The file you are reading is not meant for your eyes; put it down and walk away or I Tseng Director of the Turks, or my successor, will find you and silently and effectively remove you from society, to then slowly starve and torture you to your breaking point. It is as this point that we will bring you do the absolute middle of nowhere where you will be given your freedom of choosing how you would like to die. Should you ever make it back to society the Turks will take this is as you rejecting our kindness of letting you choose your own death, and will be subject to a death at either my, or my successor's, discretion. This is the record of six of my most extraordinary Turks. They came from another world, a world where Final Fantasy 7 is owned by Square Enix but this is their story and theirs alone. For the sake of the future I left a record of their adventures locked deep in the Turk Archives but only if the fate of the world is threatened should this file be opened. You have been warned. Read at your own risk.
-Tseng Akira, Director of the General Affairs Department, Shinra Electric Power Company
Chapter 26: Cosmo Canyon, and The True Enemy
Once they got back to Midgar, it was business as usual for everyone. Mary, Alanna and Piper worked with their mentors, and went out on small missions, to kill monsters for the area residents. Morgan, Matti and Ryu reported to Rod for mechanics training. Morgan continued to train with Vincent. Tseng drilled Matti in tactics and began teaching him how to use an EMR, as well as continuing his martial arts training. Ryu trained against, of all people, Takashi Watanawa, the ex Wutainese assassin she turned Turk. Things were going well for everyone.
Alanna preened nervously in front of her mirror. She was wearing a beautiful red and black dress. The body of the skirt was black and towards the hem slowly became red so that the hem which brushed the floor, even with her tall black heels on, was bright red. The bodice of the dress was black and faded up the top to become red so that the top of the dress wrapped around her arms and across her ample bosom was as red as her hem. The dress was shoulder-less with straps around her arm arms. From the straps, gauzy black sleeves fell past her fingertips and red satin opera gloves covered her hands and arms.
"Ya know you look fine." Ryu said from where she and Mary stood in the door way. Alanna turned to look at them.
"I know but it's a date with Genesis." She whispered. Both of them smiled and entered the room.
"And he's taking you to see LOVELESS on LOVELESS Avenue. You'll love it." Ryu told her. Grinning, she went to the dresser and picked up the red and gold jewelry Gen had designed to go with the dress.
"He just loves dressing you up doesn't he?" Mary commented. Alanna grinned and smoothed her hands over her flowing skirt.
"I don't mind too much. After all, it means I get new clothes all the time."She told them grinning. "Although, I still can't stand gold jewelry."
"Well, have fun." Mary told her, "I know I wouldn't." She maked a face. Ryu grinned and gently poked Mary.
"You know it really wasn't that bad when I went with Morgan." Ryu told her.
"It's LOVELESS." Mary protested. She really didn't mind the play; she kept up the pretense to annoy Genesis. Ryu shrugged just as a knock sounded on the door. Ryu and Mary raised their eyebrows and Ryu skipped to open it.
Genesis was standing in the doorway, holding a single blood red rose. He was dressed in black dress pants and shoes, a crisp pressed white shirt, and red vest under his freshly pressed jacket the inside of the tails of which were as red as his vest. Mary gave a low whistle.
"Well if the pretty boy isn't all prettied up." She commented as Ryu shook her head at her trying to stop her. Genesis scowled at her as Ryu scooted around him and pulled Mary after her.
"Have fun you two!" Ryu called from down the hall.
"Aww Ryu, you ruin all my fun." Mary protested as they entered the living room. Ryu shook her head.
"Let them have one perfect date." The redhead said and then grinned. She was still in uniform, Morgan who was sitting on the couch stood.
"Ready?" He asked. Ryu nodded and together they left.
"Now where did they go?" Mary mumbled. Angeal came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. She grinned and leaned against him, content.
"Guess which couple got the short straw for keeping the RLC away from them?" He told her. Mary tipped her head back.
"Morgan and Ryu?" She guessed. He nodded.
"Ryu's always guarding those two." Mary noted. Angeal grinned.
"She asked Tseng to be their primary bodyguard when they go out. I believe she asked the same thing for us."He told her. Mary smiled, grateful her best friend was looking out for her and Alanna. She smiled and waved to Gen and Alanna as they left the apartment.
"Piper and Matti are with Zack, and Cloud is with Tseng. We practically have the place to ourselves." Angeal whispered in her ear. Mary giggled and let him pick her up as he went towards his room.
"Alanna, have you seen my goggles?" Ryu asked, as she entered the kitchen the next morning. Alanna shook her head.
"Nope. Where did you leave them when we got in this morning?"
"On my dresser." Ryu answered, as she poured herself a cup of coffee, and took a big sip.
"Did they get up and walk away?" Alanna joked. Ryu grimaced and laughed, nearly choking on the coffee.
"You have no idea how likely that is." She told Alanna, before she walked out of the kitchen.
Later that day, Ryu and Alanna were carrying files from Sephiroth's office to the archives, when they heard a blood curdling scream. Both of them ran to Genesis' office. They found him passed out on the floor behind his desk.
"What the hell?" Alanna muttered, kneeling by his side to revive him. Ryu slowly quartered the office with her gaze.
"Where are you?" She called softly. A faint clicking came from the bookcase. Ryu walked over and stuck her hand behind some of the books, fishing around for something.
She turned, and Alanna gave a small scream of surprise. Hanging off one of Ryu's fingers by the strap, was her goggles. Eight jointed spider-like legs, four behind each lens, made soft clicking noises as they moved aimlessly in the air, accompanied by the soft sound of hydraulics.
"What the hell?" She gasped again. Ryu cocked her head to the side and regarded her goggles.
"I was wondering where you crawled off to." She said.
"Ryu, why do your goggles have legs?" Alanna asked. Ryu shrugged. Genesis slowly came to. With a groan, he slowly sat up.
"What happened?" Ryu asked him.
"Where's the spider?" He asked.
"There was no spider." Ryu said, shifting her hand so he could see her goggles, now perched in the palm of her hand.
"AH!" Genesis yelled, charging a fira, "There it is again."
"Genesis, it's my goggles." Ryu snapped, covering them with her hand. Genesis paused.
"What?" He asked, surprised. Ryu lifted her hand, showing her goggles spider legs, now wrapped around her wrist, attempting to shake.
"Awww, Gen, you scared my creepy ass spider goggles." She told him, gently tapping the bridge piece.
"I scared them?! They scared me first!"He snapped.
"Sorry." Genesis jumped, surprised at the mechanical feminine voice. Alanna gave the goggles a mild look.
"Did they just talk?" She asked in a deadpan voice. Ryu nodded her head.
"I am an A.I. program in Ryuko's goggles. It is my job to aid her in her job as a Turk."
"You have A.I. goggles." Genesis said, disbelieving.
"Reno messed with my goggles shortly after we started getting along. They have all kinds of snazzy tricks. They're worth so much more now than the eighteen dollars I paid for them." Ryu said.
"What's with the creepy spider thing?" Alanna asked. Ryu shrugged.
"I found her walking around one morning, about a week ago."
"And you're okay with this?" Genesis said incredulously.
"With legs, I can see to my own power needs, updates. And should Ryuko and I be separated, I can make my own way to her."The goggles chimed in.
"Are all the A.I.s like this?" Gen asked. Ryu shook her head.
"No, Reno's is just like him, lazy with a major attitude problem. Rude's appears to be female and likes hitting on him… Morgan's are bloodthirsty and foulmouthed. They like to scream swears and insults at you guys when you say something to him. Mine have the most complex personality, and I partially blame you, Alanna."
"Me?" Alanna said, surprised.
"I spend a lot of time around you and the other doppelgangers. I have developed some of your traits."
"Reno tweaked her learning program too much; she's evolved beyond the others." Ryu admitted. She gently poked the nose piece.
"What were you doing in Gen's office?" She asked.
"Testing what I believed to by a myth."
"Myth?" Genesis asked, as Ryu laughed.
"You wanted to know if he was truly scared of spiders." She realized.
"Yes." Genesis glared at her goggles.
"I did not believe a 1st class SOLDIER could truly be afraid of a spider."
"I don't know whether to be flattered, or not." Genesis muttered.
"We all have things that we are afraid of." Ryu said.
"Yes, like you're afraid of Zombies." Alanna said.
"Exactly. Although I am getting over that, and at least I am not afraid the bogeyman is gonna get me at night."Ryu said, sticking her tongue out at Alanna. Alanna pretended to hit her.
"I see."
"Now retract your legs, Creepy Ass Spider Goggles." Ryu ordered. Reluctantly, the legs unwrapped from Ryu's wrist, and retracted, so that a normal pair of goggles sat in Ryu's hand. She looped them around her neck.
"I'm never looking at them the same again." Alanna said. Ryu shrugged.
"You get used to it." She reassured her.
"Maybe you do." Genesis muttered.
"The fates are cruel my friend." The A.I. said, just as Reno called Ryu.
"Yo, Ryu report to the Turk lounge. We get to fly Rod back to Wutai." He said in her ear piece.
"Alright, coming." Ryu said. She turned to go.
"See you guys around." She said over her shoulder.
"You really should name your goggles." Alanna called after her.
"I was thinking of CAGS, for Creepy Ass Goggles Spider." Ryu said
"I kind of like the idea of a name." CAGS said.
"CAGS it is, then." Ryu said, just before she caught the elevator. The few cadets crowded in the elevator gave her a nervous look. She grinned at them.
"Howdy, boys!" She said. They shuffled back. Chuckling, Ryu turned her back on them, and started softly humming.
"You are a mean, mean person, Miss Ryu." CAGS said. Ryu grinned and hummed louder, aware that the cadets were becoming more nervous the longer she hummed.
Matti looked up, as Tseng sighed at his desk, laying a report down. He watched as he idly tapped a pen against the desk.
"Do you think any of you could divulge some information on some terrorists?" Tseng asked finally. Matti gave him a confused look.
"A group called AVALANCHE?" Tseng said pointedly. Matti continued to give him a bland look. They continued to stare at each other, neither backing down.
Ryu popped into the office, and seeing the staring contest, attempted to back out without being seen. Tseng snapped around to look at her.
"AVALANCHE." He snapped at her. Ryu cocked her head to the side, and looked at him, confused.
"The name familiar to you?" He asked. She shot a glance at Matti, confused.
"Don't look at him for orders." Tseng snapped. Ryu chewed her lip thoughtfully, as if she was thinking about it.
"Nope, never heard of 'em... wait, wasn't that the group that tried to blow up the Nibelheim reactor?" She said, shaking her head. Tseng sighed.
"You're a terrible liar, Ryu. Which is odd. I'm surprised that Reno hasn't taught you his pathological habit of lying." Tseng said, motioning to a seat in front of his desk. Ryu sat gingerly, ready to spring from the chair, should the opportunity arise.
"He's tried. I just hate lying, which is why I don't do it." She said sheepishly. After a pointed look from Tseng, Matti got up and left the office.
"So, AVALANCE?" He asked again. Ryu sighed, and scooted down in the seat, and mumbled something incoherent under her breath. He waited patiently.
"A group hell bent on getting rid of Shinra." She told him.
"And?"
"And what? What do you want to know?" She snapped at him.
"Names of the leaders and their headquarters, for starters." He told her.
"Fuhito, Elfe and Shears and I dunno." She said sullenly.
"For someone wanting to protect Shinra, you're not very helpful." He told her.
"You don't need me for an information mine; you kick their butts just fine without us." She said grumpily, idly fiddling with the zipper on her jacket.
"Nervous?" He asked her. She grimaced.
"I have the feeling I am going to get my ass kicked." She admitted, just before her eyes rolled up, and she slid from the chair in a dead faint.
In the middle of Cosmo Canyon, your enemy awaits you. You must deal with them, or they will destroy the city you hold dear. You cannot let her win. Gaia said, in the middle of the life stream. Ryu and Alanna traded a glance.
"What the hell is going on?" Matti asked. They turned, surprised. Standing behind them were Matti, Morgan, Mary, and Piper. Mary and Piper stared in awe at Gaia. Mary, a little fearfully, when she realized she was in the presence of a goddess.
You may tell them the truth. It is time they know, for you will soon have to fight with all your gifts. She told them.
"How nice of you." Alanna grumbled. Ryu curtly nodded her head in agreement.
Do not push your luck with me. You have let too much slip; they must not know what is to come. Gaia told them, glowering at them.
"I repeat, what the hell is going on?" Matti said.
"I second that." Morgan said, coming up behind Ryu.
"We can tell them everything?" Alanna asked. Gaia nodded her head.
But only those who are here. She said.
"Dammit. I'm still in Tseng's office." Ryu muttered.
"I'll rescue you, if you tell me what the fuck is going on." Matti said.
"I will, I will." Ryu promised, as the lifestream faded, and they were flung back into their bodies.
"Ryuko. Ryuko." She heard. Ryu groaned and popped her eyes open. Tseng was kneeling over her, worried. She reached out and poked his forehead. He blinked at her, surprised.
"Yo, bossman, your face is not something I want to wake up to." She said, as she slowly sat up.
"What the hell happened? Why are your eyes SOLDIER blue?" He asked, letting her comment go. Ryu groaned and put her head in her hands, as Reno burst into the room.
"Ryu!" He exclaimed, rushing over to her side.
"I just knew it. Morgan collapsed and I knew you had too. I just knew it." He said. Ryu cast him a glance.
"I'm fine, niisan." She said, as she climbed to her feet.
"I need to go find the others." She muttered, making her stumbling way to door, as Tseng's PHS went off.
"Reno, catch her." He snapped as her knees buckled and he saw the five messages on his screen. Surprised, Reno caught her. Rude came in with both Morgan and Matti leaning on him. Genesis came storming in, right behind him, Alanna in his arms. Angeal and Zack were a few steps behind him with Mary and Piper. Alanna, Ryu and Matti exchanged glances. Mary and Piper appeared to be in some kind of daze, as Ryu frantically signaled for no telling, behind Tseng's back. Both of them closed their eyes, and appeared to fall asleep on their mentors. Morgan was watching everyone and everything, but he mostly kept his eyes on Ryu, taking his cues from her. Once all six of them were settled somewhere, Tseng regarded them.
"All six of you collapsed at the same time and appear to have been overdosed with Mako." He began.
"How is that even possible?" Genesis asked. Ryu rested her head on the arm of her chair.
"Maybe we're reacting to being here." She murmured.
"Like an allergy?" Zack asked. She nodded her head.
"But that doesn't explain why you and Alanna have collapsed before." Reno pointed out.
"Maybe we're more sensitive." Alanna muttered, from where she was curled in Genesis' arms. He'd refused to let go of her since her collapse.
"It could be the environment affecting us." Matti pointed out.
"And all of you drop dead in a faint, at the same time, because of that?" Tseng asked. Matti lifted his head to look at Tseng. Dark eyes clashed with Mako enhanced blue eyes.
Drop it. Drop it. Drop it. Drop. It. Matti thought at Tseng, pushing him to let it go. Tseng sighed.
"I want a full medical exam on all of them right now. After that, take them back to apartment and let them rest. We will get the bottom of this. I can't have some of my best operatives dropping like flies." He said, finally.
"I hate exams." Ryu groaned. "The doctors always, always, have cold hands." Reno helped pull her to her feet.
"I hate them too." Alanna muttered.
"Come on, neesan. Tseng wants you checked out, so checked out you shall be." He told her. Ryu let herself flop limply in his grasp.
"Whatever Mr. Director Sir says." She muttered.
"You have a strange sense of humor." Rude said, as he pulled both Morgan and Matti to their feet, and with a hand on each's shoulder, steered them through the door. Ryu giggled.
"You have no idea." She said, and let Reno guide her out of the door.
"So spill." Matti said. Ryu cracked open an eye. They were all in their own lounge; the six of them sprawled all over the furniture. Matti and Piper lay on a pile of cushions on the floor. Morgan was flopped dramatically over one side of the couch, Alanna on the other end. Ryu had, very catlike, draped herself across the back of it. Mary had simply flopped into a chair, and stared out the window. Ryu quickly fiddled with her PHS.
"I should have thought of that." Matti said, once she shut down the spy equipment in the room. She flashed him a grin.
"I usually do it as soon as we enter, but I wanted to let them get some feed, of us crashed out, to loop." She said.
"So, what was that all about? And what did she mean, you can tell us all of it?" Morgan asked.
"That was Gaia..."
"The bitch." Alanna muttered. Ryu grinned wanely.
"No argument there." She agreed.
"As in, the goddess of this planet you were telling us about?" Mary asked. Ryu and Alanna both nodded.
"The very same. She, well, she's stepping outside the box, so to speak." Ryu began, as she sat up on the back of couch.
"She brought us here; it wasn't an accident that brought us here. She did it because she's convinced that we can stop everything that happens in the games." Ryu explained.
"And if we can't?" Matti asked.
"Everything we value will be destroyed and we'll die, in all likelihood."The others shuddered.
"Why did she only tell you two?" Mary asked. Ryu shrugged.
"I guess she thought we were the only ones who needed to know, since we knew the most about the games…"
"That's bull." Mary broke in. "I mean, it's our lives on the line!" Ryu held up a hand.
"I know, I know. But she's a goddess, quite frankly, she doesn't give a fuck about us. We're just pawns, and if she has to, she'll sacrifice all of us. But we can't not play the game her way, because she can kill us or any of the SOLDIERs or the Turks, if we anger her. We're between a rock and well… a goddess." Ryu said. Matti groaned.
"We're screwed." He said. Morgan nodded his head in agreement.
"And now we have to go to Cosmo Canyon soon, and I don't think Tseng is going to approve the mission." Alanna said.
"There is that." Ryu pointed out. "But our abilities to, you know, manipulate them are courtesy of her." She added.
"So, by our enemies, did she mean AVALANCHE?" Morgan asked. Alanna groaned and rubbed her face with her hands.
"I don't think so." She said, slowly. Matti sat up and rubbed his forehead.
"She said your enemies like its personal…" He mused. "Wouldn't she have said theirs or ours or something like that, and who is the 'her' she was speaking of?"
"Jenova, the parasitic bitch." Alanna and Ryu chorused together. He nodded his head.
"So, these enemies are connected to her? I thought you said she was locked in the mako reactor in Nibelheim?" he said.
"She is." Alanna said.
"So, how can they be connected to her?" Morgan asked.
"I know." Ryu exclaimed snapping her fingers. "They have Jenova cells in them. Like the SOLDIERs do. You can hear her in your head if you have some of her cells."
"Living cells," Alanna pointed out. "Most SOLDIERs only have dead cells in them."
"So the SOLDIERs could be giving her information, without them knowing?" Matti asked. Ryu and Alanna both swore.
"And she would have felt us using our powers on them." Alanna groaned.
"Shit…" Matti muttered. He took a deep breath, and bit his lower lip.
"Is there anyone other than the SOLDIERs in cannon that have Jenova cells?" He asked.
"There's the remnants." Ryu replied.
"Who?" Piper asked.
"The remnants. Kadaj, Loz and Yazoo, the triplets that appear after Sephiroth is killed by Cloud, the second time. They bring him back by Kadaj shoving Jenova's head into his stomach and becoming him." Alanna said with a shudder.
"But, they shouldn't be here right? Because Sephiroth is still alive?" Matti said. Ryu and Alanna shrugged.
"It's hard to tell, maybe she's 'activated' them because of our presence." Ryu said.
"So it could be them, or someone else? Do you think it's AVALANCHE?" Matti asked. Ryu shook her head.
"The Turks handle AVALANCHE just fine. She doesn't need us to handle them."
"So…"
"Stop speculating. I think we need to be worried about the getting to Cosmo Canyon thing." Morgan said.
"We sneak out." Ryu said.
"You're talking about deserting, in a world where Shinra is our only ally." Matti said.
"I know, but we don't have a choice. We can't go to Tseng with this. Even if we fabricated information, he wouldn't send us. And you've tried getting him to switch assignments Matti. It's the one time you can't budge him, when he knows it's not right and someone will get hurt."Ryu said. "If we don't go, we could be killing a lot of people, including our families back home." The others winced.
"She's right." Piper said. "We're pawns, and it sucks."
"What's even worse is, there's a mole in the Turks. Hojo will know as soon as we desert, and if we get caught, we'll go straight to his lab" Matti said glumly.
"Unless Tseng catches us first." Ryu said firmly. "He'd never, even if we deserted, let Hojo get his hands on us."
"How the hell do we manage that?" Mary asked. Ryu nodded to Matti.
"Matti, Morgan and I nudge, Tseng, Reno and Rude to look where we are." She said.
"From a distance?" Mary said skeptically.
"It's that, or walk into the Shinra building, and hope we run into a Turk first." Ryu snapped.
"Or go to the church in the slums…"Alanna murmured. Ryu face palmed.
"DOH! There's always an on duty Turk there!" She exclaimed. Matti and Morgan grinned.
"That would work." Matti said.
"But how do we get to Cosmo Canyon?" Piper asked.
"Well… that's going to take some work from us Turks…" Matti said thoughtfully. Ryu giggled.
"Hacking time." She said.
"Once we figure out the rest of the plan." Matti told her sternly.
"Of course, Mr. Director, bossman sir." Ryu said, grinning cheerfully at him. He shook his head slowly at her, and pointed a finger in her direction.
"You behave." She grinned, as Morgan sighed.
"Now you've challenged her." He muttered.
"This is serious, I'll behave." Ryu said, lightly kicking Morgan in the side with her foot. He snorted in disbelief.
"I will." She said, nudging him again with her foot.
"Maybe you should stop kicking him." Matti pointed out. Ryu stuck her tongue out at Morgan.
"Well, if he stopped doubting my ability to be serious about stuff." She said. Morgan grinned and wrapped his hand around her ankle to prevent more kicks.
"I don't really doubt you. But you do have problems with doing what you're told, and it has gotten worse since you've been emulating Reno." He said.
"Fancy that, the slum rat is a bad influence." Alanna muttered. Ryu stuck her tongue out.
"He was only a slum rat for five years." She said protectively.
"Still a slum rat." Alanna said.
"Well, at least he's not an obnoxious, arrogant snob." Ryu retorted lightly, not really bothered by the slurs. Alanna grinned.
"You forgot rich." She pointed out.
"And yet, I think Sephy makes more than he does." Ryu replied.
"Ok, ok. Enough with the bashing, we have bigger things to worry about." Matti said.
"Do we even know where in Cosmo Canyon? It's pretty big, she just said in the middle. Is that geographical, or metaphorical?"Morgan asked, his hand still on Ryu's ankle.
"We can probably check the latest aerial satellite images." Matti said.
"On the sly, of course. I think I can do that without raising suspision." Ryu told them. Matti nodded his head.
"We're going to need transportation." Alanna added.
"I can see what's available."Morgan said. "I am on equipment duty next week."
"Look for off road heavy duty vehicles. Cosmo Canyon is going to be desert and rocks."Matti said. Morgan nodded his head. Matti sighed.
"I guess my job will be to get what data I can, and keep Tseng from suspecting." He said. The others nodded their heads.
"What about us?" Alanna asked, gesturing to the three SOLDIER Turks.
"We're going to need clothes. We can't leave in our uniforms." Ryu said. Alanna nodded.
"I can do that." She said.
"What about supplies?" Piper asked.
"We'll need food for sure, and medical gear, but the hardest bits to get will be the ammo and weapons." Matti told her.
"We're going to have to start hoarding." Morgan sighed. Ryu and Matti nodded their heads.
"And how are we going to get their weapons out of the lockers without anyone noticing?" Ryu asked, gesturing to the other three.
"We'll get to planning once we know where we're going." Matti said. "One thing at a time." They all nodded. Mary stood to stagger off to bed. Yawning, Piper stood to follow her. Sighing, Matti got to his feet and followed her out the door.
"Oh fuck!" Ryu snapped, pulling CAGS from around her neck, "I forgot..."
"To turn me off?" CAGS said. Ryu nodded her head.
"And I know Reno has a software back door, a tattle to Reno program." She said.
"I won't tell, Miss Ryu. I understand the ramifications if I tell. I am allowed to make my own decisions and I have decided to disabled that program." CAGS reassured her. Alanna looked at CAGS, askew.
"You're technically not alive, but the bitch might take exception to your knowing." She said.
"And technically she was there, she was around my neck. She doesn't have a soul though, so she wasn't conscious."
"Now you're splitting hairs." Morgan pointed out.
"Well, if she wants us to do this, we need CAGS on board. We can't out tech Reno without her. She's an extension of me, isn't she?" Ryu said. Alanna sighed.
"Well, let's just hope she doesn't take exception to the fact." She said, resigned.
"We're going to need her to cover our technological tracks." Ryu said, standing.
"Oh, I don't disagree." Alanna reassured her. "I'm just worried about if the bitch will take exception to this."
"We'll cross that bridge if it becomes a problem." Morgan said, climbing to his feet and stretching. Alanna sighed.
"I hope we never do, because we'll probably get toasted."
"Go to sleep, dumbapples. CAGS has got our backs." Ryu said.
"Creepy ass spider goggles have my back... that's not very reassuring." Alanna muttered.
"Do not worry, Alanna. I do in fact 'have your backs'" CAGS replied.
Over the next week, Ryu poured over the aerial images of both continents, and compared them to the maps. CAGS' tech busily humming in her ear, as CAGS gathered the data they would need, while Matti pointed her to it and wormed her way deeper into Shinra security. Morgan inspected every vehicle, and pulled Matti and Ryu's weapons for overhaul inspections. Alanna went on a shopping trip with Piper for clothes and food. Mary "broke" the lock on their weapons cabinets and "forgot" to put in the damage report. Ryu logged flight time in the Cosmo Canyon simulator, as well as in sand storms. At night all of them snuck up to the VR room to practice driving in Cosmo Canyon. Alanna cornered Cloud and bullied him into teach her how to drive a motorcycle, against Gen's expressed wishes.
Late in the week, Angeal stopped Mary after training. With a smile, he led her up to the apartment.
"I have something for you." He said, over his shoulder, as he led her into the front area of his room. He pointed toward the second door, leading to his bedroom.
"Go see."
Mary stared, wide eyed, at the plainly wrapped package that lay on Angeal's bed.
"What is that?" She asked. He grinned and motioned for her to unwrap it.
"Find out for yourself." He told her. Mary cautiously pulled the string holding it closed, and the paper fell away, revealing a Buster sword. It was cut down to her height, of course, but otherwise it was a perfect match to Angeal's.
"'Geal..." She whispered, touched.
"To protect your honor, and pride, as a SOLDIER." He told her. Mary grinned and hugged him.
"I've never been given something so practical, and touching, at the same time." She told him. He laughed. She let go of him and touched the hilt, feeling the grain of the cool, smooth red leather under her fingers.
"I'll still keep my Buster, Jr." She told him. "Use brings about wear, tear and rust. And it'd be a shame to ruin it." He grinned, seeming to recall something.
"It's for you to use." He told her. She grinned up at him.
"I'll only use it to defend my friends." She told him.
"If that's what you want." He told her. Mary nodded her head.
"It is."
It is time. They all stood in the lifestream and looked up at Gaia.
It is time. She repeated.
"Time for what, exactly?" Mary asked.
The clash of destinies begins tonight. The arrows will leave the bow of the goddess. The war of the beasts will begin tonight. She proclaimed, as they were flung back into their bodies.
They all woke. Ryu and Alanna darted to their feet and glanced at mirrors. Their eyes were as mako blue as possible.
"I know why she likes Genesis." Ryu grumbled to herself, as she pulled CAGS over her eyes.
"Tell the others to wear sunglasses." She muttered, as Morgan shoved his glasses on.
"Well, this makes things awkward." He commented.
"Yeah, because this isn't going to fade. I'm betting this is her 'gift' to us." Ryu said, just before Matti and Piper burst into their room, Mary and Alanna half a step behind them. Morgan grabbed the blankets and pulled them up to his chin.
"Don't you guys know how to knock?" He snapped, as Ryu threw a shirt and a fresh pair of pants at him.
"It's not like I haven't seen you shirtless before, Morgan; you were shirtless at Costa del Sol." Alanna pointed out. He grumbled at her from beneath the sheets. When he emerged, he was fully dressed.
"What did she mean?" Matti asked. Ryu made a twirling gesture with her hand and waited for half a minute. She nodded at Alanna when it was safe.
"Somehow, this thing in Cosmo Canyon is going to change destiny, or it's the start to it. She was using the wording of LOVELESS to talk to us." She gestured to all of them. "We're the arrows, I think, we're being released in her fight, finally, it would seem. The war of the beasts, probably the fight between Gaia and Jenova." She said.
"So, she was saying she's finally using her weapons in this fight." Matti said. "She couldn't just say that?"
"No, she's a goddess, they like to be dramatic." Ryu snapped, and then hopped from foot to foot restlessly. Alanna eyed her.
"You gonna be okay with that much mako, Fire Cracker?" She asked. Ryu nodded her head.
"Yeah, she's been amping us up for this, I think. I think she wants to be able to spike us full of mako when she needs to, without us needing the same heavy dose all the time." Ryu explained.
"It does make sense."Alanna agreed, as Ryu continued hopping, agitated.
"You're not going to be able to sit still are you?" Matti asked her. Ryu shook her head.
"Nu-uh, I feel like Zack." Ryu said, throwing in a squat for good measure.
"Well, we know what happens to Ryu when she gets SOLDIER class mako in her system now." Alanna muttered. Mary yawned.
"So we're leaving tonight?" She asked. The others nodded their heads.
"Yeah, I guess so." Matti said. Ryu nodded.
"Right, right, right. We'll work on making sure the timing will work out." Ryu said, waving a hand abstractly in the air somewhere near her head.
"You sure you can focus?" Morgan asked her, worried. Ryu nodded her head.
"It's like I drank ten energy drinks, I'll get used to it. Besides, I learned well to watch my tongue." She assured him, tucking her hands behind her back.
"We're going to have to make ourselves scarce for the day, they'll notice if we're all wearing glasses."Matti told them. Ryu gestured to Alanna, Mary and Piper.
"They might not notice it with them. It looks like we're all at 1st level, so they only went up one level in mako." She waved to herself and the two guys. "Us, on the other hand, they will notice, the glowy eyes gives us away."
"And your bouncing" Mary added. Ryu nodded her head in agreement.
"I know, I know, I gotta stop." She agreed.
"Is it all possible you can work on Parkour today?" Matti asked her. She tilted her head to the side and considered it.
"Takashi might be available." She said, finally. Matti nodded his head.
"Above all else, we must try to avoid the people who know us." He looked at Ryu. "Are you sure of your tech?" He asked her. Ryu nodded her head.
"Trust it with all our lives." She assured him.
"Good, because that's exactly what we're doing." He told her. Ryu paused in her bouncing, and nodded her head.
"I know."
Genesis pulled bleary eyes open, and heaved himself up. His stomach growled hungrily, and he staggered toward the kitchen. Cloud and Tseng were very sleepily digging through the cupboards, looking for food. It was a little unusual for Tseng to stay over, but not unheard of.
"Afternoon." Tseng muttered, as he handed Gen a cup of coffee. Gen took it and looked around the apartment. Something was out of place. His eyes fell on the white board.
Went out shopping was written neatly in Alanna's hand writing.
"They left?" He asked. Cloud nodded his head.
"Guess they didn't want to wake any of us." He said. Gen gave him a puzzled look.
"Angeal and Zack are still sleeping." He said.
"TSENG!" Reno yelled, as he burst into the room. He plowed to a halt. He was wearing what appeared to be yesterday's slacks, and had forgotten to button up his shirt. Tseng raised an eyebrow.
"What is it Reno?" He asked.
"Ryu's tracker is off." He said. Tseng's eyes widened.
"Morgan's is here in the building and so is Matti's PHS and the girls'."He added. Tseng cursed.
"Figure out what went wrong, Reno, and get Rude to help you." He snapped, heading toward Cloud's room.
"What's wrong? They went shopping." Gen said, gesturing to the white board. Reno shook his head.
"Then they're in trouble, because there's only one way to shut of Ryu's tracker, and that's to destroy it, which means attacking her." He explained, just before he dashed from the apartment. Tseng emerged in his uniform. He nodded to Cloud and Genesis.
"Get the others up please. We may need your help getting to the bottom of this." He said. They both nodded their heads, the worry over their otherworld friends growing.
Reno sighed, frustrated, and thrust his chair away from the desk.
"The video shows them leaving this morning, but when I called the guards, they didn't remember it. In fact, they say no ones left yet."He said. Rude paused, and stretched his arms, and cracked his knuckles.
"Which means they didn't leave then." He said logically. Reno swore and pulled himself back to his desk, typing furiously.
Rude turned back to the video feed of the parking garage. Something caught his eye. Slowly he wound the tape backwards. His eyes lit up.
"I got it." He said. Reno swiveled his chair over to Rude's computer, and peered at the screen.
"What am I looking at, yo?" He asked. Rude gestured to a row of bikes in the garage and hit play. Suddenly, a few minutes in, they were gone. Reno swore.
"They looped the feed to cover their exit, but then let it go back to normal." He said. He shoved Rude's chair aside and quickly typed something.
"Which, if they wrote over the video, the original is still there under it…" He muttered to himself, engrossed in the screen before him.
"Ryu's smart, but she's relaying on tech. Tech I programmed, which means I am essentially tracking my own code…" With a grin, he sat back.
"Call Tseng, and the SOLDIERs." He said.
"What do you have?" Tseng asked. The five 1sts, along with Chloe, were crowded in his office to see what Reno and Rude had found.
"We know when they left, for starters." Reno said. He'd taken the time to change into clean clothes.
"That sounds ominous." Chloe said. Reno shrugged.
"They left sometime around three this morning." Rude said.
"I really am not going to like this, am I?" Tseng asked. Rude shrugged noncommittally. Reno sighed, and typed on the keyboard he was holding in his hand.
"Once Rude saw the discrepancy in the video, he backtracked to when it occurred, then I uncovered the original video and back tracked through the rest of the cameras and traced the…" He looked up, and saw they were all giving him a get on with it look. He shrugged.
"In the end, I managed to recover all the video that they'd over written." He concluded, rolling his eyes. He snatched the clicker for the screen from Tseng's hand, and marched back over to stand next to it.
"Starting at 0200 hours, they appear out of their rooms, quietly I might add." He said, playing the video he'd put together. The screen was split six different ways, showing each of the doppelgangers. They paused in the hallway, and seemed focused on something not seen.
"Zoom in on their eyes." Cloud asked. Reno obliged him and they all gasped, most evident in Ryu and Morgan's eyes, was the Mako blue influence.
"They passed out again recently." Angeal murmured.
"What does that mean?" Zack asked, worried.
"They are definitely stronger than we would have expected." Seph noted. Reno unpaused the video, and showed them sneaking into the garage. Ryu was the first to enter, and she paused and looked up at the camera, raised her hand and twirled a finger in the air.
"Why'd she do that?" Cloud asked.
"I think that was some preprogrammed signal to loop the feed." Reno said, as the others came out and headed toward the row of bikes. Ryu paused, cocked her head to the side, and looked up at the camera, staring intently at it before she turned and walked away toward a bike.
"What are they doing?" Genesis asked, as they loaded two of the bikes into one of the trucks. They were all dressed like Turks.
"I have no idea…" Tseng said, watching it intently. Piper and Matti hopped into the truck while the others got on the bikes.
"That's how they got out of Shinra, they were dressed like Turks. The guards aren't going to stop them." Rude said, as the video showed them leaving the garage.
"Can you track them through the city?" Seph asked, standing. Reno nodded his head.
"Already workin' on it." He said, going back to the keyboard.
"Tracking them through the city was difficult. They avoided as many cameras as they could, but we do have them on the edge of the city." He said, pulling up another camera. This one showed them stopped just outside the city. They were all changed into non Turk or SOLDIER uniforms.
Ryu was wearing her cargo pants, long sleeve hooded shirt, with cadet boots and her one shoulder bag, and her goggles. Matti was wearing dark cargo pants with a bulky sweatshirt and boots. Morgan was wearing desert camouflage pants, a dark shirt with a matching camouflage jacket, his gun case, and explosives loaded on his bike. Piper and Mary were wearing dark pants and tee shirts with light jackets and boots. Alanna had opted for more fitted dark pants, a fitted tan colored shirt and dark jacket.
"Which model bike did they take?" Tseng asked.
"The extreme off-roaders sir. They can handle any kind of terrain, short of snow and ice." Rude said.
"Why those bikes?" Tseng murmured, as they watched them get on the bikes and take off.
"Why not just go in the direction they went?" Cloud asked naively.
"Three of them are Turks, they will make inferring their route difficult. We cannot assume that's their true direction. It could be, but it's unlikely. They will get out of range and then head to their destination roundaboutly." Tseng explained.
"Oh." Cloud said, softly turning red.
"It's all right. I'd be surprised if you thought of that. Most people who aren't Turks don't." Tseng said absentmindedly to Cloud, who was standing behind his chair. Cloud smiled sheepishly.
"We need to know what they are planning, why they left, and if they are a threat." Tseng said, standing. Reno, Rude and Chloe nodded their heads in understanding.
"And if they are a threat?" Zack asked hesitantly.
"We eliminate them." Reno answered for Tseng, in a monotone. Zack and Cloud looked at him, surprised.
"But Ryu's your sister!" Cloud yelped. Tseng gently rested his hand on his shoulder, as Reno shrugged.
"I'm hoping she knows what the hell she's doing." He said, looking out Tseng's office window. Cloud looked up at Tseng.
"You wouldn't really make him kill Ryu, would you?" He asked. Tseng sighed.
"Unless Sephiroth, Genesis or Angeal offer to take the three Turks down, we're the only ones who can do it. They've been trained far to well." He told him. "You and Zack would hesitate to kill them." He added. They both hung their heads.
"There is no shame in that. They've been with us for almost a year now, and we had no reason to suspect they would turn on us." Angeal protested. Tseng nodded his head.
"And it's not how you were trained anyways, Cloud. Turks are trained to be heartless, SOLDIERs aren't." Cloud looked at Reno. The redhead was fiddling with the screen clicker, opening it, popping the batteries out and back in and closing it repeatedly, without really knowing what he was doing. Slowly, he scrolled back through the video until he was paused at the image of Ryu staring up at the camera. He tilted his head to the side and studied it.
"I've been thinking..." Reno said, softly. Tseng looked at his second in command.
"Go on." He said. Reno flipped the clicker back and forth in his hands.
"What if they know something is gonna happen, and so are, you know, preventing it?" He said. Tseng opened his mouth to respond, and then closed it, looking thoughtful.
"You could be on to something." He said. Reno grinned.
"We trained them to run missions. What if for them, this is a Turk mission?"
"What makes you say that?" Tseng asked, coming up to his side. Reno gestured to Ryu's image.
"Look closely at her left hand." He said. The others all leaned closer to look at her hand. It wasn't dangling loosely by her side like the other, but clenched tightly in a Turk hand signal.
"So, she's got her hand clenched." Zack said.
"It's a Turk hand signal, Zack." Cloud said, surprising the others.
"So what does it say?" Zack asked.
"Mission. Retrieval required? Seriously Ryu?" Rude said softly.
"Are they expecting to get hurt?" Zack asked, worried.
"Or captured." Genesis said glumly.
"Or they want us to catch them..." Rude added thoughtfully.
"Why would they want that?" Zack asked, confused.
"Better the Turks than Heidigger." Reno offered with a shudder.
"You know, you haven't done anything to him lately."Rude said off topic. Reno grinned.
"Ryu won't let me. She says he'll get what's coming to him."
"If we can focus?" Tseng asked. Reno grinned.
"Sorry, bossman."
"Why would Heidigger be looking for them?" Cloud asked Tseng. Sephiroth pinched the bridge of his nose, almost at the same time Tseng did.
"Because Tseng has to report them missing. There's a mole in the Turk offices, if he doesn't he'll get in trouble. Although..."Rude said.
"What? What? What, what, what?" Zack asked, catching the hint of speculation in Rude's voice.
"We could use this as a chance to catch the mole..." Rude said, looking at Tseng, not that anyone could tell because of his glasses. Tseng considered it.
"It's risky." He said.
"We don't have a choice, bossman. If we don't clear out the mole soon, we'll find our little friends gone one day, and we'll never get them out of Hojo's labs." Reno said, grimacing. He looked back at the still frozen image of Ryu on the screen.
"Do we really have a choice?"He asked. Tseng, Rude, and Chloe sighed.
"No." Chloe answered. "This sucks." She muttered under her breath.
Ryu glanced up at the sky. CAGS had just picked up that Reno and Rude had taken off in the chopper.
"They know." She said, into her earpiece. Ahead of her, Matti nodded his head, as he nimbly swerved his bike away from the canyon wall.
"That was faster than expected." He replied.
"Shit." She swore.
"What? What now?" Matti snapped.
"The President has asked Heidigger to capture us, and give us to Hojo." She swore.
"Well that was fast." Morgan muttered.
"That damn mole." Matti swore. "He or she is better than we thought."
"Tseng must have been forced to report it." Alanna said responsibly.
"Yo bossman, how badly does this screw up our plans?" Ryu asked.
"I don't know." Matti replied. Ryu shook her head.
"It's a good day to die." She muttered, risking a glance up at the sky again. When she looked back down, she was heading towards a rocky outcropping, with no time to swerve. With a mental shrug, she gunned the engine and held her weight forward on the bike, and pulled it up into a jump over the outcropping. With only a little fish tailing, she landed on the other side and kept going.
"Show off." Alanna muttered. Ryu laughed giddily.
"Niisan likes to have impromptu races in the company garage, and if you crash into the tanks, you're screwed." Morgan groaned.
"You're becoming incredibly reckless." He told her.
"He ordered me to."Ryu defended herself.
"The first time, maybe" Alanna grumbled. Ryu laughed.
"What, it's fun?" Morgan sighed.
"Maybe it's a good thing you shave your head now. I'm probably giving you gray hair." Ryu told him.
"You were doing that before we came to Gaia." He told her. Ryu made a raspberry like sound and laughed.
"You ruin all my fun." She told him.
"Not all of it." He told her.
"AHH TMI!" Alanna groaned playfully.
"Not that." Morgan protested. "I never stopped her from gaming."
"Sure, that's what you meant." Alanna said.
"Don't make me hit you when this is over."
"We might be dead by then, guys." Piper said, from the back of crowd. She had the least experience and the best hearing, so she was the rearguard, listening for people sneaking up on them.
"You had to bring that up didn't you?" Alanna asked her. Mary snorted in laughter.
"We're unlikely to be going back, you know." Mary added. She sounded glum. Ryu glanced ahead and looked out over the canyons, musing as they drove along.
She understood what it cost Mary and Alanna to leave Shinra. But other than Alanna, and maybe Matti, Ryu was the only one who could truly guess what it was going to cost them even if they succeeded. Dying at the hands of Reno, however painless he made it, was not something she wanted to experience anytime soon.
"You know." CAGS said in her ear, "If it came down to you and Reno, I would help."Ryu sighed, rolling her eyes.
"I saw that. I don't think you understand." CAGS told her.
"Then make me." She muttered.
"What?" Matti asked.
"Nothing." Ryu replied.
"I do have a fail safe program now, should your life be truly threatened, I am programmed to interfere now that I have legs."
"And do what?" Ryu muttered.
"Ryu, would you seriously please stop talking to yourself?" Mary snapped, annoyed. Ryu bit her tongue to prevent her automatic response.
"You don't have to listen to me."
"Yes I do."
"Tune me out." Ryu snapped back.
"I was, until Mary said something." Alanna added, sighing.
"And I am not being that loud, or chatty."Ryu added, for good measure.
"Loud enough." Mary retorted.
"Loud for you is someone else talking." Ryu snapped.
"Would you guys stop?" Matti asked. Ryu snapped her jaw shut, audibly even over the microphones.
"Yes, bossman, sir." Ryu muttered.
"That's Tseng, not me" He told her.
"You're the bossman now, Matti." Alanna said, resigned to their fate.
"He's always been the bossman." Ryu teased.
"True." Alanna agreed. "Not that he seems to really realize this."
"For being the brains of this operation, he's a little slow." Ryu agreed.
"Hey! I can hear you!" Matti exclaimed.
"We know." They chorused. Morgan sighed.
"When are you gonna remember that they will mock you in your presence?" He asked. Matti sighed.
"I haven't forgotten; I was just hoping they'd stop." He admitted. This caused them all to laugh.
"You're funny, Matti." Alanna said, giggling.
"He thinks he's funny." Ryu corrected.
"Well, yeah." Mary agreed sarcastically. Ryu blew out an exaggerated sigh.
"What will be, will be. We don't have much of a choice right? So might as well enjoy it." She said.
"She's right." Morgan agreed.
"Oh my goddess, he agrees with me!" Ryu pretended surprise. Now it was Morgan's turn to sigh.
"I usually agree with you, I just don't let you know, or it'll go to your head." He told her.
"HEY!" Ryu protested, as the others laughed. She grinned and then laughed.
"It's okay, Morgan. I never agree with you, or at least very rarely." She told him, mock sweetly. He snorted.
"No, you just koala yourself to me half the time."
"It's funny." She replied, with a slight shrug of her shoulders.
"How much longer?" Mary asked. Ryu slowed to a halt, and pulled her helmet off to fiddle with her goggles. The others parked around her. She glanced at Matti, he nodded.
"You studied the maps the most." He told her. Ryu nodded.
"About five miles down this canyon. Then we'll cut across a side canyon for a couple miles and turn in to another off shoot. That will lead to the only entrance I could find into the base that appears to be out here." She explained, crossing her arms and closing her jaw on a yawn.
"We can take a brief nap in the off shoot, because it's small, and can't fit anything bigger than the bikes. Even then, we'll have to be careful, as it'll be tight, which is why I picked it. Ravens are clumsy by nature, they won't be able to navigate it, and it comes out to far away for foot patrols." She added. The others nodded tiredly. Matti grinned.
"A night op was what I was hoping for." He said. Ryu rolled her eyes.
"We'll have to post sentries if you plan for us to nap all day." Morgan said before she could. He nodded his head.
"It's going to get warm." Mary pointed out. Ryu patted the seat of her bike.
"They're equipped with some survival gear built in."
"Well that's cool." Piper commented.
"It's smart." Mary said. Ryu readjusted her goggles and kicked her bike back into action. Startled, the others quickly followed suit.
After a while, Ryu slowed her bike and let it come to a stop before turning it off. The others followed her example and cut their engines.
"This our rest stop?" Matti asked. Ryu nodded her head. She pulled her helmet off and hung it off the handlebars, before gingerly getting off her bike, aware of the walls of the canyon that were in close proximity to them. The canyon, at its largest, was about five feet wide, and towered easily twenty or thirty if not fifty feet above them. She reached around to the side of her bike and pressed a button, the others, but Morgan and Matti, watching her. Her seat popped open to reveal a tightly rolled sleeping bag, a small med kit and what appeared to be MRE like food.
"EW." Mary said, looking at the food. Ryu snickered and gestured to Piper.
"The puppy packed real food, you know." She said dryly. "And if we don't get caught right away, you'll be glad of the MREs." She pulled the sleeping bag and pulled the ground sheet folded up under it and the folded pole with it. She closed the seat.
She took the pole, paced off Morgan's height, and drove the pole into the ground. With an efficient snap of her wrists she unfolded the ground sheet, hooked it to the saddlebag hooks on one side of her bike, and slipped the grommet on the other side over the pole. Grabbing her sleeping bag, she crawled under the sheet and spread it out, and stretched out on top of it.
"Good night. Wake me when it's my turn for sentry duty." She said. With that, the others shook off the surprise at the seats and went to work. Morgan grabbed his sleeping bag and crawled under the tent with Ryu. She grinned and poked him in the ribs.
"What makes you think you're allowed in my tent?" She asked him. He grinned.
"You made it my size." He pointed. She laughed.
"Habit." She fibbed, and curled up on her side. He laughed and stretched out beside her. They heard Matti curse at Piper as she turned, whacking him in the small of the back with the pole. Ryu giggled.
"Piper, you aren't supposed to hurt bossman." She called. Piper giggled.
"Shut it, Ryu."
"Or get out here and help." Matti added.
"Not happenin' bossman, I set up my tent." Ryu said, blowing a raspberry. Morgan sighed and crawled back out of the tent when he heard another smack, as Piper hit Matti again.
"Here, give me that." He said, taking the pole from her, as she giggled helplessly.
"Thank you!" Matti exclaimed. Morgan shoved the pole into the ground and helped Matti get the ground sheet set up. There was a startled yelp, as Mary tripped on her pole that was lying on the ground, and landed on her butt. Sighing, Ryu crawled from her tent and took the pole.
"Before you hurt yourself." She said to Mary, and staked it into the ground.
"Umm... Ryu?" Alanna asked. Ryu turned. Alanna had somehow wrapped herself in the ground sheet. Laughing, Ryu un-wrapped her.
"Did you not practice this?" She asked. Alanna shook her head.
"This is Turk stuff, not SOLDIER stuff." She replied.
"It's good for both." Ryu said with a shrug, as she held one end of the sheet and helped her stretch it out.
Once everyone had settled, with Mary choosing to take first watch, they all fell asleep. Ryu woke when Piper crawled into the tent to wake her.
"Your turn." She whispered.
"How long til dark?" Ryu asked, as she pulled her goggles around her neck and grabbed her weapons belt.
"You're the last watch. A couple hours. Matti wants to move out after dark." Ryu nodded and followed Piper out of the tent. She scrambled up to the ledge that they were using as the look out. She turned her head when she felt a presence behind her. She turned and found herself looking straight into the yellow eyes of a Gi.
"Holy shit!" She exclaimed, jumping a few inches.
"What are you doing here in Cosmo Canyon?" He asked, settling down, curling his tail around his feet as he watched her.
"Umm..." Ryu fumbled, looking for something to say.
"Are from Shinra?" Ryu violently shook her head.
"They'd kill us; or worse..." She replied. He cocked his head to the side.
"Really? Then why do you spy on Shinra's enemies?" He asked. She shrugged.
"They plan to kill innocent people. Shinra has a lot to answer for, but when you resort to their tactics, you're no better than them. Besides, they aren't just against Shinra, they're against all living things." Ryu replied. He cocked his head to the side.
"How so?" He asked. She gestured toward the compound and then her eyes started to roll up.
"Shit, that Bitch..." She groaned, as she slipped toward the edge. Startled the Gi grabbed her collar and hauled her back.
You're getting too close the truth. Ryu heard Gaia say.
"Oh, shut the fuck up. How the hell are we supposed to get allies if you won't let us talk?" She snapped.
"Who are you talking to?" The curious Gi asked, giving her a strange look. Ryu sat up with a groan.
"The bitch..." She replied.
"You're eyes are the color of the lifestream, the planet..." He said and then got up to leave.
"Hey, wait..." Ryu said. He turned and looked at her. She swallowed.
"I am sorry that things are the way they are." She said. He gave her a curious look.
"You are a strange one. You smell strongly of Mako as if you were Shinra, and yet..." He shook his head and bounded away.
"Well that was interesting." CAGS said. Ryu nodded her head.
"Very." She agreed. "How is it going with getting in their system?"
"Very well. They don't have very good security." CAGS replied, her generated voice showing unease and puzzlement.
"Spit it out." Ryu said, with a sigh.
"Isn't this supposed to be AVALANCHE headquarters? If they are as good as you say, then their security shouldn't be so easy." Ryu cursed to herself. She picked up a rock, and bouncing it lightly in the palm of her hand, considered her options.
"Maybe this is a base and not their headquarters..." She considered. With a sigh, she tossed the rock off the edge so it smacked into the side of Piper and Matti's tent. That was all he needed to wake up and come out of the tent. When he saw Ryu gesturing for him to join her, he did so.
"What's wrong?" He asked. Ryu shrugged.
"Other than a visit from a Gi? The system is too easy. There were practically no defenses set up. We had complete control of the cameras after two minutes."She told him. Matti cursed.
"You're right, it's too easy. But we have to go in there." He said. Ryu nodded her head.
"How many guards are there?" He asked.
"Maybe ten, it's a skeleton crew at best." She told him. Matti nodded his head.
"Can you spot any traps?" She nodded her head.
"It's littered with them. Morgan and I are going to have to go in first to sweep for them." She told him. Matti sighed and rubbed his forehead.
"And if a Raven shows up, you two could be toast." He told her. Ryu reached over and lightly squeezed the muscles between his neck and shoulder. He winced and grabbed her wrist, forcing her hand away. She grinned.
"We took down the Ravens in Nibelheim, we aren't totally helpless." She reminded him. "And having one of the others flailing around and setting off something is too risky." Ryu said, as she kept watching the feed of the compound. Matti sighed again. She straightened.
"Shit, shit, shit." She swore.
"What?"
"We need to go in now." She said, climbing to her feet.
"Why?" Matti said, grabbing her arm as he stood. Ryu pulled off her goggles and shoved the lens over his eyes.
"FUCK!" He swore, when he saw it. Ryu pulled her goggles back on and nodded her head.
"We need to get in there now." He agreed. Ryu took a deep breath and then launched herself over the edge of the ledge, rolling until she fetched up against a tent pole making it sway. Matti followed her, clamoring over the rocks at high speed. Ryu jumped to her feet, and swiftly pulled the stakes of all the tents out of the ground. Morgan rolled out from under the falling ground sheet, his gun out, and his eyes scanning for an enemy.
"We have to go now." Ryu said, her hand falling lightly on his shoulder. He looked over his shoulder at her. She reached into his jacket pocket and drew his sunglasses out and set them on his face.
"OH." He said, when he saw it. Sleepily Mary, Piper and Alanna came out of their tents when Matti shook them.
"We have to go in now." He told them. Ryu and Morgan were dismantling the tents quickly and shoving them back in the bikes.
"Why? It's not dark yet." Mary protested, yawning.
"Change of plan." Matti said, as he shoved weapons at the three of them. The sound of an EMR charging made them glance up. Ryu had hers out and was testing the charge on it. She glanced up and grinned.
"It's show time." She whispered. Matti nodded his head.
"When we get there, Morgan and Ryu will go in first, it's booby trapped, and they'll be making their way forward regardless of what happens to us. We'll follow when an all clear sign is given, but the four of us are on our own." Matti told them.
"Why?"Piper asked. Matti sighed.
"We're on the clock now. We have two hours to clear the compound before we lose. The four of us will do the clearing. Ryu and Morgan will be making their way directly to the target."
"Why them?" Mary asked. Matti sighed.
"No time for questions, let's go." He said, climbing on his bike. Morgan and Ryu were already mounted, waiting for the others. Matti nodded at Ryu to lead the way. She gunned her engine once, the other three were mounted and took off.
She took her bike right up to the entrance before cutting the engine and dismounting, Morgan a half second behind her. Ryu backed up a few feet and waited.
"Kick the door down, Mary. And back up and move to the side." Matti said. Mary nodded. The door was a sturdy metal affair, but the lock appeared to be pretty weak, a simple deadbolt time thing. With a few well aimed kicks, Mary broke the lock, and dented the door. It swung open as she backed up. A slight sound caught Piper's attention. She whirled, her sword half drawn, and with a ringing clang caught the sword on it. She pulled her sword free and dropped into a crouch.
Facing her was a young woman, about their age, with what appeared to be a sword, clobbered together from old parts of a buster sword. She was somewhere between Ryu and Piper in height. A helmet with some kind of clobbered together display screen covered her head and face.
"Nicole?" Matti said, surprised, naming his ex girlfriend, recognizing the fringe of hair sticking out of the bottom of her helmet. She grinned, or at least appeared to.
"Long time no see, Matti I can't let you guys in." She said, striking at Piper with startling force. Piper blocked and attacked. Matti looked at Ryu and Morgan.
"Go. We'll handle her. Your only job is to take care of the target." He told them. They nodded.
"Go Piper!" Ryu cheered, before turning and sprinting toward the entrance, leaping over the threshold and diving to the ground, sliding under the darts flying from the wall. She popped up and leaped up, kicked off a wall, and dove over the row of lasers. Tumbling, she sprang up, and smashed the button controlling the lasers. Morgan calmly stepped in, and with long ground eating strides, walked to her side.
"NO!" Nicole yelled, her sword beating at Piper's guard. Piper held her ground, despite her slightly smaller size. Mary looked at Matti.
"Do you want me or Alanna to interfere?" She asked. He shook his head, watching Piper. He had one fist clenched as if he wanted to dive into the fight.
"She'll handle her, and do it quickly." He replied. "Only Ryu really plays with her food." Alanna grinned. Matti rolled his eyes.
"And you, when you are feeling sadistic." He added.
Piper did a backwards flip, and in midair swung her sword around, sheering through her opponent's sword in a very Zack-like move.
"Oh cool." The girl snapped, when she saw her sword in pieces. She stared, frustrated at the hilt of her now destroyed blade.
"You have no idea how long that took me to make." She snapped, flinging the hilt at her. Piper ducked, and Mary casually flicked it away from her head, before re-crossing her arms.
"Rude." Piper snapped at her. She shrugged.
"Why are you here?" Matti asked suddenly. She shrugged again.
"Power. Isn't that what all villains are after?" She asked.
"So, you admit you're a villain?" Mary said. She shrugged, yet again.
"I don't care what happens to this world, neither do my compatriots. We just want what we came for. Doesn't that make us villains?" Nicole said calmly, as she drew a night stick from her pocket and snapped it open.
"So, what do you want?" Alanna asked. Piper grinned at her.
"You think I'm afraid of a night stick? I've fought Ryu, and she's an expert with EMRs." Nicole launched herself at Piper, who leapt back, swinging her sword so the flat of the blade knocked her helmet off, revealing close cropped blonde hair and slitted eyes as green as Seph's, along with a nasty, evil sneer.
"Watch out, she's got Jenova cells." Alanna called. "Active ones."
Piper nodded her head.
"Is that a problem?" Matti asked. Alanna shrugged.
"If it was Seph, yes, but her... I dunno." Piper gave a slight growl, and rushed forward, her sword slicing through the night stick, and the point slipping between two of her ribs, as the force knocked her backwards and slammed her head into a rock. Piper started forward to check on her.
"Piper, no." Matti said. She stopped and looked at him.
"She's the enemy, and we've wasted enough time on her. She's hurt enough she shouldn't be a problem, either kill her or leave, but don't cure her." He told her. She sighed and trotted back to his side. Matti gently squeezed her shoulder in understanding. Nicole lay passed out on the ground, blood seeping from her clothes, into the ground. Matti risked one last glance at her before he turned toward the entrance.
Matti stepped into the entrance, the other three following him.
"Our job is to clear the guards, so Ryu and Morgan don't waste time fighting them." He told them. He glanced at Alanna.
"Keep your materia out. We don't have time for long fights with the Ravens. And if it moves, hit it, and hit hard." Alanna pulled out her fira and cura.
"Can do, Bossman." Alanna said cheerfully, as they headed down the hall.
Ryu jogged along beside Morgan's long strides. Between her and CAGS, they'd avoided the traps and disabled as many as they could. The controls to the trap were the only thing CAGS hadn't been able to gain control of, so they had to do it by hand without slowing down.
"This is taking too long." Morgan growled under his breath, as they entered a huge observatory like dome. Ryu glanced up at him.
"Can you keep up with me?" She asked him. He looked down at her and nodded. Ryu took a running leap and grabbed a pipe over head, and flipped up onto the small concealed catwalk above their heads. Morgan reached up and grabbed it, and pulled himself up. Ryu ran along the catwalk, and grabbing the railing, jumped on to it, sending herself leaping over the open space to grab the next level of the catwalk's rail. In this fashion, they climbed the dome. When they reached to top, they found yet another hallway.
"Great." Morgan muttered. Ryu held her tongue, saving her oxygen for what came ahead. She gave him a slight nod, and then took off sprinting down the hall. Halfway down, she threw herself into a slide along the floor, as lances flew from the walls. They clattered harmlessly to the floor. Morgan cautiously followed her.
"There are days you worry me." He told her. Ryu grinned.
"I'm having fun." She told him. Morgan sighed.
"You're becoming more like Reno every day." He told her. Ryu grinned and took off down the next hall; jumping, twisting and weaving her way through the maze of lasers.
Matti sighed, and considered the knocked out guard before them. Mary had hit him with the hilt of her Buster sword.
"Now what do we do with him?"Piper asked.
"We've reached the target." Ryu reported. "Unfortunately, it's locked up tighter than Angeal's wallet."
"Ha ha." Mary said, un-amused.
"I thought it was funny." Alanna commented.
"Ryu, how much like Reno can you act? We're near the target ourselves, and we might have a source of the codes, if we can get them out." Matti said. Ryu laughed.
"For that, I can act a lot like him, Bossman. Just bring the poor schmuck over." Matti nodded to Mary for her to pick up the guy.
"Did you clear the traps around there?" Matti asked, as they walked.
"Yep. Can I go back to attempted cracking?"
"Yes, go."
When they entered the room where Morgan and Ryu were, Mary and Alanna drew a sharp breath in.
"Is that?" Alanna asked. Morgan nodded. He was kneeling by the base of the structure, attempting to unscrew the casing with what appeared to be the end of his sunglasses, or maybe a small screwdriver. It was hard to tell.
"What is it?" Piper asked, confused. Mary dropped the guy against the wall, where Ryu was typing furiously at a keyboard. She turned on her heel to face the guy, as she pulled her goggles up to her forehead. She reached into her bag and fished out a small vial.
"Time to wake up our little song bird." She said, as she waved it under his nose. He gagged, and came to with a large purple bruise forming over his right eye. He glared at them, despite the bruise. Ryu grinned and crouched down next to him, idly fiddling with the strap hanging from her EMR.
"Yo, looks like we need some codes to foil your little plan here. Care to share?" She asked him. He glared and spat, aiming for her head. Ryu jerked her head to the side, and let it fly over her shoulder harmlessly.
"Go to hell." He snapped. Ryu grinned and released her EMR, and let her weight shift closer to him. She cocked her head to the side, and gently patted his cheek.
"Oh good. I was hoping you would say that. Cuz now..." Her grin widened into a truly evil, psychotic grin, as she spoke softly, as if speaking to herself. "I get to play." His eyes widened, as he realized he might be in trouble.
"You're bluffing, only Turks are master interrogators, and you aren't one." He said, clinging to a fragile bit of hope, which was shattered when Ryu grinned, as the others laughed.
"Actually, I am a Turk." She said. "And my brother is one of the best interrogators, and we share many characteristics in common." He winced.
"You won't get anything from me." He reiterated. Ryu grinned, and motioned for Mary to bind his legs, and cuff him to a nearby pipe. Mary obliged her as Ryu drew her knife, casually testing the edge against her thumb. It was razor sharp. Once he was properly bound, Ryu settled herself back down next to him.
"The real question is: what to do? There are so many methods one could use." She murmured, as if talking to herself. He swallowed nervously.
"I still think you're bluffing." He said defiantly. Ryu grinned and patted his cheek.
"Which would you prefer? The death of a thousand cuts, very nasty way to go. Perhaps I could just start removing limbs. I could electrocute repeatedly, that's pretty nasty way to go too, but kinda boring for me; people jerking around like jelly fish aint a lot of fun to watch. Or…" She grinned. "I could first remove your feet at the ankles, then your hands at the wrist, then your lips, then your tongue, then your nose..."
"Then my eyes and my ears?" He asked, sneering. Ryu grinned wider.
Standing back against one of the walls, Alanna rolled her eyes and groaned at the terrible use of movie quotes.
"Nope. I'll leave you your ears and eyes, so that you can hear the disgust and fear of others at your appearance. And so that you can see the monster in the mirror, windows, and water." She told him. He stared at her, finally believing that she would, in fact, carry out her threat.
"I don't know the codes. I'm just a guard, a lowly soldier. They don't tell me things like that." He admitted, hanging his head.
"And yet, why do I not believe you?" She asked. He looked up at her, just in time to see her send a charge from her EMR into her knife, the electricity making the blade flare a hot red. He tried to draw away, as she grabbed his right wrist. She glanced at Mary.
"Hold his arm still. He won't like it if I miss." She said grimly. Mary nodded her head, and held his arm firmly to the floor. Ryu caught his hand, pinning it down, splaying his fingers. He thrashed wildly.
"No, no, no. I don't know anything." He protested. Ryu didn't even glance at him. She rested the tip of her blade against his index finger, and cleanly cut through it. He screamed, slamming the back of his head against the wall. Ryu picked up the finger and studied it as he watched her, his eyes wide and fearful. His breathing was rapid and distressed.
She studied the cut. The blade had cauterized the cut, so very little blood leaked out from the wound. She tipped the finger, dripping blood onto the floor, to show Mary the end of the bone sticking from the severed finger.
"Wanna taste?" She asked grinning. Mary gave her a stern look.
"Uh, no thanks." She said. Ryu looked over her shoulder.
"Here dumbapple, something for you to play with." She said, aiming the finger at Alanna, who caught it and studied it intently, bending the joints and making it move. Morgan and Matti both looked away, Morgan intently focused on the casing, which refused to open.
"God dammit. I swear they used heat to distort the screws. I need a torch to get the damn thing open." He swore, slapping the casing. Matti kept his eyes on the screen, which Ryu had been trying to hack.
"Dammit, Ryu. Why couldn't you get in?" He growled, glaring at the screen.
"I'm not a miracle worker." She snapped back at him, before she turned back to her victim, who was watching Alanna play with his finger gleefully. He looked a little green.
"So. Wanna try telling me the truth now?" She asked him. He looked back at her.
"I told you the truth." He replied. Ryu grinned and tilted her head to the side, as she lightly drew the tip of her blade across his cheek, getting extremely close to his eyes without cutting him.
"We're on a tight schedule. So do be a dear, and talk, before I have to get crude and violent. You won't like it." He shuddered.
"I told you the truth. I'm just a guard." He replied. Ryu gave him a disbelieving look. She stood, and he sighed in relief, thinking she believed him. Mary watched her, unsure what Ryu would do next. Ryu tucked her EMR back into her jacket. She half turned away, as if to join Matti. He breathed bigger sigh of relief.
Ryu whirled back around, and leaped lightly into the air, coming down so that all of her weight landed on his outstretched leg. There was a sickening crack, as he screamed in pain. Ryu sprang forward off his leg. He whimpered, as her foot nudged his leg.
"I don't know the codes." He gasped out. Mary looked down at his leg. Given the odd angle it lay at, plus the distortion of his knee cap, she figured Ryu had broken both is tibia and fibula, and shattered his knee cap with her leap.
"It doesn't matter." CAGS said to her and Morgan. "Even if he had the deactivation code, it would take more time than we have for it authorize and send the signal. There's a fifteen minute lapse and we have twenty left." She said.
"Fuck." Morgan swore, leaving the casing and grabbing his bag of explosives. Matti looked at Ryu as she signed to him the information. He nodded his head.
"Looks like we go to plan B." Matti said. "Ryu, take care of the loose end." He said, gesturing to the guard.
"You got it, yo." She said, drawing her gun.
"Please, no." He whispered. Mary wisely backed away from him.
"My friend, the fates are cruel." Alanna said, tossing his finger into his lap. Ryu rolled her eyes at Alanna, and then shot him, execution style, in the forehead. Before the blood had time to start running down the walls, she turned on her heel and walked over to Morgan and Matti, who had started laying the charges.
Piper stared briefly at the dead man, and then also turned her back on him. Mary shook her head, and knelt by his side to close his eyes.
"I hope you thought this was a worthy cause." She whispered.
The three Turks stood and motioned the others to move to the door.
"We have exactly, "Matti looked at the timer on the missile. "Fifteen minutes to get out of the blast range." He said. Ryu and Morgan didn't bother to acknowledge him, but took off down the hall. The others followed them. When they reached the dome, Ryu took a running jump over the railing to fall, tumbled and got back to her feet. The others followed her example.
"At this speed..." CAGS began.
"Zip it." Ryu panted. "Start bikes..." She added, as an afterthought.
Finally, they emerged from the building, and sprinted back toward the bikes. Their engines were going, waiting for them. They threw themselves onto to them and raced down the canyon. Just as they emerged from the canyon into the wider one, Morgan's explosives detonated, throwing the missile off its base, and detonating it. The concussive force reached them first, throwing them and the bikes forward. The smaller canyon collapsed under the force, and spewed rocks forward, even as loose debris from the canyon rained down around them, attempting to bury them.
Once the dust had settled and the rocks had stopped shifting, a lone Gi stood on the canyon wall, looking down on the rubble. Six twisted metal heaps lay half in and half out of the rocks. There were six bodies half buried in the rubble. With a sigh he turned, and leaped away.
Reno sighed, and rubbed his forehead. He'd been scouring the satellite feeds, looking for any clue, and he had a headache. He'd downed several sweeps in the chopper, with Rude looking.
"Reno." A mechanical voice said into his earpiece. He straightened up, Rude and Tseng gave him a curious look, but he ignored them. Only CAGS could emulate a human voice to such a degree.
"You little piece of metal shit, where the hell are they?" He snapped, angrily.
"Cosmo Canyon, they will need a rescue."
"The hell? They headed right toward it. Looks like the chocobo one upped Tseng." He muttered. Tseng opened his PHS and clicked to send something.
"And what do you mean rescue?" Reno snapped.
"See for yourself, would like the epic music with it or not?" CAGS asked him.
"Oh, let's take it with music." Rude muttered under his breath, his glasses having tuned in by now. Reno sent him a disgruntled look, just before the satellite feed of the explosion and the canyon collapse came on the big screen in the room, the music from Crisis Core's fight scenes coming on.
The three of them watched in stunned silence, as the hidden rebel base was blown up. At the end they stared at the pile of rocks trapping the six doppelgangers. They watched as Mary feebly pushed a rock off herself, before collapsing again. Her arms, hands and shoulders clearly injured, her legs and abdomen buried.
Ryu was hanging upside down on the side of the pile. Her legs were buried, the arms of her jacket had been ripped from it and her no longer white shirt was ripped. The high resolution showing blood dripping down her arms from dozens of lacerations as a blood stain spread across her clothes. CAGS could be seen perched on a rock beside Ryu, vainly attempting to wake her by slapping her with one spider leg on the cheek.
Morgan was lying across the rocks pinning her. A large rock was partially lying on his chest, crushing him. His left leg was caught between the remains of his bike, and a jagged edged rock. A pipe from his bike could be seen sticking through his leg. His glasses lay crushed beside him.
All that could be seen of Piper was the top of her torso and her head, the rest of her was buried in the rocks. Matti could be seen behind her, laying face down. He stirred briefly, lifting his body up to show the jagged rocks that had sliced open his abdomen, before he collapsed, fainting again, having just caught a glimpse of Piper. There was no sign of Alanna, except for her mangled bike.
The five 1sts stepped into Tseng's office. They first saw Reno turning from the screen, Rude's hand on his shoulder. His face was a blank mask, until they saw his eyes they blazed with fury, the Mako glinting brighter.
"AVALANCHE is dead. I will kill every single one of them." He swore. They all looked beyond Reno and Rude to see the image on the screen. With a whimper of pain Zack sat with a thump on the floor.
"Piper puppy?" He whispered, in a child-like voice. Cloud moved to stand next to Tseng, wrapping his arms around him as he stared at the screen, dumbfounded. Genesis took a few stumbling steps backwards. Sephiroth rested his hand on his friend's back to steady him. Angeal closed his eyes in pain, as his hand lifting to his Buster's hilt.
A/N: So… there you have it. Sorry this chapter took so long. I didn't think the summer would get quite as busy as it did. With the summer months coming to a close, I hope to be able to post more often. On another note, we would love to hear what you all think of the story. We are now at a point where we must decide if we should leave any of the doppelgangers alive. Do they make it through somehow? Or are they all dead?