Start Date: December 4, 2022
Windwillow
Final Fantasy VII
Shinra's attempted seizure of the Tiny Bronco airplane has failed miserably. Not only did they lose the plane, they also were assaulted by AVALANCHE and Rufus got slammed in the jaw by Cid, the pilot and owner of the airplane Shinra attempted to seize. Presently, said Tiny Bronco is now inoperable as aerial transport, but can still be used as a boat. With Cid Highwind, pilot of the airplane and the newest member of the team, they've begun their search for the enigmatic Keystone that is said to be vital to entering Shinra's next goal, the Temple of the Ancients. Yuffie has offered a clue, saying that it could be in her homeland of Wutai. The problem being, it's an outright lie intended to lure her friends into her most personal, most dangerous trap ever... Now, they're on her home turf.
Chapter Thirty-Seven: Yuffie's Mischief
Scene One
The voyage to Wutai had begun, and it didn't take long for trouble to occur. As it turns out, Cid didn't have a fishing pole in the Tiny Bronco like he thought. That meant that, until they reached Wutai, the party would more or less literally starve to death. Although they cursed their luck at first, Yuffie quickly darted beneath the Bronco and, in a deft swipe, snatched up a large fish from the ocean. After she'd sufficiently celebrated and they'd cooked the fish, Cloud decided to get in contact with Aerith back in Rocket Town.
"Okay, so... Uh... Yeah, we got away..." Aerith muttered on the other end of the line. Although they had, they had nothing to go on but Shera's good will. Much of the party's Gil was stored with Tifa, and so they lacked the funds to check into the Inn. Although Aerith attempted to swindle the Innkeeper by seductively removing her jacket, he quickly clammed up and ordered them outside. "We're staying at Cid's house, and we have his spear, but that's about it..." she sighed. "Since there are five of us and Cid's house fits two, Red XIII constructed a little hut for the rest..."
"Good grief... Well, ain't this just peachy!" Cloud groaned, holding a hand to his head. Here they were in the middle of the western ocean, floating about, and the rest of the team had been reduced to huddling in a stone dome. Having Tifa as treasurer had turned against them. "Well... It can't be helped, I guess..." he sighed. "You guys hunker down and we'll follow Yuffie's lead, then come back."
"Oh, there's no need to rush! I have the other bedroom, so I don't care how long it takes..." whispered Aerith, prompting a gruff groan from Cloud. Suppressing a giggle, Aerith dropped onto her back on Cid's bed and loosed a gentle sigh. "But are you sure we should be listening to Yuffie?" she asked. "I mean, on the scale of who we can depend on, she isn't too high..."
"We have a clue, and we have to follow it... Besides, we've listened to you for ages and look how we've ended up!" laughed Cloud. He was forced to remove the phone from his ear to muffle the foul language he received from Aerith, but once she was done, Cloud returned it to his ear. "Yeah, I know... It's hard to trust her completely, but if she knows where this Keystone is, we don't have much choice..." Cloud shrugged. "We'll keep in touch, so I'm signing out. Keep grilling the others for more info on what this Henschel said about the Keystone, too. Something doesn't feel right..." he said with a sigh, snapping his phone shut.
"Any good news from the other end?" wondered Cid. Receiving a shake of Cloud's head, he angrily slammed his fist onto the arm rest. Knowing that Shera had free reign of the house meant she could redecorate, which scared him at least as much as being in the middle of the sea. "It's been two freaking days since we started!" he snarled. "How much longer is this going to take?!"
"Oh, that? Your eyes don't work so well, Gramps!" chortled Yuffie, much to Cid's fury. As she rubbed her hands together in anticipation, she started planning the best way to pull off her master plan, and the first part was due northwest. "See that big chunk of land over there? That's Wutai!" she said cheerfully. Cid craned his neck to see, and indeed noticed the continent approaching sight.
"Ugh, thank God! I haven't eaten anything but raw fish for two damn days..." groaned Tifa as she sat straight up and scanned the horizon for the continent. Not only was she hungry, but since she'd been coated in sweat and seawater for two days, she looked pretty haggard. "I want some good food and a bath!" she said cheerfully. "I heard once that Wutai has some killer hot springs, right, Yuffie?"
"Hot springs? Got 'em! Fine cuisine? Got that too!" Yuffie tittered, bobbing side to side in her seat. Everything was shaping up perfectly, and if she could bait them further with food, it just made her life easier. "I guarantee that you guys will get exactly what's coming to you when we get there!" she said cheerfully.
Heh heh heh... God damn, I'm a genius! They don't have a clue!
Scene Two
The trip to Wutai had taken two long days and quite a few Yuffie-caught fish. Finally ashore, the Tiny Bronco was moored in shallow water near a small bunch of trees, where Cid settled in to both guard and tune up their ride. That left Cloud, Tifa, and Yuffie to depart on foot for Wutai. The route there took them through a wide span of coast, where they were set upon by a massive tortoise known as an Adamantoise, something that for some reason managed to get the drop on them despite its size by speeding out from the water at a rapid rate. The three of them prepared to fight, though Yuffie seemed reluctant to do so. Unknown to the others, she was trying to find an opportunity to pilfer their materia, but failed to do so. It was a titanic turtle, easily as large as the Heavy Tank had been in Gongaga. Not only was its shell nearly impenetrable, but its massive jaws and long tusks made it a threat to visitors to Wutai who hadn't prepared themselves to fight such a huge beast.
Tifa and Cloud split up on either side of the monster, leaving Yuffie in the center, something that she heatedly protested as the Adamantoise began to charge her. While she panicked, Cloud and Tifa charged towards the monster from opposite ends, Tifa hardening her fist and Cloud swinging his sword, expecting to crack and cut the Adamantoise. Unfortunately, it activated its hidden ability, a powerful barrier that repelled the both of them. Tifa slid to the beach and Cloud through to the shore as a translucent orb surrounded the Adamantoise, both of them being forced to skid to a halt in an attempt to right themselves.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Where the bloody hell does this leave me?! Right in the danger zone, that's where! Do your freaking jobs, people!" Yuffie shrieked, being in the direct path of the monster's tusks. The Adamantoise picked up speed and quickly caught up to a fleeing Yuffie, lifting its massive claws into the air and slamming them down just where Yuffie had been a second earlier, as she'd narrowly managed to dodge the attack. "Oh, hell no! You're leaving me in the middle of this bull?!" she roared as she dropped to her seat with a massive thud. "Why don't you two try and put yourselves in danger, y'know, like I am! Why should I have to deal with this sucker alone?!" Yuffie snarled.
Her two friends didn't respond verbally, choosing instead to approach from both above and below. Cloud paused for a moment to brace himself, then launched himself high into the sky and coated the Buster Sword in his Materia Fusion energy. Tifa rushed forward and charged her fists with her own Materia Fusion, a brilliant multicolored light coating her right hand, and swung with a massive uppercut from under the beast's shell. The uppercut came in tandem with Cloud's own slash, more or less cracking the Adamantoise open like a walnut from both above and below, shattering the shell and sending a huge tusk flying in Yuffie's direction. It landed just to her right and caused her to nearly pass out from shock, but she thought better of complaining when she watched Tifa threateningly maintain her hardened fist, just in case she did complain, cracking her knuckles as well. So, as the fight died down, Yuffie dropped to her seat and released a feeble whimper before dropping unconscious onto her back.
With the Adamantoise dealt with, and once they'd revived Yuffie, the trio continued on through the shallow water until they reached solid ground. They were on foot for close to five hours until they finally reached sight of Wutai, a bustling town situated below a massive mountain. Fortunately for the team, there was a stretch of forest that started where they were and led into Wutai, so they quickly set up camp and managed to forage some fruit. Once everyone had eaten enough to keep themselves conscious, Cloud and Tifa set up a small fire for everyone to gather around for heat.
"Well, this looks like a nice place, at least!" sighed Tifa, leaning back against a tree with a deep, relaxed breath. As she settled in, laying against the hard bark and felt the soft grass beneath her, Tifa's thoughts began to wander. Part of it was suspicion, as usual, but she dismissed that as paranoia. The next thing that came to mind was Yuffie's motivations for bringing them here. "You know, I never heard from Cloud why you left this place..." Tifa said with a sharp breath, turning her head to the other end of the fire where Yuffie had settled in. "Why did you head out for our continent, anyway?" she wondered.
"Whoa, he never told you? I guess he never had a reason to..." Yuffie sighed. Pulling herself up to sit Indian-style, Yuffie looked at Tifa with an odd sort of optimism. "After the Wutai War, Shinra stripped Wutai of all its materia and turned it into a tourist destination for their wealthy clients. The sights of Mt. Da-Chao and the hot springs in town brought in killer capital..." she said cheerfully. As she thought more, she bowed her head and grit her teeth. "My Dad, the leader of the nation, ended up surrendering not just Wutai but his own principles..." Yuffie growled.
"When we met back on the eastern continent it was after Barret and I left Fort Condor... and she tried to mug us!" Cloud recalled angrily, prompting Yuffie to stick her tongue out at him. Still, for the entire trip she'd pulled her weight, and he wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt. "She said that she was after materia to help Wutai fight. When I said she had some strong stuff already, she seemed to believe it wasn't enough..." said Cloud. "But I never heard you say anything about your father..."
"H-His name is Godo Kisaragi, head warlord of Wutai and successor to generations of ninja going back centuries..." said Yuffie with a sigh. "Back during the War, they called him the Lethal Shadow, 'cause his secret techniques and unique abilities killed lots of Shinra soldiers, and his sword was especially famous!" she said proudly. As her elation faded, however, Yuffie began to stare pensively into the fire. "They took all the materia from Wutai... 'cept for the two I managed to hide away: Aero and Aqua, representing the guardian deity of Wutai, Leviathan... Dad never knew I took them, so as far as he knows, Shinra's got Wutai's prized materia..." Yuffie said sorrowfully.
"So, you stole those, too? I should've guessed that was what happened," Cloud said pointedly. Though Yuffie glared daggers at him, Cloud shrugged and folded his arms over his chest. "But you did what you had to, right?" he said cheerfully, startling Yuffie. "You've been fighting for someone other than yourself all along... Never would have thought it, you being you..." Cracking a smile, Cloud looked deep into Yuffie's eyes and showed pride on his face. "It's been great having you with us!" he said proudly, much to Yuffie's amazement. As she averted her eyes, Cloud took his weapon and leaned it against the tree, folding his hands behind his head to use them as a pillow. "We ought to reach town tomorrow... Let's talk in the morning!" said Cloud, a smile on his face as he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.
Yuffie didn't know quite what to say, but just stared deeper into the fire, searching for an answer to her newest question. Night fell and Cloud and Tifa lay sleeping, though Yuffie stood above them, holding their materia in her hands. Much to her surprise, she really felt legitimately guilty about taking their materia. She'd never thought she'd form any kind of bond with the group, and once she had things had become complicated. In Nibelheim, she'd been infuriated when the citizens insulted her friends' memories. Now, somehow, at the moment of decision, Yuffie found herself on the cusp of abandoning her plans. As she stared down at two of the only friends she'd ever made, Yuffie's fragile smile was joined by a single, bitter tear.
Maybe I shouldn't do this? They've been great to me, and all... You know what? I like these jerks... so I'll let 'em keep their cash. Maybe that'll make me feel better? Probably not, but... Now I'm not sure. I'd better leave before I change my mind. Bye, guys... I won't forget you. Y'know what? I really mean that...
Scene Three
Awakening the next morning was a rude awakening. At first confused at Yuffie's absence, the discovery that she'd pilfered their materia sent Cloud and Tifa into a roaring fury. They were especially angry that they'd lost their two Eidolons, and as usual much of the trip towards Wutai included Tifa devising innovative ways to punish Yuffie. For his part, Cloud was happy to join in the brainstorming, but when they ran into a group of Shinra soldiers, the discussion stopped. The resulting fight was vicious, partially due to the duo's anger, but they quickly found that fighting without materia simply didn't feel right. So, dispatching the troops with their martial abilties alone sent them into an even stranger breed of anger.
Shortly thereafter, the tired warriors entered the beautiful town of Wutai, which was filled with color, splendor, and the unsurprising sight of Yuffie attempting to pickpocket someone. Once she'd realized her friends were there, Yuffie quickly beat feet, with Cloud and Tifa giving chase. They went through a long, elaborate chase for the next hour, and each time the pair thought they'd cornered Yuffie, she managed to narrowly escape. Finally, after a harrowing pursuit, Cloud and Tifa found themselves in a bar that called itself Turtle's Paradise, where the trail went cold.
"Oh, I am so going to enjoy ripping her a new one!" Tifa snarled, cracking her knuckles out of raw frustration. The entire ordeal had only deepened her rage, and as she stepped up to the bar, she angrily snatched up a glass of liquor and downed it, disregarding who actually owned it. "That little weasel is going to regret she was ever born by the time I'm done with her!" she growled angrily, slamming the empty glass onto the bar, almost hard enough to make it shatter.
"You know, I paid seven hundred Gil for that..." muttered a voice to Tifa's right. She turned and quickly jumped back and into Cloud's arms as she found the source of the voice: Reno, of the Turks. Seated at the bar were Reno, Rude, and their fellow Turk Elena, all of whom held drinks, though only Elena was drunk. But she was, indeed, drunk. "Can I get a round for me and these two folks?" Reno called out to the bartender. "But I'm afraid they're buying." As he turned to Cloud and Tifa, he gave a two fingered salute and promptly snatched up his new drink. "Now, why exactly are you folks crashing our vacation?" he asked with a crooked smile.
"Dammit, I am not in the mood for this crap!" Cloud growled, drawing back his arm and thrusting it at Reno. After his palm stopped cold in front of Reno's expressionless face, with no lightning having been released, Cloud angrily slammed his fist on the bar, startling the bartender. After gathering himself, Cloud quietly took a seat at the bar next to the Turks. "Okay, screw it. If you want to take us in, this is probably your best shot..." he growled. "That little turd Yuffie stole all our materia."
"Well, I'll happily oblige!" said Elena as she rose to her seat and drew her pistol, pointing it at Tifa. She was quickly subdued as Rude took her arm, bent it behind her back, and pinned her onto the bar in an unbreakable lock, his hand holding her head onto the top of the bar. Though she struggled, Elena was unable to break free. "Hey, what the hell, man?!" she growled, using all the strength in her body in an attempt to lift herself from the table. "Rude, what the hell are you-"
"Back off. Don't point that thing at a beautiful lady," scolded Rude, tightening his grip on Elena. "Remember: Not only are we on vacation, but we have some standards..." he said darkly, causing Elena to freeze solid. "Are we clear?" growled Rude pointedly, something that Elena quickly assented to, and he released her from his hold, leaving her flopped to the floor in pain. After dusting off his suit, Rude quietly sat back down and shyly pushed his drink towards Tifa. "You look like you need a drink..." he blushed.
"Oh, so now you're taking pity on me?" snarled Tifa. Cloud quickly restrained her, and though she furiously struggled she was unable to break free. Finally, after some negotiation, Cloud managed to get her to sit down at the same table as the Turks. The next round of drinks was, contrary to Reno's comment, on the Turks. "Well, this is unexpected..." Tifa muttered, taking a sip of her cocktail.
I guess him having a crush on me sort of paid off... Who'd have thought, huh?
"Um... Thanks for the drink, but... uh... Why are all of you here?" wondered Cloud, taking a drink of his own cocktail. Slowly, he began to relax around the Turks for whatever reason, as they didn't seem very threatening at the moment.
"We're on vacation, you jerks!" snarled Elena. Through her drunken stupor, she reached out to grab Cloud's arm. That didn't last long, only long enough for Reno to pin her arm down with his hand, locking it firmly onto the table. "Reno, you lousy..." she croaked weakly. A quick glare from Reno sobered Elena up enough to retract her hand. "Uh... yeah. We're on vacation," she said quickly. "What about you two?"
"I wish I could say we're on vacation, but unfortunately we're hunting for our 'friend' Yuffie..." Cloud growled. As he loosened up, he found that the booze was actually pretty damn good. "That little witch stole all our materia and ran away, and we tracked her here..." he said angrily. "Until we get that back, we're plum out of luck... I don't think we can beat you jerks without materia."
"Stole your materia, eh? Sounds like the kind of friend I'd end up having!" laughed Reno. As he stared into his drink, he slowly turned his memories back to Junon. Back at the bar, he'd asked Tseng if he'd been sleeping since Sector Seven fell, and since he hadn't, and since Reno had also felt responsible for the massacre, it had left a bad taste in his mouth. Fighting Cloud and the others was like a slap in the face to the people they'd fought to protect and that he'd fought to slaughter. "I know this is against protocol, but..." Reno muttered. After rustling through his pockets, much to Cloud and Tifa's shock, he withdrew a handful of materia. "If I happened to lose these little babies, it'd be because I'm clumsy, right?" he said with a sheepish grin.
"You... Are you kidding me?!" gasped Cloud, nearly dropping his drink. He'd fought Reno twice and lost twice, and he expected him to gloat about it, but now that he'd offered help, Cloud didn't know what to think. While part of him wanted to accept, and that part had found a strange new respect for Reno, Cloud quietly withdrew a few bills of Gil and slid them across the table to a stunned Reno. "And it's against protocol for us... But we owe you this round..." he said quietly, surprising even himself. "We'll deal with our business, and leave you to your vacation," said Cloud with a strangely sincere smile.
Reno was amazed, as were the rest of the Turks and Tifa. While Tifa initially felt like punching Cloud in the face, she slowly decided that, perhaps, the Turks weren't as evil as the rest of Shinra was. Reno seemed sincere, and Rude hadn't given her a single glare or showed any malice to her. After looking at Rude, who was still blushing, she rustled around and drew out enough Gil to pay for the drink Rude had given her. There were no words exchanged, only a handful of smiles and a scowl from Elena, before Cloud and Tifa exited the bar to once again search for Yuffie.
"That was... funky... And my back still hurts, Rude!" growled Elena. Unlike her coworkers, she hadn't seen her two enemies as anything but enemies, still never seeing Cloud and Tifa in any sort of positive light. As she massaged her aching arm, Elena scowled at Rude and snatched up her cocktail. "Jerks!" she spat. "What the hell just happened, anyway?!"
"You know, I'm asking myself the same question..." Rude said quietly. Despite his crush, she'd fought to kill at Gongaga, and he'd expected her to retain her blood lust, but a quiet new respect had begun to form for the martial artist. "I suppose the easiest way to put it," he blushed as he took up his new drink, "is that we just shared drinks with a beautiful lady."
"A beautiful lady?!" shrieked Elena. After thinking for a few moments, she happily toasted Rude. "Thanks, Rude!" she tittered. "I'm flattered!"
"He didn't mean you," chuckled Reno, infuriating Elena, who angrily took a swig of her beer. He was also shocked at what had just happened, and yet the same respect Rude had fostered with Tifa, Reno now found himself developing for Cloud. As he stared at the Gil Cloud had given him to cover their drinks, he cracked a smile and reached out to take it.
Scene Four
Tifa and Cloud's experience with the Turks was, unexpected as it was, a welcome surprise. But it was still only a diversion from their mission to make Yuffie pay. For the next hour they chased her all across Wutai, often narrowly missing her when she popped out from behind a screen or jumped out of a large clay pot that she'd been hiding in. Once they'd essentially covered half of the village, Cloud and Tifa tracked her to a huge castle in the north, a beautiful red pagoda. They searched high and low, but no one had seen her, and they were quickly becoming angrier and angrier.
"That little weasel just won't stay still!" growled Cloud, stopping in front of the only sliding door they hadn't searched yet. "When I see her, I'm going to give her a piece of my mind!" he cursed. "We trusted her... and she ended up laughing right in our faces!" snarled Cloud, punctuating his words with a punch through the door. Once he'd taken a moment to think, he stared at the sliding door and quietly paused. "Uh... Whoever's on the other side, sorry..." he whimpered.
"Seems you folks make bad house guests!" growled a voice on the other side of the door, which slid open to reveal an older, bearded gentleman wearing an ornate kimono. "Do you two care to explain why you just ruined the door to my bedroom?" asked Godo testily.
"S-Sorry, sir... Um... We... How exactly do we bounce back from this?" muttered Tifa. Finally deciding on a course of action, she took a page out of Yuffie's book and bowed politely to Godo. "We're looking for a young girl named Yuffie, who stole all our materia..." she said politely. "Do you have any idea where we can find her?"
"A young girl named Yuffie stole your materia?" gasped Godo. He dropped to his seat to sit Indian style, quietly pondering what he'd been asked. She'd stolen his materia as well, and as far as he was concerned he'd disowned her. "Can't help you. If I saw such an ingrate in my house," he growled, "I'd throw her out."
"Oh, the hell you didn't, old man!" Yuffie's voice echoed from seemingly out of nowhere, but her location quickly became apparent as she dropped from the ceiling and pinned her knee on Godo's neck, holding him down with all her strength despite him being stronger than she was. "You know what? You're full of it, you old bat!" she snarled.
"You... You ungrateful little whelp! Release me!" Godo snarled, struggling to fight Yuffie off. Finally, he took her by the shoulders and hurled her off him, where she landed against the wall and broke through its light material to fall into the next room. She didn't stay there, though, charging in and taking him by his shoulders. Yuffie lifted Godo up and got straight in his face.
"You're pathetic! You rolled over and played dead for those jerks!" screamed Yuffie, taking him by the shoulders and shaking him. For his part, Godo strangely refused to resist. "The man I used to call my Dad turned into a spineless wimp!" she growled. "While you've been giving up and flopping around like a dying carp, me and my friends have actually been fighting Shinra!" Yuffie yelled, which infuriated Cloud and Tifa, and two quick glares directed her way immediately quieted Yuffie, though she quickly gathered herself. "Fight with us! Stop feeling sorry for yourself, pull your head out of your ass, and actually do something about it!" she insisted forcefully.
"Stop speaking as if you're a proper woman, Yuffie!" growled Godo, finally breaking free from Yuffie's grip. He dusted off his kimono and stared angrily at his daughter. "All you are is a child who thinks herself an adult!" he shouted. "Do you have any idea what it felt like for me to surrender?! Hanging up my sword was the hardest thing I've ever done!"
"Oh, bite me!" yowled Yuffie, punctuating her words by kneeing Godo in the gut. As he fell to his knees, she pointed dramatically at him and, fighting back tears, began to shake. "You're a lying old fool who won't drag himself up on his feet and fight like a man! How does that make you an adult and me a child?!" she growled. She threw a smoke bomb to the floor and disappeared in a cloud of smoke, leaving Godo to drop to his seat with a dissatisfied thud. He took in a deep breath, exhaled, and his face drained itself white.
You don't understand, girl. I didn't just shame myself and Wutai, but I shamed you...
"Um... I... kind of have no idea what happened..." moaned Cloud feebly. All he'd gathered from the conversation was that he was Yuffie's father, and that they'd had some sort of falling out. For the most part, though, he didn't really care. "Wh-Whatever that was all about, sir... Can you tell us where to find your daughter?" he asked politely.
"Hmph... You barge into my house, put your fist through my door, and now you ask me for help?" growled Godo. While Cloud seemed to regret his decision, Godo quietly folded his arms over his chest and flashed a grin to the duo. "I know exactly where she is," he said flatly, "and I'll be happy to tell you where to go. Go give her a piece of your mind!"
Scene Five
As a child, Yuffie had always had a favorite spot to play at. Although she hadn't had very many friends, the few she did have had all spent a lot of time there playing ninja and learning the history of Wutai. Back then, she'd had nothing but pride for her heritage, but after Wutai surrendered she abandoned her childhood and set off into the world after stealing her family's prized materia. She never thought she'd be back one day, much less expecting to have a sword held at her throat as she cowered in the back of the room. Cloud and Tifa weren't in the mood for niceties, as it turned out, and it showed quite clearly.
"It's just great to see you again, Yuffie..." Cloud grinned darkly with a twisted smile on his face, holding the Buster Sword to Yuffie's neck as she cowered and started to nearly foam at the mouth in her hiding place's narrowest corner. "Now, if you wouldn't mind..." he growled, "We would like our materia back."
"Okay, you guys are so overreacting! Gawd!" shrieked Yuffie. Once she'd been cornered, and had seen the anger in her friends' faces, she'd expected to catch hell, but not being held at the point of a sword. "Give me a chance to explain before you freaking chop my head off, why don't you?!" she whimpered weakly.
"Okay, Cloud... Do you feel better? Can't you put that away?" asked Tifa, folding her arms over her chest. While she was angry at losing Shiva, Cloud's behavior did seem to be a bit extreme. So, as Cloud retracted his blade from Yuffie's neck and Yuffie stopped hyperventilating, Tifa approached her with obvious rage that was tempered with mercy. "Much as I want to pummel you, I'm guessing you have something say, right?" she asked pointedly, further frightening Yuffie.
"Y-Y-Y-Yeah, yeah, yeah! S-Something to say? Right! Um..." stammered Yuffie, finally dropping to her seat with a terrified gasp. She was ready to say her piece, mostly because she'd been literally backed into a corner. "When my dad lost the war, he gave up everything he cared about... including me," Yuffie sighed.
"Part of me doesn't want to believe that, but there was definitely some tension back at your house..." sighed Cloud. Returning his sword to his back, he slowly dropped down to meet Yuffie's gaze. "What happened to you two?" he asked.
"When my mother died, he used to play with me all the time... 'cept until the war..." sighed Yuffie sadly. "We used to study ninjutsu and history every day, and even though it was kind of boring... We still spent time together," she said pointedly. "The war ruined him. When he surrendered and was ready to empty all of Wutai's materia, I knew I had to do something... So I stole the two sacred materia of Wutai and taught myself how to use them..." Yuffie moaned as she began to shed tears. "Dad lost his will to live. The father I knew had given up. So, I had to make up for that somehow... and bring honor back to our family... I just can't stand seeing him like that, you know?!" she sobbed.
"I get what you're saying, and you have my sympathy..." began Cloud, slowly lifting himself to his feet. Still, losing the materia he'd had for years and the Eidolon he'd just tamed seemed to have pushed him over the edge. "But that doesn't excuse you pilfering all our materia!" he scolded. "Just give it all back and we'll be out of here... But don't even dream of coming back to join us!" growled Cloud.
"Yeah, yeah, I get it! I did a horrible thing... Sorry..." moaned Yuffie. She'd been cornered, and there was only one thing to do. "I'll give you the materia back... It's just over... Here!" she cried as she hurled a smoke bomb to the floor that coated the room in thick smoke. They heard her laugh only briefly, before she released a horrific shriek.
Once they'd brushed the soot from their eyes and coughed up the last of the smoke, Cloud and Tifa hurried up the stairs to follow Yuffie. They then found themselves being held at gunpoint by a group of thugs that blocked their view of the upstairs. Given that even they couldn't survive a bullet to the head, they both were forced back down the stairs. The thugs kept their rifles trained between their eyes as they marched down, until finally they were bound and thrown into the same corner they'd caught Yuffie in.
"Oh, ho ho ho ho! What a jackpot!" chortled a certain former mafia don, who was presently upstairs.
"I remember that voice..." Tifa growled, struggling against her bonds until another gun was placed to her forehead. As he stepped down the stairs, the garishly dressed mafia don began to enrage her further and further, until finally she could bear it no more. "You worthless, perverted freak!" she snarled. "Touch me once, Corneo, and I really will tear your nuts off!"
"Ooh, baby! I like 'em feisty!" chortled the former Don Corneo, finally coming to a stop in front of Cloud and Tifa. He'd been taken down and thrown out of Midgar by Shinra, but managed to recover enough capital to make it to Wutai. Even when she was bound, however, he wasn't going to push his luck with Tifa. His memories of her words in Midgar still gave him nightmares, and he took her threat very seriously. "But I found two delicious items to play with!" he chuckled, much to Tifa's confusion. "I don't need to risk messing with you!"
He has someone other than Yuffie?
"Reno and Rude are going to have your head for this!" screeched Elena, also having had her hands bound. Unfortunately, they hadn't thought to gag her, so she wildly flailed and threw out foul language at the thugs. "You know you're screwing with the Turks! You idiots! Reno and Rude are gonna flip out when they hear about this!" she snarled.
"God... they caught that Turk, too?!" moaned Cloud. If he'd been able to wring his hands, he would've done so as he watched Elena and Yuffie being dragged down into Yuffie's hiding place. Both of them had been handcuffed and blindfolded, and were restrained by Corneo's lackeys. "Not that I even want to know what you're going to do with them," Cloud snarled, "but let the girls go!"
"Oh, ho ho ho ho! But I've hit the mother lode! Why would I let them go?!" asked Corneo, bouncing side to side like a twisted bobble-head doll. Although the two of them struggled, Cloud and Tifa still had guns pointed at their heads and were unable to escape. "You two stay here with them, and I'll be going... Toodles!" he tittered as he waddled up the stairs.
"Oh, you are so in for it!" Tifa growled, though she had no way to resist. Much as she wanted to, the best she could do was close her eyes and say a prayer for the girls. As she did, however, she heard two gunshots and two loud thuds as the two lackeys fell dead to the ground. "Whoa, what... What the hell?!" she exclaimed, finally freed from her bonds by an unknown savior. As she lifted her head to thank them, however, Tifa was abruptly held at gunpoint again. "You?! Get that thing out of my face!" Tifa hissed as she saw the one holding the pistol.
"Sorry, no can do, kid... We've got business with you!" Reno said cheerfully. To Tifa's shock, he holstered his gun and lifted her to her feet by the arm. As she looked around, Tifa saw Rude approaching as well, adjusting his sunglasses menacingly. "AVALANCHE and Shinra are enemies..." he smiled darkly. "We can never be allies!"
"Oh, you want to take me on, punk?!" hissed Tifa as she grabbed Reno by the collar and dragged him to face her. "We don't have time to deal with you jerks!" she growled. "We've got to save Yuffie, and-"
"But if we happen to look the other way and never see you," Rude said coldly, "We can split up and cover twice the area to find Corneo..." he grinned, to Tifa's amazement. As he adjusted his sunglasses, a slight blush formed on Rude's face. "I need to have my sight checked soon," he said with a soft sigh. "I can't see a damned thing..."
"So that's the situation?" asked Cloud. A cheeky grin crossed his face and he rubbed his eyes. "You know what? My eyes are bad, too! I can't see anyone right now!" he laughed. Though Tifa turned to him in shock, Cloud quickly gave her a wink. "The enemy of my enemy is my friend... same as Vincent said!" Cloud said cheerfully. "And until we get Yuffie back, Corneo's our enemy!"
"Reno and I will take a look around town," Rude said quietly, "so you guys ought to take the high ground and look in the mountains..." he sighed. A thought seemed to occur to him, and Rude flashed a smile. "We'll look for his lair, you head to the most obvious place you can find..." said Rude, blushing at Tifa.
"The... most obvious place?" wondered Tifa. Of everywhere to look, the large statue on the mountain stuck out the most of anywhere else. Tilting her head in confusion, Tifa turned to Reno and folded her arms over her chest before she finally put the pieces together. "You mean he's going to the face on the mountain?!" she gasped. "What kind of idiot would-"
"Got it memorized, ma'am?" asked Reno, tapping two fingers to his head. Cloud and Rude seemed to be in agreement, and the more Tifa thought, she came to the same conclusion. "If you want to catch an idiot," he chuckled, "think like one. He's not smart enough to hide anywhere. Head straight to the gaudiest place in town!"
Scene Six
Reno was right; Corneo was too stupid to lay low. He and his lackeys had taken the two girls to the face on Mt. Da-Chao, where they tied them to the eyes of its most massive statue's face. Corneo stood on the nearby hand looking out at the two women, having dismissed his men so he could choose his bride. Neither of them said anything that can be printed, so their part in the discussion will be skipped.
"Oh, ho ho ho ho! Two saucy young things for me to choose from!" tittered Corneo, bouncing back and forth. "Should I choose the one in the suit?" he wondered, prompting Elena to say something nasty. "How about the one in the sweater?" asked Corneo, prompting Yuffie to suggest he do something that's anatomically impossible. "I've made my choice! I'll take both of them as my wives for the-"
"Okay, jerk-off, it ends here," growled Cloud. Corneo turned to find the Buster Sword narrowed at his neck, Tifa next to Cloud, and his lackeys beaten black and bloodied along the path to the statue. As he recoiled in terror, Cloud turned his eyes to Yuffie and Elena. "And we'll deal with you after we take this pervert to town!" he snarled, sending a chill down Yuffie's spine. Much to Yuffie's displeasure, Cloud still wanted to maim her. "Release those two... Now!" Cloud snapped at Corneo.
"C-Crap... Well, I know it looks like I'm in trouble," Corneo chortled, "but I still have an ace up my sleeve!" With a snap of his fingers, Cloud was forced back by a large, winged dragon that shot up from beneath the statue, a creature named Rapps that Corneo had tamed using drugs and torture. It was twice as big as Cloud and Tifa put together, with a meter-long wingspan and nasty talons on its feet. "My pet's got you on its menu!" he chuckled, hopping backwards to escape Cloud's reach. "Get past Rapps and maybe you can get to me! Oh, ho ho ho ho!"
"Well... this kind of sucks, doesn't it, Cloud?" growled Tifa, slowly inching backwards from the beast. It could fly, they couldn't, and they had no ranged abilities that could strike it without materia. "Do you have any ideas?" she asked. When Cloud shook his head, Tifa's face dropped. "I was really hoping you'd have one better than mine..." moaned Tifa, to Cloud's shock. "Get back here... and I'll throw you at the son of a bitch!"
"You... You're going to do what?!" Cloud shrieked angrily. Even if he couldn't come up with a better plan, the idea had zero appeal. "Why do you have to throw me?!" he shouted. "Can't I throw you?!"
"Even if I hardened my fist, I still couldn't pierce its scales!" yelled Tifa. Without her materia, and without her elementally infused punch, she could never deal any lethal damage to Rapps. "You know as well as I do that cutting its head off is the only option, so suck it up!" she snarled. Though Cloud seemed to relent, Tifa angrily glared at him. "We don't have time! Get over here!" Tifa snapped.
For all Cloud could think of, that was the only plan that seemed plausible, so as much as he wanted to complain he dashed towards Tifa, his sword outstretched, and leapt onto her open palms. Tifa held his feet in front of her, reared back, and hurled Cloud at the oncoming Rapps, dropping to her back in the process. As Cloud soared through the air, he took the Buster Sword in both hands and gripped it tightly, finally swinging with all his might and lopping off Rapps' head in a single slash. Unfortunately, he had nothing to grip on to, so he was forced to embed his weapon in the mountainside, and ended up dangling helplessly by one arm as the beast's head fell to the ground below. He quickly righted himself and climbed up onto the edge of his sword, but could do little else.
"Oh, dear! No, no, no! You killed my sweet little Rapps, you twerps!" Corneo yelled, petulantly stomping his foot on the statue's hand. As he withdrew a small remote, however, a twisted grin formed on his face. When he hit one of the buttons on it, Elena and Yuffie's bonds were quickly inverted, leaving the two of them with their heads pointing towards the ground. Though Cloud and Tifa were appalled, Corneo lifted the remote and smiled. "One touch and they go boom!" he chortled. "See? I've got the power, and you've got squat!" taunted Corneo. "Try and get to me and they die! So, do you still think you can win, brats?!"
"Oh, they can, actually," Reno said cheerfully from a short distance away, though not too far away. "And they're about to!"
Before Corneo could make a move, he found Rude beside him, who promptly took the remote and crushed it with his bare hand before slamming his knee into Corneo's gut. Corneo quickly rolled to a stop at the very edge of the statue, his grip feebly catching on by one hand to the ring finger of the hand. As he dangled, he found Reno striding confidently towards him, one foot in front of the other, and his complexion drained to nothing.
"Okay, so we have our conclusion: You lose..." said Reno with a laugh, slowly stepping towards the edge of the hand. It took all the willpower Corneo had just to hang on, and as Reno came to a stop that willpower began to falter. "Multiple choice question as to why we teamed up with Cloud..." he said darkly. "Choice A: We had nothing to lose. Choice B: Because we knew we would win. Choice C: We had no idea what we were doing."
"Y-Y-Y-Yipes! Oh, God, almighty!" shrieked Corneo, gripping onto the finger with both hands and all the strength his fat body could muster. This was his own favorite tactic, and having it used against him would normally anger him, but now it terrified him. "Ch-Choice B!" he babbled. "Choice B, right?!"
"No, jackass... Choice D!" Reno growled, for the first time showing legitimate anger. "Because it's our damned job!" he snarled pointedly before slamming his heel into the back of Corneo's hands, breaking his grip and sending him screaming to his almost certain death. After a short period of waiting for a thud that he never heard, Reno shrugged and turned towards Rude, who had found the remote to release Yuffie and Elena safely. He flashed a grin to Cloud and Tifa, who scowled back, but he didn't seem to care and simply shrugged his shoulders.
Scene Seven
With Corneo gone, Reno and Rude freed Yuffie and Elena, reconvening inside Turtle's Paradise, where they sat with a heavily shaken Elena, who was sandwiched between the two Turks. She seemed to have completely lost it at some point, and had been reduced to a shivering mess.
"Oh, thank God! Thank God! You guys saved me! Oh, lord above, thank you!" Elena babbled more or less unintelligibly, her entire body trembling like she was about to shatter into broken glass. "I owe you guys so badly that it hurts!" she moaned.
"Toughen up, you little turd," snapped Rude as he smacked Elena over the head with a karate chop. She recoiled, turned to him in anger, and quickly shrank back, cowering, as she watched him glare at her. "We're Turks," he growled. "Depending on others saving you is pathetic. Next time I'll let you squeal."
"Okay, okay, I said I was sorry!" snarled Elena as she nursed the shiner Rude had left on her head. Quickly gathering herself, she also turned to Cloud, and considered extending her hand in thanks. "You know, maybe I should thank you, too..." she pondered. After a bit of thinking, she withdrew her hand. "Nope!" Elena spat as she stuck out her tongue at Cloud. She was promptly whacked again by Rude.
"All's well that ends well, right?" asked Reno, taking a sip of his drink. He suddenly heard his cell phone ring, and he lifted it to his ear. The more the voice on the other end talked, the deeper his scowl became. "Yeah, I hear you," he snapped as he shut the phone. He turned to Cloud and Tifa, a sinister glare forming in his eyes. "Orders came in: Hunt you guys down and take you in..." he said darkly. Before the others could react, Reno burst out laughing and snatched up his cocktail. "Screw the orders, we're on vacation!" he laughed, lifting his hand into the air. "Hey, waitress! Another round for the Turks!" Reno cheered, much to Elena's elation. Rude seemed indifferent and returned to his drink.
"Whew! Glad that's taken care of!" Yuffie tittered, swiping the sweat from her brow and slowly attempting to slink away. "Now, I'll just be going-" Before she could react, Tifa took her arm, twisted it behind her back, and pinned Yuffie to the wall. In the process, the stolen materia dropped down to the floor and rolled up to Cloud's boot, where it stopped moving. "Oh, uh... Yeah..." she muttered sheepishly. "You can have that back now." With a satisfied grin, Cloud and Tifa took their materia and returned them to where they belonged, and as they turned to leave, Yuffie grabbed onto Tifa's wrist and stopped her from moving. "Hey!" Yuffie chirped cheerfully, her grip tightening. "I'm going with you, right?"
"Are you out of your damn mind? Get lost!" shouted Cloud, taking Yuffie's hand and removing it from Tifa's arm. "You just betrayed us! Give me one good reason why I shouldn't just kick you in the butt and leave! Right now!" he growled, angrily putting a hand on his hip.
"Y-You... I... Um... You're right, I don't have a good reason!" moaned Yuffie, much to Cloud's surprise. "But I want to change things for real, now!" she said with a polite bow. "If I can save Wutai by taking down Sephiroth and Shinra, I want in!" she insisted. Surprisingly, she seemed sincere.
"As much as I want to tell you to get lost... We could use your strength," sighed Cloud. He turned to Tifa and received a nod, and then extended his hand to Yuffie. "We'll take you back... But if you betray us again, I really will chop your arm off!" he said forcefully.
"O-Okay, that's... fair enough..." Yuffie groaned, hanging her head in shame. "But I'm in it for the long haul, now!" she said cheerfully. "Consider yourself a true friend to Yuffie Kisaragi, kunoichi extraordinaire and heir to Wutai's proud generation of ninjas! I'll fight with you until I die! Well, unless I run away... Whichever comes first."
Never thought I'd say it, but... This time I'm telling the truth. These guys have saved me enough times that I've started to like 'em... And, once we take down Sephiroth and Shinra, I'm coming back here to give my Dad a good kick in the ass and make him proud of me! You know, proud... When we can both be proud of each other again...
Author's Notes
Compared to the last few chapters I've done, this ended up a bit shorter. The notes were about the same size as Rocket Town, but I sort of condensed a lot of things to make it more concise... The Adamantoise fight was totally improvised, wasn't in the notes at all. I guess I just needed more material for the scene, wanted to expand the bestiary, etc. It was also an excuse to make Yuffie pass out from fear again, which I just love doing as much as Tifa being violent. If I'd wanted to I could have elaborated on their early fight with the Shinra grunts and their search for Yuffie, but as has been recommended to me I edited a bit. Wildebunny the Eternal wrote in a forum post that I consider trimming... Makes sense. Then again, with this many chapters with no end in sight... Uh... Yeah, "editing" belongs in quotation marks. I still have an entire game to finish here... We are nearing the end of Part Two, though. That comes in Chapter 40, the end of the first disc.
Might be a bit out of character for the Turks, but in their exchanges with Cloud and Tifa I wanted to try and show them in a better light than just Shinra's thugs. Reno's regrets about Sector Seven and Rude's crush on Tifa are two things I wanted to expand on just a bit, and maybe create some respect between the two groups that might pay off some day. I guess Elena's ended up just being comic relief. She might change a bit later, though.
The idea for Yuffie's materia to be stolen was completely improvised. Back in Chapter 19, I mentioned that I'd expand on her Aero and Aqua materia when I got to Wutai. It just so happens that I came up with that on the fly. Somehow, Yuffie stealing her father's prized materia had its appeal, so I went with it. I don't think I'll really go much further in the whole Leviathan business, but I'll leave it as being Wutai's prized materia and say it was based on their guardian deity.
That concludes Wutai, and next we move into the Temple of the Ancients. I just finished the notes, and I look forward to finishing the chapters. There's a lot going on in that arc... so hopefully I pull it off.