Erick woke up, head pounding and unsurprisingly, in a holding cell.
He immediately knew Zack had carried his sleeping body there because he had at least placed him on the thin mattress that served as a bed over a concrete slab. Anyone else would've just toss him face-first on the floor. That didn't make the soreness of him arm and shoulder any better, as Zack had to restrain him harshly before rendering him unconscious.
He reached for the solid steel, windowless door and pounded it, the metallic echo of the knocking drilling into his aching head.
"Hey! Anyone!"
No answer came.
Erick sat in there for a long time, feeling significantly less optimistic about his career than the previous morning. But mostly about Dante. The image of the Turk, barely alive, being driven to the ER with a piece of metal stabbed through was burned on his mind as if with a branding iron. Was he OK? Had he… survived?
Tears began dropping to the floor with a muted sound, and only there did Erick notice he has been sniffling for some time. He didn't know how long he spent in there, as there were no windows and he had no PHS or watch. Eventually, a series of muffled steps approached the door before the loud bang of the locking bar being removed was heard. The chief of the Turks, followed by none other than Sephiroth, walked into the crammed cell. Erick stood in attention to his superior, doing his best to not look so defeated.
"I have been informed on your actions, SOLDIER. Insubordination, attempt to access restricted information and invasion of aircraft-landing space. Care to explain yourself?" Sephiroth said in monotone.
"I have no excuse, sir. Someone… Very important to me was injured… And I just needed to know… Sir..."
A looming silence fell over the room.
"I see. Veld, what would you do in my place with an insubordinate agent?"
"Well, that's an everyday happening," Veld said, thinking that just that morning he had found the coffee pot had been spiked with brandy, "but given that I have less agents to spare nowadays, I'd just put them on menial-task duty."
"Very, well. Until I deem you have learned to follow orders, SOLDIER, you will be doing whatever chief Veld asks of you," Sephiroth said before turning around and leaving.
"Wait, what!?" Veld exclaimed before turning and following the general. "Sephiroth! I have no use for a SOLDIER! He doesn't have the clearance to-!" The door shutting kept Erick from hearing the rest. Well, at least he wasn't being court-martialed. Erick sat again on the barely-there mattress to wait again.
He didn't have to wait too long, as less than an hour later, the door opened again to reveal Balto and Judet.
"All right SOLDIER, you're in luck. Chief Veld orders your presence!" The woman said.
Erick didn't have much experience dealing with her, but from what Dante had told him, she was someone he shouldn't make angry. Balto and Judet escorted him around the corner of the hallway and into their office. Turns out, he had been detained in the Turk's own private holding cells.
Balto led Erick into the office, where the Turks were assembled along with their chief. Everyone was speaking at the same time, making it impossible to know what were they even talking about. Tseng was busy trying to quiet the agents down: they seemed to be at various states of distress. Finally, all eyes turned to Veld, who continued speaking, his previous statements no doubt starting the disorder.
"As I was saying, we have been placed directly under Heidegger's command. President Shinra was more than likely convinced that the department cannot keep on operating as it had."
Tseng continued: "it seems that news of the latest casualties reached Heidegger's ears, and to deviate attention from how all this started with the SOLDIER mass desertion, he convinced President Shinra that having lost four agents-"
"Wait, four!?" Erick exclaimed from the back. He had tried to keep composure and ask about Dante when it was clear he was at least out of thin ice. "Where's Dante?"
Tseng sighed, not so much because of the interruption but because he was being interrupted by someone who shouldn't even be there.
"Ha! Told you so!" Judet exclaimed while examining her wristwatch.
"Dammit man! Couldn't'ya wait ten mo'minutes?" Ruluf exclaimed before handing Judet a 10 Gil bill.
"What? No! This is-! What happened to him!?" Erick said, trying to sound menacing, but his voice trembled a bit.
Veld seemed to hesitate a moment before finally answering: "he's in the ICU. He underwent surgery and received a heavy load of material-assisted-healing."
"Ran through a couple of healer's entire mana," Freyra interjected.
"Currently, he is in a medically-induced coma. Prognosis is positive for the moment," Tseng finished. All of them had spoken as they usually did: in a monotone that stated facts and nothing more.
"I'm sorry…" Erick muttered, feeling a knot in his throat.
Tseng examined him for a moment before speaking, "I understand that you and Dante are close. But before anything else, you are still a SOLDIER. Always keep in mind that your loyalties are to Shinra, and that we can't have any more incidents like this."
Erick nodded silently, wondering whether Tseng was right. He couldn't help feeling torn between his duty to Shinra and his loyalty to Dante. Erick knew that he needed to find a way to reconcile the two.
"That said, we need a poster boy!" Cissnei said, giving a complete one-eighty to the mood in the room.
"Huh?" Erick mumbled.
"As I was saying," Veld continued, "Heidegger has us under his thumb, and his first order was putting us to recruit new SOLDIERs to offset the losses from the mass desertion."
"Shinra cannot possibly wait a few months to run a complete recruiting program, so we've been tasked to find a few men, convince them to enlist and bring them here," Tseng said.
"And this is where you come in, yo!" Reno told Erick.
"What do you want me to do?"
"It's easy," Cissnei began, "we need a face for the SOLDIER recruitment. You are young, look good shirtless and have hand-to-hand combat experience. You'll be perfect for our plan!" She explained. This was a side of Cissnei Erick had only heard of from Dante: her businesswoman persona, who could concoct the most outrageous plans on the spot.
Erick looked around the room, trying to gauge the seriousness of the situation. He knew he had messed up badly and that he needed to prove himself to Veld if he had any chance to be taken seriously at SOLDIER again.
"And what happens if I refuse?" he asked, not to antagonize them, but merely to fathom how far they were willing to go.
"Well," Veld started, "you're a SOLDIER. You know what the consequences are for disobeying orders; and we are Turks, I'm pretty sure our reputation precedes us."
Erick nodded, understanding he had no say in it either way. "Alright, I'll do it," he said finally, determined to make the best of the situation.
"Good," Tseng said. "You'll start tomorrow. Report with Cissnei and Reno at 800 hours sharp."
"Now, please excuse us, we have things to do you don't have the clearance to ever hear," Balto said, pushing him out of the room. "Also, Dante is on room 303".
A mere second after the door shut on his face, Erick dashed to the medical wing. As he ran through the halls, Erick couldn't help but feel a sense of guilt and regret: now that he was mostly off the hook he re-analyzed the last few hours. Erick had let his emotions get the best of him, and now was caught in one of the Turks shady dealings. Who knew what hoops they were gonna make him jump so that he could regain his good standing. In any case, he knew better than disobeying orders again, so he promised himself that for the time being he would simply do as told and not question whatever happened next. For now, he needed to only focus on the task at hand.
When he arrived at the medical wing, Erick quickly made his way to room 303. He hesitated for a moment before pushing the door open, unsure of what he would see inside. To his relief, Dante was lying in a hospital bed, hooked up to various machines and monitors. Erick approached the bed and took a seat in the chair beside it. He sat there in silence for a while, simply watching Dante's chest rise and fall with each breath. There were several bruises on his face and the visible portions of his arms, but the swelling seemed to have subsided.
After some time, Erick spoke softly: "I'm sorry, man. I shouldn't have let you go to that mission. I hope you can forgive me." He sat there, lost in thought until a nurse informed him visiting hours were over.
The following morning, Erick reported as instructed. He entered the room and saw Reno in the middle of the room, reading from a report:
"…which caused and immediate fatal hemorrhage," he concluded. "Well, there you have it, yo."
"Damn, Chuck. I knew you had it in you," Cissnei said, looking up and tearing up a bit. "No broken bones. Pay up," she said to Ruluf.
"That pipsqueak got'me good," he said while handing Cissnei a couple bills.
"That's why you had us hear the coroner's report!?" Alvis exclaimed. "Your stupid bet!?"
Erick didn't know that rookie too well, but he was pretty much voicing Erick's own concerns.
"Ah come on! This is the least we can do to honor his memory, yo," Reno said before picking up a gray metal urn hitherto unnoticed by Erick. Reno began speaking to it: "Chuck, I'm sorry we never had a few too many beers together."
That said, he handed the urn to Freyra, who spoke to the object in question: "Chuck, you were by far my favorite rookie." She handed the urn to Ruluf.
"Buddy, 'm sorry I couldn't take ya to meet Madam'M," he handed it to Alvis.
He looked distraught at the whole situation. He inhaled sharply before passing it to Rude without saying a word. After him and Balto gave their own comments, Judet received the urn. She looked at it intently, a mixture of unknown emotions swirling in her face, she finally took a deep breath and shared her thoughts: "Chuck… You stupid, stupid kid. It wasn't long, but hope you had a blast," she handed it to Cissnei.
"Thank you for being here. You made our office a bit livelier… You still owe me 500 Gil for that helmet you lost. Goodbye." That said, Cissnei put the urn in a cardboard box, filled it with packing foam, taped it shut and pasted a label to have it shipped to Chuck's parents at Bone Village.
"Wait! Are you… I mean…!" Erick exclaimed. So much for not voicing his opinion or questioning what he saw.
"Well, yeah," Ruluf said.
"But… Just like that!?" Erick stuttered, not even knowing what exactly he wanted to address first.
"Well, it's express shipping," Judet said.
"No, he's got a point," Balto said.
"How could we be so insensitive?" Rude commented, sliding his glasses up.
Freyra stood up, picked something up from a drawer in a desk and walked to the box. "There. Now he can go in peace," she said lovingly
She had pasted a red 'fragile' label on the box.
"…" Erick was at a loss for words at the bizarre event he had just witnessed.
"Anyway, good you are here Erick. Let's go," Cissnei said. Immediately, Reno, Rude, Ruluf and Freyra joined them out of the office and through the hallways.
Much to Erick's surprise, they climbed aboard a helicopter and took off.
A few minutes into their flight Erick decided to ask: "what happened to Elena and Emma?"
A few uncomfortable shuffles happened.
"Emma was on-site with Dante and Chuck. She didn't make it," Freyra said.
"Elena had a… Bit of a breakdown. She's out of commission for the foreseeable future," Cissnei said through the intercom, looking out through the window.
"I'm sorry for your loss," Erick said.
"Occupational hazards," Rude said a bit dismissively.
No one spoke for around half an hour, when Erick finally decided to ask Cissnei the plan she had in store, while wondering why 'looking good shirtless' had to do with any of it:
"Well, the recruitment plan is simple: we are running a clandestine fight club!"
"What!?" Erick exclaimed.
"Ruluf and Reno have already set everything up. They lured several impressionable young men, many of them in poor economic standing, and a bunch of highschoolers into it," Cissnei explained.
"It's all for show, really, because you are gonna beat all of the contestants, yo," Reno said.
"They're gonna be stoked! All the raw power! The combat skills! A finely-trained mind and a matching body glistening in the spotlight!" Freyra pictured.
"Then we 'reveal' ya' as'a SOLDIER. And wham! Recruitment'office filled't'da brim," Ruluf said.
"Everyone will want to be a part of that display of-" Rude started before being cut by Erick.
"Wait a Gaia-dammed minute! You want me to beat up civilians!?" Erick exclaimed, scandalized.
"Pretty much, yeah," Ruluf said.
"I-I thought you wanted me to film TV spots or give talks or do community service!"
"That takes time! We need results quickly, and this plan sure to get us enough men on board on the spot!" Freyra explained.
Erick shook his head in disbelief. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. This was not what he had in mind when he accepted this mission. It was one thing to use his enhanced strength on combatants, but to use his skills against untrained fighters was way past the line for him.
"I'm sorry, but I can't do this. I won't be a part of this," Erick said firmly, his voice tinged with disappointment and frustration.
Cissnei sighed. "I understand your reluctance, but we need you to do this. You are a SOLDIER, and you know what that means. Sometimes we have to do things we don't like for the greater good."
Erick shook his head again. "No, no! There has to be another way. This is-"
"What? Dishonorable?" Reno said with a scoff. "Angeal really drives it into y'all, doesn't he?"
For a moment, there was silence in the helicopter. Then, Rude spoke up. "I understand your concerns, but we need to get results. Also, you really don't have a choice."
Erick looked at him, then at the other Turks. He knew what he had to do, even if he didn't like it. "Okay, I'll do it. But I want you to know that I don't agree with this plan."
The Turks nodded in understanding, and the rest of the flight was spent in silence. Erick felt sick to his stomach, thinking about what he was being asked –ordered- to do. He hoped that there would be a way to make things right with himself in the end.
Later that day, they landed at the naval base of Costa del Sol. After changing to civilian clothes, Erick and the Turks took a couple of rented, unmarked vehicles to the outskirts of the city, where they entered a large storage facility that had been re-purposed into a clandestine fighting ring.
Over the course of the afternoon, more and more people began arriving at the place, discretely entering the facility and mingling with the growing crowd. As expected, several burly-looking men arrived, no doubt fighters looking for the cash price. The rest of the crowd was composed of mostly young males, the perfect target audience.
"Ok. What now?" Erick asked Freyra and Cissnei. They were hidden in a small room on the back.
"Now, we wait for the fights to begin," Cissnei said, gesturing towards the improvised ring in the center of the room where Rude was taking the names of those willing to participate. "The others will give us a sign when everything's ready."
"And when it's your turn, you give it your all SOLDIER boy. We need you to make this look convincing," Freyra said with a complicit grim. Erick nodded, his stomach churning with nervousness and guilt.
He couldn't believe he was doing this, but he also couldn't back out now. He took a deep breath and prepared himself for what was to come. Surprisingly, his first moment of shock came from Freyra when she ordered: "now, take off your shirt."
"Huh?"
"It's too military-looking. I mean, navy blue crew shirt? While you wait outside with the crowd, wear this one," Cissnei offered a plain white tank top.
"Oh-k," Erick said, removing is crew shirt.
"Oh! One more thing!" Freyra interrupted before he put on the 'disguise'. She pulled a little bottle from her pocket and poured some oily liquid from it on her hands. "This one's for you, Emma." That said, Freyra proceeded to rub it all over Erick's bare chest.
"Wh-seriously!?" He exclaimed, feeling his ears burn. "Is this necessary?"
"Very! Guys will want to be you and girls will want to be with you. And guys will also want for girls to be with them, so they'll want to double be you!" Freyra said while whipping her hands with a handkerchief.
Erick sighed, feeling even more uncomfortable than before. He knew that appearances were important in this situation, but he didn't like the idea of being objectified like this. He put on the white tank top and tried to ignore the oily sensation on his torso.
"Alright, let's go," Cissnei said, and Erick followed her out of the small room and into the crowd of people. The atmosphere was tense, and Erick could feel the excitement and anticipation building in the air. He tried to blend in with the rest of the crowd, keeping his head down and avoiding eye contact with anyone: the mission would be all but over if anyone recognized the mako in his eyes before time.
As the fights began, Erick watched from the sidelines, trying to remain inconspicuous. Rude was doubling as a referee of sorts, albeit poorly, from a sports perspective: it seemed every 'fight' was an all-out brawl, with little to no oversight over any form of sportsmanship. Low blows and cheap shots were the norm. The atmosphere was tense, with people cheering and shouting as the fighters faced off against each other. It made Erick feel even more uneasy, knowing that he was going to be a part of this soon.
Finally, it was his turn. Rude signaled Erick to enter the ring and face his first opponent: a skinny guy with several faded tattoos on his arms. Within the crowd, Erick spotted Freyra, who was signaling him to take his tank top off. With a sigh, he complied and stepped into the ring, feeling exposed.
"Come on! Bring it on, bitch!" Skinny man said while shuffling on his feet.
Erick observed the man's poor attempt at a fighting stance. Skinny guy circled him, looking for an opening. Erick kept his guard up, waiting for the guy to make the first move. After a few false swings, the guy lunged forward with a wild hook. Erick ducked under it and countered with a punch to the guy's stomach. It landed with a satisfying thud that could be heard over the cheers in the room, the guy stumbled back, gasping for air. Feeling himself cornered, skinny guy went on and all-out offensive, managing to land a couple of hits that he couldn't tell were all but weak and ineffective against the SOLDIER. Not wanting to drag this for too long, Erick used an opening to delivering a sharp blow to the guy's jaw. He went down like a sack of potatoes, and the crowd erupted into cheers, cat-calls and wolf-whistling. Erick couldn't help but feel a sense of relief as Rude declared him the winner.
As more and more rounds went by, the fights became increasingly more vicious and bloody. In all instances, Erick decided to end the fights as quickly as possible, as he couldn't bear the thought of hurting someone who didn't deserve it. Three hours into the ordeal, Rude called Erick into the ring once more to fight his next opponent, a guy with a formidable musculature.
Erick gulped as he entered the ring, his heart pounding with nervousness. He removed his tank top once again and analyzed the situation: enhanced or not, this guy looked like he could do some real damage.
The man flexed his muscles, taunting Erick with a cocky smirk on his face. "Come on, pretty boy, show me what you got!"
Erick clenched his fists, readying himself for the fight. The guy charged at him with a flurry of punches, but Erick managed to dodge most of them, deflecting the ones that came too close with quick jabs. The guy was fast and strong, but he lacked technique, leaving himself open for counter-attacks. Erick saw an opening and landed a solid punch to his opponent's gut, making him grunt in pain. The guy recovered quickly, and with fury burning in his eyes, retaliated with a powerful uppercut that sent Erick staggering backward.
Erick shook his head to clear his vision and tried to regain his footing, but the guy was relentless, raining down a barrage of punches on him. Erick blocked and dodged as best as he could, but he knew he couldn't keep it up for much longer. He needed to end this quickly. Gritting his teeth, Erick delivered one enhanced punch, aiming for the man's jaw. The guy however, tried to dodge and moved unexpectedly out of place: the punch landed instead squarely on his temple with a sickening thud. The guy stumbled backward, his eyes rolling back into his head.
"Fuck!" Erick dashed forward and caught him before he hit the ground, gently lowering him down. The crowd fell silent, unsure of what had just happened. Rude declared Erick the winner, but there was no cheering this time. Murmurs and whispers could be heard on the clandestine arena. Erick reached for his tank top and jumped out of the ring, feeling everyone's eyes on him. He felt sick to his stomach, the weight of what he had just done heavy on his conscience. He walked to one of the doors and exited the facility, inhaling the cool night air.
Just then, Reno approached him from behind and began talking excitedly: "man, that was awesome! People are already suspecting something's amiss, yo! Next fight we'll reveal you are a SOLDIER and disqualify you, but they'll have seen enough and will flock to the recruitment office." He punched his shoulder complicity.
"And how exactly do you plan on revealing I'm a SOLDIER?" Erick asked, still angry he got caught in this situation.
Reno smiled slyly. "Next fight, used your enhanced strength again. Very obviously but also like you didn't mean to. Then, the guys and I will start yelling something like 'I knew you were too good to be just a regular guy!'. We'll make it seem like it was just a slip-up on your part. That way, we'll get the attention we need without raising too many suspicions."
Erick frowned. "Ok, but let's make it quick," he said with a sigh.
As the last fight began, Erick dutifully removed his tank top yet again. On the front row, several young women were cat-calling him. Erick noticed Cissnei among them, whispering something in their ears. A bit to the left, Ruluf was talking with other guys in the audience, miming Erick's last punch and discussing it with the onlookers.
Erick tried to focus on the fight, but his attention kept drifting towards the crowd: more than ever, he could feel their eyes on him, judging him, and it made him uneasy. The opponent he faced was another large, muscular man, with scars all over his face and arms. As the fight began, Erick tried to assess his opponent's fighting style, but the man was too unpredictable, and his movements were too erratic. It was clear that he was a brawler, relying on brute force rather than technique.
Erick dodged most of the blows and countered with a few of his own, but the man's thick muscles absorbed the impact. Erick tried to keep his distance, but the man was too fast, and soon he found himself backed into a corner. The man swung his fist in a wide arc, aiming for Erick's head, but Erick managed to duck under it and deliver a powerful uppercut to his opponent's chin. The man staggered backward, dazed, and Erick took advantage of the opening to land a few more blows, aiming for his vital points and finally sent him flying back with an enhanced knee-strike. The man landed against the wooden crate that helped limit the ring, gasping for air.
"It appears we have a winner!" Rude exclaimed, raising Erick's arm as a sign of victory.
As he reached to put on his tank top to lessen the awkward glances and catcalls from the audience, someone yelled from behind him:
"Wait a minute! That man is a pro! He's a SOLDIER!"
Erick froze, feeling a wave of panic and adrenaline wash over him, even though he knew this was coming. He turned around to see who had called him out and saw Reno, pointing at him with an angry look on his face. The crowd erupted into a mixture of cheers and boos, and Erick felt his heart sink. He glanced at Rude, who was now making his way towards him, a serious look on his face. The Turk stared at him straight in the eye before turning around and announcing o the crowd:
"Ladies and gentlemen," Rude began, his voice amplified by a nearby speaker. "It seems we have a special guest tonight. This man is not just a regular fighter! It seems he is a member of SOLDIER, a highly trained elite military unit."
The crowd murmured in disbelief, some people nodding in realization while others shouted insults. Erick saw Cissnei, Freyra and Ruluf walking around the crowd, speaking to no one in particular, but more than likely priming them all into believing whatever the Turks wanted them to believe.
Rude continued his announcement: "but don't worry, folks. This doesn't mean the fights are rigged. The SOLDIER here will be disqualified to let common people participate."
"What do you mean common people?" Someone sitting right in front of Cissnei yelled.
"SOLDIERs are enhanced with mako, that makes them stronger and faster than anyone else. It's all but fair to let him participate. Even that mountain of muscles was no match for him!" Rude said, pointing at the last opponent, who was still trying to even out his breathing on the ground. "Just imagine al the strength he has!"
He then turned to Erick and announced: "sorry pal, but you'll have to leave."
"Send him over to my room, first!" Freyra yelled from within the crowd.
Erick could feel the weight of the crowd's eyes on him, some of them looked with suspicion and anger, but many more, did so in awe and admiringly. He quickly put on his tank top and made his way out of that dammed place. Once he was outside, Erick began to even out his breathing. A mixture of many unpleasant feelings bubbling inside of him.
"You did good," Cissnei said, smiling at him. "We'll take care of the rest from here. Enter the room on the back and wait for us to wrap things up."
Erick nodded and followed Cissnei's instructions, feeling a sense of relief wash over him as he entered the room. She had at least left some snacks and water bottlers in there. He leaned against the wall and closed his eyes, taking a few deep breaths to calm himself down.
After a few minutes, he heard the door open, and Reno walked in. "Well done, dude," Reno said with a smirk on his face. "You handled yourself pretty well out there."
Erick glared at him. "This is fucked up man," he said, his voice low and angry.
Reno shrugged. "Yeah, it is. But it's our mission, and Turks always complete their missions, yo."
Erick shook his head. "I don't want to be a part of this. I don't want to be used by Shinra to manipulate people."
Reno raised an eyebrow and chuckled. "And what do you want to do? Go back to being a grunt?"
Erick hesitated. He had joined SOLDIER to make a difference for himself. He fantasized about the power it entailed. He knew that now, more than ever, he was still in it to protect the person he loved. But he had never imagined it would be like this, that he would have to deceive and manipulate so blatantly.
"I don't know," he said finally. "But I can't keep doing this. It's not right."
Reno nodded. "I get it. But you can't just walk away, yo. And most importantly, its best we do it," he said while walking to the door. "You know, Tseng always says that if you feel guilty about your work, think that if you don't do it, some other poor bloke will be ordered to. You are sparing them, yo."
Erick sighed heavily as Reno left the room. He felt horribly conflicted. He paced back and forth, trying to make sense of his feelings and trying to understand both Reno's point and the overall logic and train of thought the Turks seemed to follow. He had, for the first time, seen them all in action and discovered the many rumors about their complete lack of morals and empathy seemed to be true. He shook the feeling, trying to not fall prey of preconceptions. Still, he wondered how could the deal with lies, the deception and –he hoped- guilt of it all. He couldn't come with an answer at the time, because by then, a gnawing question was already bugging in the back of his mind:
"Is this what Dante does every day?"
What's this? Three updates in a month!?
Yeah, maybe I'm compensating for leaving 10 months!
Now, remember that part in FF VII where Cloud is out of the picture and you have to continue for a while with the rest of the party?
We are at that point in this story!
This chapter turned out to be meatier than I expected, but then again, Erick wasn't even here in the original plan of the story. I'm feeling oddly inspired to write, so maybe expect a new chapter soon!
Leave your comments, suggestions and thoughts!