Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Reborn ❯ Chapter 4
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: MikariStar 
Non Anime: Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Adventure / Comedy / Drama | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 07.23.2012 | Pages: 5 | Words: 6.4K | Visits: 365 | Status: Completed
Non Anime: Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Adventure / Comedy / Drama | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 07.23.2012 | Pages: 5 | Words: 6.4K | Visits: 365 | Status: Completed
Reborn: Memory IV
Incident 31: For the Love of Cooties
Tifa curiously looked at the boys Cloud pointed at accusingly, as she approached them down the aisle. "Rufus said they're his kids, but that's really suspicious," Cloud was sure Tifa would take his side, but as it often happens to the unfortunate delivery boy, things don't go how he expects them to.
"They are Rufus' kids; they just look like their mom!" Reno argued.
"Where is their mother?" Tifa looked thoughtful.
"In the life stream," Reno was in a way telling the truth, but Tifa interpreted it in her own way.
In Tifa's head, an entire story was taking place. Shinra had taken many test subjects in the past, many of which died or were left severely altered during experimentation. The Midgar slums had been full of rejected Soldier candidates mopping around and babbling incoherently all day long.
What if there had been a test subject who was a woman? What if she was injected with the cells of Jenova or maybe the cells of Sephiroth himself, which Tifa assumed Shinra must have had a way of obtaining back in those days.
Naturally, the woman would end up resembling Sephiroth, with glowing green eyes and silver hair. If the experiment was unsuccessful, as it occurred more often than not, then she would end up in a delicate health condition and unable to be of use to Shinra, thus they had not encountered her in the past. However, she could have survived in secret all that time.
Maybe she was there in the shadows, too weak to be sent to the battle field, but clinging to life with all her might. Perhaps she went see Rufus, to get revenge or implore for his help after the experiments she was subjected to went wrong. But something happened, she felt compassion, she blamed Hojo and even president Shinra, but not Rufus.
Then Rufus felt guilty for her, he grieved what Shinra had done and wished to help her. That's how it all started, they saw each other often and they fell in love. Their love was forbidden because she was a mutant and he was the heir to Shinra. Yet they didn't give up, they stayed together in secret.
Rufus feared for her safety, he kept her hidden and took care of her. They had three little boys and hid them as well, to keep them safe from Shinra's enemies. The boys looked like remnants of Sephiroth because of their mother's connection to him, but they were good children and the resemblance was purely physical.
Then one day, the silver haired lady passed away, the mutations finally causing her health to take an irreversible turn for the worse. As her dying wish, she asked Rufus not to hide their children anymore. She wanted her kids to live happily and freely in a peaceful world.
"That's so romantic and tragic," Tifa sighed and Reno didn't have a clue of what she could possibly be thinking.
Reno would have asked, but his attention was called towards Cloud. Tifa smiled fondly at how quick the children took to him and Cloud struggled to get free. With a chorus of "big brother black sheep!" The three little boys climbed onto Cloud and clung to him.
"Stop it! Get off! Tifa, say something, they're dangerous, right? I can get rid of them, right? You agree with me, don't you?" Cloud pleaded.
"Cloud, how could you! After all their family has suffered!" Tifa scolded Cloud and took the children off him, gently hugging each one and placing them on the floor. The three boys then proceeded to hide behind Tifa while the one they called black sheep was scolded. "You're scaring them!"
"I don't think they're scared of me, they were all over me a second ago. Besides, you're not going to tell me you really do think they're Rufus' kids!" Cloud was in shock, the entire world was against him.
"Of course they are!" Tifa defended; then she observed that the remnants were indeed afraid of something other than Cloud. Marlene curiously approached and the three boys ran to their uncle Reno and hid behind him.
"Are they scared of me?" Marlene was in disbelief, no one had ever ran away in fear of her before.
"Are you?" Reno was shocked as the three boys nodded.
"Cooties," Kadaj stuttered fearfully and his brothers nodded their frightened agreement.
"It's okay, don't be scared," Marlene tried to walk closer to the three boys, but they looked like they were about to cry and this worried Reno.
"I can't believe you three are afraid of cooties," Denzel stepped in on time to get the remnants' attention and delay the crying. "Trust me, there's no real danger!"
"There is too!" Loz chocked out.
"Yeah, big trouble!" Yazoo agreed.
"You better get away from her or you'll be infected too!" Kadaj warned.
"Aw, c'mon you don't need to be afraid of Marlene," Tifa tried to encourage them. "You're not afraid of me."
"That's different," Kadaj explained as if it were common knowledge. "Women don't have cooties, girls do," he spoke as if they were two entirely different species.
"Immunity candy," Marlene took three little mint balls from her pocket, wrapped in clear plastic. "It's okay; I don't want to hurt you, so please take this."
Denzel caught on and played along, "the immunity candy really works; that's how I stay safe."
The remnants looked at each other and finally made a choice. They cautiously approached Marlene's outstretched hands and took the candy quickly, retreating behind their uncle Reno to eat it. By the magic of make believe, the boys were immune to cooties and felt the difference right away. They no longer feared Marlene and now saw her in a new light.
"You're nice, making sure people are safe from your cooties, I thought girls didn't care who they infected," Kadaj was the first one to approach.
Yazoo agreed, "you're kind, it's good that you carry immunity candy just in case."
Loz nodded vigorously, "you're a good girl and you're cute!"
"And pretty," Yazoo added.
"Beautiful," it was simultaneously the cutest, funniest and strangest thing when Kadaj kissed Marlene's hand.
Then suddenly, all chaos broke loose when the remnants realized each other's intentions. "She's mine!" They yelled in unison and started a three way tug-of-war with Marlene stuck in the middle.
xoxox xox xoxox
Incident 32: Divide and Conquer
"Let her go!" Though he was only trying to help, Denzel made the fierce tug-of-war worse.
Marlene tried to calm the chaos around her; it was all happening so fast. She felt like her limbs would be ripped right off, so this was what older people meant when they said love hurts.
"Stop that!" Cloud lifted Marlene from the center of the storm and held her up away from the boys' reach, as if presenting a jungle princess to her subjects from a king's prideful stone throne.
"Get her out of here!" Tifa urged.
Cloud nodded, "right!" He held Marlene protectively and ran.
"He's kidnapping our princess!" Kadaj shouted and the four boys gave chase.
"Reno, stop them!" Tifa ran after the boys, followed by Reno.
Cloud dashed to another aisle, where someone had spilled juice, he slipped, struggled and did a funny dance, but managed to stay on his feet.
The boys slipped on the juice as well, struggling to regain their balance. Reno and Tifa turned into the aisle, mistakenly thinking they were falling behind in the race, and ran into the boys, causing all six of them to fall in a pile.
Surprisingly, Denzel was the first to break free from the pile; he started to run down the aisle, but paused with a look of deep concentration and listened. He then began to climb the shelves, jumping down on the next aisle.
"You know, that kid could be a great Turk when he grows up!" Reno admitted.
"This is no time to think of future recruits, get off me and go make sure Cloud escapes!" Tifa snapped.
Reno jumped to his feet and scrambled to climb over the aisle, knocking down a variety of canned foods in the process.
Loz started to sniffle and become teary eyed, "did he get away with her?"
Kadaj growled in frustration, "I'm not giving up!" He rushed to climb over the shelves and Tifa hurried to stop him. But Loz let out a cry of heartbroken agony and the ensuing earthquake caught Tifa by surprise, making her lose her chance to stop Kadaj.
Loz was crying loudly, and rain began to pour outside. Yazoo's face was pained, but he wasn't crying yet. He attempted to climb the shelves as well, but Tifa stopped him. "You're not going anywhere!"
"Neither are you," a security officer stood at the opposite end of the aisle. "I was informed about the people causing chaos in the supermarket. I can understand that children can be a handful at times, but you are doing a terrible job at keeping them under control."
Tifa didn't know what to do; she acted on instinct and yelled, "run!" Yazoo wasted no time in running away as soon as Tifa put him down, but Loz was still crying so she picked him up and dashed away.
"Come back here!" The chubby officer followed after Tifa, huffing and puffing from the exercise... "Come... back... here..." He took in big breaths between each word, but somehow couldn't get enough oxygen into his lungs to continue running and slowed to a jog.
Tifa didn't look back as she dashed away with Loz in her arms. All that running around seemed to calm the boy and the harsh wind, rain and thunder outside ceased, though since this time it was only Loz crying, the storm was only a third as strong as in other occasions.
Tifa found herself surrounded by dairy products and Loz saw ice-cream behind the glass doors of a nearby refrigerator. "Ice-cream!"
"Do you promise to be good and not run away?" Tifa looked into Loz glowing eyes.
"I promise!" He assured truthfully.
"Alright," Tifa put the boy down and reached into the refrigerator. Everyone knows you're not supposed to eat in the supermarket, but people still do it, claiming that since they'll still bring the empty wrapper or the opened box to the checkout and pay for it in full, it's alright, it's not stealing. Thus Tifa took a box of popsicles and showed it to Loz, "do you like sea salt ice-cream?"
Loz nodded eagerly, "I like all ice-cream!"
Tifa opened the popsicle box and gave one to Loz, "here you go," she patted his head and smiled.
Loz accepted the sea salt flavored threat and smiled back. "I like you, now you're my crush, that way I don't have to fight with my brothers."
Tifa laughed, kids certainly had big imaginations, "aren't I too old for you?"
"I don't mind," Loz smiled, "I'll grow up soon and be tall. I'll be even taller than big brother black sheep and uncle Reno."
"By big brother black sheep you mean Cloud, right? Why do you call him that?" Tifa was curious.
"Because he is our big brother black sheep!" It sounded logical enough to Loz.
Tifa decided not to question it further. Then the officer finally caught up to them, "you're... you're..." he wheezed loudly, "my heart!"
Tifa blinked, there was no way she could have the luck to accidentally make a little boy and a middle aged man fall in love with her on the same day, while Cloud remain oblivious to her advances. Then she realized that this wasn't a declaration of love and her eyes went wide. She dialed 911 and told them there was a man having a heart attack at the supermarket. As curious people formed a circle around the agonizing man, Tifa slipped away, there was nothing more she could do, even if she felt bad that the physical exertion of chasing after her had been too much for the cholesterol filled circulatory system of that poor man.
Tifa searched for the others along with a love struck Loz, who was in pure bliss with a sea salt popsicle on one hand and Tifa's hand on the other, though she was only being careful to prevent him from running off. She spotted Reno trying to make up his mind about which instant ramen to buy. "Reno, what are you doing standing there?"
"Looking at the ramen, have you tried this?" He held up a relatively new brand.
"Where are Cloud and the others?" Tifa inquired.
"I saw Cloud dash out the door with Denzel after him." Reno replied with more calmness that was appropriate given the situation.
xoxox xox xoxox
Incident 33: Advent Casanova
"Uncle Reno, I found it!" Yazoo victoriously announced as he arrived, presenting Reno with a bottle of green ketchup.
"My favorite, well done, I think we're running low on salt too, I might as well pick that up while I'm here," Reno mused.
Yazoo nodded energetically, "I'll go get the salt!" Before running off, Yazoo paused to look at his bother, Loz. "Uncle Reno is training me; the princess will like me best!" By princess he was referring to Marlene. "It's Jenova training!"
"Jenova?" Tifa echoed.
"Casanova," Reno corrected.
"Oh right casanova; I thought it was strange that the training had the same name as mother," Yazoo laughed.
At this point Tifa assumed that the boys' mother was named after the calamity because she was the female soldier prototype, or perhaps she was expected to become a sort of reincarnation of the alien.
"I don't care," Loz pouted. "I have a new love now and she gave me ice-cream and held my hand," Loz stuck out his tongue.
Yazoo pouted and looked at the appetizing sea salt popsicle. "I want one too!"
"Alright, here you go," Tifa gave Yazoo a popsicle as well.
"But you're supposed to like me!" Loz frowned.
Yazoo smiled widely, "the casanova training must be working! I'll go get the salt and became even more handsome!" Yazoo ran off.
Tifa saw that Loz was about to cry and tried to prevent it, "don't cry," she petted his hair and spoke sweetly.
Miraculously, Loz didn't cry. "Uncle Reno, I want you to train me too!"
"Alright then, you can track down the peanut butter," Reno instructed.
Loz saluted and ran off to find the peanut butter, while Tifa shook her head at Reno. "This casanova training is all just a way to get them to do chores."
Reno grinned, "you're beautiful and smart!"
Tifa rolled her eyes, "just make sure they don't get into trouble."
"Don't worry about it, now about this ramen?" Reno held up the mysterious brand.
"It tastes like cardboard, try this one instead," Tifa handed him a different kind of ramen, while Reno wondered how she know what cardboard tasted like, but decided not to ask. "Since Cloud, Marlene and Denzel already left, I'll be leaving too. I assume you already located the other boy?"
"No idea," Reno realized he was still missing one little bringer of chaos.
"What are their names anyway?" Tifa inquired.
"The one who's in love with you is Loz, the one who went to find the salt is Yazoo and the other one is Kadaj," Reno realized all too late that he was revealing too much information.
However, Tifa's overactive imagination did its part again. "I see; Rufus is more forgiving than I thought. True love can really change a man." In Tifa's mind Rufus had seen the remnants of Sephiroth as innocent puppets controlled by the main villain. He didn't resent the resemblance between them and his children and wasn't bothered by the shared names.
Reno smiled and nodded as if he knew exactly what Tifa was talking about, "yeah..."
"I should go see how Cloud is handling everything with Marlene and Denzel. Don't forget to find Kadaj before leaving the supermarket, he must still be here. I won't forgive you if you lose any of those dear little boys," Tifa warned.
"Why do people always worry so much? I'm on the case," Reno assured.
His guarantee only brought additional worries to Tifa, "that's exactly why people worry."
xoxox xox xoxox
After Tifa left and Reno, Loz and Yazoo got the rest of the groceries, the products were paid for and taken to Reno's car, yet Kadaj was still missing. "We have to find your brother before we can leave, let's stay together and look for him." Since Reno was their new sensei in the art of becoming irresistible casanovas, the two boys listened to everything he said.
Sadly, the search around the supermarket proved to be fruitless. Though they searched in every aisle and called out to Kadaj at the top of their lungs, ignoring the supermarket staff telling them to be quiet, the missing remnant was nowhere to be found.
"This is bad..." Reno concluded, not only did he lose a child who caused deadly natural disasters when he cried, but also he was feeling a little strange, dizzy and light headed. It began to rain accompanied by wind, lightning and little tremors. The storm wasn't as strong without all three remnants crying at once, but it was still a phenomenon to beware.
Reno stumbled towards the exit; maybe Kadaj had wondered off and was crying out in the parking lot. To make matters worse, Loz and Yazoo began to look frightened, their fear increasing when they stepped outside. The storm wasn't as strong as before, but it still scared them, and their brother was missing.
"Poor Kadaj," Loz sniffled.
"He's lost and sad because we fought with him," Yazoo began to cry.
Loz cried as well, "we caused our brother to get hurt!"
With all three remnants crying, the storm suddenly became intense, the ground shook and lightning crashed near by, mangling a stay shopping cart that was left in the parking lot. The boys' fear increased and they cried louder.
"Stop crying..." Reno's vision was a blur and the sounds a distant echo, he thought he was healed from whatever strange symptoms the odd materia candy the remnants made him eat had given him. Apparently the illness was back with a vengeance, as if his temporary recovery was the calm before the storm. "Casanovas shouldn't cry..." Reno felt his senses fading out completely and was lost in darkness, collapsed on the floor in front of the supermarket.
'Sleep,' a voice commanded in Reno's head.
'Leave me alone,' Reno thought weakly, he couldn't hold on to his consciousness any longer.
'Don't resist, sleep,' the voice insisted.
'Go away!' Reno mentally argued, but he felt it was no use, he was fading fast.
Finally, the second consciousness pushed Reno's consciousness into a deep slumber and was able to take control of the vessel. This was the wrong vessel, he was supposed to awaken in the president, but the remnants were careless giving away the soul materia they saw as candy. No matter, the Turk would have to do. It was time for vengeance.
Reno's eyes opened, but they didn't hold the carefree look of the Turk, instead they glowed brightly with mako and determination, "I will never be a memory."
xoxox xox xoxox
Incident 34: Secret Curse
"Silence," the request spoken in a tone not belonging to Reno was ignored. Sephiroth, whose spirit now inhabited Reno's body, narrowed his eyes and scolded Yazoo and Loz again, "be quiet!"
This only caused them to cry louder, "Kadaj is gone!" Yazoo worried about his brother.
"And uncle Reno is being mean!" Loz wailed uncontrollably.
Perhaps the time to put his plan into action was not quite right yet. Thus Sephiroth retreated to the depths of Reno's mind temporarily and left the Turk to deal with the situation.
"I feel like I have a hangover..." Reno was dizzy, out of focus, tired and with a big headache, but even then he couldn't miss the violent storm taking place. He picked up Yazoo and Loz, "don't cry, we'll go look for Kadaj."
The two boys sniffled and nodded; then somehow the storm subsided partially, only one of the remnants was powering it now. Wherever Kadaj was, he was still crying. The suddenly the storm mysterious stopped, Kadaj wasn't frightened anymore, but where was he?
xoxox xox xoxox
While Sephiroth and mostly Reno were left to deal with Yazoo and Loz, Kadaj had made his way to the Seventh Heaven in search of Marlene. He was convinced that he was ready to ask her who she liked best and be chosen. However, Cloud did not appreciate the remnant's presence there and promptly tried to throw him out, which led to Kadaj crying uncontrollably, "big brother black sheep is picking on me!"
"Cloud, stop it, he's only a little boy!" Tifa scolded.
Marlene watched curiously from behind the counter, along with a pouting Denzel.
"He's trouble!" Cloud insisted.
Tifa was upset, "don't ruin this poor boy's childhood. I can see it now, everyone pointing their fingers because of who his parents are. I'm going to make sure Rufus doesn't regret allowing his kids to go out of hiding; I'll do it for the children, they will not be blamed for their ancestors' actions!"
"But he's-"
"Corner, now!" Tifa stomped her foot, creating an indentation on the floor.
Cloud did not wish to be in the receiving end of Tifa's rage any longer, so regardless of how ridiculous he felt, he walked to a corner and stood there, facing the wall.
Kadaj smiled happily, big brother black sheep got a time out, that will teach him to pick on him. The remnant found himself torn between Marlene and Tifa despite being so sure earlier. Yazoo still liked Marlene and Loz liked Tifa, so regardless of who Kadaj picked, he would be taking the love of one of his brothers away. For now he let things be and went with the flow, he would decide what to do later.
xoxox xox xoxox
"We'll find him real soon, any minute now, I'm sure we will," Reno kept reassuring the remnants as they sped around the city, searching for the missing silver haired boy. If there was another unnatural storm, Reno would head for the area where it was worse, then surely he would find Kadaj, but for the moment being he drove around searching.
The speed didn't affect the boys' senses, Reno knew it wouldn't. The blur of colors out the windows as Reno drove recklessly, were perfectly clear for the silver aired boys. "I don't see him," Yazoo began to feel unsure.
"Me either," Loz was often the first to start crying and he sounded like he was about to.
"It's okay, we'll find him!" Reno's PHS rung and he answered it without even looking at the caller ID. "Is it still green?" He assumed it was news from the other Turks concerning Rufus.
"What is green?" Tifa inquried.
"Rufus' hair, what else? Who is this?" Reno revealed too much information before knowing who he was talking about.
"It's Tifa; I was calling to tell you that Kadaj came here. What's that about Rufus' hair being green? What happened to him?" Rufus was a bit of narcissist and Tifa knew it, everybody knew it. The news of Rufus with green hair made her curious; it must be driving him crazy.
"Are you trying to infiltrate Shinra's communication network in the name of Avalanche? You did not hear that! Just pretend you didn't or I'll have to assassinate you and the city will lose a good bartender."
"I won't tell anyone, just don't leave me like this," Tifa insisted. "You don't just make someone curious and not tell them what it's about, that's mean! Besides, I should remind you that a bartender has the right to deny service to anyone at discretion."
Reno hit the breaks suddenly when thunder crashed on his car, thankfully it wasn't a big one and the car was built like a tank. "Don't cry you two, your brother is safe with Tifa, we're going to get him!" He should have told the remnants about that from the start.
Just as quickly as they lost their composure, they regained it and Yazoo and Loz once again sat quietly and calmly. Yazoo was looking forward to seeing Marlene, who was most likely there with Tifa, and Loz wanted to see Tifa again. He did not suspect about Kadaj's torn feelings between the two girls.
Reno resumed his driving, heading towards the Seventh Heaven, "what was that you were saying about blackmailing your best customer?"
"All I ask is that you tell me about Rufus and his green hair." From the corner, Cloud looked over at Tifa, wondering what kind of strange conversation she was having on her PHS. Perhaps she had called Reno to inform him of Kadaj's location, in which case Cloud wouldn't put it past the redhead to have dyed Rufus' hair green as a joke, though it would be a wonder if it didn't get him fired.
"Alright, alright, but you can't tell anyone, especially not Cloud. Is he listening? If he is, just tell him I dyed Rufus' hair green as a joke, I'm pretty sure anyone would believe that. Tell him Rufus doesn't know I did it and no one can breathe a word about it. Don't tell him the truth," Reno could have used the joke excuse on
Tifa too, but he realized too late that he had once again given away too much information.
"What is the truth?" Tifa grinned with anticipation.
Reno mentally kicked himself and hoped Sephiroth felt it. It was odd, but he was pretty sure Sephiroth himself had somehow made it into his mind. However, he would keep it quiet until he was certain, it could all be due to stress and he wasn't in the mood to be declared insane. "Rufus' family is cursed, I don't know the specifics myself, but it's a curse related to hair. All his ancestors went bald, but Rufus has been taking good care of his hair his whole life. Some stuff fell on it and since his hair is so sensitive, it turned green. It might keep deteriorating until it falls off. He wears this specially formulated gel everyday to protect his hair, a lot of resources go into that research every year to create new more effective ways to make Rufus keep his hair and make it healthy. It's a constant battle for him... but don't tell anyone I told you, Rufus is really sensitive about this!"
"I had no idea..." thus Tifa concluded that there would be no end to the secrets of Shinra. Some new thing that has been there all along but not one from the outside ever knew, would always come out in the open every now and then.
xoxox xox xoxox
Incident 35: Differences
Reno unwillingly made a sharp turn, 'what's going on?'
'I need a weapon,' Sephiroth's voice answered in his mind.
'So you are there... Sephiroth. Who are you fighting? Wait, let me guess, Strife? Not in my body.'
'You are merely a lost spirit without a vessel, this one is mine now, you are nothing but an annoyance,' Sephiroth argued, though only Reno and Sephiroth could hear each other's voices when they spoke through their thoughts.
'I'm not letting you take over!'
'You have no choice,' Sephiroth's contumaciousness pushed Reno's aside again and took over, gripping the steering wheel and pressing the break to slow down. For someone who could die so easily, or at least easily in comparison to Sephiroth, Reno took too many unnecessary risks.
"I thought our brothers were that way," Yazoo pointed out.
"Our brothers, Kadaj and the traitor, will meet us at Shinra," Sephiroth then took Reno's PHS and called Tifa, ignoring the remnants' confusing at his choice of words.
"Hello?" Tifa greeted, "Oh, wait, Cloud, I'm on the phone. What? Yes, you can leave your corner now, I'm not mad at you. Could you check on the kids? Make sure Kadaj and Denzel didn't get into an argument. Hello? Reno? Sorry about that, what were you saying?"
"Tifa, could you please take Kadaj to Shinra headquarters, something came up and I can't pick him up," Sephiroth requested.
Tifa had to take a moment to look at the name and number displayed on her PHS' screen. This was Reno's PHS she was communicating with and the voice was like Reno's, but the tone was different. Was someone trying to fake Reno's voice? Admittedly he was good at it, but Tifa saw through it. "Who are you really?"
Sephiroth hit the breaks and came to a sudden screeching halt. Had Tifa figured out his identity? Sephiroth's plan was to be reincarnated in Rufus, then he would use Shinra's power to accomplish his goals, while training to become stronger. It took Sephiroth years to create the materia that when ingested would summon his spirit to the body that ate it and if Sephiroth abandoned his current vessel, he didn't know how long it would take him to try again or if he would be able to do so after spending so much energy in this attempt.
All in all, his most promising choice was to stay as he was and make the best of it. Find a way to control Shinra through Reno, train to reach soldier level, kill Cloud, it was all part of the plan. However, if he was discovered early on, it could mean trouble. Sephiroth wanted to have a little spar with Cloud to test his new body, but for that he had to make certain that Cloud was convinced he was Reno, and thus, according to Sephiroth, have no intentions of killing him.
"What do you mean?" Sephiroth wasn't ready for an all out battle yet. If he was discovered...
"You're so polite and you even said please!" Tifa was in disbelief.
Sephiroth was relived, but at the same time annoyed. He took a deep breath and tried to sound natural, "I'm drunk, yo!"
"That explains a lot," Tifa was satisfied with that reasoning and didn't further inquire about his identity, instead answering his initial question. "I can take Kadaj to Shinra, I'll be there soon."
"Thank-I mean, you rock babe, yo!"
"Reno..."
"Yes?"
"Don't ever get drunk on cheap alcohol again; if you do, I might have to kill you. Don't forget that you owe me some customer loyalty. I always let you try the new merchandise first. And my name is Tifa."
Sephiroth's monotonous, "understood," was the last thing spoken before the conversation ended.
xoxox xox xoxox
"I'm coming!" Cloud announced at the top of his lungs.
"Cloud, be quiet, what will the neighbors think?" Tifa didn't like how vocal Cloud was sometimes, regardless of all the time she spent trying to get him to talk. Instead of whimpering quietly, he had taken to screaming at the top of his lungs when he had a nightmare and the neighbors weren't happy about it. Tifa was mortified hearing them whisper.
Cloud lowered his voice to a slightly quieter than normal volume. "I'm coming with you, I can't let you go to Shinra alone and we can't take Marlene and Denzel, it's too dangerous." The kids were used to staying at the Seventh Heaven by themselves so that was not an issue, they would be safe there once Kadaj was gone, but Tifa would be alone in enemy territory and Cloud couldn't allow that.
"Honestly, you need to stop being so prejudiced. Fine, just this once we'll do things your way, but I'm only agreeing so you can come to Shinra and see that it's different. I hate the old Shinra too, but I've come to learn that everyone makes mistakes and that there should be second chances." After Tifa was done scolding Cloud, they left with Kadaj to take him to Shinra headquarters.
xoxox xox xoxox
At Shinra, Yazoo and Loz were left to wait for the arrival of their brother and quietly complain about the possibility of not seeing Marlene and Tifa, if perchance it was big brother black sheep who brought Kadaj back. Thankfully, they were not upset enough to cry yet.
Sephiroth, still in control of Reno's body, was searching for a weapon. To use a long katana would be too suspicious, but it seemed that Reno's weapon of choice was an electrorod and it was much too short for his liking. Then he hit the jackpot. On the wall of the Turks' weapons storage, the existence of which was absolutely denied to the press and public, there was an electrorod on display, a very long electrorod.
Sephiroth picked up the long electrorod; it was as long as his sword, though it felt heavier. He reasoned that it was probably of a similar weight, maybe even lighter; Reno just didn't train hard enough. Surely the redhead Turk didn't have the skill to handle this particular electrorod, at least in Sephiroth's assumptions, but the soldier did. It was a question of if he could get his new body to move fast enough. Finding a new vessel was next to impossible, he couldn't switch and he wouldn't return to the life stream to prepare the process all over again, thus Sephiroth had to be careful not to injure the one he had.
He swung the long electrorod around, the weight becoming easier to handle with the growing familiarity. He just had to put some extra skill into it, try a little harder. He slashed in the air and stretched his arm, activating the electrorod. The electric surge felt good, it seemed Reno had an affinity towards electricity; the glowing electric sparks were invigorating. Consequently, Sephiroth concluded that this weapon wasn't bad at all, maybe he would test it.
End of Memory IV
Disclaimer, I don't own Final Fantasy VII. Thanks to Emily Le Fay and Essence of Soup, who suggested that the remnants should get a crush on Marlene, (Incident 31). Thanks to ExtremeRainbowRaiderPrincess for the idea of Denzel joining the battle for Marlene in Incident 32. There are small references to Lion King and Kingdom Hears on Incident 32. Thanks to Prisonerksc2-303 for the idea Rufus' hair being cursed, as said in Incident 34.
Incident 31: For the Love of Cooties
Tifa curiously looked at the boys Cloud pointed at accusingly, as she approached them down the aisle. "Rufus said they're his kids, but that's really suspicious," Cloud was sure Tifa would take his side, but as it often happens to the unfortunate delivery boy, things don't go how he expects them to.
"They are Rufus' kids; they just look like their mom!" Reno argued.
"Where is their mother?" Tifa looked thoughtful.
"In the life stream," Reno was in a way telling the truth, but Tifa interpreted it in her own way.
In Tifa's head, an entire story was taking place. Shinra had taken many test subjects in the past, many of which died or were left severely altered during experimentation. The Midgar slums had been full of rejected Soldier candidates mopping around and babbling incoherently all day long.
What if there had been a test subject who was a woman? What if she was injected with the cells of Jenova or maybe the cells of Sephiroth himself, which Tifa assumed Shinra must have had a way of obtaining back in those days.
Naturally, the woman would end up resembling Sephiroth, with glowing green eyes and silver hair. If the experiment was unsuccessful, as it occurred more often than not, then she would end up in a delicate health condition and unable to be of use to Shinra, thus they had not encountered her in the past. However, she could have survived in secret all that time.
Maybe she was there in the shadows, too weak to be sent to the battle field, but clinging to life with all her might. Perhaps she went see Rufus, to get revenge or implore for his help after the experiments she was subjected to went wrong. But something happened, she felt compassion, she blamed Hojo and even president Shinra, but not Rufus.
Then Rufus felt guilty for her, he grieved what Shinra had done and wished to help her. That's how it all started, they saw each other often and they fell in love. Their love was forbidden because she was a mutant and he was the heir to Shinra. Yet they didn't give up, they stayed together in secret.
Rufus feared for her safety, he kept her hidden and took care of her. They had three little boys and hid them as well, to keep them safe from Shinra's enemies. The boys looked like remnants of Sephiroth because of their mother's connection to him, but they were good children and the resemblance was purely physical.
Then one day, the silver haired lady passed away, the mutations finally causing her health to take an irreversible turn for the worse. As her dying wish, she asked Rufus not to hide their children anymore. She wanted her kids to live happily and freely in a peaceful world.
"That's so romantic and tragic," Tifa sighed and Reno didn't have a clue of what she could possibly be thinking.
Reno would have asked, but his attention was called towards Cloud. Tifa smiled fondly at how quick the children took to him and Cloud struggled to get free. With a chorus of "big brother black sheep!" The three little boys climbed onto Cloud and clung to him.
"Stop it! Get off! Tifa, say something, they're dangerous, right? I can get rid of them, right? You agree with me, don't you?" Cloud pleaded.
"Cloud, how could you! After all their family has suffered!" Tifa scolded Cloud and took the children off him, gently hugging each one and placing them on the floor. The three boys then proceeded to hide behind Tifa while the one they called black sheep was scolded. "You're scaring them!"
"I don't think they're scared of me, they were all over me a second ago. Besides, you're not going to tell me you really do think they're Rufus' kids!" Cloud was in shock, the entire world was against him.
"Of course they are!" Tifa defended; then she observed that the remnants were indeed afraid of something other than Cloud. Marlene curiously approached and the three boys ran to their uncle Reno and hid behind him.
"Are they scared of me?" Marlene was in disbelief, no one had ever ran away in fear of her before.
"Are you?" Reno was shocked as the three boys nodded.
"Cooties," Kadaj stuttered fearfully and his brothers nodded their frightened agreement.
"It's okay, don't be scared," Marlene tried to walk closer to the three boys, but they looked like they were about to cry and this worried Reno.
"I can't believe you three are afraid of cooties," Denzel stepped in on time to get the remnants' attention and delay the crying. "Trust me, there's no real danger!"
"There is too!" Loz chocked out.
"Yeah, big trouble!" Yazoo agreed.
"You better get away from her or you'll be infected too!" Kadaj warned.
"Aw, c'mon you don't need to be afraid of Marlene," Tifa tried to encourage them. "You're not afraid of me."
"That's different," Kadaj explained as if it were common knowledge. "Women don't have cooties, girls do," he spoke as if they were two entirely different species.
"Immunity candy," Marlene took three little mint balls from her pocket, wrapped in clear plastic. "It's okay; I don't want to hurt you, so please take this."
Denzel caught on and played along, "the immunity candy really works; that's how I stay safe."
The remnants looked at each other and finally made a choice. They cautiously approached Marlene's outstretched hands and took the candy quickly, retreating behind their uncle Reno to eat it. By the magic of make believe, the boys were immune to cooties and felt the difference right away. They no longer feared Marlene and now saw her in a new light.
"You're nice, making sure people are safe from your cooties, I thought girls didn't care who they infected," Kadaj was the first one to approach.
Yazoo agreed, "you're kind, it's good that you carry immunity candy just in case."
Loz nodded vigorously, "you're a good girl and you're cute!"
"And pretty," Yazoo added.
"Beautiful," it was simultaneously the cutest, funniest and strangest thing when Kadaj kissed Marlene's hand.
Then suddenly, all chaos broke loose when the remnants realized each other's intentions. "She's mine!" They yelled in unison and started a three way tug-of-war with Marlene stuck in the middle.
xoxox xox xoxox
Incident 32: Divide and Conquer
"Let her go!" Though he was only trying to help, Denzel made the fierce tug-of-war worse.
Marlene tried to calm the chaos around her; it was all happening so fast. She felt like her limbs would be ripped right off, so this was what older people meant when they said love hurts.
"Stop that!" Cloud lifted Marlene from the center of the storm and held her up away from the boys' reach, as if presenting a jungle princess to her subjects from a king's prideful stone throne.
"Get her out of here!" Tifa urged.
Cloud nodded, "right!" He held Marlene protectively and ran.
"He's kidnapping our princess!" Kadaj shouted and the four boys gave chase.
"Reno, stop them!" Tifa ran after the boys, followed by Reno.
Cloud dashed to another aisle, where someone had spilled juice, he slipped, struggled and did a funny dance, but managed to stay on his feet.
The boys slipped on the juice as well, struggling to regain their balance. Reno and Tifa turned into the aisle, mistakenly thinking they were falling behind in the race, and ran into the boys, causing all six of them to fall in a pile.
Surprisingly, Denzel was the first to break free from the pile; he started to run down the aisle, but paused with a look of deep concentration and listened. He then began to climb the shelves, jumping down on the next aisle.
"You know, that kid could be a great Turk when he grows up!" Reno admitted.
"This is no time to think of future recruits, get off me and go make sure Cloud escapes!" Tifa snapped.
Reno jumped to his feet and scrambled to climb over the aisle, knocking down a variety of canned foods in the process.
Loz started to sniffle and become teary eyed, "did he get away with her?"
Kadaj growled in frustration, "I'm not giving up!" He rushed to climb over the shelves and Tifa hurried to stop him. But Loz let out a cry of heartbroken agony and the ensuing earthquake caught Tifa by surprise, making her lose her chance to stop Kadaj.
Loz was crying loudly, and rain began to pour outside. Yazoo's face was pained, but he wasn't crying yet. He attempted to climb the shelves as well, but Tifa stopped him. "You're not going anywhere!"
"Neither are you," a security officer stood at the opposite end of the aisle. "I was informed about the people causing chaos in the supermarket. I can understand that children can be a handful at times, but you are doing a terrible job at keeping them under control."
Tifa didn't know what to do; she acted on instinct and yelled, "run!" Yazoo wasted no time in running away as soon as Tifa put him down, but Loz was still crying so she picked him up and dashed away.
"Come back here!" The chubby officer followed after Tifa, huffing and puffing from the exercise... "Come... back... here..." He took in big breaths between each word, but somehow couldn't get enough oxygen into his lungs to continue running and slowed to a jog.
Tifa didn't look back as she dashed away with Loz in her arms. All that running around seemed to calm the boy and the harsh wind, rain and thunder outside ceased, though since this time it was only Loz crying, the storm was only a third as strong as in other occasions.
Tifa found herself surrounded by dairy products and Loz saw ice-cream behind the glass doors of a nearby refrigerator. "Ice-cream!"
"Do you promise to be good and not run away?" Tifa looked into Loz glowing eyes.
"I promise!" He assured truthfully.
"Alright," Tifa put the boy down and reached into the refrigerator. Everyone knows you're not supposed to eat in the supermarket, but people still do it, claiming that since they'll still bring the empty wrapper or the opened box to the checkout and pay for it in full, it's alright, it's not stealing. Thus Tifa took a box of popsicles and showed it to Loz, "do you like sea salt ice-cream?"
Loz nodded eagerly, "I like all ice-cream!"
Tifa opened the popsicle box and gave one to Loz, "here you go," she patted his head and smiled.
Loz accepted the sea salt flavored threat and smiled back. "I like you, now you're my crush, that way I don't have to fight with my brothers."
Tifa laughed, kids certainly had big imaginations, "aren't I too old for you?"
"I don't mind," Loz smiled, "I'll grow up soon and be tall. I'll be even taller than big brother black sheep and uncle Reno."
"By big brother black sheep you mean Cloud, right? Why do you call him that?" Tifa was curious.
"Because he is our big brother black sheep!" It sounded logical enough to Loz.
Tifa decided not to question it further. Then the officer finally caught up to them, "you're... you're..." he wheezed loudly, "my heart!"
Tifa blinked, there was no way she could have the luck to accidentally make a little boy and a middle aged man fall in love with her on the same day, while Cloud remain oblivious to her advances. Then she realized that this wasn't a declaration of love and her eyes went wide. She dialed 911 and told them there was a man having a heart attack at the supermarket. As curious people formed a circle around the agonizing man, Tifa slipped away, there was nothing more she could do, even if she felt bad that the physical exertion of chasing after her had been too much for the cholesterol filled circulatory system of that poor man.
Tifa searched for the others along with a love struck Loz, who was in pure bliss with a sea salt popsicle on one hand and Tifa's hand on the other, though she was only being careful to prevent him from running off. She spotted Reno trying to make up his mind about which instant ramen to buy. "Reno, what are you doing standing there?"
"Looking at the ramen, have you tried this?" He held up a relatively new brand.
"Where are Cloud and the others?" Tifa inquired.
"I saw Cloud dash out the door with Denzel after him." Reno replied with more calmness that was appropriate given the situation.
xoxox xox xoxox
Incident 33: Advent Casanova
"Uncle Reno, I found it!" Yazoo victoriously announced as he arrived, presenting Reno with a bottle of green ketchup.
"My favorite, well done, I think we're running low on salt too, I might as well pick that up while I'm here," Reno mused.
Yazoo nodded energetically, "I'll go get the salt!" Before running off, Yazoo paused to look at his bother, Loz. "Uncle Reno is training me; the princess will like me best!" By princess he was referring to Marlene. "It's Jenova training!"
"Jenova?" Tifa echoed.
"Casanova," Reno corrected.
"Oh right casanova; I thought it was strange that the training had the same name as mother," Yazoo laughed.
At this point Tifa assumed that the boys' mother was named after the calamity because she was the female soldier prototype, or perhaps she was expected to become a sort of reincarnation of the alien.
"I don't care," Loz pouted. "I have a new love now and she gave me ice-cream and held my hand," Loz stuck out his tongue.
Yazoo pouted and looked at the appetizing sea salt popsicle. "I want one too!"
"Alright, here you go," Tifa gave Yazoo a popsicle as well.
"But you're supposed to like me!" Loz frowned.
Yazoo smiled widely, "the casanova training must be working! I'll go get the salt and became even more handsome!" Yazoo ran off.
Tifa saw that Loz was about to cry and tried to prevent it, "don't cry," she petted his hair and spoke sweetly.
Miraculously, Loz didn't cry. "Uncle Reno, I want you to train me too!"
"Alright then, you can track down the peanut butter," Reno instructed.
Loz saluted and ran off to find the peanut butter, while Tifa shook her head at Reno. "This casanova training is all just a way to get them to do chores."
Reno grinned, "you're beautiful and smart!"
Tifa rolled her eyes, "just make sure they don't get into trouble."
"Don't worry about it, now about this ramen?" Reno held up the mysterious brand.
"It tastes like cardboard, try this one instead," Tifa handed him a different kind of ramen, while Reno wondered how she know what cardboard tasted like, but decided not to ask. "Since Cloud, Marlene and Denzel already left, I'll be leaving too. I assume you already located the other boy?"
"No idea," Reno realized he was still missing one little bringer of chaos.
"What are their names anyway?" Tifa inquired.
"The one who's in love with you is Loz, the one who went to find the salt is Yazoo and the other one is Kadaj," Reno realized all too late that he was revealing too much information.
However, Tifa's overactive imagination did its part again. "I see; Rufus is more forgiving than I thought. True love can really change a man." In Tifa's mind Rufus had seen the remnants of Sephiroth as innocent puppets controlled by the main villain. He didn't resent the resemblance between them and his children and wasn't bothered by the shared names.
Reno smiled and nodded as if he knew exactly what Tifa was talking about, "yeah..."
"I should go see how Cloud is handling everything with Marlene and Denzel. Don't forget to find Kadaj before leaving the supermarket, he must still be here. I won't forgive you if you lose any of those dear little boys," Tifa warned.
"Why do people always worry so much? I'm on the case," Reno assured.
His guarantee only brought additional worries to Tifa, "that's exactly why people worry."
xoxox xox xoxox
After Tifa left and Reno, Loz and Yazoo got the rest of the groceries, the products were paid for and taken to Reno's car, yet Kadaj was still missing. "We have to find your brother before we can leave, let's stay together and look for him." Since Reno was their new sensei in the art of becoming irresistible casanovas, the two boys listened to everything he said.
Sadly, the search around the supermarket proved to be fruitless. Though they searched in every aisle and called out to Kadaj at the top of their lungs, ignoring the supermarket staff telling them to be quiet, the missing remnant was nowhere to be found.
"This is bad..." Reno concluded, not only did he lose a child who caused deadly natural disasters when he cried, but also he was feeling a little strange, dizzy and light headed. It began to rain accompanied by wind, lightning and little tremors. The storm wasn't as strong without all three remnants crying at once, but it was still a phenomenon to beware.
Reno stumbled towards the exit; maybe Kadaj had wondered off and was crying out in the parking lot. To make matters worse, Loz and Yazoo began to look frightened, their fear increasing when they stepped outside. The storm wasn't as strong as before, but it still scared them, and their brother was missing.
"Poor Kadaj," Loz sniffled.
"He's lost and sad because we fought with him," Yazoo began to cry.
Loz cried as well, "we caused our brother to get hurt!"
With all three remnants crying, the storm suddenly became intense, the ground shook and lightning crashed near by, mangling a stay shopping cart that was left in the parking lot. The boys' fear increased and they cried louder.
"Stop crying..." Reno's vision was a blur and the sounds a distant echo, he thought he was healed from whatever strange symptoms the odd materia candy the remnants made him eat had given him. Apparently the illness was back with a vengeance, as if his temporary recovery was the calm before the storm. "Casanovas shouldn't cry..." Reno felt his senses fading out completely and was lost in darkness, collapsed on the floor in front of the supermarket.
'Sleep,' a voice commanded in Reno's head.
'Leave me alone,' Reno thought weakly, he couldn't hold on to his consciousness any longer.
'Don't resist, sleep,' the voice insisted.
'Go away!' Reno mentally argued, but he felt it was no use, he was fading fast.
Finally, the second consciousness pushed Reno's consciousness into a deep slumber and was able to take control of the vessel. This was the wrong vessel, he was supposed to awaken in the president, but the remnants were careless giving away the soul materia they saw as candy. No matter, the Turk would have to do. It was time for vengeance.
Reno's eyes opened, but they didn't hold the carefree look of the Turk, instead they glowed brightly with mako and determination, "I will never be a memory."
xoxox xox xoxox
Incident 34: Secret Curse
"Silence," the request spoken in a tone not belonging to Reno was ignored. Sephiroth, whose spirit now inhabited Reno's body, narrowed his eyes and scolded Yazoo and Loz again, "be quiet!"
This only caused them to cry louder, "Kadaj is gone!" Yazoo worried about his brother.
"And uncle Reno is being mean!" Loz wailed uncontrollably.
Perhaps the time to put his plan into action was not quite right yet. Thus Sephiroth retreated to the depths of Reno's mind temporarily and left the Turk to deal with the situation.
"I feel like I have a hangover..." Reno was dizzy, out of focus, tired and with a big headache, but even then he couldn't miss the violent storm taking place. He picked up Yazoo and Loz, "don't cry, we'll go look for Kadaj."
The two boys sniffled and nodded; then somehow the storm subsided partially, only one of the remnants was powering it now. Wherever Kadaj was, he was still crying. The suddenly the storm mysterious stopped, Kadaj wasn't frightened anymore, but where was he?
xoxox xox xoxox
While Sephiroth and mostly Reno were left to deal with Yazoo and Loz, Kadaj had made his way to the Seventh Heaven in search of Marlene. He was convinced that he was ready to ask her who she liked best and be chosen. However, Cloud did not appreciate the remnant's presence there and promptly tried to throw him out, which led to Kadaj crying uncontrollably, "big brother black sheep is picking on me!"
"Cloud, stop it, he's only a little boy!" Tifa scolded.
Marlene watched curiously from behind the counter, along with a pouting Denzel.
"He's trouble!" Cloud insisted.
Tifa was upset, "don't ruin this poor boy's childhood. I can see it now, everyone pointing their fingers because of who his parents are. I'm going to make sure Rufus doesn't regret allowing his kids to go out of hiding; I'll do it for the children, they will not be blamed for their ancestors' actions!"
"But he's-"
"Corner, now!" Tifa stomped her foot, creating an indentation on the floor.
Cloud did not wish to be in the receiving end of Tifa's rage any longer, so regardless of how ridiculous he felt, he walked to a corner and stood there, facing the wall.
Kadaj smiled happily, big brother black sheep got a time out, that will teach him to pick on him. The remnant found himself torn between Marlene and Tifa despite being so sure earlier. Yazoo still liked Marlene and Loz liked Tifa, so regardless of who Kadaj picked, he would be taking the love of one of his brothers away. For now he let things be and went with the flow, he would decide what to do later.
xoxox xox xoxox
"We'll find him real soon, any minute now, I'm sure we will," Reno kept reassuring the remnants as they sped around the city, searching for the missing silver haired boy. If there was another unnatural storm, Reno would head for the area where it was worse, then surely he would find Kadaj, but for the moment being he drove around searching.
The speed didn't affect the boys' senses, Reno knew it wouldn't. The blur of colors out the windows as Reno drove recklessly, were perfectly clear for the silver aired boys. "I don't see him," Yazoo began to feel unsure.
"Me either," Loz was often the first to start crying and he sounded like he was about to.
"It's okay, we'll find him!" Reno's PHS rung and he answered it without even looking at the caller ID. "Is it still green?" He assumed it was news from the other Turks concerning Rufus.
"What is green?" Tifa inquried.
"Rufus' hair, what else? Who is this?" Reno revealed too much information before knowing who he was talking about.
"It's Tifa; I was calling to tell you that Kadaj came here. What's that about Rufus' hair being green? What happened to him?" Rufus was a bit of narcissist and Tifa knew it, everybody knew it. The news of Rufus with green hair made her curious; it must be driving him crazy.
"Are you trying to infiltrate Shinra's communication network in the name of Avalanche? You did not hear that! Just pretend you didn't or I'll have to assassinate you and the city will lose a good bartender."
"I won't tell anyone, just don't leave me like this," Tifa insisted. "You don't just make someone curious and not tell them what it's about, that's mean! Besides, I should remind you that a bartender has the right to deny service to anyone at discretion."
Reno hit the breaks suddenly when thunder crashed on his car, thankfully it wasn't a big one and the car was built like a tank. "Don't cry you two, your brother is safe with Tifa, we're going to get him!" He should have told the remnants about that from the start.
Just as quickly as they lost their composure, they regained it and Yazoo and Loz once again sat quietly and calmly. Yazoo was looking forward to seeing Marlene, who was most likely there with Tifa, and Loz wanted to see Tifa again. He did not suspect about Kadaj's torn feelings between the two girls.
Reno resumed his driving, heading towards the Seventh Heaven, "what was that you were saying about blackmailing your best customer?"
"All I ask is that you tell me about Rufus and his green hair." From the corner, Cloud looked over at Tifa, wondering what kind of strange conversation she was having on her PHS. Perhaps she had called Reno to inform him of Kadaj's location, in which case Cloud wouldn't put it past the redhead to have dyed Rufus' hair green as a joke, though it would be a wonder if it didn't get him fired.
"Alright, alright, but you can't tell anyone, especially not Cloud. Is he listening? If he is, just tell him I dyed Rufus' hair green as a joke, I'm pretty sure anyone would believe that. Tell him Rufus doesn't know I did it and no one can breathe a word about it. Don't tell him the truth," Reno could have used the joke excuse on
Tifa too, but he realized too late that he had once again given away too much information.
"What is the truth?" Tifa grinned with anticipation.
Reno mentally kicked himself and hoped Sephiroth felt it. It was odd, but he was pretty sure Sephiroth himself had somehow made it into his mind. However, he would keep it quiet until he was certain, it could all be due to stress and he wasn't in the mood to be declared insane. "Rufus' family is cursed, I don't know the specifics myself, but it's a curse related to hair. All his ancestors went bald, but Rufus has been taking good care of his hair his whole life. Some stuff fell on it and since his hair is so sensitive, it turned green. It might keep deteriorating until it falls off. He wears this specially formulated gel everyday to protect his hair, a lot of resources go into that research every year to create new more effective ways to make Rufus keep his hair and make it healthy. It's a constant battle for him... but don't tell anyone I told you, Rufus is really sensitive about this!"
"I had no idea..." thus Tifa concluded that there would be no end to the secrets of Shinra. Some new thing that has been there all along but not one from the outside ever knew, would always come out in the open every now and then.
xoxox xox xoxox
Incident 35: Differences
Reno unwillingly made a sharp turn, 'what's going on?'
'I need a weapon,' Sephiroth's voice answered in his mind.
'So you are there... Sephiroth. Who are you fighting? Wait, let me guess, Strife? Not in my body.'
'You are merely a lost spirit without a vessel, this one is mine now, you are nothing but an annoyance,' Sephiroth argued, though only Reno and Sephiroth could hear each other's voices when they spoke through their thoughts.
'I'm not letting you take over!'
'You have no choice,' Sephiroth's contumaciousness pushed Reno's aside again and took over, gripping the steering wheel and pressing the break to slow down. For someone who could die so easily, or at least easily in comparison to Sephiroth, Reno took too many unnecessary risks.
"I thought our brothers were that way," Yazoo pointed out.
"Our brothers, Kadaj and the traitor, will meet us at Shinra," Sephiroth then took Reno's PHS and called Tifa, ignoring the remnants' confusing at his choice of words.
"Hello?" Tifa greeted, "Oh, wait, Cloud, I'm on the phone. What? Yes, you can leave your corner now, I'm not mad at you. Could you check on the kids? Make sure Kadaj and Denzel didn't get into an argument. Hello? Reno? Sorry about that, what were you saying?"
"Tifa, could you please take Kadaj to Shinra headquarters, something came up and I can't pick him up," Sephiroth requested.
Tifa had to take a moment to look at the name and number displayed on her PHS' screen. This was Reno's PHS she was communicating with and the voice was like Reno's, but the tone was different. Was someone trying to fake Reno's voice? Admittedly he was good at it, but Tifa saw through it. "Who are you really?"
Sephiroth hit the breaks and came to a sudden screeching halt. Had Tifa figured out his identity? Sephiroth's plan was to be reincarnated in Rufus, then he would use Shinra's power to accomplish his goals, while training to become stronger. It took Sephiroth years to create the materia that when ingested would summon his spirit to the body that ate it and if Sephiroth abandoned his current vessel, he didn't know how long it would take him to try again or if he would be able to do so after spending so much energy in this attempt.
All in all, his most promising choice was to stay as he was and make the best of it. Find a way to control Shinra through Reno, train to reach soldier level, kill Cloud, it was all part of the plan. However, if he was discovered early on, it could mean trouble. Sephiroth wanted to have a little spar with Cloud to test his new body, but for that he had to make certain that Cloud was convinced he was Reno, and thus, according to Sephiroth, have no intentions of killing him.
"What do you mean?" Sephiroth wasn't ready for an all out battle yet. If he was discovered...
"You're so polite and you even said please!" Tifa was in disbelief.
Sephiroth was relived, but at the same time annoyed. He took a deep breath and tried to sound natural, "I'm drunk, yo!"
"That explains a lot," Tifa was satisfied with that reasoning and didn't further inquire about his identity, instead answering his initial question. "I can take Kadaj to Shinra, I'll be there soon."
"Thank-I mean, you rock babe, yo!"
"Reno..."
"Yes?"
"Don't ever get drunk on cheap alcohol again; if you do, I might have to kill you. Don't forget that you owe me some customer loyalty. I always let you try the new merchandise first. And my name is Tifa."
Sephiroth's monotonous, "understood," was the last thing spoken before the conversation ended.
xoxox xox xoxox
"I'm coming!" Cloud announced at the top of his lungs.
"Cloud, be quiet, what will the neighbors think?" Tifa didn't like how vocal Cloud was sometimes, regardless of all the time she spent trying to get him to talk. Instead of whimpering quietly, he had taken to screaming at the top of his lungs when he had a nightmare and the neighbors weren't happy about it. Tifa was mortified hearing them whisper.
Cloud lowered his voice to a slightly quieter than normal volume. "I'm coming with you, I can't let you go to Shinra alone and we can't take Marlene and Denzel, it's too dangerous." The kids were used to staying at the Seventh Heaven by themselves so that was not an issue, they would be safe there once Kadaj was gone, but Tifa would be alone in enemy territory and Cloud couldn't allow that.
"Honestly, you need to stop being so prejudiced. Fine, just this once we'll do things your way, but I'm only agreeing so you can come to Shinra and see that it's different. I hate the old Shinra too, but I've come to learn that everyone makes mistakes and that there should be second chances." After Tifa was done scolding Cloud, they left with Kadaj to take him to Shinra headquarters.
xoxox xox xoxox
At Shinra, Yazoo and Loz were left to wait for the arrival of their brother and quietly complain about the possibility of not seeing Marlene and Tifa, if perchance it was big brother black sheep who brought Kadaj back. Thankfully, they were not upset enough to cry yet.
Sephiroth, still in control of Reno's body, was searching for a weapon. To use a long katana would be too suspicious, but it seemed that Reno's weapon of choice was an electrorod and it was much too short for his liking. Then he hit the jackpot. On the wall of the Turks' weapons storage, the existence of which was absolutely denied to the press and public, there was an electrorod on display, a very long electrorod.
Sephiroth picked up the long electrorod; it was as long as his sword, though it felt heavier. He reasoned that it was probably of a similar weight, maybe even lighter; Reno just didn't train hard enough. Surely the redhead Turk didn't have the skill to handle this particular electrorod, at least in Sephiroth's assumptions, but the soldier did. It was a question of if he could get his new body to move fast enough. Finding a new vessel was next to impossible, he couldn't switch and he wouldn't return to the life stream to prepare the process all over again, thus Sephiroth had to be careful not to injure the one he had.
He swung the long electrorod around, the weight becoming easier to handle with the growing familiarity. He just had to put some extra skill into it, try a little harder. He slashed in the air and stretched his arm, activating the electrorod. The electric surge felt good, it seemed Reno had an affinity towards electricity; the glowing electric sparks were invigorating. Consequently, Sephiroth concluded that this weapon wasn't bad at all, maybe he would test it.
End of Memory IV
Disclaimer, I don't own Final Fantasy VII. Thanks to Emily Le Fay and Essence of Soup, who suggested that the remnants should get a crush on Marlene, (Incident 31). Thanks to ExtremeRainbowRaiderPrincess for the idea of Denzel joining the battle for Marlene in Incident 32. There are small references to Lion King and Kingdom Hears on Incident 32. Thanks to Prisonerksc2-303 for the idea Rufus' hair being cursed, as said in Incident 34.