"I'm sorry, sir, but I haven't seen a young girl like that around," a woman said, holding her child close to her.

Cloud sighed in frustration.

Where could Yuffie have gone? he thought.

He nodded then rode away from the scared family. Many were trying as best as they could to go home. Some stores were kind enough to allow people to enter for shelter. There were a few Turks scattered about trying to help WRO soldiers lead civilians to safety or their homes. Cloud was at a lost of what to do for once, and it was for good reasons: find his friend, Yuffie, or help the soldiers bring the townspeople to safety. He was beginning to worry for the girl, however. Suppose one of those monsters got to her?

Fenrir hummed silently in the streets. Its faint purrs echoed through the empty streets. The street lamps had been cut off in some areas while they lit the road in other districts. Cloud hadn't realized how important electricity truly was until WRO's leader, Reeve Tuesti, made the announcement that some districts that were in the light grid had to be shutdown. As Cloud passed through the city, lights sprinkled cross the road to the edge of Edge from apartment buildings and flood lighting. Abruptly, a flying fiend swooped past him, joining several others, as it screeched. There seemed to be a call-and-response interaction going with the flying creatures. Cloud had almost mistaken them for having a conversation, but animals don't talk intellectually. Unless...they're something other than animals...or Nanaki. He watched them go until two beams nearly blinded him and a white jeep cut in front of him. He veered Fenrir to his right then straightened the bike back before colliding with a standby car. The driver turned in surprise and called to him with a chuckle in his throat.

"Cloud! Long time, no see boy!"

"Cid?" Cloud responded, seeing another ally. You almost killed me! he thought.

"M-m-m-mr. Strife, sir! It's an honor!" Perez said, waving and smiling.

Vincent nodded to Cloud, earning one in return. A pillar of light shot from the clouds and illuminated the night's sky. The fiends were screeching in triumph. They found their prey.

"Hey, kid, got any weapons on this humdinger?" Cid asked, yelling over the wind blowing from the open windows.

"There's a gun in the back," Perez answered.

"Vince, you're up!" Cid said.

Perez shuffled about to press a blue button. The back of the truck opened to reveal a gautling gun and several missile launchers. Vincent jumped into the low seat and positioned himself to fire at will. Cloud accelerated to lead the attack - seeing as though that seemed to be the plan - and gasped to see Yuffie handling quite a few fiends. Then, he saw what the fiends were after: a cloaked person.

Cloud deccelerated to follow Cid's truck then accelerated fast enough to park Fenrir next to Vincent without harming him or the gun. He broad jumped from the roof of the jeep then struck a fiend that was attacking Yuffie from behind. Yuffie turned to see familiar hair then called out to her ally with a smile.

"Cloud!"

"I forgot to mention you hate hover bikes, so I wanted you to live," he said, turning to wink.

"Hey, did you just - ?" Yuffie started before Cloud jumped away to attack another fiend. "Wha - ? Wha - ? That ass!"

Chailo turned to see Yuffie fighting alongside her friend and smiled. The tall, armored fiend whacked Cloud with its tail to keep him away from itself. Yuffie was able to scale up a building fast enough to hurdle off it and grab Cloud's hand. She forced her body to pivot and threw him back in the fight. He struck the fiend in its broad chest, causing it to roar in pain, and fended himself against the spider-like fiends rushing about on the ground. Cid veered the jeep sideways to let Vincent jump off the vehicle and unleash several rounds from Cerberus. The bullets unexpectedly bounced off the taller fiend and hit the aerial fiends.

"Hey, Vince, aim for the flyers!" Cid suggested. "That big one's armor is too strong for your bullets."

Vincent nodded and obeyed Cid's suggestion. He fired more rounds from his partner, Cerberus, until he heard a woman's yelp. He turned to see a cloaked person running swiftly towards the taller fiend. Her heels were clattering on the pavement as she hastily progressed to the main target. The larger fiend intercepted her, and it ran to her - head first. Like dust in the breeze, she disappeared and sprung from the ground to implant her swords into the beast's head armor. She was able to break the fiend's skull helmet. The fiend jolted back, covering his exposed head with his massive claw.

"What the hell did you do to that thing, Shin-chan?" Yuffie yelled, slaying a spider fiend.

"Kisaragi, tell your friends to duck!" Chailo ordered.

Chailo sheathed her swords, gaining the fiends' attention, and revealed her pistols. A flying fiend attacked with its strong voice and gave Chailo the perfect stepping stone to defeat the fiends. She leapt into the air and casted a spell that created a glyph under her feet. The flying fiend's booming voice struck the glyph, which elevated Chailo some stories high, and disintegrated into waves. Yuffie saw this and threw her Magic Shuriken at the glyph under Chailo's feet; the shuriken bounced off the glyph and gave Chailo enough elevation to topple over a five-story dentistry. Yuffie ran to Cloud and guided him near Vincent under a building. Vincent saw them running towards him and leapt from the building's roof to meet them. Within seconds, Chailo released a hailstorm of bullets that annihilated the fiends without harming Yuffie or her allies.

"Well, that was impressive," Cid remarked, earning a glare from Perez. "What? Don't gimme that look!"

Small green lights dispersed and drifted towards the sky. Chailo landed quite harshly on the cement but levelled with the ground. Whispers from the lights caressed her ears. She watched them. A faint grinding noise rung in Chailo's ears, and the smell of oil rushed to her nose. She snapped her head around to see an ominous red light leer at her from the distance. Chailo ran to her hover bike and boarded the vehicle. Her radar beeped as the image of a vessel approached them. She swore silently.

"So, about you running from ShinRa Turks," Cloud started, turning to Yuffie. "What's going on?"

"Eh?" Yuffie chirped innocently. "Uh, well, I was walking around town and I saw Cha - "

A set of beams illuminated the area. Inside Auron's Deli, the orange-haired waiter was covering his eyes from the light pouring through the windows. He ran upstairs to see the ShinRa chopper hovering fairly low. The drunk from earlier called the kid Shadow, but if the kid was Shadow - and not just any shadow, but the Foreign Shadow - then they were going to get her dead or alive. The waiter ran back out and shouted at Chailo, who was watching the helicopter lower, while he was pushing her bike.

"Kid, go! They're ShinRa Turks!" the waiter warned, pushing an ignition button. "Get the hell outta here and stop wasting time! Go!"

"Shinboru Chailo, you move I will fire a missile up your ass!" a familiar voice threatened.

"Crap, it's the boss!" Yuffie complained, running to Chailo.

"Yuffie!" Cloud called, following Yuffie. "What's going on?"

"You don't really wanna know right now, do you?" Yuffie questioned, shocked.

"Remind me to kick your ass later," Cloud said, grabbing Yuffie's hand.

They ran to Cid's truck. Vincent was already in the vehicle, sitting in the back seat. Cloud and Yuffie hopped in the trunk and gripped the rim of the truck. Cid revved the engine and sped past Chailo. He beckoned her to follow, but she went the opposite way. Chailo revved her engine and accelerated down the street. Buildings were zipping past her as she ripped through the wind. Her eyes were watching for something, anything to get away from Reno and his men. A green light shone through the night, and she accelerated into a vortex.

"Cid, go back!" Yuffie yelped. "Please! She could be in trouble!"

"Look, little lamb, that chick can handle herself," Cid argued. "I saw her fightin' with you. She's good on her own."

"But if the Foreign Shadow is in Edge and that guy just threatened to fire, isn't the city in danger?" Perez asked.

"Fuck!" Cid yelled, turning hard left.

Cloud lost his grip on the rim and trundled into Yuffie. Yuffie blushed as their lips made unintentional but painful contact, teeth mashing against each other. They groaned as the sting inflicted their top lips. Cloud huddled over the left rim, tasting salt in his saliva. He regurgitated some of the spittle and noticed a hint of red gleaming in the street lamps. He swore then glared at the back of Cid's head.

"Goddammit, Perez, why don't you say something sooner?" Cid complained.

"How did that slip your mind?" Perez questioned. "Ah!"

"Hey, stop!" a soldier ordered, waving his hands frantically.

Vincent jumped at the steering wheel and veered the jeep away from the WRO soldier. He turned to glare at Cid, seeing Yuffie fall atop Cloud, and got out of the truck after Cid hit the brakes.

"Mr. Valentine, sir, how are you?" the soldier asked, bowing in respect.

"Fine."

"Yuffie," Cloud said, "get off."

"Rude much," Yuffie replied after gasping. "I wouldn't even wanna be on top of you, spike-head! See if I ever grant you the pleasure of my company again."

The soldier cleared his throat uncomfortably, watching Cid get out of the Jeep. Perez hopped out of the truck as well and ran to his leader's side, bowing in respect and smiling.

"Thank you for returning my favorite operative," the soldier said, glaring at Perez. "He is very enthusiastic about his job sometimes."

"He's a joy," Cid said, dryly.

"Tell me about it," the soldier said, sarcastically. "Reeve sent me over here to lead you to headquarters. He wanted to speak with Ms. Kisaragi specifically."

"Yeah, that's great," Yuffie started, jumping off the jeep, "but I have to find my friend. The Turks are notorious for a bunch of stuff, and, if Reno's leading them, she's a goner. I have to go back."

"You can't go back on your own, Ms. Kisaragi!" Perez pleaded. Yuffie turned and he blushed. "Uh...ma'am, it isn't safe. There's still a bunch of monsters running around, and I'm almost certain they'll be stronger than this time."

"But you said if she went into the city and Reno was gonna fire at her, Edge was screwed," Yuffie recounted.

"Oh, shit, we have to go back!" Perez said.

"No, you don't," Perez's leader said, looking into the heavens for an answer. "Turks lost Foreign Shadow when I got to you. That's why I'm here and not in Edge. Your friend's long gone, Ms. Kisaragi. If Turks can't find her, you certainly won't at this time of day."

Hmph! Yuffie mentally harrumphed. He doesn't know half the ninja I am. Our greatest advantage is the night.

Yuffie hummed in thought, portraying a worried face. Vincent saw through her facade and made plans to follow Yuffie if she just so happened to go and search for the cloaked gunner. He was almost reminded of himself, but he was sure no one would notice the resemblance.

"Hey, you know your friend looked an awful lot like Vince," Cid remarked. Unfortunately, fate never worked in his favor. "You should introduce us. Might make a new friend."

"I'd prefer not to mingle with a fugitive," Vincent replied.

"You don't mingle with a normal person!" Cid commented.

Perez and Yuffie laughed at this interchange; Cloud chuckled and walked to the jeep to retrieve Fenrir. Vincent was about to ask for a ride until Yuffie intercepted.

"Hey, Cloud, can you take me to Midgar?"

"Midgar?" Cloud repeated. "Why there?"

"Dammit!" Reno shouted.

He was in his apartment at Costa del Sol, banging his fist on his bed's headboard. It was obvious he couldn't sleep. Stupid alien's fault for that! She couldn't stay still for a bloody second; no, she just had to run from him!

Should've known she wouldn't have listened to threats, Reno thought.

There's no telling where she might have disappeared. She departed from the old AVALANCHE heroes in the midst of her capture. Reno gritted his teeth then focibly turned his body over and blanketed himself. Inside, he was actually...happy she was able to get away. President ShinRa wasn't pleased, but Reno was certainly more than that. Suddenly, Tifa's question entered his mind again.

"Reno? Are you in love with this girl?"

He chuckled bitterly to himself and smiled remorsefully. Why would someone as intelligent and beautiful as Chailo ever fall for a brash, arrogant bastard like him? They were from two separate worlds. His smile faded and left him to curl in his loneliness. She may be pretty and smart, but she understood him and was always respectful of his wishes. She was polite to him even when he was upset. Her cordial behavior intrigued him in ways no rich girl could. She was his knight in shining armor. Like many armored knights, a lover contributed to their deeds and mannerisms. Reno snapped his eyes open and remained still. He slowly rose from his bed and reached for his cell phone. Subconsciously, he called Tifa's number and waited for her to answer. Then, her voice entered his ears.

Hello?

"I am," he answered.

Huh?

"You asked if I loved this girl, yo," Reno said. "I am."

Oh, Reno! I thought you were some pervert on the line. So, you love this girl huh? What's her name?

"Chailo," he replied. "Chailo Shinboru."

That's an interesting name. So, what's she like?

"She's like my knight in shining armor," Reno answered, smiling in honesty.