Mission 52: Operation Fruit
"The target has been sighted, proceeding with plan A now..." Reno dully reported into the headset while he flew above Cloud, who was riding on Fenrir. He could have passed for a serious Turk if not for the laugh that he tried, and failed, to hide at the end. Then he rephrased his report to something a little more fitting, "I see Kiwi, proceed with Operation Fruit Salad! What's your status, Grape?"
"Reno, I thought we agreed that we would call Cloud 'target' not by that silly nickname you and Rude gave him to get on his nerves. Just who is Grape?" Elena's voice replied. She was stationed on land, on the other side of the tunnel Cloud had to go through.
"Cloud likes that name, he just won't admit it. Besides, it was totally Rude's idea, he doesn't give himself enough credit. You're Grape and I'm Strawberry remember?" Reno laughed, and he could clearly imagine Elena rolling her eyes. "Oh hey, there he goes!"
"The barrier is already in place, over and out." Elena heard the screeching of tires and came out of hiding to face the barrier, quickly putting away her PHS. She didn't even bother hiding anymore because she simply had to witness this.
"Plushies?" Cloud got off Fenrir and pulled his goggles over his head then rubbed his eyes. "Plushies..." There was in fact, an adorable row of cute plushies placed across the road, blocking Cloud's path. Elena watched him but said nothing, so Cloud spoke first. "Are these yours?"
Elena shook her head, "I have nothing to do with this. I'm just an innocent by-stander."
This was strange, even for the Turks, and as far as Cloud could tell Reno was the insane one. Why in the world would Elena put plushies in the middle of the road where they could be run over? She didn't look like a toy torturer; maybe she was an innocent by-stander like she said. Or maybe the plushies had bombs. "Bombs! Those plushies are actually bombs!"
Elena couldn't take it anymore and started laughing while Cloud examined one of the plushies with absolute care, as if fearing it would blow up.
After examining it, Cloud swallowed, took a deep breath and squeezed the plushie. It was soft, just a regular plushie, and he didn't hear any ticking or strange noises. There was nothing strange about that plushie at all, except for its location.
Cloud repeated the action with all the plushies, carefully examining them, listening, and finally squeezing them to make sure there was nothing usual inside. It was a dumb thing to do if they really had explosives, but Cloud's curiosity refused to let him go until he found out just what those plushies were.
Finally, the delivery boy went back to Fenrir and picked up a piece of cardboard. He extended the once flat cardboard and folded it to form a box, which he secured with tape. Then he picked up the plushies and placed them all in the box. "These really are yours, right?" He handed the box to Elena.
Unable to contain herself, Elena nodded, while practically laughing her head off.
Cloud sighed and shook his head, "I thought you were the sane one. Reno's insanity must be contagious. I don't know how Rude has managed to stay sane with him as a partner," and though Rude was a rival for Tifa's affections, Cloud couldn't help it but to feel sorry for the other man.
"Wait! There's something I need to tell you!" Elena placed the box down and dug around it. "Hold on, I almost found it, here it is!" She held the plushie up and looked at it and Cloud. It was a chick, a little yellow baby chocobo plushie with its feathers styled very similar to Cloud's hair. "Reno was saying that this plushie looks like you. I think he was actually right for once!"
"Um... okay... Just make sure to keep the plushies out of the road, alright?" Cloud headed back to Fenrir, but once again Elena stopped him.
"Wait! There's something else I need to tell you!" Elena looked at her watch. "It is now exactly three ten in the afternoon..." Then her cell phone rang and she answered it while Cloud tried to sneak off to Fenrir. But Elena noticed and kept standing in his way, moving from side to side at the same time as Cloud, making it look like a weird dance.
"Apple here, Operation Fruit Cocktail has been a success. You may finalize Operation Fruit Salad at any time," Tseng's voice came though Elena's PHS.
"Tseng! Not you too with the fruits..." Maybe Reno's insanity was contagious, and while Elena mused this, Cloud made his escape. But it didn't matter, because Apple, I mean Tseng, had already given the okay to end Operation Fruit Salad, which had the purpose of creating time for the competition of Operation Fruit Cocktail.
Codenames aside, the Turks were actually hired to make sure Cloud was delayed enough so that his friends could get a little party ready for him. That delay was Operation Fruit Salad and Operation Fruit Cocktail was the task of helping put up the decorations and getting the food ready at the Seventh Heaven.
End of Mission 52
Disclaimer, I don't own Final Fantasy VII. Mission 52 is a spin-off from the concept of Delivery 20 requested by Rei Mumei.