Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Between the Lines ❯ When Good Turks Go Boom ( Chapter 13 )

Between the Lines

 

Description: What happened to Reno and Rude in Advent Children during the times they were off camera. How and why they showed up where they did when they did. Rated T for language and descriptions of torture.

 

Disclaimer: Final Fantasy VII and its characters are the property of Square-Enix. Everything in this fic is just speculation on my part. I have no insider information. I also have no money, so suing me would be pointless.

 

Thirteen: When Good Turks Go Boom

 

The little glowing numbers danced across the small screen, emitting gentle beeps as the leftmost one changed. Always decreasing.

 

Beep.

 

No one kicks me in the face and escapes. My revenge will be sweet indeed.

 

"Reno?"

 

His hair, still swaying slightly from when Cloud had passed, tickled the back of his neck. Anorexic momma's boy, this'll wipe that smug look right off your pretty little face.

 

Beep.

 

"Hello? Reno?"

 

Blue eyes narrowed and red lips curled in evil ecstasy as the bike appeared. The body language of the driver clearly showed his surprise and alarm.

 

Beep.

 

Gotcha.

 

"Reno!"

 

Rude's body collided with his, the force of it crushing the air from his lungs. They landed mostly inside the chopper as the bomb exploded, sending forceful shockwaves down the highway and ripping even more air from their mouths. The back of Reno's head hurt from where it had knocked into the chopper's metal floor, and when he looked up and saw a bright array of colored sparkles rippling through the sky, he thought at first he had received some sort of concussion. Then he remembered how Rude had described his homemade weapons: flashy.

 

Reno sat up, grinning from ear to ear. Rude remained lying down, grumbling. "Damn idiot," he muttered. "Should've let you kill yourself."

 

"Yeah, sorry about that, man," Reno replied, still watching the fireworks. "Got a bit carried away." He hopped out of the chopper to survey the damage, leaving Rude to curse darkly to himself.

 

The aftermath of the explosion was not the most impressive Reno had ever seen, but, considering the annoyance level of the target, it was still quite satisfying. Bits of twisted metal scattered about. Smoking rubber. A nice-sized hole in the middle of the street, and pieces of rock just about everywhere.

 

But where were the corpses? Reno's eyes searched the wreckage in vain. There should at least be an arm or a leg somewhere. Something to show that two people had met their messy end. He ran over to the railing and looked down at the road below. More rock, a bit of metal, no bodies. That blast wasn't nearly enough to vaporize them, so where are they?

 

He turned back toward the chopper and his partner. "Yo, Rude, whaddya make of --" His voice trailed off. Rude had stood up and was now glaring at him through his back-up pair of sunglasses. A sharp crack zigzagged through the right lens, and half of the left lens had fallen out, revealing a very angry eye.

 

Reno's stomach constricted. He knew what was coming. "Um, wow," he stuttered. "How did that happen?"

 

"Your thick head." Rude pronounced each word with immense care.

 

"Oops. Sorry, man." He smiled apologetically, hoping it would somehow stop the inevitable.

 

"That brings the number of my glasses that you have broken in the past month to an even dozen. Do you know what that means?"

 

"Um, a new record?"

 

"It means you owe me twelve new pairs." He closed the distance between them with slow, deliberate steps, taking off the glasses and folding the sides down in the process. Once he was close enough, he took Reno's hand and placed the frame gently but firmly into his palm. Then he removed his second back-up pair from the other breastpocket and put them on before adding, "I expect them the day after tomorrow at the latest."

 

Reno groaned. There went most of this week's paycheck. "Man, these things are expensive."

 

"I'm well aware of that," Rude replied, his tone now back to normal. He turned his back on Reno and walked to the chopper. "Let's get back to Rufus."

 

"Yeah, all right." Reno clomped after him, the high from the explosion completely gone. Whatever. Bodies or no bodies, those guys are toast. Crispy, burnt toast. The thought of a blackened, charred Yazoo lifted his spirits somewhat as he climbed into the chopper and prepared for liftoff.

 

Interestingly enough, Rufus had not moved from the side of the building that had earlier given him a personal lesson in gravity. He sat quietly in the chair that Tseng had retrieved, gazing at the sky as if it held the answers to the universe. Tseng himself stood a few feet away from his boss, waiting for Reno and Rude with hands clasped behind his back. As they stepped from the car -- Elena had returned to the helipad to pick them up again -- Tseng cocked an eyebrow and smiled faintly.

 

"We saw the lightshow from here. I take it then that you completed your mission?"

 

"Yes, sir," Rude replied. Reno merely nodded. If he held his tongue, maybe Rufus would dismiss them for the day. After all that had happened over the past two days, he wanted nothing more than to go home and sleep for a week.

 

Tseng nodded, and his next words dashed Reno's hopes. "The President wants the four of us to remain here on standby until further notice."

 

"What, just hang around and do nothing?" Elena asked, slamming the car door that Reno had left open.

 

"Yes, Elena," Tseng replied patiently. "That is what standby means, after all."

 

His tone held absolutely no anger, but she chose to take the comment as a reprimand anyway. Her face flushed all the way to her blonde roots, and with a downcast gaze, she muttered, "… yessirsorrysir …"

 

Reno rolled his eyes. They were all familiar with Elena's "secret" lust, even Tseng who chose to feign ignorance of it for his own reasons. Since he had no interest in getting into Tseng's pants, Reno pressed the issue. "Why do we have to wait here? Can't we go back to the hotel where it's warmer? Get something to eat? Why do we have to stand around outside?"

 

Cool, dark eyes fixed on him, and Reno knew what was coming next. Because the President said so, you frigging idiot. Well, okay, Tseng would never actually say the last part, but his tone and expression would make the words unnecessary.

 

Tseng took a breath, but before he could answer, a darkness spread over both of them. Reno thought at first that a cloud had simply blocked the sun, but the darkness deepened and spread until a kind of instant nightfall had blanketed the city. The expression on Tseng's face slowly turned to surprise and horror, his eyes staring over Reno's shoulder at the sky behind him. Confused, Reno turned to see what had rattled his usually stoic superior.

 

Deep black clouds had gathered somewhere over the Midgar ruins, blotting out the sunlight and taking over the sky. Dozens of tendrils wove individual paths through the air like enormous black snakes, creeping ever closer to the city and its terrified populace.

 

"Aaaaugh!"

 

Reno spun on his heel at the cry. Rufus was clutching his wrist in pain. Tseng and Rude were instantly at his side, Elena quickly following, making sure he was all right. Reno joined them, not out of concern for Rufus who had easily waved off their concern, but out of a sudden need not to be left alone. Together, the remaining members of the top echelon of ShinRa lifted their heads to the approaching blackness, and Rufus voiced all their fears in one word:

 

"Sephiroth."

 

Silence. Empty and terrible. No choice but to simply wait.

 

Come on, Cloud, Reno thought desperately. Don't let us down.