Going off the main story, we are stepping back in time to the day Cloud went to the Shin-Ra building and found Shadow Blaze, the completely cold and perverted opposite of his neurotic and (partially) psychotic brother, Nogias Frazar. While they may have different last names, they are brothers. Enjoy! BTW, small note, SSC Is Side Story Chapter.
Side-Story 1.25: Handicap: A Bombing Hostage!
Cloud was working silently in his tent. The air was warm, and just enough to make poor Cloud start dozing off. Just as his eyes closed and he drifted off into a sound sleep, Cait Sith's giant cat-topped mog body blew in through the entrance of the tent and shouted, "CLOUD! WE GOT TROUBLE!"
Cloud almost flew into the ceiling. Gathering his composure, Cloud said, "What? What is it Cait Sith?" Cait Sith just looked at him with a teasing look, and said, "Don't worry Cloud. I won't tell anyone yeh were resting yer eyes."
"WHAT IS IT, CAIT SITH?!" Cloud shouted, rocking the foundations of the earth. "Weyell," Cait Sith replied, now clearly frightened out of his wits, "Um… Reeve just called. Rufus has completed his recruitment procedures. He's found his replacement Turks."
"WHAT?! When did you find this out?" Cloud inquired, getting a nervous look from Cait Sith. "Wait, you didn't just find out now, did you?" Cloud asked angrily. "Well, I was gunna, but everyone told me yeh were too busy, that yeh'd snap if I bugged yeh. I was gunna wait till yeh were done, but I geyess now is as good a time as eveh."
"Ok, whatever. Who applied, and who failed? Those that failed might be willing to defect to our side," Cloud said, now enthusiastic at the prospect of extra hands. "Weyell, there were many of yer garden-variety Shin-Ra troops, and there were some 3rd and 2ND Class SOLDIERs in there too. There were also two from the higha-ups: another Ex-Turks, and a Special-Operations unit."
"The Ex-Turks was a rather freaky head-case, actually. Went from being a Turks to being the President's Secret Guard. While the Later-than-late OLD MAN Shin-Ra was alive, no one touched him. The guy was asleep when the old fart died, and was kicked back to the Turks by Rufus. They couldn't handle him, so Hojo II gave him some heavy sedatives and had him carted off to Shin-Ra Mansion in much the same style we found Vince: stuffed in a coffin and locked in a basement from which he could not escape."
"Ok and the other?" Cloud asked, to which came Cait Sith's response, "Well, the other was the guard guys bruthah. Though they went by separate names when they left their hometown, they still claim to be bruthas. Anyway, he is a Special-Operations type, so very skilled with weapons, though he prefers close-range blade combat, much like yourself, Cloud."
"Ah, another swordsman, huh? This could get interesting. Ok, so where is the Special-Ops guy?" Cloud asked, getting the response, "He's in a Cryo-Stasis Chamber in the Shin-Ra Building." Cloud, now thinking hard, looked at Cait Sith and said, "OK, I want you to corral everyone that's left of the group and have them meet at the Bonfire Pit in fifteen minutes. Got it?"
"Crystal, Boss!" Said the mog-riding cat as he left, hopping off to his destination. Cloud sat at his desk, deep in thought. Fifteen minutes later, Barret, Red XIII, Cid, Vince, and Cait Sith were sitting at the pit, staring at Cloud.
"Ok, people," Cloud began, "Cait Sith has just given me some startling information. Rufus has finished his recruitment procedures." Everyone stood up and started shouting, each wanting an explanation; the only exceptions were Cait Sith, the source of Cloud's Intel, Red XIII, who remained ever-stoic, and Vince, who simply retained his quiet, calm composure. "QUIET!" Clod shouted, causing all who had risen to fall deathly silent; while they sat, he continued.
"Of the many that applied, two caught his attention, and mine, similarly. One is an ex-Turks, who was promoted to guarding the old man before his untimely death. The other is the Guard guy's brother, from Special-Ops. From what I hear, both are powerful, but both were rejected from the recruitment procedures. The Ex-Turks was sedated, sealed in a casket, and left in the basement room of Vince's mansion. The other was handed off to Hojo's son for testing and modifications. I say that we head off to the Shin-Ra Building first then take care of the brother. I'd like a show of hands. all for the Shin-Ra building?"
Cloud paused, reading four hands, then continuing, "And all for the mansion?" Including his own, Cloud counted two hands. "Ok," Cloud said, "Since I have been outnumbered, we'll be attacking the Shin-Ra headquarters tomorrow. I'll be taking Vince, for his expertise in clearing a hallway. I'll take Cid, for his demolitions expertise-"
"OH YEAH, $!" Cid shouted joyously, as Cloud continued, "- Barret for his weapons,-" "HELL YEYEH! BRING ON SOME SHINRA JERKS!" Barret shouted. Cloud continued, "And I'll be taking the three new girls, for observational purposes."
"Cloud, ah yeh nuts?" Barret shouted, standing, "You haven't even inducted them yet! Now you wanna kill them by sending them in there unprepared?!" "Trust me Barret," Cloud replied, "If what Vince has told me is true, I won't need to worry about them. Now, Barret, Cid, Go and get yourselves prepared. I'm going to go and ask the girls if they are ready."
As everyone left the bonfire, Cloud walked over to the girls' tent, only to be blocked by Cid. "Ya know Cloud, Barret has a point," Cid said, looking and sounding worried, "What if they aren't ready? I mean, they just got here. We shouldn't be throwing them into missions this fast!"
Cloud thought this over for a minute, then said, "You know Cid, you may just be right." Cid's face lit up considerably, and then fell to a rage-filled scowl as Cloud continued, "But I think my way is better. So, I'll do things my way, if you don't mind." As Cloud walked off Cid began furiously screaming, prompting Vince to act as a restraint.
THE NEXT DAY…
Cloud woke up early, corralling Cid, Barret, Vince, Sam, Clover and Alex, and hustled everyone into the buggy. As they drove, Cloud began asking questions. "So, girls," he said, "Where do you hail from? What city are you from?"
"Well," Sam said, "We are from a place that is not of this world." "WHOA!" shouted Cid, "YOU MEAN TO TELL MEH YOU'RE F&$ ANGELS!!?" Clover giggled, while Alex blushed. "No," Sam said, her face turning its own bright shade of red, "We aren't angels. We are from a world called Earth, on a continent called North America. We hail, more specifically, from a small town called Los Angeles, in the state of California, within the United States of America."
"So," Cloud repeated, "You are from Los Angeles, California, USA, North America, all of Planet Earth?" Clover, amazed that Cloud could name off everything, said, "Yes! exactly!" to which Cloud replied, "Ok, that's believable."
"YEH, ALONG WITH FLYING REACTORS AND THE TOOTH FAIRY!-(remind you of a certain orange haired Soul Reaper? hehe) Hehe, fairy. hahe," Cid laughed as he finished his sentence. Cloud asked another question. "Where do you work? and if you do, who for?" Alex piped up, and said, "We work for WOOHP, The World Organization of Human Protection, under our boss. we can contact him, if you like!"
Cloud perked up, and said, "Sure! hook up your comm. device to my PHS. I charged it the second it died, a week ago." Cloud pulled his PHS from its pocket, and handed it to Alex, who connected it to her X-Powder, and rang up Gerry.
"Oh, hello girls!" Gerry said, upon seeing them, "How are things going?" "Great, Gerry!" Clover exclaimed, "Cloud here invited us to join his team!" "You mean to tell me that you're defecting to another spy institute? I thought we'd given you everything!? Put this "Claude" on the phone, I want a word with him!" Gerry screamed crossing his arms as Clover handed the phones to Cloud, who set them up in a holder.
"Alright, You have me on the phone, Gary, what do you want?" Cloud said, his request brining great displeasure to Gerry. "IT'S GERRY, NOT GARY! NOW, WHAT DID YOU OFFER MY GIRLS IN EXCHANGE FOR DEFECTION?" Gerry shrieked, almost deafening everyone. "FIRST, IF YOU WANT ME TO SAY YOUR NAME RIGHT, YOU'D BETTER SAY MINE RIGHT! IM CLOUD, NOT CLAUDE! AS IN CLOUDS IN THE SKY! AND SECOND, I DIDN'T OFFER THEM ANYTHING! THEY SAW THE STATE OF AFFAIRS OUT HERE, AND JOINED OF THEIR OWN WILL!" Cloud shouted back, equally loud, to which Gerry replied, "STOP SHOUTING!"
Cloud, not wanting to be told what to do, yelled back, "NO, YOU STOP SHOUTING!" the two gave each other a ten second death-glare, and then turned. The rest of the ride went quite loudly, with Gerry making an occasional comment and Cloud retorting loudly, before they arrived at their destination. At that point, Cloud unhooked the PHS from Alex's X-Powder, and turned off the phone.
"Well, girls, I hate to leave you," Gerry said, then quietly, "really, I do," to which Cloud shouted, "HEY! I HEARD THAT!". "Anyway, I hate to leave you, but I have WOOHP matters to attend to. So long!" Gerry finished, and his image left the tiny device as it closed. "Well, Girls, here we are!" Cloud said, as the buggy arrived at the gates of Sector Five.
Stepping out and staring at the tall building, the girls, for once in their lives, felt truly small. "Hey! we need to get moving. Cid has a plan to open up an entrance to the building from below. Cid, Get to work. We'll give you some room," Cloud said, getting a negative reply from Cid.
"Yeh, well, you'd better stay over here then. I made a friend in here the last time we came. It shouldn't take too long to get in and set up the BOMB," Cid said, before running over to the gate, knocking out the only guard, and proceeding through the gate. A few minutes passed, and then Cloud got a call on the PHS.
"HEY SPIKEY!" Cid shouted, as he appeared on and off the screen, with sounds of punching and kicking and slashing filling the air. "Cid? What's going on in there?" Cloud asked, to which Cid stated, "I got ambushed! Rufus was expecting us, and set up a trap in Sector Five so we wouldn't escape!" Suddenly, Cid's face gained a look of shock and pain, and the screen tilted sideways. Then, as it left his face, a new one showed: that of Rufus Shin-Ra!
"So, Cloud, You figured that you could barge in here, blow a hole in my corporate building, and kill of my entire army. HA! and again, HA! You thought wrong. I now have your friend, Kid was it?"
"As a matter of fact, Dogface, It's Cid, and you won't have him for long!" Cloud said, hanging up. "Seeing as Cid put a silent GPS tracer in each phone, we should be able to track him. Vince," Cloud said, "Take Barret and get in there, clear the halls, and meet us at the fiftieth floor for mandatory regroup. I'm getting the girls some combat practice."
As Barret and Vince nodded and took off, Clover asked, "Cloud, exactly what is this about?" "oh, if you three are anything like what I saw when you destroyed Rufus and the Turks, you'll be just fine. now let's go. Who's knows what they'll do to Cid and what they'll get out of him."
They dashed to the building, the front door of which Cloud slashed open, and entered with little problem. The receptionist, however, winked at Cloud and pushed a button, setting off an alarm that told everyone to get out. After the alarm was turned off, two armed guards rushed from elevators and to the desk, where they asked about the alarm.
"Oh, don't worry about it. It was a false alarm." Cloud jumped from behind the opposite side of the desk and made short work of the guards, decapitating each in seconds. "Thanks, Harriet. That was great. Nice move on the alarm," Cloud said, leaning in and gently kissing the receptionist's cheek, causing her to blush a slight shade of red. "T-t-thanks, Cloud," she said, turning away and asking, "When do I get to defect?" "Anytime you want, Harriet. Just give me the word, and I'll send someone to get you." She smiled and returned to her work as Cloud and the girls rushed to the now active elevators.
"Say, Cloud," Sam said, her curiosity getting the better of her, "How do you know that receptionist?" "Oh, you mean Harriet?" Cloud asked, pushing open the large metal doors of the elevator with ease, "I saved her from a bunch of rapist thugs a while back, and she offered me money in return. I said "No", so she offered me her services as an inside gal in the Shin-a Corp. So, I accepted, and now she wants to fully defect to our side."
"And you're just going to let her?" Alex asked, slightly worried. "I don't see a reason why she can't," he continued, "Especially after the 'extra' service she gave me that one time. In fact, I'm going to wok this a different way. One of you will stay behind and guard her. If more guards come-" "AHHHH!" came a feminine scream from around the corner, prompting cloud to quickly throw his blade towards the desk, nailing the head of the guard who was now holding Harriet by the throat. The guard fell, releasing Harriet from his grasp, and she ran to Cloud with his sword in her hand. "Thanks once again, Cloud," she said timidly, before leaning in and passively flashing him before leaving to her desk. "Well, that was awfully… chummy of her to do that," Clover said, as Cloud lead the way into the elevator and up. "Well, I did mention that she gave me some "extra service", didn't I?" Cloud asked, staying silent as the elevator went up.
Well, this chapter would have been far too big if I'd posted it this way, so, I'll be making a second part to it to finish things off. Again, thanks to everyone who reads and reviews this, and hopefully that's exactly what you'll do! Please R&R, Flames are welcomed.