Another chapter is here!
patrick the almighty observer: Wishful thinking.
Kazeshuriken: Read and see.
Enjoy!
It hadn't been hard for Tseng and the other Turks to find the priority targets. Heidegger had drawn them out. Now it was up to them to retrieve Hojo and they mobilized accordingly, using the overbearing presence of the war-machine to slip in close as the group of hostiles put it on its last legs with the appearance of another unaccounted for person.
"We're in position, sir." Elena said through the ear-piece. The line they were using to remain in contact with one another was separated from Shinra's standard one, and the frequency had been changed after former agent Cissnei's departure and betrayal.
"Be ready to move," he ordered as he set up his sniper rifle. He was only guaranteed one shot and there was really only one choice target to eliminate if they were to secure Hojo's safety. Tseng peered through the scope at Crimson's head and placed his finger on the trigger.
She brought it on herself, he told himself. He'd given her a chance to get out and had been fully prepared to pay for the consequences of his actions. That applied to her as well. If she thought going against the company to this extent was necessary, then she should have been prepared to die for it so the others left behind didn't suffer for it.
The red creature's nose twitched and it shouted in her direction. It must've caught their scent. Careless of them, but they were in a rush.
Tseng pulled the trigger just as she turned in his direction. The last thing he saw in her eyes through the scope was a look of surprise before the hammer of the gun sounded. The round punched through her torso because of how she had turned, denying her the mercy of a swift death.
For a moment, after hitting the ground, she tried to raise her hand. The purpose of doing so eluded Tseng, but it was a moot point when her strength left her and the hand fell lifelessly on the ground. Her eyes shut and her head tilted to the side, but the shallow rising and falling of her chest gave away she was still alive.
Tseng chambered another round. Even though that level of blood-loss would be fatal in minutes and Hojo was out of immediate danger, he had to make sure it stuck. It was his duty to the company and his mess to clean-up in the end. He had her head in his sights and readied to pull the trigger again….
"Sir, you have to escape!" Elena shouted through the ear-piece.
It was all that saved him as a steadily brightening glare of light bore down on him in the form of a crescent wave. The source was the former Infantryman warped by Hojo's experiments. His cry of rage somehow sounded over the thrum of pure power flying towards the head of the Turks with enough force to tear through the building he was in as easily as it would a human body.
Tseng showed no sign of distaste at having to leave it to the others to finish. But it was there, buried beneath the surface as he triggered the Exit Materia. He used the Escape spell, teleporting off the battlefield before the Blade Beam brought the building he was in down and buried the sniper rifle that almost ended the life of one of his former agents.
[-oOo-]
The former Second-Class lamented his carelessness as Crimson hit the ground. It was a moment born from the lapse in his guard at the prospect of having finally settled things, backed by the deep hum of the Demi 3 spell as it gradually wore off. Crimson's blood seeping into the cracks in the asphalt was the price of that carelessness, pooling around her more and more with every beat of her failing heart.
Cloud, on the other hand, promptly lost it. He let loose a rage-filled scream that fueled a Blade Beam he fired straight towards where Red XIII turned his head. It tore through the building, very likely killing the sniper but Kunsel wouldn't say for certain until he saw a corpse. Cloud seemed to be of the same mind as he ran towards the site, lost in his rage as the gravity-intensifying spell wore off.
Heidegger's war-machine was on its last legs, but that didn't stop him now that they no longer had a hostage and the spell ended. The barrels of the Gatling-gun spun and the lenses of the thawed lasers grew luminous. He intended to unleash everything at once to ensure he killed them.
Kunsel put a stop to it with his own Limit Break, born from his failings. It was similar to Cloud's Blade Beam, a manifestation of condensed energy released in two flicks of his wrist and blade. The dual slashes that formed an 'X' sped toward the war-machine, leaving behind motes of mako-colored light in their wake as they smothered the bullets and lasers to hit the entire thing like an onrushing train.
The husk of metal went flying backwards and then tumbled against the asphalt, its body breaking off into pieces as it scraped against the unforgiving ground. Eventually, it slid to a stop and revealed Heidegger strapped into the remnants of his cockpit. Blood formed a curtain on his face, covering one side and meshing with his beard as he wheezed, but the proud clod was still alive.
Kunsel shifted his focus to saving Crimson now, reaching down into his pouch and using a Phoenix Down to stir Aerith awake. Horror crossed her face as he pointed to where the Crimson had fallen and she pushed herself out of his grip to rush towards her, staff forgotten. Kunsel then turned to finish off Heidegger as he struggled to get out of his seat.
He didn't drop his guard a second time as he approached. That was why he recognized the metal canisters hitting the ground. He covered his shades and got the warning out just before they went off. "Flash Grenades!"
They went off in a flash of blinding light, eliciting screams from the others. However, his mako-enhanced hearing picked up three sets of rushing footsteps. He uncovered his eyes to see a muscular man dressed a suit was approaching Heidegger.
Kunsel's leg muscles tensed as he kicked off the ground with his sword chambered, intending to kill Heidegger as the Turk reached him. The blade came down, only to cleave through twisted metal and the seat he was in. They were both gone.
"What?" he murmured in confusion until a pained scream from Red XIII. He turned his head towards where Hojo was and saw the red-haired Turk jabbing the electro-rod into Red XIII's neck and triggering it while the others cleared their vision. The Turk then kneeled and touched Hojo before vanishing with him in a brief flicker of light.
That left the third one. She was heading for Aerith to do the same no doubt. They were going to kidnap her! "Aerith, behind you!"
Aerith was still blinking out the bright spots in her eyes and couldn't dodge in time, but Yuffie intervened before the Turk could touch her. She brought her Wind Slash around and carved open a gash that would have completely taken off her arm if she hadn't pulled it back. A blast of fire from the kunoichi's materia then bought them some space as the Turk backed off.
Cloud roared as he leapt over Yuffie's head, Buster Sword chambered above his own. He was getting ready to cut the Turk in twain when, like the others, she vanished in a flash. This time Kunsel caught sight of a materia glowing in a slot beneath her sleeve as she escaped empty-handed.
Aerith kneeled in the pool of blood and touched Crimson's neck to feel her pulse. It was faint but there. She immediately began the process of healing her, casting Cure 2 and knitting together the punctured arteries and everything within. But Crimson's face remained shaded a ghostly pallor and her breathing shallow.
"Why isn't it working?" Cloud asked heatedly, aggravation in his voice at the fact that there was nothing he could do.
"The spell healed the wounds, but she still lost a lot of blood and her body is weak," Aerith told them. "The best I can do is stabilizing her by constantly applying the spell, so that it holds together and keeps her alive. But…."
"If we don't get her to a hospital she'll die," Tifa picked up where the healer trailed off. "It'll take real doctors and a blood transfusion to save her at this point, but they'll be watching the hospitals."
"I know somewhere we can take her," Kunsel said as he pulled out his PHS. "Get her to the van. We're getting out of here now."
He watched as Cloud kneeled down and picked Crimson up, ignoring the blood rolling down his body with its cooling slickness. The blonde-haired swordsman angled her properly so that her head was cradled against the crook of his arm and ran off towards the van. He followed as the line connected.
"Dio, it's me. I need your help."
[-oOo-]
Crimson found herself in darkness, struggling to recall the last moments before she ended up there. The pain of the bullet punching through her body had been immense, like a red-hot piece of metal setting every nerve around the area on fire. Then she felt nothing before she hit the ground.
She realized her body had probably been going into shock, but there was nothing she could have done about it. Her strength abandoned her, fleeing somewhere she couldn't chase it as a sticky but warm sensation slowly permeated her back. All she could do was look into the cold and unforgiving eyes of her former superior who had pulled the trigger. It had hurt worse than the bullet to see that gaze being cast upon her, so she closed her eyes to hide from it and ended up here.
There was only one source of light in the abysmal darkness, and what a radiant light it was. It exuded a soft and warm glow that allured her with its beauty, flowing like a river of sinuous neon-green threads that weaved themselves together and connected seamlessly. Loose strands unraveled themselves and floated upwards, to someplace beyond the darkness, only for more to come down and join with it again. There was no beginning and no end, only an eternal cycle that fluctuated between the two.
Crimson could only watch it from a distance. Even if she could move, she was stained with too much blood. She could never join despite the comfort it seemed to promise her, instead taunting her eternally with its radiance. Was this her Hell?
"Of course it is," said a gruff voice, followed by heavy footsteps that seemed to echo. In her view stepped Don Corneo, dressed as she had last seen the lecher before he had been torn to shreds by his own monstrosity. "Where else did you think you were going to go?"
She opened her mouth, but no sound came out.
"How many girls died in my dungeon or to my pet while screaming for someone to help them while you just listened?" He pulled out his cigar and tapped it, embers drifting down past where his feet stood and continuing until the weak light was swallowed by the darkness. "And you just let it happen because you were following orders. Is that right?"
Crimson didn't want to listen to this. She didn't need a reminder of how many girls desperate enough to go to work at the Honey Bee Inn, hoping for a chance to earn enough to get out of the slums, ended up having to audition for him. The names of the ones that never returned were in the dossier she had to compile as part of the job, along with their last words and pleas heard through the surveillance devices and hidden microphones.
The Don's figure melted into Hojo's, slouched over with an unimpressed frown on his face as he stared down at her. "You've no qualms about doing what is needed to gain what you want. It's in your job description—all for the company's interests. How does that differ from what I have done? Did my work not benefit Shinra as well?"
With every ounce of willpower she had, Crimson desperately tried to make her hands cover her ears and block out his words. But her body refused to move. She was forced to listen to it all.
"It was easy to torture me for information, even if you claimed to not enjoy it," he continued. "You didn't stop, even when my voice came out ragged and my body was broken. In your Sense-induced state, you comprehended everything that was happening to me and you continued until there was nothing left to gain. And this time you weren't just following orders, so that's not an excuse you can hide behind either. Such actions seem counterproductive for someone who claims that they aren't a monster…."
Context matters, she told herself. She did it because she had to. She did it because she was the only one who could. I'm not a monster like you! I'm not! I'm not!
A smirk crossed the madman's face, satisfaction present. It was as if he could hear her thoughts, hear her doubts, and hear her drowning in them. He turned and walked off into the darkness, the tenebrous void swallowing him whole.
For a moment, Crimson felt relief that there were no more voices. No more reminders. Then a final visitor emerged from the shadows, her former superior clad in his prim and proper suit.
Tseng didn't say a word as he kneeled down in front of her, a gun occupying his dominant hand. He didn't need to. His presence alone expressed a significance that words could never encapsulate, compounded as he pressed the barrel of the gun to her temple while staring at her with those same eyes he had the first time he shot her.
She wanted to close her eyes again to escape them, but she couldn't. Not this time. She was forced to stare into them, burning the cold gaze into her memories eternally as he pulled the trigger….
[-oOo-]
Aerith nearly fell asleep as she sat by Crimson's bedside and felt it add to the overwhelming guilt she was already buried under. It was near the end of her shift to watch after the woman who had helped save her and tried to help Zack. She couldn't go to sleep and rest easy while the woman still hadn't woken. The least she could do was remain vigilant.
In all honesty, the time they spent getting to Mount Corel was a blur for Aerith. She couldn't spare attention to anything else but keeping Crimson alive until they got her into the Infirmary. Even then, she still owed it to the woman to see that she woke up after all the help the former Turk had given her.
Her mission to deal with Jenova was vital to both the Planet and everyone on it. She couldn't give up partway, but she wouldn't have made it this far without the rest of the party. Yet… what if the next time it cost one of them their lives?
That was when Crimson jerked awake abruptly and let out a cry. Her eyelids screwed themselves shut and forced out tears from pain of some kind, leaving her head to twist around futilely. She tried to bring her arms up only to find they were locked in place by restraints, and tensed in an attempt muster all the strength she could to pull herself free.
Aerith placed one hand over Crimson's eyes to shield them from the light and gently touched her with the other. "You're okay now. You're safe."
The familiar voice seemed to have done the trick. Crimson calmed down. Her body relaxed, allowing her head to shift slightly towards the rhythmic beeping of a heart monitor.
"Can you understand me?" Aerith asked. She nodded. "I'm going to move my hand now slowly, so try not to freak-out again. Okay?"
Another nod gave the signal. Aerith slowly lifted her hand from Crimson's eyes, giving them time to come into focus. Only when she could look at the florescent lights above without reacting like they were merciless rays trying to smite her eyes did the healer breathe somewhat easier.
"Wah—" Crimson's voice came out as a raw and pained rasp when she struggled to speak, dying before she could finish a word. Aerith held a cup and straw up to Crimson's lips so that she could slake her thirst. She pulled her head back to free the straw from her mouth after a few sips and asked, "What happened?"
"You were shot," Aerith said. "We had to rush to get you here since your heart nearly gave out a few times on the way."
"Where are we?" Her eyes shifted to the restrains next. "And why am I tied down?"
"You were moving a lot, violently at that," Aerith explained as she undid the latches, freeing Crimson's hands from their confinement. "You almost ripped out your IV the first time, so we had to restrain you before you ended up hurting yourself worse. And we're at the Gold Saucer."
"The amusement park?" A cough nearly left her mouth at that. "Why?"
"Apparently, Kunsel knows the owner and made a call on the way here," Aerith explained. "They let us in and told us everything's complementary. The others have been staying at the Ghost Square's Inn when not doing something else."
"Okay, but what happened after…" She couldn't bring herself to finish. Instead, she took a deep breath before rephrasing the question. "Did we at least keep Hojo and Heidegger from escaping?"
Aerith pursed her lips and shook her head slightly, just enough to make her hair shift. "They both got taken away by the Turks—an Exit Materia, Kunsel thinks. They tried to get me too, but the others kept me safe."
"Damn, that was probably our best chance to get rid of them both." Crimson tried to lean forward and sit up, only to wince in pain and lay back down. "Hopefully, Hojo won't be able to talk in his current state. It'll buy us time."
"Maybe…" Aerith swallowed down the stirring unpleasantness in her stomach as she gathered the courage to ask another question. This one she knew the answer to deep down inside of her heart. But some part of her hoped it she was wrong. "Was it Tseng who shot you?"
The answer was exactly as she feared as Crimson looked down to where the bullet pierced her and nodded. "It was."