Chapter 16 – It's Lights Out Now

AVALANCHE quickly spread out as their two attackers launched a vicious assault. In as high-paced a battle as this, materia became virtually useless as the heroes found themselves relying on their physical strength alone. Cloud dealt with Kassidy himself, the Ex-SOLDIER's berserker style keeping him head-to-head with the incredible speed and strength of the Captain. Red, Yuffie, Tifa and Cid instead concentrated on the newest threat to their lives as Tseng struck incredibly fast.

As Cloud's sword tore through the air, Kassidy was on his heels, incredibly avoiding each deadly arc of the blade. Lunging with his knife, Kassidy only caught the cloth of Cloud's uniform as the leader of AVALANCHE was saved by a desperate twist to the side. Swinging again, Kassidy's knife was intercepted and discarded by the blunt edge of the buster sword as Cloud kicked out his opponent's leg. The sudden shift in balance was enough for Kassidy to falter, but not fall as he managed to dive backwards, the sharp bite of Cloud's sword tearing lightly into his chest. Looking down at the minor damage, Kassidy smiled. "Alright, let's turn this up a notch."

Tseng's first target was Tifa as he opened with a devastating roundhouse that surprised the woman, her late block barely absorbing the damage. Only the intrusion of Cid's jabbing spear disallowed Tseng to follow the attack up, forcing him to deal with the pilot instead. Deflecting the spear to the side, and ducking to avoid Yuffie's assault, Tseng faced a feral Red tearing right for him. Twisting deftly to the side, Red soared past Tseng harmlessly. Suddenly, with incredibly speed, Tseng was again even with Red in the air, his fist connecting solidly with the fire beast's ribs and vaulted him across the room. Intercepting Tifa's fist, Tseng flipped over his head and attempted to bury her in the ground. Turning her body and rolling with the impact allowed Tifa to quickly regain her feet as she attacked, coupled with both Cid and Yuffie, Red still slow to get up. Instead of backing up defensively, Tseng rushed the trio, a flurry of punches and kicks fending off the group. Yuffie and Tifa's training allowed them to remain relatively unharmed, while Cid's luck and desperate dives kept him out of harm's way.

If Cloud had thought Kassidy was fast before, he simply couldn't believe it now. Previously, Cloud had no problems dealing with the soldier in a one on one situation, even forcing him to remain on the defensive. Now, Kassidy upped his speed, flashing through Cloud's attacks and landing sound blows. Reeling back from a kick to his chest, Cloud readied himself and concentrated. In a furious rage, Strife's sword wove an incredible pattern through the air, taxing his strength and speed to the utmost. The reckless abandon proved enough to counter even Kassidy's attacks, as A.E.C's military leader found himself again on the defensive. Putting some distance between him and Cloud, Kassidy laughed. "Would you look at this." He gestured to Cloud, still dancing away from the savage attack. "And they say you took down Sephiroth. You can barely handle me. Another couple minutes and you'll be too tired to even lift that thing. The stories are a lie. You're not Half the man the general was." With a growl of anger, Cloud pushed himself to the limit.

Tifa hit the ground hard as her legs were swept out from under her, Tseng proceeding to pummel Cid with well-aimed punches. The pilot hit the ground in a heap, but managed to roll away from the heel kick that was intended to crush his skull. Yuffie too had no chance in her attack, as Tseng moved within the range of her swipe, a blunt palm striking her in the solar plexus. Head reeling, Yuffie dropped to a knee and coughed while Tifa tried to get between Tseng and her young friend. Tifa's foot slipped by Tseng's guard and connected with his ribs, forcing a gust of breath from the ex-Turk's lungs, as he doubled over momentarily. Bringing her elbow down to impact the base of his skull, Tifa was suddenly lifted into the air. In a movement she hadn't even been able to follow, Tseng had gotten behind her and picked her up over his head. Tossing her over a desk, Tifa crashed into a groggy Cid, bringing them both to the ground. Tseng spun quickly, reaching into his jacket and drawing the gun he had taken from Vincent's unconscious body earlier, levelling it at Yuffie as she struggled to rise. With no expression, Tseng cocked the gun and Yuffie's head shot up, their eyes meeting. Where his eyes were a cold brown, her's held a defiant fear.

The kick landed solidly in Tseng's temple, throwing him to the side as the gun went off, the bullet harmlessly destroying a computer. Shaking his head, Tseng was blasted with a blue energy, both stunning him and pitching him into a nearby specimen containment cell. Reno rushed over before Tseng's muscles could stop contracting from the electricity and sealed the chamber.

"Reno?" Yuffie's surprised yell overtook the room. "How-"

Reno cut her off, all business. "Not now. Strife, get them the fuck out of here, I'll deal with Kassidy."

Kassidy and Cloud both stopped to digest this new development. With a nod, Cloud sheathed his sword and lifted Rude onto his shoulders. "AVALANCHE, time to go. Cid, grab Vincent, Tifa, get Elena."

"So you think you can stop me boy?" Kassidy smugly approached Reno. "You don't stand a chance in hell."

Watching Cloud and the others rush up the emergency exit stairwell, Yuffie and Red leading the way, Reno merely smirked. "Hey, I don't need to stop you. I just need to slow you down."

Reaching the 1st floor lobby, Yuffie and Red were met with a hail of gunfire. Finding cover quickly, they signalled for Cloud and the rest to stay back. Yuffie reached into her pouch and pulled out a small object.

"I suggest you give up." AVALANCHE could hear Davis' voice from behind some embankment. "There's really no way for you to get past the fifty plus guards we have up here. You have 30 seconds to surrender."

Vincent and Rude regained consciousness at nearly the same time, Elena being woken up by her partner quickly after.

Cloud spoke quickly. "Alright, we've got a bit of a situation here. Are you all able to fight?"

He received three quick nods in the affirmative. Looking over to Yuffie, he noticed a red glint now shining in her weapon. Giving her a quick wink of understanding, Cloud drew his sword, as the rest gathered their weapons.

Kassidy moved fast, circling Reno and not providing a stationary target. "You Turks are jokes. Always lurking in the shadows, never fighting like men. Nothing like a real solider."

"Oh yeah?" Reno smirked. "Then why is your secret weapon my boy Tseng here?" He nodded towards the complacent Tseng standing helplessly in the containment cell, waiting to be let out.

"Not my decision. If it were up to me, it would have been Sephiroth... Then you and your useless friends would already have been slaughtered. The man was a God."

"And why not him?" Reno took a shot at Kassidy's head, the soldier moving swiftly to dodge the bullet.

"That bitch Howari fed us some crap about Sephiroth being too hard to control. 'Look at what happened to Shin-ra' she said. And that lovesick tool Alexander actually bought it. It was her idea to bring back Tseng, not ours."

"Wait..." Reno was surprised. "Kaylynn Howari?"

"Yep. Tseng's wife." And Kassidy attacked.

"You are running out of time AVALANCHE. Please surrender without any bloodshed." Davis implored.

Receiving the go-ahead from Cloud, Yuffie began concentrating, the tiny red materia glowing strongly in her weapon. Then with a giant roar, the great water beast Leviathan materialized in front of A.E.C's frightened soldiers. As the tidal wave rolled over them, knocking their bodies and weapons about, AVALANCHE and the Turks emerged from their cover and rushed the soldiers, spreading out and fighting wildly.

The moment Leviathan had appeared, Davis took off running, knowing full well of the power Summon materia possessed. Reaching the elevator, Davis heard the screams of his men behind them as the magical water slammed into them. Hitting the button for the top floor, he shook his head. "Alexander is going to be pissed."

Reno was doing what he could to fend off Kassidy's attack, the fight quickly becoming close quarters and making his handgun useless. Reno's fist shot out in a quick jab, knocking Kassidy's head back as Reno's nightstick came across and hit him square in the neck. Kassidy hit the ground and rolled away, but when he got back to his feet, he only saw Reno's back as he raced up the stairs, taking two or three at a time. Shaking his head with a smile, Kassidy spoke to himself. "What a pussy..." Then, like a shot, he was off.

Reno barrelled up the stairs, past surprised guards who didn't have the time to even bring their guns to bear before he was past them. No sooner had they begun to give chase however, that Kassidy was throwing them out of his way, in his own deadly pursuit. Reno, with Kassidy at his heels, reached the ground floor and crashed through a window, into a nearby and empty parking lot outside. Rolling through the half inch of water that had already collected on the pavement, Reno was soaked in a torrential downpour by the time he got to his feet. Kassidy, just as wet, wasn't far behind him. The storm fell around them, lightning and thunder crashing through the air above.

"Fuck, does it have to be raining everywhere I go now?" Reno spoke to himself. "Alright Kassidy." This time he addressed the man facing him. "Let's settle this... No guns, knives or any weapons. Just a little one on one."

"Hah. You just want out cause your precious nightstick would kill you if you used it in this water..." Kassidy knew exactly what Reno was playing at. "But, very well. It will be more fun to tear you apart myself anyway."

Ducking back behind some appropriate cover, Cid pulled a small radio out of his bomber jacket. "Hey, get the Highwind the fuck outta Gongaga... we've got trouble."

The voice came back lightly broken through the static. "Already gone Captain. We left as soon as the storm picked up."

Cid looked at the device in disbelief. "You did that yourself? Maybe y'all aren't God damn useless after all. Alright, we'll call for a pick up when we can." Releasing the button and tossing the radio into his jacket, Cid readied his spear. "Let's go, boys and girls. Time to head 'er."

Cloud pushed forward, swinging madly with his sword and quickly dispatching anyone foolish enough to stand before him. At Cid's call however, he and the rest of his companions dropped back to the pilot. Covered by the rest, Yuffie cast her spell. As the green, burning power of Ultima tore ahead of them, it tossed their enemies about mercilessly before blowing out the entire front wall of the A.E.C. building. Wasting no time, AVALANCHE and the Turks followed in the path of destruction, Cloud barking out directions. "We need two vehicles. Cid, Tifa, Vincent come with me. Red, Yuffie, Rude, Elena in the other.

"What about Reno?" Yuffie asked, her voice tainted with worry.

"Reno? What?" A confused Elena let out.

"You four get him, we'll buy what time we can."

"What's this about Reno?" Elena yelled again.

Reno jabbed quickly at Kassidy's head only to meet air. Blocking the elbow aimed for his temple, Reno grabbed the attached arm and used it to pull Kassidy forward, planting a knee in his chest. Shrugging off the blow, Kassidy rammed his fist into Reno's stomach, doubling the Turk over. A solid kick cracked against Reno's skull as he was forced into the shallow pool that surrounded them. Pushing himself up, Reno wiped wet hair out of his eyes as he stared at a smiling Kassidy.

"You're doing quite good you know."

Reno breathed deep. "Bite me."

Kassidy shot forward quickly and Reno was barely able to deflect the attack. 'He's getting confident.' Reno thought as he warded off another fist. 'Making him sloppy.' Ducking a wide roundhouse kick, Reno punched viciously into Kassidy's throat and kicked out his knee, taking the larger man down to a kneel. Bringing his heel across Kassidy's face, Reno took him down even harder. As Kassidy lay on his back in the rain and water, Reno drove his knee down into his stomach hard before laying into the pinned man with heavy blows repeatedly. Wailing away on him, a large gash opened above Kassidy's eye before he tossed Reno easily off. As they both scrambled to their feet, Reno was laughing. "Yeah." He coughed. "What the fuck now?"

Kassidy did not look impressed as he wiped the blood away from his eyes. "No more games. It's lights out now." Kassidy cranked up his effort and speed. Easily moving faster than Reno could defend, Kassidy's fist drove into Reno's side with a sickening crack. "Hear that boy? Broken rives floating up into your lungs." Another blur of motion and Reno felt a devastating blow to his chest. "There's your sternum. Pop." Reno began to topple backwards when he was caught and held up by Kassidy. With mako burning in his eyes, Kassidy let loose with a flurry of speed punches that rocked Reno's skull. "Hear those little booms? No, those aren't just the sound of concussions reeling your brain. That's the sound of my fists breaking the speed barrier." This time Kassidy allowed Reno to fall flat on his back, looking up into the dark sky dazed. Kassidy grabbed him by the hair and pulled him to his knees. "See boy." Kassidy drew his fist back. "You never stood a chance. "

"Maybe." Reno coughed up blood. "Maybe not." He reached for his nightstick with a smirk playing mischievously across his face.

"You crazy bastard." Kassidy laughed. "You'd try to kill us both just to stop me? It's not in you."

"Well..." Reno charged the nightstick up. "Gotta take one for the team sometimes." Driving the end of it into Kassidy's body, their worlds erupted in white.

Smashing the windows almost simultaneously of twin jeeps, Cid and Rude slid through and unlocked the doors before quickly hotwiring the cars. Cloud tossed Elena a radio. "Find Reno, we'll contact you for updates. For now, just head towards the Canyon." Without waiting for an answer, Cloud jumped in the jeep and they were gone, headed towards their pursuers to draw attention.

"Go, go, go." Yuffie frantically yelled.

Kassidy came to quickly enough, his body still smoking and aching horribly. Trying to shake his head clear as his muscles involuntarily contracted again, he got up to his feet shakily and looked over at the mass of blue suit on the ground ahead of him.

"Fuck." Kassidy swore as he stumbled. "If I can barely stand, what the hell did that do to you?" He asked while walking up to the body, not expecting an answer. Nor did he expect his feet to be swept out, as he hit the pavement hard, too exhausted to get up. In front of him, Reno stood up holding his ribs lightly. "How the hell?" Kassidy was in disbelief.

Reno smirked and showed Kassidy his left hand as he toyed with the Bolt Ring on it. "You don't think I'd ever let myself get tagged by my own weapon do you? You fucking tool."

"No!" Kassidy yelled. "I can't be beaten by you." He writhed in the water, trying to get up. "Not by a mere Turk!"

Reno stepped on his chest and forced him back down while he drew his gun with a smirk. "Sorry buddy... 'It's lights out now.'" Three gunshots resounded throughout the parking lot, as Kassidy finally stopped writhing.

Rude drove recklessly, all eyes in the jeep looking around the darkened area for a blue suit or a shock of red hair. Cutting a tight corner near where they had recently escaped from, Rude slammed on the brakes. "There!" He pointed and peeled off as well as he could towards the parking lot where Reno kneeled down, looking up at the sky. Pulling up beside him, Yuffie and Elena hopped out and desperately dragged Reno in before Rude sped away.

"Hey guys..." Reno said feebly with a smirk before coughing up more blood onto his soaked suit. "What's up?"

"Gawd Reno," Yuffie looked at him, tears in her and Elena's eyes. "You look all messed up."

"That's it? Good, cause I feel like I'm all fucked up... Awesome." And with that, Reno passed out.