Chapter 22 A (sort of) Self-Rescuing Princess
Yuffie led them across the bridge to the residential district and up some stairs carved in the side of a ridge to a small house overlooking the river. Faint meowing sounded from the storage room set into the small cliff-side below and a calico kitten popped her head between the vent slats near the eaves to watch them ascend the stairs.
Once they were all inside the small front room, Yuffie hunched over rubbing her hands together nervously. She sheepishly looked up at Cloud through her eyelashes and winced at his stern look. "I know, the materia right? I have it stored in a safe place. Follow me." She turned and slipped down a narrow staircase just off the front room.
In the small basement, she guided them into a chamber that served as her practice room. Small shuriken littered the perimeter of the wooden floor and the plaster was scarred with slashes and gouges. They stood curiously on the room's lush purple area rug. Vincent narrowed his eyes at the six fox statues lining the sides of the room.
Yuffie meandered around the room, seemingly aimless as she kicked aside a pair of nun-chucks, gathered a few shuriken and twirled them on her fingers before she spoke, "I grew up hearing the stories you know…."
She paused and looked up at Cloud. her lower lip trembling. "I heard Wutai was a lot more lively back then, full of culture and peace." She flung her shuriken at a target on the wall by the doorway and the metal blades impaled the center ring. "But look at it now, it's just a tourist trap! After the war we may have gotten peace, but we lost our soul in the process. Now our culture is something people come to pity and mock."
She sniffled and went to the doorway. Facing away from them she explained, "I thought that if I got enough materia I could…"
She whimpered, burying her face in her hands, her shoulders shaking. Cloud shook his head and sighed, "Listen Yuffie, I understand that your feelings about your country are strong, but we're on a mission to save the world; if we fail there may not be a Wutai to restore. Please return our materia."
"If ya give it back now, we'll hold off on bein' angry with ya," Barret added in a low growl.
"I know," Yuffie sobbed, "I know you're on an important mission. Okay, I'll give the materia back to you," she sniffled wetly and waved her hand towards the back of the room. "I put it in the machine back there just pull the left lever and you'll get your materia back," Yuffie promised from the doorway. She pulled her face from her hands, pointing at the strange machine again.
"Why are you standing way out there?" Zack asked, narrowing his eyes suspiciously at her back.
Cloud and Vincent looked up at the iron cage hanging in the darkened recesses of the ceiling and then down at Yuffie, matching eyebrows raised. It might not have been obvious to someone untouched by mako, but to the enhanced it was painfully obvious. She cringed and then pouted, "Well fine, I'll do it this way then!"
She fiddled with something out of sight and the iron cage rattled on its chain, swiftly falling towards the party. Cloud and Tifa yelped, diving out of the path of the metal prison. Vincent glided out of the way, his glowing eyes locked on the young woman in the doorway. Cait Sith squawked in protest, he'd cleared the trap, his mog had not. The cage sat lopsided where it pinned the robotic creature to the vivid violet rug.
"Aw man…" Zack pouted from inside, slowly uncurling from shielding Aerith's head with his body. He looked down at the gap between the floor and the bottom of the cage where Red XIII was already squirming out and then back up at Yuffie. "This isn't going to hold us," he chided the princess.
"It doesn't have to hold you to give me time to get away!" Yuffie mocked, disappearing around the corner, the rapid thud of her feet diminishing up a wooden staircase.
While Cloud and Vincent hunted for the release trigger outside the doorway, the trapped members of the party tried to curb their impatience. "Well this is damn embarrassin'," Cid grumbled kicking at the bars.
Barret grunted and slumped the to the floor, crossing his legs, "Sadly, this ain't the craziest thing ta' happen to us and somethin' will probably top this within the week."
Cid raised a skeptical eyebrow, "Crazier than this? Try me."
Barret folded his arms and declared, "Four words: Red riding a chocobo."
Vincent leaned his head back into the doorway to shoot Barret a disbelieving look. Before Cid could scoff, Red moaned and covered his head with his fore paws, "Ugh, don't remind me! That was an ignoble and agonizing endeavor."
A cry of triumph from outside forestalled Cid's next comment as the chains rattled and lifted the cage off the trapped members of the party. "Ach, my poor mog!" Cait Sith moaned, stroking the dent in its plush body. "Didn't she remember I'm one of a kind?"
The irritated party hurried upstairs but weren't very shocked to discover Yuffie was no longer around. "What now?" Tifa asked looking to Cloud with raised eyebrows.
Huffing a breath through his nose, Cloud shook his head slightly, a deep crease forming between his brows before answering, "I'm going to Turtle's Paradise."
Zack hummed, following Cloud outside and then nodded in agreement. "You're right, I am getting a little hungry after all this running around."
Much more subdued than the last time reaching the restaurant, the weary group filed inside. While Cloud conversed with the proprietor, Tifa narrowed her eyes at the bottle-laden table the Turks occupied. "Where's Elena?" she wondered quietly.
At her shoulder, Vincent glared at Reno and Rude in disgust and scoffed, "Even on 'vacation' a junior Turk should not be away from their supervisors, especially in a formerly hostile location."
"Maybe she's in the restroom?" Aerith suggested, a faint hint of worry in her voice. Barret interrupted further debate ushering them to a pair of tables two waiters dragged together to accommodate the group.
Zack settled in beside Aerith and turned to the front counter in time to see the owner beam at Cloud and hand him a prize bag. "No way… Cloud, what was that all about?" He asked when the young man approached.
Cloud shrugged and settled in next to Tifa, "They had a contest that if you found all six of their fliers you won a prize, coincidentally the last one was in Yuffie's basement. I really wonder how they placed some of them though. One was in Shinra's headquarters."
Zack shook his head slowly, "Man Cloud, only you would manage to win a multi-continent scavenger hunt." Cloud laughed and when their food arrived, they dug in with gusto. Much as the various monsters could serve as food, there was nothing like eating food you didn't have to make yourself. Barret enjoyed the ginger chicken while Zack favored the tongue-melting spiced beef. Cloud dug into his spiced vegetable and chicken stir-fry with gusto but unlike the others, he didn't serve himself more after finishing his portion. He narrowed his eyes, gaze distant as he twirled his chopsticks between his fingers. The deep crease formed between his brows once more and he shifted impatiently on his cushion.
"Cloud," Tifa murmured, resting her left hand on his arm, stopping his fidgeting. "What's the matter?"
He shook his head sharply, "There's… something wrong. I don't-" He trailed off, overhearing Aerith's concerned words to Vincent.
"Elena isn't back yet, I guess she wasn't in the restroom."
A cold tingle of apprehension ran down Cloud's back and he slammed his hands on the table top, startling the rest of the party into silence. He climbed to his feet and stomped over to the Turks' table, a glowering Vincent not far behind. "Where's Elena?" Cloud demanded, clamping a hand on Reno's shoulder. Rude calmly sipped his water at his seat not even rising when Cloud grabbed his partner.
The red-head blearily looked up at Cloud and scoffed, "The girl decided not to take her vacation seriously and went after some criminal the army's after."
Vincent scoffed, "You let your trainee go after a criminal with no support? What kind of Turks are you? Veld must not have a hand in training any more."
"Hey man!" Reno brushed off Cloud's hand and lurched to his feet, swaying slightly. "Who're you to tell me what a Turk should be like yo'?"
"Vincent Valentine," Vincent replied coldly.
"Vince- sheyeah," Reno scoffed leveling a finger at the man. "Ya' know your Turk history bringing out that name, I'll give ya' that, but Valentine died 'bout thirty years ago an-" His rant died off and he gaped at his PHS in Vincent's hand. "Hey, how'd you get that?"
Vincent fiddled with the device and the sound of the line ringing sounded from the speakers. Tseng's cold voice asked, "Reno, why are you calling me? I specifically left instructions that you not interrupt my preparations for meeting with the President."
"I didn't call ya' boss," the Turk protested. "This crazy guy claimin' to be Vincent Valentine stole my PHS." Cloud held the man back, watching Vincent intently.
The silence from the line was sharp and Tseng hissed, "Who is this?"
"The recruiting standards have dropped considerably Tseng," Vincent replied, his deep baritone hard with scorn. "If I were an enemy your man would have lost his life rather than his phone."
"Valentine?" Tseng's shocked response would have been a yelp from anyone else. Reno stopped clamoring for his phone, his aqua eyes wide at both the revelation and the uncharacteristically emotional response. "I was told you were dead."
"And who told you I was dead?" Vincent replied calmly, directing the man's thoughts masterfully. "Perhaps it was Hojo, telling you I had died nobly in some accident, much like he insisted you report of Strife and Fair?"
At the sound of the vicious Wutaian cursing from the phone, a passing waitress dropped her tray and stared in horror at them before dashing to the back, leaving a mess of shattered crockery and noodles behind. After a few breaths, Tseng said coldly, "Keep the phone, I'll contact you when I've had a chance to ponder the proper course of action. Reno, don't whine and listen to Valentine, had circumstances been different, he would be your supervisor, not me."
"Yes, sir." Reno drooped and dropped back into his seat.
The phone vanished somewhere on Vincent's personage and he turned to Cloud, "Pardon the interruption, you had something pressing to speak with him about?"
At his words, Cloud's ire returned sharply. "Do you realize who you sent your trainee after?" He hissed. By this point Zack had tossed the payment for their meal on the table and the others were gathered around watching the confrontation in confusion.
"Meh, some low bit criminal from under the plates," Reno scoffed waving a hand in a tossing motion.
Cloud yanked Reno up by his lapels and snarled, "He's not just any criminal. You just let your partner, your female partner, go after Don Corneo!" Tifa and Aerith gasped from behind Cloud while most of the others exchanged confused looks.
The last of the alcohol buzz faded from Reno's eyes and he swore, shaking Cloud's hands off. "Come on Rude we gotta' find Elena fast." His eyes flicked over the party once and before dashing out the door added, "Ya' better find your little spitfire soon too."
The cold down Cloud's back took up residence and had babies. He cursed and bolted out the door, Tifa and Aerith swift at his heels, their lips curled up in silent snarls.
Vincent effortlessly loped at Cloud's side to ask, "Who is this Don Corneo? The soldiers at the beach warned you about him but gave no details."
"He runs the biggest prostitution ring in Gaia," Cloud replied, weaving between the trees on the path back to the palace. "He's also quite fond of sampling the goods, willing or not."
"Damn it!" Barret cursed when he realized what Cloud meant. "I know we gotta hurry and find her but I can't go any faster!"
"At least you're better off than me," Cait Sith griped from where he rode on Red XIII's shoulders. Zack had the mechanical mog thrown on his back like an enormous over-stuffed backpack. Cloud didn't stop until they reached the courtyard outside Godo's palace. Cid hunched over, hands braced on his knees. Wheezing painfully he muttered, "Damn, Shera always told me my cigarettes were killin' me. Finally feels like it."
Her hands twisting on her Prism Staff Aerith asked, "Any idea where we might find her?"
Cloud looked at the small shrine, brows furrowed as if he was in pain. Hissing in frustration he whipped out his PHS and sent out a quick text. He paced in front of the shrine while he waited for a response. His shoulders relaxed slightly at the response and he dashed up the stairs of the shrine, skipping every other step. Stowing his PHS in his pouch, he pulled the log acting as the bell's clapper back and slammed it against the bell.
The deep gong vibrated the small structure, shaking loose a patterned tarp disguising a pair of doors at its base. Cloud vaulted over the rails and burst through the doors hard enough to leave the left door hanging lopsided on its hinges. Aerith and Tifa followed right behind him. The doorway led to a maze of twisting corridors lit by flickering candles. Ignoring a few off-shooting passageways, Cloud ran down the tunnel like a dog on a scent. Finally they burst through a smaller door leading to a storage room.
The chamber was scattered with various boxes and offerings, though Cloud didn't pay his surroundings much attention when he heard Yuffie's outraged shriek, "Let go! I said let go!" She squirmed in the arms of a large man clad entirely in black with a sword slung between his shoulders. Zack hissed recognizing the ninja mercenary's uniform.
"Hey! Do you realize who I am?" She thrashed frantically trying desperately to land a blow on her captor. He sharply twisted her arms behind her back. "Ow! What are you doing, jerk!" His hold firmly established the man carried Yuffie to the back of the room.
"You!" Cloud snarled, spying the obese, balding form of Don Corneo.
Don Corneo turned from watching the man with Yuffie and he glared at the group filing inside. Releasing a high-pitched, wheezing laugh he spread his arms wide and gloated, "I've finally got a brand new chicky! Two for one special! Hee hee!"
On the stairs beyond Corneo, a pair of ninja restrained Elena's squirming form. "Let go of me!" she spat, "You're going to regret this!"
"Hohi hohi!" Corneo laughed and wagged a finger at the ninja mercenaries. "Make sure to use the drugs I gave you. I won't be making the same mistake again!" He shot a quick glare back at Cloud, Tifa, and Aerith. The captive women yelped when their captors jabbed needles full of a pale blue drug in their necks, almost instantly knocking them unconscious. Cackling, Corneo bounded up the stairs narrowly avoiding a bullet from Vincent's gun.
Not casting the two gleaming chests along the walls more than a casual look, Cloud scrambled up the stairs after the rotund pervert. The top of the stairs opened into what Cloud assumed was the worship room Cid and the others explored earlier that day. Corneo puffed across the gilded chamber, easily outpaced by the ninja mercenaries. A trio of blue-clad infantrymen burst in from the chamber's true entrance. Corneo skidded to a stop and then seeing Cloud and the others emerging from the secret passage behind him he froze, sweat dripping down his bald head.
"There he is, it's Don Corneo! Don't let him get away!" the leader of the Shinra group shouted and sprinted towards the fat man.
In a remarkable display of agility, Corneo pivoted out of their way and scrambled for the door before they could change direction. A quartet of his mercenaries grabbed hold of the short man's crimson jacket, lifted him, and then vanished.
"Damn it!" Barret cursed and then flinched at the Shinra soldiers in front of them. Wilkes and Cowley exchanged looks behind their third companion, unsure how this confrontation would play out.
"Hey… I know who you are!" he pointed at Cloud and then Zack. "You're Mirage and the Black Ghost! Holy chocobo! Can I… can I get a picture with you?" He scampered between the two of them, holding out his PHS and snapping a picture of himself and the confused pair.
Wilkes sighed in relief and then called, "We'd better let them go Marcos, I think they're better equipped to chase Corneo than we are."
"Oh, oh right." Marcos moved aside so Cloud's party could file past. He snapped pictures frantically the whole time but before Cloud left the young man called, "I'm glad you're looking much better than the last time I took a picture of you!" Much quieter, in a voice Cloud suspected he wasn't supposed to hear he confided to Wilkes and Cowley, "I got one of the first pictures of him. I made a mint off of it even though it wasn't that good a shot."
Cloud cringed but violently pulled his attention back to finding Corneo and rescuing Yuffie and Elena. Just outside the palace they caught up to a panting and frustrated Reno and Rude. "Hmm, Corneo's good at escaping," Reno huffed grudgingly.
"...Elena," Rude murmured, brows furrowed in concern.
Reno wiped a trickle of sweat off his brow and growled, "Let's go Rude. We're gonna give him a taste of what the Turks can do." Reno's eyes flicked nervously to Vincent and he straightened his shoulders proudly. "That didn't sound too bad," he murmured under his breath, not realizing a good portion of Cloud's party could hear him still.
He turned to Cloud and in a louder voice said, "If he has Elena that's going to make things a lot more difficult for him and uh…" He trailed off, not sure what he should say.
"He has Elena, and one of our own," Red XIII informed him, filling the sudden uncomfortable silence.
"I don't want you gettin' any ideas now," Reno warned, stroking the grip of his mag rod. "I ain't goin' soft by lettin' you go and all. This is just a temporary truce yo."
"That's just fine," Cid grumbled. "We ain't sidin' with you either. But uh… mind tellin' us which way they went?"
"Heh, nice attitude," Reno snorted with a slight grin. "Because he's an idiot, Corneo likes to go big and flashy. What's the biggest, flashiest place here?" He canted his head toward the massive carving of the Da-Chao statue and then sprinted off after Rude.
Aerith grimaced and shook her head, "Well he's not wrong…"
Zack rolled his eyes and tossed Cait Sith to Barret before shouldering the massive mog. "This is only until we get to the mountain, from there none of us should be sprinting since the paths are steep and full of monsters."
"I understand," Cait saluted from his perch on Barret's shoulder. "Thank you for the assist laddie!"
Cloud peered intently down the path back to the village and then at the mountain. While he knew there was a trail from the village to the mountain, it didn't make sense to waste time backtracking to the town to use it. Spotting a likely path, Cloud turned off the main trail and to cut through the thick forest below the mountain. The deer path was narrow enough that they had to go in pairs at the most but typically single file. Low branches, fallen logs, and small streams cutting back and forth through the path hindered their progress, but within an hour they met up with the main trail to the mountain and their speed increased.
They met Reno and Rude at the head of the trail. The shorter Turk rolled his eyes at them and huffed, "Bout time you showed up yo! Thought I was gonna have to send out a search party!"
Vincent raised one eyebrow at the sweating and out-of-breath pair and shot them a challenging look. Reno shifted nervously and continued. "Anyway, we should split up to cover more ground. Do whatever you can to save Elena without endangering her." He rolled his shoulders and spun his mag rod. "We'll do the same to keep your girl Yuffie safe… for now." Rude said nothing, but nodded courteously and followed his partner down one fork of the trail.
Da-Chao was an interesting geological anomaly. The tawny cliff jutted out of the ground from some ancient geological event so the cliff abutted to the forest with hardly any sort of foothills. Aged footpaths wove across the surface of the cliff, worn smooth by the passage of workers in the carving of the statue and maintained in their even level through the travels of the more adventurous pilgrims but lately, by the tread of the infesting monsters.
The trail was very smooth for there were many monsters. Zack scraped silk from a Jayjujayme's silk attack out of his face and growled, kicking a Bizarre Bug off the edge of the path. Unfortunately, the bug spread its wings and flew angrily at the former SOLDIER. "What the hell is that?" Cid yelped as a strange beast leaped from above.
"It's a Foulander," Red XIII answered after checking his Sense materia. "Don't use fire on it other than that…" He shook his head.
Finally slashing through the attacking Bizarre Bug, Zack turned around to see what the fuss was about. A long green tongue lolled from the fanged metallic face. A pale bone crest extended from the back of its skull with a more colorful Mohawk-style yellow and red striped protrusion. The flaps of skin and plating over its back and hanging from its neck almost made it look like some kind of deity or parade float. "Woah! I thought those weird paintings I saw a couple of years ago were from somebody's imagination…" Zack breathed in shock.
A bullet penetrated its skull right between its bulging golden eyes, bringing it down. "It can return to someone's imagination," Vincent remarked coldly, lowering but not holstering his weapon.
Sadly that wasn't the last Foulander, nor was it the strangest creature on the mountain. Barret shook his head sharply and rubbed his eyes as if doing so would make the dancing bird-chicken-butterfly-man monstrosity disappear. A Jajujayme took the opportunity presented and spat a wad of silk at the gun-armed man. Punting the larva off the mountain proved far more effective than kicking Bizarre Bugs off. Cait Sith unleashed his Slots limit and a handful of toy soldiers fired a barrage of shots at the crazy dancing thing, defeating it.
"I can't decide," Aerith huffed to Tifa after a steep area near the back of Da-Chao's head, "whether the mountain is crazy looking like this because of the monsters or if the monsters are crazy looking because of the mountain."
Tifa released a breathy laugh and shook her head. At the next fork in the path, Rude stood outside a cavern, the flaps of his dark blue blazer flapping in the hot wind from the cave. Figuring the Turks had that portion of the mountain covered, Cloud led the party down one of Da-Chao's many arms. On its palm, Corneo swiped a line of drool from the corner of his mouth and gushed, "Delicious, scrumptious! I think this is my new favorite hobby!"
Following his gaze Cloud hissed when he saw Yuffie and Elena tied with their arms spread wide to wooden frames and dangling from a strange array of ropes right in front of each of the statue's eyes. Obviously not noticing his company, the fat man hummed, "Which shall it be?" He scrambled up to the stone wrist and rocked in front of Elena. "Should I take her?"
With the sharp winds buffeting her clothing and hair in her face, the blonde sputtered, "Hey, I'm a Turk. You can't just take me. You had to summon help and drug me to get this far!"
Ignoring her snarls he ran back to the fingertips and bounced in front of Yuffie and squealed, "Or should I take her?"
"Oh Yuck!" Yuffie gagged, squirming against her bindings. "If I'd known something like this would happen, I would have taken Auntie Sakura's rope escape lessons more seriously!"
Corneo turned his back on them, peering out over the forest and distant village. "I've made my choice!" he declared with a leer. "I'll take the cheerful one!" He pointed at Yuffie.
"Grossness!" Yuffie gagged, tugging harder on her bound wrist. "Don't even try old man! There isn't enough materia in the world to get me interested in you!"
"Oooh, she's saucy too!" Corneo thrust his pelvis forward suggestively.
"Alright, that's IT!" Barret roared, thundering down the arm towards the disgusting man.
Corneo snorted like a donkey, flinching at the sudden disturbance, "Who's there?" he squeaked, looking up at them.
"It's Cloud!" Yuffie cried, her voice trembling slightly with relief. Her shoulder popped alarmingly with one of her twists of her arm and she yelped in pain.
"Weeeeell, long time no see," Corneo sneered at the assembled group though a sheen of sweat sprung up on his brow despite the cold rushing wind.
"We're gonna take you down ya, goddamn pedophile!" Barret snarled.
"You've met this buffoon before Cloud?" Vincent asked. Cloud winced and nodded sharply.
Stroking his bald-man Mohawk nervously Corneo huffed, "Be quiet, none of you know how much I've suffered since running into you!" He spat the last towards Cloud, Tifa, and Aerith. He turned dramatically towards the tips of the fingers and in a melancholy voice said, "It's a long story but-"
"I don't really care." Cloud snapped flinging his arm out in dismissal. "Let Yuffie and Elena go."
Don Corneo slowly turned back and hummed, "Huh, you guys are serious eh? Well this time I'm not playing around either…" His lower lip trembled and he pointed a ringed finger at Cloud and whined, "Why did you kill my little Apps? Just for that, I'm gonna make you play with my new pet so you'll stop interfering with my search for a bride!"
"It ain't a bride if she don't say yes!" Cid bellowed at the fat man. "And by the looks of ya' that ain't ever gonna happen!"
Corneo scowled, his face purpling and bellowed, "RAPPS! Come here!"
Tifa cringed, half expecting another sewer beast, instead the sound of leather wings rose above the wind whistling through the irregularities on the statue. A legless dragon, much smaller than those in the Nibel Mountains flapped down from its perch on top of Da-Chao's hat. It screeched and dived at the party, flashing its magenta and yellow wings.
Scowling from the cackling pervert to his "pet" Cloud commanded, "Back up, I've got this." Recognizing the flash of a limit break in his eyes, they cleared a wide space. He spun his sword in a vast circle over his head, a small cyclone of dirt forming at his feet. Leaping into the air, his sword gleamed and he pointed it towards Rapps like a general directing an army. Except Cloud's soldiers were human-sized meteors which knocked the serpent out of the air, smashing its wings. The beast's shriek of pain cut short as the last boulder of Cloud's Meteorain attack smashed its skull.
Still sparking slightly from his limit release, Cloud whirled on the fat man, teeth bared in a silent snarl. "W-wait!" Corneo stammered, holding his hands in front of himself. "Just wait a second!"
"Shut up!" Zack snapped, waving his hand in a slicing motion. "Just stop talking!"
"Just listen to me!" Corneo whined rocking on his feet, "It won't take long!"
"Why do you think a bad guy like me would swallow his pride and plead for his life?" He held up one finger at a time, "One: because he's ready to die. Two: because he's sure to win. Or three: because he's clueless?"
Remembering how the game went last time, in a flat voice Aerith answered, "Let me guess, two: because he's sure to win?"
"Heh heh! Right!" Corneo crowed reaching for a remote on the ground they hadn't noticed. He depressed a button and the ropes on Yuffie and Elena twisted so their frames turned them head down.
"Eeeayaaaa!" Elena shrieked, her tie flopping in her face.
"I'm so pissed!" Yuffie shrieked, yanking hard on her arm, her fingers curling desperately towards the materia on her bracer.
"Once I push this button," Don Corneo gloated. "They'll fall alllll the way down and squish like rotten tomatoes!"
"Damn it!" Zack cursed, tensing as Corneo giggled, waggling his finger teasingly over the button.
"Ha, ha, ha! Looks like I have the last laugh!" Corneo giggled. A shot rang out from near Da-Chao's ear and the device in the fat man's hand shattered. The fat man yelped, eyes wide in shock.
"No, that would be us," Reno drawled, weaving through Cloud's group to pose on Da-Chao's wrist. He brushed his hand through his crimson hair and finished, "the Turks."
"NO!" Yuffie screeched triumphantly, the cramping fingers of her hand finally reaching her materia. "I get the last laugh! Eat Choco Mog!" The crimson orb on her bracer flared brightly, the summon activating.
Instead of a mog riding a chocobo though, there was a strange whistling sound of something falling. An enormous chocobo, much larger than even some of the rotund statues at the Gold Saucer fell in the cupped palm of Da-Chao's hand. Don Corneo squished like a rotten tomato.
"Daaaammn," Reno whistled looking at Yuffie with sudden respect. "And here I was gonna copy his whole countin' thing before knockin' him off the cliff. You've got way more poetic justice goin' with that move."
"And as for you," He turned to glare at Elena. "How long are you gonna act like a damsel in distress yo'?"
Elena playfully stuck her tongue out at him and sliced through the ropes around her feet with a blade in her shoe. Hooking her knees around the crossbar, she sat up rubbing her wrists with a slight pout. She sliced through the ropes on one side of the frame and the momentum swung her towards the path on the arm. She gracefully leaped off at the top of the swing and landed by Tifa.
Distracted by the ringing of a PHS in his pocket, Reno didn't notice Tifa exchange something with the young woman. She slid the small object inside her jacket too fast for Cloud to catch more than a flash of black and blue. She gave Tifa a brilliant smile before schooling her face into a proper Turk expression.
Meanwhile, Aerith frowned at Reno answering his PHS and looked back towards Vincent with a questioning look and asked, "I thought you had his phone?"
"I still do," Vincent nodded and with a grudging acceptance in his voice continued, "but that doesn't mean it was his only one. At least he was prepared enough to have a spare."
Reno finished his call with a huff. "Was that the company?" Elena asked.
"Yeah," Reno snorted and then smirked. "They wanted us to find Cloud."
Barret, Cid, and Red XIII tensed. From beside Da-Chao's ear Rude cocked his pistol and asked, "Are we on?"
Reno raised his hand and pointed at Cloud. "I found Cloud," he announced dryly, lowered his arm, and pocketed his phone. "They want me to do more, they better learn ta' phrase things better yo'. 'Sides, I'm on vacation."
Barret relaxed and snorted a short laugh, shaking his head.
"I don't care about any of that!" Yuffie screeched, wiggling like a hooked fish. "Somebody get me down!"
Questioning note: In the game Cloud tells Reno that Yuffie has all their materia. Why the heck would he tell Reno that?