ABSOLUTION

Special Note: Please people I need reviews, I feel like people don’t really like my writing and so maybe I’ll just stop posting it and only write this for my friend privately. Help save ABSOLUTION by keeping it healthy and alive. Now push the damnable review button!!!!!!!!!!

By the way, Final Fantasy is not mine. However, the story line, the original characters and the ranking system are.

Convict_Panthress

ABSOLUTION
Chapter V


He could hardly breath and his chest and ribs were hurting like nothing else in his life. Trying so hard to open his eyes and clear the black mist from his vision the first thing he saw was his red hair flung over his cheek.

“Oh…what the hell happened…?” Reno moaned, squeezing his eyes shut as he tried to move but pain racked his body and chains stopped his motion. Reno accessed his situation. He was on the floor, facing the room and each of his wrists were shackled and chained to the wall. Alright, he could deal with this just as long as he got some fucking answers as to why he was chained.

Reno hadn’t done anything except stop his blonde haired fellow SOLDIER from attacking their boss. And even then all he did was tap the Warrior on the shoulder with his revamped electrically charged baton. Even then he was worried that the blonde would kill him thinking that Reno had known he would start a chain of events. And all just because he hadn’t known what to do.

The red haired First Degree SOLDIER surveyed the dimly lit room he was kept prisoner in only to find the other there close to him but in front of the small table and chair. As he gazed at the blonde he no longer felt sorry for his own wounds. The Warrior was chained from the ceiling hanging against the wall two feet from the ground; his head lowered hopelessly from unconsciousness. The hair above his left ear was matted horribly with blood; no doubt there was a nasty wound there. Studying the strong pale body Reno winced. ‘Damn…there are more bruises on him than a wife beater victim. And I’ve never seen a bruise fucking bleed before let alone multiple. What the hell have they done to him?’

As emerald eyes lingered a grimace was slow to form on the smooth handsome face. Reno watched as the man tried to relieve some of the stress on his shoulders and collar bone by doing his best to pull himself from the dead weight hang.

“Ah!” a quiet cry of pain escaped the blonde’s lips as the muscles in those sturdy arms failed abruptly sending him to quick excruciating halt. Ribs expanded struggling to take deep breaths and sooth out what pain he could. Tortured sky blue eyes were hesitant to open and met with earnest emerald.

Silence reigned between them.

“Cloud…I—” Reno began before the tormented one turned his head and closed his eyes.

“I don’t care for what… you have to say.” The masculine voice cracked with blank dejection but the red head swore he could hear a past anger linger there.

If it hadn’t been for him, Cloud wouldn’t be in this situation. Actually neither would he, but compared to the Warrior he was only tossed around a little.

It wasn’t too long after both SOLDIERs had settled into a depressed quiet that the door to their prison opened allowing four men to enter. Three were basic black ops armed SOLDIERs in their black chic but unidentifiable because of their goggles being on. The fourth man was dressed in a black suit and bared a striking resemblance to the late Turks leader before the kind Tseng had taken the position. He was older with steel grey eyes and white mustache and beard.

“Hello Cloud.” Cruel lips twisted. “Do you remember me?”

“Van-Trouve.” Was the Warrior’s only reply besides a fully heated glare.

“Ah, I am glad to be remembered.”

Reno was confused. Did they know each other? Why the hell would Cloud know some old fart anyway? The red head slowly sat up and adjusted his back against the wall as the old guy settled himself into the only chair at the table, the black ops SOLDIERs positioned at each side and his back.

The man obviously known as Van-Trouve laid a folder out on the stainless steel table top, opened it and seemed to glance and flip some papers. He finished with a small grunt. “Well, Mr. Strife, let’s get down to business shall we? First I’ll tell you why you are being held in simple containment room—”

“You call being chained up and beaten to resemble bruised bananas and mashed fuckin’ potatoes as ‘being held in simple containment’?! The fuck is wrong with you people?!” Reno growled in outrage. The pilot hadn’t been referring to his own aches and pains though. One look at Cloud and Reno was reminded of an over ripe and bruised banana. Had to be the yellowish tint of his hair. Definitely couldn’t be the eyes.

“Please silence Mr. Yasu with our hospitality, if you would.” The old geezer asked the armed bodyguard on his left.

Reno saw the guy turn then suddenly he found a foot lowering not to far from his cheek and his face blooming in excruciating pain. The metallic taste of copper dripped on his tongue. That little fucker kicked him in the jaw! Some hospitality they had. Once the pilot got out of his restraints Goggle-Man 1 was gonna get it.

When the red head came back into the conversation between his fellow prisoner and the old dust bag Reno was sure that he had missed something vital to the blonde’s imprisonment, not to mention his own.

“So why is he,” Cloud barely managed to croak and nod his head in Reno’s direct, “here?”

Steel eyes narrowed, and the pilot perked up.

“Simply because it is a possibility that he could be covering for you, Mr. Strife.” Van-Trouve waved with a seemingly nonchalant hand movement.

“Which we all know that that translates into: it’s a possibility that your SOLDIER-wannabes actually got a wrong person and you’re too much of a pompous ass to admit to mistake.” The former Turk grumbled loudly.

“Despite your former status and even Mr. Shin-Ra’s mindlessness to place you in yet a higher position again, you are beginning to infuriate me, Mr. Yasu. I believe you have already appreciated our generosity for one hour, but perhaps you wish to experience more, yes?”

Reno smirked, “That’s me, Reno Yasu, always ready to piss someone off. But no, your hospitality sucks just fine, thank-you.”

He watched as the aged man harrumphed and turned back to the blonde haired prisoner. “As I was saying before our quite rude disruption, I am here to see over your…interrogation, Mr. Strife.”

“If you’re supervising anything, it can’t be just an interrogation.” Reno mumbled. A dry sound escaped the hanging Warrior that sounded suspiciously like a sarcastic laugh and growl. However, the elderly man paid no attention to the red head, but the tell-tale twitch of his cheek told that he actually heard the not so quiet statement. Nodding his head sharply, the two uniforms took a stance on either side of the Warrior. Said youth glared viciously at the unidentified ‘SOLDIERs’.

“Now, Mr. Strife let us begin.” A cruel smile twisted the man’s thin lips.


* * *


Rude stood in front of the window that showed the landscape of falling snow in his shared office. Although he knew he didn’t look it, the Explosives Master was quite worried. His loud mouthed red haired partner had yet to clock in already this morning. The bald headed man knew that while the pilot came off as being lazy and flippant about his position in Shin-Ra, the jovial ex-Turk never slacked off on his work or when he came in. Reno Yasu had always been one to be on time coming to the office. Many of their subordinates assumed that their green eyed superior was lethargic about everything, but those who worked with the two First Degree SOLDIERs came to see otherwise.

Rude heard the elevator doors open. The image of some Grade SOLDIER reflected in the theater pane window, and he saw the young man come to attention and hold a salute.

“Sir, 4th Grade Sergeant Moody reports as ordered.” The still boyish voice rasped. It was obvious that the youngster had prevailed against today’s harsh winter wind not too long ago.

Not feeling up to saluting the enlisted SOLDIER back, Rude grunted. “What did you find?” He watched as confusion settled in those ordinary dark blue eyes. The boy did not know what to do if a superior did not return the salute and instead asked for the report of his short mission. Finally Grade Four Sergeant–what was his name again?—lowered his arm and answered the question.

“Well, that’s the problem, sir. Neither I nor any one else could find First Degree Officer Yasu.”

Rude turned and noticed offhandedly that the young man shifted his weight nervously. The bald man lifted a single eyebrow, wishing that people learned how to give more detailed reports. Of course he shouldn’t complain himself. That was like the pot calling the kettle black.

“Sir, I had inspected Officer Yasu’s rooms myself and it was as if no one had been there since yesterday early morning. And the live feed at his suite door even proved it! It’s as if Reno Yasu had just…disappeared, sir.”

Disappeared? Rude nodded and turned back towards the window, silently dismissing the individual. Absently he was glad to see the brown haired SOLDIER turn and leave.

Reno Lee Yasu didn’t just vanish unless he wanted to. But the loud red haired man lived and breathed in Shin-Ra. It was his home. The place he belonged. All of the ex-Turks believed this. It was just their way of saying that they belonged somewhere.
So the question was: where was the pilot and who had him?

Just as Rude was pondering on the question of the whereabouts of his partner the communicator that always seemed to attach itself to his ear in the morning before work flared to a quiet life. A silent dread, like the swift movements of a raven’s wings, filled him as a voice much akin to the emotion such a creature brought spoke to him over the slight static.

"Rudolph Craven”


* * *


Unique and beautiful, yet wholly sorrowful and spiteful. They blanketed the planet, but people referred to them as one. But they had their own qualities, so should they be stereotyped?

‘Perhaps we are much like the snowflakes that smother mankind. But unlike our representatives, we fight for such people,’ Nonchalant white blue eyes watched from the cover of a hood as families stomped through the snow dusted streets. Some older ones looked at the white flakes with contempt and kicked through the harmless mass. ‘However, those who we fight for treat us just as our harmless couriers.’

A slender black gloved hand rose to gently catch a few flakes in the center of the palm. Cold ice eyes softened at the presence of the beautiful unique characters settled on the glove. ‘And just as the snow has a purpose, so must I complete my task.’

Shaking the coat and unfolding to its true height, the slender cloaked figure continued towards the center of the town where the destination of this task lay. And yet no one bothered to notice how this figure did not clutch the almost thin looking garment around itself but let the long jacket flutter silently in its wake, embracing the chill of the wind.

The cloaked figure turned into an alleyway, not caring if anyone saw. The alley was dark but it was no hinder to the winter eyes.

“You are late, woman.” The breathy male voice was slightly condescending, but still mostly emotionless.

“I am never late. I am where I want when I need to be.” She replied with a smirk. “Have you surveyed the area?”

“I have done what you asked, elder.” A gloved hand held out a black back pack to her. “This should be rather easy for you. But I have one question.”

“And I have one answer.”

“Why do you need to do this? What will it benefit you?”

“Hn. Because it is not right and I have the compulsion to do so.” She answered without hesitation. There was a pause before her companion spoke.

“You did not answer my other question.”

“You only need one answer.”

“I see.” Another pause spaced his words where the sound of leather creaking could be heard. “Be careful.”

“I will.” She nodded. “And thank you…Yazoo.”

“Hn.”

Both parties turned on their heels and just before she came to the mouth of the street, an engine could be heard revving to life and screaming out of the back end of the alleyway.

‘If there is one thing that Shin-Ra is not ready for, it must be us.’ Merciless intent reflected in cold ice white and blue eyes.


* * *


“Who is this?” Rude growled. The explosives chief could almost feel the smirk radiating from the person on the other line.

“That is not the question Rudolph. Or should I call you Rude?”

Another threatening growl escaped the throat of the American man. “How the fuck did you get this frequency?”

“Temper, temper,” The almost obvious female voice chuckled. “I have not invited myself into Shin-Ra’s base just to amuse myself with your behaviors Mr. Craven.”

“Invite yourself? That’s what you call it?” Rude tactfully calmed down and went to his computer. Perhaps he could find the invader; he was, after all, in charge of the security too. “If you have not breeched Shin-Ra just to mind fuck us, then what is your purpose?”

“First of all, I would not be trying to locate me in your network; I believe you will find me a bit…too clever for that.”

Sure enough, Rude cursed at his screen as systems could not locate her. Stupid computers.

“However, I would like to call my presence here something kin to a…kindred spirit.”

Rude snorted. “And what would you have to guide me towards?”

“I will be straight forward with you Mr. Craven. There is something wrong within the Neo Shin-Ra.”

With that the bald man stopped his angry mental charade. “What do you mean?”

“Not all is well within your company. Something will happen. And although I do not know exactly what that something is, I do know that it will not mean good for your young president. Keep him close, Rude. Shin-Ra will fail without the intentions of Rufus Shinra. It is the goal of your company to make sure man kind prevails against all odds: especially Sephiroth. Keep an eye on up risings from within.”

“You’re lying. How do you expect me to believe you?”

“This is true. I have just broken into your system and cracked all of your codes within the twenty minutes before I contacted you. How can you believe someone like that? But surely you have felt the wrongness within your work place. You work, eat, sleep, live and breathe within this place. Can you not feel it?”

Rude felt a part of him agree with the woman. Shin-Ra had felt off since the formation of the Peacekeepers or more commonly known to the SOLDIERs as the Uniforms. They completed some of the more common stuff, more like a police. But that’s all they were. They didn’t have the training to take down SOLDIER.

“You are lying.”

“Are you not missing a high ranking Officer and a Warrior?”

Before Rude could open his mouth to ask how she knew this the line went dead. She was lying; they were not missing a Warrior. Just as this thought finished the door to the stairs flew open.

“Rude, man…” Duo panted; one hand on his knee and the other on the knob of the door. “Something’s wrong.”

The bald man turned towards the braided SOLDIER after removing the silent ear piece from its place.

“We can’t find Cloud.”

Brown eyes widened in shock. And what she had said seemed to be coming true.

~~~~~~~~~~
Please people I need reviews, I feel like people don’t really like my writing and so maybe I’ll just stop posting it and only write this for my friend privately. Help ABSOLUTION stay alive. Now push the damnable review button!!!!!!!!!!