Dark World
Chapter 1:Into the Ruins
RENO
You only see what your eyes want to see.
How can life be what you want it to be?
You're frozen when your heart's not open.
You're so consumed with how much you get,
You waste your time with hate and regret.
You're broken.
~Madonna, Frozen
My name is Reno, Reno O'Bannon, formerly of the Tactical Unison Recon Killers, the Turks. You might have heard of us. Just in case you haven't, we were, as the name states, killers, top notch - the best.
We worked for Shinra, back when there was such a thing. Back before that bastard Cloud Strife and his merry little gang of tree-huggers went off to 'save the Planet'. Yeah, well, long story short: they saved the world, boo-hoo, what heroes. Meanwhile, I'm out of a job.
So, since Holy, Meteor, and Lifestream toasted Midgar in that oh-so overly bright lightshow in the sky, Rude, Elena, and I were holed up at an inn in Kalm. We had to decide upon our future. Why together? We're a team, that's why. We're partners. You don't abandon your partners.
The three of us were at the bar in Kalm, discussing things over some nice alcohol. We'd escaped from Midgar in time; Cloud and his companions had run into us in the sewer system. We'd left soon after. We didn't fight. For the first time in a long time, we were civil to one another. We were only ever enemies because of orders. Well, now there isn't anyone to give us orders.
"With Midgar gone, I have nowhere to go, I don't know what to do..." that was Elena. She talks too much. That's a given, but the chick's got a brain and, if given time and proper coaxing, she can use it too. "What ARE we going to do...?" her question was rather piteous. Sure, hold on Elena; let me pull an answer out of my ass. It's up there somewhere.
Rude, of course, was no help. The guy hardly says more than one sentence most days. Therefore, I was left to assure Elena that things were going to be just peachy. "Elena, quit whining. This may come as a shock to you, babe, but you're not the only one with that problem." She pouted and frowned, cute, real cute, acting half her IQ on a good day.
Now pay attention folks, this is where things get intresting.
There was this shady guy at the bar. Yeah, I know, I'm shady too, so shoot me. Wait, don't even try, I'd get you first. Anyways, he was sitting at the bar, looking over at me. The guy had a smirk on his face the size of the Sister Ray. Seriously. He got up, walked over to our table, and put his hand on Elena's shoulder like he was her good friend or something. She turned her head back to him, surprised, a questioning look on her face.
"The Turks, I assume?" he asked, though it was more like a statement. He flashed a toothy grin. Yellow teeth, ugh, the guy ever heard of a toothbrush?
"Perhaps. What's it matter anymore?" That was Rude. I almost lost my composure. I'll admit I'm amazed that he spoke to the man at all.
"I've been looking for someone to do a job for me. You understand that during your employment with Shinra, you gained yourselves quiet a name." His hand was still on Elena's shoulder. He ran his thumb over her back, like he was rubbing her neck with one hand. Elena looked a bit uncomfortable; she started to fidget uneasily under his touch. Rookie to the end, I was sure that girl would never learn. Once again I was made to wonder how exactly she got into Turks - the backdoor?
"A job?" I asked, leaning back into my chair. I crossed my arms over my chest, smirking. "Why would we do anything for you?" I put my foot on the table, bracing myself against the wall with my back, my other leg hooked around the table's leg.
The man removed his hand from Elena's shoulder, much to her relief, and took the empty seat at our table, across from myself. He put his elbows upon the table, placing his fingers together at the tips, his dark eyes watching at me over their pointed formation, almost a predatory look. "Because," he drawled, "with Shinra gone, you've got no employer, correct?"
I perked a brow, "Could be." was all I said. So, the guy wanted something from us, typical. I wondered what it was this time. My face remained impassive as I awaited his response.
The man looked me over, and then shifted his gaze to Rude, and finally Elena. His gaze lingered a bit longer on her. I think he was sizing her up. Why look at Elena, that's what I'd like to know. The man must have been attracted to small, saggy breasts, because he sure couldn't seem to keep his eyes off Elena's - no offence to the lady or anything, but she really didn't have much in the assets department. The guy was a pervert; even I have more decency than that. He looked back to me. "You're the leader?" he asked.
I glanced at my two companions, and then shrugged. "Something like that." Leader? Me? Tseng was our leader. It was always been Tseng, ever since my very first day. I could never be that, never take his place fill his shoes. I didn't want to, didn't dare. How could I? No, never, impossible! Tseng.. The man was almost a god to me, and the man was dead, dead and gone, we hadn't even recovered his body from the Temple of the Ancients...
He leaned forward, laying his arms flat on the table. "How about we play 'Let's make a deal'..."
~*~
Yeah, we'd played 'Let's make a deal'. He was pretty good at it, too. Which explains why the three of us were back in Midgar. Honest opinion? It was the world's dumbest mission. But Hell, the pay was good. I won't even ponder where exactly he got his funds, because I really don't want to know.
Ah, Midgar. It was Hell, to say the least. Yeah, I know, it was Hell before. We were constantly climbing over various piles of God-only-knows-what, the recent rains had made footing treacherous. We were all soaked to the bone, our clothes feeling heavy and making the liklyhood of slipping greater.
Rude jumped off the mound of whatever it was, landing; he turned and offered Elena his hand. He helped her down, and then glanced questioningly at me. I scoffed, and jumped down to them. The landing threw me slightly off balance, so I took a moment to regain my equilibrium before I tossed soggy red hair from my eyes and looked around. I could hardly recognize the place. At least here the pillar hadn't fallen, and a good deal of the plate was still in its place. Having that ominous shadow overhead was a bit disorienting. I wondered what it would take to make it fall.
"How'll we get up there?" Elena asked, tilting backwards to glance above her, looking up at said plate. She almost fell over in doing so, yet another of her seemingly endless antics. Rude saved Elena from making a fool of herself, catching her in the nick of time.
I shrugged to her question. "How did Cloud do it? We've got a lot more to work with than he did." I glanced about, and grinned, catching sight of what we needed. "Over there," I motioned with my hand. "Let's go." I led them over to what can only be described as a miracle. Things had fallen just right to create a steep mountain we could use to scale up to the plate.
Placing my hands on a metal bar sticking out of the pile, I pulled myself up onto a ledge in the mound, offering my hand down to Elena, who I suspected would have difficulties. She surprised me, however, by executing an agile flip up, seemingly with no effort, from the bar I had used. I perked a brow to her, and she grinned as Rude joined us.
It took us a while, but we managed it. Personally, I'd never want to go through that again. But, that's just me. We were standing in front of what was once the prestigious Shinra Tower, our old base of operations. It was in pretty bad shape, needed a bit more than some drapes hung up. Handy man's dream, I'd say. I was looking around, my hands in my pockets my back slouched over, when I heard the sound. I quickly spun in the direction from which it had originated, my gun coming out instinctively. Rude and Elena had done likewise. There was no need to ask if they too had head the sound. Was it a false alarm? I was wary, waiting. It could have been a monster, or another person digging around the ruins. Looking back on it, I wish it were just a monster.
A muffled sound, one that was all too familiar to one on my line of work. The sound of gunfire, the rapport echoed throughout the area. It was so sudden, one moment, open fire, the next dead silence. All was still for several moments, before Rude, standing behind me and slightly to the side, let out a quiet groan of pain, and began to slump forward. I quickly turned, catching the tall man on my shoulder. He slouched against me as Elena rushed to our side, her gun still in her hands, but pointed to the sky, her eyes darting all over the area, searching for whoever had opened fire on us. Rude's left arm was over my right shoulder, griping me tightly, his right arm hanging limp at his side, his head pressed against my shoulder. His shades slid from his face, down his nose and to the ground, where they landed in a puddle caused by the recent rains, mud splashing up onto their darkly reflective surfaces. His breathing was ragged, labored. I lowered him to the ground. Elena was for once being quiet as she watched our backs, her brown eyes wide with disbelief and terror.
Blood stained the front of Rude's chest, and where the large man had been leaning on me, his blood had gotten onto my jacket, seeping into the navy blue cloth. His eyes were squeezed shut in pain his breathing was slowing. My own eyes were wide, peering over my dark glasses to my best friend, lying in the mud. Numbly, I realized it. He's dying. Rude is fucking dying! No, not true! Just… just not possible! Rude? Dying? Elena looked down to him, finally dropping her guard as she fell to the ground, the mud covering her knees. Mud on Elena's clothes. I almost could have laughed. Elena had this thing about keeping her Turks uniform clean. I couldn't laugh though. If I started to laugh, I wouldn't be able to stop, and then the tears would come.
"Rude? Rude!!" Elena screamed, dropping her gun to her side, her hands clasping at the big man's shoulders. He drew in a ragged breath, exhaling as he muttered a single word, which was lost to my ears due to the frantic woman's wailing. It was then that Rude went still. My hands strayed to the blood, Rude's blood, covering my shirt. I touched it gingerly, as if it would burn me upon contact. Rude…. He was…. He was….
"Dead…." She whispered, sitting back on her heels, eyes wide. "Dead, he's dead." She shook her head, the short blonde hair falling out of place. She turned her face to me, her eyes pleading, as if begging me to contradict her. My eyes strayed to Rude's face, I noticed how his chest no longer rose and fell with his breaths. He was still, utterly still.
"My God." My voice was dry and raspy. I stood up, almost mechanically, my hand gripping at my firearm as I took a step back, my eyes trained on the corpse of my best friend. Dead. Dead, dead, dead, fucking dead!
"Reno?" Elena too stood, her eyes betraying her worry. "What are we…? Who…? Why…? I don't understand!" she took a step towards me, reaching her hand out she placed it on my elbow. She gripped it, gripped it like it was the only lifeline left in all of Midgar, all of the Planet. I shook her off, violently, and then sobered my sudden, flaring anger as I caught sight of the confusion in her eyes. Dull eyes, eyes made dull by pain.
"Sorry." I muttered, turning from her. My eyes caught sight of the Shinra Tower, traveled up it's ravaged height. It went no higher than the tenth floor. Something compelled me. It was almost as if my feet had gained a mind all their own, and began to carry me there. Elena drifted after me, caught in my wake like a dog on a leash. I stopped before the entrance to what was once the lobby, my eyes gazing dully at the familiar place now lay to ruins. I stepped through the doorway, the glass, all shattered, crunched beneath my shoes, and perhaps stuck in the soles. I didn't care. I didn't give a damn about anything at this point.
Memory of that climb is dim, but eventually, Elena and I came out on the uppermost floor of the ruined tower. The desolate landscape lay down below us, open for us to see. My half narrowed eyes took it in, and dismissed it. Elena stood behind me, her eyes on her feet. My fists were clenched, I realized, clenched so tightly that my short, blunt, nails caused a sharp pain where they bit into my skin. I forced myself to relax. Blood covered my palms, my own and Rude's. God, Rude! But, here we were, waiting at the highest point left in the whole city, waiting for the hunter to seek his prey. Waiting for the killer to find us. I must have been fucking nuts.
At that point, things got strange. A rock, rather small, banged into the remains of a wall near my head, the dull thud seemed to echo through the nearly silent landscape. My eyes quickly darted to the source of the rock, and my blood ran cold.
Straight black hair, dully reflecting the light, fell to his shoulders, those calm, cool dark eyes stared back at me, and a smirk was upon his lips. The man, all too familiar, took a single step towards me, out of the shadows. Elena gasped, her eyes wide. "TSENG!" her high-pitched scream of jubilation rang out through the area as she leapt forward, her arms open wide, forgetting herself for a moment; she looked ready to embrace the man.
Three shots, clear and concise, one after the other, sounded. Blood spattering from exit wounds sprayed red splotches on my clothes, Elena fell. Her cry had turned to startled screams with each shot. My eyes were wide, the dead woman lying near my feet, her eyes already glazed with the sweet embrace of death. My gaze fell upon the gun in Tseng's hand, then traveled up to his face, his eyes. Cold eyes, dark eyes, holding a certain glint I'd seen before, a glint much akin to that I'd seen in the eyes of rabid dogs, and men who'd lost their sanity.
He took a step towards me; my gun was aimed level at his chest in a half a heartbeat. I couldn't believe how steady my arms were. I'd expected them to shake. Tseng paused, only half lowering his firearm, that disgusting smirk still on his lips. Tseng? No! He's dead! Yet there he was, standing across from me. He spoke then, his voice level and calm as always. He sounded just like he always had, noting to indicate he'd just killed a woman who'd been his friend. For all the attention he paid her body, she may as well have been a rug upon the floor. "You…. Bastard!" I spat. Then, my arms did begin to shake, with my suppressed rage.
"Perhaps. It does not matter now. She's free, like Rude." His deep voice was low; I had to strain my ears just to hear him. Free? What did he mean by that? My puzzlement must have shown on my face, Tseng elaborated on his point. "Free, from Shinra." Those dark eyes took on an even more heated glow. "I'll free you form them, too, Reno." He raised his gun. I stared right down the barrel, glaring death in the face.
~*~
Author's Note: Yay! Chapter 1 is complete! My original idea for this story was ot make it a one-shot.... but I got so many great ideas for it that I couldn't just do that! Anyways, I'd like to thank BlackJack Gabbianai ([email protected]) for all her help, ideas, and encouragement! I'd also like to thank all the poeple who reviewed this chapter, especially Ristuki, who read and re-read several of the roughs, but hardly complained! I'd espesially like to thank my sis for telling me to ditch the frist two paragraphs. I did! Anyways, I'm working on Chapter 2, and I hope to have it done faster than I had Chapter 1 done! And, WOW these are some long author's notes! I guess I'm just exstatic to have it done this far! Oooh, and I might still write the 'original ending' to this fic, and post it somewhere. If I do, I'll be certain to provide a URL to it. Laterz!
Email: [email protected]
NOIR
Chapter 1:Into the Ruins
RENO
You only see what your eyes want to see.
How can life be what you want it to be?
You're frozen when your heart's not open.
You're so consumed with how much you get,
You waste your time with hate and regret.
You're broken.
~Madonna, Frozen
My name is Reno, Reno O'Bannon, formerly of the Tactical Unison Recon Killers, the Turks. You might have heard of us. Just in case you haven't, we were, as the name states, killers, top notch - the best.
We worked for Shinra, back when there was such a thing. Back before that bastard Cloud Strife and his merry little gang of tree-huggers went off to 'save the Planet'. Yeah, well, long story short: they saved the world, boo-hoo, what heroes. Meanwhile, I'm out of a job.
So, since Holy, Meteor, and Lifestream toasted Midgar in that oh-so overly bright lightshow in the sky, Rude, Elena, and I were holed up at an inn in Kalm. We had to decide upon our future. Why together? We're a team, that's why. We're partners. You don't abandon your partners.
The three of us were at the bar in Kalm, discussing things over some nice alcohol. We'd escaped from Midgar in time; Cloud and his companions had run into us in the sewer system. We'd left soon after. We didn't fight. For the first time in a long time, we were civil to one another. We were only ever enemies because of orders. Well, now there isn't anyone to give us orders.
"With Midgar gone, I have nowhere to go, I don't know what to do..." that was Elena. She talks too much. That's a given, but the chick's got a brain and, if given time and proper coaxing, she can use it too. "What ARE we going to do...?" her question was rather piteous. Sure, hold on Elena; let me pull an answer out of my ass. It's up there somewhere.
Rude, of course, was no help. The guy hardly says more than one sentence most days. Therefore, I was left to assure Elena that things were going to be just peachy. "Elena, quit whining. This may come as a shock to you, babe, but you're not the only one with that problem." She pouted and frowned, cute, real cute, acting half her IQ on a good day.
Now pay attention folks, this is where things get intresting.
There was this shady guy at the bar. Yeah, I know, I'm shady too, so shoot me. Wait, don't even try, I'd get you first. Anyways, he was sitting at the bar, looking over at me. The guy had a smirk on his face the size of the Sister Ray. Seriously. He got up, walked over to our table, and put his hand on Elena's shoulder like he was her good friend or something. She turned her head back to him, surprised, a questioning look on her face.
"The Turks, I assume?" he asked, though it was more like a statement. He flashed a toothy grin. Yellow teeth, ugh, the guy ever heard of a toothbrush?
"Perhaps. What's it matter anymore?" That was Rude. I almost lost my composure. I'll admit I'm amazed that he spoke to the man at all.
"I've been looking for someone to do a job for me. You understand that during your employment with Shinra, you gained yourselves quiet a name." His hand was still on Elena's shoulder. He ran his thumb over her back, like he was rubbing her neck with one hand. Elena looked a bit uncomfortable; she started to fidget uneasily under his touch. Rookie to the end, I was sure that girl would never learn. Once again I was made to wonder how exactly she got into Turks - the backdoor?
"A job?" I asked, leaning back into my chair. I crossed my arms over my chest, smirking. "Why would we do anything for you?" I put my foot on the table, bracing myself against the wall with my back, my other leg hooked around the table's leg.
The man removed his hand from Elena's shoulder, much to her relief, and took the empty seat at our table, across from myself. He put his elbows upon the table, placing his fingers together at the tips, his dark eyes watching at me over their pointed formation, almost a predatory look. "Because," he drawled, "with Shinra gone, you've got no employer, correct?"
I perked a brow, "Could be." was all I said. So, the guy wanted something from us, typical. I wondered what it was this time. My face remained impassive as I awaited his response.
The man looked me over, and then shifted his gaze to Rude, and finally Elena. His gaze lingered a bit longer on her. I think he was sizing her up. Why look at Elena, that's what I'd like to know. The man must have been attracted to small, saggy breasts, because he sure couldn't seem to keep his eyes off Elena's - no offence to the lady or anything, but she really didn't have much in the assets department. The guy was a pervert; even I have more decency than that. He looked back to me. "You're the leader?" he asked.
I glanced at my two companions, and then shrugged. "Something like that." Leader? Me? Tseng was our leader. It was always been Tseng, ever since my very first day. I could never be that, never take his place fill his shoes. I didn't want to, didn't dare. How could I? No, never, impossible! Tseng.. The man was almost a god to me, and the man was dead, dead and gone, we hadn't even recovered his body from the Temple of the Ancients...
He leaned forward, laying his arms flat on the table. "How about we play 'Let's make a deal'..."
~*~
Yeah, we'd played 'Let's make a deal'. He was pretty good at it, too. Which explains why the three of us were back in Midgar. Honest opinion? It was the world's dumbest mission. But Hell, the pay was good. I won't even ponder where exactly he got his funds, because I really don't want to know.
Ah, Midgar. It was Hell, to say the least. Yeah, I know, it was Hell before. We were constantly climbing over various piles of God-only-knows-what, the recent rains had made footing treacherous. We were all soaked to the bone, our clothes feeling heavy and making the liklyhood of slipping greater.
Rude jumped off the mound of whatever it was, landing; he turned and offered Elena his hand. He helped her down, and then glanced questioningly at me. I scoffed, and jumped down to them. The landing threw me slightly off balance, so I took a moment to regain my equilibrium before I tossed soggy red hair from my eyes and looked around. I could hardly recognize the place. At least here the pillar hadn't fallen, and a good deal of the plate was still in its place. Having that ominous shadow overhead was a bit disorienting. I wondered what it would take to make it fall.
"How'll we get up there?" Elena asked, tilting backwards to glance above her, looking up at said plate. She almost fell over in doing so, yet another of her seemingly endless antics. Rude saved Elena from making a fool of herself, catching her in the nick of time.
I shrugged to her question. "How did Cloud do it? We've got a lot more to work with than he did." I glanced about, and grinned, catching sight of what we needed. "Over there," I motioned with my hand. "Let's go." I led them over to what can only be described as a miracle. Things had fallen just right to create a steep mountain we could use to scale up to the plate.
Placing my hands on a metal bar sticking out of the pile, I pulled myself up onto a ledge in the mound, offering my hand down to Elena, who I suspected would have difficulties. She surprised me, however, by executing an agile flip up, seemingly with no effort, from the bar I had used. I perked a brow to her, and she grinned as Rude joined us.
It took us a while, but we managed it. Personally, I'd never want to go through that again. But, that's just me. We were standing in front of what was once the prestigious Shinra Tower, our old base of operations. It was in pretty bad shape, needed a bit more than some drapes hung up. Handy man's dream, I'd say. I was looking around, my hands in my pockets my back slouched over, when I heard the sound. I quickly spun in the direction from which it had originated, my gun coming out instinctively. Rude and Elena had done likewise. There was no need to ask if they too had head the sound. Was it a false alarm? I was wary, waiting. It could have been a monster, or another person digging around the ruins. Looking back on it, I wish it were just a monster.
A muffled sound, one that was all too familiar to one on my line of work. The sound of gunfire, the rapport echoed throughout the area. It was so sudden, one moment, open fire, the next dead silence. All was still for several moments, before Rude, standing behind me and slightly to the side, let out a quiet groan of pain, and began to slump forward. I quickly turned, catching the tall man on my shoulder. He slouched against me as Elena rushed to our side, her gun still in her hands, but pointed to the sky, her eyes darting all over the area, searching for whoever had opened fire on us. Rude's left arm was over my right shoulder, griping me tightly, his right arm hanging limp at his side, his head pressed against my shoulder. His shades slid from his face, down his nose and to the ground, where they landed in a puddle caused by the recent rains, mud splashing up onto their darkly reflective surfaces. His breathing was ragged, labored. I lowered him to the ground. Elena was for once being quiet as she watched our backs, her brown eyes wide with disbelief and terror.
Blood stained the front of Rude's chest, and where the large man had been leaning on me, his blood had gotten onto my jacket, seeping into the navy blue cloth. His eyes were squeezed shut in pain his breathing was slowing. My own eyes were wide, peering over my dark glasses to my best friend, lying in the mud. Numbly, I realized it. He's dying. Rude is fucking dying! No, not true! Just… just not possible! Rude? Dying? Elena looked down to him, finally dropping her guard as she fell to the ground, the mud covering her knees. Mud on Elena's clothes. I almost could have laughed. Elena had this thing about keeping her Turks uniform clean. I couldn't laugh though. If I started to laugh, I wouldn't be able to stop, and then the tears would come.
"Rude? Rude!!" Elena screamed, dropping her gun to her side, her hands clasping at the big man's shoulders. He drew in a ragged breath, exhaling as he muttered a single word, which was lost to my ears due to the frantic woman's wailing. It was then that Rude went still. My hands strayed to the blood, Rude's blood, covering my shirt. I touched it gingerly, as if it would burn me upon contact. Rude…. He was…. He was….
"Dead…." She whispered, sitting back on her heels, eyes wide. "Dead, he's dead." She shook her head, the short blonde hair falling out of place. She turned her face to me, her eyes pleading, as if begging me to contradict her. My eyes strayed to Rude's face, I noticed how his chest no longer rose and fell with his breaths. He was still, utterly still.
"My God." My voice was dry and raspy. I stood up, almost mechanically, my hand gripping at my firearm as I took a step back, my eyes trained on the corpse of my best friend. Dead. Dead, dead, dead, fucking dead!
"Reno?" Elena too stood, her eyes betraying her worry. "What are we…? Who…? Why…? I don't understand!" she took a step towards me, reaching her hand out she placed it on my elbow. She gripped it, gripped it like it was the only lifeline left in all of Midgar, all of the Planet. I shook her off, violently, and then sobered my sudden, flaring anger as I caught sight of the confusion in her eyes. Dull eyes, eyes made dull by pain.
"Sorry." I muttered, turning from her. My eyes caught sight of the Shinra Tower, traveled up it's ravaged height. It went no higher than the tenth floor. Something compelled me. It was almost as if my feet had gained a mind all their own, and began to carry me there. Elena drifted after me, caught in my wake like a dog on a leash. I stopped before the entrance to what was once the lobby, my eyes gazing dully at the familiar place now lay to ruins. I stepped through the doorway, the glass, all shattered, crunched beneath my shoes, and perhaps stuck in the soles. I didn't care. I didn't give a damn about anything at this point.
Memory of that climb is dim, but eventually, Elena and I came out on the uppermost floor of the ruined tower. The desolate landscape lay down below us, open for us to see. My half narrowed eyes took it in, and dismissed it. Elena stood behind me, her eyes on her feet. My fists were clenched, I realized, clenched so tightly that my short, blunt, nails caused a sharp pain where they bit into my skin. I forced myself to relax. Blood covered my palms, my own and Rude's. God, Rude! But, here we were, waiting at the highest point left in the whole city, waiting for the hunter to seek his prey. Waiting for the killer to find us. I must have been fucking nuts.
At that point, things got strange. A rock, rather small, banged into the remains of a wall near my head, the dull thud seemed to echo through the nearly silent landscape. My eyes quickly darted to the source of the rock, and my blood ran cold.
Straight black hair, dully reflecting the light, fell to his shoulders, those calm, cool dark eyes stared back at me, and a smirk was upon his lips. The man, all too familiar, took a single step towards me, out of the shadows. Elena gasped, her eyes wide. "TSENG!" her high-pitched scream of jubilation rang out through the area as she leapt forward, her arms open wide, forgetting herself for a moment; she looked ready to embrace the man.
Three shots, clear and concise, one after the other, sounded. Blood spattering from exit wounds sprayed red splotches on my clothes, Elena fell. Her cry had turned to startled screams with each shot. My eyes were wide, the dead woman lying near my feet, her eyes already glazed with the sweet embrace of death. My gaze fell upon the gun in Tseng's hand, then traveled up to his face, his eyes. Cold eyes, dark eyes, holding a certain glint I'd seen before, a glint much akin to that I'd seen in the eyes of rabid dogs, and men who'd lost their sanity.
He took a step towards me; my gun was aimed level at his chest in a half a heartbeat. I couldn't believe how steady my arms were. I'd expected them to shake. Tseng paused, only half lowering his firearm, that disgusting smirk still on his lips. Tseng? No! He's dead! Yet there he was, standing across from me. He spoke then, his voice level and calm as always. He sounded just like he always had, noting to indicate he'd just killed a woman who'd been his friend. For all the attention he paid her body, she may as well have been a rug upon the floor. "You…. Bastard!" I spat. Then, my arms did begin to shake, with my suppressed rage.
"Perhaps. It does not matter now. She's free, like Rude." His deep voice was low; I had to strain my ears just to hear him. Free? What did he mean by that? My puzzlement must have shown on my face, Tseng elaborated on his point. "Free, from Shinra." Those dark eyes took on an even more heated glow. "I'll free you form them, too, Reno." He raised his gun. I stared right down the barrel, glaring death in the face.
~*~
Author's Note: Yay! Chapter 1 is complete! My original idea for this story was ot make it a one-shot.... but I got so many great ideas for it that I couldn't just do that! Anyways, I'd like to thank BlackJack Gabbianai ([email protected]) for all her help, ideas, and encouragement! I'd also like to thank all the poeple who reviewed this chapter, especially Ristuki, who read and re-read several of the roughs, but hardly complained! I'd espesially like to thank my sis for telling me to ditch the frist two paragraphs. I did! Anyways, I'm working on Chapter 2, and I hope to have it done faster than I had Chapter 1 done! And, WOW these are some long author's notes! I guess I'm just exstatic to have it done this far! Oooh, and I might still write the 'original ending' to this fic, and post it somewhere. If I do, I'll be certain to provide a URL to it. Laterz!
Email: [email protected]
NOIR