::The Last Avatar::

Gamer Edition

BOOK ONE
LEVIATHAN

1.22

Once in a Blood Moon

Rue had been invited to hang out in Sephiroth's office for once as he had taken pity on her lack of entertainment since both Angeal and Genesis had been called away on missions. Neither of them were being very social though, he was doing his paperwork dutifully, though Rue was quite certain he would much rather be doing just about anything else, and she was reading book loaned from Genesis. Thankfully it seemed the idiot did own books other than LOVELESS, just not many. Rue doubted he would have appreciated her thoughts on his taste in books, and even less, her steadily growing opinion that he was a closet hopeless romantic. If a highly dramatic one.

The pair of them had been sitting quietly in Sephiroth's office, before a sharp rap at the door jolted them out of their peaceful co-existence. Frowning Sephiroth put his pen down, he glanced at Rue who quickly slid her feet off the couch and closed her book, leaving only one of her fingers inside to mark her place.

"Enter," he called. Rue tried not to smile, Sephiroth's voice had not quite reached the depth it would when he got older and he was not nearly as certain of that 'enter' as he could have been.

It was only when the door opened that Rue's almost smile dropped, the sight of a late teenage Rufus Shinra Jr sauntering into Sephiroth's office making her eyes open wide in surprise. She had not been expecting that and, by the look in her companion's eyes, neither had Sephiroth.

"Good afternoon, General, I hope I'm not interrupting anything?" the brat was smooth, Rue would give him that. He didn't look much older than her or the boys though, and that made him far less intimidating than he could have potentially been. Rufus' pale eyes slid over to Rue curiously and she frowned openly as he made no effort the way he eyed her over.

"Not at all, Vice President," Sephiroth gave Rue a look that screamed 'behave'. Rue only rolled her eyes back when Rufus turned back to the General of his father's personal army, kid needed a good kick up the pants in her opinion. Though that might have just been her foreknowledge talking, there was just something about the blond teen that rubbed her the wrong way. "How can I help you?" It was all Rue could do to shake her head at Sephiroth. She seriously doubted that this would end well, of course as long as she didn't end up tied up in a gas chamber Rue was reasonably happy.

"Ah, no, actually I was looking for your companion," the moment Rufus turned to Rue she was certain the temperature in the room dropped ten degrees. Sephiroth was now watching the older teen much more closely while Rue raised an eyebrow in question.

"And you're looking for me, why exactly?" she asked him dubiously.

"I believe you are the owner and trainer of the Coeurl in the stables?" when Rufus took a few steps forward Sephiroth tensed. Rue looked at her friend sharply and then eye-balled the canister filled with water at her feet pointedly. It was only when Sephiroth settled back a little in his seat that Rue turned back to Rufus to address his question. At least she now knew where Tera was being hidden from her.

"Do you know of any other Coeurl's in the stables? If the answer to that question is 'maybe' or 'yes', then my answer is 'I don't know', if your answer is 'no' then, yes, I suppose I am. Her name is Tera, and she's my friend," Rue said this all very brusquely. She had no doubt that whatever complaint he had concerning Tera was either stupid or highly entertaining. Personally she was hoping for both.

"I see, in that case I will have to bill you for the injuries your pet caused to my Guard Hound, Dark Nation," Rue stared at Rufus for a full minute before snorting in laughter.

"Are you shitting me? Tera, my Tera, beat your precious Dark Nation up?" when a rather offended Rufus nodded Rue only laughed harder. "That is the funniest thing I've heard all week!" Rufus looked to Sephiroth for help, but the other teen was busy watching Rue laugh herself silly on his couch fondly.

"This is a serious matter, I am the Vice President of Shinra Electric Power Company and you will pay for your pet's vicious attack on my protector," Rufus puffed out his chest lightly as he announced his identity. Rue sighed, pulling herself together enough to consider her options, yeah, she was just going to screw with the brat, he deserved it a bit.

"Look, buddy, I'm sorry about Tera, she's a temperamental one and your hound probably just got a little too close and Tera felt like she was being cornered, you know?" Rue got up from the couch and put and arm around Rufus' shoulders as she talked. "But, hey, if you really want to bill me, send it over to my lawyer and we'll sort it out, yeah? I mean you have pet insurance, right? Rich guy like you, course you do, me too, so no worries," she led Rufus to the door slowly as she reassured him.

"Oh, yes, insurance, yes I have that," Rufus was frowning slightly as he tried to keep up. It didn't seem like he was used to people not just dropping to their knees and grovelling when they found out who he was, it was about time he did.

"You see? No problem, like I said, send the bill over to my lawyer and she'll handle all the technical crap," Rue had him on the other side of the doorway by this point.

"What was your lawyers name?" Rufus asked her as it occurred to him that she hadn't mentioned it yet.

"Oh right, sorry, her name is Regina Phalange," Rue informed him without missing a beat. She patted her clothes as if she were trying to remember where she put something. "Sorry, I don't think I have her card on me, you've got resources though, right? You can find her, no worries, she lives in Modeoheim," Rue smiled brightly at Rufus and waved as she closed the door in his face.

"Rue?" Sephiroth had an eyebrow raised at her when she turned around. Rue just grinned at him and shrugged her shoulders, he could see the mischievous glint in her eye and she knew it.

"Yeah, Seph?" she asked while sauntering back over to the couch.

"I'm going to assume that was a joke of some kind," he seemed a little perplexed despite his amusement. Rue just snorted with laughter as she flopped down and pulled her book back over to her, she'd lost her place because of that brat and now she wished a pox on him. Or maybe just the Geo-Stigma. Yeah. That'd do.

"Lawyer doesn't exist, sent him on a wild goose chase," she explained with a grin. Sephiroth stared at her for a moment before a shadow of a smirk graced his face.

"And when he comes back?" he asked, sounding quite amused. Well, for Sephiroth, anyway.

"I'll tell him I forgot that she'd moved recently and send him on another one," that one earned her a chuckle.

CONGRATULATIONS!

ACHIEVEMENTS UNLOCKED!

*Cats and Dogs Don't Mix*

You have just met Rufus Shinra Jr. and discovered the well known fact that cats and dogs don't exactly mix well at times.

Reward:

*Shotgun Weapon Set* - Discovered

*Monster Trainer Rue* - Discovered

They'd left her alone in Angeal's apartment again, with all three of her normal 'Rue-sitters' busy the boys had had no choice but to leave her on her own for the day. This was naturally a blessing and a curse, Rue had just finished her latest book and had nothing else to occupy her mind other than more Water Bending training. Unfortunately Rue just wasn't in the mood for more practice, she needed someone to talk to. Immediately.

Blessedly a knock at the door brought Rue out of her circling thoughts, and had her hurrying over to see who was there. She doubted whoever it was was there to see her, but maybe she could drag them inside to chat for a little while even if they didn't know her. Upon opening the door, however, Rue found herself smiling happily to see Reeve Tuesti on the other side.

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything, Rue," he smiled at her awkwardly. Rue grinned at him and shook her head at the under appreciated head of Urban Development.

"Not at all, I was just thinking about how bored I was actually," she told him. Reeve relaxed a little upon hearing that and followed Rue into the apartment when she waved him in.

"Well it seems I arrived just in time then," he joked as the pair of them settled at the dining table.

"You have no idea, who knows what Angeal would have come home to if you hadn't, I may have tried to set something claiming to be fire-proof on fire just to prove it wrong," Reeve raised his eyebrows as Rue laughed. He knew she was only joking, but had to wonder how much of that had been joke and how much half serious. He had been hearing some strange stories from Tseng and the other Turks about what this young lady had been up to since arriving at Shinra and he wasn't certain how sure he was that they hadn't been exaggerating.

"I see, well unfortunately I can't stay for long," he smiled apologetically at her deflated expression. "But I did bring you a present, Turk approved and everything," watching Rue immediately brighten at his words made the effort Reeve had had to go through worth it. Tseng had not made getting this particular present to Rue easy, that was for sure.

"Why Reeve, I didn't know you felt that way," she teased him. With a chuckle Reeve pulled out a small black box tied with a blue ribbon and slid it across the dining table to Rue, who frowned down at it curiously and then back up at her companion with a raised eyebrow.

"Well it's obviously not a rocket launcher," she joked while picking up the small box.

"No, it is definitely not a rocket launcher, and I seriously doubt Tseng would let me give you one were I inclined to," the chuckle and raised eyebrow after those words only made Rue's grin grow.

"Damn, I was really hoping for one of those, ah well," the look on her face when Rue opened the little box was priceless. It was obvious she had not been expecting to get one. When Rue looked up at him after studying her new toy he was graced with a warm, and decidedly grateful smile.

"Thank you Reeve,"

Rue had discovered, while randomly browsing the Internet on her present from Reeve, that the full moon was a few scant days away. Knowing that her Water Bending would be far stronger than it normally would be Rue decided that another foray into the Science Department was due. At least with the power boost from the moon she would be able to defend herself against most opponents found in Hojo's domain. Rue figured she could put her knowledge of computers to use and try to get into Hojo or Hollander's files in an attempt to help her friends before the inevitable happened. Watching those three lose their shit was not something Rue was looking forward to in any way.

Waiting for Angeal to go to sleep was murder, and by the time Rue could hear him snoring she had checked and double checked her equipment a dozen times. Slipping out of the door and into the hallway took little time, the 'Thief' outfit from Yuffie that she had once again donned, seemed to give her a sneaking bonus or something like that. Only equipped with her water canister, frying pan, leather bracer and two Materia, Rue set out, key-card in hand, and feeling like she would be ready for anything. At least in theory.

Riding the elevators up to the sixty seventh floor was nerve wracking enough without her mind coming up with crazy idea's about Turks waiting for her or running into Hojo again. Naturally by the time she got to the right floor Rue was more than a little freaked out by her imagination alone and when she poked her head out into the dark corridor of the Science Department to find the place seemingly deserted Rue was undeniably relieved. It didn't last long.

Padding down the halls of the Science Department Rue decided that at two in the morning the place was just as scary as it had been at four in the morning well over a month before. It was only as she was passing an open door that she spotted something that might help her situation: a small locker room and a more importantly, a lab coat. And next to that lab coat? A slowly revolving red exclamation mark. It was a quest marker.

Frowning curiously Rue crept into the tiny room and lifted the pristine white lab coat off the corner of the locker door it was hanging off of carefully, so as not to make a sound. Looking around Rue also found a shirt and pants that, although a little big on her small frame, would fit reasonably well.

Congratulations!

Clothing Set acquired!

*Scientist Rue*

Rue had to raise an eyebrow at the flash of words that flitted in and out of her field of vision before glancing down at the poorly fitting clothes in her hands thoughtfully. Getting caught in her thief gear again wasn't all that appealing, but getting spotted wearing something everyone else in the department usually wore was far less likely to end with her getting experimented on. She then looked to the quest marker thoughtfully, it was one of those optional ones that appeared when she did something she didn't necessarily have to. With an agitated sigh Rue touched the marker and waited for the impending screen to the face, this was going to be interesting.

Single Instance Quest Discovered!

*Survive a Night in the Science Department*

Well Done Brat!

Another night in the place of Nightmares, with some decent prizes up for grabs too.

This should be interesting.

Your task is, simply, to survive this little foray.

If you come out of this in one piece I'll even give you something real nice.

…

To complete this Quest with 100% completion you are required to:

Come out of the Science Department alive

Optional Task:

Rid the world of Hojo and save us all some trouble.

…

Good luck kiddo

'B' didn't disappoint, the screen popping into existence right in front of her nose just when she was thinking it wasn't coming. Rue didn't yelp this time, thankfully, but she did swear under her breath as she stumbled back a few steps. She eyed the quest screen over and sighed, this wasn't going to be pleasant, and hit the dismiss button, accepting the mission hesitantly. It had to be done though, and standing around here wasn't going to do it.

Coming to this conclusion Rue immediately started pulling on her new 'Scientist' disguise over her 'thief' gear. Just in case she needed to make a break for it and everyone was looking for a scientist slash lab assistant.

Rue grimaced at herself in the mirror as she pulled her stupidly long hair into a messy bun, she really needed to cut it, and fitted someone's reading glasses onto her nose to make her look a little more nerdy. Glasses weren't new to Rue, her older self, the one that had died, had needed glasses and it was more than likely that she would need glasses later in this life as well.

Stepping back out into the halls, Rue felt a little more secure with her disguise in place and with the water canister and frying pan hidden beneath her new lab coat and the power of the full moon on her side the teenage girl allowed herself to feel a tad more confident that was perhaps wise in her current location. No-one wandering around the Science Department alone in the middle of the night had the right to feel confident unless they were Hojo or maybe, on the occasion, Hollander.

Rue made a beeline for Hojo's office, or the place where she thought Hojo's office was, it helped that the only times she'd been in the area was when everything was dark and shut down for the night. Everything always looked different at night and made it hard to navigate if you were used to seeing things all lit up. This was not Rue's problem, her problem was that she'd only been up here once and she'd stumbled across the damn office by pure luck the first time. It also didn't help that she was going in the way she had raced out blindly after having the shit scared out of her by Hojo.

She moved swiftly, trying to look like she knew where she was going for the cameras she knew were recording her every move. All the while panicking more and more, the longer it took her to find the right room. As it turned out Hojo's lab and office were a fair way down the damn hall-corridor-thing and poorly labelled if she were honest. No wonder she'd had so much trouble the first run through the place.

Finding the room was the first step, now all Rue had to do was get into his computer. Fun times. Rue sighed at the thought of even trying to do this stupidly stupid shit, but quickly strode over to what looked to be the main computer console and booted it up. She wasn't worried about lights giving her away this time, her disguise should help her get out of any real imminent danger and if things got hairy she had two of the most unconventional weapons one could get in her canister and frying pan. She could also run like a bat out of hell if something happened and this was the most likely scenario to happen in Rue's opinion.

Rue almost swore out loud when the damn thing asked for a password, she had known this was going to happen, but she had been hoping her luck would be nice to her for once. No dice, apparently. This just made her wonder how her luck would land that night, her gut told her that it would not be in her favour, but then it nearly always told her that. Rue tried the most obvious passwords she could think of, those being 'sephiroth' and 'JENOVA', but when those didn't work Rue frowned and typed in one she thought was a long shot. Just as the computer told her that her third guess had been correct a bullet lodged itself in the wall near her head. Needless to say Rue shrieked blue murder from fright. Mother fucker! Where the flying fuck did that crap come from?!

"Not another keystroke, young lady," she was warned by a nasally voice. Rue felt like like there was ice in her gut as she turned her head slowly to find Hojo once again standing in the doorway. When he motioned her away from the computer with the muzzle of the gun in his hand, Rue did not argue. She kept her arms out where he could see them in the dim lighting of the room and moved slowly.

"My apologies Professor Hojo, I thought Professor Hollander cleared my usage of your computer with you earlier today," Rue's mind jumped at the known rift between the two scientists. She really didn't want to end up like Vincent.

"Hollander, that hack, did he think he could use one of his assistants to steal my discoveries," Hojo complained. The fact that he wasn't lowering the gun and was instead waving it about as he talked, was setting off alarm bells in Rue's head. She needed to get the hell out of there and away from the psychopath with the gun in his hand. Who's bright idea was this again? Oh right, mine. Dumb-ass.

"Not at all Professor, your hardware in here is much more powerful that what we're dealing with in Hollander's lab and I was told you wouldn't mind if I ran a few things though your processor so long as I stuck to my own work and kept my nose clean," Rue attempted to explain calmly. Stroking the man's ego seemed to be the best way to get out of his line of fire, at least that was what Rue hoped she'd just done. Being socially inept had it's downsides when it came to talking her way out of shit.

"And perhaps if Hollander had indeed asked I may have allowed it, however the fact that he failed to do so leads me to believe that he had no intention of doing any such thing," a few more steps forward as Hojo's attention zeroed in on Rue. "You, on the other hand, have come in here much later than necessary for a simple experiment projection or whatever you were supposedly planning to do, a little suspicious is it not?" Rue swallowed nervously and shifted her weight a little. Hojo was really starting to freak her out a little and her reasons for being in there at all were wearing thin, that was obvious, however she had one more swing before she hit the eject button and get the hell out. Gun or no.

"I agree, I left doing this run through far too late, though not by choice Professor, I assure you," Rue sighed and straightened her borrowed glasses in an attempt to look exasperated. "Professor Hollander kept me busy helping him all day, knowing I needed to borrow the use of your computer for a short while, in hindsight he may have intended for me to get caught in here by you the whole time," she explained while rubbing her brow. Hojo lowered the gun for a moment as he considered her, only to raise it suspiciously again with a deep frown on his face.

"And what was the work he asked you to do again?" he asked her. Rue grimaced and sighed again, playing the role as best she could.

"Me and a few others found a few inconsistencies in the blood work of the subjects in Project G, when we brought our findings to the Professor he told us to double check, and when we told him our equipment wasn't powerful enough to do so within the time he allowed us, he told us he would ask if we could borrow yours. When he gave us the go-ahead I told the others I would handle it, we all assumed that meant you were fine with it, for that I deeply apologise, Professor Hojo," Rue gave a small bow of apology at the end of her explanation. She hated herself a little for doing so, but knowing the ultimate mad scientist had a gun in his had pointed at her helped her get over that quickly.

"Inconsistencies in the blood, you say, Hollander is a fool, it was only a matter of time," Hojo lowered the gun once more as he muttered to himself.

"From the data I've already reviewed, I would say I agree Professor," Rue took a few steps forward. "If you don't mind though, I think I'll take my leave, as you mentioned it is quite late," Rue made it passed Hojo and was nearly to the door when he finally spoke up.

"Yes, yes, I just have one last question, if you don't mind, my dear," halting just inches from the open door, Rue turned her head to look over her shoulder at him. Fuck.

"Of course, Professor, what is it?" Being polite and calm when you're inwardly freaking out is not an easy thing to do as Rue was discovering on her trip to Gaia.

"Who told you the password to my computer? And more importantly, how did a young woman under the supervision of a SOLDIER get into my Department to begin with?" Rue froze, her eyes wide with horror. The bastard had known who she was the whole fucking time and let her think she was just going to walk out of there easy as pie. Gaia-damned Fuck Nuggets.

Rue turned a little more to find Hojo once again pointing a gun at her, wondering if she would be actually able to talk her way out of this even knowing that she'd been made, the teen swallowed down the terror for the moment and steeled herself.

"No-one told me the password, it wasn't locked when I started it up," she told him.

"Wrong, I always make sure that I log out of every computer in the lab that I use once I'm done with it, don't insult my intelligence girl, who told you?" The loose grip on the gun Hojo had had until now tightened with every word and Rue was starting to loose her grip on her fear. Her flight or fight instincts were screaming at her and the need to get away from the scientist was almost overwhelming.

"No-one told me the password Professor, I guessed it," she told him truthfully. Watching Hojo still as he in turn watched her with the piercing stare of a predator looking at it's latest prey, and then look at her with a far more appraising stare was not a comfortable thing at all.

"Impossible, how could you have, you don't know me," Hojo took a step towards her, gun still raised and Rue took a decisive step back. Keeping the distance between them in case she had to run for her life. She was now in the doorway and the Professor knew it.

"I know more about you than you would ever expect," she informed him warily. Hojo's jaw tightened and his other hand balled into a fist.

"You know nothing of me, child," the man spat at her angrily. Rue allowed her anger and hate of the man enter her posture, her eyes, and took a warning step forward, knowing that once she said what she was about to, she would have to run like Lucifer himself was after her.

"I know everything. Lucretia Crescent, Vincent Valentine, Sephiroth, Professor Gast, Iflana, JENOVA, Reunion, I know it all." Her voice was cold and hard as steel as she spoke, and the moment she was finished, Hojo, who had stumbled back a few paces in shock at the names being thrown at him by a teenage girl, raised the gun that had lost it's target in his disbelief and fired on Rue. The shot went wide and hit the window on the door next to the girl and Rue cried out, ducking down and heading away from where he'd shot at her. Practically falling through the other door connected to the office just in time to dodge another shot fired at her Rue swore and pulled out her latest acquisition, her PHS, and pressed down until she found Tseng's number, punching dial as soon as she saw it.

"You have reached the Department of Administrative Research. Thank you for submitting yourself to our hit list, please hold the line while our trained hit-man gets into position." Was what she was greeted with while ducking behind some equipment. An automated message in Reno's voice, just what she needed. Rue swore again as she sank to the ground; what the fuck was wrong with her? Had she really just inadvertently threatened Hojo? Fuck. Yes, she really fucking had. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Gaia damn my mouth! Seriously.

"Fucking hell Tseng, get your dotty head over to the Science Department and don't pretend you don't know I'm up here, Hojo's lost his shit and is shooting at me," she whisper-yelled at the phone. Hojo had stopped shooting blindly, but she could hear him shuffling around, looking for her.

"And who's fault is that?" came Tsung's bored tones down the line.

"Mostly mine, but honestly it's me so you can't be all that surprised," she answered back, trying not to all-out yell at the man on the other end. Rue could practically hear him run a hand through his hair though the phone as she tried to make herself as small as possible.

"Where are you?" he asked after a moment.

"You don't know?" she countered. The disbelief plain in her voice, even whispered.

"It's dark," was the only explanation. Rue waited for the rest though, knowing he wasn't saying something. "We lost you once you hit the Science Department, Reno says he got distracted and you disappeared on him," Rue rolled her eyes. Typical.

"I'm in disguise, you dumbos, I'm dressed as a lab assistant," she told him flatly. Swearing was heard in the background and Rue heard the distinct sound of Tseng sighing.

"Hojo's office?" was asked a moment later.

"I had to go through the other door connected to it, he was shooting blindly at first and going through the main door didn't seem safe after the first shot broke the glass," she said perhaps a little too loudly. Hojo's shuffling stopped dead and Rue swore silently, she had to move and find a new hiding spot now or he'd find her. The room was dark, the only light a dim sickly green coming from a source Rue couldn't identify.

"How many bullets does he have left?" Tseng asked her quickly. He sounded like he was walking quickly, hopefully towards her.

"How the fuck should I know?! I'm not exactly keeping count," Rue whisper yelled at him again as she crept around the corner of some equipment as quietly as possible. Hojo was moving again as well, though he sounded like he was on the other side of the large room for the moment.

"Don't worry about it, Rue, just keep moving, I'm on the way. I'll call Angeal for backup. Go, now," the line went dead with those words and Rue growled quietly. She was not a happy camper and it was mostly all her own fault, she should never have opened her damned mouth.

Rue found a spot under a desk to hide, hoping that the psycho hunting her wouldn't think to look under things, and knowing that she just wasn't that lucky. This new spot could not be used for long if she was planning to get out of the place alive. Of course when the lights in the room flickered to life another silent curse poured out of Rue, there would be no more hiding and she was probably going to get shot. A lot.

"Come out, my dear, there is nowhere you can hide now," Hojo called. Rue could see the top of his head from her hiding place as he stood in the doorway, hand on the light switch while the other pointed the hand gun he was still toting. Tseng had a point, how many more rounds did the bastard have before he ran out and did he have another clip? Thinking back Rue counted, she was almost certain that he had fired at least five times. Of course she had no idea how many more rounds were supposed to be carried in that particular gun, guns were a blank spot in Rue's knowledge banks.

Hating that Hojo was, mostly, right about her not being able to hide when the lights were on, Rue took a deep breath and pulled herself up slowly as she surreptitiously unscrewed the lid of the canister. Walking out to the open space in the middle of the room Rue realised they were in a lab that seemed to be where they experimented with Mako, if the glowing green tanks were any indication, and, probably, the SOLDIER's. Fan-fucking-tastic.

"Fine, I'm here, you can see me, what now?" she asked tightly. She was ready to freeze the bastard to the damned ceiling if he so much as twitched that pointer finger on the trigger of his gun. The gun that was still pointed at her.

"You are going to tell me who you talked to, who told you those names?" the furious scientist demanded. His hand tightening around the gun in his hand as he glared at her through his thick glasses.

"No-one told me anything, I didn't read it, well, technically I did, but they didn't do voice acting back then so it's hardly my fault. The point is that I don't just know the names, I know the stories behind those names, I know what you did, and, more importantly, I know what you're planning," Rue flexed her fingers while she spoke, ready to bend if she had to.

"Talk sense girl," Hojo snapped at her. Rue could only shake her head with a shadow of a smile playing on her lips, he wouldn't believe her so what was the point.

"Oh I am, it's hardly my fault you don't understand what I'm talking about, I mean, I thought you were some kind of genius," she raised an eyebrow at him in silent question. Inwardly Rue wondered where the hell she got the balls she was currently parading around. What kind of lunatic was she to screw with Hojo like she was?

"I am-I am the greatest mind this world has ever seen and I will not be trifled with by some fool girl who thinks she knows more than I," steam was practically coming out of the man's ears as he spoke. Rue's eyes widened as Hojo took a few rage filled steps toward her, moving backward as quickly as she could to keep the distance between them. She really had to get a better handle on her big mouth. Mouthing off to crazy people was going to get her killed one of these days and she doubted it would be pretty.

When Rue's back hit the chilled surface of one of the glowing Mako tanks that littered the room her panic spiked, Hojo wasn't that far off any more and she was starting to feel very cornered. In hindsight she should have used her Water Bending long before the shit hit the fan, but her panic had taken over and now Rue was working on only her basest of instincts.

So when Hojo strode forward, loudly demanding she answer his questions, all the while pointing his gun at her very pointedly. Rue blanched, she could feel the pull of the full moon pulsing through her, but couldn't bring herself to do the motions to pull her water out of the canister, she was just too scared of what this psycho was going to do to her. When he demanded again, much louder, that she answer him while raising the gun to point at her head, Rue threw up her arms to shield herself as she closed her eyes and as she did, felt something within her flex and shift. Something dark.

It was only when a surprised gurgle brought Rue's attention back to outside herself, opening her eyes hesitantly the sight greeting her made Rue want to throw up at the realisation that she was holding Hojo still with her Bending. No. No, no, no. NO. Please not this, anything but this.

Rue was Blood Bending Hojo.

An accident to be sure, but Rue was doing it all the same. Tears burned her eyes as she held the man up on his toes, not even really understanding how she was doing it, but, god, she could feel every muscle and blood vessel in the man's body and it was making her nauseous. Hojo's eyes were popping out of his sockets, glasses askew, and Rue hated herself for it, but her arms moved unbidden, forcing Hojo away from her while the gun dropped from his hand as his body twitched and strained against her direction to no avail.

This was the scene Tseng and Angeal found when they burst through the doorway Hojo had previously been barring. The sight of her friends eyes widening at the sight of Hojo's toes barely grazing the floor, snapped Rue out of the haze of horror and disgust with herself, getting her to drop her arms and release the professor from her grip.

Rue turned away and promptly emptied her stomach on the floor, mind reeling at the thought of what she'd just done. Full moon or no, Rue had never even considered that she was capable of Blood Bending. The regular murmur of voices of previous Avatars that usually followed Rue around daily ha gone silent the moment she had begun Blood Bending Hojo and a feeling of mortification permeated the silence. Rue felt empty in more ways than one.

"Rue?" the sound of someone calling her name snapped her out of the daze she was in. Looking over her shoulder as she sat on the floor, hands flat against the cold linoleum, holding her steady; Tseng was walking toward her slowly as Angeal checked on Hojo, he seemed wary and Rue didn't blame him in the least. She was dangerous on a whole other level now. Rue wanted to throw up again, but there was nothing left in her to expel.

Tseng placed a hand lightly on her shoulder and couched down next to her, eyeing Rue over carefully as she dry retched repeatedly. He patiently waited for the teen to calm herself before calling her name again to get her attention. When she looked at him with teary eyes, Tseng relaxed a little, she was not the same as she had been when he first walked into the room. Her eyes had been hard like steel when he and Angeal had entered the room and the fact that whatever she had done to Hojo could be done was worrying. Had she known she could do that?

"It was an accident," she whispered. Rue's eyes closed and Tseng watched as a tear escaped as he wondered if he'd spoken that last thought aloud. With a sigh, the hand resting on her shoulder lightly pressed down and he squeezed comfortingly, unsure what he could say right then to help. Very little he was sure.

"What happened?" he asked her after a moment. The moment she looked up at him Tseng wondered if he even wanted to know, the empty look she gave him told him that he probably didn't.

"The moon, felt the pull and then, something woke up, I was scared, I didn't know," and then she was crying. An awkward glance at Angeal had the young man walking over and pulled the miserable girl into his strong arms. Tseng tried to figure out what Rue had been trying to explain before bursting into tears, but although he knew about the Avatar, he wasn't all that knowledgeable if he were honest. There was far more he didn't know that what he did. Though, Tseng frowned, she had mentioned the moon and he vaguely remembered something being mentioned about the moon and Water Bending that the elders had mentioned in the old stories.

"Move away from the little monster, gentlemen," demanded a horse voice. Looking up from her place in Angeal's arms Rue found herself looking at Hojo with a gun in his hands once again. Both her rescuers stilled, glancing at each other and then her before turning back to Hojo.

"Drop the gun Hojo, what happened was an accident, you obviously scared the girl a little too much and this is the result, don't tempt fate for a second time," Tseng warned the furious scientist. Hojo didn't lower his weapon though, instead he took a threatening step forward, just like he had before and Rue tensed in response.

"I said, move away!" Hojo roared at them. Rue jumped, she felt the same thing that had shifted inside her before flex in response to the threat before her and Rue shied away from it in horror. Angeal released her slowly, she heard him murmur to her that he wasn't going to let Hojo hurt her, but the fact that he'd let her go hurt more than an injury. Rue idly wondered if there was anyone who wouldn't have, as both men moved away, edging toward Hojo. Probably with ideas of getting the gun away from him, she understood that, really, but it just felt like abandonment right then.

As her two friends moved further away from her Rue stood on shaky legs, glaring at Hojo as he kept that gun pointed at her, and she leaned back against the Mako tank behind her, pointedly keeping her hands at her sides.

"Hojo, I won't tell you again, put the gun down," Tseng repeated as he inched closer. He sent a warning look Rue's way, probably to tell her not to try and help, of course she wasn't the one with the gun pointed at his head.

"I do not take orders from Turks," Hojo bit out as he matched Rue's glare with one of his own. As neither of the idiots were moving any closer to Hojo when he had that gun in his hand Rue decided that she should do something actually helpful. Quickly Rue flicked her borrowed lab coat back and bent the water out of her canister, in once swift movement, or that was her plan until Hojo's gun went off and a bullet slammed into the canister, going right through it. Thankfully Rue was not hit. However the Mako tank behind her was not so lucky as the fracturing of glass alerted her to this mere moments before it gave way and a wall of green enveloped the horrified teen.

The last things Rue was aware of before darkness swallowed her was someone calling out to her, the feeling of her entire body being on fire and someone's screams of agony.

AN: WOAH. Okay. So. This chapter is the finale of Book One, I'm not sure how good a finale it is, but the fact that I've made it to Book Two is amazing! I'm looking forward to writing Book Two a lot, mainly because it has more Avatar-y things in it than Book One did.

I was a little uncertain on if I should do the Blood Bending or not in the finale, it was something I hesitated a lot over, but in the end I thought it would be something else for Rue to explore as an Avatar and a person. We've never had a Blood Bending Avatar and, we only really had two episodes in Avatar where a protagonist actually uses it, thus I thought it would be an interesting sub-plot to explore during Book Two-Three.

I'm going to explore my options concerning a possible comic, but as only a few people voted on that poll it's a little hard to get anything from it. As such the original poll about who you all think Rue is going to end up with is back up on my profile.

I hope everyone enjoyed our season finale and I'll see you all in Book Two!

As always thank you for all the reviews guys, the faves, alerts and the like are also deeply appreciated.

RLK