Reno had just finished off a Repentant swordsman with a jolt from his E-M Rod as his partner Rude fended off another Repentant with a wicked-looking haymaker. While Rufus, Tseng, and Elena were fighting alongside the WRO troopers in their firefight against the Repentant, Reno and Rude kept themselves busy taking on the Repentant's melee combatants. Since the WRO troopers weren't as talented when it came to melee combat, it meant a lot of enemies for Reno and Rude to plow through…something Reno eventually noticed.

"Hey, Rude! Looks like we're earning our money tonight!" Reno shouted over the various sounds of battle as he knocked another Repentant out cold with a blow from his E-M Rod. "Why'd we agree to take on these bastards by ourselves?"

"We didn't," Rude said simply as he cracked two Repentant skulls together. "You just leapt in without asking for backup."

Reno thought about that as he kicked another Repentant to the ground and shocked him unconscious. "Oh, yeah…didn't think that one through, did I?"

"You never do," Rude stated as he blocked a Repentant's sword and drove his knee into his attacker's torso.

"And that's why you love me, right?" Reno playfully retorted.

Rude didn't respond to that…one of that particular Turk's signature silent treatments. Reno laughed as he swiped at a pair of Repentant with his E-M Rod. "So, partner…had a chat with that Yuffie chick on our trip back from the Forgotten City. Gotta say, she's a lot cuter than I last remember. You think I got a chance with her?"

Rude grunted as he backhanded a Repentant swordsman and knocked another one out with a right jab. "Maybe. Godo would probably turn you into a eunuch if you tried, though."

"Ouch…well, nothing fun's ever easy, I guess," Reno mused as he finished off another Repentant with a swift spin kick. Another dozen Repentant combatants were rushing in to aid their comrades against the two Turks.

Reno gave Rude a thumbs-up, and Rude responded with his signature silent nod. The two longtime partners, co-workers, and friends leapt at the rushing mob, ready to show the Repentant what it meant to fight the Turks.

"At this rate, we'll be boozing by midnight," Reno thought hopefully as he started swinging his E-M Rod into the angry throng of Repentant.

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The Repentant had aligned the path up to Mt. Nibel with lanterns and torches, making it easier for Cloud, Tifa, Yuffie, and Red to navigate the treacherous terrain. They were unable to see Cyrus up ahead in spite of the extra illumination, but Cloud and Tifa knew this mountain well enough to figure out what path the Repentant leader would need to take to reach the Mako reactor. They were also fortunate enough to have not run into any of the mountain's unique monsters as of yet, although they did have to step over the freshly-killed corpses of kyuvilduns and sonic speeds at regular intervals. Apparently, the Repentant party ahead of them had more trouble with the monsters than they did.

"Works for me," Cloud thought as he continued running up the mountain path. He and his friends made it to one of the major bends that led into the Nibel Mountains proper. He would have made the turn had not Yuffie shouted at him to stop.

"What is it?" Cloud asked.

Yuffie sighed as if she had to explain something to a little child. Instead of saying why, she tossed a smaller shuriken at the ground about a foot away from where Cloud was standing. To everyone's surprise, the shuriken cut a near-invisible tripwire. A few seconds later, two explosions reverberated on the sides of the two small mountains on either side of the Mt. Nibel Mountain Path, causing rubble to collapse in front of the party.

"Wow…good eye, Yuffie," Tifa remarked.

"Wutanese paper bombs," Yuffie quipped. "You stick 'em to whatever you want to go 'BOOM!' and use the tripwire as a detonator of sorts. It's pretty complicated, but I've seen enough of them to spot them at a distance. Pretty clever…but I wonder who set it?"

"I did."

Cloud and company quickly dropped into their battle stances as the source of the mysterious voice vaulted over the freshly-made rubble pile and landed on the path in front of them. She wore the emblem of the Repentant and carried a pair of steel fans. Her voice was calm and timid at the same time as she said, "I am Rei, fourth lieutenant of the Repentant. Our orders were to eliminate whoever managed to get past Atlas and Saion."

"You said 'our orders,'" Red noted. "You're not alone, are you?"

"Very perceptive, beast!" a wicked voice shouted at the top of the pile of rubble. Another Repentant joined Rei on the ground after leaping off the top of the pile. Unlike her counterpart, this Repentant looked and sounded more like a feral beast than a zealot looking for salvation. She wore a pair of metal claws similar to the one Vincent wore on his left arm. Her wild and untamed hair was dyed green and she never stopped swaying in place as she continued, "I'm Alanye, fifth lieutenant of the Repentant…and I'm here for your blood. Who wants to be first?"

Cloud was going for his sword as Yuffie and Red stepped out in front to face the two Repentant. "Cloud!" Yuffie shouted, "Red and I will handle these two. You have to get to Cyrus before he gets to the reactor!"

"Don't worry," Red added. "We'll be fine. Get going…stop Cyrus!"

Cloud let go of his sword's hilt as he nodded. "Tifa, let's go. This isn't our fight."

Tifa didn't like it, but she understood. Time spent fighting here gave Cyrus more time to call forth the power of the Clear Materia. She nodded as both she and Cloud headed past Rei and Alanye and started climbing up the rubble pile.

"No! I won't let you pass!" Rei exclaimed as she tossed one of her fans at Cloud. The fan would have sliced through Cloud's left leg had it not been blocked by Yuffie's main shuriken.

"Nice try," Yuffie said as her shuriken returned to her hand. "But you're fighting me!"

Rei shook her head in frustration. "No, no…Master Cyrus ordered us to stop all trespassers. This isn't right! Master Cyrus is going to be displeased with me again…"

"Shut up, Rei!" Alanye snapped. "If you're so worried about being punished again, then run away like a baby cactuar! Otherwise, focus on your opponent, kill her, and then go after Strife and Lockhart. That's what I planned on doing, anyway."

Rei looked up and noticed that Cloud and Tifa had already climbed over the rubble pile. She sighed and lowered her shoulders in defeat as she cast a glare at Yuffie. "All right, Alanye. I'll deal with the princess of Wutai…you handle the beast. I swear on my life that I will not disobey Master Cyrus again."

Rei turned her full attention to Yuffie and dropped into a ready stance. Alanye followed suit against Red XIII. Yuffie was nervous at having to fight a Repentant lieutenant one-on-one, and she was angry that she wouldn't get to be there for the confrontation against Cyrus. Still, she knew that she and Red did the right thing holding these two females off and letting Cloud and Tifa continue the chase.

"Make sure you hurt that bastard," Yuffie thought with clenched teeth as she gave her shuriken a toss at the Repentant called Rei.

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Author's Notes:

You guys detecting a pattern here? A bit cliche, I know...but it works well. Besides, you never actually see most of FFVII's main cast of characters in one-on-one fights with worthy opponents, so I decided to give them a brief shot at the limelight.

Anyway, next chapter: Alanye verses Red XIII, Rei verses Yuffie. Live, right here! (Call you local Internet provider for details)

Sorry for the short chapter, but needed this in the story and didn't want to combine it with Chapter 18. So, yeah...pretty much.

It is your duty as a citizen of the Internet to leave me a review letting me know whether I kick ass or get my ass kicked! Fulfill that obligation and do it with pride!

Thanks,

"The Exile" Cyrus Truth