Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ The Unknown Ally ❯ Chapter 9: A Strange Day to Be A Turk ( Chapter 9 )

Chapter 9: A Strange Day to Be A Turk

 

 

Reno had been assigned to guard a prototype that was going to be delivered to one of the ShinRa company's energy concerns to see if it could be of any use to the power supply they had down there. Reno had agreed to take up the assignment, mostly due to the fact that his friend Rude had been assigned as his partner for the watch. That had been a little over a month ago and the delivery had been delayed due to storms.

 

Reno yawned as he leaned against the wall, staring at the orb floating in its containment field in the middle of the room. He was bored out of his brain and he done everything he could think off to kill the boredom. Now, he was reduced to watching the orb humming and hovering in the air.

 

Hunter's down in the labs with that gorgeous honey, and we're standing here watching a floating light bulb. How did he get all the luck? Reno's bored gaze drifted over the table in the corner of the room, which was laden with empty cans and half-eaten burgers. He was suddenly struck with an idea.

 

Reno turned to Rude

 

`Hey, I bet you can't shoot that can off the table.'

 

Rude smirked. `Oh yeah?'

 

`Yeah.'

 

`How much?'

 

`Fifty gil.'

 

`You're on.'

 

Rude took out his pistol and aimed for one of the empty Amino soda cans that was sitting on the table. He fired and the can bounced off the table. Rude turned to Reno with a smirk.

 

`Easy money.'

 

`Oh, come on!' cried Reno, gesturing to the can. `That was obviously a fluke.'

 

`What don't you try it then?' challenged Rude, getting irritated that his buddy wasn't coughing up the cash.

 

`All right, I will.'

 

`How much you willing to raise?'

 

`Let's make it double.'

 

`Okay, then.'

 

Reno drew his weapon and aimed at another can. He squinted tightly, his finger tightening on the trigger……

 

Rude suddenly grabbed Reno's shoulder. The shot went wide and hit the small glowing orb. It ricocheted off the walls and streaked across the room in a rose-coloured blur. Reno and Rude were caught up in a frantic dance as they tried to avoid being hit by the globe of light.

 

Rufus ShinRa had heard the commotion from down the hall and walked into the room to see what was going on.

 

`Look out, sir!'

 

The warning came too late. The orb smacked Rufus in the head, throwing the young president onto his back. After a few moments, he staggered to his feet only to have them swept from under him.

 

Tseng rushed into the room, answering Reno and Rude's warning and saw the rose-coloured orb explode against the wall. He whirled to see the president land hard on his back, smacking his head hard against the carpeted floor.

 

`Sir!' He rushed over and helped the president to his feet before locking his gaze on Reno and Rude who quickly holstered their weapons. There was a tense silence.

 

`It was Rude's idea,' said Reno, quickly pointing to his friend. Rude looked at him.

 

`You're the one who started it.'

 

`And you're the one who bet me in the first place.'

 

`No, you did that too.'

 

`I did not!'

 

Tseng, who was nearly shaking with rage, cut off the argument.

 

`I don't know what would possess you two to be so goddamn STUPID!' he said, his quiet and calm voice pitching to a roar of fury. `Thanks to you two, we have lost a two million gil research project which was supposed to be delivered to its owner today. How is the president going to explain this?!'

 

Reno and Rude weren't listening, their eyes trained on something behind the Turk. Tseng was about to roar his fury at their ignorance when a familiar voice- was that singing he heard? - caused him to whirl around. The three Turks stared, not knowing whether to cringe or laugh.

 

Rufus ShinRa was dancing around the room, belting out show tunes at the top of his lungs. He twirled around Tseng before prancing off to the door. It seemed that the president had been knocked senseless when he fell and now had gone completely and utterly mad. He grabbed Elena by the hands and led her through his little jig before letting her go and dancing off. Elena stared at her boss as he danced his way to the elevator and belted out a classic jingle.

 

`Anything you can do, I can do better. I can do anything better than you.'

 

The elevator doors closed, bringing an eerie silence to the floor. Tseng stared after the president before glaring at Reno and Rude.

 

`I'll deal with the two of you later,' he growled. `You go and find Hunter. We'll need his help on this one.' He motioned for Elena to follow him as he took off down the corridor.

~*~

Vincent stood in the lab, watching the young scientist as she went about her work. She was bent over a computer console, working on some kind of report that involved the glowing orb that Reno and Rude were guarding upstairs. It turned out the globe of pulsating light was actually a portable energy source that had been developed to hopefully house a large amount of mako until it could be used. It had to be kept in a field because the energy used to create was so unstable that if not properly contained, it would bounce around the room like a plasma ping pong ball. But Vincent's interest wasn't on the report, but on Isolda who kept walking to a small chest and taking out various beakers of chemical elements.

 

It had been a month since the over-the-phone briefing with Reeve and Vincent was taking the commissioner's advice very seriously. Not a day went by that he didn't watch the young scientist, waiting for her to possibly leak information or most likely show her true colours. Nothing of the kind had happened as of yet, but he wasn't taking any chances.

 

What was this woman planning that she didn't want ShinRa to know about? What file had she taken from the archives room? But more importantly, what did she intend to use the information for? Vincent could find no answers to the questions that raced around his mind. He watched her every move, ready in case she turned on him and tried to do him harm.

 

I thought ShinRa was trying to purge itself of its dark reputation, thought the disguised gunman in disgust. But nothing's changed. And I have a feeling that ShinRa has another secret that's yet to be revealed.

 

Isolda turned to Vincent with a frown. She had tolerated his very close surveillance on her without any complaint, knowing he was only doing his best to protect her. But with the rising workload Rufus had piled on her, and the report she was currently working on, the hawk-like watchfulness of her bodyguard was starting to wear on her nerves. `Hunter, I know you're trying to do your job, but could you please not watch me so closely? It's making me incredibly uneasy.'

 

Catching on, are you? he wanted to say to her, but he held his tongue. `I was hired to protect you, Isolda. I can't let anything happen to you. Remember what happened during training?'

 

`Oh, that was just a glitch.' Isolda dismissed the memory with a flippant wave of her hand, trying her best not to snap at him. `Rufus assured me of that. It's happened before.' Her frown deepened. `What's gotten into you? You've been very testy as of late.'

 

`Having a bad day,' growled Vincent. It was a lie, but she seemed to buy it. He was saved by more questions by the sound of his phone. He picked it up and held it to his ear.

 

`Yeah.'

 

`Hunter, Tseng wants you down here right away.' It was Reno and he sounded like he'd been laughing. `It's important.'

 

Vincent frowned. `What's wrong?'

 

`You'll see when you get here.' The connection was cut and Vincent stared at the phone briefly before he stowed it in his pocket. He turned to Isolda.

 

`I have to go and help Tseng,' he said. The scientist frowned.

 

`What's happened? Is he all right?'

 

`He needs me to help with something. Reno wouldn't tell me much.'

 

Isolda was about to say something when they heard a voice singing loudly in the corridor.

 

`Take me out to the ball game. Take me out to the park….'

 

`That sounds like Rufus.' Isolda frowned. Her suspicions were confirmed a few moments later when the president himself came dancing into the lab. Vincent stared in baffled astonishment as the president noticed Isolda and smiled.

 

`Isolda!' he sang out. He took her by the hand and swept her up into a dance, happily singing at the top of his lungs.

 

`Dance with me. Dance the night away. Oh, won't you dance with me?….'

 

The gunslinger felt the strongest urge to scratch his head. In all his years and after all the things he had experienced, this had to be one of the strangest things he'd ever seen.

 

Rufus spun Isolda away and pranced out of the lab and out into the wet and dingy courtyard, where they heard him sing a classic show tune.

 

`I'm singing in the rain. Just singing in the rain. What a glorious feeling….'

 

Tseng and Elena came running in, out of breath and out of patience.

 

`Hunter, did the president come through here?'

 

Vincent nodded. `Just a few minutes ago.'

 

Tseng caught his breath and straightened up, smoothing back his long hair. `We need your help, Hunter. The president had an accident in the containment room and hit his head. We think the concussion caused this strange behaviour.'

 

`It must have,' agreed the disguised gunman. `What do you want me to do?'

 

Tseng looked at him. `Go after him! We can't keep up with the president in this state. Sedate him if you can.'

 

Vincent opened his mouth to refuse but saw Isolda was watching him closely, waiting for his response. He cast his eyes to the ceiling and took the tazer that Tseng handed to him. He didn't want to play fetch, but he didn't want the scientist to suspect he wasn't who he said he was. He nodded curtly and took off after the president, tazer in hand.

 

He found Rufus twirling around a tree trunk, singing about rowboats and crocodiles. Rufus grew bored with his still and silent partner and skipped off to the grove where Vincent and Isolda had had lunch a couple of days ago. Vincent followed the comically disoriented president until he came to a clearing in the grove. Rufus had finally stopped his prancing and merely sitting down on a rock, singing quietly to himself and tapping out a beat on the stone with his hands. Vincent stepped into the clearing, keeping the tazer hidden beneath his jacket. Rufus looked up at him with a warm smile.

 

`Ah, Hunter!' he cried. `Care to join me?' He patted the rock, gesturing to the young gunman to sit down. Vincent cautiously approached and took the seat offered him. The president hummed a little before turning to him.

 

`How are you doing?' asked Rufus. `Are you handling the assignment I gave you?'

 

Vincent nodded. `Yes,sir.' Rufus nodded and turned back to the grove. He seemed perfectly lucid.

 

`I was thinking about Isolda,' he said. `So young, and yet so bright. She came to me a few years ago asking if she could work for me, telling me she'd been travelling for months in search of a job that suited her capabilities. After seeing she had extensive knowledge of biotechnology and weapons, I couldn't refuse her. She is very peculiar, though.'

 

Vincent frowned. `Peculiar, how?'

 

`Well, occasionally she would ask questions concerning the rebels,' said Rufus. `She seemed interested in their present movements. But what I found very strange about her was her interest with one rebel in particular.'

 

Vincent felt the first threads of dread twine round his heart, but he asked anyway. `Which rebel?'

 

Rufus looked at him. `The AVALANCHE gunman, Vincent Valentine. She wanted to know everything about him, but I could only tell her what information we had on him. He's a very mysterious individual, never seems to stay in one place for too long. She seemed to be disappointed that we knew so little about the man.'

 

Vincent's body tensed as he listened to this. But the president didn't seem to notice.

 

`However, in spite of her obsession with him, she's very useful to us. It was her research on developing different means of finding and storing energy that helped the company to start the slow process of change in their policies and procedures. We are in her debt for that.' He suddenly burst into song about the stars and angels. Vincent waited him out, wondering if there was any more information he could get out of the president.

 

`But she seems to be very distracted these days,' said Rufus. `Ever since we assigned her protection to you, she seems to distance herself from the Turks. Seems to have this strange notion that you don't trust her.' He shook his head. `I assured her that it was just her brain working overtime, but she still feels like you have a grudge against her.' He looked at him. `Do you have a grudge against her, Hunter?'

 

Vincent relaxed and thought about that for a moment. He shook his head. `No, sir.'

 

Rufus nodded. `I know she can be a bit strange at times, speaking in riddles and things of that nature, but that's just what it is. It's her nature. And you can't judge a book by its cover when you haven't even tried to read a page or two.'

 

Maybe that was the president's logic, or perhaps it was his concussion talking. In either sense, the statement hit Vincent hard and it caused the gunman to feel guilty for being so snappy at Isolda earlier.

 

`That's true, sir.'

 

`I'm glad you see it that way,' said Rufus. `Give her a chance, Hunter and in time, you'll see her as I do.'

 

Depends how much time I have here, Vincent thought. But he nodded. He could see that despite the fact that Rufus became president right after his father's death, this young man was nothing like the late ShinRa.

 

Vincent stuck the tazer to Rufus' back, shocking him into unconsciousness. Rufus slumped in the reborn Turk's grasp and Vincent caught him before he hit his head again.

 

`Thanks. You just put things into perspective for me.' Vincent lifted the president and put him over his shoulder, carrying him like a sack of potatoes into the building.

 

Wait til Reeve hears about this one.