Obsidian Fire's FFVII FanFiction

[Obsidian Fire]

O_O We have a fan creations forum? Why did I not notice this before?

Anyway, here is my fanfiction.net profile --->http://www.fanfiction.net/u/2001529/Obsidian_Fire

My main FFVII story is The Shadow Level. This is an AU suspense story that went AU a long time before the Compilation starts. Instead of starting it at the point it goes AU, I decided to start it midway through Crisis Core at the point it goes AU for Zack which is in Chapter 4 during the Genesis attack. Until this point, the AU hasn't affected Zack at all. Expect quite a bit of OOC at first until some background has been flushed out. Pairings are ZackxAerith and CloudxTifa.

Affects of the AU include a Turk Cloud who uses a gun and might know something about Jenova, an Aerith who is perfectly fine with the Turks hanging around the church and who knows Zack's PHS number even when he didn't get the chance to give it to her, and a Turk Departmet that hates the Science Departmet (something about a Turk being experimented on, and not being MIA) and would not mind it if Genesis succeeded in killing certain scientists.

Here is the prologue. The rest of the chapters are much longer and have more notes; I won't be posting them here. (For that matter, are we allowed to post the actual FanFiction here or just the links? If we're not, I'll take the next part out.)


The Shadow Level

Prologue
The Newest Turk


Finally, Zack thought as he entered Sector 8. It had been a long night and Zack was tired. Being told your mentor was going to be assassinated was bad enough; having to fight off an attack most likely caused by your mentor was even worse.

Unfortunately for him, there were Genesis-copies in the plaza he just entered. They were heading towards a guy who looked a couple of years younger than Zack. Zack ran across the plaza and started to draw his sword only to have an EMR block his path. He skidded to a stop and looked over to see Reno blocking his way.

Reno removed his EMR from Zack's path and smirked. "Sector 8 is the Turk's turf," he said, as if it explained everything.

Zack turned around to see where the guy was, only to find himself surrounded by Rude and Tseng. "You've got to be kidding me." He knew Turks were heartless, but still... "Tseng, do something."

Rude pushed his sunglasses further up his nose and smiled at Zack. "There's no reason to worry about the kid."

"But-" Zack turned just in time to see the guy turn around and shoot both Genesis-copies in the heart. He had never seen anyone shoot a gun that fast. "Wow," he said.

"Indeed," Tseng said before he turned to Reno and Rude. "How are the other areas?" he asked them.

Reno snorted. "Monsters are crawling all over Midgar."

"And even SOLDIERs are having difficulties," Rude finished for him and glanced at Zack.

Tseng nodded in understanding. "Take care of it." The two Turks nodded and ran off.

"So," Zack looked at Tseng, "even Turks are on the job?"

"SOLDIER's being stingy with it's manpower, that's why," an unfamiliar voice answered.

"Come on, we're pretty short handed right now." Zack stopped when he realized it was not Tseng he was talking to. He looked to his side and realized it was the guy who had shot the Genesis-copies. The boy had very spiky long blond hair tied back in a low ponytail and pale skin. A pair of sleek sunglasses prevented Zack from seeing his eyes. He wore jeans, gloves, and a black leather trench coat . Zack could see no sign of a gun anywhere on him. What struck Zack the most about him was his age; he looked at least two years younger then Zack was.

Zack ran how Reno and Rude had acted through his head as well as the kid's skill with a gun and it finally hit him. "Wait, you're a Turk too?" He looked at the kid in amazement.

The kid nodded. "Yep. The name's Cloud."

"I'm SOLDIER's Zack." He held out a hand and they shook. "Hey, how old are you?" he asked.

Before Cloud could answer, Tseng interrupted. "Zack, aren't you in the middle of a mission?" Cloud snorted.

Zack's mind raced. "Come on Tseng, our goals are the same. Can I help around here?"

The Turk shook his head. "Thanks, but no than-"

"Oh, he can help," Cloud interrupted. "That is if he can reach the copies before I do." He took his gun out of his coat and flipped it through the air before catching it and turned away. "Tseng. Zack. See you later. Oh Zack," he turned and looked back at the SOLDIER. "If you really want to know, I turn fifteen in August. See you round." He walked away down the street.

Zack stared at his retreating back and turned to Tseng. "He's young, isn't he?"

Tseng nodded. "Yes, but we haven't seen anyone with his skill with a gun come through the Turks in decades. Now go."

Zack nodded and ran off.

-----------------------------

Fortunately, the next couple of monsters Zack ran into were just mecha; a few sword swipes here and the use of a Bolt materia there sliced through them with ease. The problem started when he almost crashed into another Genesis-copy. It looked a lot more like Genesis did than any other copy he had come across and it was clearly at a higher level than the rest. It was also heavily bleeding from bullet wounds. The most surprising thing about it was the large black wing jutting out from its left shoulder.

Right when the copy was about to fly off, Zack slashed at it and succeeded in knocking it out. He stared in awe at the wing. Footsteps approached him and Zack looked up to see Cloud.

Cloud looked down at the copy and then looked at Zack. "To me, wings always symbolized freedom. To be able fly away and leave my past behind..." He looked off in the distance. "I wanted them until I learned your past never really leaves you."

Zack stared at him. How can he think that when Genesis and Angeal have thrown everything they had away? "You should know that humans with wings are monsters; we just fought a monster." He pointed at the Genesis-copy and shook his head in disbelief.

Cloud stiffened. "You're wrong," he said with conviction.

His denial startled Zack. "What do you mean?"

Cloud gave Zack a piercing glare through his sunglasses and said, "I would think you of all people would know that being a monster has everything to do with actions and nothing to do with appearances." He gave Zack one final nod and walked off, leaving silence in his wake.

Zack stared at his retreating back until his phone rang. After answering it, he began racing to the Sector 5 Reactor. Angeal, I hope we don't have to kill you, he thought.

End Chapter

Hope you liked it! The actual Chapter 1 can be found here ---> http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6103038/2/The_Shadow_Level

 

[Obsidian Fire]

New Oneshot: The Nature of Thy Enemy

I was watching the Nibelheim Incedent again and I noticed that when Genesis reveals himself to Sephiroth in the reactor, he comes at him from the interior of the reactor. That got me wondering what Genesis was doing in the Nibelhiem reactor in the first place and the next thing I knew, I was writing a oneshot.

Here it is on fanfiction.net for those of you who like that style --->http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6481363/1/The_Nature_of_Thy_Enemy Incidentally, it also includes more notes.

And for those who don't want to bother with the link it's here below.


The Nature of Thy Enemy

On a dead, moonless night, the gates of Shinra Manor creaked open to let a tall man through. He had brown shoulder-length hair that had white streaks running through it and wore a red trench-coat made out of leather. His most striking feature was the large, double-jointed black wing that sprouted from his shoulder.

He approached the manor and boldly opened the door. Once inside the house, the man made a thorough search of every room. In one of the rooms on the second floor, he found what he sought. A part of the fireplace slid aside when he touched it, revealing the entrance to the cave system below Shinra Manor. With a gleam in his eye, the man walked into the cavern.

-----------------------------

Genesis Rapsados hungrily drank in everything he saw as he explored the maze of labs beneath Shinra Manor. So, he thought, Hollander was right. Project S could have been developed here. During one of his many grillings by Genesis, Hollander had let it slip that while he had been finishing up with Project G in Banora; Hojo had begun developing Projects S. The rumors around the Science Department had said he was developing it in Nibelheim. Genesis mentally smirked. I have been extremely fortunate that all of Shin-Ra's scientists like to talk. If they didn't, I wouldn’t know half of what I know. Given he would have gone to Nibelheim anyway to check out the mako reactor there, Genesis decided to go to Nibelheim ahead of schedule. On the off-chance Project S had not been developed there, the trip would not be a complete loss.

After he had been searching for several hours, Genesis turned a corner and smiled at what he saw; he had found what was obviously the library. He ran his fingers over the dusty spines and smiled when he found what he had been looking for all this time. “Jenova,” he breathed as he read the title of the report. Genesis pulled out the book and began to read.

-----------------------------

A week later found Genesis in the library, his mind reeling from the information he had read. The single thing that concerned him the most was who, or rather what, Jenova was. He had heard Sephiroth mention at least once that his mother had been called Jenova and that she had died when he was born. To learn Jenova had been excavated from a 2,000-year-old rock layer and had been clearly sentient at the timeshook Genesis to the core. He was sure Sephiroth did not know this.

It only got worse when Genesis found out what Jenova supposedly was. According to the books in the library, Jenova was a Cetra. Genesis knew what a Cetra was. Everybody did. Legends were told about them and about their connection to the Planet, but nobody believed the Cetra actually existed, or if the Cetra did exist, they believed had died out long ago. Genesis frowned at that. He distinctly remembered Hojo referring to Jenova as a disaster that came from the sky in front of Angeal's puppy. From what Hollander had told him, Hojo always knew what he was working with. So, he thought, which is it?

Whatever Jenova was, it was clear what her abilities were. She was a two-way genetic conduit; a being capable of copying her own genes over other being's genes as well as taking other being's genes into herself and mimicking them. In addition to that, her cells were also extremely difficult to kill. Shin-Ra had dared to try to produce a copy of her, the goal of the so-called Jenova Project.

Even though it was not mentioned in the library, Genesis knew Project Jenova had been split by two scientists who each had their own theory regarding making copies. The project that had produced him and Angeal was called Project Gillian, named after the woman who became Angeal's mother and the primary source of his genetic material. It was headed by Hollander and its goal was to genetically engineer copies from before birth. It had failed, Or at least, that's what was everyone thought. The project that had produced Sephiroth was named Project Sephiroth after him. It was headed by Hojo and Genesis had now uncovered what its goal had been. Its goal was to transform normal people into copies. Given that the process of producing SOLDIERs was clearly a simplified version of the process that had produced Sephiroth, it was obvious which side of the Jenova Project had been considered a success by Shin-Ra.

Genesis looked at the file in his hand. Inside of it was the information he had been looking for for so long, Jenova's location. Genesis put the file back where he had found it and made his way out of the labs. It was time to go to the reactor. Genesis knew he would find all the answers there.

-----------------------------

Genesis made his way up Mt. Nibel and marveled at the number of mako pools and fountains by the trail. The only place he had seen more mako come naturally to the surface was in the Banora Underground. It's probably why the reactor was built all the way out here in the first place. What is that? Genesis shook his head. There was an unpleasant buzz in his ear that sounded almost like murmuring and Genesis thought it was getting louder and more distinct as he approached the reactor.

When Genesis reached the reactor he slowly opened the door and looked around the interior of the reactor with unbridled curiosity. It was like no reactor he had ever seen before. Lined up in ascending rows were old mako tubes. They lead up to a door at the far end of the reactor. Chiseled into the stone above the door was the name JENOVA.

Before he went up to Jenova, Genesis looked into the mako tubes. Floating in them were experiments. They had obviously been human at one point, but the experiments Hojo had performed on them had turned them into monsters. Genesis gave the experiments a rare look of pity. It was a fate he would never wish on anyone. Satisfied they had been put out of their misery long ago, Genesis slowly walked up the steps towards the Jenova chamber. As he approached it the murmuring grew louder, clearer.

When Genesis touched the door of the Jenova chamber, the murmuring sharpened into an actual voice.
It was a woman's voice, rich, deep, and full of knowledge and longing. It was like no voice Genesis had ever heard, it echoed through his mind and body and begged Genesis to listen to it. “Come to me, Genesis,” it said to him. “Come to me, my child. I have waited long to meet you.”

Genesis jerked his hand away from the door. It had always been that the Cetra were only capable of mentally listening to the Planet. For a Cetra to be mentally speaking out... Something isn't right here. Genesis leaned against the wall next to the door. He would not go into the Jenova chamber, not without knowing everything he could about what, or rather who, was on the other side. “Are you Jenova?” he finally asked.

“Yes,” the voice, Jenova's voice Genesis realized, purred. There was silence for a moment. “What has finally brought you here?”

“The degradation,” Genesis answered. “I have heard that your cells might be able to cure it.”

“Degradation?” Uncertainty accompanied Jenova’s voice. “What is that?”

Genesis frowned. “It is what sometimes happens when those who have been exposed to your cells copy their own genes over other being’s genes.”

“Ah, is that what happens when you copy your own traits over others?” There was a pause. “Does anyone else have the ability to copy their traits?”

Not knowing where she was going with this, Genesis answered, “No, I am the only one with this ability.”

“Not even Sephiroth has this ability?” Fierce curiosity ran through her voice.

How does she know about Sephiroth? I never told her about him. “No,” Genesis slowly answered, “but he doesn’t suffer from degradation either.”

“That is good.” Jenova laughed. “As for how I knew about Sephiroth, I have always had the ability to see into the minds of people around me. Unfortunately,” her tone changed to one or resentment, “that ability is now but a shadow of itself. I can hardly sense anything but a vague idea now and then.”

Genesis stiffened at that. Reading people’s minds was not something the Cetra were supposed to be able to do either. He raised an eyebrow in annoyance. This was getting him nowhere. It was time to be direct. “Are you a Cetra?” he asked and looked for a reaction.

Jenova's reaction was swift, furious and gave Genesis all the information he wanted and more. “DAMNED RACE—LIKE I COULD BE ONE OF THEM—WOULD HAVE TAKEN THIS PLANET IF NOT FOR THEM—IMPRISONED ME—WOULD STILL BE TRAPPED IF GAST HAD NOT FOUND ME—STILL IMPRISONED IN THIS BODY BECAUSE OF WHAT THEY DID—CAN NOT USE MY ABILLITES BECAUSE OF THEM—STOPPED MY JOURNY THOUGH THE STARS—WILL DIE BECAUES OF THEM—CURSE THEM!!!”

Genesis sank to the floor at Jenova's outburst. She echoed through his head and drowned out his own thoughts. Genesis gritted his teeth. “If... you... are not a... Cetra... What... are you?” He finally got out.

“I have never called myself anything but a queen. BUT THE CETRA NEVER RECONIZED ME AS ONE EVEN AS I SLEW THEM FOR THEIR INSOLENCE!!!” Jenova's retched laughter rang out. “The disaster that came from the sky. That is what the Cetra called me. I did come from the sky and I longed to use this planet as a vessel to travel through the stars again.” She laughed again. “I would have to if the Cetra hadn't blocked my control of my body and imprisoned me in solid rock. Now my copying abilities only work when my cells are mixed with mako and even then I cannot control what they do. If only they could have worked when Gast found me...” Jenova trailed off and her tone changed from one of rage into one of affection and persuasion. “Genesis, listen to me. This planet has finished me and I will never travel through the stars again. But you, you and Sephiroth are my heirs. I could teach you how to control your abilities and my body so that you will be able to use my body and it's abilities to take revenge on this planet for what it has reduced us to. You yourself want revenge on this planet for making you a mons-”

“No!” Genesis screamed. Jenova’s presence was crashing down on him, filling his head with thoughts of destroying the Planet and riding its remains through the stars only to do it again at each planet he found. His mind cast about for Loveless, the one thing he could think of that could have nothing to do with Jenova.「Your desire, the Goddess’s Gift, shall foster a life,」he remembered. It gave him a brief moment without Jenova’s presence in his mind and in that time he left the reactor.

Outside the reactor, Jenova was still able to talk to him, but she was much easier to ignore. There, Genesis slowly processed all the information he had learned from Jenova. Jenova is not from this world and her sole reason for coming here was to destroy it. She tried to wipe out the Cetra, but they somehow forced her into a comatose state. Genesis frowned. She would have stayed in that comatose state if Shin-Ra had not dug her up. And now she has a chance to destroy this world again if she can get me or Sephiroth on her side. Genesis shook his head. His mind was his own. He had become entangled in Shin-Ra’s way of thinking and it had required his world being shattered for his mind to become his own again. He was not going to become entangled in Jenova’s. Neither would Sephiroth if he had anything to say about it. “Jenova?” he ventured, wondering if she could hear him from this range.

“Yes, Genesis. Will you join me?” Jenova’s voice dripped with tempting honey.

“No,” Genesis affirmed.

“That may be, but Sephiroth will come to me.” Jenova laughed. “And I have you to thank for showing me the way I will get him to come to me.”

“He will not. I assure you that.” How he would, Genesis did not yet know.

“We will see about that.” Jenova challenged.

Genesis mentally accepted the challenge and flew out and away from Jenova.

-----------------------------

On the side of a mountain outside Nibelheim, Genesis stared out across the village. His gaze flicked from the Shinra Manor to the reactor on the summit of Mt. Nibel. Here, with Nibelheim between him and the reactor, he was far enough away from Jenova that her voice was barely, if at all, noticeable. It was quiet enough for him to plan his next move.

Jenova was a being on a completely different level than anything Genesis had seen. Before he met her, he had wanted to destroy anyone who got in the way of his search for a cure for his degradation. A cure that he thought had been her cells. Now, Jenova was the largest obstacle in his way. Her cells were the ultimate source of his degradation. While it was true that Shin-Ra had played god with his life, they had also played god with Sephiroth’s life and he did not suffer from degradation. Shin-Ra was an annoyance, nothing more. Sephiroth was not an obstacle either, In fact, Genesis thought, he might be my salvation. Jenova’s cells were clearly not the cure, but Sephiroth’s cells could be. After all, his cells have some of Jenova’s aspects as well, but they do not degrade. It might work.

For now, that was enough. Of more importance was Jenova’s ability to talk to her “heirs”. If she can talk to me and I have only her genes and some of her cells, she will be able to talk to Sephiroth all the more easier. Genesis was under no illusion that Sephiroth had more of Jenova’s cells in him then he did. More worrisome was the fact that Sephiroth did not know about his creation. It will be all the easier for Jenova to persuade him to listen to her because he thinks she is his mother.

Genesis frowned. If Jenova did get Sephiroth on her side and taught him how to control his abilities and her body it could easily be the end of the world as Genesis knew it. What frightened him was how easily Jenova could get Sephiroth on her side. Jenova’s attempt to persuade Genesis to join her had ultimately failed because Genesis knew enough to know the difference between what a Cetra was supposed to be able to do and what Jenova was able to do. It was what had led him to ask if she was really a Cetra or not. Sephiroth had no such knowledge. In fact he had never been told what Jenova was, Or at least, he has always implied that she was nothing more than a normal human. If Sephiroth found out that it was originally thought that Jenova was a Cetra, he would have no reason to think otherwise.

Genesis looked over at the reactor. He knew that Sephiroth would eventually come here. With all that had been revealed about his and Angeal’s origins Sephiroth would be wondering about his own. And Sephiroth’s origins lead to only one place, Nibelheim. Genesis’ eyes hardened. He would wait until Sephiroth came here. If, at that time, Sephiroth did not know who and what Jenova was, Genesis would tell him and hope that the truth of Sephiroth’s origins would be enough reason for Sephiroth to not follow Jenova’s voice. Decision made, Genesis made his way back to the reactor and Jenova’s crushing influence.

-----------------------------

Several weeks later found Genesis watching over Nibelheim as it burned.「It is your fate. Your dreams and pride are no more.」Alas that the truth was not enough to break her hold on you, Sephiroth. Jenova's laughter cut through his mind and Genesis turned to look at the reactor.

“Ah! A loyal son! The Lifestream! I win, Genesis!” Jenova proclaimed.

Genesis closed his eyes and bowed his head. For all purposes, Sephiroth, his last friend and possible salvation, was dead. Resigned to his fate, Genesis took to the sky.

End

Thank you for reading.

 

[Mariketsu]

Wow, I love your one-shot . You got great grammar and it flows nicely, cool ^^.

~ Raz

 

[Obsidian Fire]

New Series: Never Sacrifice Yourself

This is the first chapter in a new series of oneshots/drabbles that tell FFVII (the original game) from the Turks point of view. It's not necessarily a novelization as I'm sticking to the incidents where the Turks and AVALANCHE run into each other. This will happen a lot more often then it does in the game because I'm considering Before Crisis as canon so I'll also include all the other Turks from there. I will probably add in some behind the scenes chapters to make the plot run more smoothly.

Enjoy!
________________________________________________________________

Chapter 1
You're Still Alive!?!

Reno sighed as he walked down the junk-lined paths of the Sector 5 Slums. I really don't want to be here. But... he glanced over at the three troopers flanking him. When Tseng had informed him that Heidegger had given Reno three troopers for the job, the look on his face had said it all; the troopers were there not so much for Reno to use, but to make sure he followed his mission out to the letter. Reno winced. Me, Rude and Tseng don't have any chances left. And the President wants to make sure we know that. At least the Chief and the others got out fine. Reno couldn't stop himself from grinning at that. Nobody left Shin-Ra and got away with it. Nobody but the Turks that was. To bad the three of us had to stay behind to make sure nobody in Shin-Ra thought anything different, but hey! It was totally worth it.

Reno's good mood was ruined when the spire of the Sector 5 Church blocked out the florescent lighting. Sorry Aerith, he mentally apologized, I hate to do this to you, but it was either me or Tseng and I couldn't let Tseng screw this mission up because of past feelings. He stopped before the door of the church and looked back at the troopers. “Stay out here until I signal, 'kay?” Without giving the troopers a chance to answer, Reno walked into the church. The first thing he heard was voices.

“Me? I do a little bit of everything,” said a male voice. It sounded young.

“Oh, a jack of all trades?” Aerith clarified. Reno grinned and leaned on the back pew. Aerith was clearly flirting.

“Yeah, I do whatever's needed,” said the guy. Aerith laughed. “What's so funny? What are you laughing at?” the guy protested. Reno looked at him. The guy looked familiar. The guy had impossibly spiky blond hair and was wearing the uniform of a SOLDIER 1st Class and on his back... Reno gulped. On his back was the one and only Buster Sword. How the hell did he get that? Reno wondered. Zack Fair was the last person to have the Buster Sword and he had died in the Midgar Wastelands. The Buster Sword should be with his body. For another guy to have it... This is not good.

“Sorry...” Aerith made out. “I just...” She noticed Reno for the first time and she and the guy turned to face Reno. Reno saw the guy's face and felt liked he had been punched in the stomach. “Sorry bad timing on my part,” Aerith whispered.

Definitely, most definitely, Reno thought. What the hell are you doing here Cloud Strife? And without mako poisoning to boot? If you made it, why didn't Zack... Right, Zack... Reno sighed. None of the Turks got it, but they all knew Zack protected those weaker then himself. Why am I not surprised you pulled something like this?

Cloud started walking towards him and Reno tensed. He was under no illusion he could win. Great, he thought, just great. Not only am I facing off with the kid who beat Sephiroth, but now he's been experimented on for four years. He's probably stronger then ever. He readied his Pyramid spell just in case a fight broke out. Fortunately, Aerith interrupted before anything could happen. “Cloud!” she called. “Don't let him get to you.”

Cloud looked at Aerith and shrugged before walking back to her. “Say, Cloud?” Aerith asked. “Have you ever been a bodyguard? You DO do everything, right?” For his own sake, Reno hoped Cloud would say no.

Cloud scratched the back of his head in a Zack-like manner. “Yeah, that's right.” Reno did not like where this was going. Aerith's next words confirmed it.

“Then get me out of here,” she told Cloud. “Take me home.” Reno grimaced. Damn. Now he was going to have to go through Strife. Not a pleasant thought. Unless... Reno internally grinned. Strife would be the perfect excuse to not complete the mission. Now if I can just get the troopers to blindly cooperate...

“Okay,” Cloud agreed, “I'll do it... but it'll cost you.”

“Well then, let's see...” Aerith was in full on flirting mode. Reno wondered how she could do that when she knew he was there for her. “How about if I go out with you once?”

Cloud nodded and turned to Reno. Reno smirked and walked down the aisle. He stopped in the middle of the church “I don't know who you are,” Cloud began “but...” He stopped mid-sentance and slowly shook his head. “You don't know me...?” he faintly asked. He looked confused and seemed to be looking at something far away. After a moment he nodded his head and looked right at Reno. “Oh yeah... I know you.” He boldly waked a few steps forward and Reno got a good look at his face for the first time. “That uniform...”

Reno's eyes narrowed. Looks like the mako poisoning isn't completely gone yet, Strife. Knew you couldn't be completely recovered yet. Good, you won't be at full capacity if we have to fight. The door burst open and the three troopers ran in. The skidded to a halt behind Reno. Right on time, he thought.

“Hey sis, this one's a little weird,” one of the troopers called.

“Shut up you Shin-Ra spy,”Cloud shouted. The church fell silent.

Reno mentally laughed at Cloud's denial. Except you are Strife, he thought. You only beat Sephiroth with no enhancements and survived four years of Hojo's experimentation and recovered from the worst case of mako poisoning Cissnei's seen in less then a month. You're nothing but weird.

“Reno, want him taken out?” The trooper asked.

Reno shook himself and gave the trooper a glare. “I haven't decided yet.” Uh, no, we're not. That'd be suicide.

Suddenly Aerith yelled out, “Don't fight here! You'll ruin the flowers!” before running to the door in the back of the church. Cloud followed her.

The troopers burst out laughing and Reno walked right through Aerith's flowers to the back door. He stopped when he realized something. “They were... mako eyes,” he said to himself. It conformed what he had already guessed; Cloud Strife had been exposed to enough mako in the experiments to be considered a SOLDIER 1st Class. When he didn't sense anyone following him he turned around to find the troopers were still laughing. “Yeah, all right,” he ordered. “Back to work, back to work.” He turned from them and walked to the back door. Right before he went through it he turned around. “Oh, and... don't step on the flowers...” He smirked at them and went through the door, laughing off the troopers comments.

The tower in the back of the church was old, half-rotted and had an upside-down rocket rusting in the middle of it. It took a moment for Reno to find Cloud and Aerith and ginned when he saw them trapped on a second-story ledge. Perfect. Couldn't have planned it better myself. “There they are, over there!” He pointed to them.

“That guy!” Aerith shouted when she saw them. She and Cloud talked quietly for a few minutes and then Cloud jumped over the rocket onto another ledge.

“Aerith,” Cloud called. “This way.”

Aerith walked up the the edge and shook her head. Reno didn't get why she didn't jump; it wasn't that far. Nervous, eh? Let's see if we can wake you up to your situation. Reno grinned.

“All right, I'll hold them off.” Cloud sounded almost board. Reno glanced at the troopers behind him. Now why do I get the feeling that you guys are the type that don't think about orders and have really bad aim?

Aerith nodded. “Right. Make sure they don't get through!”

Sure that Cloud wouldn't let Aerith get hurt and dying to see exactly how bad the troopers aim was, Reno ordered, “The Ancient is getting away! Attack! Attack! Attack!” Living up to their stereotype, the troopers shot at her and missed. Instead of jumping over the rocket like Reno thought she would, Aerith lost her footing on the ledge and slid down the rocket into the church basement.

“Aerith!” Cloud screamed.

Reno turned to the troopers and shrugged. At least they could now report that he had tried to stop her from escaping and succeed. “Think we killed 'em?” he bragged. “Shouldn't have even put up a fight!” The troopers grinned at him and raced down to the basement. Reno stayed on the ground floor.

“Cloud, help!” Aerith screamed as one of the troopers approached her. Reno wondered how Cloud would respond.

“Aerith! Hold on a minute!” Cloud called as he raced up a ladder to the beams. Reno looked up to see Cloud standing next to a barrel. What is he doing? A few minutes later, a barrel fell down from the ceiling and flattened the trooper. Well, he definitely gets points for originality, Reno thought. I'm definitely not getting involved.

Less then five minutes later, the other two troopers had also been flattened by barrels and Cloud and Aerith had escaped through the hole in the church roof. Reno leaned against one of the church walls and smirked. Now that there was no one there to watch him, he had no reason to go after Aerith. If anyone asked why, he would have the perfect excuse. No one in their right mind went after a SOLDIER 1st Class without SOLDIERs as backup. However, Tseng had to know what actually happened.

He pulled out his PHS and called Tseng.

“Tseng speaking,” the smooth voice rolled out.

“Hey, is this a good time to talk about, you know, stuff?” Reno quickly asked. He hoped none of the executives were around.

There was a pause at the other end. “If by 'stuff' you mean certain events we don't know about then yes, we can.”

Reno gave a sigh of relief. “All right. You know how I was supposed to bring in Aerith today?”

“Yes.” The voice was carefully controlled.

“Well, I didn't. When I got there, there was someone else with her and you'll never believe who.”

“Reno...” There was a light threat behind the voice.

“Okay boss,” Reno instantly sobered. “It was Cloud Strife.”

“Are you sure?” Tseng quickly asked.

“Positive. He had hair like a chocobo and the Buster Sword on his back. And he was a little off, but that can wait 'til later.

“What are you going to tell the executives?”

Reno shrugged. “Rouge SOLDEIR with a inconvenient sense of honour, should be believable as more and more of them are deserting.”

“Good.” There was a pause on the end of the line. “Reno?” Tseng asked. He sounded almost reluctant.

“Yeah boss?” Something big was coming up, Reno could feel it.

“The president has a new mission for you and you're not going to like it...”

End
________________________________________________________________

Hope you guys liked it!

 

[Obsidian Fire]

Never Sacrifice Yourself

Here's the next one. Enjoy!
_______________________________________________________________

Chapter 2
We've Been Ordered to do Worse Than This...

Reno's eyes narrowed as the pillar came into view. “Well, this is it,” he said to Rude who was piloting the helicopter.

Rude spared him a glance. “You're okay with this, right?”

Reno waived off Rude's concern. “Yeah, I'll be fine.” He snorted. “They just want us to give an entire towns worth of people a clean death. It's not like they want us to take them to Hojo's labs or anything.”

Rude's jaw hardened at the mention of Hojo. “Do it quick then. I don't want to be here when the Plate falls.”

“Sure thing man.” Reno grinned cockily and swung out of the helicopter and landed on the catwalk. He glanced over at AVALANCHE and quickly raced over to the console imbedded in the wall. AVALANCHE rushed over to him and Reno put his finger over the button that activated the Emergency Plate Release System. “You're too late,” he smirked. “Once I push this button...” He pushed it and grinned. “That's all, folks. Mission accomplished.”

AVANLANCE flinched. “We have to disarm it!” the girl screamed. Reno realized she was the bartender Rude had a crush on. “Cloud! Barret! Please!”

Reno looked over at them. For once, he was serious. “I can't have you do that. No one gets in the way of Reno of the Turks...” Especially not on a loyalty mission. There was a moments pause and then AVALANCE rushed him.

The fight went by quickly, Reno wasn't trying to beat AVALANCHE as much as he was waiting for Rude's helicopter to swing by. The first thing he did was trap Cloud in a Pyramid spell. That changed the fight from 3-on-1 to 2-on-1. It was still difficult as the girl, Tifa, Rude called her, and the man with the gun on his arm, Tifa called him Barret, kept hammering Reno with magic spells. Reno retaliated with his EMR. It all went downhill though when Tifa charged up a physical attack Reno suspected was a Limit Break and randomly attacked Cloud instead of Reno. That ended the Pyramid. In turn, Cloud charged up a sword attack Reno knew could only be a Limit Break and attacked Reno. It ended up hitting Reno five times. Fortunately, Reno's PHS buzzed at the same time.

He turned back to AVALANCHE and smirked, “It's time.” And you nearly finished me. With that he ran past Tifa and jumped over the railing and into the waiting helicopter. Safe.

End

 

[Xpelair]

I read it just now, and I loved it!

I like the way we see the events happen through The Turks perspective, and you've really nailed Reno's personality bang on. Like Razael said, your grammar is perfect and the way you've written it makes it very smooth and very easy to read.

Have some cookies!

 

[Obsidian Fire]

Never Sacrifice Yourself

Thanks so much Xpeliar!

I'm glad you like how I write Reno's personality. Hopefully you'll like how I do Tseng's.

Here's Tseng's perspective of the pillar collapsing. This one's a lot longer because it has quite a bit of background stuff that we don't see in the game.
________________________________________________________________

Chapter 3
This Changes Everything...

Tseng's eyes narrowed as he walked along the familiar paths between the Sector 5 Church and Aerith's house. She could usually be found in the Sector 5 Slums and it disturbed Tseng that nobody had seen her since yesterday. Usually he would have let it go, but... the President's patience has been worn thin on this issue and he will not except another failure from us. Tseng's thoughts were grim. He is using this mission to test my loyalties and I... Tseng mentally shook himself. He knew what course he had to take; his true loyalties demanded nothing less.

Lost in his musings, Tseng turned a corner and saw Aerith. She was coming out of the hole in the barrier between the Sector 6 Slums and the Sector 7 Slums. With her was a small girl who looked to be about four years old. Steeling himself, Tseng approached her. “Aerith,” he stated.

Aerith stopped short and looked over to where he was. The little girl buried her face in Aerith's dress. “Tseng?” Aerith's voice was soft. Tseng walked over to her and Aerith backed up a step. “What are you...?”

“Aerith...” Forgive me. Tseng glanced away from her and when his eyes returned to her, they were hardened steel. “We've put this off long enough. You're coming with me.”

Aerith's eyes grew wide and her hand went up to brush her bangs away from her face. She glanced at the girl with her and then looked at Tseng. “If you let me take Marlene to my mother's house...” She gulped. “I'll go with you.”

Tseng looked at her for a moment before nodding his consent. This would be the last kind thing he would be able to do for her.
________________________________________________________________

Tseng glanced over at Aerith. She was staring quietly out the window of the helicopter. at nothing in particular. Tseng inwardly sighed. He had always known their relationship would end this way, it was just a matter of time.

Tseng's PHS rang. “Tseng speaking.”

“Sir,” it was Rude's baritone. “I dropped Reno off at the pillar. Cloud is there.”

“Thank you.” Tseng hung up and glanced at Aerith and then at the pilot. He was one of Scarlet's men. “Go to the Sector 7 support pillar,” Tseng ordered. The pilot nodded.

A few minutes later they were at the pillar. They arrived just in time to see Reno jump off the catwalk and into another helicopter. Tseng mentally sighed in relief; his subordinates were safe. Now to see how Cloud did...“Take us up.

As the helicopter rose up to the catwalk Tseng heard, “...not a normal time bomb.” It was Cloud. He was standing by the console. Next to him was Tifa and Barret. More people who shouldn't have survived Shin-Ra, Tseng thought.

“That's right. You'll have a hard time disarming that one,” said Tseng. He decided to warn Cloud. “It'll blow the second some stupid jerk touches it.”

“Please, stop it!” Tifa screamed up at him.

Tseng laughed. The irony was not lost on him. “Only a Shin-Ra executive can set up or disarm the Emergency Plate Release System.” And the President has stripped that right from us.

“Shut your hole!” Barret raised the arm that had a gun attached to the end of it and started shooting at Tseng.

Tseng glanced at Aerith who was ducking to avoid the bullets and wondered if Barret was blind. “I wouldn't try that... You just might make me injure our special guest.” The bullets stopped and Aerith looked up at AVALANCHE.

“Aerith!!” Tifa cried.

Tseng looked at Aerith. “Oh, you know each other?” Wordlessly, she nodded. Tseng wasn't even surprised; weirder things had happened. “How nice you could see each other one last time.” He told her. “You should thank me.”

“What are you gonna do with Aerith!?” Cloud demanded.

“I haven't decided.” Unfortunately the President has. “Our orders were to find and catch the last remaining Ancient. It's taken us a long time,” because I didn't want to bring her against her will, “but now I can finally report this to the President.” And maybe he will finally accept that we will not betray the company again.

Suddenly, Aerith leaned out over the edge of the helicopter. “Tifa, don't worry!” she shouted down. “She's all right!” Tseng assumed Aerith was talking about Marlene.

What do you think you're doing Aerith? Tseng thought. If you were to die... Out of concern for what would happen to the Turks if she were to die, Tseng turned and slapped Aerith away from the edge of the helicopter. He slapped her so hard she fell back into the helicopter. ...Our lives will be forfeit. I will not do that to my subordinates.

“Aerith!” Tifa shouted. Tseng could see the concern in her eyes.

“Hurry and get out!” Aerith screamed from her place on the floor. “I'll be alright,” she whispered to herself.

The PHS in Tseng's pocket buzzed. It's time. He laughed, “Well, it should be starting right about now. Think you can escape in time?” Knowing your luck, you will. He signaled to the pilot and they lifted off just as the support pillar started to crumble.

Tseng looked out to see AVALANCHE escape by swinging down a wire. The members of AVALANCHE had survived the impossible again. Why am I not surprised? Oddly content that the Plate had not finished AVALANCHE, Tseng turned to Aerith. She met his eyes and Tseng could see horror stirring in them.

Why? they accused, Why did you have to go that far for only a few people?!

Tseng bowed his head and looked away from her. Their relationship would never be the same.

End

 

[Xpelair]

Wow, I'm really enjoying this so far. Keep up the good work!

Even though I've played through the pillar part many times and know what to expect, I still felt tension build up when Tseng confronted Aerith. But that tension slipped at about here: (Not to be nitpicky, it's just how I felt when I was reading through.)

1. the support pillar started to crumble.

And here

2. Tseng looked out to see AVALANCHE escape by swinging down a wire.

I'm not sure what you were looking for in themes, but I found 1. To be lacking slightly. When Tseng glances down and sees the pillar crumbling it would've been nice to sense the feeling of the real deal (and the emotion). The explosion that blasted through the pillar, Dust and debris falling down, the plate rattling and shaking, maybe hearing people scream and cry from the bottom of the pillar, etc.

Same could go with number 2 maybe. The events happened very quickly so I assume Tseng only had a quick glance at Cloud and Co(?)

Again not to be nitpicky

Shut your hole!

The line fits Barret well (It's in the actual dialog?) but I feel the line doesn't have enough oomph in it. Like speech wise. It feels like I'm reading it rather than being there and hearing him say it, if you get what I mean. For example: "Shut yer hole!" (Or is it Ye’?) Unless that's not what your going for.


Again, hope I haven't sounded mean or anything, it's just how I felt as I was reading through it, and I really did enjoy it.
I hope to see more!

 

[Obsidian Fire]

Never Sacrifice Yourself for Your Job

@Xpelair:

Both those lines are very short because Tseng doesn't stay around long enough to see the Plate fall; he just sees the pillar start to crumble, and then the helicopter leaves (towards Sector 6, I think, which, incidentally hasn't been finished yet). So, yeah, the events happen very quickly. Tseng just sees that the Plate will not kill AVALANCHE and that's it. He doesn't even see if they land okay. By the time the Plate actually falls, he's probably inside the Shin-Ra Tower.

The "Shut your hole!" line is directly from the script. As the script keeps switching Barret's accent up with more "correct" English anyway, I left it. But yeah, having "yer" in there instead of "your" sounds a lot more like Barret.

Thank you for the feedback! I don't mind it at all, especially when it's constructive and makes me think about my writing style.

Now, onto the next chapter! This one is from Rude's pov and has a lot of President Shinra in it. I think I forgot how out of touch he sounds 'cause I just get through his speech as fast as possible. When I have to type it out... no wonder Rufus wanted him out of office. Anyway, enjoy!
________________________________________________________________

Chapter 4
Have You Lost Your Touch?

In the 66th floor surveillance room, Rude eyed the people on a monitor and sighed. Tifa... she and Aerith were standing outside the 66th floor elevator. Suddenly, the two girls were surrounded by SOLDIERs. Aerith was almost immediately handcuffed and taken up the elevator. A few minutes later, she showed up coming out the 67th floor elevator. The prison block for her then. Rude sighed in relief. At least the Turks hadn't lost her.

Tifa put up a longer fight, but eventually she too was handcuffed and taken up the elevator. She didn't come out until the 69th floor and Rude remembered that the President had wanted to meet with AVALANCHE as soon as he caught them.

He glanced at another monitor. In it, Cloud, Barret and Nanaki raced down the escalator from the 68th floor. When they reached the 66th floor, they left the escalator and went onto the 66th floor. Cloud was limping slightly, and Barret looked like he was recovering from being Poisoned.

Rude looked over at Tseng and Tseng nodded. They left the surveillance room and went along the wall of the conference room. Around the corner, Rude saw the three of them enter the elevator. Knowing Tseng would be right behind him, Rude shouldered his way into the elevator before the doors could close. Barret gaped and Cloud turned around.

“H, hey,” he panted. “What is it?”

Feeling confident that the group was in no shape to fight, Rude relaxed. “Would you press 'Up' please?” he deadpanned and pointed towards the ceiling. Reno must be rubbing off on me, he thought.

“Turks,” Cloud groaned. “Must be a trap...”

At that, Tseng walked in. “It must have been a real thrill for you,” he told them as he swiped his ID card on the pad and pressed the button for the 69th floor. The elevator stared moving. “Did you enjoy it?” he asked sarcastically. Cloud just grimaced.

When they reached the 69th floor, Rude handcuffed all three of them and led them into the President's office. Along the way, he collected Tifa.

In the large office, AVALACHE lined up in front of the President's large desk. Cloud looked to either side of him and was surprised when he saw Tifa next to him. “You got caught too?” he asked her. She nodded and Cloud turned to the President. “Where is Aerith!?” he demanded. Rude internally sighed. Not another long speech...

The President smiled at Cloud from his chair. “In a safe place.” He got out of his chair and walked to the side of his desk and looked at Cloud with a knowing look in his eye. “She's the last surviving Ancient... Don't you know? They called themselves the Cetra, and lived thousands of years ago. Now they are just a forgotten page in history.”

“Cetra... That girl, is she a survivor of the Cetra?” Nanaki whispered to himself. Rude nearly raised an eyebrow. Not forgotten by everyone, it seems.

President Shinra walked down in front of his desk and looked at Tifa. “Cetra, or the Ancients will show us the way to the 'Promised Land.' I'm expecting a lot out of her.”

“The Promised Land? Isn't that just a legend?” Nanaki said.

“Even so, it's just too appealing to not to pursue.” The President continued on. “It's been said the Promised Land is very fertile. ...If the land is fertile...”

“Then there's gotta be Mako!” It was Barret.

The President turned to him. “Exactly,” he agreed. “That is why our money sucking Mako Reactor is necessary. The abundant Mako will just come out on its own. That is where Neo-Midgar will be built. Shin-Ra's new glory...” Rude's eyes narrowed. It is speeches like this that lead the executives and Rufus to think President Shinra is loosing his touch.

“@$#*^%! Quit dreamin'!” Barret spat at the President.

President Shinra shook his head. “Oh really, don't you know? These days, all it takes for you dreams to come true is money and power. Well!” He straitened his suit. “That is all for our meeting.”

Rude took the hint and approached AVALANCHE. “Come on! Outta of his way!” he ordered.

Cloud, Tifa, and Nanaki made their way towards the stairs, but Barret stayed. “Hold it!” he shouted. “I got a lot I wanna say to you!” He began to make his way towards the President, but Rude pulled him away and escorted him down the stairs.

Once they were on the 69th floor, Tseng and Rude met up with a group of 3rd Class SOLDIERs and handed AVALANCHE over to them.

“Take them to the 67th floor prison block,” Tseng told the SOLDIERs. They saluted and escorted AVALANCHE down the escalator. Rude wondered how long AVALANCHE would stay in the prison block.

End

 

[Obsidian Fire]

Never Sacrifice Yourself For Your Job

After thinking about it, I decided to do Rufus's pov. After all, he was with the Turks for three years and he definitely is on their side as opposed to say, Scarlet's. He's also a lot of fun to write.

Anyway, enjoy.
________________________________________________________________

Chapter 5
So Much For Security...

Rufus crossed his arms and shifted in his seat as the Shin-Ra Building came into view. He did not like the situation and almost none of it had to do with his father's death. Rather, it had to do with the fact that he had been woken up by Scarlet's people and had had no time to contact the only people he could actually trust, the Turks. Rufus fingered his shotgun. Until he was back with them, he was going to have to watch his back.

The black animal at his feet bumped against him and Rufus eyed it. It was a “gift” from Hojo and had been waiting for him in the helicopter. Rufus didn't trust it. Over the course of the three years he had spent with the Turks he had heard their stories about Hojo. The things that man could do... His research is going to be looked into by the Turks.

When the helicopter reached the 70th floor balcony, Rufus saw Palmer rush out of the door of the President's office. “Sephiroth killed the President!” he panicked. “Sephiroth killed the President!”

Rufus stepped out of the helicopter. The black beast followed him. “Are you sure?!”

“I saw it with my own eyes!” Palmer blubbered.

“So...” Rufus said to himself. “So Sephiroth was actually here.” He glanced up to see the most diverse group of people he had ever seen. “...By the way,” Palmer dashed past him and into the helicopter. “Who are you guys?”

“I'm Cloud, former SOLDIER 1st Class!” said the only blond in the group. He had extremely spiky hair, mako blue eyes and wore a slightly modified SOLDIER 1st Class uniform complete with a sword. Rufus thought the name sounded familiar and added it to his growing list of things to ask the Turks to look into.

“I'm from AVALANCHE!” shouted the large black man with a gun on his arms instead of a hand. That threw Rufus for a loop. The Turks had spectacularly shut down AVALANCHE and covered up all his past connections with the group.

“Same here!” announced the well endowed woman with long dark brown hair. Rufus had no clue who she was.

“...a flower girl from the slums,” said the Ancient. Rufus knew exactly who she was.

“...a research specimen,” said the red lion-like animal. Rufus glanced at the black animal Hojo had given him. They were not alike at all.

Rufus ran his eyes across the group. “What a crew.” It looked like they wouldn't be a serious threat to Shin-Ra compared to the old AVALANCHE. That was a good thing for him. “Well, I'm Rufus. The President of Shin-Ra, Inc.”

“You only President, 'cause yer old man died,” the man with the gun accused.

“That's right.” I don't deny it and I'm glad he died sooner rather then later; he was running the company into the ground. Rufus turned around and eyed the helicopter. It wouldn't surprise him if Heidegger and Scarlet were recording this. “I'll let you hear my new appointment speech.” And that way, Scarlet and Heidegger will have no reason to go poking into my activities for the last couple of years. If they did, it would be all to easy for them to take over the company and permanently deal with him.

He turned around and started walking over to the woman with long dark brown hair. Hojo's black animal silently followed him. “...Old man tried to control the world with money. It seems to have been working.” It's just money can't control everyone. He walked over to the Ancient.“The population thought that Shin-Ra would protect them.” Yeah, right. He walked over to the man with the gun. “Work at Shin-Ra, get your pay. If a terrorist attacks, the Shin-Ra army will help you.” If Heidegger can figure out how to oversee the army efficiently, which is never going to happen. “It looks perfect on the outside,” Rufus told the man. “But, I do things differently. I'll control the world with fear. It takes too much to do it like my old man.” And like Heidegger and like Scarlet. He walked over to the railing and looked over Midgar. “A little fear will control the minds of the common people. There's no reason to waste money on them.”

“He likes to make speeches just like his father.” It was the woman with dark brown hair.

“Get outta this building with Aerith!” shouted Cloud at the man with the gun. Rufus didn't care if Aerith got away or not; the Ancient was not important to him, but to his father.

“What?” the other man said.

“I'll explain later! Barret! This is the real crisis of the Planet!” Cloud pleaded.

“The hell's that supposed to mean?” Barret shouted back. Rufus wondered what he was talking about as well.

Cloud looked annoyed. “I'll tell you later! Just take my word for it now! I'll go after I take care of him!” Rufus tensed at that and felt for his shotgun. Three years with the Turks had toughened him considerably, but he was nowhere near the level of a SOLDIER 1st Class.

Barret nodded. “Awright, Cloud!” He, Aerith, the dark haired woman and the lion-like animal ran off down the balcony.


“Why do you want to fight me?” Rufus asked Cloud. It's not like he would have stopped them.

“You seek the Promised Land and Sephiroth,” Cloud answered.

“Hm, exactly.” At least as far as Sephiroth goes. The Promised Land... Che, I don't chase after things that don't exist. Rufus's eyes narrowed and he walked over to Cloud. Now how much do you know about Sephiroth? “Mm? Did you know that Sephiroth is an Ancient?”

Cloud paused before speaking. “...A lot has happened. Anyway, I can't let either you or Sephiroth have the Promised Land!”

“I see.” Rufus looked coolly at Cloud and “I guess this means we won't become friends.” You assume too much.

“Definitely not!” Cloud yelled as he drew his sword and charged Rufus.

It wasn't so much a fight as it was a waiting game. It turned out the the dog-like animal Hojo had given Rufus could cast Barrier and Mbarrier spells on him. While Rufus didn't mind the spells, they kept Cloud's attacks from mostly hitting him,it unnerved him that the creature had that much intelligence. He did not mind it when Cloud took it out with a Limit Break.

What he did mind was that his helicopter was not coming close enough to pick him up and it looked like the pilot was doing it on purpose. Probably Scarlet's man, he thought. She always was sharper and more ambitious then Heidegger and would have no problem with letting me know she still suspects I was behind AVALANCHE.

It was only after Cloud had Poisoned him with a Bio spell that the helicopter dropped close enough for Rufus to grab a hold of the bottom strut as it pulled away. “Heh... That's all for today,” he shot back at Cloud before pulling himself up into the helicopter. Once in the helicopter, Rufus drank a Remedy and looked at the pilot. “Fly me to the hanger.”

End

 

[Obsidian Fire]

Never Sacrifice Yourself For Your Job

This is the first onshot that centers around the player Turks from Before Crisis. I decided to do these because Veld says the other Turks are living in all the different towns in Gaia. They had to bump into Cloud and Co. sometime in the game. Most of these will be humorous in nature. Enjoy!
________________________________________________________________

Chapter 6
All Right! Who Stole My Equipment?!?-----Kalm

Was that... Cloud? Karen turned around to get a look at the group of people who had just walked past her. Her Turk training took in a woman with waist-length dark brown hair, another woman with light brown hair pulled up into a ponytail and a guy with very spiky blond hair and the Buster Sword on his back in less then a second.

Karen blinked at the last one and scrutinized the guy. He was on the short side and was wearing the uniform of a SOLDIER 1st Class. On his back was the Buster Sword. He turned to talk to one of the girls and Karen got a look at his profile. It's him alright. Her hand dropped down to her gun and Karen slowly backed away from them. He wasn't causing trouble, and Karen had no reason to get involved, whatever her last mission might have been. Fortunately, Cloud and the girls turned and walked off down the street and out of Kalm. Well, at least he's not sticking around here for a while. Karen let out the breath she had not been holding and walked up to the square where the mako generator was. Her house was near it.

When Karen got to her house, Carla, the landlady, walked up to her. “You might want to make sure all your stuff is there.”

“What do you mean?” Kalm had the lowest crime rate of any city on the Planet. Although there's a very dark reason behind that, Karen thought. Nobody knew about it now.

“Well,” Carla grinned at the prospect of gossip. “Some travelers stopped by. They talked to a lot of people and looked through all the houses on this row. It didn't look like they'd taken anything, but after they left, we started noticing some small things were missing.”

Karen's mind went immediately to Cloud. “What was missing and what did the people look like?”

“Little things. Mostly ethers and my kids noticed they came into my room. I looked in and noticed the guard source I'd been saving up for my husband was missing.” Carla shook her head. Guard sources were hard to come by.

“What did they look like?” Karen prompted.

“What'd looked like?” Carla grinned. “Well, there was a guy who looked like a SOLDIER 1st Class. Had a gigantic sword on his back and hair like a chocobo's. Then there was the two girls with him. One showed more skin then's decent and had the biggest rack I've ever seen. Had long dark brown hair too. Didn't like the way she held herself. I liked the other girl a lot better. She had on a dress and had her hair up in a ponytail.” Carla softened. “She had a really nice smile. To be honest, I wondered what she was doing in their company.”

“I'll keep that in mind.” Karen pried herself away from Carla and made her way to the back of the house. So Cloud somehow survived and is wandering with some people. I better tell Tseng. She climbed up the spiral staircase that led to the attic where she kept all her materia and weapons. The bookcase where she hid all her materia was untouched, but her weapons locker... Open and empty. Darn. Her Peacemaker was missing. It wasn't the gun itself she didn't like loosing as the gun on her person right now packed more of a punch, but the three double growth materia slots in the gun. At least most of my materia is close to being mastered already and it didn't have any materia in it. Karen reached for her PHS and dialed Tseng's personal number from memory. What would Cloud want with a gun anyway?

End

 

[Obsidian Fire]

Never Sacrifice Yourself For Your Job

For some reason this took a lot longer to write then I thought it would. This is the first one from Elena's point of view so I hope I did her well.

Also, Never Sacrifice Yourself For Your Job is now on fanfiction.net------->http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6672494/1/Never_Sacrifice_Yourself_For_Your_Job

Enjoy!
________________________________________________________________

Chapter 7
We'll Say Whatever You Need To Hear...

“Where are we going, sir?” Elena looked out the window of the helicopter at the Midgar mountain range.

“The Mythril Mine,” Tseng answered. “I got word from Karen that she had seen AVALANCHE leaving Kalm.”

Elena scowled at the mention of her older sister. They did not have a good relationship and it had only been after the original AVALANCHE affair that they started to mend it.

“Tseng!” Rude called from the front. “A transmission from... Roxanne just came in.”

Elena and Tseng shared a surprised glance. Roxanne was another “deceased” Turk. “Put her through,” ordered Tseng.

There was a hiss of static and a professional woman's voice came through. “Tseng, I know we're supposed to stay out of contact, but I thought you should know that Sephiroth just passed through the area and he is heading right for Junon.”

“Thank you,” began Tseng. “Where-”

“Someone's coming.” Roxanne abruptly hung up.

There was an awkward silence.“Well, at least we don't have to go look for Sephiroth,” said Elena.

Tseng nodded. “Now all we need to do is tell AVALANCHE where he is headed without them finding out that we want AVALANCHE to follow Sephiroth.”

Elena grinned. “That shouldn't be too hard.” She laughed. “It sure beats waiting tables in Wall Market.”

Tseng's lips twitched into a smile and he turned to look at Elena. “How did a girl from a wealthy family that lived on the Plate come to work in Wall Market?”

Elena laughed. “Well, it all started when I missed my stop on the train...”
________________________________________________________________

Their helicopter landed next to the entrance of the Mythril Mine. Tseng ordered Rude and Elena to go on ahead and wait for him. They nodded and went in to the mine.

The first room was a large cavern. Elena glanced at Rude and he nodded to the ledge high up on the wall. Elena understood what he wanted and climbed up the wall and stood on the ledge. From this height, she could keep an eye on the two passages the led deeper into the mines.

She didn't have to wait long. Not more the five minutes later, Elena heard footsteps and voices coming from one of the passages and AVALANCHE walked into the room.

“Just a second,” Rude whispered. His voiced echoed throughout the cavern and AVALANCHE stopped in their tracks.

The lion-like animal Rude said was call Nanaki gave Rude a one-eyed glare. “...I hoped I'd never see you again...” Elena raised an eyebrow. He knows Rude somehow?

As usual, Rude went right on. “Do you know who I am?” he asked the group.

“From the Turks, right?” Cloud confirmed.

Rude's face didn't even crack. “Well if you know, then this won't take long.” He paused before speaking. “It's difficult to explain what the Turks do...” he trailed off and Elena sighed. Come on Rude, just get it over with. Dragging it out will only make it worse.

Cloud raised an eyebrow at Rude. “Kidnapping, right?” And a lot more then that, Elena snorted.

“To put it negatively...” Rude crossed his arms and nodded. “You could say that. ...But, that's not all there is to it, anymore...” he trailed off and an awkward silence fell over the cavern.

Elena sighed. This was getting nowhere so she might as well step in. It wasn't like she could make the situation any worse. “Sir!” she called. Everyone turned to look at her. “It's all right, Rude! I know you don't like speeches, so don't force it!”

Rude nodded his thanks. “...Then Elena, explain.”

Elena smiled and began talking. “I'm the newest member of the Turks, Elena. Thanks to what you did to Reno, we're short of people.” Although, she thought, it's because of that I got promoted to the Turks. She shook herself. “In any case, our job is to find out where Sephiroth is headed and to try to stop you every step of the way.” She stopped and ran over what she had just said in her head. Wait a minute, it's the other way around... You're the ones that are getting in our way. Hey, wait! Maybe it's a good thing that you think we're after you...

“...Elena. You talk too much,” stated a smooth voice.

Elena looked up and saw that Tseng had walked in.“Mr. Tseng!?” Thank goodness you're here. She sent Tseng a grateful look.

“No need to tell them about our orders,” he reminded her.

Elena bit her lip and looked at her shoes. “Sorry... Tseng.”

“I thought I gave you other orders. Now go. Don't forget to file your report.”

“Oh! Right!” Thanks for the opening! Elena couldn't help grinning as she said, “Very well, Rude and I will go after Sephiroth, who's heading for Junon Harbor!”

Tseng let out a mock sigh and shook his head. “...Elena. You don't seem to understand.” His eyes told a different story; she had done exactly what she was supposed to do.

Now that she was off the hook Elena felt free to play along. “Oh! I'm, I'm sorry...”

Tseng sighed again and gave her a fake glare. “...Go. Don't let Sephiroth get away.” It was a reminder for her as much as it was for AVALANCHE.

“Yes sir!” Both she and Rude saluted and Elena climbed down from the ledge.

Before they left the mines Rude looked back at AVALANCHE. “...Reno said he wanted to see you after the injuries you gave him healed. He wants to show his affection for you all...”, he paused, this time for a dramatic effect, “with a new weapon.” He and Elena both nodded to Tseng and exited the cave.

Instead of going back to the helicopter they waited by the mine enterence and listened to what was going on inside.

“...Looks like you got away from Shin-Ra for a while, now that Sephiroth reappeared.” It was Tseng. Elena wondered who he was talking to.

“...so what are you saying?” said a soft voice. “That I should be grateful to Sephiroth?” There was a touch of anger behind it.

“No...” Elena frowned. She had never heard Tseng this tone before. “Well, I won't be seeing too much of you, so take care.” It almost sounded like Tseng sounded sorry.

“...strange, hearing that from you.” The girl's voice held hurt and sarcasm in it.

“Well then, stay out of Shin-Ra's way.” There was footsteps and a minute later Tseng appeared. “Let's go.” His voice held no emotion and he didn't even look at Rude and Elena. Elena wondered who it was that had affected him so much.

End
________________________________________________________________

Roxanne is another player Turk. You'll find where she is in the next chapter.

 

[Obsidian Fire]

Never Sacrifice Yourself For Your Job

Somehow, I wrote this chapter really fast. The Fort Condor situation never made much sense to me from a plot point of view, so I am poking some fun at it. Enjoy!
________________________________________________________________

Chapter 8
Funding Please?

“Rox!” a male voice called. “Some new people climbed up.”

Roxanne got up from where she had been watching the Junon plains and quickly looked at the army that was gathering. The army wasn't human. Instead it was composed of animal-like beasts, flying wyvens, fierce barbarians and the occasional grand horn. It bothered her that Shin-Ra had been able to breed and inhuman army and hide it from the Turks. Still, the army was nothing compared to Zirconiade and Jade WEAPON. She turned to Riley. “Will they be able to help?”

Riley nodded. “They all look like capable fighters.”

Rosanne sighed. “I mean, do you think they have enough extra gil on hand to help you pay for us mercenaries.” She pulled her long black hair into a low ponytail and put her gloves on. “If you don't, most of us will leave and then where will you be?” She walked off down the stairs. Somebody had to make sure mercenaries got their pay and it might as well be her.

“How much do you guys want?” Riley's question stopped her in her tracks.

“5,000 gil for every battle we fight. We'll split it up ourselves.” The offer was high on purpose.

“1,000 gil”

Roxanne smiled. “You know, Dio's been in need of people to keep an eye on the Battle Square and the Ghost Square has a lot better room service.” She raised an eyebrow. “Get my drift?”

Riley slowly nodded. “Is 3,000 gil good?”

“Yes, that will work.” With that, Roxanne headed down the stairs and climbed down the ladder. She looked up and gulped when she saw Barret and Nanaki were with the group of people. This isn't good. If they recognize me...

Very carefully, Roxanne inched towards the other ladder and climbed up into the shop cave. She brushed aside the blanket that covered the tunnel that led to where the mercenaries slept and lay down in her sleeping bag. There was a good chance there was going to be a battle tomorrow and Roxanne needed her sleep.

End
________________________________________________________________

Roxanne is the Female Martial Artist. Before she joined the Turks she was a mercenary and does care about getting paid.

The bit about the 3,000 gil was added in because if you donate 3,000 gil for all the battles, Fort Condor will win all the battles that happen while Tifa is asleep.

 

[Obsidian Fire]

Never Sacrifice Yourself For Your Job

This took so long because I started playing FFVIII and just had to finish it. Fortunately, I didn't get any plot bunnies from it.
________________________________________________________________

Chapter 9
What a Waste of Time and Money...

Rufus mechanically waved at the cheering people. He did not want to be here, but Heidegger had wanted to show off the might of his army and the look Scarlet had given him had said she was closely watching him. Not wanting to come any further under their scrutiny, Rufus had agreed to go.

What he really wanted to be doing was looking over Hojo's research with the Turks. Back when his father had placed him in the Turks' custody, it was on of the few branches of Shin-Ra that he did not have complete access to. It didn't look like his father had blocked him from it either. That that could only mean that Hojo had been up to something he did not want Shin-Ra to know about. Rufus wondered if that was now coming back to haunt them.

For now though, he had to content himself with making sure Scarlet didn't suspect him or the Turks and if that meant putting himself forward as his former spoiled self and suffering through a parade in Junon, so be it. As it was, it turned out Sephiroth had been headed towards Junon when he was last seen so the trip was not a complete waste.

Fortunately, the parade ended at the mako canon. Back in Midgar, Heidegger had claimed that the Highwind, the largest airship Shin-Ra had produced would be waiting for them. Predictably, nothing was there. Rufus wasn't surprised; he had heard from the Turks how Heidegger had handled the last Junon crisis and had prepared accordingly. Still, it was annoying.

Rufus sighed and climbed out of the car. I might as well get this over with. As he turned around, the last squad of troopers ran up. Rufus frowned at the last trooper in line. Something's... off... It took him a second to see everything. The most obvious discrepancy was that the trooper was on the short side. By itself, it didn't mean much, but when taken with the fact that the trooper had accidentally swung his gun over his back before holding it correctly, it made for a very disturbing picture. It became more disturbing when Rufus realized the way the trooper swung his gun over his back was nearly identical to the way Cloud Strife swung his sword over his shoulder in the security footage Rufus had seen. Rufus made a mental note to compare the parade footage with the security footage. It could very well be that it was Cloud Strife under the trooper uniform; the Turks had used the exact same ruse to get between their base in the Shin-Ra Tower and the hanger and it had worked every time.

Rufus got to observe the trooper much more closely as Heidegger ran the troopers through several pointless drills. While the trooper didn't accidentally put his gun on his back again, he was far sloppier then the other troopers.

Finally the commander gave Heidegger one last salute and Heidegger faced Rufus. “Gya haa haa! All units present and accounted for!”

Rufus's eyes narrowed and he decided to start out the nice way. “How's the job?” He raised an eyebrow and waited for Heidegger to tell him why the airship wasn't there. When Heidegger didn't answer, Rufus turned around and looked out over the harbor. It's time to start letting him know I am not my father. Maybe not all at once, but in bits and pieces... He turned around and looked directly at Heidegger. “What happened to the Airship?” he asked in a quiet, low voice that demanded an answer.

Heidegger scratched the back of his head. “The long range airship is still being prepared,” he bellowed out. “It should be ready in about three more days. Gya haa haa!”

Rufus sighed. What did my father ever see in this idiot. Reeve, Rufus understood; even Scarlet had a place. Heidegger had none. “Even the Air Force's Gelnika?” he supplied. Unlike the Highwind, which was one of a kind, the Gelnika had been mass-produced back in the Wutai war. It wouldn't take that long to ready it for travel.

“......Gya haa haa!” Heidegger burst out.

Furious at not being taken seriously, Rufus walked up to Heidegger. “Stop that stupid horse laugh,” Rufus ordered. At the moment, he didn't care what Scarlet would do with the incident. “Things are different then when father was in charge.” And it would do you well to remember that although it probably doesn't matter at this point.

“Gya...” Heidegger stopped mid-laugh when Rufus's words finally hit him.

Rufus turned around and walked towards the harbor. He had one more suggestion and he hoped Heidegger was smart enough to take it. He turned around and gave Heidegger a pointed glare. “Is the ship ready?”

Finally Heidegger got the hint. He bowed and nodded vigorously. “Yes Sir, we'll get it ready quickly.”

Rufus curtly nodded and tucked his hair behind his ear. He climbed up the ladder to the elevator that would take him to the presidential residence on top of the mako cannon. When Heidegger didn't follow him, he looked out the window. Heidegger was punching the trooper Rufus suspected was Cloud Strife. Unlike most troopers who passed out only after a few of Heidegger's punches, this one didn't. One more piece of evidence that it could be Strife, Rufus thought. Quickly, he dialed Tseng's number and scowled when he got Tseng's voice-mail. It couldn't be helped; for all he knew, Tseng was being grilled by Scarlet. At least Tseng checked his phone for messages often. “When you get the chance, send me the security footage of AVALANCHE's break-in and the live TV broadcast of the parade.” Rufus shut the PHS. He did not have to say anymore. By now he knew the Turks better then his own family or rather, he was now part of their family. Tseng would look over the footage himself before sending it to Rufus and would know exactly what Rufus had seen.

A moment after Rufus put away his PHS, Heidegger stormed into the elevator and burst out laughing while he flipped a switch. The elevator groaned up towards the top of the cannon. Rufus grit his teen and bore it; as bad as Heidegger was, Scarlet was worse. Like Heidegger, she was annoying; unlike Heidegger, she actually had a head on her shoulders. Rufus had to be much more careful around her.
________________________________________________________________

Yes, Rufus does recognize Cloud. My reasons for this will be revealed in a couple chapters.

 

[Obsidian Fire]

Never Sacrifice Yourself For Your Job

For some reason, my muse has been sluggish with Chapters 10 and 11. However, it gave me chapter 12 so I'm posting it here.

As Cissnei is the code name given to Shuriken (F), I gave her my own name. In my story she is called Erica.
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Chapter 12
All Right! Who Stole My Equipment?!?-----Cargo Ship

“Emergency alert! Reports of a suspicious character found! Those not on detail, search the ship. Report when found! I repeat. Suspicious character found on board! Those not on detail, search the ship. Report when found.”

Erica eyed the speaker. They can't mean us, she thought. No one had given the ex-Turks a second glance as they had walked onto the ship in full view of the entire Junon army. Still, I should probably move. I would stand out if it didn't look I was looking for something.

Erica leaned off the railing on the back of the ship and began walking towards the front. She was about to go down the stairs leading below decks when a trooper and a sailor rushed up the stairs and knocked her to the ground.

“Sorry!” the trooper called over her shoulder.

Erica blinked. Her? The voice clearly belonged to a woman. And it sounds... familiar. She looked over at the trooper and the sailor and her eyes narrowed when she saw them join four other people. Those can't be Shin-Ra personnel; they're too... different.

Different was the right word. There was a huge sailor who's right arm was shorter then his left one. One of the troopers was walking around on all fours and had a tail. Another troopers was obviously female and the sailor that had bumped into Erica was seasick. With a little imagination, Erica thought she could make out all the members of AVALANCHE. Quietly, Erica hid behind a barrel and listened in on their conversation.

“... one's here... right?” asked the female troopers .

“Hey wait,” started the large sailor. “You don't think that suspicious character is...”

“Sephiroth!?” exclaimed the only male trooper. Erica's eyes widened. He's here? I thought we were chasing him... or whatever looks like him.

“Really!?” The female trooper froze.

“How the hell am I supposed to know!?” yelled the large sailor.

“...Let's find out,” the male trooper decided.

“It's the most logical thing to do.” The trooper with a tail said. “Then, who's going to go?”

“N, not me...” The seasick sailor back up to the edge of the boat. “I don't even like Sephiroth anyway. And beside... ugh... urk...” The sailor clutched his/her stomach.

Everyone else disappeared behind crates and pylons. When they reappeared, it was obvious it was AVALANCHE. Of course, Erica thought, who else would it be. The large sailor was Barret, the trooper Erica had run into was Aerith, and Nanaki was now on all fours. The other female was Tifa and the male trooper was Cloud. Erica gulped at the sight of Cloud. I'm sorry we couldn't get to you guys in time.

“......All right, let's go!” Cloud shouted.

“I'm... coming with you...” The seasick sailor groaned. Cloud nodded and all six of them ran down the steps.

Good luck, Erica thought. If it is Sephiroth, I know you can stop him Cloud.
________________________________________________________________

“Dock workers—We will be docking in Costa del Sol in 5 minutes. Prepare for docking.”

Erica briefly glanced at the speaker before looking at the stairs that lead to the lower decks. Cloud and the rest of AVALANCHE had been down there for fifteen minutes. She hoped they were doing all right. If they weren't... I really don't want to think about that... Oh, thank goodness. A very tired, but otherwise fine AVALANCHE was climbing up the stairs from the hold. I bet they used several potions. Nobody would be that fine after fighting Sephiroth. They were talking quietly and the only thing Erica heard was when Cloud muttered, “...Jenova...”

Erica's heart skipped a beat at that. Jenova? That dead woman in the reactor? What does she have to do with what happened.

The boat lurched to a stop and Erica looked up to see AVALANCHE jump overboard and onto the docks. She smiled when she saw that one of them was using a Wind Slash. That reminds me, I need to get mine.

Confident she wouldn't be noticed, Erica went down the stairs and into the cargo hold. After stepping over the bodies of several Shin-Ra marines, she entered the engine room. Erica took in all the dents and slashes and burns in the walls, ceilings and floors. I'm assuming this is where the fight took place. Odd... there's no sign of who they were fighting. Erica shrugged and began climbing a ladder to get to the catwalk; whoever AVALANCHE was fighting, they weren't here now. She walked to the end of the catwalk a gasped when she got to the end of it. The lock on the chest that held her Wind Slash had been sheared off and the chest was empty. Now that, Erica thought, is just plain rude. She scowled to herself and called Tseng with what she had heard.

End

 

[Obsidian Fire]

Never Sacrifice Yourself For Your Job

Chapters 10 and 11 are still slowly coming along. Chapter 13 meanwhile decided to finish itself in record timing. This is another Rufus one.

Enjoy!
________________________________________________________________

Chapter 13
You Are Incompetent...

The PHS vibrated again for the third time. Rufus eyed Heidegger's back and ignored it until he was sure it would not ring again before taking it out and calling voice-mail. It would not do for Heidegger to think he was getting too many calls. The call turned out to be from Tseng and he sounded agitated. “It turns out that not only was AVALACHE on board, but Sephiroth was also.” The message ended and Rufus quietly put away his PHS.

It took all of Rufus's self-control to keep from outwardly reacting to Tseng's message, but his mind was racing. Something's off here. We are supposed to be chasing AVALANCHE who is supposed to be chasing Sephiroth, not the other way around. Rufus shook his head. He would figure it out later when Hojo had be apprehended. Right now he had to get off this ship by following Heidegger down the gangplank.

“What a long boat ride that was!!” a sailor exclaimed.

Rufus pulled himself back to the situation at hand and decided to go the customary route. “Hmmm...... Good work everyone......” It was true in the sense that nothing had officially happened. Internally, he snorted. I would rather endure a five hour-long helicopter trip with Reno. At least I would get to my destination in one piece.

“Gya, Heh, heh..., ha!!” Heidegger appeared to ignore him. “Hurry up with that!” he called to a sailor.

“Yes, sir!!” the sailor saluted.

Rufus and Heidegger walked onto the dock and Rufus stood with his back to Heidegger. Now to address Heidegger's incompetence, Rufus thought. “I heard Sephiroth was on board,” he whispered. And I'd like to know why you haven't told me.

“…... Yes,” admitted Heidegger slowly.

Rufus turned around to look Heidegger in the eye. “And it seems Cloud and the others were on board, too.”

“…... Yes.” Heidegger answered even slower this time.

Rufus tucked his hair behind his ear. Quit it, he told himself. It's becoming a nervous habit. “They all slipped through......” Which means anyone can do that. “You messed up big time, Heidegger.”

Heidegger saluted much too quickly for Rufus's taste. “I'm ashamed of myself,” he said automaticly.

“Is that all you can do...?” Rufus took a step forward and narrowed his eyes at Heidegger. “Give one word answers and apologize for everything?”

“Ready for departure, sir!!” A sailor saved Heidegger from answering.

Rufus held Heidegger's eyes a moment more and then walked towards the helipad. Half-way around he turned to look at Heidegger's back. “…...Do something,” he ordered. “I'll be expecting results.” With that, he walked towards the helicopter and got in. Thankfully, Heidegger did not follow.

End

 

[Obsidian Fire]

Still no chapter 10 and 11. Chapter 14 is done. At least I'll have a backlog of chapters for fanfiction.net.

Enjoy Costa del Sol!
__________________________________________________________________________

Chapter 14
All Right! Who Stole My Equipment?!?-----Costa del Sol

Dave scowled as he hung up his PHS. Damn. Hojo was in the area and so was AVALANCHE and Tseng had given Dave explicit orders to not interfere.

Dave growled and walked down the stairs to the basement of the Shinra Villa. The people he talked to told him that someone who looked like Strife had come out of the villa. So far it looked like Strife had done nothing more then talk to the real estate agent. And I hope it stays that way. If he gets into my equipment... Dave clenched his fists.

It was obvious that somebody had gone through the basement. Crates that had been neatly stacked were now all over the floor, and several of them had been opened. Dave looked through all of his belongings and sighed when he found that his Fire Ring was missing; it was a rare find. It didn't help that his old Grand Glove and a power source were missing either. Why did they have to only take my stuff? Couldn't they have taken everyone else's? Okay, so nobody else's stuff is good, but still... What's that noise?

Dave made his way though the mess towards the snoring. It turned out it was the Manager. “Do you know what happened here?” Dave bellowed as he pointed at the mess behind him.

The Manager started awake and looked at him. “Yes...” He winced.

“Why didn't you stop them?”

“The guy had a huge sword and with him was a huge guy with a gun-arm and the woman looked like she knew how to use the glove she had just picked up,” the Manager squeaked. “They didn't look like they would take 'no' for an answer.” He smiled weakly.

Dave groaned and tried not to think about all the ways he could make the Manager disappear without a trace.

End
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What's funny is that the Grand Glove is one of the weapons the Turks use in BC.