Shinra Reborn Chapter 6
By Dan Schmidt
"How exactly did Waylon intend to bring back Sephiroth," Cloud inquired. Cloud, Cid, Barret, Red, Tifa, Cait, and Shera were now gathered around the bonfire in the center of Cosmo Canyon.
"I’m not sure exactly," Red answered, "But I did overhear Waylon and Hojo talking on numerous occasions. I’m pretty sure it had something to do with the black materia and the lifestream."
"The black materia?" Cloud said, "Sephiroth was the last person to use that. It must still be in the bottom of the North Cave."
"North Cave!?" Cait exclaimed, "No way, I’m not going down there, not a chance. Once was plenty for me!"
"It’s okay, Cait," Cloud said, "We’re gonna break Reeve out before we go down there. And we need all the help we can get. We should get Vincent and Yuffie here with us."
"I’m okay with Vincent," Barret said, "But no Yuffie! She’s the biggest pain in the neck I’ve ever met."
Cloud frowned. "Barret, we need all the help we can get. The North Cave is probably still filled with monsters." The other members of the party agreed. Barret looked around the room, and then sighed.
"Fine, but she isn’t going along with me!" Barret stomped away. Cloud shrugged and followed Barret.
"Okay," Red said, "Let’s make a plan. We find Waylon’s hideout, and then have Vincent and Yuffie meet us at Rocket Town." The others Avalanchers agreed with Red’s plan.
"Well, I’m gonna go get some sleep," Cid said, "C’mon Shera, let’s get back to our room and call it a night." Shera nodded and followed Cid towards their room at the inn.
"Barret certainly doesn’t care much for Yuffie," Red said to Tifa.
"Hey, what about Shinra," Tifa said.
"Hmmm…" Red said, "We’ll have to leave them for now. I believe that Waylon is much more dangerous than Shinra right now. We have to stop Waylon from getting Sephiroth back. And to do that, we need the black materia."
"Do you think Shinra knows what Waylon is up too," Tifa asked.
"I wish I knew. Shinra may be able to help us track down Waylon and free Reeve. I think Waylon is the number one priority of both us and Shinra."
"I guess your right." Tifa yawned. "Well, I’m going to go get some sleep. See you in the morning, Red."
"Good night Tifa," Red said, "I’m going to search for more information about how Waylon intends to bring Sephiroth back." Tifa left towards the inn.
"Hmm…" Red said to himself, "If Waylon wants to bring Sephiroth back from the dead, can he bring others back?" Red pondered this as he went to look up more information on Waylon.
* * *
Reno of the Turks stepped out of his car in front of Wall Market. It had taken a bit of investigating, but Reno was pretty sure Waylon’s hideout was here. This Waylon character would have to realize that he shouldn't hire people who were easily bribed. Rude and Elena stepped out of the car.
"Well," Reno said, "Let’s head towards Corneo’s mansion. That place has been deserted ever since Corneo was killed. It’d be a good spot to place a headquarters." Rude and Elena agreed. The three Turks headed towards Corneo’s mansion. Along the way the normal Wall Market peddlers pestered them relentlessly. Finally, they reached Don Corneo’s mansion. The place was dark. Reno easily picked the lock, and entered. It was pitch black inside. Rude pulled out a flashlight and found a light switch. He flipped it up, and the lights blinked once, and then came on with a hum. The place was surprisingly neat. Papers were stacked neatly on a desk, chairs were pushed in, and the floor looked like it had recently been cleaned.
"Someone has definitely been living here," Reno said. The Turks went up towards Corneo’s office. It was also just as neat as the first room. Corneo’s bedroom looked as if someone had been using it recently. The Turks headed down towards the basement. The basement’s stairs were slippery and wet. Elena slipped twice, and the second time, she tumbled all the way to the bottom, taking Reno and Rude with her.
"Nice move," Reno said sarcastically as he brushed some dirt off his suit. Even the basement looked clean.
"Well, someone has definitely been here," Elena said. The Turks started to head upstairs when Rude tripped over something.
"Look at this," he said. There was a perfectly straight crack on the floor. Rude blew some dust away, and he saw a small square in the floor. He pushed down on it hard. It began to move slowly downward.
"Hurry up and get on," Rude called out to his comrades. Reno and Elena jumped onto the moving platform. The platform was small, and obviously only meant for one person. The Turks were squished against the walls as the platform moved slowly downward. After about five minutes, the platform reached the bottom. It had taken them down to a long, dark hallway. Reno stepped out from the platform and started down the hallway. Elena and Rude followed. The hallway was long and dark.
"What if the people who built this want us dead?" Elena asked, "We should watch out for booby traps."
"Elena," Reno replied, "If the people who built this wanted us dead, we’d be dead already. This place does look new, though. And we searched every inch of Corneo’s place back when Corneo was first killed."
The Turks continued walking down the dark hallway. Rude unholstered his gun. Reno saw Rude, and he pulled out his nightstick. The hallway seemed to be never ended, but after a sharp left turn, Reno saw light at the end of the hallway.
"Looks like we’re almost at the end," Reno said, "Stay quiet, and walk slowly. There are probably guards around somewhere."
"Yeah," Elena said, "And we should…" Suddenly, there was a bang, and Elena screamed. Reno dropped to the floor and looked around. Elena was hanging on my one hand from a trapdoor. Reno quickly got up and helped Elena get back on her feet.
"Wow, look at that," Reno said. The Turks gazed down the trapdoor Elena had fallen in. They couldn’t see the bottom. Reno pulled a coin out of his pocket and threw it down the opening in the floor. They listened for a while, but they never heard the coin land.
"Long way down," Reno said to no one in particular. "We better watch our steps from here on out." The three Turks continued to walk down the hallway, but kept close the sides, and kept their hands on the walls. Finally, they reached a small opening where the light was coming from. It was big enough for a single person to fit through. The Turks pressed themselves up against the walls on both sides of the opening. They could here voices inside, but couldn’t make out what they were saying.
"On the count of three, throw something into the room," Reno said. "Whom ever comes out, we jump." The other two nodded in agreement. Reno pulled another coin out of his pocket. With a lightening fast action, he threw the coin into the room. He heard it "thunk" against something.
"OWW! Who threw that!" a voice called out from the room. Two men came stumbling out of the room. The Turks attacked them, and easily pinned them down.
"What’s that smell?" Elena asked.
Reno sniffed the air, and then smiled. "Vodka. Definitely vodka." The two men didn’t put up a fight at all.
"Hey," one of them called out, "You guys can’t cap-ture us. We is gonna get money cause we got that guy from that company that did that thing and he went with those people into that crater and he…" The man’s voice trailed off.
"He’s drunker than I’ve ever been!" Reno said with amazement. The other man appeared to have passed out. Reno punched the other man and left both men lying on the floor, unconscious. The three Turks entered the room and smiled..
There, in a cell in the far corner of the room, was Reeve. He was asleep, but his hands were not bound.
"Hmm…" Reno thought aloud, "What a prize we have found." Reno picked up the keys that the guards had left lying on the table, next to about twenty bottles of liquor. He opened the cell, and poured vodka from one of the bottles onto Reeve’s head. Reeve awoke with a gasp. He rubbed his eyes and then look at Reno and gasped.
"Reno!?!" Reeve half-yelled.
"Were you expecting someone else?" Reno said with a snicker.
"Now that I think about, I can’t say that I was. I guess you three are after Waylon too. But who hired you?"
"Who do we work for, genius?" Reno asked nastily, "Shinra."
"But, Shinra doesn’t exist anymore."
"Oh yes it does, buddy," Reno said. "Heidegger and Rufus are both alive." Reno had a smile on his face that stretched from ear to ear.
"No," Reeve said in shock, "No, no, no, no! They can’t be alive! The Proud Clod was destroyed, and Weapon killed Rufus!"
"Not quite," Reno said, "We found them both alive in the Shinra building." He went on and told Reeve about the events that had happened in the past few days.
"Wow," Reeve said, "But what are you going to do with me."
"We’ll let Rufus decide what to do with you," Reno said, "But for now, we have a little car ride ahead of us to get back to the Shinra building, so I’ll make you a deal. If you let us capture Cloud and the others, Rufus will give you your old job back, and absolute pardon from the events that happened a month ago."
"Ha!" Reeve laughed, "I can’t believe you’d expect me to turn my friends in like that. Forget it."
"I didn’t think you’d go for it," Reno said as he, Elena, Rude, and Reeve started to make their way back to Wall Market.
* * *
Cloud Strife stepped into one of his least favorite towns in Midgar, Wall Market. Avalanche had gotten word that Waylon’s hideout was somewhere in Wall Market. It seemed that Waylon’s agents were easily bribed.
"I hate this place," Tifa said, "It smells bad, everything is well overpriced, and the food tastes like garbage."
"And it’s too close to the Shinra building," Barret added, who was suddenly next to them. Cloud, Tifa, Barret, Cait Sith, Cid, and Red XIII were gathered in front of Wall Market.
"Yuffie and Vincent said they’d meet us in Rocket Town in a little over three hours from now," Red informed them, "I suggest we find Waylon’s hideout quickly."
As if on cue, Reno, Rude, Elena, and Reeve stepped out from around the corner and bumped into Cloud. Reno and Cloud stared eye to eye with each other for a few seconds before both said anything.
"YOU!" Cloud and Reno said at the same time. Reno quickly unholstered his gun and stepped back. He grabbed Reeve and put the gun to Reeve’s head.
"Don’t move, or you’ll be cleaning your buddy’s brains off the ground!" Rude pulled out his gun, and pointed it at Cloud. Barret aimed his gun at Rude.
"Stop it!" Cloud called out, "Now Reno, you have something we want, and I have something you want."
"Ha!" Reno said, "We already know the location of Waylon’s hideout, if that’s what you’re talking about."
"No," Cloud responded, "I’m talking about Waylon’s plan."
"Why should I care? The Neo-Midgar plan has been restarted, and soon no one will question Shinra’s authority!"
"Neo-Midgar?" Cloud asked in astonishment, "Where?"
"I’ve told you too much already. Now, out of my way! We have an appointment with Rufus!" Reno pushed his way past them, still holding his gun to Reeve’s head. Elena and Rude followed.
Suddenly, Cloud grabbed Rude and put his hand over the Turk’s mouth. Tifa did the same with Elena. Cid snuck up behind Reno and sweep-kicked him. Reno fell to the ground, and his gun flew out of his hand. Reeve quickly grabbed the gun and pointed it at Reno.
"Who’s in charge now?" Reeve said with a smile.
From behind, a Shinra attack squad entered Wall Market, and were suddenly confused.
"Where did these guys come from?" Cloud shouted out.
"They’re our back-up," Reno said from the ground. He quickly got up as the attack squad opened fire on Avalanche. Cloud and Tifa let go of the other two Turks, and quickly dove for cover. The other members of Avalanche quickly did the same.
"Well, we’re in a mess now!" Reeve said.
"Maybe not," Barret said, "I got a plan. Everybody quickly run for the inn. We can hold out there. On the count of three. One, two…three!"
The Avalanchers bolted towards the inn. The attack squad, under the command of Reno, opened fire. Bullets flew everywhere as the Avalanchers ran towards the inn. Red, having four legs, made it there first. Cait Sith was the last one to enter the inn. As he was coming in, a bullet struck him in the leg. His mechanical joint spat out sparks, and Cait’s leg gave out from under him.
"Barret!" Cloud called out, "Help me get him inside!" Cloud and Barret grabbed on to Cait and pulled him into the inn. Reeve came over to look at Cait.
"His left knee joint is badly damaged," Reeve stated, "I won’t be able to repair it here. He won’t be much of help to us in this condition. If we hide him somewhere in this inn, we should be able to come back and repair him eventually."
"Okay, we’ll have to do that," Cloud said. Cloud, Reeve and Barret picked up the damaged Cait Sith and started to walk into one of the rooms.
"Let’s hide him in that closet over there," Reeve said. Cloud and Barret agreed. They opened to door, and gently set Cait Sith down inside.
"Don’t worry, old buddy," Reeve said to Cait, "We’ll come back for you." Then, he turned and exited the room. Barret and Cloud followed.
"Well, we’re still stuck here," Tifa said, "Any ideas would be greatly appreciated."
Everyone was silent.
"Well, I’m not about to just sit here and wait for the Shinra troops to come and get us!" Tifa stomped her foot on the ground. "We have to find a way out."
"Head’s up guys," Barret called, "The squad troops are closing in. That’s twelve troops. I’ll try to pick them off."
"Hey," Reeve said, "I’ve still got Reno’s gun. I could help you out." Reeve took up a position next to Barret besides the window.
"Now!" Barret said.
Reeve and Barret opened fire on the attack squad from the window. Barret took down three soldiers right off the bat. Reeve, who wasn’t incredibly skillful with weapons, fired off some shots, but only scored one hit. Bullets ricocheted all around the window, and Reeve and Barret ducked back down inside.
"Okay, that should hold them off for a little while," Barret said, "But we can’t hold them off forever."
"I’ve got an idea!" Tifa said, "Behind this inn in underbrush, and then the Sector 7 wall, right?"
"Yeah," Barret said.
"Well, when Sector 7 was destroyed, that wall was probably damaged. Barret, you could probably blast through that wall with ease!"
"But Sector 7 is dangerous," Barret warned, "We might not find out way out of there."
"She’s right, Barret," Cloud said, "That’s our only shot."
Barret sighed. "Fine," he said with reluctance.
"All right," Tifa said, "Let’s move out!" They moved into the back room. Cloud, Tifa, and Cid pried the floorboards up. Red stepped in and began to dig in the earth. With his four paws, and digging was done pretty quickly.
Once the reached the outside, they made their way through numerous thorn bushes and poison ivy. Cloud slashed down much of it with his sword, but it was still an uncomfortable walk. Finally, they reached the Sector 7 wall.
"Okay," Tifa said, "Look around for a soft spot." They all began to run their fingers, or paws in Red XIII’s case, along the Sector 7 wall. Cid found a spot that was dented in sharply. He pushed on it, and it gave a little.
"Over here!" he called, "I found a soft spot."
The Avalanchers walked over to spot. Barret motioned for everyone to stand back. He opened fire on the wall, and it started to crumble. Barret stopped shooting and kicked at the wall with his foot. The metal shrieked as it was torn apart by Barret’s foot. Barret had torn an opening about two feet across and four feet high.
"Let’s go!" Barret was the first to go through the opening. He was followed by Cid, and then Reeve.
"You want to go first?" Tifa asked Cloud.
"No, you go," Cloud responded.
"Suit yourself," Tifa said as she slipped through the opening.
Cloud turned around to look back at the inn. Suddenly, a bullet struck the wall just above his head. He looked up and saw Reno shooting at him from a window on the second floor of the inn. Cloud quickly ducked into the opening..
* * *
"Sir, should we follow them?"
Reno turned and saw a soldier standing next to him on the second floor of the inn.
"No, let them go," he responded, "They just entered Sector 7. They won’t survive for long in there, and I can almost guarantee that they won’t find a way out."
"Very well," the soldier said. He turned and left the room.
Reno gazed silently at the hole the Avalanchers went through, and smiled.
* * *
"Well, how do we get out of here?" Cloud said.
"We should head right the gate that connects Sector 6 to Sector 7," Barret answered.
Sector 7 was a mess. There were scraps of metal all over the ground, and the Sector 7 plate that President Shinra dropped hung only about fifteen feet above the ground. Mounds of dirt and shrapnel held the plate steadily above the ground. But, everything in Sector 7 was destroyed.
The Avalanchers began to walk towards the gate. Cloud spotted the remains of the old train station, and chunks of the huge pillar that had been destroyed by Reno to cause the plate to fall.
Barret didn’t like seeing Sector 7 again at all. He had lost so many friends here. Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie’s bodies were all probably still down here. It was something Barret didn’t want to think about. And if it weren’t for Aeris, Barret’s own daughter, Marlene, would’ve been killed when the plate fell..
"This way," Barret said, "The gate can’t be more than a few hundred yards away from here." They continued to make their way across all the debris in front of them. Many of them were cut up pretty badly from the sharp metal edges of debris that protruded from every angle. Finally, they saw the door of gate. The doors were leaning back against the wall in an open position, but debris covered the entrance of the gate. But that was the least of their worries. Also sitting in front of the gate were atleast six wolf-like creatures.
"Well, now what do we do?" Cid asked.
"Well, there’s five of us and six of them," Barret said, "I think we can take them."
The Avalanchers approached the gate. The creatures eyed them carefully as they approached the gate. The creatures were gray, with a dark black color around their paws. They had large eyes, which were obviously very goo for seeing in the little light which reached Sector 7. They were bigger than any wolves the Avalanchers had ever seen before. They were about four feet tall and about six feet long. One of the creatures snarled, revealing large, sharp teeth.
"These guys don’t look like they’re here to play," Barret said. Beside him, Cloud reached behind his back and pulled out his sword. Cid saw, and did the same with his spear. Reeve brought his gun up, and Tifa readied her fists.
"Get goin’!" Barret yelled out to the creatures. They gave him a curious look, but made no indication of moving. Barret waved his gun at them and shouted loudly:
"Move it! Get outta here!"
The creatures didn’t budge.
"This may get ugly," Barret whispered to Cloud. Barret aimed his gun and fired into the debris below the creatures. The creatures jumped back, but then took a few steps forward and snarled, showing off their large, sharp teeth.
"I don’t think that was very wise," Red XIII said.
The creatures began to slowly move forward. Barret fired at one of them. He hit it, and it shrieked loudly. The other creatures charged forward now. One creature pounced directly at Cloud. Cloud easily stepped back, and swung his sword at the creature. It shrieked as the sword cut into its side. The creature backed off a little.
The creature Barret had shot earlier pounced and hit Barret from behind. Barret fell to the ground. The creature prepared to leap in for the kill, when it was struck in the head with a well-placed bullet.
"I guess I’m a better shot than I thought," Reeve said, "You owe me one, Barret." Reeve turned his attention back to the five remaining creatures.
Two creatures charged at Tifa. Tifa dropped to the ground and swept one of the creatures off its feet with a sweep kick. The other creature avoided Tifa’s kick. Tifa jumped back up and delivered a solid punch to the creature’s head. The other creature leaped at Tifa from behind and landed on top of her. The creature sunk its teeth into her arm. Tifa cried out in pain, but used her other arm to grab to the creature by the neck, and throw it off her. The creature prepared to jump right back on Tifa when spear suddenly shot through the creature. The creature let out a death shriek, and lied on the ground unmoving.
"Thanks Cid!" Tifa called out to him. Cid looked at her and nodded, but then turned his attention back to the battle.
There were four creatures left, and one was badly injured from Cloud’s sword. The three uninjured creatures formed a circle around the Avalanchers. They now seemed to be forming some sort of organized attack. The creatures slowly moved in at all sides. Barret and Reeve suddenly unloaded at two of the creatures. Reeve fired four shots into one of the creatures before his gun ran out of ammunition. Luckily, four shots killed the creature.
Barret started unloading all the firepower he had left on a creature. The creature was hit several times, and went down.
The remaining creature surveyed the scene and then ran off screaming. The one injured creature limped after him, but let off the same scream.
"They must be callin’ for reinforcements!" Barret said. He quickly ran up to the debris at the gate and began throwing it aside. Soon the rest of the team was doing the same.
After about fifteen minutes of digging, they had made a small hole, which they could fit through. They began to file out one by one, with Barret going out last. Just as Barret was about to enter through the hole, about twenty of the wolf-like creatures showed up. Barret quickly grab a huge piece of debris. He slid through the hole and put the heavy piece of metal on top of the opening. He heard the creatures shriek, but they couldn’t get through.
"Well," Red said once they were all outside, "I suppose now we go back to Rocket Town."
"Sounds good to me!" Cid said, "Vincent and Yuffie are probably already there. We’ll get some rest, and then tackle the North Cave in the morning."
They began to walk to the gates of Midgar.
.