Chapter 15 – The Man of the Hour

The cloaked figure atop the mountain strode towards the two stone markers and looked down while laughing to himself. Pulling away the hood, Reno let the water seep into his hair as his bangs fell about his face. "Y'know Tseng," He spoke to the marker on the left. "I remember your funeral was a lot nicer than mine. More rain for sure." He jammed his hands in his pockets and started to walk away. "Don't worry though buddy. It was a close call this time, and I'm running outta luck. I think we'll run into each other again up here soon enough. But I've got to go for now. Can't miss my ride."

Moving up the stairs of the Pagoda, Yuffie looked more than a little hesitant about the questioning she was bound to receive. Only a few reassuring pushes in the back from Cloud and Tifa ensure her complete ascent. Reaching the top with her companions in tow, Yuffie slowly pushed in the doors that stood in front of her.

"Uhh, hey Godo."

"Yuffie, where have you been?" The girl cringed at the harsh tone and Godo regretted it instantly. "I'm sorry, are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Yuffie relaxed a little. "Godo, listen. I'm going to need to go away again for a while. There's something I need to... take care of."

Godo's disapproving gaze lingered on his daughter before shifting. "Cloud."

"Yes, Lord Godo." Cloud stepped forward and bowed politely.

"You will take care of my little girl, won't you?" Yuffie frowned at the designation.

"Just as she'll take care of us."

Godo smiled softly at the answer where Yuffie beamed. "Very well." Godo stood up and approached Yuffie. Then he wrapped his arms around her.

"Godo, what the hell?" Yuffie blushed, and looked around for help.

"Please, be careful." He whispered to his daughter.

Hesitantly, she returned the hug. "Yeah Dad... I will."

Spotting AVALANCE and his partners leaving the Pagoda, Reno briefly considered surprising them right there. 'No.' He thought. 'As long as they think I'm dead, so does that Kassidy guy and his men.' So instead of hopping down, Reno hurried up the ladder even faster, moving quickly to his little corner in the storage room to wait. 'I hope the dog doesn't blow it.'

Minutes later, AVALANCHE entered the Highwind and prepared to depart. Sniffing as subtly as possible, Red stood outside a particular storage room and looked helplessly up at the keypad.

"Now what are you doing?" Yuffie walked over beside Red and scratched behind his ear. Red purred lightly for a moment before shaking her hand off.

"I was considering the best course of action for opening this contraption."

"Oh, well here you go." Deftly, Yuffie opened the door for her thumb-less friend. As the door slid open, Reno pushed himself harder into his corner and attempted to disappear into the shadows. "Whatcha need in here anyway?" Yuffie looked around the dark room.

"I'm looking for a particular text on the principals behind a certain theory of cellular -." Yuffie cut him off.

"Nevermind, I don't want to know." Moving quickly, Yuffie was soon out of sight. Reno relaxed a little as Red made his way over. Sitting down, the beast regarded him curiously for a moment.

"Now just how did you survive? Or get in here for that matter."

"Oh no, I'm not telling That story more than once. You can hear it when everybody else does."

"Very well. And why do you hide your presence. It would relieve Elena, Rude and Yuffie greatly.

"Yeah, I know." Reno looked off into the distance for a second. "But I won't give up the element of surprise so easily." Red nodded in understanding, and Reno let out a quiet laugh. "Sides, how often do you get the chance to attend your own funeral."

Having left Jon with the Canyon guard, Cloud, Vincent, Cid and Rude walked through the streets of Cosmo Canyon, towards the eternal flame.

"So how do you think this little mission to Gongaga is gonna go?" Cid asked, spear on his shoulder and cigarette in mouth.

Cloud shrugged. "Not too sure. What do you two think?"

This time it was Rude's turn to shrug while Vincent answered. "With proper preparations I don't see there being a problem. But then again, we have no idea what we're really getting into, and these lunatics have Hojo's notes."

"So really, anything can happen?" Cid asked.

"Basically."

Cid ground the cigarette out as he walked. "God damn."

Cloud nodded. "Well whatever happens, we need to get a little sleep tonight. Everybody rest up, and we'll consider things in the morning. Who knows? Maybe Alexander will co-operate.

In her lab, Dr. Howari stared intently at the bubbling liquid with the giant tube, the chiseled frame of the body inside floating gently. With the push of a button, the mako solution bubbled more fiercely than ever. "Come on, come on." She breathed out loud. Inside the tube, muscles tensed, and eyes shot open wide. "My Lord..." Howari released the breath she hadn't realized she held. "His eyes are still so beautiful."

The doctor flipped a few switches to drain the tank and open it. Hitting the nearby radio as the body gently slumped to the ground, Howari relayed a message. "Davis, you have to get over here." She couldn't contain her excitement. "He... He's awake."

"What? Already?" The static of the radio could not hide his surprise.

"Yes. And..." She looked back at the awakening form. "I think it worked."

Alexander was woken in the dead of night by his personal phone going off in his ear. Swearing lightly, he collected himself quickly and cleared his throat before answering.

"Yes?"

"Sorry to wake you, sir."

"It's fine Davis, I was awake anyway. Still, what is it?"

"The subject has awoken." The voice on the other end offered.

"Wonderful." A bright smile crept onto Alexander's face. "I'm on my way down. How's he look?"

"Better than we could ever hope." Davis hung up the phone at his end and looked over to his friend, Dr. Howari sitting patiently with the aforementioned subject, holding his hand gently.

"Do you remember who you are?" She asked softly.

"Yes." The answer was cold and calculating. Davis found it particularly unfeeling.

"Do you remember where you are from?"

"No." Again, the same effect.

Howari took in a deep breath and prepared herself. "And... do you remember me?"

The figure in the chair stared hard at her, his long hair carelessly obscuring his vision. "No."

Dr. Howari bit her lip slightly and nodded slowly. Standing up, she walked over to Davis.

"So how much does he remember?" He asked quietly.

"About exactly what was expected. He can tell you anything was engrained into his mind as instinct, like his identity and baser skills, even if he doesn't realize it yet. With a little prodding, any of his former memories can be restored."

"Even the ones we don't want."

"Yes, precaution as to the stimulus around him would be advisable."

Upon completing her suggestion, Howari looked over Davis' shoulder and watched Corin Alexander enter the room, striding over to them confidently. "Well, well." He clapped his hands together excitedly. "Look at this, not a problem in sight." Corin reached out to touch the man's face. In an instant, the hand was intercepted, and Alexander found himself turned around, facing Howari and Davis with his assailant's arm pushing against his throat.

"Stop and sit down." Howari's orders came in a loud, sharp and commanding tone. With a rage flashing in his eyes, and seemingly fighting the movements mentally, the subject released Alexander and sat back down.

Alexander, for his part, looked even more excited. "And the mental dampening is working like a charm. All right, let's get him in the gym. There's a small squad waiting already."

Stepping into A.E.C's personal gym, Howari, Davis and Alexander led their special "guest" in quietly. Those of the squadron already at the training mats who recognized him were immediately wary.

"Alright," Alexander spoke directly to the squad leader. "Try to take him down."

"Me, sir?"

"No, not just you." He addressed the whole group now. "All of you."

The group of soldiers looked surprised, and certainly a little hesitant as their assigned target settled into an easy fighting stance. The leader stepped forward confidently. "No problem sir." He held up his hand. "Let's go guys. And try not to go too hard on him."

With that order, the group of eleven attacked brutally. Three were down within the first two seconds. The subject's fighting style was amazing, both fluid and strong. Perfected. He weaved through the group of men easily, striking when the opportunity presented itself, the blow that followed easily removing its target from the fight. Even when an attack slipped through his defenses due to the group's sheer numbers, the target paid it no mind, often the contact barely seeming to register. Quicker than Alexander could have ever hoped, the fight was over.

As Alexander congratulated Dr. Howari, Davis, and his new charge, Kassidy stood in the far entrance to the gym. "Hmph." He scoffed. "He's not that good..." Shaking his head, Kassidy was gone.

"Alright, here's the best I could come up with." Cloud and his companions sat around the eternal flame, with the rising sun shadowing the entire Canyon. All preparations had been completed, and all that remained was the initial planning as Cloud proceeded to explain. "We're going to go with the two teams in Gongaga. The first will consist of myself, Tifa, Cid, Red and Yuffie. We're going in the front door to try and talk to Alexander himself, and get some straight answers if we can. It will be hard to ignore us with three major city leaders. Obviously, that isn't going to get us shit-all." Cid chuckled. "Which means Vincent, Rude, and Elena, you guys are on your own to sneak in and get some real information for us."

"Don't you think they'll be a little curious as to why we aren't with you?" Elena asked.

"Yes, but Vincent isn't too against disappearing off on his own occasionally, and it's plausible that we wouldn't be working with the Turks." Cloud answered. "It's the best group with the least suspicion."

"They'll still be looking for us." Vincent added.

"Yeah, but I'm going to be carrying a big fucking sword with me, so they'll probably want to keep an eye on that. It's the best we can do... You'll find a way in?" Rude nodded. "Good, let's go."

"Sir, we've had some reports of AVALANCHE's Highwind departing from Cosmo Canyon. It looks like they're headed our way." Kassidy reported.

"I wonder what they could possibly want." Alexander's sarcasm was pointedly blatant. "Try to stay out of sight until the opportune moment, would you?"

"Good luck you guys." Cloud shouted over the roar of the wind on the deck of the Highwind. "We'll be going in at 11 o' clock. The best time for you to infiltrate is going to be anytime soon after that."

Vincent, Rude and Elena stood at the edge of the deck and looked out towards the upcoming city of Gongaga. Approaching the city limits and the edge of the surrounding forest quickly, Rude gave a thumbs up and vaulted himself over the railing, followed immediately by Vincent and Elena. Cloud went back inside to the rest of AVALANCHE.

"They're off."

"Good, we'll be touching down soon." Cid spoke around his cigarette.

"AVALANCHE is approaching the building sir." Davis walked beside his boss. "They are missing Barret Wallace, Vincent Valentine, and both Turks."

"Alright, let's go and meet them." Alexander entered the elevator. "No sign of the missing?"

"It's very likely they left Wallace in Corel after the injuries he sustained."

"Hmm, interesting... Look into that would you. And the rest?"

"Well, they did not exit the airship, and none of the Highwind crew fit their descriptions as they exited. We'll increase security nonetheless."

"You do that." The elevator doors opened to reveal A.E.C's lobby. "Mr. Strife, Ms. Lockheart, Lady Kisaragi, Mr. Highwind and Mr. Nanaki. To what honor do I owe the appearances of the Planet's saviors?" Alexander addressed them all with a charming smile.

"We'd actually like to take a look around, if you don't mind." Cloud requested strongly.

"Always on the lookout for a new Shin-ra huh? Well, of course, come in. We have nothing to hide here."

"Good, thank you."

"You know, I really hate mid-day espionage. Makes things so complicated." Elena received no answers as her group approached the A.E.C. building down a side alley. "I mean, I guess we'll just go through a window or something, but still..." Again, no answer. "Not talking to myself here."

"That's enough." Vincent spoke, bringing them to a stop in clear sight of their destination. "I don't see much of an outdoor patrol."

"No, to have a lot of guards outside of a legitimate power company would only prove to add suspicion." Rude supplied an explanation. "I doubt the interior will be so lax."

Five stories above them, Reno leaned low over the edge of the roof, watching over his friends. Discarding the spare mechanic's overalls Red had brought him to slip off of the Highwind, Reno dusted off his suit leg. 'Good thing I swung by home in Wutai.' He thought, looking at his companions conversing with Vincent. Reno smirked. "So this is where you three got off to. Alright Valentine, let's see how those Turk skills have held up. I'm following you three the whole way." He smiled to himself. "Anything you can do, I can do better." When Vincent led them across the street and up through a window, Reno wasn't far behind. "I can do anything better than you."

"So why is it you have all these guards running around in here anyway?" Cid asked of Alexander. "Something' got you scared shitless?"

"No, not at all," The president answered. "But Gongaga's police force operates out of this building."

"That's a lot of police."

"Sometimes the world needs a lot of policing." Alexander smiled. "Is there anything in particular you would like to see next?"

"Research laboratories." Cloud crossed his arms smugly.

"Of course, right this way please."

Four floors below them, Vincent and the Turks had made their way into Dr. Howari's lab, Rude carrying two unfortunate guards that had been unavoidable.

"Elena." Rude ordered. "Find out what you can from the computer."

"You got it." The two Turks moved to the computer in tandem, leaving Vincent to physically search the lab. "Yeah, it's all here, everything we had and..." She scrolled down. "A little more... oh shit."

"What?"

"They're already done."

"That's right." The Turks looked up at Dr. Howari standing in the doorway. "You're too late. I'm sorry."

"Kaylynn?" Rude actually looked and sounded surprised. Surprised enough that he didn't notice the dark blur behind him until it was too late. Rude's world went black as he collapsed. A sickening thud followed immediately after and Elena was unconscious atop him.

"And here we are." Alexander led them into the lab. However, the moment they entered, Red started growling. Then the rest of the group saw the felled bodies of Rude and Elena and drew their weapons.

"What the fuck?" Cid exclaimed.

Alexander laughed. "Well this is what you were looking for, isn't it?" Suddenly, a crash and a spray of glass covered the room as Vincent's limp body was propelled through the window of the examination room door, rolling to a stop near Cid's feet. "And there's the man of the hour now."

Cloud looked visibly shaken. "Oh God..." His voice was hoarse. The raven black hair swept neatly over the immaculate blue suit as the assailant walked into the room calmly, picking up Vincent's gun as he walked by. "Tseng?"

"Yes, the ever skilled, new and improved leader of the Turks." Corin's voice was far away. He had retreated back to the elevator, Kassidy now standing between them, waving with his knife. "Have fun."