A/N Hey guys good to be on time this week and I have a few things to say. kingdomlily had noticed how my story isn't flooded with reviews, which is when I noticed we officially passed the 100 review marker, and being all positive, i now technically have a fan base! I heave read each and everyone one of your reviews audience and i am pleased!
Go figure...anyway I have a longer chapter again but i am going to break down for my reviewer botoingness (formally Ingness ) and post early next week, but you will all get two chapters! sometime during Wednesday and the next weekend, so thank him for that.
Also I have been feeling good because I have been developing ideas that seem amazing for later in the story, and to those who asked about chronological order of games, there will be a few cameos from Before Crisis and Crisis Core so don't worry, and if this story is as good as i hope it will be in the future, MAYBE i will develop a story for what happens after Dirge of Cerberus as a big mix.
Speaking of story ideas after my birthday in February I will have Asura's Wrath. After seeing that game i got a crazy awesome idea! If i have down time after or even during stranger in the sky I'll make a God of War and Asura's Wrath crossover. There is a severe lacking of crossovers in general, let alone finished ones! I would also like to mention on a side note there aren't enough Claymore fics, WoW self inserts, Mass Effect and Fallout crossovers, and to many of those fics where girls insert themselves into a story and everything just turns into pandemonium( I have only read a few where guys did this so no offense to the ladies).
Final note yes I am still accepting ideas for attacks in the fic, and don't be afraid to ask about an idea you want in here, you may be surprised on what i might put in. And thank Saria19 for bet reading this thing, lord knows what would happen if i didn't have her, so enjoy chappa 22.
P.S I kept a ridiculous line from the game in here, spot it you get props mentioned in the next A/N.
CH 22
The ride towards Wutai was rather uneventful. I would have loved to sit on the wing of a plane, the propeller making wind to cool me down, and enjoy the views of the Wutaian Mountains coming into view, or look at the vast blue horizon. Sadly I never got to experience any of this due to Yuffie getting sick and me having to comfort her the entire time. When I argued that she could just upchuck into the sea as much as she wanted, Cloud oh so kindly reminded me she was technically my responsibility, which now apparently included her health. Honestly I'm going to have to cure her motion sickness by the time the team gets the Highwind or I'm going to be swamped with this crap.
"Are we at the beach yet?" She feebly asked.
"Not yet, now be quiet and keep puking." She did just that too. Lucky for me I decided to comfort her on the wing Vincent sat on. One thing I liked about Vince was the guy never spoke unless spoken to, or he was actually curious about something. Plus the dude had an air about him that made conversation die down, so it was always quiet around him, which put me at ease about the whole Yuffie's going to steal then return my materia thing.
I had run a ton of ideas but none of them really stuck, if I slept she would search me. Sure she was a girl, but she was a tomboy and as much as I hated to say it, an expert in her profession. She was thorough when it came to knowing what the team had on them. I remembered when we were low on supplies coming out of Nibelheim she knew exactly what we were low on and what we needed, and no one else questioned it.
The end of that day we appointed our resident thief supplies manager...I thought it was a good idea, everyone keeps their own money and materia and she didn't seem interested in my candy or anyone else's food. But getting back on topic, Yuffie, no matter what, would always have a way to get my materia from me. The only way I could guarantee not losing mine so we had a chance with Rapps later would be to guard our camp until she steals from everyone else. Sure I'll lack of sleep, but it will be worth it.
"Alright, let's get going, Yuffie you lead the way." Cloud ordered when we landed. Yuffie went to the front of the group, so I went to the back. She said since we didn't travel like ninjas it would take two days to get there. So the group went through the Wutai Mountains.
"This place is beautiful. I've hardly seen a place as untouched as this." Aeris said as she looked out onto the lush green mountains.
"Why doesn't Wutai have a reactor?" Barrett asked Yuffie turned.
"Shinra didn't place one here for some reason, after the war they could have but they only took down our military and were given free rein to do what they wanted." I heard her explain. It really sucked; Wutai was attacked because Shinra thought they were closer to getting the Promised Land. I wondered what it was like before the war. Actually while thinking about that what are the Wutanese? It's implied they're Japanese, but I need to hear them to be sure. Maybe I'll be surprised.
"The sun's starting to set, so let's set up camp." Cloud said.
"I'll guard." Yuffie cheerfully volunteered
"I'll take the second shift." I quickly added.
"You don't need to do that Nate, I can watch the night."
"No I insist, you need your rest as much as anyone else, an extra lookout could help"
"I don't mind, I know this place like the back of my hand, we aren't near any danger."
"We can't be too careful."
"I can mind the camp," she said through clenched teeth.
"Both of you enough, Yuffie, you'll go first, Nathan you take second shift," Cloud concluded. The rest of the day went on like normal, although it was obvious that Yuffie was a little reserved from the rest of the group, at least it was to me. When everyone went to bed, I pretended to sleep. Sure enough I heard rustling coming from the other tents when it was late enough. I do have to give Yuffie credit, being able to steal from the group with two enhanced humans was no easy feat. Eventually I heard the zipper for my tent open so I slowed my breath and calmed down to act like I was sleeping while facing away from the opening. I had cracked my eye a little to see her hand reach for my armlet with surgeon like movements, though I did hear a few mumbles about being difficult. I yawned and her hand flew back, I slowly got up and stretched.
"My turn already? Oh well." I still had roughly thirty minutes before my turn but I needed to make sure my materia was safe. I walked out and saw Yuffie pretending to look around the camp.
"You're up early." I held back a smile at how she sounded just a little angry.
"Anxious I guess." I sat down across from her.
"You should get your sleep; it's only been a few hours."
"Nah, I can function on less." That was a complete lie, the least I needed would be five hours. Now having stayed up and having to continue until sun up would make it so I was up for almost twenty four hours. The battle with Shinra tomorrow would be shit, but I would have my material, and I would be better off.
She sighed. "I guess I'll go to bed then." She walked into her tent and zipped it up, but not entirely. So for the rest of the night to the early morning I kept watch. It sucked... immensely.
I knew Yuffie kept an eye on me most of the night just in case I fell asleep on the job which I did do at the end when I was the last shift, so I had the feeling of being watched constantly on my back, that was fun. Next was actually staying awake the entire time. Being a regular guy and not trained like everyone else with experience, my body would keep trying to force me to sleep. This caused me to find ways to keep awake in the most interesting of ways. One idea was to give myself a spark to keep me up. But Bolt apparently has a set minimum power level at taser; needless to say I kept my elemental in my bangle the rest of the night. Other times I would doze off, thing is I have a tendency to lean on my legs to sleep, and a fire being in front of me spelled disaster. I avoided a very deadly incident, making it so I kept myself as far away from the fire just in case I did doze off, so I was cold through the night too. In the end I ate most of my candy to keep myself a little energized so my body could work through the exhaustion to keep warm.
At least the sunrise was nice...
"Nathan, look at you!" Everybody was up now, Aeris was the first to comment on how I looked.
"Shit kid, your eyes are almost as red as the vampire." Vincent made no comment to Cid's comparison.
"Did you get a good night's sleep?" Tifa asked.
"I can keep traveling, it's okay."
"That's not what I asked Nate." She deadpanned.
"I'm fine, look." I tried to stand only to wobble badly and almost fall back if it weren't for Tifa grabbing my shirt.
"You must have been up the entire time." Glad to know Tifa watches the group's health.
"Nathan, that was a dumb move." Cloud said.
"In my defense, I felt like I was being watched most of the night." Which was true, Yuffie never got her chance though. I won... it didn't feel as good as I thought it would.
One reward was the immediate slap to the back of my head.
"Stupid, I told you I didn't need you, now look at yourself." Yuffie scolded me. I would have laughed if I had the energy.
"Come on everyone, let's get going." Cloud urged. Everyone packed up and started moving again. I was at the back of the pack again, but for a different reason than staying away from Yuffie.
"Damn it Nate, hurry up, you're slowing everyone down." Barret yelled.
"You know this actually has perks to it, I barely processed Barret's yelling." I joked, while speeding up a little.
"Are we there yet?" Cait asked. Yuffie turned and stopped the group.
"A few hours, but it's only going to get tougher from here on out."
"Why the hell would you only tell us now?" Barret argued.
"It would have been better to know earlier." Cloud folded his arms. Yuffie rubbed the back of her head.
"Actually it's going to get REALLY tough." She looked down.
"Yuffie what's going on?" Tifa asked.
"There they are! Catch them!" Everyone perked up at the order and saw multiple Shinra MP's come out of hiding and point their guns at the team.
"Shinra?" Cloud had his hand on the Buster sword.
"That's not them; these are the other guys from before." The soldiers were confused, their guns only wavering for a second. Cloud glared at the ninja.
"You planned this?" She started waving her hands frantically.
"I didn't know! I had nothing to do with this one!" She covered her mouth immediately.
"So you were planning something!" Barret yelled. Before anyone could interrogate further, the MP's attacked the group, Yuffie running away while the group had six military men around us.
"Everyone drop your weapons and put your hands in the air." One yelled.
"I have a better idea, duck." I shot a fireball at the man but he went against my advice and didn't move, getting fried upon impact from my high level fire spell.
"Take'em down!" The leader most likely yelled. The MP's tried to tranquilize the team most the time, the only other weapons they had were grenades and the close proximity the group usually fought made it impossible for them to use them without inflicting self harm Needless to say we won with only a few cuts and scratches even with the lack of magic.
"I knew something was wrong! My materias missing!"
"Mine too!" Aeris said, looking at the empty containers on her pole.
"Mine's gone too." Cait said, having the large moogle search itself.
"I can't find mine either." Nanaki said.
"Where could they have gone?" Tifa asked. It took only a split second for Barret to connect the dots.
"That punk ass kid! She was after our materia from the start UHHHHHHHHHHH!" Barret raged when I heard somebody laugh, he looked over to Cid.
"You think this is funny?"
"Hell yeah I do, the little shit took all of your magic." Cid said with a smile.
"How can you laugh, all of our materia was taken!" Barret was getting really red in the face.
"She must have stolen them last night." Cloud grumbled.
"Like I care, I didn't have any materia, you didn't give me any yet. Vince over there never used the junk, and the other kid still has his." Cid pointed out. I could understand Cid not having materia yet, but I found it odd Vincent never used them.
"Wait, Nate you have all of yours?" Barret calmed down at the new information.
"Yeah, I was up all night remember, I still have Bolt, Fire, Gravity and my-" I looked at my last materia slot and my eyes widened.
My Elemental was gone.
"Wait a minute, that's not right, I was awake all night. She never had a chance to steal from me."
"Are you sure?" Asked Aeris. I shook my head.
"Yeah, I didn't get any sleep, she never touched me!" I remembered her trying to reach in my tent while I was asleep, keeping an eye on me through the night, the slap to the back of the head, she never would have...
"The slap was a distraction..." I was more amazed than angry; she was able to take one materia from me while I wasn't thinking straight.
"I've had it with her! She was headin north, let's get our materia back!" Barret yelled again. Cloud nodded.
"We'll be able to get to the village about noon, let's go." Cloud ordered the group. Though it didn't take long for the village to come into view, the monsters that we would try to avoid were a pain in the ass. This only served to piss Barret off even more until we got to the village.
Wutai was exactingly as I expected it to be, a traditional style Japanese village. The buildings had the cool design, there was a tall tower not too far away and everyone that was walking around the village were wearing kimonos and such. It kind of reminded me of when I went to Japan for a week during eighth grade, brings back such good memories.
"There she is!" Barret interrupted my thoughts when Yuffie was spotted. She froze when she saw us but started running afterward.
"Don't run!" Barret yelled again. The group tried to follow her, but even though she was a loud mouthed and would boast about her skills being so much better than ours even when she needed our support, we had lost her.
"Everyone split up into groups of two, Nathan you're with me." Everyone split and searched. I went up to one of the citizens.
"Excuse me; have you seen a ninja about five foot two, really loud?" I was promptly ignored and the citizen basically ran away from me.
"I guess they don't like tourists."
"Nathan we need to find her, where could she be?"
"Hey Cloud, she made it sound like she was famous here, let's ask the villages leader. Maybe he knows something about Yuffie we could use."
"How are we going to get information if no one talks to us?"
"Look for the fanciest house, I know these cultures and usually nobles have better and bigger places." Cloud nodded so he followed me. Going farther into the village we came across the tower and a house that was bigger than the rest, a clan symbol was placed at the entrance of the property. Taking a page from Clouds book I barged into the house and we looked around. Eventually we opened up one room to see an aged looking man just lying down on a mat in the middle of the room, his facial hair in disarray.
"Gahhh, what do you want?" He turned to look at us.
"Are you the noble of this house?" I asked politely, I really didn't want to get on Godo's bad side.
"I am Godo." He stated before he yawned. "Don't have...GAH...much for you; you can rest yourselves here if...GOO...you want. Make yourselves at home." He said while stretching and readjusting himself on the ground. Obviously trying to fall back asleep.
"We are looking for a girl named Yuffi," Cloud said. Godo just waved his hand.
"Yuffie? ... never heard of her." He started to snore after that. Cloud had the nerve to tap the man with his foot to wake him back up.
"You again? I told you once and I'll tell you again, I don't know her."
"She said she was born in Wutai." Finally the man gave up on trying to sleep and sat up.
"Listen, I said I didn't know her! There isn't anyone here named Yuffie in Wutai!" He got up and finally took a good long look at the both of us.
"Never seen you here before... Lately I've seen Shinra all over the place, you wouldn't have anything to do with them would you?"
"No, we had just gotten here, although AVALANCHE is being pursued-" Godo held up his hand and Cloud stopped.
"I don't care who you are, but if you're in trouble with Shinra then I'll have to ask you to leave. I don't want Shinra here looking over my shoulder."
"What's with you, you coward?" The three of us looked around for the new voice. When in the open doorway she had dropped to the ground.
"Yuffie?" Godo was shocked.
"You scared of Shinra? Then why don't you fall in line and obey them, just like all the other towns!" She pointed at us.
"These guys are the ones who are really fighting Shinra!"
"Shut up! What would you know about this?" Cloud and I forgot about Yuffie to witness the exchange.
"You get beaten once, and then that's it? What happened to the mighty Wutai I used to know?"
"No kid like you is going to talk to me like that. You keep acting like that. You should be ashamed of yourself!"
"That's my style! And it's my own business, not yours! You don't try and dictate what I do!"
"Style? Dictate? Throwing around those words, you're a miserable daughter!"
"You're a sad excuse for a father!" The man chased Yuffie out before coming back into the room.
"I apologize, she is very boisterous." Godo bowed his head.
"It isn't a problem; you helped us find her anyway. Have a nice day." I dragged Cloud out before anything else could be said. We went back into town where everyone else was waiting.
"You find her?" Asked Nanaki.
"Yes, but she got away, but we don't have to search there anymore."
"I think we should stick together, we'll be able to catch her if it's all of us." Tifa suggested. Everyone nodded.
"So where to?" Aeris asked.
"Maybe there will be some sociable people at the bar. I know how easy it is to get info from a drunk." Cid said. I froze a little hearing everyone agree with him. I didn't know what would happen in the bar after what happened at Gongaga. Reno would most definitely be pissed to see me again. The group started to move and I found myself just going with them. We entered the bar and the first thing that everyone in the group noticed were the three people in deep blue suits. One of which was staring right at us.
"Y-y-y-you? How did you get here?" Reno and Rude looked over at the group and I noticed a few extra features. Reno's suit looked a little puffy on one side, then I thought about what happened and assumed it was because of bandages. Elena jumped up from her chair.
"Never mind that. I guess it's fate that brought us together. Get ready to die!" She got in her fighting stance.
"You know half of that sounded like a love confession, it was kind of funny how passionate you sounded." She looked very frustrated when I said that. Before she could attack Reno held out his weapon in front of her, taking a sip of what was most likely alcohol.
"Elena...you talk too much." She was shocked hearing that from her superior.
"What?"
"What were we doing way out here in the middle of nowhere yo?" He asked.
"We're taking our vacation and resting up from work." She stated it like it was a report. Man, she needs to cut loose.
"And now our vacations ruined." Reno stared at Elena, funny I would have thought he would blame us for that.
"But..." Elena tried to defend only to have Rude speak over her.
"Even the booze tastes bad now." He said with absolutely no emotion. He was just staring at his half a glass of liquor. Elena looked between the two and sighed.
"Sorry." She went back to her seat.
"Now what are you jerks doing here?" Reno asked.
"One of our teammates stole our materia, we're searching for her." Cloud answered. Reno just snorted.
"Haven't seen the kid," he stated, then he looked at me. "I don't want any shit from you yo. We aren't on the job so kicking each other's asses is only going to make the booze worse." He took another sip. The rest of the group was satisfied and left. I hung back a little and reach into my pack counting out the gil, I had about 3000. As much as monsters are pain in the asses, I was getting some decent coin from their corpses. I went to the counter laid down 500.
"What can you give me for this?" Though the Wutaians didn't like having strangers here, the bar keep wasn't dumb enough to ignore a good customer.
"One of our better brews of Sake, a whole bottle in fact." He took the money and went to a corner in his liquor cabinet. When he pulled it out, he actually blew some dust off it and handed it to me.
"Enjoy kid." I smiled at that. I guess there was an age difference for drinking here. I took the bottle and walked towards the Turks table, when I set the bottle down the reactions were varied.
Elena was shocked, Rude lifted an eyebrow, and Reno was ready to pounce.
"Truce." I said. I left the bottle and exited the bar. Reno wasn't a bad guy, nor were the others. They were just doing their jobs. Hopefully this would be good enough incentive to stop any future fights in the game. I caught up to the group.
"Alright, let's keep looking around." Everyone nodded and divided into groups of three plus one group of two to get Yuffie. Cloud and I were still the group of two. We entered one building which was the item shop. The two workers gave us a glare then ignored us. Cloud looked around and saw the crate near the back. He went to open it and found a materia, before he could ask to buy it though Yuffie jumped down from the rafters and took it right out of his hand and sprinted out the door. Cloud blinked once before chasing after her outside and he lost her. We walked around the weapons store and inside to see if she was in the rafters like last time.
"Cloud she got away again!" Aeris came into the shop. "We found her in someone's house and she ran off."
"Get everyone together." She nodded and went back outside. Cloud and I were standing near the bar when everyone else came back.
"Slippery little cretin, isn't she," Cid said with half a smoke.
"She keeps finding places to hide...where could she be?" Cloud thought out-loud.
"Did that pot just move?"
"Nathan we don't need distractions right now."
"No, I'm serious its bumping around." The group looked as I pointed to the large pot next to the bar. Cloud silently motioned for everyone to take positions along the fence and bridge exits. Everyone was in place when he got up close and started punching the pot. Over time cracks started to appear until the ninja jumped out and slipped past Cloud only to run into the group one person after another before Cloud got a good grip on her.
"You can't get away Yuffie." Her eyes were shifting around, looking for an exit, not finding any.
"Okay I know, I was wrong. You win; I'll give you back your materia." Yuffie tore her arm back and made us follow her into her house. She went downstairs and the group went in to find some kind of training room lined with statues and weapons.
"I've been hearing it ever since I was little. Before I was born Wutai was more crowded, more important." She walked past the group.
"Have you seen it now? ... just a resort town. After we lost the war, we got peace, but with that we lost something else. Now look at Wutai."She was now at the entrance, on the verge of tears.
"That's why if I had lots of materia I could-"
"Listen Yuffie, I don't care about the history of Wutai or your feelings. You've got our materia and I want it back...now."
And the winner for the coldest motherfucker in the entire history of existence from before to the future and of all time is none other than Cloud Strife! He must feel proud at his achievements ladies and gentlemen!
"If you give it back now, we'll drop the whole thing" The girl sighed.
"I know, I know that." She really started to tear up now. "That switch on the left..sniff...materias in there." Cloud walked up to the machine in the room and pulled on the left switch. Only to have the rest of the group including myself placed in a cage.
"What the hell!" Barret yelled.
"She got us again." Nanaki said.
"Ha Ha ha. Never trust anyone that easy! The materias mine, tough! If you want it, go find it yourself! When you're looking for the materia, remember you got to steel it! HA get it? Steel!" She then ran off with Cloud slamming the machine and flipping the lever so everyone was released.
"You know Cloud, if you played along a little then maybe she could have possibly given us at least one materia...probably." I knew she wouldn't have given any but seeing Cloud's angry face was too funny to pass up.
"Stop making jokes and catch her." He said before running ahead with everyone else following. I stopped and looked around for the final Turtles Paradise poster. I took the stub, thinking about celebrating killing Rapps with some drinks at the bar.
ATE
"The kid buys me breakfast, then I kick his ass. He kicks my ass, then buys me decent booze...I don't understand." Reno said enjoying a glass of the liquor he was just bought.
"Why are you drinking it? He is an enemy of Shinra." Elena said sipping at a glass of wine.
"Like I'm gunna deny free anything, especially if it's good alcohol. Rude try some yo." The stoic man poured himself a cup and drank.
"You two are unbelievable. He's a high priority target now. I read the message we were sent." Reno remembered the new orders to consider the magic hyped kid a real threat. But he ignored it since they still had vacation time. He gave up on the grudge with him. He realized that in the end it would only end with both of them beaten to hell and their teams dragging them off and they would have to keep pursuing them, causing the scene to happen again. Reno just thought it would be better just to stop giving a damn, and the free drink helped his resolve.
Two Shinra soldiers barged into the place. Elena jumped up and stood at attention while the MP's started talking
"Our reports are right, he is on vacation here! We found him, get the Turks for support." The minute Reno heard that he slammed his head onto the table, getting everyone's attention.
"What a drag." If they weren't after AVALANCHE, they were needed somewhere else. Reno was considering quitting until he remembered how much the job paid.
"Right now we're off duty and can't run off to save your butts."
"We know you're off duty but-"
"If you knew that then don't bother us! Now get out, just looking at you is making me sober."
"But you all have orders to look for him too!" one of the MP's argued, only to have Reno not answer him and keep drinking. The other soldier just shook his head.
"Alright fine, we catch him without any help from the Turks, just you see! And don't think headquarters isn't going to hear about this!" Both soldiers ran out leaving a slightly stunned Elena.
"Reno, do you think that was really such a good idea? I mean is that the way a professional Turk should act?" Reno got up and stared at his subordinate.
"You misunderstand. A pro isn't someone who sacrifices himself for his job. That's just a fool."
"Rude?" Elana asked, hoping to get a different response. The only one she got was the man sighing and downing another glass.
"Well I don't buy that, good bye!" Elena ran off. Reno just sat there while Rude looked at him.
"Relax, she's not a child. Let her have her way now yo" Another drink. "God that's good, shame she didn't drink any of this."
The group had searched most of the village by now. Yuffie was nowhere to be seen and everyone was getting restless. I was already at rock bottom so I was good, it's actually kind of cool, I feel like I'm using weighted clothes, and everything warbles like I'm under water when I get really tired.
"Where haven't we looked?" Cloud groaned.
"Have we checked every building?" Cait asked.
"Yes we have, we've check every house." He reassured.
"What about the rest of Godo's place, we only visited his house, what about that temple thing next door?" I mentioned. Cloud's eyes widened and he ran off. We got to the place and looked around the temple without finding anything. I rang the bell and heard a loud click from the side. The rest of the gang and I went in to find Yuffie being held up by someone.
"Let go! I SAID LET GO! Who do you think you are! What are you doing jerk!" The man ignored her and ran further into the treasure room. Cloud walked in only to be surprised by who was inside as well.
"You?" The man in question turned around and laughed. Corneo was wearing his signature red pimp coat, suit shirt, and his really dumb curly bit of hair on the rest of his bald head.
"Corneo?"
"Finally I've got a new chicky! Two for one in fact!"
"Two?"
"Hey let me go! You're going to regret this!" Elena yelled from farther back into the room. The crony just ignored her. They ran up the stairs with everyone else following while I took what I could from the room.
"Who was that?" Nanaki asked.
"Corneo, we had to fight him to get information. Apparently he's on the run now," Tifa explained. The group got up the stairs to see the fat man cornered by Shinra guards.
"There he is! It's Corneo, don't let him get away! Attack!" The guards started shooting only to have the coward duck and roll while the group had to defend themselves from the shots. I got annoyed and shot a level two Bolt at a man and threw him across the room only to see him get back up, and me having a large headache. I didn't know I was running low on magic, I need an ether. The group took care of the soldiers but Corneo escaped. I was clutching my head, still getting my bearings.
"Nathan you need to stop casting magic, you're already too tired to do anything and you're pushing your mind too far." Cloud said. I nodded, no more magic. We ran through Godo's house and outside to see the other two Turks standing at the stair entrance.
"That Corneo is good at escaping." Reno was rubbing his head, probably having a headache too.
"Elena." Rude mumbled. Reno shook his head and looked at his partner.
"Let's go Rude. We'll give'em a taste of what the Turks can do." Rude nodded and ran ahead. Reno looked back to us.
"If Elena is in his hands, that's going to make things difficult."
"He took Yuffie from us and without her we can't get our materia back." Cloud said.
"Don't misunderstand, we aren't joining you...but considering the circumstances we won't bother each other...guys, you guys will get your truce after all."
"Fine with us, we have no intention of cooperating with the Turks...now what direction did you see Corneo go?" Cloud asked; a little embarrassed he didn't catch where he went. Reno had a smirk on his face.
"Nice attitude, here's a clue; it's the place that stands out the most." Then Reno ran off down the stairs with a slightly annoyed looking Cloud left behind him.
"Turks, even when they help you they make things difficult."
"I don't know Cloud; it isn't all that hard to figure out." He looked at me.
"Fine then, you figure it out. The tower there stood out the most in the town so where else could they be?" I smiled and pretended to think.
"Have you ever noticed how cool those mountains look?" I asked, the whole group looked over at the large carvings on the mountain. Cloud groaned and just ran in the direction of the mountains. Eventually we were at the bottom of the mountains with the two Turks waiting.
"Took you long enough, we're going to split in two, you do whatever you want but don't endanger Elena, and we won't do anything to endanger Yuffie." Everyone agreed and split up into groups when the Turks left. I got paired with Vincent and started heading for what was the right direction while everyone else was running around searching.
"LET...ME...GO!" I heard and looked at Vincent who nodded. We started sneaking around the rocks to see Corneo on one of the mountain carvings hands with Yuffie and Elena strapped to its eyes.
"Hmm, delicious, scrumptious! I think I found a new hobby!" I was completely disgusted by what he was talking about. I was about to run in when Vincent stopped me.
"Don't get hasty. Wait for the opportune moment, then strike." I keeled back down.
"Should I go...with HER?" Corneo looked at Elena who had the same face I did.
"Hey, I'm one of the Turks! Don't think you can get away with this!" Corneo ignored her and danced around looking at Yuffie.
"Or...maybe...HER?" Yuffie looked extremely annoyed
"Oh god, if I knew this was going to happen I would have taken rope escape lessons more seriously." Well her fault for not taking her training seriously, I guess she also missed the lesson where ninjas are very silent.
"I have made my choice! My companion for the night will be...the cheerful one!" Yuffie looked horrified.
"GROSSNESS! Don't mess with me old man! You don't even have any materia!"
"Oh and she's saucy too! Whee, wheee!" I was about to concentrate a bolt spell when someone from behind me and Vincent ran up to Corneo.
"Alright, that's it!" Cloud burst. I clenched my teeth thinking about how he ruined our ambush. Vincent just went with the group with me following.
"Who's there? What's going on?" Corneo was looking around until everyone was on the arm of the carving.
"Oh thank god, Cloud, Nathan, get me down!"
"Oh long time no see," Corneo said looking at the group.
"You damn Midgar hyena!" Barret yelled aiming his gun.
"We should have taken care of you back at Midgar." Tifa yelled. Corneo looked angry.
"Be quiet! None of you know how much I've suffered since then...it's a long story but..."
"Don't give a shit, let the ladies go or everyone is going to personally give you a large case of Whup-ass." I yelled.
"Oh you're all serious...good, good. I don't have time to be messing around either, but why did you kill my little Aps? How about I make you play with my new pet! That way you can't get in the way of me searching for a bride!" Corneo whistled and called out.
"Rapps come here!" From behind him, flapping its wings, was what looked like a wyvern.
"Attack!" Corneo yelled and Rapps screeched. It started flying over the group with the only ones attacking being Barret and Vincent with their guns. Rapps stopped only to start flapping its wings faster than usual which caused everyone to cover their faces while the dust blew around.
"What is it doing?" Nanaki yelled above the winds.
"Everyone! Get off the arm!" I heard Cloud yell so I peeked out of my eyelids to see the winds get stronger and strike the group. What was bad was the wind didn't just knock us back but it actually cut everyone up. I was almost blown off if I didn't hold onto Barret.
"Everyone get back, that attack will knock someone off." Cloud said retreating across the mountains shoulder along with Nanaki, Aeris, and Tifa.
"We can still attack!" Barret yelled, shooting at the monster which took a few hits but kept flying around. Vincent couldn't get a good shot in since the monster kept flying around.
"Nathan you can't do anything without getting exhausted, get back." Nanaki yelled. I ignored him and opened up my travel pack to pick out one of many items I had stolen through the journey. I took the scroll and untied the rope around it and waited for the monster to get close. When it came to strike I unfurled the swift bolt scroll towards Rapps and sure enough a strong lightning bolt flew out of the paper and into the monster, stunning it enough to let Vincent get a few shots, but not enough to take the thing down.
"Damn it, I'm out!" I heard Barret yell. He got off the arm leaving only Vince and me. Vincent looked like he was running low on ammo to so he put his gun away.
"This is a losing battle until it gets closer, get back!" Cloud yelled. Vincent looked at him and the group before taking off his headband and handed it to me.
"Hold this." I was confused when Vincent took off his red cape and started breathing heavily. Slowly his body was changing colors and bulging, him groaning in what sounded like pain while he metamorphosed into a larger creature. Horns started protruding from his head and he gained a snout. He was now twice his original size and completely purple. The group along with myself were staring at the transformation before he roared. He was now the Galian beast.
"What the hell just happened?" I heard Barret yell. The beast started running up the carvings face, using his claws to keep him attached to the mountain when it jumped and started attacking Rapps midair. The monster took a lot of slashes before Galian fell back onto the mountain. It took a large breath and spit out what looked like solid orbs of lava. When the orbs were close to the monster they exploded in heat and fire, causing the flying monster to screech and fly farther away. I cursed; even though Vincent could take Rapps by himself, it still had the advantage of flying over him. I looked at my bangle; my materia glinted when I ran over to the Galian beast now waiting for its prey on the arm.
"Nathan he's dangerous, let him fight!" I ignored Barret's yell and got next to the beast. It looked and snarled at me, but I took the fact he wasn't tearing me to shreds as a good sign.
"Not sure if you understand, but I'll take him down, you keep him down." I got in my fighting position seeing the beast snort and look at Rapps preparing another Aero three. I formed an orb using gravity in my hand and waited for the monster to fly over the statue before throwing the ball ahead of the monster.
"Press!" I yelled and focused magic on the flying ball. Rapps was close enough to feel the sudden shift in gravity and was forced onto the statue's head. The beast started running up the face, passing Yuffie and Elena and started tearing at Rapps. The wyvern kept trying to strike the beast with its tail, but without the ability to fly, Galian was able to keep hacking at the creature. My headache came back with a vengeance and I fell to the ground. Galian had already torn one of the monsters wings and had the monster by its long neck. It then chose to throw the now one winged dragon off the mountian, it screeching while it tried to flap its one wing only to plummet to the ground. The beast jumped back down and started shrinking and becoming paler. Eventually Vincent was in front of me again, having a coughing fit and sweating. I held out my hand to give him back his headband and he tied it around his head, still exhausted from the transformation. The group came back, Cloud coming forward with his sword in hand. Corneo was taking the scene with wide eyes
"Wait...wait a second..."
"SHUT UP!" Cloud yelled.
"Just listen to me, it won't take long. Why do you think a bad guy like me would swallow his pride and plead for his life?"
"Because he thinks he could win." After Cloud said that he realized what was going on.
"RIGHT!" He pulled out a controller and pressed a button. Elena and Yuffie both flipped upside down.
"If I push this button, they'll fall and then we'll have squashed tomatoes!" He yelled smiling. Everyone was debating if they should attack, risking the girls lives.
"I guess I'll be the one laughing last!"
"No, that would be us." Corneo looked around for the new voice.
"Who goes there?" Looking behind the group I saw Reno casually walk up onto the statue's thumb and look at Corneo.
"The Turks?"
"You knew this was going to happen ever since you leaked the secret. We're going to take care of you personally." Corneo looked between him and our group while holding the controller before he became angry.
"Damn it I'm taking them with me!" Before he could press the button a rock smashed into his head knocking him back off the hand. However he was lucky enough to grab hold of the statue.
"Good timing Rude, nice throw." Reno said before walking to the edge, placing his foot on Corneo's hand.
"Alright Corneo, this will be quick, so listen up." He ground his foot for emphasis. Corneo yelled out.
"Why do you think we went through all the trouble to team up with those guys to get you? One, because we were ready to die. Two, because we were sure of victory. Or three, because we are clueless." He started twisting his foot making Corneo shake his head.
"Two...it's number two!"
"All wrong." He stomped on his foot one last time making the man let go and fall off the mountain just like his pet. Reno flipped his hair back.
"The correct answer was because it's our job."
"Oh thank you so much, I didn't think you would help!" Elena yelled to Reno sighed and looked at the woman.
"Elena, don't act so weak, you're a Turk!" She stopped praising and adopted her business face, which was really red now from being upside down.
"Yes sir." She yelled.
"Never thought you'd come an help us." Barret said to the Turks. Before Reno could answer his phone rang, so he picked it up.
"Yeah it's Reno...yes...yes...we'll get right to it." Reno looked at the group and closed his phone.
"Was that the company?" Elena asked.
"Yeah, they want us to find Cloud and Nathan" He looked at us.
"Wait, when the fuck did I become a big target?" I yelled. Cloud readied his sword.
"Are we on?" Rude asked, having one fist out and crouching a little. Reno shook his head.
"No, today we're off duty." The group relaxed.
"I don't care about that. Get me down!" Cloud sighed.
"Let's get her everyone."
"Actually Cloud, I think I'm going to take a nap. Wake me when Yuffie's down." I closed my eyes. Even though I was on a mountain, I still fell asleep easily. By the time I wake up I'd be happy with my materia and everyone will be happy.