He didn't have any scruples about sentencing a few hundred thousand people to death back in Midgar, so he shouldn't now. She didn't know what was going on, why they were here… She was supposed to have been dead. Why were they coming for her again? Why were they still after her, after all this time? Were they still wanting her even after she was dead? Did they want her body? She didn't know. All that she knew was she wasn't going with them. She didn't know what she could do about Cloud or Ragnar now…but she wasn't coming with them.
Aerith could barely stand. It was only because she was supporting herself in the doorway that she could walk. However…she forced herself to stagger back, letting go of the doorway. It wasn't that wise of a move. After letting go, she wobbled about uncertainly before toppling back and resting against a wall. However, she kept glaring at Reno and the rest of them.
"I'm not going back." She defiantly stated.
Reno, now having recovered mostly, took a step over to the corridor wall. His nightstick was resting there, and he quickly bent down and snatched it up. "You don't really have a choice, lady." He answered as he began to walk forward toward her. Moving as well, Elena and Rude began to step to her. Krystea was still frozen, staring blankly at her as she approached. "You see, I've set a bomb. In less than nine minutes, this place is going to blow. So you either come with us now, or you die in a ball of molten wreckage."
Aerith would have backed up more, but she couldn't afford to. She had seen what Reno had done before. She knew he wasn't bluffing. She didn't want to go back to Shinra…but she knew what was going to happen to them if she refused. She held as she watched them slowly close in on her, looking out to the fallen duo and then back to them. She grew anxious. Finally, she managed to say something.
"Alright…" She said aloud. "I'll go with you if you take them too."
Reno gave a headshake. "Sorry, but it doesn't work that way. They're a part of the job. And as far as you're concerned…you really don't have to come with us willingly. You see, we were counting on you still being dead. So we can bring you dead or alive." With that, he and the other two continued to close.
Aerith's eyes widened a moment. So…that's what it meant. She couldn't believe this. Shinra was still after her bones and flesh even after she had passed on. They still wanted to dissect her after all this time. Even after all the mistakes and horrors they had done…they still wanted her.
And what of these three?
What of Reno?
That man… He'd do anything for money. He didn't care who he killed or who got in his way. He would slaughter them just the same if he was hired to do so. He was without pity or mercy. All he lived for was the thrill of his own dirty job. Some people were good…some evil…and both killed for their own reasons. But he…he refused to pick a side. He'd just do whatever one paid him for, without care about the morality. They all would. They had killed so many already. They were going to kill her friends. They were going to kill her…and their only concern would be how much money they would get for it.
As Aerith realized this…realized how callous and apathetic the man was before her…she began to feel an emotion she had rarely felt before in her previous life.
Anger.
Aerith glared at him…cocky and confident as he was…without care of life at all. She looked at all of them. None of them cared what they did. The preciousness of life had no value to them. They might have destroyed Midgar themselves if they were given it as a job. That made Aerith angry…and the anger quickly began to grow. She had hoped that after her sacrifice and her attempt to stop Meteor that these people and others like them would realize the sacredness of life. But they hadn't. They were still just people on a job…still people who made their living through death. She couldn't stand it. She couldn't believe there were people still like that… Slowly…her eyes began to blaze. Her hands began to slowly ball into fists. Her teeth began to clench together.
And as this happened…the Turks slowly began to stop approaching. Reno was first among them. As he stared into the woman's eyes…his confidence gradually began to fade. In its place was growing puzzlement…and then fear. As the Turks stared, they saw a change come over the woman. Suddenly, her eyes had turned furious. They had never seen her angry before. That wasn't all. There was a light in her eyes. From within the depths of her pupils, a green dot had formed and was beginning to blaze out. They thought it was a trick of light at first…but it quickly began to grow into something more distinctive…and unnatural. Her eyes soon had an inhuman light to them. And as they did, the rest of her body began to lock up…grow stronger. The air around them seemed to start to charge…
The Turks froze. Reno was still staring at Aerith, his own anxiety growing. But Rude and Elena were looking around in surprise. They could feel the air growing in charge now. They felt some sort of energy on it. Elena noticed that her hair was starting to stick up. A voice was heard on the air. Reno continued to stare at Aerith, but she was beginning to breathe hard now. Her head was starting to sweat. But still, she glared at Reno with her new rage.
The man gaped at her in confusion, and finally spoke. "What are you-"
That was all he got out before Aerith raised her hand…and emitted a bolt of lightning from her fingertips.
Reno gaped in shock for a split second before a bolt of sizzling lightning suddenly struck him in the chest. Giving out a cry, he was thrown back with the tremendous force and flung against the ground. Rude and Elena snapped away from Aerith and stared in shock at him, seeing what had happened. They forgot about her as Reno ground to a halt and winced.
Aerith herself immediately lost her rage…and her power. As she widened her eyes in surprise at what she had done, her strength failed and she suddenly collapsed against the wall. She was still seated up and conscious, but she now slumped her head and began to pant. However, the anger passed. Now, she was shocked. She looked down in disbelief to her arm, and then back up to the writhing Reno. She hadn't known how she did that. It was just…the power suddenly filled her, and she said something unconsciously to the Planet in the language of the Cetra. In the next moment…it happened. She was overwhelmed. She hadn't meant to do that. She was just so angry…so upset at his apathy… She wanted to make him pay…
However, that anger was gone now. It was replaced with her old instincts, her desire to not hurt another living thing if she could avoid it. And now, she felt totally drained. There was no way she could do that again, even if she knew how she had done it in the first place. She could only gape at what she had done, and lay there helplessly.
Reno grunted, and slowly rolled up and began to get to his feet. His white shirt was now burned in the center, right over where a smoking wound rose from his chest. Rude and Elena neared him, but were unsure of whether or not to help him up. As it turned out, it was unnecessary. He soon got back up to his feet. Impressive as the attack had looked, it only packed the power of a basic Thunder spell from a materia orb. However, Reno had seen that Aerith had possessed no materia. As he got up and looked to her, seeing her slumped in a helpless pile against the ground, looking scared at what she had just done and fearful of hurting him again, he realized she had done that on her own. Somehow, without the aid of materia…he had struck her with that bolt. And with that in mind, he began to realize just who this person was that he had been trying so long to capture. She was definitely more than a human now…and now he understood it.
Now that Reno was up, Elena and Rude looked to each other uneasily before snapping around and back to Aerith. Somewhat reluctantly, both took their ready positions against her. Despite the lack of damage on Reno, they were both now nervous.
"She's some sort of witch…" Elena remarked aloud as she pointed her gun at her, trembling slightly. "I don't think this one is the Cetra… She could never do anything like that."
Reno panted and began to straighten his coat as he did so. "Well…Cetra or not…I'm not getting fried again." He remarked aloud. "Let's subdue her. Their medical staff can put her back together again."
Aerith paled. Much as she had been stunned…and even scared…of what she had just managed, she now realized her only hope was to do it again. But she couldn't even lift her arms now, let alone recall what else she had done to shoot. And her first attack only made the Turks be more cautious as they closed in around her. Elena was still rather nervous about it, but Rude and Reno were toughing through as best as they could. Then again…that left the other one…
"…I'm afraid I can't let you guys do that."
Aerith stiffened. That voice was that of the fourth member…the one who had been frozen staring at her from the moment she showed up. But now, she was finally reacting. The other Turks halted, and turned to look to the one still standing in the back. Aerith tried to look past them from where she was to see what she was doing, or what this meant…
But she soon received another surprise, in addition to the Turks present.
Two more sounds of air rushing went out, and moments later both Elena and Rude moaned and collapsed to the ground.
Aerith was shocked. She looked down, and saw both of them fall into an unconscious heap. Both had darts protruding from their necks. She blinked in astonishment, and then looked up again. Reno had fully turned around now, and was likewise surprised. But that didn't change the fact that Aerith found herself having a new savior.
Krystea stood with her gun fully outstretched and aimed at Reno.
Reno was a man who didn't usually put trust in others, but when it came to the other Turks he felt like blood brothers. And as such, this betrayal totally overwhelmed him.
"Krystea, why-"
The woman looked rather anxious as well at this, and it was obvious that a part of her didn't want to do this. But in the end, she sighed. "Sorry, Reno… I hope you'll understand some day." With that, she pulled the trigger. Another dart shot out and embedded itself into Reno's neck, and the man collapsed soon after along with the others. Now, the only ones left conscious were Aerith and Krystea.
The woman sadly exhaled, showing her sadness as evident. But she also brought her gun up and rotated the barrel slightly, moving it to a different chamber. That done, she looked up and stared at Aerith. Normally, the woman would have recoiled again. This last one was still a Turk, after all. However…she hesitated. Something about her face seemed familiar… It felt like she was looking at some strange warped mirror version of herself. As for the one called Krystea, she looked at her as well in silence for a moment, before she suddenly began to advance.
"Come on. We have to get out of here."
Aerith blinked and snapped out of it, but now found herself in the midst of even more confusion. "You…you're helping me?"
"Possibly." Krystea answered, as she closed the distance to her. "We need to talk. But not here. There's no time."
Before Aerith could protest, Krystea was already down next to her and putting her arms around her body, trying to help her back to her feet. She looked down to the side as she helped her, and soon rested her eyes on the bomb.
"But…what about…the explosive?"
"It's taken care of." Krystea responded as he lifted her up.
"What…do you mean?"
"There's no time. We need to leave here now."
"No…I can't…can't leave without Cloud and Rag-"
At this point, realizing that the protesting was getting troublesome, Krystea sighed. Before Aerith could say another word, she felt cold metal pressed against her neck…and moments later a sharp prick went into it. Aerith wheeled around to the woman as she reacted in pain, but it was too late. Before she could get a better look at her, she was already fading into black.
Krystea sighed as she replaced her gun in her coat, and then quickly reached out and grabbed Aerith as she collapsed against her. She hated to have to do that, but there really was no time. They had to get somewhere safe, and there were few places left in the world that were safe. She wasn't sure how far the stealth helicopter could get, but she had to try. She might have just ruined her career and life just now. She had to try and make it worth something…and she prayed that it was.
Krystea put her arms around Aerith and braced as best as she could. She might have been good with a gun, but she was weak physically compared to the others. It was a good thing Aerith was so lightweight. She managed to get back to her feet and pulledthe Cetrawith her. Once that was done, she quickly began to drag backward, toward the blasted door. She looked over her fallen friends as she did so. She prayed that they weren't out too long…or it would be too late. Yet at the same time, she wished desperately that they would stay down for another few moments. She watched them like a room of deadly cobras that could strike at any moment. But luckily, none of them moved. She had dragged Aerith to the doorway before she saw Rude shift slightly against the ground. Once there, she quickly dragged the woman up the stairs.
Outside, there was no barrier between them and the elements. The wind was whipping fiercely, throwing both of their heads of hair into a gale and pulling against Aerith's robe before she even got that high. But Krystea grit her teeth and kept going. The roar of the engines of the Sierra, coupled with the powerful wind, soon deafened her to all other sounds. She struggled to maintain her balance as the craft continued to shoot by. But somehow, she managed to make her way with her unconscious prisoner toward the helicopter, idling against the deck but not yet shut down.
It took a minute of struggling to get there. Once she was, however, she quickly moved Aerith over to the opposite side of the craft. She flung open the door and summoned her strength to drag her inside and into the seat. After buckling her unconscious body up, she slammed the door, ran to the opposite side, and then got in herself. She quickly fastened her own buckles, placed her headphones on, and gunned the rotor blades up to a higher speed.
Krystea wasn't the best helicopter pilot, but she could manage. It took her a moment to accelerate, but soon she was going on a speed that could match that of the Sierra. After that, she slowly lifted off and headed due west. She lost a bit of ground, making her heart leap into her throat, and nearly flew back against the air-sac connections. But she quickly compensated, and pushed the accelerator up to avoid crashing. She pushed it too hard after a moment, and she began to gain ground across the deck instead, to collide with the other side.
Yet before that could happen, Krystea veered the craft off to the south. She swung free of the deck, and the Sierra roared by on its own auto-pilot maneuver. Soon, it was putting a distance away from her, and for that she was glad. She needed to put as many miles in between that ship and this helicopter as possible.
Krystea slowly exhaled as she turned back ahead and began to turn the helicopter due south. They'd be safe so long as this thing had fuel and power for the stealth system. After that…they had better be somewhere secure. As she began their long journey and locked in a course, she couldn't help but turn and look back to her unconscious passenger.
Slowly, she sighed.
"I sure hope you are who I think you are."
Reno groaned to himself, and reached for his neck. He was still groggy, and much of the world was still swirling. His vision was spinning, and it sounded like someone was turning the volume up and down in his head. However, he managed to grab something. Gritting his teeth, he pulled it out. It took him a second to identify the object, slowly as his senses were working, but then he realized he had a small cylinder. That, and a sore around his jugular. He groaned for a moment…trying to remember where he was or how he had gotten there…
Wait a minute…Krystea…
Damnit…
Groaning, Reno opened his eyes the rest of the way. The world spun, but it was getting clearer now. With a stagger and weak movements, he began to push up off the ground with his forearms and try to get onto his hands and knees. His mind continued to clear as he did so, but it only made him more confused and upset. She had shot him… Why? He knew she had been acting goofy ever since realizing who they were going after…and now he thought that it might have been a good idea to see exactly what it had been about before they reached this point. However, it was too late now. Now, they were stuck here, waking up groggy after who knew how long, on an airship headed for a flaming explosion, and…
…Crap.
Reno quickly shook his head in an attempt to get it totally clear, and began to look around the room. Rude and Elena were groaning and getting onto their own feet, but Cloud and Ragnar were still out. He soon zeroed in on Cloud, and found that the bomb was still there, still only a foot from his head. Grunting, he forced himself up a bit more and hobbled/crawled over to the explosive as fast as he could. He stumbled a bit on the way, but in the end he managed to get up to it. He nearly collapsed down on top of it when he arrived, and looked down to the device.
It has less than one minute.
Reno snorted at it, and shook his head. "Clever girl…" He said aloud as he reached down and began to type against the buttons. She had taken a rather risky gamble, but not something that Reno himself wouldn't do if given the same situation. He thought he had seen something funny. When she had reloaded her chambers in her gun, he noticed that she had loaded three darts although she had only fired twice. Then she shot the three of them. There must have only been enough tranquilizer to knock them out for five minutes. That gave Reno enough time to wake up before the bomb went off, but not enough time to go after her or evacuate. In the end, their only choice would be to shut it down.
As Reno pressed a few of the last keys, however, that puzzled him. They still could have blown up the craft anyway… Did she actually want to spare the two targets? He sure hoped not. He didn't need their new crackshot getting weak-kneed on them… However, this brought him back to the main problem. What in the world had possessed her to run off like that? And taking Aerith with her?
He didn't know, and he had only weak theories as he pressed the last button, deactivating the bomb.
"Did I just have a bad dream…?" Elena moaned from her location, grabbing her head and looking rather sore as she sat up. "Or did Krystea shoot us with darts?"
"Either she did, or you still have a bit of dream on your neck." Reno answered, causing Elena to reach up to it. Sure enough, her own cylinder was still lodged there. Meanwhile, he began to get to his feet again. Rude, stoic as always, had already snapped out of it and was standing up. He cracked his neck a few times and shook his head to better stabilize himself. However, he too was unnerved, contrary to how he appeared. After he gave a quick look around the area, he had a good guess of what had happened.
"I don't believe it…" He murmured aloud.
"Believe it." Reno answered, now getting Elena to pay more attention to them. She began to look around the area, and saw what they saw as well. "Krystea ambushed us and took the job. Somehow…I don't think she's taking her back to get the reward all to herself."
"She was acting strange ever since she saw the case file." Rude mentioned aloud.
Elena shrugged in reply to this. "I would too. That witch looks just like her in a lot of ways. And speaking of witch…how the hell did she do that to Reno?"
"Somehow, I think being a look-alike wasn't the only think on Krystea's mind." Reno answered back to Elena's first comment. "As for her pulling a dynamo on me and everything else that's happened…I'd say we've got a bit more going on this job than any of us bargained for." Reno turned to the larger, bald man at his side afterward. "Rude…this is probably no good, but I might as well cover all bases. Could you see if the chopper is still here?"
Rude quickly gave a nod, turned, and ran out back to the doorway and through it. Reno and Elena were left alone. The woman began to look anxious, and felt for her neck again, realizing what had happened. She shook her head and looked to Reno.
"This doesn't make any sense. We're supposed to be friends. Why would Krystea shoot us and run off with the Cetra?" She hesitated after saying this, before a realization came to mind, making her gape. "Unless…somehow she can mind-control people, and she brainwashed her to attack us…"
"Get your head out of the sci-fi books, Elena." Reno simply retorted, causing the woman to once again buckle and fluster. "She was acting goofy ever since we got the dossier. And if she had been under the control of Aerith, she could have killed us all instead of knocking us out temporarily."
Both of them were cut off by the sounds of heavy footsteps trampling down a stairway. The two Turks looked back to the opening, and were just in time to see Rude reach the bottom. Frowning, he shook his head at the both of them. Reno sighed in response, and turned back to Elena as he crossed his arms.
"Terrific…" He griped. "Whatever Krystea's up too, she's fixed us real good."
Elena looked a bit confused at that. "What do you mean?"
"I mean we're going to default on a lot of this job." Reno answered. "Dead or alive, Aerith is still our primary target. Now Krystea has her aboard the stealth craft, and so there's no way to tell where she's going. She left us stuck on this, which we can't land in without getting fired upon on this soil. I'm not even sure I can fly this thing. And so long as we're stuck on this, there's no way we can blow it up without killing ourselves in the process. So now we're delayed, with trying to find a way to get Krystea and the target in this hunk without getting ourselves shot down before, and we haven't the slightest idea where Krystea could be headed. We haven't accomplished a single goal of our objective."
"We still have Cloud and Ragnar." Rude responded. "We could kill them now, without a bomb."
Reno hesitated at that, and then gave a slight shrug. "…True." With that in mind, he began to reach for his own weapon…
You don't want to kill them now.
Moments before grabbing his nightstick off the ground again…Reno froze. His hand stopped precariously above it. He wasn't alone, however. Rude had just began to step forward when he halted. Elena began to reach for her weapon…but then stopped. Suddenly…it felt like something had removed any and all desire to kill the two men in front of them. Even the almighty job to complete suddenly seemed an unnecessary trifle.
"…Nah…let's not bother killing them now." Reno found himself echoing.
You want to tie them up and lock them in the parachute closet.
Elena suddenly looked up as she moved her hand from her side. "Maybe we should just tie them up for now…lock them in the parachute closet."
"Sounds good to me." Rude answered with a nod, and immediately stepped forward to start carrying out the task.
None of the three Turks could remember the faint yet powerful voice in their minds, coming from hundreds of miles away. Yet they now subconsciously found themselves carrying out its wishes. At that distance, hundreds of miles away, still within the City of the Ancients after having thrown up as many mental illusions and tricks as possible to keep the New Shinra from approaching the Sierra, a mind cursed itself for breaking its rules and interfering one more time, unable to turn aside from the attachment to its pupil.
After that, however…it vowed this would be the last time, and then turned itself fully to the more important matters at hand.
To be continued...