Chapter 3 Testing Skills

It's me again! This chapter is when Tseng and Rufus have Myde see just how strong Yazoo is.

In the last chapter when Reno said that Myde and Elena had been together for three years, I made a mistake. I meant two.

Warnings: Violence, Krad, language, Jenova, Myde being warped…

Disclaimer: No.

'My dear child, you failed to help them like you said you would. You didn't stop me. You know you can't do anything to stop me.'

'Yazoo, you must stop her.' A second voice joined in. 'You're the only one left who can.'

'Why didn't you help me brother? She used his body to destroy me. Why?'

'I-I couldn't. There was nothing – Jenova, you conniving bitch, as soon as I find what's left of your head, I'm going to shoot it, burn it, shoot the ashes and burn what's left again.' Vehemence.

'There's nothing you can do to stop me, child. I love you, my wayward son, just as I love your brothers.'

'Th-that's a lie! You're a calamity, you tried to destroy the Planet!'

'Yazoo, find the one with the Cetra blood and Fallen Angel. Get him to help you. The water. Trust him, get the water.'

Yazoo shot up, pieces of his dream floating through his brain. "Cetra? But, the only one with Cetran blood was Aeris, and she's dead, so who? Fallen Angel with Cetran blood, that's a hard combination to find." Yazoo stopped dead. "I should stop talking to myself."

"You should, Silver. I've heard people who talk to themselves are crazy, and My's living proof of that. Of course, he's got someone to answer, so yeah," Reno said, interrupting the Remnant's train of thought. "Mornin' gorgeous."

"Reno, bring Silver and get to the training room." Myde poked his head through the open door to say this. When Yazoo locked eyes with him, Myde's normally (mostly) gray eyes flickered gold for a brief second.

"Gotcha." The black haired man pulled his head back through the door and shut it. "Krad must be acting up for him to be so clipped. He's not normally like that."

"Who is Krad?" Yazoo asked, swinging his legs out from under the blanket.

"From the horse's mouth, 'A psychopathic homicidal blond that would do anything to protect those close to him,' and the horse was Myde." Reno pulled open the door when he saw that Yazoo had quickly gotten dressed in something that would be easy to move around in, like always.

The silence on the way to the training room was comfortable, easy.

That's not the shocking thing though. What's shocking is what they saw at the end, in the training room waiting.

Myde was dancing. Reno started to laugh silently, remembering that Myde always did that before a mission to help him turn into the persona he needed to be. Yazoo just stared at Myde, who whirled and moved with a feline – no, squirrel-like grace. A very graceful squirrel or a fighting weasel. Fighting weasel. Definitely the weasel. Not even squirrels were that flexible.

However, the trance was broken when Myde opened his eyes and smirked, tossing a gun to Yazoo, saying, "Kid, I'm supposed to figure out just how strong you are, since you can kick Reno's ass." Reno said a loud "YO" at that. "Easy," he drawled, the word accented, "I'm not going to kill him. Not even horribly injure him."

"That's a relief." Sarcasm from Yazoo.

"Oi, Myde, why you?" Reno asked.

"Tseng and Rufus's orders. Apparently they think you're becoming too attached and would hold back." Myde still had that strange smirk and odd look. Said smirk got even bigger when Reno scowled. "Shall we start?"

"If you believe it effective, Mr. Valentine," Yazoo replied.

Much to Reno's surprise – and irritation – Myde laughed harshly. "Kid, you remind me of someone I knew for about nine or so months. Let's see if you've gotten any better since Hojo forced us to fight."

"Of course. Reno, would you referee for us?" Yazoo asked.

"Yeah, Red, would you?" Great, they were ganging up on him. And they could look so pathetic, you would have to do anything they asked. Poor Reno's got a soft spot for looks like that.

After some grumbling, they got a reluctant "Alright" out of him. So, standing on opposite sides of the room, Reno in the middle, they started.

"Listen up, yo. No maiming, no fatal wounds, anything else goes, and one last thing – play dirty. Ya can start when the coin hits the ground." With that, Reno flicked a silver coin high in the air; it made a tinking noise when it landed.

I would go into details about the fight, but it'd take too long, so I won't. Instead, I'm going to skip to the last couple seconds.

Myde managed to knock Yazoo to the ground with a well-placed kick, winding the silver haired gunman. He held a gun, cocked and loaded, pointing at him until he heard Reno say, "Alright that's enough. Nice match, you two."

"Thanks," they both said, still breathing hard.

"Good job kid. This was fun," Myde said, cracking his neck while helping Yazoo to his feet.

"Hey, guys!" Elena popped into the underground room with a smile on her face. "Tseng said nice work and that that was the best rookie match he's seen in years." At the boy's blank stares, she chuckled nervously. "You guys didn't know that Tseng, Rufus, Rude, and I were watching?" Glares now. "I guess not. Anyway, Yazoo, you held your own against My for a pretty long time."

Myde wandered over to where Elena was and hugged her from behind. "One thing, kid. Mine," he growled, pulling Elena closer. She squeaked and giggled, relaxing into the older and taller Turk that happened to be her boyfriend. ((Yes, they're a couple. Weren't you reading the last chapter?))

Yazoo sidled a little closer to Reno. From what he'd seen, Myde was definitely mentally unstable. "How do you put up with him?" he asked Reno.

"Don't piss him off and you'll do fine." At the shocked look Yazoo sent him, Reno went on; "Guy's certifiable, but just barely. It's all the fault of that insane Angel."

"Mmm… you did very good, against him," Myde said. Well, it looked like Myde, but it sure as hell didn't sound like him. "For one of her sons, you are dead set against her will. Admirable."

Elena stiffened. "Krad, what are you doing?"

"Why, I'm just greeting the newest of your little group. Welcome. My name is Krad." With that, Myde's form shimmered away, leaving a slightly smaller man with long blond hair and golden cat-eyes in his place.

"That's the guy we wanted you to avoid," Reno whispered, pushing Yazoo behind him. "Krad, leave the kid alone. Myde's fighting you, isn't he?"

"Actually, no. Myde has had a rough night and well, I thought, why not let him have a rest?" Krad smirked when Reno drew his EMR and Elena twisted around and held a gun up against his throat. "Oh, is that all you can do?"

"Krad, stand down." Tseng, Rude and Rufus stood at the door.

"Alright, but if he takes one step in her direction, he is gone, by my hands." Krad disappeared, leaving Myde behind, blinking and wincing.

He muttered a low curse, understandable by only a couple of the Turks. "Sorry about that. He's a manipulative asshole, that is right ninety percent of the time." Myde winced again. "Yeah, yeah, shut up. I've heard your concerns that Yazoo could be trouble, but it will be fine." Rubbing his forehead, Myde walked out the door, giving Tseng and Rufus a slight salute, muttering to himself the whole way.

"Well, that… was anticlimactic." Yazoo stared at Reno like he was crazy.

"Are you insane? That wackjob could have killed all of us!" Yazoo yelled at Reno. Unnoticed, Elena followed Myde, hoping she could get to him before he beat himself up about letting Krad gain control.

"The key words there, silver, are 'could have'. He didn't. I think he thinks you deserve a chance." Reno ruffled Yazoo's hair, pulling some strands of hair to him so he could smell them. ((Reno's insane… I know.)) "Strawberries, Yazoo? Cute."

"Reno, keep an eye on him. You don't know what he'll do," Rufus began.

"He is fine," Tseng interrupted. "I think he just needs to go there for a couple days. Rude let him know he's got a short vacation. You will all get one, and they'll be staggered over a few weeks." Tseng knows more about his Turks than Rufus thinks he does. He's not the leader for nothing. He knows everything!

"Sir." Rude walked out the door, leaving the four behind.

Rufus sighed. "You're a very close-knit group, aren't you?"

"Closer than you think, Sir." Tseng gave a tight smile and walked away.

"Well, I suppose I will have to finish that damn paperwork. Reno, make sure Valentine and Monnin are fine, and get the kid cleaned up." Rufus walked out as well, grumbling to himself about life and all its little inconsistencies.

"Okay… he's lost it." Reno was given an irritated look. Yazoo gave the redhead a whack on the back of the head, and left, walking out to figure out that cryptic message that the nightmare left him.

Reno narrowed his eyes. "What is going on?" he asked no one. "I've got a reason for surveillance now." He strolled out of the room, flicking the lights off.

That took a while. Seriously. I can't figure out why. Anyway, I'm sorry for not updating sooner. I've got a massive case of writers' block.

Review plz.