Disclaimer: I don’t own Final Fantasy, Squaresoft or anything. (Well duh) But maybe some day………
Picking Up The Pieces [Chapter 2]
by Caroltrue
Midgar was not a friendly place for anyone at night. Not that it ever had been in the first place, but after the events concerning Meteor and the destruction of Shinra, it had quickly become home to the less popular people in society.
The ideals of AVALANCHE and the freedom they proposed to bring had once been looked upon as a wondrous future, free from the oppression of Shinra and it’s corrupt rulers. However, they had lacked foresight. AVALANCHE had been so set in their total disrespect for Shinra Inc., that they had failed to recognise how total dependant on the company the world had become, and without it, how everything would turn to dust in their hands.
Of course to every rule, there was an exception………
Wutai was thriving, or so everyone assumed. Lord Godo had immediately seized his opportunity to liberate his people from the remains of Shinra’s empire, and in doing so, proceeded to cut Wutai off from the rest of the world. This, of course, left the other continents to deal with their own problems.
Rumour had it that Wutai was biding it’s time, and building up it’s strength, away from the prying eyes of potential enemies, and in time, would launch an assault against the whole world. A bit James Bond-ish no?
Stepping into the streetlight from his concealment in the shadows, Reno Ruzhyó had little time to concern himself with such matters. His target would be making his appearance soon, and if Reno didn’t want to be hassled by a certain Elena Fiorella, he’d better make sure he earned this paycheque.
A quarter of a million gil was a lot of money, and Reno wasn’t about to loose it because he missed a simple target. However, at the back of his mind, Reno knew that if the job was worth this much gil, it couldn’t be that simple.
He was standing in the remains of sector 4, it being one of the few remaining that was capable of offering some sort of shelter to those seeking it. Sector 4 was now the hot spot for Midgar ……special activities, as he liked to put it, instead of the old sector 6. That had been totally levelled after Meteor had ripped half the city to shreds, and Don Corneo’s old haunts weren’t missed one bit.
Surprisingly, the old Shinra tower still stood, like some strange symbolism of the human race’s unwillingness to back down. Ironic, considering Shinra had built the thing, and had been the master of oppression in it’s time. Reno now regretted ever being a part of it.
Looking down at his wristwatch, he noted that he had at least five minutes longer to wait. From what he was told about his target, he learnt the man was always punctual.
He absently wondered what had happened to AVALANCHE after Meteor. That had happened what? Five, six years ago?, and not a peep out of Cloud and his crew since.
He shook his head. That’s a long time for someone to just disappear, but knowing the pasts of people like Valentine, Highwind and Strife himself, it was probably safer for them to remain hidden.
Much to his dismay, Reno realised that the late Rufus Shinra had been correct about one thing. People feel better if they have someone to blame, weather it’s their fault or not.
After Meteor, a lot of hostility grew among the people of the two main continents, towards Shinra. Unfortunately, since President Rufus had been killed during the assault against Weapon, the people had no one to punish for the crimes against the planet, and against the people themselves. Sephiroth, Jenova, Shinra, they had all been put out of the picture, so the people had created a new enemy. Themselves.
During the first few months, angry mobs thirsting for blood had sought and hunted down hundreds of employees once belonging to the great empire of Shinra Inc., and without trial, or reason, executed them. It had been a massacre plain and simple.
Reno felt pity for a lot of those who had been put to death. Most of them hadn’t even committed any crime, except for earning a decent living. Those people hadn’t done anything to deserve their untimely deaths. The majority of those killed had been nothing more than secretaries, accountants, plant inspectors, and had done nothing at all to harm anybody, nothing like himself, and the sad thing was, the people actually cause pain, were still free.
Of course, the massive cull of Shinra employees had eventually come to a grinding halt, but was then replaced with a Inquisition into Crimes Against the Plant, or I.C.A.P. for short. This inquisition was made up of twelve appointed judges from the main cities of the two continents. Junon, Cosmo Canyon, Rocket Town, being but a few, and charged ex-high ranking officials for Shinra with crimes of murder, conspiracy, exc. This may seem more diplomatic than the original system, but fair and human, it was not.
Many people were often tortured into admitting to crimes, and the judges themselves were corrupt. It made the old days of Shinra, seem worthy of praise in comparison. It was true that Shinra had it’s faults, but it had been the only thing preventing the entire world from tumbling into anarchy, and now, it was gone.
Reno was jolted back to the present by the sound of footfalls hitting against the wet trodden earth of the dust track. Reaching to his side he unlatched his weapon from his belt, and charged it up so it was ready for use.
The nightstick he used now was lighter, and slightly smaller than the one he had used as a Turk. Instead of silver, this model was completely black, and made the deadly weapon seem like nothing more than a piece of charred wood or plastic. It was deceptively harmless looking, but it pack a much bigger punch than his previous weapon had, and was easier to use due to it’s size and weight.
Reno then dropped his right hand to his side in a casual manner, barely concealing the nightstick behind his thigh, and walked toward the sound of the approaching footsteps.
To a passer by, he would just look like everyone else living in the slums of Midgar. He wore a pair of worn blue jeans, and a slightly dirty, but plain white t-shirt. A faded red baseball cap hid his eyes from view, and an old pair of sneakers made it possible for him run away if necessary without the worry of blisters.
After only taking a few steps, he was able to make out the figure of a man walking quickly towards him. Reno could tell by the way the man appeared to have his shoulders pulled forward, and the slight jerking of his head, the person suspected he was being followed.
Reno frowned. He had been told that the man he was taking out was a serious threat, to his employer, and that Reno was being paid good money because this wasn’t the first attempt on the mans life. All the other attempts had failed. However if this guy was so good, why was he making himself look so goddamned suspicious and easily giving away his presence? To lull him into a false sense of security? Reno didn’t think so. It felt……..wrong.
"Hey." he called the man, who immediately froze on the spot, "Uh……I need a light for my smoke. You got any?" Holstering his nightsick, Reno then proceeded to take a cigarette out of his pocket, and held it up to the man to see.
The man hesitated, then shook his head slightly, and continued walking towards Reno.
"I don’t smoke but…." the man replied, and started checking his pockets for a lighter, coming to a halt a few feet way from him.
The man was wearing a blue business suit, with a white shirt and smart black shoes. It reminded Reno a lot of the old Turk uniforms he and his colleagues used to wear. The mans face, however, remained hidden from view, as the light from the street lamp failed to reach it.
Reno shrugged "’s alright. I suppose I should give up anyway." he tossed the cigarette into the dirt.
The man nodded. "Wise decision."
Reno grinned, "Well the way I see it, it’d be a shame to survive Meteor and all this madness, and then die from smoking right?"
"Can’t argue with you there."
Desperately trying to hold the conversation, Reno asked, "Uh……so are you here on business?"
The man stiffened. "What makes you think so?" he asked in a strained calm voice.
"Well you got suit. Not many people ‘round here got one, and I don’t recognise ya from around here." The fact was, Reno had never been there before in his life…..well……not recently, and was trying to make the target give away something, anything, to make his seem as dangerous as he was made out to be. He was sorely disappointed.
Relaxing a little the man let out a sigh of relief. "Yeah, I’m here on business. I’m meeting a client here."
Whoever this person was, he made it obvious he was hiding something, but why would he be meeting a client here of all places, was he set up to arrive here on purpose so Reno could take him out? What was going on?
A few years ago, Reno wouldn’t have cared if he were hired to kill a rabbit, he would have just done the job, and walked away. Unfortunately he had to be careful nowadays, in case someone was actually setting a trap…….for him.
Suddenly the man stepped forward into the light and held out his hand to Reno. "The names Reeve Gridley." he introduced himself.
Reno’s jaw nearly hit the ground when it went slack with shock.
"Reeve?!?"
Reeve’s brow furrowed in confusion, and then lowered dangerously. Before Reno could blink, Reeve had a gun in his hand, and was pointing it dead straight between his own two shock filled eyes.
"Who are you?" he hissed, holding the gun unwaveringly in his hands.
Reno did a double take. The Reeve he knew would never have been able to look at a gun, let alone aim one at a persons head, but Reno knew, this was the Reeve he knew from Shinra.
"Woah! Hey, wait a minute! Lower that thing before someone gets hurt Reeve!" he blurted, raising his hands above his head in surrender. "It’s Reno!"
Reeve blinked. "Reno?", he lowered his gun. "Is that really you?"
Pulling off the baseball cap Reno made a mock bow and grinned. "In the flesh."
"What are you doing here?" Reeve exclaimed, unable to get over his original shock.
Reno instantly halted his introduction, and grabbed Reeve by the arm. "We gotta get out of here."
Even thought he didn’t struggle, Reeve was still very confused, and protested against being hauled away from his rendezvous point with his client.
"Reno what are we-"
"No time, hurry!" Reno replied, not hesitating for a second, and breaking into a run.
Reeve still wasn’t sure what was going on, but was glad he followed Reno when a few seconds later the buildings surrounding the meeting point exploded into great plumbs of fire and dirt.
The ground shook as wave after wave of explosions filled the small area the had been in only seconds earlier, and the two were thrown to the ground by the immense force of the blasts. The heat was almost unbearable, and as soon as they were able to, the two picked themselves off the ground and ran as fast as the could from the sector.
When they finally reached sector 2, both Reno and Reeve collapsed on the ground and looked back at the dark smudge of smoke that had then gathered above sector 4.
Reeve gasped at the sudden realisation that he had been standing there moments earlier.
"Was that for me?" he asked horrified.
Coughing slightly Reno nodded. "It was for the both of us." he replied, and then promptly passed out.
Authors note: ????? I don’t know! I didn’t know what I was writing, it sorta……wrote itself! I wasn’t originally going to used Reno at all, that was supposed to be Reeve meeting……I dunno….someone. Heh, well I think it turned out better this way, and it will keep the Reno fans happy. ^_^ What about the other characters? I dunno where they are. I just suddenly decided they disappeared. …………What am I going to do now?!?!?
Note to self: In future make out story plans and plots first. Then write the story.